SUNDAY, MARCH 2, 2014


NEWS CLIPS FOR THE DAY


Ukrainian prime minister: Russia has made a "declaration of war" – CBS
CBS/Wire Services March 2, 2014
Last Updated Mar 2, 2014 8:52 AM EST

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine - Ukraine mobilized for war on Sunday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade, creating the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

"This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country," said Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, head of a pro-Western government that took power when Russian ally Viktor Yanukovich fled last week.

Putin obtained permission from his parliament on Saturday to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine, spurning Western pleas not intervene.
Russian forces have already bloodlessly seized Crimea - an isolated Black Sea peninsula where Moscow has a naval base. On Sunday they surrounded several small Ukrainian military outposts there and demanded the Ukrainian troops disarm. Some refused, although no shots were fired.

Ukraine's security council ordered the general staff to immediately put all armed forces on highest alert, the council's secretary Andriy Parubiy announced.
The Defense Ministry was ordered to conduct a call-up of reserves - theoretically all men up to 40 in a country with universal male conscription, though Ukraine would struggle to find extra guns or uniforms for significant numbers of them.

"If President Putin wants to be the president who started the war between two neighboring and friendly countries, between Ukraine and Russia, he has reached this target within a few inches. We are on the brink of disaster," Yatsenyuk said in televised remarks in English, appealing for Western support.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry echoed Yatsenyuk's concerns, calling Putin's moves "stunning" and a "violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine" in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday morning.

"You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pretext," Kerry said.
Putin said he is protecting Russian interests and ethnic Russians by sending in his troops to eastern Ukraine, but so far there has been no evidence of any threats to those things.

"There are all kinds of other options still available to Russia," Kerry said. "There still are. President Obama wants to emphasize to the Russians that there are a right set of choices that can still be made to address any concerns they have about Crimea, about their citizens, but you don't choose to invade a country in order to do that."

THREAT TO EASTERN UKRAINE
At Kiev's Independence Square, where anti-Yanukovich protesters had camped out for months, thousands demonstrated against Russian military action. Placards read: "Putin, hands off Ukraine!"

Of potentially even greater concern than Russia's seizure of the Crimea are eastern swathes of the country, where most of the ethnic Ukrainians speak Russian as a native language.

Those areas saw violent protests on Saturday, with pro-Moscow demonstrators hoisting flags at government buildings and calling for Russia to defend them. Kiev said the protests were manufactured by Russia, accusing Moscow of sending hundreds of its citizens across the border to stage them.

Putin's declaration that he has the right to invade his neighbor - for which he quickly received the unanimous approval of his senate - brought the prospect of war to a country of 46 million people on the ramparts of central Europe.

"President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia's clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a breach of international law," the White House said after the leaders spoke for 90 minutes on Saturday.
The U.S. also said it will suspend participation in "preparatory meetings" for the Group of Eight economic summit planned in June to be held at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, site of the just-concluded 2014 Winter Olympics.

Obama's conversation with Putin was the toughest and most direct of the Obama presidency, reports CBS News correspondent Major Garrett.
For Obama to accuse Putin of violating Ukraine's territorial sovereignty and committing a violation of international law is to throw back into Putin's face all of the language he has clung to in order protect Syria, Iran and other nations while holding the U.S. and the West at bay.

Putin ritualistically proclaims the centrality and global preeminence of the UN charter, treaties and international law. By directing and unequivocally calling Putin a violator of these self-same standards in Ukraine, Obama is trying to isolate Putin with his own rhetoric.

The White House knows it can't fight Russia out of Crimea. It is hoping to shame and isolate Putin into reconsidering his options and force Putin to decide between his sovereignty arguments on the world stage on behalf of Syria and Iran and give them up if he means to protect to the Crimea by invading Ukraine.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius agreed, saying on French radio Europe that planning for the summit should be put on hold. France "condemns the Russian military escalation" in Ukraine, and Moscow must "realize that decisions have costs," he said Sunday.

But the U.S. and other Western governments have few options to counter Russia's military moves.

Ukraine has appealed for help to NATO, and directly to Britain and the United States, as co-signatories with Moscow to a 1994 accord guaranteeing Ukraine's security after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

The White House is moving rapidly to put together a tangible aid package, valued in the billions, so the IMF team due to arrive in Kiev next week doesn't just arrive by saying "Hello."

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen accused Russia of threatening peace and security in Europe before NATO ambassadors met in Brussels to discuss their next steps.

Washington has proposed sending monitors to Ukraine under the flags of the United Nations or Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, bodies where Moscow would have a veto.

