Monday, April 28, 2014


News Clips For The Day


First Thoughts: US Announces New Sanctions Against Russia – NBC
By Chuck Todd
First published April 28 2014

Obama administration hits Russia with a new round of sanctions

The Obama administration on Monday announced a new round of sanctions on Russia over the standoff in Eastern Ukraine, targeting seven Russian government officials and 17 companies linked to Russia President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. The sanctions also will freeze military-technology exports. The European Union will impose similar sanctions in the next day or two. Bottom line: These sanctions represent the United States’ decision to continue to go slow -- in order to remain united with a Europe that’s more economically tied to Russia -- rather than ramp up tougher unilateral sectoral sanctions that might not have Europe’s support right now. It’s a decision that has its detractors, something the president has acknowledged but also defended. “We’re going to be in a stronger position to deter Mr. Putin when he sees that the world is unified and the United States and Europe is unified, rather than this is just a U.S.-Russian conflict,” Obama said on Sunday. “If we, for example, say we’re not going to allow certain arms sales to Russia -- just to take an example -- but every European defense contractor backfills what we do, then it’s not very effective.” Nevertheless, the New York Times reported over the weekend that there’s a split inside the Obama administration on whether it’s better to keep a united front with Europe, or act unilaterally with the assumption that Europe will eventually follow.

Poll: 61% say U.S. should be less actively involved in world affairs
But if you wanted to know why Obama probably won’t get punished by American voters for going slow on Russian sanctions, check out these results from a poll for the United Nations Foundation (conducted by GOP pollster Bill McInturff and Dem pollster Geoff Garin): 61% of Americans say the U.S. should be LESS actively involved in world affairs. That percentage is up from the 55% who said this in 2008 and the 51% who said this in 2007. And here’s Obama at a news conference in the Philippines today: “Typically, criticism of our foreign policy has been directed at the failure to use military force. And the question I think I would have is, why is it that everybody is so eager to use military force after we’ve just gone through a decade of war at enormous costs to our troops and to our budget? And what is it exactly that these critics think would have been accomplished?” The president’s foreign policy stances, while unpopular with some hawks (a majority of whom dominate the overall foreign policy debate in Washington and New York), is actually in line with where the public is at. In fact, a more hawkish foreign policy, while more popular in the Acela corridor, as polling indicates might actually become a bigger political problem outside the national security intelligentsia circle.




New sanctions are about to take effect “targeting seven Russian government officials and 17 companies linked to Russia President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. The sanctions also will freeze military-technology exports,” to be followed later in the week by EU sanctions of similar types. The hawks say it isn't enough, but much of the American public is not ready for another hot war after the last 15 years without peace. Mr. Obama stressed the importance of having the EU with us rather than working against us. The EU has economic ties to Russia which cause the fear of, for instance, running out of natural gas supplies or having to pay extravagant prices for it. Apparently the EU has member states, too, that were selling technology to Russia, and if they decide not to withhold those sales it could weaken a unilateral US sanction on arms sales. So President Obama has decided to proceed “steady as she goes,” to echo Captain Kirk of the old Star Trek show.




Killer Virus Takes Emotional Toll on Pig Farmers – NBC
By Miguel Llanos
First published April 28 2014

Last Christmas was one farmer Greg Lear would rather forget.

"Yeah, some merry Christmas," he said of the December 19th call from his farm manager with news that all the sows, or breeding females, were throwing up and many had diarrhea. The sows survived, but within 96 hours "we probably had 500 little pigs that were dead," said Lear.

As fate would have it, the Spencer, Iowa, farm he helps run was next in line to be hit by a virus that's killed several million piglets across the country in the last 12 months. Rising pork prices have more than offset the financial damage, but the unknowns about the disease have farmers fretting that the worst is yet to come.

What killed Lear’s piglets was the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv), a disease first reported in 1971 in Britain but never identified in the U.S. until April 2013. Officials believe this strain came from China and, by within 12 months, PEDv cases were reported in 30 states.

The virus is not a food safety issue since it cannot be passed on to humans, but it has become a factor in pork prices. It’s also taken an emotional toll on farmers and their workers.

