Saturday 16 November 2019

New Orleans baby healed after doctors gave him hours to live, is it a miracle?

https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/new-orleans-baby-given-hours-to-live-makes-unexplainable-recovery/289-b6f21270-8e24-42d4-8be3-7e5741902084?fbclid=IwAR0vamLkuR8YsG_wHvNc54PV7Pil-vcQ9KPVagoOAxZyoAp0ELZO4Ne_RYQ


Carson's life is nothing short of a miracle to his parents -- and the Catholic Church might agree
Swaddled in wonder, it's a tapestry woven, in part, by a nurse who offered a bedside baptism, a judge who visited in the middle-of-the-night and now a priest who reports directly to Rome.  It's a mystery we unravel thread by thread, every high and low braided into the most emotional twists.
From day one, Michelle and Brandon always wanted a family.  Married in 2015, Michelle got pregnant a year later to her husband's shock and delight. He recalled a gift she sent him.  
"It was a box with a onesie that said, 'could be pink, could be blue, all I know is that we're due' and I was like oh my gosh, what?!" he said.
The newlyweds were elated until the first doctor's visit. 
"That's when we realized the pregnancy wasn't viable," Michelle said, explaining that she had miscarried. 
Just three months later they conceived again, celebrated and grieved again.
Perhaps that's why, after the couple conceived a third time, a pregnant Michelle literally jumped for joy when they learned they were having a son, Carson Joseph Coyle, named after his grandpa.  
Life seemed to be turning around. The pregnancy was wonderfully unremarkable -- no problems, no surprises until, of course, Michelle went into labor unexpectedly Mardi Gras morning.
Brandon remembers calling their friends, "Everyone was like OMG, you? You're going to have it today?!"
But that excitement quickly gave way to concern when after hours of pushing, the baby barely moved.  More staff came into the delivery room.  The couple was told the baby was too high and Michelle's hips were too narrow.  Instead of a C-section, they said the doctor performed a vacuum-assisted delivery.
Carson was born at 10:12 p.m.
"He was pretty lifeless," Michelle recalled. "He was lifeless." 
"His feet were purple and blue," Brandon added.
Miracle Baby
WWLTV
A team of NICU nurses and doctors rushed into the room.  They put a tube down his throat and wires in his belly. But the good news, that Carson would live, was quickly followed by a shocking prediction: Moderate to severe neurological damage.
Brandon said the doctor predicted, "a child with mental retardation or cerebral palsy."
And as Brandon and Michelle listened in disbelief, the doctor added something else.
"She did make the comment he had a little bleeding around his brain, however, that would subside," Michelle said.
But with every passing hour, the opposite happened. Born at six pounds the night before, he now weighed eight.  His eyes and ears had had swollen shut while the rest of his body shut down.
"My immediate reaction was to ask if my baby was dying and she said, 'Unfortunately it does seem to be looking that way, to please call your immediate family,'" Michelle said.
Given just hours to live, a NICU nurse offered to baptize Carson then and there, and that's when his mother really realized the gravity of the situation.
"That's when it kind of hit me, if they were getting to that," she said. "I know they'd said it, but..."
A relative started a prayer line and a stranger showed up in the middle of the night.  It was Judge Dennis Waldron.  He brought with him a crucifix, but not his own, one he usually borrows only in the most dire of circumstances. 
Placing it on baby Carson, the couple said his prayer was short and comforting, but there was nothing to suggest anything extraordinary had happened.  Until the next day.
Miracle Baby
WWLTV
Michelle remembered the nurses reviewing Carson's lab work. "Look it's getting a little better, the blood's getting better, this that and the other is getting little better!"
Carson's color returned, he started breathing on his own, even eating. He wasn't just surviving; he was thriving!  And the neurological damage the doctor predicted at birth? An MRI proved that had changed, too.
"They basically said 100% normal neurological functioning!" Michelle exclaimed.
Fourteen days after Carson was given hours to live, he went home.  And that's where he's been ever since.  
Follow up tests last month confirmed no evidence of damage and all signs of a happy, healthy baby boy.  But how was that possible? How could he go from the brink of death to a full recovery with no trace of trauma?  His parents believe it was the power of prayer, and specific prayers at that.
Remember that judge who visited in middle of the night?  It turns out he was a volunteer with the Seelos Center named after a New Orleans priest now on the path to sainthood.  And that cross he placed on baby Carson?  It was the very one Fr. Francis Xavier Seelos used back in the 1800's.  The family knew Fr. Seelos had already been credited with one miracle and they wondered --could he be responsible for another?
The parents' testimony was shared with the Seelos Center and caught the attention of Fr. Gil Enderle.  He had just arrived in New Orleans when his superior gave him a new task "to officially dedicate full time to whatever you can do to promote the cause of sainthood for Father Seelos."  
Miracle Baby
WWLTV
As Vice-Postulator for the Seelos Cause, he reports directly to Rome.
Was Fr. Gil's life about to come full circle?  After all, the last time he lived here, back in the 60's, he witnessed Fr. Seelos' first miracle--Angela Boudreaux.
The New Orleans mother had been given three weeks to live, but after praying to Fr. Seelos for help, her cancer vanished.  That case 53 years ago put Fr. Seelos on the path to sainthood.  To be canonized would require one more miracle.
"So we have to say we have an unexplainable cure," Fr. Gil explained.
Baby Carson seemed to almost fall into his lap -- or at least his arms.  On the day of our interview, he met Carson for the first time.
Fr. Gil held Carson as his parents shared their story.
"In my eyes, a total miracle," Brandon insisted.
Fr. Gil listened intently, but never agreed with them or used the "m-word."  He has far too many medical records to pore over first and Rome has the final say, but he did add, "If I check my own insides, I'm very excited."
At that point, Fr. Richard Boever, Executive Director of the Seelos Center, blessed Carson using Fr. Seelos' crucifix, the same one the judge used to pray over Carson.
Carson's parents say Rome may need convincing, but they don't.  He's their miracle baby.
And considering centuries often separate the miracles of saints, if Fr. Gil has lived to witness both 53 years apart, well, that would be the answer his prayers.

