‘Calibration issue’ pops up on Maryland voting machines

Voting machines that switch Republican votes to Democrats are being reported in Maryland.
“When I first selected my candidate on the electronic machine, it would not put the ‘x’ on the candidate I chose — a Republican — but it would put the ‘x’ on the Democrat candidate above it,” Donna Hamilton said.
“This happened multiple times with multiple selections. Every time my choice flipped from Republican to Democrat. Sometimes it required four or five tries to get the ‘x’ to stay on my real selection,” the Frederick, Md., resident said last week.
Queen Anne County Sheriff Gary Hofmann said he encountered the problem, too, personally.
“This is happening here as well. It occurred on two candidates on my machine. I am glad I checked. Many voters have reported this here as well,” Hofmann, a Republican, wrote in an email Sunday evening.
Two other Maryland voters reported the same in Anne Arundel County on Friday.
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Immigration officer's union sounds alarm over White House order for millions of blank work permits, green cards

A union that represents thousands of federal immigration officers is raising an alarm after the U.S. government ordered supplies to create millions of blank work permits and green cards, touching off speculation that the Obama administration may be preparing executive action on immigration.
The Associated Press reported last week that the new federal contract proposal from the Homeland Security Department would allow the government to buy enough supplies to make as many as 34 million immigrant work permits and residency cards over the next five years. The move appeared to suggest that the administration is preparing for a surge of work permit applications from illegal immigrants.
Kenneth Palinkas, the president of the National Citizenship and Immigration Services Council, said in a press release Monday that he believes the move indicates the administration is planning to enact “massive unilateral amnesty” after the midterm elections.
“…If you care about your immigration security and your neighborhood security, you must act now to ensure that Congress stops this unilateral amnesty,” he said. “Let your voice be heard and spread the word to your neighbors. We who serve in our nation’s immigration agencies are pleading for your help – don’t let this happen. Express your concern to your Senators and Congressmen before it is too late.”
The union represents 12,000 officers of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for processing visas and other immigration papers. Palinkas said federal immigration officers are already struggling to complete their mission, and the new contract indicates things could get worse.
“Whether it’s the failure to uphold the public charge laws, the abuse of our asylum procedures, the admission of Islamist radicals, or visas for health risks, the taxpayers are being fleeced and public safety is being endangered on a daily basis,” he said.
When asked about the contract last week, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said it was being blown out of proportion.
"I think those who are trying to read into those specific orders about what the president may decide are a little too cleverly trying to divine what the president's ultimate conclusion might be," Earnest said. "What I would caution you against is making assumptions about what will be in those announcements based on the procurement practices of the Department of Homeland Security."
The U.S. government produces about 3 million work permits and residency identification, known as green cards, annually. The new contract for at least 5 million cards a year would provide the administration with the flexibility to issue far more work permits or green cards even if it chose not to exercise that option.
Obama announced earlier this year that if Congress didn't pass immigration legislation, he would act on his own. After twice postponing a final decision, he said as recently as last month that he would hold off on executive actions until after November's midterm elections.