"How do you keep up employee morale when you're asking, 'How many are dead today?'," Lear said. "Those pigs should have been walking out of the barn, and we were carrying them out. Mentally it just hammers you."

The virus causes intense diarrhea, which the youngest piglets, typically those less than a week old, can’t survive once it’s passed to them through their moms. “They’re not able to absorb any of mom’s milk,” Lear said.

Young piglets nurse on their mother sow in a farrowing crate on the Riverdale Ranch near Whittemore, Iowa, on April 21. Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) poses the most risk to newborn piglets especially those 7 days and younger, which die from dehydration. PED does not infect humans or other animals.

Those piglets that haven’t died from dehydration are euthanized with carbon monoxide, and then the carcasses are trucked to rendering plants to be recycled as animal feed.
The National Renderers Association says the carcasses are heated to a minimum of 240 degrees for 40 minutes -- much higher than what’s been proven to kill the virus.
But it also notes that researchers are studying the possibility that blood plasma added to animal feed to help piglets battle diseases might be a way the virus spreads. A “feed risk assessment” is being undertaken with the rest of the pig industry “to determine if there are gaps in our knowledge of the virus in feed,” says David Meeker, an association vice president.

The industry is backing further research “to determine whether such a connection exists,” the group says in a position statement about the virus.

For all the lingering questions about the virus – including “How does it spread?” and “Can a vaccine be developed?” – the stark certainty is that it kills quickly.
"The swine industry has never seen anything like this," said Lear, a past president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

The virus also appears indiscriminate: Farms large and small, organic and non-organic, have been hit.

“The spread seems equally likely regardless of herd size or production type,” said Harry Snelson, spokesman for the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. “Our best guess is that approximately 50 percent of the sow herds in the U.S. have become infected.”

Snelson said even that is a guess because, up to now, farmers have not been required to provide a tally of cases. The USDA on April 18 ordered that all farms report cases, but Snelson isn’t optimistic it will change much. “We'll have to see,” he says. “It may be too late with this disease but it may help with understanding the epidemiology of future diseases.”

Chuck Wirtz’s 700-sow unit in Iowa sells pigs to a company that supplies the Chipotle fast-food chain. He too got hit, losing about 1,000 piglets. “We had pigs dying all over the place,” he said of the outbreak last November.

In Lear’s case, 850 pigs worth $48,000 were dead by the time the outbreak was contained – that’s about three and a half weeks of annual production on the farm.
And extra virus-protection measures have added some $75,000 to operating costs, he estimated. Those “biosecurity” steps include restricting who has access to barns – a bit of outside manure on a shoe could be enough to trigger an outbreak.

Containment typically means exposing all sows to the virus so that they build immunity to it. “We add diarrhea to the sows’ feed, the sows get sick and then on the fourth day they dry up and now they have immunity that they can pass on to their piglets,” said Wirtz.

“But the worst part is that it doesn’t end there,” added Lear, since the exposure opens the door to other bugs like E. coli and salmonella that “challenges little pigs’ intestines.”

Lear called these the “backside PEDv pigs” and has stepped up medication to battle those bugs.

An argument can be made that the virus, by reducing supply, has been a key factor in recent record pork prices.

“The net cost has not been negative. We’ve actually benefited, as sad as that sounds,” said Wirtz, citing an analysis estimating that while the virus has killed $567 million worth of pigs, the reduced supply is responsible for a $5 billion increase in the value of the 105 million pigs marketed annually across the nation.
Still, farmers are concerned about what might be around the corner.
“We don’t know if the PED is going to mutate and change,” said Lear.

Wirtz noted that larger sow units seem to have more trouble containing the virus since it’s hard to make sure all sows are exposed. He quickly contained the outbreak at his 700-sow unit, but a 2,400-sow unit in Illinois has lost 4,000 pigs “and they’re still dying,” he said.

Moreover, some farmers have seen the virus come back. “We seem to lose the immunity response over time,” said Wirtz. “That would be devastating if it were to break again.”