Meet Piglet. He's deaf, blind and also pink

https://www.wzzm13.com/article/life/animals/meet-piglet-hes-deaf-blind-and-also-pink/77-0fe587a8-0352-475d-9d1d-0a8e94bcd59e?fbclid=IwAR2Cjg0CItdcmO7EVNixk9g_F_03dYiOUYKvX2GJKqiYM3fBXmUqJvYtj90


A puppy has captured the hearts of people across the internet for his inspirational story and pink-colored appearance.
Piglet, a deaf-blind pink puppy, was rescued from a hoarding situation in Georgia along with his mother and three littermates, according to his website
Pinkpigletpuppy.org details that he traveled to Connecticut in March of 2017 to be taken in by a foster family who say he was a 1-pound screaming baby. As things would have it, his foster home became his forever home when they adopted Piglet in May of 2017. 
After months of screaming and severe separation anxiety, Piglet finally got into a routine snuggling in his dad’s arms, playing with his dog pack siblings and taking walks down the street.
He's grown a little since then, but he's also gotten more playful, and some may even say, famous!
In February 2018, Piglet made his New York debut at the New York Pet Fashion Show and was an invited guest to The Body Shop Forever Against Animal Testing parade.
Most recently, he flew out to LA for his second PetCon in June of 2019.

Central Ohio police help seize enough carfentanil to kill up to 1.2 million, lab results reveal

https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/crime/central-ohio-police-help-seize-enough-carfentanil-to-kill-up-to-12-million-lab-results-reveal/95-323fd162-c510-4805-b24e-b8723fabe0ba?fbclid=IwAR0dL74gtCF3we4_IKS8_rdLbWLv105TXtLSJMMGqv-iII-jOIER1-PqqMs



COLUMBUS, Ohio — Hilliard police on Friday announced that what they thought was the seizure of fentanyl in a Nov. 7 drug bust actually ended up being carfentanil.
Carfentanil is a synthetic opiate that's more dangerous than fentanyl. Police say they made the discovery after receiving laboratory results on Thursday.
Hilliard police say the 24.99 grams of carfentanil seized in this case could kill between 850,000 to 1.2 million people.
Two people were arrested after authorities made the drug seizure last week. Investigators said a drug trafficking investigation by Hilliard Police and the Franklin County Sheriff's Office led to the arrests.
Hilliard police said the drug was found in a home on Miller Avenue in south Columbus along with needles, marijuana, guns, and cash.
Additional charges have been announced for Alexis Hennen, 20, and Anthony Taylor, 22 after they were arrested. They were indicted on charges of drug trafficking, a first-degree felony, and drug possession, a first-degree felony.
"Hennen and Taylor are facing a mandatory prison term if convicted of either first-degree felony. Because there were guns used in the drug possession and trafficking, an additional year of prison could be added to the term," police said.
Police initially said the items were found near the couple's two children.