So far, the Western response has been largely symbolic. Obama and other leaders suspended plans to attend a G8 summit in Sochi, where Putin has just finished staging his $50 billion winter Olympic games. Some countries recalled ambassadors.
"This is probably the most dangerous situation in Europe since the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968," said a Western official. "Realistically, we have to assume the Crimea is in Russian hands. The challenge now is to deter Russia from taking over the Russian-speaking east of Ukraine."

NO MATCH
Ukraine's tiny armed forces would be no match against the might of its superpower neighbor. Britain's International Institute of Strategic Studies estimates Kiev has fewer than 130,000 troops under arms, with planes barely ready to fly and few spare parts for a single submarine.

Russia, by contrast, has spent billions under Putin to upgrade and modernize the capabilities of forces that were dilapidated after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Moscow's special units are now seen as equals of the best in the world.
In Crimea, Ukraine's tiny contingent made no attempt to oppose the Russians, who bore no insignia on their uniforms but drove vehicles with Russian plates and seized government buildings, airports and other locations in the past three days. Kiev said its troops were encircled at least three places.

Igor Mamchev, a Ukrainian navy colonel at a small base near the regional capital Simferopol, told Ukraine's Channel 5 television a truckload of Russian troops had arrived at his checkpoint and ordered him to surrender.

"I replied that, as I am a member of the armed forces of Ukraine, under orders of the Ukrainian navy, there could be no discussion of disarmament. In case of any attempt to enter the military base, we will use all means, up to lethal force.
"We are military people, who have given our oath to the people of Ukraine and will carry out our duty until the end."

Dmytro Delyatytskiy, commander of Ukrainian marines barricaded into a base in the Crimean port of Feodosia, told the same television station by telephone he had refused a Russian demand that his troops give up weapons by 10 a.m.
"We have orders," he said. "We are preparing our defenses."

Elsewhere on the occupied peninsula, the Russian forces appeared to be assuming a lower profile on Sunday after the pro-Moscow Crimean leader announced overnight that the situation was now "normalized". Russians had vanished from outside a small Ukrainian guard post in the port of Balaclava that they had surrounded with armored vehicles on Saturday.

A barricade in front of the Crimean regional parliament had been dismantled. A single armored vehicle with two soldiers drove through the main square, where people snapped photos.

Putin's justification - the need to protect Russian citizens - was the same as he used to launch a 2008 invasion of Georgia, where Russian forces seized two breakaway regions.

In Russia, state controlled media portray Yanukovich's removal as a coup by dangerous extremists funded by the West and there has been little sign of dissent with that line.

Russian officials have repeatedly described Ukraine's Russian speakers - some of whom have Russian passports - as facing urgent danger. Itar-Tass quoted Russian border guards as saying 675,000 people had fled Ukraine for Russia in the past two months and there were signs of a "humanitarian catastrophe".

Putin told Obama "there are real threats to the life and health of Russian citizens and compatriots on Ukrainian territory". Moscow reserved the right to intervene on behalf of Russian speakers anywhere they were threatened, Putin added, according to the Kremlin's readout of the phone call.

So far there has been no sign of Russian military action in Ukraine outside Crimea, but Kiev officials accused Moscow of being behind a pattern of violent protests in other eastern cities as a pretext to launch a wider invasion.

Pro-Moscow demonstrators flew Russian flags on Saturday at government buildings in the cities of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk. In places they clashed with anti-Russian protesters and guards trying to defend the buildings.

Ukrainian parliamentarian Hrygory Nemyriya, a spokesman to foreign journalists for the new authorities, said the pro-Moscow marchers were sent from Russia. He described a pattern of "Russian citizens in Ukrainian provinces orchestrating the illegal seizure of government buildings".

The worst violence took place in Kharkiv, where scores of people were hurt on Saturday when thousands of pro-Russian activists, some brandishing axe handles and chains, stormed the regional government and fought pitched battles with a smaller number of supporters of Ukraine's new authorities.

In Donetsk, Yanukovich's home city, the local government has called for a referendum on the region's status, a move Kiev says is illegal. A pro-Russian "self-defense" unit, which staged a big protest on Saturday, scheduled another for Sunday.




Russia's actions are in violation of “a 1994 accord guaranteeing Ukraine's security after the breakup of the Soviet Union.” It is still possible that Russia will refrain from attacking Kiev and the Western Ukrainian forces. It does not appear, though, that Putin can be “shamed,” as the article says Obama is trying to do, into pulling out of Crimea. Old words are no longer being honored. There are always new definitions.