The number of PEDv cases reported nationwide has dropped to around 250 a week from a peak of more than 300 in late February, but even that’s misleading.

“This is to be expected as the weather warms,” said Snelson. Viruses like this one “tend to prefer colder temperatures and do not survive as well in the warmer months.”

That could also mean another jump in cases when the cold comes back.
“The biggest fear is that we’re going to have déjà vu all over again next winter,” said Wirtz.




“The sows survived, but within 96 hours 'we probably had 500 little pigs that were dead,' said Lear.” That's a lot of stock for one farm to lose. The virus, called Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv) originally came from China, migrating to England in 1971 and then was found in the US a year ago, but within the last 12 months has spread to 30 states here in this country.

Some of the babies survive, but “those piglets that haven’t died from dehydration are euthanized with carbon monoxide, and then the carcasses are trucked to rendering plants to be recycled as animal feed. The National Renderers Association says the carcasses are heated to a minimum of 240 degrees for 40 minutes -- much higher than what’s been proven to kill the virus,” so hopefully animal feed will be virus free. Some researchers, however, are investigating the addition of blood plasma to animal feed because it may be a way that the disease has been spread. I remember during the Mad Cow panic that we banned the feeding of animal products to cows in the US. However it spreads, which the article says could be as simple as a bit of feces on a farmer's shoe, carrying the virus to a neighboring farm, it is believed to have spread already to as much as 50% of US farms.

It is worth mentioning that 850 pigs lost on one farm were worth $48,000, which is a lot of money to lose over a period of several days. “And extra virus-protection measures have added some $75,000 to operating costs, he estimated. Those 'biosecurity' steps include restricting who has access to barns.” “Containment” of the virus means exposing sows to the virus – presumably while they have no piglets nursing – to produce an immunity to it for the future. That isn't totally safe because it is typically done by adding a small amount of feces from an infected animal to their feed, which also introduces e-coli and salmonella to the sow's intestines. Also, the larger the sow unit is, the more difficult it is to see that all of them are exposed to the virus, so sometimes they still lose large numbers of piglets on those farms. Farmer Chuck Wirtz stated, “We seem to lose the immunity response over time,” said Wirtz. “That would be devastating if it were to break again,” so the exposure method of immunizing doesn't last forever, and presumably, down through generations.

The good news for farmers is that the price of pork has gone up and tends to cover the costs of the disease. Still, since this disease tends to come back the next winter, individual farmers could go bankrupt because of the enormity of the loses. Farming has always been a high risk business, however, which is one reason why the government does subsidize them. It is also why some smaller farms with less capital to put into it have been going under in the last thirty years or so. If they are growing crops they have drought and plant diseases to battle. It is important that our farms continue to be able to supply a large portion of the food we eat in this country, or we will be totally dependent on imports. I don't know much about economics, but if our imports outstrip our exports that can't be a good thing.




Mystery of Unbearably Cute Cub Named Tahoe Solved – NBC
By Elisha Fieldstadt
First published April 27 2014

For more than a week, a wildlife organization in California has been trying to solve a confounding — albeit adorable — mystery of a baby bear that was left in a kennel on their driveway, and on Friday, they finally got their answer.

A man placed an anonymous call to The BEAR League in Lake Tahoe explaining that he found the cub “crying and hugging her deceased mother,” the BEAR League said in a statement.

The statement said that the man must have been the person who dropped off the bear, who they have named “Tahoe,” on April 16 because he knew the color of the blanket and kennel she was left in.

Although the man told the BEAR League that authorities told him to leave the bear alone, “his conscience would not allow him to walk away and leave her to die ... thankfully,” the statement said.

BEAR League employees brought Tahoe to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, Inc., where she was examined by a vet and deemed to be healthy at 5.4 pounds and about 10 weeks old, according to the organization.