UK Politics - John LeCarre opposes Corbyn

Writer John le Carré opposes Corbyn due to antisemitism

Public letter urges Brits not to vote for Labour Party

British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn holds the Political Declaration, setting out the framework for the future UK-EU relations, at his office in the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain April 2, 2019. (photo credit: STEFAN ROUSSEAU/REUTERS)
British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn holds the Political Declaration, setting out the framework for the future UK-EU relations, at his office in the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain April 2, 2019.
(photo credit: STEFAN ROUSSEAU/REUTERS)
A diverse group of British intellectuals, artists, writers and campaigners against racism and antisemitism urged voters on Thursday in a public letter to reject Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in December’s election, because of his contribution to stoking Jew-hatred.
“The coming election is momentous for every voter, but for British Jews it contains a particular anguish: The prospect of a prime minister steeped in association with antisemitism. Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, Labour has come under formal investigation by the Equality and Human Rights Commission for institutional racism against Jews. Two Jewish MPs have been bullied out of the party. Mr. Corbyn has a long record of embracing antisemites as comrades," said the letter, which was endorsed by world-famous British spy novelist John le Carré, along with distinguished historians Antony Beevor and Tom Holland, Muslims Against Antisemitism head Ghanem Nuseibeh and other notable British figures.
The jointly authored letter against Corbyn was published in the British newspaper The Guardian.
The letter stated: "We listen to our Jewish friends and see how their pain has been relegated as an issue, pushed aside by arguments about Britain’s European future. For those who insist that Labour is the only alternative to Boris Johnson’s hard Brexit, now, it seems, is not the time for Jewish anxiety.
"But antisemitism is central to a wider debate about the kind of country we want to be. To ignore it because Brexit looms larger is to declare that anti-Jewish prejudice is a price worth paying for a Labour government. Which other community’s concerns are disposable in this way? Who would be next?”
The letter concluded that “opposition to racism cannot include surrender in the fight against antisemitism. Yet that is what it would mean to back Labour and endorse Mr. Corbyn for Downing Street. The path to a more tolerant society must encompass Britain’s Jews with unwavering solidarity. We endorse no party. However, we cannot in all conscience urge others to support a political party we ourselves will not. We refuse to vote Labour on 12 December."
Other notable signatories on the letter were Fay Weldon, Joanna Lumley, William Boyd, Simon Callow, Sathnam Sanghera, Janina Ramirez, Trevor Phillips, Jimmy Wales, Suzannah Lipscomb, Frederick Forsyth, Peter Frankopan, Dan Snow, Fiyaz Mughal, Tony Parsons, Dan Jones, Maajid Nawaz, Oz Katerji, Nick Hewer, Ed Husain and Terry Jervis.


Jimmy Wales, a British-American, is the founder of the non-profit online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
Fiyaz Mughal founded the organization Tell Mama, which fights racism targeting Muslims. Frederick Forsyth is a globally famous writer of espionage and thriller novels.
Stephen Pollard, the editor-in-chief of the London-based Jewish Chronicle, wrote on Twitter in connection with the public letter: "Whatever the collective noun for a group of mensches is, this is it."

US Politics - Why Democrats still need secret hearings

Why Democrats still need secret hearings


By David Marcus , New York Post, November 15, 2019

Former Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch at Friday's impeachment hearing.