New fight over Ebola quarantine looms as nurse returns to Maine

A nurse who treated Ebola patients in West Africa before being briefly and controversially quarantined in New Jersey could be the focus of a new battle over state health policy as she returns to her home state of Maine. 
Kaci Hickox left a Newark hospital on Monday and was expected to arrive in the northern Maine town of Fort Kent early Tuesday. Maine health officials have already announced that Hickox is expected to comply with a 21-day voluntary in-home quarantine put in place by the state's governor, Paul LePage. 
However, one of Hickox's lawyers, Steve Hyman, said he expected her to remain in seclusion for only the "next day or so" while he works with Maine health officials. He said he believes the state should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines that require only monitoring, not quarantine, for health care workers who show no symptoms after treating Ebola patients.
"She's a very good person who did very good work and deserves to be honored, not detained, for it," he said.
LePage defended the quarantine in a news release Monday, saying that state officials must be "vigilant in our duty to protect the health and safety of all Mainers." Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for the governor, told the Portland Press Herald that authorities would take "appropriate action" if Hickox does not comply with the quarantine, though she did not specify what that action might be. 
"Upon the healthcare workers' return home, we will follow the guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control for medical workers who have been in contact with Ebola patients," LePage's statement continued. "Additionally, we will work with the healthcare worker to establish an in-home quarantine protocol to ensure there is no direct contact with other Mainers until the period for potential infection has passed."
A spokeswoman for Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent told the Associated Press that the facility is ready to care for an Ebola-infected patient, if necessary. Hickox and her boyfriend, Ted Wilbur, recently moved to Fort Kent, where Wilbur is a nursing student at the University of Maine branch in the town. 
WAGM-TV reported late Monday that school officials had offered Wilbur the option of staying in on-campus student housing for the duration of the quarantine period or suspending his studies so that he could stay with Hickox in his off-campus home during that time. A University of Maine system spokesman told the Associated Press that he couldn't confirm details of discussions with Wilbur.
Hickox, who volunteered in Sierra Leone with Doctors Without Borders, spent the weekend in a quarantine tent in New Jersey despite having no symptoms other than a slightly elevated temperature she blamed on "inhumane" treatment at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Hickox said she never had symptoms and tested negative for Ebola in a preliminary evaluation. She was the first person forced into New Jersey's mandatory quarantine for people arriving at Newark Liberty from Sierra Leone, as well as Guinea and Liberia. 
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo were sharply criticized for ordering mandatory quarantines. But Christie said Monday that his priority is protecting the health of people in his state.
Wilbur's uncle Tom Wilbur told the AP that Hickox should be trusted to make good decisions and that medical decisions should be grounded in science and not "hysteria."
"She's very much a professional," he said. "And she's very bright. And if she were running a fever, she would be the first to take action."

Boss Love Cartoon

Marines, UK combat troops give key command post to Afghan military, as mission draws to close

The last Marines unit in Afghanistan officially concluded its mission on Sunday, handing over to the Afghan military the sprawling U.S. military base known as Camp Leatherneck.
The event included the U.S. flag being lowered and folded and occurred at the same time British combat troops officially closed Camp Bastion, which also is in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, Fox News confirmed.
The camp has been the center of U.K. operations in Afghanistan since 2006.
The ceremonies marked the end of operations for the Southwest Regional Command -- a U.S. and U.K. coalition operating under NATO's International Security Assistance Force.  
They also end an important chapter in the 13-year Afghan campaign, which started after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The joint base once had roughly 40,000 people working there. The province was once a stronghold of the terror-related Taliban group.
U.K. Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said Britain has helped give Afghanistan "the best possible chance of a stable future." However, he acknowledged to the BBC that there is "no guarantee that Afghanistan is going to be stable and safe."
Meanwhile, Brigadier Rob Thomson, senior U.K. officer in Helmand, said Afghan National Security Forces are "more than ready" to assume responsibility for the country's security.
Britain plans to withdraw its final combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and is planning to give Afghan forces control of a base in Kandahar, the country's second most populous city.
Military advisers and trainers are expected to stay in Kabul, the capital. 
Some Americans have been critical of the Obama administration’s decision to also remove all combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, amid concerns about whether the Afghan forces are ready, considering the hundred of U.S. lives lost in the war on terror.
Fallon said Britain's commitment to support Afghanistan will continue "through institutional development, the Afghan National Army Officer Academy, and development aid."
Britain suffered 453 fatalities during the campaign. The vast majority of the fatalities happened in Helmand province.