Over the past week, the BEAR League’s Facebook page has been dedicated to updating Tahoe’s fans with her developments. “Soon she will learn how to lap her formula out of a bowl, but there will be lots of messes made in the process,” read one post.
Many posts also begged for the person who dropped Tahoe off to come forward, because without her origin, Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care would have trouble determining where she “will be released next winter or spring when she is big enough and ready to conquer the world,” Ann Bryant, the Executive Director of Bear League told NBC News.
The caller told the Bear League he found the baby bear near the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which is nearly 400 miles away from the facility, Bryant said, but her name will remain Tahoe because that’s where her new caretakers found her.




The BEAR League is a California organization whose website http://www.savebears.org/ will undoubtedly let you donate money to their cause. It is also worth looking at for the photographs and information about the black bear. This story is about one man who couldn't bring himself to follow the orders of authorities that he leave the baby bear where it was, obviously mourning the death of its mother. He placed an anonymous call to the BEAR League and took her in a kennel to their driveway, where he left her with a blanket. He had found her “crying and hugging her deceased mother.” I have read about bears' intelligence and the fact that they are considered to be “an emotional species,” as are cats and dogs and probably horses.

The BEAR League took her to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, Inc. where she was examined by veterinarians and deemed healthy. The BEAR League has added a page to its facebook site on which they intend to keep the public aware of Tahoe's progress. It said recently, “Soon she will learn how to lap her formula out of a bowl, but there will be lots of messes made in the process.” Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care will eventually be released into the woodlands where she was found when she is big enough to survive. I loved this story. The photograph of the bear shows her with her cloth toy bear looking at it intently as though it were real. To see it, go to the NBC website, or to Google and search “Tahoe bear cub.”




The things she carried – CBS
2014 Apr 27

The final gifts that a mother and father gave their 14-year-old Jewish daughter as she boarded a train to escape the Nazis

60 Minutes producer Harry Radliffe was in a cinema with a friend, waiting to for a movie to start, when his friend asked if he had heard the story of Nicholas Winton. Winton, a 29-year-old stockbroker, used his vacation time to save hundreds of children from the Nazis by organizing a rescue mission from Czechoslovakia to London on the eve of World War II.

"My friend told me what the story was about, and then she said, 'The man who's now Sir Nicholas Winton is still alive.' And I said, 'You're kidding me.'" Other heroes of the Holocaust, like Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, have been dead for decades. Winton is 104 years old.

That evening, Radliffe called up 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon and said "If you had an opportunity to speak with Raoul Wallenberg or Oskar Schindler, you would, wouldn't you?" Simon said yes, and Radliffe said, "Well, we oughta do this story."
Radliffe and Simon's story of Nicholas Winton airs on the 60 Minutes broadcast this week. It's a heart-wrenching and inspiring tale that features an interview with Winton himself.

"We were obviously concerned about what it would be like to interview someone who's 104 years old," says Radliffe. "We didn't know how well he'd be able to articulate his own story."

When the 60 Minutes crew turned its cameras on, Radliffe's concerns disappeared. At turns, Winton was funny, philosophical, and remarkably detailed in his memory of the "kindertransport" he organized in the late 1930s. In all, Winton was able to save 669 children, most of them Jewish and living in Czechoslovakia.

"I think stories that show that one person can make a difference are worth telling," says Radliffe. "Look at the difference that this one person made. Here's a guy who didn't have to get involved, who got involved, and look at what happened. The number of people who are alive today who would not be alive if a guy named Nick Winton hadn't decided to use his vacation to go to Prague and get involved, is extraordinary."

With the help of associate producer Vanessa Fica, Radliffe tracked down several of the children Winton saved. Fourteen-year-old Alice Eberstark, now 88 and living in Bethesda, Md., is one of them.

The story of how Alice and her two sisters made it onto one of Winton's trains is the subject of this week's 60 Minutes Overtime feature (in the video player above).
"Alice has one of the most heart-wrenching stories to tell," says Radliffe. "She remembers very clearly, before they left home, her father sitting on the edge of the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. They clearly had debated whether this was the right thing or not."

At one point in the interview, Alice showed the 60 Minutes team several things her parents gave her just before she boarded the train to London. Some of the items were made by her mother, including a beautifully embroidered nightgown.
"Think about what it must represent to Alice," says Radliffe. "This was the last act of love on the part of her mother."

