Tuesday, April 22, 2014


News Clips For The Day



Pistorius Denies Taking 'Acting Lessons' Before Murder Trial – NBC
By Alexander Smith
First published April 22 2014

The family of Oscar Pistorius denied "in the strongest terms" a newspaper columnist's claim that he took acting lessons in preparation for his murder trial.
The double-amputee Olympian's appearances in court have been interrupted on several occasions by him vomiting and crying uncontrollably, emotional displays that have been treated with suspicion by the prosecution.

Well-known South African columnist Jani Allan alleged that the double-amputee paralympian had been coached for his appearances.

Oscar Pistorius weeps as he listens to evidence by a pathologist in court in Pretoria, South Africa. He is accused of premeditated murder.

"I have it from a reliable source that you are taking acting lessons for your days in court," Allan wrote on her website Tuesday in a post entitled "Letter to Oscar." "Your coach has an impossible task."

Allan is a former Sunday Times of South Africa columnist who gained notoriaty in the 1980s after an alleged affair with the white supremacist leader Eugene Terre'blanche. She said in the open letter that Pistorius and Terre'blanche were "cut from the same cloth" and that both men were "narcissistic in the extreme."

The Pistorius family responded by issuing a statement denying these allegations.
Pistorius family spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess said the letter was a "mockery of the enormous human tragedy involving the Steenkamp family and our client and his family".

The 27-year-old sprinter is accused of murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home on Feb. 14 last year. Pistorius admits shooting her but denies murder, saying he thought she was an intruder.

The trial is due to continue on May 5.




"I have it from a reliable source that you are taking acting lessons for your days in court," Allan wrote on her website Tuesday in a post entitled "Letter to Oscar." "Your coach has an impossible task," wrote Jani Allan. She describes the athlete as "narcissistic in the extreme."

I personally have not believed a minute of his displays. They aren't like real grief, and I've never seen an adult act like that. I have seen five-year-olds do it. People who have bulimia can vomit on cue, and any good actor can shed tears. His story is between flimsy and almost unbelievable. I don't see how he could have failed to know that she wasn't in the bed beside him, and unless he is truly paranoid, he shouldn't have been so very afraid. Most men learn to deal with fear better than that. But then, he doesn't seem to be a very mature person in many ways. He was clearly a good athlete, but I think he has some mental illness that is probably untreated.




Tale of Two Chicagos: Violence Plagues City's South, West Sides – NBC
By Tony Dokoupil
First published April 21 2014

After church and Easter dinner with relatives, 11-year-old Tymisha Washington wanted to play before the street lights came on. She joined four friends—none more than 15 years old—at a park near her house on Chicago’s South Side. Then a dark car pulled up to the group, and a passenger asked the kids about their gang affiliation. They have none, their parents told police, but the questioner opened fire anyhow, sending a bullet into Washington’s chin and another into her lung.

For more than a year now, the Chicago Police department has been on a triumphant run. Murders fell almost 20 percent citywide last year, according to department data, and the first quarter of 2014 saw the fewest murders in any first quarter since 1958.
But then the mercury started to rise.

Over the last two weekends—the first warm ones in the city this year—shootings spiked. Washington was one of more than 70 people wounded (she’s still listed as critical). More than 10 others were killed.

“A bad week," Police Supt. Garry McCarthy told NBC News. “It doesn't wipe out what's happened over the past two years, but it certainly is a wake-up call that we have a lot of work to do."

McCarthy has ordered stepped up patrols in communities hardest hit by the violence. He has overhauled the department’s gang strategy, relying on real-time intelligence and the new science of social network analysis to stop the next bullet before it’s fired. He has also welcomed the creation of a 16-member, Chicago-based task force of federal prosecutors, announced on Monday by the U.S Attorney's Office, whose sole goal is to lock up violent criminals.

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy calls recent violence in the city's most dangerous neighborhoods a "wake-up call."

But for any of this to help, it will need to change trend lines that have been telling the same grim story through more than two decades, numerous mayors and police superintendents and the rise and fall of the crack cocaine epidemic. It’s a classic tale of two Chicagos, one of them safe and prosperous, the other one dangerous and poor—and both of them growing more so.

“We’ve talked about homicide in Chicago at least one million times but I don’t think this has come up,” according Daniel Hertz, a prominent blogger and public policy graduate student at the University of Chicago, who has crunched the citywide data on homicides and income. The “something” is how the murder rate has fallen overall, but fallen unevenly.

The North Side experienced huge 20-year drops in the homicide rate. In Rogers Park it was down more than 80 percent. The parts of the South and West sides of the city closest to downtown—Bronzeville, the Loop—also got a lot safer. “But most of the rest actually got worse,” says Hertz, including the parts of the city (Englewood, Garfield Park) that were already among the most dangerous.

He did the analysis because he was tired of hearing Chicago called America’s “murder capital,” aka “Chiraq,” when in fact the city was arguably safer than at any time in its history. Now he understands why some people talk that way, even locals. They persist in believing that the city has gotten worse, because, if they live on the West or South sides, Hertz says, it has gotten worse.

