Friday, December 6, 2013
CONTACT ME AT: manessmorrison2@yahoo.com


News Clips For The Day

I have refrained from using the news article about the death of Nelson Mandela because I assume all readers will find and read all the information about him on their local news sites. His death is a loss to the world. He was brilliant, charismatic and yet humble in his demeanor, following in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King as he battled racial hatred and oppression and won the war. His smiling face will remain in my memory forever. May he rest in peace.




Dozens of Russian Diplomats in NY Defrauded Medicaid System: Prosecutors
By Jonathan Dienst and Joe Valiquette

Dozens of Russian diplomats and their spouses living and working in New York have been charged with defrauding the Medicaid system of about $1.5 million in benefits over a nine-year period, federal prosecutors say.
 
Twenty-five current and former Russian diplomats, along with their spouses, allegedly spent tens of thousands of dollars on luxury vacations as well as jewelry and clothing at Bloomingdale's, Tiffany's and other retailers. They also spent thousands of dollars online to buy merchandise including Apple products and concert tickets, prosecutors say.
 
A federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan says the alleged scheme by 49 diplomats and their spouses included submitting false applications for Medicaid benefits associated with medical costs for pregnancy, birth and young children, benefits they were not entitled to receive.
 
The 18-month investigation by the FBI revealed a pattern of fraudulent Medicaid application submissions by the defendants, including under-reporting household income and false statements about the citizenship status of children in order to continue dependents' health care coverage, prosecutors say.
 
Court papers say 92 percent of the births to Russian diplomats and their spouses between 2004 and 2013 in New York City were paid for by Medicaid benefits.
 
Eleven employees of the Russian diplomatic mission on East 67th Street are among those criminally charged and have diplomatic immunity.  The FBI said no arrests were made Thursday.

Each defendant is a current or former Russian diplomat or spouse of a Russian diplomat employed either at the Russian Mission to the United Nations, the Russian Federation Consulate General in New York or the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation on the USA, New York Office, prosecutors say.

The State Department said it was still reviewing the charges and could not say whether the Russians have been asked to lift diplomatic immunity.
Those named in the criminal complaint unsealed Thursday include Andrey Demin, identified as a counselor at the Russian mission, and Andrey Savushkin, who works as a diplomat at the Russian Embassy in Washington, officials said. The complaint alleges Timur Salomatin, a former Russian diplomat at the United Nations, claimed he was earning $3,000 a month, rather than his actual monthly income of $5,160, in order to qualify for Medicaid benefits.  
 
The diplomats are charged with conspiracy to steal government funds and making false statements.  
 
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the conduct of the diplomats “shameful” and a matter of “systemic  corruption” at the Russian mission.
 
“Diplomacy should be about extending hands, not picking the pockets of the host country,” Bharara said.
 
Sergey Kuryatnikov, a spokesman at the Russian Mission to the United Nations, said the ambassador had no comment on the charges.
“These defendants allegedly perpetrated a fraud to illegally obtain Medicaid benefits to which they were not entitled,” said FBI New York Director George Venizelos.


I'm always on the lookout for an unusual news story, and this one definitely fits the bill. Our government bureaucrats should have been as picky about these Medicaid claims as their reputation says they are. Somebody should have identified the street address of the Russian Embassy and verified their incomes before issuing services. Naturally, they are being protected from prosecution by their embassy status.

When I was in my twenties and living in Washington, DC, I lived across a quiet street in the Dupont Circle neighborhood from an annex to the Russian Embassy. Once I was feeling moody and had the lights off in my apartment, lying on my bed and smoking a cigarette as I looked out at the Embassy windows. A Russian was in his window doing the same thing. All I could see was his cigarette glowing, as he could undoubtedly see mine. It was “spy versus spy” and gave me a thrill of excitement. Seeing evidence of the Russians was big stuff in those days. I have always liked the Russians. They dressed and walked just like American men – a little on the heavy side and a little tough – appealing if you like excitement.