After boarding the train that day, Alice never saw her parents again. They likely perished in a concentration camp.

"Many survivors feel guilty for having survived--I feel very grateful to my parents," says Alice, who now goes by the last name Masters. "Our parents' courage, I think, is the most important because most people said, 'We will go together or not at all.'"
Nicholas Winton's list of children courtesy the Yad Vashem Archives




Harry Radliffe of 60 Minutes tells “the story of Nicholas Winton. Winton, a 29-year-old stockbroker, used his vacation time to save hundreds of children from the Nazis by organizing a rescue mission from Czechoslovakia to London on the eve of World War II.” Winton will be interviewed on the broadcast this week. He is 104 years old. The producers were concerned that Winton would be typically “elderly,” with a wandering or incoherent narrative, but he was not. “At turns, Winton was funny, philosophical, and remarkably detailed in his memory of the "kindertransport" he organized in the late 1930s. In all, Winton was able to save 669 children, most of them Jewish and living in Czechoslovakia.”

I think heroes come in different kinds, the firefighter from several years ago who caught a child single handedly as he jumped from an upper story window and was injured himself in the process, or the mongrel dog that woke his sleeping mistress so she could get out of a house fire. There are some people, though, who get a great idea and move mountains to attain their goal – like Nicholas Winton. "I think stories that show that one person can make a difference are worth telling," says Radliffe. Radcliffe also did his research and found a number of the people who were rescued by Winton for the show.

Alice Eberstark, 88, of Bethesda, MD and her two sisters are among those survivors. She remembers “her father sitting on the edge of the bed, sobbing uncontrollably” and a beautiful embroidered night gown her mother made for her. “Many survivors feel guilty for having survived--I feel very grateful to my parents," says Alice, who now goes by the last name Masters. "Our parents' courage, I think, is the most important because most people said, 'We will go together or not at all.”

Now in Europe there is a new upsurge in anti-Semitic feeling. It seems that these kinds of groups are never completely defeated. There are some people who can't maintain their own self-esteem without putting somebody else down. The southern and western sections in the US are full of this, even though it is more against blacks than Jews. May we never see in the US our own “holocaust,” whether it be against blacks, Native Americans, Asians or Jews. Those parts of our political spectrum must be fought unto the end. I pray that I will never become so fearful of my life that I will sit back and silently watch that kind of thing happen, as it did in Germany.

My college roommate in 1964 was a girl whose looks amazed me. She was beautiful with light tan skin, long, dark curly hair and dark brown slightly slanted eyes. She was lively and funny and very intelligent and we became very good friends. When my fiance met her he turned to me when she had left and said, “You didn't tell me she was a Jew.” That was the first time that I had come across the hatred for the Jews. Through the years he made other anti-Semitic comments. He came from a fairly upscale Methodist church in Thomasville, and his father was a preacher's son – very nice in most ways, but also anti-Semitic. My ex-husband also doesn't like blacks. His “conservative” leanings were part of the reason that I finally left him. I want to be on the side of basic goodness and free thinking in this particular war. I think that if there is a God of Love, He or She will want me to follow that path.




Paul Simon arrested in Conn. on disorderly conduct charges
By Crimesider Staff CBS News April 28, 2014

NEW CANAAN, Conn. -- Singer Paul Simon and his musician wife Edie Brickell have been arrested on disorderly conduct charges.

New Canaan Police arrested Simon, 72, and Brickell, 47, on Saturday on a charge of disorderly conduct for a disturbance at his New Canaan home.
A New Canaan police spokeswoman provided no other details, except to say the arrests stemmed from an incident Saturday. An arraignment in Norwalk Superior Court is expected Monday afternoon.

There is expected to be a press conference on the incident at 11:30 a.m.
Simon has lived in New Canaan since 2007.

Simon married Brickell -- his third wife -- on May 30, 1992. They have three children together.

Simon is a 12-time Grammy winner and a member of The Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame -- as half of the duo of Simon and Garfunkel and as a solo artist.