"That sense of joy, that sense of [being] carefree should not be determined by where you live."

NBC News confirmed the idea of two Chicagos in an analysis last year. Between 2007 and 2012 the murder rate in the most dangerous of Chicago’s official community areas was as much as 80 times higher than the rate in the tonier, quieter area’s Chicago’s north side. We’ve all heard of income inequality. Hertz calls this: “murder inequality.”

It’s unclear what’s causing it, but Hertz points to another troubling trend. In a new research published late last month, he looked at 40 years of median family income data in Chicago, broken down by race and neighborhood. What he found makes it possible, he argues, “to watch Chicago’s middle class vanish before your eyes.” And the areas among those hit hardest by falling wages? You guessed it: the neighborhoods on the city’s murderous South and West sides, which are disproportionately black and brown.

As jobs leave and communities break down, gangs seem to move in and violence follows. “The goal is not merely to depress you,” Hertz concludes, “but to suggest just how dramatically the reality of Chicago’s ‘two cities’ has changed over the last few generations, how non-eternal its present state is, and that a happier alternate reality isn’t just possible, but actually existed relatively recently.”

McCarthy and his boss, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel are waging a very loud, very public battle to bring it back into existence. In a speech today to a new class of police officers, Emmanuel said the recent shootings had been on his mind as he biked along Lake Michigan on Easter weekend. He saw families enjoying themselves, their children carefree.

"That sense of joy, that sense of [being] carefree should not be determined by where you live," he told the graduates. The new officers will soon be assigned to Chicago's 20 “impact zones,” the places where gun violence is highest and the city is ramping up community outreach as the temperatures rise.

“It should be the expectation for every child of the city of Chicago,” the mayor continued. “I will not rest—and I do not expect anybody to rest—until every child in the city of Chicago can enjoy that sense of freedom."




Murders were down by 20% during 2013, but down unevenly. Crime is down among the more wealthy areas, but not among the poor. Crime is “80 times higher” in the poorest neighborhoods. Supt. McCarthy “has ordered stepped up patrols in communities hardest hit” this year. It increased sharply when the weather turned warm. I have always heard that crime is worse when the days get hot. McCarthy is using “real time intelligence and the new science of social network analysis,” to prevent gang violence. The US Attorney's Office is helping with a 16 member task force to incarcerate violent criminals.

Blogger Daniel Hertz “looked at 40 years of median family income data in Chicago, broken down by race and neighborhood. What he found makes it possible, he argues, “to watch Chicago’s middle class vanish before your eyes.” That income drop has been sharpest in the minority neighborhoods on the South and West side of Chicago. Job loss and the breakdown of community relationships is blamed. The gangs have simply moved in and taken over.

Mayor Rahm Emmanuel talked to the new police recruits who are being sent into the 20 “impact zones,” the areas where violence is worst, in an attempt to upgrade community relations. He said, "That sense of joy, that sense of [being] carefree should not be determined by where you live." Emmanuel is doing a good job as mayor, at least in this way. He has a reputation for being a no-nonsense kind of person and in a city like Chicago that is needed.




Biden Slams Russia: Stop Supporting 'Men Hiding Behind Masks' – NBC
- Alexander Smith
First published April 22 2014

Vice President Joe Biden called on Russia to pull back its forces from Ukraine's borders and "stop supporting men hiding behind masks" on Tuesday.

Biden also said that Ukraine was in a "struggle for its very future" as the U.S offered a $58-million package to the embattled country.

"We call on Russia to stop supporting men hiding behind masks in unmarked uniforms sewing unrest in eastern Ukraine," said Biden, who spoke at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in Kiev after the pair met met behind closed doors.

"We have been clear that more provocative behavior will lead to more costs and greater isolation."

Tensions remain at a simmer in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian separatists have occupied government buildings in at least 10 towns and cities. Biden's talk of Russia supporting masked men was a reference to the claim by the U.S. and Europe that Moscow is backing the groundswell in the east.

The separatists are demanding a referendum to join Russia, following a similar vote held in Crimea last month. The U.S. and Europe said the Crimea vote was illegitimate because of the presence of Russian forces, a charge which Russian President Vladimir Putin has since admitted.

Biden also paid tribute to pro-West protesters who had "braced the bone-chilling cold weather and stood down snipers in the Maidan [during the protests against ousted President Viktor Yanukovych]."

He pledged $50 million towards political reforms in the country and said that "the United States supports a strong united Ukraine." The package included $11 million to help with the presidential election on May 25. In addition, the U.S. said it would provide $8 million in non-lethal aid such as bomb-disposal equipment, communications gear and vehicles.

Earlier, Biden told an assortment of Ukrainian political leaders that the United States would stand by them against "daunting problems" and "humiliating threats," hinting at recent combative overtures from Moscow.

The U.S., Russia, members of the European Union and Ukraine signed a peace accord in Geneva last week, urging armed groups to give up their weapons and leave occupied buildings.