Endangered green sea turtles make a comeback in Florida – NBC

By Erika Angulo, Producer, NBC News

MELBOURNE BEACH, Fla. -- When Chris Long thinks back on a summer spent digging up holes in the beach, it's a job he says he "wouldn't trade ... for anything." 
The 26-year-old University of Central Florida Ph.D. candidate spent months looking for green turtle nests, studying the comeback of a species that -- at one time -- came dangerously close to extinction. 

Photojournalist James Craven captures the journey of two green turtles as they make their way from nest to ocean.

But now, Long and the other biologists at the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in Florida are thrilled by what they found.  In 1979 there were only 62 nests in the state, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. This year, there were 35,000.  

"Some nights [during nesting season] we see 300 nests just in a 13-mile stretch," Long said. "Walk over to the beach and you'll find a turtle."
The campaign to protect green turtles began 35 years ago, when the species was added to the federal list of endangered species. 

Eventually, there were bans on the harvesting of eggs, turtle fishing and the sale of sea turtle meat. (Docile, herbivore green turtles, which can grow to weigh more than 400 pounds, were once served as a delicacy at restaurants.)

"It's astounding that once you stop eating a species it really starts to come back," said Blair Witherington, Research Scientist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.  "We almost killed every one of them, but now they're coming back." 

It can take green turtles 30 years to mature, which is why scientists are just now seeing

the results of the 1978 protective measures. Green turtles lay as many as 200 eggs in a nest and about two months later they start hatching -- most of the nests in the continental U.S. are in Florida.  Then there is a rush of tiny turtles crawling out of the sandy nests towards the ocean.
 
"They have to hatch as a group, not only for safety in numbers, but to climb over each other," said Kristen Kneifl, Research Manager at the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge.

Protecting the turtles from man-made threats
One simple measure people can take to help green turtles is to turn off lights near beaches during nesting season, which runs from spring to early fall.  Lights from buildings and homes confuse just-hatched turtles, prompting them to crawl towards the bright lights instead of the ocean. 

Many Florida beach communities now turn off beach lights during nesting season. 
Efforts to restrict beach development, to give green turtles enough space to nest, are also behind the green turtle’s success story.  Seawalls built close to the beach threaten turtle nesting.

"If you're going to build a wall along the beach, that means every day, twice a day, at high tide, the whole beach is going to be covered with salt water," said Llewellyn Ehrhart, a retired University of Central Florida biologist who has spent more than 30 years studying sea turtles. 

That sea water can wash away the sand mothers use to cover their eggs according to Ann Marie Lauritsen, national sea turtle coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. When large amounts of water penetrate the nests it can cause hatchlings to drown before they crawl out.

Despite resurgence, dangers remain
Although much progress has been made to protect the turtles, they still face hazards such as fishing lines and nets; plastic and styrofoam littering the beach; and boaters. 

Veterinarians at the Turtle Hospital in Marathon Key, Fla., treat green turtles whose shells were cracked by boats. They use steel rods to re-position the shell in place and keep them in tanks until they heal.
 
But the biggest health threat facing sea turtles right now, scientists say, is the fibropapillomatosis virus.  The disease is similar to herpes, and causes the turtles to grow tumors all over their bodies, including their eyes. 
"The tumors are getting more invasive," said Richie Moretti, director of the Turtle Hospital. "They come in with their whole bodies covered." 

The exact cause of this disease is unknown, but it's attributed to ocean warming, agricultural runoff and pollution.  Ehrhart calls the virus "a drain, a detriment to the population."

For now, however, conservationists are encouraged by all of the new green turtle nests, something Ehrhart called "phenomenal."
"It's just unheard of for a threatened and endangered species,” he said. 


These green sea turtles were on our local Jacksonville news in the past couple of months running down to the water. I would love to see them live. Nature is full of beauty, but a mass of baby sea turtles all following a profound instinct to reach the safety of the sea are among the most beautiful things I have ever seen. To think we almost ate them all up without realizing it, but the fact that their nests now number around 35,000 from only 62, is a cause of thanks to the Higher Power and to the citizens of the US.