Brickell's "What I Am," recorded with her band the New Bohemians, was a hit in 1988.





“Simon married Brickell -- his third wife -- on May 30, 1992. They have three children together.” I had been under the impression that Simon and Garfunkel were a gay couple. Bi, maybe, but not gay apparently. He has always stayed out of trouble until now. I am curious as to what really happened with the police. Were drugs involved? However it was, he and Garfunkel remain one of the best musical sounds of all the Rock groups, and I will always hold them fondly in my heart.





Laughter may work like meditation in the brain – CBS
By Robert Preidt HealthDay April 28, 2014

Laughter triggers brain waves similar to those associated with meditation, according to a small new study.

It also found that other forms of stimulation produce different types of brain waves.
The study included 31 people whose brain waves were monitored while they watched humorous, spiritual or distressing video clips. While watching the humorous videos, the volunteers' brains had high levels of gamma waves, which are the same ones produced during meditation, researchers found.

During the spiritual videos, the participants' brains showed higher levels of alpha brain waves, similar to when a person is at rest. The distressing videos caused flat brain wave bands, similar to when a person feels detached, nonresponsive or doesn't want to be in a certain situation.

Researchers were led by Lee Berk, an associate professor in the School of Allied Health Professions, and an associate research professor of pathology and human anatomy in the School of Medicine, at Loma Linda University, in California.

The study was scheduled to be presented Sunday at the Experimental Biology meeting held in San Diego. The data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

"What we have found in our study is that humor associated with mirthful laughter sustains high-amplitude gamma-band oscillations. Gamma is the only frequency found in every part of the brain," Berk said in a university news release.

"What this means is that humor actually engages the entire brain -- it is a whole brain experience with the gamma wave band frequency and humor, similar to meditation, holds it there; we call this being 'in the zone,'" Berk explained.

He said that with laughter, "it's as if the brain gets a workout." This effect is important because it "allows for the subjective feeling states of being able to think more clearly and have more integrative thoughts," Berk said. "This is of great value to individuals who need or want to revisit, reorganize or rearrange various aspects of their lives or experiences, to make them feel whole or more focused."




Researchers were led by Lee Berk, an associate professor in the School of Allied Health Professions, showed study participants “humorous, spiritual or distressing video clips” with distinctly different results. Humor produced lots of “gamma waves,” while the spiritual clip caused “alpha waves,” inducing a feeling of being at rest. The “distressing” video – I wonder what was distressing about it – caused “flat” brain waves as in a state of detachment or lack of response.

I have experienced Sidha Yoga meditation, so I know what “gamma waves” feel like. It was a state in which I was not focused clearly on my surroundings, and my mind wandered from thought to thought while I felt very, very relaxed. I experienced a vision of a brilliantly white and shining new born baby in a woman's arms. I was told that many people have that vision. I used to listen to a spiritual tape by Deepak Chopra, and I did find it very relaxing, though I don't really think it changed my “philosophy” or thinking pattern unless to make me temporarily feel more positive and somewhat “comforted.” I've less often had the experience of watching anything disturbing unless it is the oldstyle horror stories on “Creature Feature” or some of the scenes of animals attacking – crocs taking down wildebeest, for instance – from Animal Planet. There is something very disturbing about a very primitive animal like a crocodile, a bat, a spider or a shark. I think I do zone out to distance myself from that kind of thing, but I still watch those Animal Planet shows. The world of animals is too fascinating to me for me not to.

“Gamma is the only frequency found in every part of the brain," said Berk. It puts the brain into a state in which a “subjective” state that allows more integrated and clear thinking, especially good if the person has a great deal that they need to think through and “rearrange.” I have always enjoyed listening to comedians, but have never noticed that I had any different thinking pattern afterwards. I have, however, noticed that making a joke when I am worried can relieve the worry. I have always heard that comedians sometimes are not really very light-hearted and happy individuals, but use comedy to combat their state of mind. It is also interesting that certain medical doctors are beginning to have “laugh” therapy with their patients, on the grounds that it improves their healing. I should get a joke book out of the library and see what it does for me.