Stefani Reynolds/CNP/startraksph
Americans just got a great example of why Democrats are forcing witnesses to testify in secret before showcasing them before a national audience.
On Friday, Marie Yovanovitch, the former ambassador to Ukraine who was removed by President Trump, appeared at the House’s latest public hearing for their impeachment inquiry. Under questioning from the Republicans’ lawyer, the former envoy acknowledged that, in preparation for her 2016 Senate confirmation, she was briefed by Obama administration coaches about Hunter Biden’s position on Burisma.
That, as Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) pointed out, shows just how concerned the Obama team was about Biden’s role. And no wonder: It was problematic. “Yet our Democratic colleagues and the chairman of this committee cry foul when we dare ask” questions like that about Biden, noted Stefanik.
By grilling witnesses behind closed doors — as Yovanovitch had been earlier — they get to find out what subjects to try to avoid at the public show, or if there even should be a public hearing. And they have an advantage in doing that since they control the process.
Friday’s public hearing followed one Wednesday where two witnesses also testified almost exclusively to things everybody already knew, thanks to transcripts of their previous closed-door testimony.
There, Ambassador Bill Taylor mentioned a piece of information that Democrats and many in the media seized on as a “bombshell”: He said David Holmes, a counselor for political affairs at the US embassy in Kiev, told him that he had overheard a phone conversation between Ambassador Gordon Sondland and President Trump.
Holmes claimed he could hear the president express interest in the investigation of Burisma, the Ukrainian energy concern that employed Hunter Biden. That “bombshell” led Dems to call for another secret session of testimony with Holmes, which they conducted Friday.
By Friday evening, they were already strategically leaking from that “private” hearing.
Fact is, Democrats applauded themselves thunderously for moving to the public hearings stage of the impeachment process, but we are right back to having them audition witnesses behind closed doors before allowing the American people to hear what they claim to know.
Talk about kangaroo courts.
Let’s unpack this a bit. First of all Holmes’ claim that he overheard the president ask about the investigation is not a bombshell — or even a wet cherry bomb. We already knew Trump wanted Burisma investigated, because the transcript Trump himself released of his call with the Ukrainian president said so.
Alas, the case Democrats have brought thus far, whether they call it “quid pro quo,” “bribery,” “extortion,” or “being a Meany,” has not moved the needle. Those who tolerate Trump oppose impeachment; those who hate him insist on it. Clearly, Democrats need more dirt.
So back behind closed doors they went. Again, this lets them test out their new “bombshell” allegation — this time, with a firsthand (sort of) source for a change — without the fear of being laughed at in public.
Democrats can decide whether they want to give Holmes a starring role on their impeachment TV show or not. Republicans, on the other hand, will have little say in the matter, because Adam Schiff has total control over who does and does not testify.
What a charade. Democrats have yet to present any significant hard evidence for impeaching a sitting president. So they’re orchestrating a bizarre TV show to convince their American audience, complete with secret rehearsals and Republicans hamstringed.
Enough. Let’s be done with secret testimony now, with secret interviews in basement bunkers in the Capitol. Let Democrats prove they really do want a fair and open process by bringing everyone with knowledge of these events to testify, in the open.
And yes, that includes bringing Hunter Biden into the public process. They don’t get to force everyone to shove all their chips into the center of the table with grand bravado and then refuse to show their cards.
The stakes are too high. And if every day that goes by, every committee gavel that falls, makes their hopes that this inquiry will snowball into the removal of a president appear increasingly remote, well, no one told them to launch this process in the first place.
David Marcus is the New York correspondent for The Federalist.


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Escape from Egypt - You can get buried in a baguette thanks to ‘fantasy’ coffin-maker

You can get buried in a baguette thanks to ‘fantasy’ coffin-maker


By Zachary Kussin,  New York Post, November 15,  2019

Browse through the fantasy caskets that Paa Joe Coffin Works makes in Ghana.

a baguette

A Louis Vuitton purse

Nike sneakers


A Lion 

This puts the fun in funeral.
Near the west African city of Accra, Ghana, a workshop named Paa Joe Coffin Works crafts “fantasy” caskets that, instead of typical wooden boxes, resemble Nike sneakers, Louis Vuitton purses and African wildlife, among others.
The company’s 72-year-old founder, artist Paa Joe, tells The Post that his coffins may seem inappropriate to Americans who are more accustomed to somber affairs. But to him, they reflect differing traditions surrounding death in West Africa, he says.
“In Ghana, most dead are buried in these coffins to reflect their lives,” says Joe, who began designing his fantasy coffins in 1976. He adds the designs are a nod to the decedents’ passions or professions, and are meant to honor the lives they lived. “And during the funeral celebration, the coffin is paraded throughout the whole community.”
Although Joe’s 31-year-old son, Jacob, primarily runs the business these days, Joe still supervises the operations. In a 2016 Guardian story, Jacob elaborated on the traditions further, saying “People celebrate death in Ghana. At a funeral, we have a passion for the person leaving us — there are a lot of people, and a lot of noise.”
Joe’s Instagram account, @PaaJoeCoffins, which courts over 8,300 followers, shows some of the workshop’s most recent commissions. One, a baguette, is in the shape of a full loaf with brown and yellow patches stretching across the top. Another is in the form of an American football.
Although the caskets typically end up 6 feet under, they’re also used for artistic display. They’ve been on exhibit in Accra, at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Brooklyn Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
Depending on the level of detail (other commissions have included figures of naked women, Porsches and cameras) these coffins can take anywhere from five to 15 weeks to make — ordered while its future occupant is still alive. Fittingly, they’re also quite expensive at $15,000 to $20,000 a pop, depending on the details.
Joe got his start in 1960 as an apprentice for his uncle, Seth Kane Kwei, who was in the family’s second generation of making fantasy coffins. Joe spent 12 years learning the trade.
And he’s not the only Ghanaian who designs jaw-dropping coffins. A 2013 “CBS Sunday Morning” segment profiled a fantasy casket-maker in Accra named Eric Anang whose repertoire included a green-colored tilapia casket for a fisherman and a bright yellow cocoa pod for a farmer.
In the segment, Anang says it’s bittersweet to see one of his creations lowered into the ground because it means he’ll never see it again.
“I don’t really feel comfortable when I see them going under the ground,” he says.
This has been an Escape from Egypt moment on the Coconut Whisperer 