When the Ukraine prevented its Eastern sections from naming Russian as a second official language, it could be considered provocation and cause to invade. According to Putin in his conversation with Obama, Russians have been fleeing the Ukraine for life in Russia for some months, so there may be more to the story that has not been reported in the news.

Over the last decade and a half, Moscow has appeared in many ways to be cooperating with the West since Glasnost, even becoming less warlike, but that accord appears to be melting away under the movement of Ukrainian sentiment toward the Western influence. I think that is the true “provocation.” Russia finds it hard to lose the Ukraine's resources and maybe its position bordering the rest of Europe, which would be a strategic advantage to Russia if they were able to use it in case of a war with European powers.

I hate to see Ukraine's people, who want a democratic government, dominated again by Russia or any other heavy-handed power. A pattern of conquest by an outside government makes that country an unethical and unfair power. I feel the same way about Israel's insistence on colonizing parts of Palestine. Of course, Palestine has never recognized Israel's right to a sovereign nation on the territory which was ceded to them by the United Nations in 1947, so there is unfairness and intransigence on both sides. We will probably find out soon what the outcome of Russia's invasion of Ukraine will be. I will continue to follow the story frequently and hope for Ukraine's continued freedom.





Sixty-five-foot crack discovered in Washington dam – CBS
AP March 1, 2014

EPHRATA, Wash. - A 65-foot-long crack in a Columbia River dam in central Washington has prompted officials to begin lowering the water level by 20 feet so inspectors can get a better idea of how serious the damage is.

There is no immediate threat to public safety from the crack in the Wanapum Dam, according to Grant County Public Utility District spokesman Thomas Stredwick. The dam is located just downstream from where Interstate 90 crosses the river.

"At this point we already know there's a serious problem," Stredwick said. "We want to make sure the spillway is stable enough that inspectors are safe when inspecting it."

An engineer earlier this week spotted a slight "bowing" above the spillway gates near where cars can drive across the dam, The Seattle Times reported. Divers found a 2-inch-wide crack along the base of one of the spillway piers.

Public utility district officials analyzed the divers' data and decided Friday that the failure risk was sufficiently high that they should notify other government agencies and downstream water users.

Officials have lowered the water level by 6 feet already and plan to let the level drop another 14 feet by Monday.

Dam failure in the rural area south of the small town of Vantage would primarily affect farmers, fishermen and power generation. The dam can generate more than 1,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power.

Utility officials are working with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to determine how best to repair the cracked pillar.

Repairs could also affect the rest of the Columbia River hydroelectric system.
"All these dams coordinate to generate energy on a regional scope," Stredwick said. "If Wanapum is impacted, that has impacts on dams upstream as well as below."
Officials with the Bonneville Power Administration, the federal utility that sells and transmits much of the Northwest's cheap and abundant hydroelectric power, declined to comment on any potential impact to power generation, The Times reported.
Wanapum Dam was built in 1959 and is more than a mile long.

The piers supporting its 10 spillway gates are each 65 feet wide, 126 feet tall and 92 feet deep.




It seems to me that a dam made of concrete, which is only 50 plus years old, should still be stable and crack free unless there has been an earthquake. I hope they succeed in fixing it, but it is another of those cases of our “crumbling infrastructure,” which we need to address. It costs money to attend to these things, but it should be done, as a part of our federal budget. The infrastructure is even more important than our military, I think, as it affects everyone's daily life. I don't want to be driving across one of our five or six bridges here in Jacksonville when it happens to fall down.




How the brain takes criticism – CBS
CBS News March 2, 2014

If Oscars are the pinnacle of Tinsletown praise, negative reviews by film critics surely are the depths. Worse yet, the sting of criticism has a proven staying power, giving new meaning to the song lyric "You must remember this." Tracy Smith reports our Cover Story:

In the 40 years that he's been writing books and movie reviews, critic Leonard Maltin has earned a slew of accolades. But those aren't what he remembers.
"I save all the reviews my books have gotten over the years. And I can cite the negative ones for you pretty much from memory," he said.
And the positive ones? "Not so much."

The fact is, criticism sticks. Beneath every designer outfit on the red carpet there'd better be a thick skin.

When asked how he takes it when a movie of his is panned, actor Christopher Walken replied, "You know, it's hard."

Kevin Kline said, "They're not writing them for us, and it's stupid for us to read them."

Kathy Ireland recalled, "A critic said I had a voice that could kill small animals. Not a real confidence builder!"

And that kind of pain is hard to shake for any of us. So why are the unpleasant things so unforgettable? Scientists call it negativity bias. The theory is that bad news makes a much bigger impact on our brains, and it's been that way since the caveman days, when our lives depended on being able to remember, above all, what could kill us.