Female victim in Washington state school shooting has died, hospital says

A 14-year-old girl shot by a student gunman at a Washington state high school Friday has died, hospital officials said late Sunday. 
Officials at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett identified the victim as Gia Soriano, a freshman at Marysville-Pilchuk High School, about 30 miles north of Seattle. Her death brings the total number of victims from Friday's shooting to three, including gunman Jaylen Fryberg. The other victim, also a girl, has not been publicly identified. 
At a news conference, Dr. Joanne Roberts read a statement from Soriano's family.
"We are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Gia is our beautiful daughter, and words cannot express how much we will miss her," the statement said.
Roberts said Soriano's family was donating her organs for transplant.
Three other student victims remained hospitalized Sunday, with two in critical condition and another in serious condition. 
Earlier Sunday, parents and students gathered in a gymnasium at the school for a community meeting, with speakers urging support and prayers and tribal members playing drums and singing songs. Fryberg was from a prominent Tulalip Indian tribes family.
Young people hugged each other and cried and speakers urged people to come together during the gathering Sunday.
"We just have to reach for that human spirit right now," said Deborah Parker, a member of the Tulalip Indian tribes.
"Our legs are still wobbly," said Tony Hatch, a cousin of one of the injured students. "We're really damaged right now."
Of the wounded students, only 14-year-old Nate Hatch showed improvement, though he remained in serious condition in intensive care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Fifteen-year-old Andrew Fryberg also remained in critical condition in intensive care. Both are cousins of Jaylen Fryberg.
Meanwhile, 14-year-old Shaylee Chuckulnaskit remained in critical condition in intensive care at Providence Regional Medical Center.
Fryberg died in the attack after a first-year teacher intervened. It's unclear if he intentionally killed himself or if the gun went off in a struggle with a teacher.
The makeshift memorial on a chain link fence by the school, which will be closed this week, kept growing Sunday. Balloons honoring the victims and the shooter adorn the fence along with flowers, stuffed toys and signs.
Meanwhile, the close-knit community on the nearby Tulalip Indian reservation struggled with the news that the shooter was a popular teenager from one of their more well-known families.
A tribal guidance counsellor said no one knows what motivated Fryberg.
"We can't answer that question," said Matt Remle, who has an office at the high school. "But we try to make sense of the senselessness."
In the nearby community of Oso, where a mudslide this spring killed dozens, people planned to gather to write condolence letters and cards.
Remele said he knew Fryberg and the other students well.
"My office has been a comfort space for Native students," he said. "Many will come by and have lunch there, including the kids involved in the shooting."
They all were "really happy, smiling kids," Remle said. "They were a polite group. A lot of the kids from the freshman class were close-knit. Loving.
"These were not kids who were isolated," he said. "They had some amazing families, and have amazing families."
These factors make the shooting that much more difficult to deal with, "Maybe it would be easier if we knew the answer," Remle said. "But we may never know."

Army Green Berets reportedly criticize performance of Afghan army troops

Elite Army troops have disparaged the fighting capability of Afghan troops to military investigators probing the deaths of five soldiers in a friendly fire incident earlier this year, according to a published report. 
The Washington Times claims that several Green Berets have described how Afghan soldiers have refused to fight and hidden among trees and behind rocks when coming under fire. The criticisms came to light on the same day that the last unit of U.S. Marines in Afghanistan concluded its combat mission, handing the base known as Camp Leatherneck to Afghan troops.
The comments by the Green Berets were made to investigators from U.S. Central Command during discussions of an incident from this past June, when five U.S. soldiers and an Afghan sergeant were killed when a B-1 bomber mistakenly dropped two bombs on their position during a battle against Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan.
Among the other complaints against Afghan soldiers the Times reports as being mentioned in the investigative file are inability to fight at night and inability to take the lead in clearing villages controlled by the Taliban. The paper also reports that the Green Beret team leader, a captain, claimed that the Afghan National Army (ANA) had provided fewer troops than requested for the June mission, adding that this was not the first time that had happened. 
After the deadly bombing, the Times reports, a Green Beret instructed Afghan soldiers to set up a perimeter, only for them to hide behind a rock. 
The reported experiences of the Green Berets stand in stark contrast to claims made by the Pentagon that Afghan forces will be ready to take the lead in the fight against the Taliban after the departure of most U.S. troops by the end of this year. The Defense Department's most recent Afghanistan progress report, released in April of this year, states that the ANA "made impressive progress, and maintained its tactical overmatch over the insurgency."
Gen. John F. Campbell, commander of the International Security Assistance Force told reporters Oct. 2 that the ANA had "taken on the security mission from last June of ‘13. They had it mostly entirely by themselves for the summer of ‘14. I think they've done very well, supporting both the [Afghan presidential election] and through some of the major events."
However, the report also said that Afghan forces had not been able to last more than several days in the field.