Prost! Germany seeks UN protection for historic beer purity law – NBC

By Andy Eckardt and Carlo Angerer, NBC News

MAINZ, Germany  -- Germany's brewers are pushing to have their amber treasure to be protected by the same UN agency that has safeguarded the Great Wall of China, the Grand Canyon and Egypt's pyramids.

"Thanks to our beer purity law, Germany has an unchallenged reputation as a beer nation," said Hans-Georg Eils, the president of the German Brewers Association.
The organization has applied for the country's beer purity law to be included on UNESCO's "intangible cultural heritage" list -- which recognizes practices which require "urgent measures to keep them alive." UNESCO is also responsible for designating World Heritage sites, a list of more than 900 landmarks seen having "outstanding universal value."

The strict beer purity regulation rules -- known as the Reinheitsgebot -- allow only four ingredients to be used in the brewing process: water, malt, hops, and yeast. The rules were drafted by Bavarian dukes about 500 years ago and beer has been a serious business for Germans ever since.

The country boasts more than 1,300 breweries, more than 40 types of beer and about 5,000 brands. The latest statistics suggest the average German consumes more than 27 gallons of beer each year. 

"The popularity of German beer in great parts from the brewing tradition," said Marc-Oliver Huhnholz, a spokesman for the German Brewers Association. "From just four ingredients, we can make so many different tasting brews, that is really a special craftsmanship."

Germany's beer purity law has been adopted in neighboring Austria and Switzerland and is also adhered to elsewhere, such as the former colony of Namibia in southern Africa.
Christian Mueller, brewmaster for Namibia's Windhoek Lager, said the regulations played a major part in his company's success.

"We put the German word 'Reinheitsgebot' on every bottle and even though most people around here cannot pronounce the word, everybody knows what it means," he said. "People here also just call it 'pure beer'."

Mueller says the purity law gives beers a distinctive taste and he believes that obtaining UNESCO status would give the tradition a "good boost."
UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list aims to maintain "cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization."

The agency defines intangible cultural heritage as "traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts."

The German Brewers Association expects a UNESCO decision by the end of 2015.
 

This article struck me as being humorous, as beer hardly seems to be on a par with the pyramids of Egypt, but food and drink are among the most highly prized and distinctive cultural characteristics nation to nation. It's the difference between watching a travel show on the television and experiencing it firsthand. We have little access to other cultures in the US, except for certain local sights such as the Amish country and an American Indian reservation. I have been to both and felt as though I had traveled to another country. I went to the Amish country in the last 20 years, and to a Cherokee settlement in the mountains of North Carolina. Traveling is about meeting people across the lines of difference. It's a major learning experience, enriching our memories with positive and heartwarming interactions.



US stops cargo shipments on Afghanistan-Pakistan land route, citing fears about protests – NBC
By Phil Stewart, Reuters

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has halted ground shipments of cargo leaving Afghanistan via its key Pakistan supply route to ensure the safety of drivers following protests in Pakistan over American drone strikes, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday.

The affected route, which runs from Torkham Gate at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to the Pakistani port city of Karachi, has been crucial for the United States as it winds down its combat mission in landlocked Afghanistan and moves equipment out of the country.

The route accounts for the vast majority of ground traffic of U.S. military cargo through Pakistan and has been targeted by protesters in Pakistan angered by U.S. drone strikes

"We are aware protests have affected one of the primary commercial transit routes between Pakistan and Afghanistan," Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright told Reuters.

"We have voluntarily halted U.S. shipments of retrograde cargo ... to ensure the safety of the drivers contracted to move our equipment," he added, referring to shipments going out of Afghanistan.