"We're still walking around with this Stone Age brain right between our ears, with these ancient circuits in it," said psychologist Rick Hanson. "So as a result, people are much more likely to remember bad news about somebody else, than they're likely to remember good information about somebody else - thus, negative ads in politics."
Hanson, author of "Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence" (Harmony Books), wrote about ways to get past our built-in urge to think the worst. The trouble is, he said, "We've got a brain that's really good at learning from bad experiences. And it's relatively bad at learning from good experiences. That's why I say that the brain is like Velcro for the bad, but Teflon for the good."

And few people understand the power of bad as well as a film critic.
Smith asked Leonard Maltin, "Do you think about people's feelings when you sit down to review something?"

Sometimes, he replied, "because I've been criticized, too. But if I've just seen a really terrible movie that has offended me to the marrow of my bones, I'm not going to be thinking so much about their feelings."

Is there a line he won't cross? "There are times when I'll see a movie with an actress who is purported to be beautiful, and I don't like her looks. That's a line I don't think I should cross, and yet somehow I feel perhaps I should address it."
"Have you ever crossed that line?" Smith asked.
"I hope not," he said.

For others, there really are no lines. John Simon was a longtime critic for New York magazine -- a Harvard Ph.D. who maintained that anything up on the stage or screen was fair game for criticism.

In 1977, he reviewed Liza Minelli's Broadway show, "The Act," and criticized everything, including her face, writing that she had "blubber lips unable to resist the pull of gravity . . . and a chin trying its damned-est to withdraw into the neck."
There's so much more: in his review of 1976's "A Star Is Born," Simon wrote that Barbra Streisand's nose "cleaves the giant screen from east to west," and "zigzags across our horizon like a bolt of fleshy lightning."

Smith asked Simon, "Do you think about people's feelings when you write reviews?"
"Maybe a tiny thought, but not much," he replied. "I feel that a critic cannot afford to worry about how his review will affect an actor or a director or a writer. He has to write what he believes is the truth, and let the chips fall where they may."

The thing about criticism is that it really doesn't always roll off our backs.
At the University of California San Diego, Dr. Martin Paulus is looking into how negative words affect the brain.

"When you hear a criticism -- say somebody says to you, 'You suck as an actor' -- that word 'suck' immediately gets translated from hearing it as a word, to something that is a threat to you," said Dr. Paulus.

He says that at least two regions of the brain -- the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex -- work harder when processing criticism, and can keep the brain from doing much else.

"If I engage the brain in criticism, and it's really working hard on that criticism, it can't work on anything else, it becomes all-consuming," Dr. Paulus said. "And so when you engage the brain in very strong negative things, then obviously these negative things become part of who we are."

"So it literally affects you to your core?" asked Smith.
"Absolutely, to your core."

Of course, there is such a thing as pushing back.
Consider the case of actress Sylvia Miles, a two-time Academy Award nominee, the first time for her role in 1969's "Midnight Cowboy."
Off screen, she was active on the New York party scene. When critic John Simon reviewed her in a 1973 play, he referred to her as a party girl and gatecrasher.
"I said her acting is more like gate-crashing," Simon recalled, "which she didn't particularly like."

Not long afterward, Miles spotted Simon at a party, and she happened to be holding a plate of food.
"I look up and he's standing right there," Miles told Smith. "Without further adieu and without even thinking -- I mean, I don't even remember thinking anything -- I just dumped it on the top of his head. I said, 'Now you can call me a plate crasher, as well.'"

Simon said, "That proves that negative criticism does stick with certain people."
"What went through your head when a plate of food landed on it?" Smith asked.
"Well, I said, 'Too bad, I would have liked to eat it. But now that it's been spilled all over me.'"

Despite the food fight, Sylvia Miles kept on working. And Simon, now 88, is still writing reviews (without apologies or regrets) as the critic for the Westchester Guardian.

Smith asked, "Would you take back anything you've said about Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Sylvia Miles?"

"No, I would not, I think," he replied. "Repulsiveness remains repulsive, no matter what."

Of course, not all critics are John Simon, and not all criticism's bad for you.
Tonight, the movie people will get picked apart, as will we all at some point.
But Sylvia Miles managed to put her memories in their proper place, and chances are, so can we.

Smith said, "One of the things that we're seeing is that our brains tend to remember the negative."

"Oh, absolutely, I couldn't agree with you more," said Miles. "But that's only if you allow that.
"But I've learned to find ways to see the positive side of everything. Because you stay healthier if you're happy and you're smiling and you feel good. And I'd rather get a laugh than a frown, you know what I mean?"