New York gov Cuomo loosens Ebola quarantine restrictions after criticism

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced late Sunday that he had loosened some of the restrictions in a mandatory 21-day Ebola quarantine that he had ordered along with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie this past Friday. 
Under the revised guidelines, medical professionals who have had contact with Ebola patients will be quarantined at home and receive twice-daily monitoring if they have no symptoms. Family members will be allowed to stay, and friends may visit with the approval of health officials. The state will also pay for any lost compensation, if they are not paid by a volunteer organization.
The new guidelines come after White House officials and health experts strongly criticized the mandatory quarantine, which was put in place in response to the infection of a New York City doctor, Craig Spencer. Cuomo had originally criticized Dr. Spencer for not obeying a 21-day voluntary quarantine. But on Sunday, he called the health care workers "heroes" and said his administration would encourage more medical workers to volunteer to fight Ebola.
The mandatory quarantine came in for more criticism after a Maine nurse returning from Sierra Leone criticized her treatment as the first person to be quarantined under New Jersey's new policy, saying that she was treated "like a criminal." Kaci Hickox has tested negative for Ebola in a preliminary evaluation. 
Hickox has access to a computer, her cellphone, magazines and newspapers and has been allowed to have takeout food, New Jersey Health Department officials told The Associated Press.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called Hickox a "returning hero" and charged that she was "treated with disrespect" when she was put into quarantine. He said that she was interrogated repeatedly and things were not explained well to her.
Christie issued a statement Sunday that also stressed that home confinement would be used for New Jersey residents and others when possible.
"The protocol is clear that a New Jersey resident with no symptoms, but who has come into contact with someone with Ebola, such as a health care provider, would be subject to a mandatory quarantine order and quarantined at home. Non-residents would be transported to their homes if feasible and, if not, quarantined in New Jersey," said a statement from Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts.
Earlier Sunday the White House expressed concern about what it called the "unintended consequences" of the mandatory quarantine, telling Fox News that the Obama administration is working on new federal guidelines on returning health-care workers exposed to Ebola, realizing the concern among Americans about a potential outbreak on U.S. soil.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said early Sunday that the 21-day quarantines originally imposed in Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York can have the "unintended consequence" of discouraging health care workers from volunteering, particularly in the West African countries, where an estimated 4,500 people have so far this year died from Ebola.
"We do not want to put them in a position where it makes it very, very uncomfortable for them to even volunteer," he told “Fox News Sunday."
Christie told Fox News that he has “great respect” for Fauci but defended his decision to impose the quarantine, saying he has an obligation to protect residents amid Centers for Disease Control guidelines that remain a “moving target.”
"Imagine that you're the person in charge of public health for people of a large, densely populated state … and these protocols continue to move and change,” Christie said. “It was my conclusion we need to do this to protect the public health of people of New Jersey. (New York) Governor Cuomo agreed. And now, (Chicago) Mayor Emanuel agrees. And I think the CDC eventually will come around to our point of view on this."
Officials at New York City's Bellevue Hospital Center said Sunday that Spencer was in serious but stable condition, was looking better than he did the day before, and tolerated a plasma treatment well.
The World Health Organization said more than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola in the outbreak that came to light last March, and nearly half of them have died, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.