YOU’VE HEARD THE TALK ABOUT MEASLES COMING BACK IN THE U-S, BUT ONLY NOW IS SOUTH CAROLINA SEEING ITS FIRST MEASLES OUTBREAK. EIGHT CASES HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED, FIVE OF THEM LINKED TOGETHER AND ALL OF THEM ARE IN THE UPSTATE, WHERE VACCINATION RATES ARE THE LOWEST IN THE STATE. THE STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT SAYS ALL OF THE CASES INVOLVE UNVACCINATED PEOPLE WITH NO PREVIOUS IMMUNITY. THERE’VE BEEN OVER 15-HUNDRED CASES REPORTED NATIONWIDE, 92 PERCENT OF THEM INVOLVING PEOPLE WHO WERE UNVACCINATED. M-M-R VACCINES ARE READILY AVAILABLE WITH A 99-PERCENT EFFECTIVENESS AFTER A SECOND DOSE. THE LAST MEASLES OUTBREAK IN SOUTH CAROLINA WAS IN 2018, WHEN SIX CASES WERE REPORTED.
YOU MIGHT THINK THE STATE LEGISLATURE IS OUT UNTIL JANUARY, BUT SOME COMMITTEES ARE STILL MEETING, ONE TAKING TESTIMONY THIS WEEK ON A BILL THAT WOULD BAN NEARLY ALL ABORTIONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA- EVEN STIFFER THAN THE SIX-WEEK BAN ALREADY IN PLACE. THE NEW BILL AS CURRENTLY WRITTEN, WOULD OUTLAW ABORTIONS EVEN BEFORE A FETAL HEARTBEAT IS DETECTED. IT WOULD ALSO ELIMINATE NEARLY ALL LEGAL EXEMPTIONS, LIKE FOR A PREGNANCY CAUSED BY RAPE OR INCEST OR ANY FETAL ANOMALY, ONLY ALLOWING FOR ABORTIONS TO PROTECT THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER. THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SAYS THERE WERE ONLY TEN OF THOSE TYPES OF ABORTIONS PERFORMED IN THE STATE LAST YEAR. THE NEW PROPOSAL WOULD ALSO BAN MIFEPRISTONE OR OTHER DRUGS INTENDED TO CAUSE AN ABORTION. AN ANTI-ABORTION ORGANIZATION SAYS THERE WERE NEARLY 4-THOUSAND OF THOSE ABORTIONS PRESCRIBED BY OUT-OF-STATE DOCTORS LAST YEAR. ABORTION ADVOCATES SAY THE PROPOSED BILL WOULD CRIMINALIZE ASSISTING THOSE SEEKING AN ABORTION, WOULD IMPACT FERTILITY TREATMENTS AND COULD ALSO RESTRICT SOME BIRTH CONTROL OPTIONS IN THE FUTURE. THE SUBCOMMITTEE CONSIDERING THE BILL HAS 8 MEMBERS, ALL MEN.
YOU DON’T HEAR MUCH ABOUT BANK ROBBERIES THESE DAYS, BUT THIEVES ARE STILL FINDING WAYS TO GET MONEY OUT OF OUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. POLICE SAY A HOODED SUSPECT TRIED TO TAMPER WITH THREE COASTAL STATES BANK A-T-M MACHINES, TWO ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND AND ONE IN BLUFFTON, AND MANAGED TO GET 23-THOUSAND DOLLARS IN CASH OUT OF ONE OF THEM, USING A PAIR OF CELLPHONES TO UPLOAD A PROGRAM THAT GRANTS THEM ACCESS TO THE A-T-M’S SYSTEMS. THE PROCESS IS CALLED ‘JACKPOTTING’ AND HAS OCCURRED AT OTHER BANKS IN THE STATE. NATIONWIDE, 6-MILLION DOLLARS HAS BEEN TAKEN. BANK EXPERTS SAY THE MALWARE PROGRAMS USED BY JACKPOTTERS DISRUPT THE A-T-M’S SAFETY FEATURES SO THE THIEF CAN USE ANY CARD AND ANY PIN TO MAKE TRANSACTIONS THAT ARE NOT RECORDED.
WITH THEIR GLOBAL POPULARITY SLIPPING BECAUSE OF THE WAR IN GAZA, THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT HAS JUST SPONSORED A WEEK-LONG TRIP TO THEIR HOMELAND LAST WEEK FOR 250 STATE LEGISLATORS, INCLUDING 7 FROM SOUTH CAROLINA. NONE OF THE SEVEN STATE LEGISLATORS WERE FROM THE LOWCOUNTRY. THEIR CAMPAIGN, CALLED ‘50-STATES, ONE ISRAEL’, GUIDED THE LAWMAKERS ON A TOUR OF THE GAZAN BORDER, JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN HOLY SITES, MEETINGS WITH MEMBERS OF THE KNESSET AND WITH U-S AMBASSADOR MIKE HUCKABEE AND ISRAELI PRESIDENT NETANYAHU. THEY WERE ALSO SHOWN THE SITE OF THE NOVA MUSIC FESTIVAL MASSACRE THAT INCITED THE WAR. THE STATED GOAL OF THE TRIP WAS TO GIVE STATE-LEVEL LAWMAKERS A FEEL FOR ISRAELI LIFE DURING WARTIME.