Before I got on my bipolar meds I tended to get painfully depressed and hopeless. I was stuck in negativity. With a change in my brain chemistry, I no longer focus intensely and for a long period of time on negativity. I don't give myself permission to dump a plate of food on anyone, though I think Simon deserved it because his words as quoted in this article were unfair, mean and intentionally hurtful. I would classify him as a bully, not just an art critic. I read some critical articles, especially when I'm trying to decide where to invest my $7.00 movie ticket, but I only want information to guide me in a choice.

I get no thrill out of reading scathing and even heartless comments about another person. I have said some strong things myself, but only when I think there is a moral and ethical point involved. I said yesterday that only a stupid person would kill a living animal just for target practice. That's what clay pigeons are for. I do believe stupidity is behind racial hatred, bullying and other really harmful things, and I think that needs to be understood so that people can avoid operating under those attitudes and behaviors.

We can learn from negative statements and change our behavior to improve, but we still have to maintain a healthy self-esteem to move on in life, so I do think about things that I shouldn't have done, but only for long enough to see what I can do differently and then I forgive and accept myself. If I think I actually need to ask for forgiveness I do it, though. Sometimes there is damage done, and there should be an amend made, as the AA program says. After that, I try to move on, hopefully incorporating a change of attitude or behavior into the future.




Is Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl a hero or a deserter? – CBS
AP March 2, 2014

WASHINGTON - The case of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, held by the Taliban since 2009, has arisen again as the U.S. and other countries engage in diplomatic efforts to free him.

But if he is released, will America's only prisoner of the Afghan war be viewed as a hero or a deserter?

While tattered yellow ribbons still adorn utility poles in his native Hailey, Idaho, others are expressing conflicting thoughts about Bergdahl's plight as the war winds down, with President Barack Obama threatening to withdraw all U.S. troops by year's end unless the Afghan government signs a crucial security agreement.

They are convinced that on June 30, 2009, just a few months after he arrived in Afghanistan, Bergdahl willingly walked away from his unit, which was deployed in Paktika province in eastern Afghanistan, adjacent to the border with Pakistan. While they do want Bergdahl home, they think he should have to answer allegations that he deserted his unit.

Bergdahl was last seen in a video the Taliban released in December.
At this year's Grammys, celebrities were photographed wearing Bowe bracelets. In the past two years, billboards with Bergdahl's face have popped up in major cities. One shows a smiling Bergdahl, in an Army uniform, with the message: "He fought for us. ... Let's fight for him!"

A transcript of radio intercepts, publicly released through Wikileaks, indicates that Bergdahl, then 23, was captured while sitting in a makeshift latrine.

"We were attacking the post he was sitting," according to a radio intercept of a conversation among insurgents. "He had no gun with him. ... They have all (the) Americans, ANA (Afghan National Army), helicopters, the planes are looking for him. Can you guys make a video of him and announce it all over Afghanistan that we have one of the Americans?"

Rolling Stone magazine quoted emails Bergdahl is said to have sent to his parents that suggest he was disillusioned with America's mission in Afghanistan, had lost faith in the U.S. Army's mission there and was considering desertion.

Bergdahl told his parents he was "ashamed to even be American." Bergdahl, who mailed home boxes containing his uniform and books, also wrote: "The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong."

The Associated Press could not independently authenticate the emails published by the magazine in 2012. Bergdahl's family has not commented on the allegations of desertion, according to Col. Tim Marsano, a spokesman for the Idaho National Guard. Marsano is in regular contact with Bergdahl's mother, Jani, and father, Bob, who has grown a long, thick beard and has worked to learn Pashto, the language spoken by his son's captors.

A senior Defense Department official said that if Bergdahl is released, it could be determined that he has more than paid for leaving his unit - if that's what really happened - "and there's every indicator that he did."

Still, it's a conundrum for commanders under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the equal application of the law, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the Bergdahl case.
Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, said if there is evidence that Bergdahl left his unit without permission, he could be charged with being absent without leave (AWOL) or desertion.

Desertion during a time of war can carry the death penalty. But Congress never passed a declaration of war with respect to Afghanistan, and neither President George W. Bush nor President Barack Obama has determined that U.S. military operations in Afghanistan make this a "time of war" for the purposes of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Fidell said.

Were Bergdahl to be charged with desertion, the maximum penalty he would face is five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge, if it's proved that he deserted with the intent to avoid hazardous duty or to shirk important service. A case of AWOL, ended by the U.S. apprehending him, would not require proof that he intended to remain away permanently. The maximum punishment for that would be a dishonorable discharge and 18 months' confinement, he said.

