Author: Leslie Eastman

Target is my favorite store...

When the USS Ronald Reagan responded to the tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011, Navy sailors including Quartermaster Maurice Enis gladly pitched in with rescue efforts. But months later, while still serving aboard the aircraft carrier, he began to notice strange lumps all over his body. Testing revealed he'd been poisoned with radiation, and his illness would get worse. And his fiance and fellow Reagan quartermaster, Jamie Plym, who also spent several months helping near the Fukushima nuclear power plant, also began to develop frightening symptoms, including chronic bronchitis and hemorrhaging. They and 49 other U.S. Navy members who served aboard the Reagan and sister ship the USS Essex now trace illnesses including thyroid and testicular cancers, leukemia and brain tumors to the time spent aboard the massive ship, whose desalination system pulled in seawater that was used for drinking, cooking and bathing. In a lawsuit filed against Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plaintiffs claim the power company delayed telling the U.S. Navy the tsunami had caused a nuclear meltdown, sending huge amounts of contaminated water into the sea and, ultimately, into the ship's water system.

Oregon's troubled health insurance exchange began robocalling applicants Friday, warning them that if they don't receive enrollment confirmation by Monday, they should seek coverage elsewhere for Jan. 1. "If you haven't heard from us by Dec. 23, it is unlikely your application will be processed for Jan. 1 insurance coverage," a woman's voice on the pre-recorded call from Cover Oregon says. "If you want to be sure you have insurance coverage starting Jan. 1, you have other options." It's yet another sign that the health insurance exchange's technological breakdowns will prevent some -- perhaps many -- Oregonians from getting subsidized coverage Jan. 1, despite Gov. John Kitzhaber's previous assurances otherwise. Out of more than 65,000 applicants, the exchange reports enrolling nearly 30,000, but only about 11,000 of them in private insurance plans.

Today Pope Francis responded saying, “The Marxist ideology is wrong.” But, then he went on to attack free-market “trickle-down” economics. (Via Vatican Insider)

Some of the passages in the “Evangelii Gaudium” attracted the criticism of ultraconservatives in the USA. As a Pope, what does it feel like to be called a “Marxist”? “The Marxist ideology is wrong. But I have met many Marxists in my life who are good people, so I don’t feel offended.”

Snow hits Cairo for the first time in 112 years....

Americans planning to travel around the East Coast this Thanksgiving are in for a real weather treat: A nor'easter is swirling together and it could hit the east coast just in time for Thanksgiving, Quartz reports. The storm looks like it will stretch from New England down...

As of 11 p.m. local time Tuesday, Republican Kevin Faulconer led a field of 11 candidates with 44 percent of the vote, giving the GOP a chance to recapture an office they held for much of the last four decades and an opportunity for a rare win leading a major American city. David Alvarez, a first-term city councilman, had 25 percent. Nathan Fletcher, an executive at wireless technology titan Qualcomm Inc. and former state assemblyman, had 24 percent. Alvarez had trailed Fletcher for most of the evening, but had pulled ahead by 1,456 votes as the clock ticked past 11 p.m.

The city's burgeoning Latino population helped propel a native son and child of Mexican immigrants into a mayoral runoff against a fellow city councilman to replace the disgraced Bob Filner, who resigned amid sexual harassment allegations. David Alvarez, a first-term Democratic councilman, began the short campaign with far less name recognition than some rivals but defeated them with heavy financial backing from organized labor and support in Hispanic communities.