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Recipes - Falafel-crusted chicken cutlets

Falafel-crusted chicken cutlets

Spicy falafel flavor coats tender chicken cutlets for an amazing high-protein meal.
  • Yield: Serves 3-4
  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 8 minutes
Falafel lovers rejoice – we’ve taken your favorite Mediterranean food and used it to coat tender chicken cutlets for a winning combination. And if you’ve got vegans coming for dinner, you can prepare extra falafel mix and fry up some falafel balls sans chicken as a first batch. One recipe to please them all! For a finishing touch, chop up some cucumbers, tomatoes and onion for a fresh crispy salad accompaniment.

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken tenders*
  • 1 package falafel mix
  • 1 cup water
  • Olive oil, for frying
  • Tahini, for serving Black garlic tahini

Directions

Mix the dry falafel mix with one cup water. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.

Heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil in a frying pan.
Pat falafel mixture around each chicken tender, distributing the mixture evenly on all sides.

Fry coated cutlets for 3-4 minutes on each side. Cut into one of them to check for doneness.

Serve with tahini and Israeli salad, or over a bed of fresh spinach. 

*Chicken tenders are the part of the chicken cutlet that can be easily separated. If you can’t get tenders, simply use thin strips of chicken cutlets roughly 4 inches long. 

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Kamala Harris, polling at 3 percent, hearing calls for campaign manager's resignation

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kamala-harris-three-percent-michael-bloomberg-campaign-manager-call-resignation-rodriguez-iowa


Sen. Kamala Harris, whose campaign cut staff in a dramatic restructuring last month, is now polling at just 3 percent, tying her with Michael Bloomberg for fifth place among the Democratic Party’s presidential nominees -- according to a poll released Friday -- even though Bloomberg hasn't even formally announced his 2020 candidacy.
And now Harris may be facing another problem: A second report Friday described internal strife at Harris’ Baltimore campaign headquarters, with several aides calling for campaign manager Juan Rodriguez’s resignation following his late October decision to lay off field staffers in several states and dedicate Harris' already dwindling campaign war chest to a seven-figure TV ad campaign before the February Iowa caucus.

Harris and Bloomberg were deadlocked in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Nov. 12-14. Though not yet a declared candidate, Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and billionaire business and media mogul, launched a massive $100 million digital ad campaign Friday targeting President Trump.
In the poll, both Harris and Bloomberg fell behind Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., who polled at 6 percent, and Sen Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who polled at 13 percent. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders led the Demicratic field tied at 19 percent support.
Rodriguez said in an Oct. 30 campaign memo obtained by Fox News that several dozen people would be laid off at the campaign's Baltimore headquarters -- as would volunteers in New Hampshire, Nevada, and California -- in an effort to go "all-in" in Iowa. He also said the campaign aimed to dedicate $1 million to a media campaign in the weeks before the Feb. 3 caucus, a figure now considered unlikely given Harris’ lackluster funding.
Three additional staff members were laid off and another quit in recent days at Harris’ campaign headquarters in Baltimore, unnamed aides told Politico on Friday. They said several aides have approached campaign chair Maya Harris, the candidate’s sister, to force Rodriguez to step down, claiming his failed leadership is responsible for the campaign’s recent troubles.
One official said Harris’ current campaign structure has “No discipline. No plan. No strategy.”
“It’s a campaign of id,” the official continued. “What feels right, what impulse you have right now, what emotion, what frustration.”
But others defended Rodriguez, saying he’s been loyal to Harris even before she first announced her candidacy in January. They pointed fingers at Maya Harris, who shared leadership responsibility with Rodriguez.
“From the outset of this race, he has had all the responsibility with none of the authority. He’s been managing this race with at least one, if not two, hands tied behind his back,” a senior campaign official told Politico of Rodriguez. “He would never undermine her. He’s just not that guy.”

The Politico report cited 12 individuals – who were either current or former campaign staffers or donors – who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Harris has been crisscrossing the country to try to salvage support. Her campaign has struggled to regain traction after an initial stand-out moment in the race during the first Democratic debate in June when she challenged Biden, a frontrunner, over comments he made about segregationist U.S. senators and school busing. Harris struggled in the second debate after Biden and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, challenged her record as California's attorney general. She struggled to shine in subsequent debates.