"Someone is going to have to make a decision, based on a preliminary investigation, as to whether this is a desertion or AWOL rather than simply having the bad luck to have fallen into the wrong hands," Fidell said.

"The command can say 'This fellow has been living in terrible conditions. We don't approve of what he did but we're not going to prosecute him,'" he said. "Or, the military could prosecute him as a way of signaling to others that 'Look, you can't simply go over the hill.' ... It's quite an interesting set of issues that will have to be addressed as a matter of both policy and law."

Desertion can be difficult to prove, said Ret. Maj. Gen. John Altenburg Jr., a Washington attorney who served 28 years as a lawyer in the Army.
"There has to be some evidence that he intended never to come back - that he intended to remain away from his unit permanently," Altenburg said.
"I don't know if they'll charge him with anything. It will depend on the circumstances of his return and what he has to say."

Mary Schantag, chairman of the P.O.W. Network, an educational nonprofit group founded in 1989, said it's futile to speculate. "He is an American soldier in enemy hands. Period. Bring him home," she said.

Rep. Duncan Hunter, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and former Marine who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, agreed.
"It's hard to imagine any circumstance where his captivity won't be viewed as time served," said Hunter, R-Calif. "The first order of business is securing his release and I don't think it does an ounce of good to begin contemplating that far ahead when the focus is on getting him home."

Chrissy Marsaglia and her husband, ex-Marines from outside Seattle who launched a bring Bowe home project in 2012, don't speculate about the details of his capture or efforts to release him. They just want him home. Through donations, the small group has worked to raise awareness of Bergdahl's captivity on more than 90 billboards in U.S. cities.
"Every day, we meet people who don't know about him," she said




I have never heard of this soldier until now. This article didn't give any evidence that he volunteer gave himself up. It just show by his emails that he was a conscientious objector, at least in this war. He didn't join the enemy and fight against his country, as one young man did. I can't remember his name, but that man was found in an al Qaeda training camp when the US invaded it.

One of my great grandfathers deserted the South in the Civil War because the war “is a rich man's war and a poor man's fight.” Another refused to serve because he didn't believe in slavery. Most wars are debatable things. I think World War II when Hitler was close to conquering Europe, and who knows, maybe even the world, was a necessary war. It took the combined forces of the US and its allies to beat Germany and Japan.

I was not in favor of invading Iraq, because al Qaeda was not at that time based in Iraq, but I was in favor of going into Afghanistan. Now that the attack has been punished and Bin Laden is dead, I think we should be getting out. Afghanistan was not our real enemy, but al Qaeda and the Taliban as they fight together against modern and Western values. I don't want to see the Taliban win and take over the government of Afghanistan, though, so I am conflicted about the war there in my feelings. I am not against the religion of Islam, but I do despise the stances that so many Middle Eastern and African countries take on the position of women in their societies. That is probably not a fight that military action can win, though. It is a war of the heart and mind, and is deeply psychological. It is misogynism pure and simple. Their men are at war with their women. It is bullying abuse on a grand scale.




Mummies' milk: World's oldest cheese found in China – CBS
By Tia Ghose Livescience.com March 2, 2014

Yellow chunks of the world's oldest "cheese" may have been discovered on the bodies of mummies buried in China's Taklamakan Desert.

The mummies, which are each about 3,800 years old, were buried with hunks of the dairy treat, presumably a tasty snack for the buried to enjoy in the afterlife. This particular cheese was also simple to make, nutritious and easily digestible, according to the study.

"Despite being extraordinary simple, it possessed the necessary qualities for supporting the economic expansion of ruminant animal herding into Eastern Eurasia," the authors write in the paper, which was published online Feb. 18 in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Researchers have found hints of cheese making from as far back as the sixth millennium B.C., but samples of the ancient cheese itself have been elusive. Most evidence relied on residual fats found in pottery shards, but many of these traces had degraded over time or received only limited analysis. This made the evidence for ancient cheese circumstantial, the authors write.

Researchers unearthed the newly discovered cheese during excavations of the Xiaohe Cemetery, also known as Ordek's necropolis, between 2002 and 2004. The ancient necropolis was first discovered in a sand dune located by a dried-up riverbed in 1934. It harbors hundreds of mummies buried in large, wooden coffins that resembled upside-down boats, which were then covered with cowhide that sealed the coffins from the air. The dry air and salty soil had left many mummies and their accessories extraordinarily well preserved.