The U.S. decision to temporary suspend its use of the route is another headache for military planners just as Afghan President Hamid Karzai throws into doubt American plans to keep some forces in Afghanistan after NATO's combat mission ends next year.
Karzai has so far refused to sign a bilateral security pact the United States and NATO say are crucial for some international forces to stay to advise and assist Afghans.

Related: Why Karzai is playing $4 billion poker game with US
Wright said the U.S. military expected it could resume its retrograde shipments through the Pakistani route in the near future. He also pointed out that the United States has other options to move equipment out of the country.

Still, other options are far more costly, including the shipments via the so-called Northern Distribution Network, a complex web of transit routes through Russia and Central Asia. That route is key in bringing supplies into Afghanistan.
The United States also flies equipment out of Afghanistan in jets, including munitions and weapons.

The U.S. military had to rely on those alternatives, however, when Pakistan closed down the routes to protest a NATO cross-border killing of Pakistani soldiers in 2011.
Although there is another ground supply route through Pakistan, closure of the main route essentially shuts off retrograde shipments, one U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Twelve years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
The United States still has about 46,000 troops in Afghanistan, a figure set to fall to 34,000 by early next year.

As NATO winds down its operations, it is handing responsibility for fighting Taliban insurgents to the Afghans, before most foreign combat forces pull out by the end of 2014.

NATO plans to leave a training mission, expected to number 8,000 to 12,000 soldiers, in Afghanistan after 2014.
U.S. and NATO officials have warned that if Karzai does not sign the security deal with the United States promptly, both Washington and the alliance would have to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
NATO officials have also warned that, if all foreign troops left, it could put at risk billions of dollars in foreign aid because donors would be reluctant to contribute to funding Afghan security forces if there were no foreign troops on the ground to see how the money was spent.


Retrograde cargo is defined in the US DOD dictionary as “cargo evacuated from a theater.” This is one of those mysterious military terms like “collateral damage,” which means innocent people killed in a military strike. This article gives some good background information about daily life for Americans in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It isn't a pretty picture. I wish we were out of there. The Taliban and Al-Qaeda are not going away any time soon, and ours may be a losing fight.

My boss at my last job was running the company from Afghanistan, and he emailed me daily. I asked him one time if he was okay, and he said “I would be if they would just stop shooting at me.” He was doing logistics for the Army, so he was in the hot spots. He has since retired from the Army and has a one year old baby. At least the only person I knew personally in that country is safe now.





Man who threw $1000 into mall crowd says he wants to do it again – NBC
By Elisha Fieldstadt, NBC News

The Minnesota man who “let it snow” by throwing money off a Mall of America balcony on Black Friday wants to do it again — even after receiving a citation.
“If you would direct all your friends to my original YouTube video, that way YouTube can pay me and we will throw more money,” Serge Vorobyov wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.

Vorobyov threw $1,000 — in small bills — into a crowd of holiday shoppers at America’s largest mall while they watched a band perform the song “Let it Snow.”
He broadcasted the reaction on YouTube, along with his confrontation with security and an explanation for what he did — which was to counter Black Friday greed.
Vorobyov has chronicled on Facebook the wave of local and national attention that his grand gesture has brought him, but wants more people to view his video.
He said that if YouTube pays him, he will continue to give it away, but he didn't specify where or to whom.

YouTube "partners" may earn money based on “advertising revenue generated when people view your video,” but “there are no guarantees under the YouTube partner agreement about how much, or whether, you will be paid,” according to the site.
Vorobyov’s video, which he called “Crazy Guy Throws $ 1,000 Dollars off 4th Floor at Mall of America,” had over 170,000 views on Monday evening.


This is like the man or woman who anonymously puts a high dollar gold coin in the Salvation Army bin every year. Some of us have a desire to “give back” to the world. I do my part by giving small amounts that I can afford to Red Cross and Salvation Army several times a year, but it is probably a lot more fun to throw five dollar bills off a balcony and watch people scramble for them.