The research team found 0.4 inch to 0.8 inch (1 to 2 centimeters) clumps of a yellowish substance in several tombs, adorning the necks and chests of the mummies, which had Eurasian features.

A chemical analysis revealed that the ancient dairy product didn't require an enzyme, known as rennet, which is found in the guts of ruminants and is used to make hard cheeses such as cheddar.

Instead, makers likely fermented this cheese using microbes such as Lactobacillus and Saccharomycetaceae yeasts, which are commonly used to make the still-popular fermented dairy beverage known as kefir. The team also made their own homemade kefir, and found that the chemical and bacterial composition matched the snacks buried with the mummies.

The ancient cheese had less salt content than typical brined cheeses, which preserve better. This finding suggested the cheese was meant to be consumed on the spot, and was not created for long-distance trade.

The fermented treat may have provided probiotic benefits to the guts of these ancient people, and may even explain why herding became such a dominant way of life.
"The evidence of kefir dairy that occurred already at the Early Bronze Age helps [us] to understand why milking was spreading over Eastern Eurasia despite the lactose intolerance of the local population," the authors write in the paper.




I have heard of these mummies before and seen photographs of them and their graves, but not of their having herds or cheese. It was fascinating to me when I found that a woven fabric was found on their bodies which was patterned and colored like Scottish tartans, so that is another cultural characteristic that is very old and either widespread over a number of cultures or goes back in time to the influx of the Indo-European speaking peoples which spread across Europe and South Asia. Cheese making would be a very good way to keep protein a longer time than unsalted meat will last, without having it rot. This article speaks of the lactose intolerance of the area, but these people were Caucasian, and didn't have lactose intolerance. See the following from Wikipedia.


Tarim mummies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Tarim mummies are a series of mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang, China, which date from 1800 BCE to 200 CE.[1][2] The mummies, particularly the early ones, are frequently associated with the presence of the Indo-European Tocharian languages in the Tarim Basin,[3] although the evidence is not totally conclusive and many centuries separate these mummies from the first attestation of the Tocharian languages in writing. Victor H. Mair's team concluded that the mummies are Europoid, likely speakers of Indo-European languages.[4]

The earliest Tarim mummies, found at Qäwrighul and dated to 1800 BCE, are of a Europoid physical type whose closest affiliation is to the Bronze Age populations of southern Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, and the Lower Volga.[1]

Notable mummies are the tall, red-haired "Chärchän man" or the "Ur-David" (1000 BCE); his son (1000 BCE), a small 1-year-old baby with brown hair protruding from under a red and blue felt cap, with two stones positioned over its eyes; the "Hami Mummy" (c. 1400–800 BCE), a "red-headed beauty" found in Qizilchoqa; and the "Witches of Subeshi" (4th or 3rd century BCE), who wore 2-foot-long (0.61 m) black felt conical hats with a flat brim.[6] Also found at Subeshi was a man with traces of a surgical operation on his neck; the incision is sewn up with sutures made of horsehair.[7]

Their costumes, and especially textiles, may indicate a common origin with Indo-European neolithic clothing techniques or a common low-level textile technology. Chärchän man wore a red twill tunic and tartan leggings. Textile expert Elizabeth Wayland Barber, who examined the tartan-style cloth, discusses similarities between it and fragments recovered from salt mines associated with the Hallstatt culture.[8]

DNA sequence data[9] shows that the mummies had Haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA) characteristic of western Eurasia in the area of East-Central Europe, Central Asia and Indus Valley.[10]
A team of Chinese and American researchers working in Sweden tested DNA from 52 separate mummies, including the mummy denoted "Beauty of Loulan."[11] The features of the Loulan Beauty have been described as Nordic in appearance.[4] She was approximately 45 years old when she died.[4] By genetically mapping the mummies' origins, the researchers confirmed the theory that these mummies were of West Eurasian descent.[11][4] Victor Mair, a University of Pennsylvania professor and project leader for the team that did the genetic mapping, commented that these studies were:
...extremely important because they link up eastern and western Eurasia at a formative stage of civilization (Bronze Age and early Iron Age) in a much closer way than has ever been done before.[11]

In 2007 the Chinese government allowed a National Geographic Society team headed by Spencer Wells to examine the mummies' DNA. Wells was able to extract undegraded DNA from the internal tissues. The scientists extracted enough material to suggest the Tarim Basin was continually inhabited from 2000 BCE to 300 BCE and preliminary results indicate the people, rather than having a single origin, originated from Europe, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley and other regions yet to be determined.[13]

In 2009, the remains of individuals found at a site in Xiaohe were analyzed for Y-DNA and mtDNA markers. They suggest that an admixed population of both west and east origin lived in the Tarim basin since the early Bronze Age. The maternal lineages were predominantly East Eurasian haplogroup C with smaller numbers of H and K, while the paternal lines were all West Eurasian R1a1a. The geographic location of where this admixing took place is unknown, although south Siberia is likely.[10]
It has been asserted that the textiles found with the mummies are of an early European textile type based on close similarities to fragmentary textiles found in salt mines in Austria, dating from the second millennium BCE. Anthropologist Irene Good, a specialist in early Eurasian textiles, noted the woven diagonal twill pattern indicated the use of a rather sophisticated loom and, she says, the textile is "the easternmost known example of this kind of weaving technique."




If I go on too deeply about ancient prehistory forgive me. There is probably nothing in which I am more avidly interested, unless it is the world of animals. I know a number of people share my interest, so when I see a good article about it I usually clip it.




Prince George Takes Center Stage on William and Kate's Overseas Tour – ABC
March 2, 2014
By CAROLYN DURAND via Good Morning America

Prince William and Catherine, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, will make their first overseas tour with baby George April 7-25, when they travel to New Zealand and Australia.

Williams' parents, Prince Charles and Diana, went to Australia and New Zealand with William in tow for his first overseas trip at the same age 31 years ago.

"It's a tremendously exciting visit," said Miguel Head, Prince William's private secretary. "One or two engagements ... have been identified as times when The Duke and Duchess may bring Prince George along, too."

It's likely that after a peek at George getting off the plane in New Zealand we will have our first look at the growing heir to the throne at a welcome reception for parents at Government House in Wellington.

"But George, being a little over 8 months old by the time they travel, I'm sure you will appreciate the couple have to make a final decision about that much closer to the time," Head said.

A nanny will travel with the couple and Prince George, along with their private secretaries, Head and Rebecca Deacon; three press officers; a personal assistant; a hairdresser; an orderly; and, adviser Sir David Manning, who was ambassador to the U.S. from 2003 to 2007.

George has been cared for by a part-time nanny, Jessica Webb, who was Prince William's nanny as a child. The young prince will have a full-time nanny along for this trip as the couple will spend several nights away from him.

The Duke and Duchess will travel on scheduled commercial flights to and from London, New Zealand and Australia and be transported by Australian and New Zealand's Air Force while in both countries. Direct heirs to the throne are not allowed to travel with one another without The Queen's permission, which she has given to Prince William so he can travel with his son. Kate's mother is not traveling with the family.

William and Kate have been invited by the governments of New Zealand and Australia.
"Prince William has no doubt his wife will fall in love with New Zealand and Australia just as much as he has," Head said.

"The program has been tailored to the fact Their Royal Highnesses have a small child with them," a Kensington Palace source told ABC News.

They will be based in three principal locations -- Wellington, Sydney and Canberra -- and then go back and forth from there. Prince William and Kate will be away from Prince George when they travel to Queenstown in New Zealand and Uluru and Ayers Rock in Australia.

"Both William and Kate are very sporty people, which is a big part of life in both New Zealand and Australia, and they are excited to be part of that," Head said.
Expect to see them sailing aboard a New Zealand America's Cup yacht in Auckland and hitting the rugby fields and cricket pitches in New Zealand.

In Sydney, the royals will attend the Sydney Opera House for a reception before they take a boat across the harbour to Admiralty House, which will be their base for the Australian leg of the tour. William and Kate will also enjoy the outdoors in Australia, seeing the kangaroos and giraffes at the world-famous Taronga Zoo, which has named its bilby enclosure for Prince George, and take part in a surfing and life-saving demonstration at Manly Beach.

The trip will also honor the 185 New Zealanders who died in the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch and those affected by the October 2013 bushfires in the Blue Mountains in Australia.

It wouldn't be a royal tour without a little glamor. While there are no black-tie events, there are several receptions where The Duchess will be adorned by jewels.
A young Princess Diana captivated the world when she wore the Cambridge Emerald choker as a headband alongside a turquoise Emanuel gown to a ball in Melbourne in 1985.

Kate will not disappoint, according to palace sources. She will be showcasing royal jewels, particularly those with specific links to the countries she is visiting.




Like many Americans, I love the British royals, especially when they are as charming as William and Kate, and of course little George. They are living a wealthy and privileged life, but they aren't conceited or arrogant, nor “a little on the wild side” like Prince Harry. I have high hopes that they will be responsible and sensitive rulers when their time to occupy the throne comes around, that is unless English voters decide to do away with the King/Queen function. I doubt somehow that such will occur. The Brits love tradition too much for that.