­

To Fix Social Security, Some Democrats Want To Lift Wage Cap – NPR
By David Welna
­
For the past three years, there's been a shortfall in the payroll taxes collected for Social Security. And as more baby boomers join the ranks of the 57 million people already receiving benefits, that deficit is bound to keep growing.

At the same time, the overall share of wages being taxed for Social Security is shrinking as the higher wages that are exempt have soared. The Social Security Board of Trustees predicts a nearly $3 trillion trust fund built up over decades will vanish within 20 years.

But that does not seem to faze Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The Massachusetts Democrat has gotten a lot of attention for a speech defending Social Security that she delivered last month on the Senate floor.

"With some modest adjustments, we can keep the system solvent for many more years, and we could even increase benefits," Warren says.
To finance that, Warren and some of her Democratic allies want to lift the cap on wages taxed for Social Security.

Iowa Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin sponsored legislation that would gradually remove the cap that currently makes only the first $113,700 in wages subject to Social Security taxes. He says it's the only fair thing to do.

"If I make $50,000 a year, I pay Social Security taxes on every dime I make. If I make $500,000 a year, I only pay taxes on about the first 20 cents. After that, I don't pay any more Social Security taxes. That's regressive," Harkin says. "You want to make it more progressive, raise the cap so everybody pays their share on every dollar they make."

And as President Obama noted this week, an ever greater share of dollars is being earned precisely by those at the top.
"Since 1979, our economy has more than doubled in size, but most of that growth has flowed to a fortunate few," Obama says. "The top 10 percent no longer takes in one-third of our income; it now takes half."

That concentration of wealth has taken place beyond the earnings subject to Social Security taxes. Melissa Favreault, a Social Security expert at the nonpartisan Urban Institute, says that has meant an ever greater share of the national income is contributing nothing to Social Security.

"We do have this declining share of overall earnings that are taxed, reflecting the fact that the top half of 1 percent or so has been garnering a really large proportion of total earnings," Favreault says.

Favreault says three decades ago, 90 percent of the nation's wage earnings were taxed for Social Security; that proportion has now shrunk to 83 percent. And that's made an already regressive tax even more so.

Favreault says raising the rates for Social Security withholding would be one way to shore up the program's finances, but that would only make the tax even more regressive. Removing the cap on income subject to the tax, she says, would make it more progressive.

"The cap, I think, is really a natural place to look, just because there has been this explosion in earnings inequality, and there's been stagnation for earners at the bottom and in the middle of the wage distribution. So it's definitely a good place to look," she says.

Removing that cap could keep Social Security solvent 30 years beyond what's currently projected. But Andrew Biggs of the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank, warns that doing so would undo the original intent of Social Security, which was to be an insurance program for everyone.

"If Social Security comes to be seen as a welfare program, a highly redistributive program, it takes a 'soak the rich' kind of approach," Biggs says. "Then political support among, certainly among conservatives, among Republicans, among higher-income people is going to drop. And you need everybody onboard in order to keep a system like this going."

Biggs says making all payroll income subject to the 12.4 percent Social Security tax would be a sharp tax hike for the wealthy. That's a tough sell on Capitol Hill, especially for Republicans. Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, who serves on the tax-writing Finance Committee, says, "I'm not interested in tax increases."
So at least for now, the wealthiest 6 percent of taxpayers will continue to be protected by the Social Security wage cap.


I didn't know before now that there was a cap on the earnings subject to the Social Security tax. I agree with the Democrats mentioned here that (1) there is a great need to bring in more tax dollars to the Fund as we the baby boomers are all covered, and (2) the extreme and increasing differences between the lower level employees and the CEO is grossly unfair.

Those who make over $113,700 a year still have to pay Social Security taxes on their first earnings up to that limit, and therefore would be able to receive their portion of the pension when they retire, so how is it unfair to them? Being more wealthy, they should pay more in taxes. They also get breaks on Federal taxes as it is. I have sent a section of this article to Senator Bill Nelson my Florida representative and hope that the Democrats will push forward either to reduce appropriately or eliminate the Cap in order to increase the Fund.