But this looked to be scuppered as soon as it was signed, with the separatists saying they would not leave their positions until the Kiev government, which they deem "illegal," left office. The situation was made worse Sunday when a shootout at a pro-Russian checkpoint saw three people killed.




VP Biden tells Russia to "stop supporting men hiding behind masks." That one thing is perhaps the most infuriating to me about the Russian thugs – they are being cowardly about their attacks, not merely lawless. When the military force from Kiev shot three of them Putin cried foul – he can't have it both ways. Those men are not victims. They come in gangs of 40 or more carrying clubs and sticks at the very least, and automatic weapons in some cases. They are not making a plea to the law to give them relief from attacks by Kiev's forces. That would be the law-abiding way of doing things. They are taking over the undoubtedly lightly armed government buildings. They say that they are “afraid” of being overwhelmed by the Ukrainian speakers, but there is no sign that they have been. It is shameful, really.

Biden brings an offer of $58 million to Kiev for “political reform,” the upcoming May 25 election and “non-lethal aid.” The US may end up sending troops into areas such as Poland and placing economic sanctions on Russia as our more hawkish Congressmen and Senators take action. They definitely need more aid than we have promised them, so I will be glad to see more of a balance of power in Ukraine.




Fungus Threatens Banana Supply – NBC
By Mark Koba
First published April 21 2014

Bananas can’t seem to catch a break.

The fruit is under assault again from a disease that threatens the popular variety that Americans slice into their cereal or slather with chocolate and whipped cream in their banana splits. But aside from its culinary delight, the banana is the eighth most important food crop in the world, and the fourth most important one for developing nations, where millions of people rely on the $8.9 billion industry for their livelihood.

"It's a very serious situation," said Randy Ploetz, a professor of plant pathology at the University of Florida. In 1989 Ploetz discovered a strain of Panama disease, called TR4, that may be growing into a serious threat to U.S. supplies of the fruit and Latin American producers.

"There's nothing at this point that really keeps the fungus from spreading," he said in an interview with CNBC.

A fungus that kills bananas is threatening the variety that accounts for 95 percent of the global export market for the fruit.

While there are nearly 1,000 varieties of bananas, the most popular is the Cavendish, which accounts for 45 percent of the fruit's global crop — and the one Americans mostly find in their supermarkets.

The Cavendish became a favorite in the 1950s because it was found to be resistant to strains of Panama disease that hit the then-preferred Gros Michel variety of banana.
But now the Cavendish, which makes up about 95 percent of global banana exports, is dying from the fungus strain Ploetz found. The strain has hit the banana crop in Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The worry is that it will spread to Central and South America — where the U.S. gets the vast majority of its bananas.

The problem has gotten so bad, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, that countries that grow bananas have been warned to step up monitoring, reporting and prevention in order to tackle what it calls "one of the world's most destructive banana diseases, and threatens the income of millions of people."

Bananas are grown in more than 150 countries, which produce 105 million tons of fruit per year, while employing hundreds of thousands of people. The U.S. is the top importer of bananas in the world at nearly 4 million tons a year. The European Union is a close second. The largest exporters of the fruit are Ecuador, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Colombia.

Panama disease, or Fusarium wilt as it's also called, has been around for decades and can strike crops such as tobacco and tomatoes as well as bananas.

The TR4 strain, while not a danger to humans, is found in the soil and can remain active for decades, but it cannot be fully controlled by fungicides. The best way to fight the disease, according Ploetz, is to prevent its spread, which includes avoiding movement of diseased plant materials and infected soil.

As for it coming to Central and South America, at least one analyst on the scene is not too worried at this point.

"I see a lot of people stressed ... and we're monitoring the situation, but I think it may be a bit overblown," said Lianne Zoeteweij, general manager of AsoGuabo, a banana farm cooperative in Ecuador.

"We have concern, yes, but I think the warnings of bananas disappearing is too much," she told CNBC.

The world banana crop also has been under attack for years from Black Sigatoka disease, a fungal leaf spot disease. Coupled with TR4, the diseases slowed world banana production by as much as 3.8 percent in 2012, from 2011, according to the FAO.
TR4 may not be in the Americas yet, but Costa Rica declared a "banana emergency" in December 2013 because of an outbreak of insects that feed on the fruit that leave bananas edible but not suitable for exporting.

Ploetz said it may come down to developing a new variety of the fruit that's resistant to the TR4 strain, which could take years.

"Bananas won't go away and there are better tasting ones out there. But the Cavendish is under attack right now, and there's nothing to replace it," he said.



Bananas are “the eighth most important food crop in the world, and the fourth most important one for developing nations, where millions of people rely on the $8.9 billion industry for their livelihood.” In 1989 Randy Ploetz discovered a fungus which he named TR4 – a type of Panama Disease – which is threatening crops in many parts of the world, and may reach South and Central America next. Panama Disease or Fusarium wilt can also infect tobacco and tomatoes, which could be a real problem in the Southern United States. Ploetz says that to prevent the spread of the fungus, plant materials and infected soil should not be moved to other places where it will also take hold.

Lianne Zoeteweij of the banana cooperative AsoGuabo, thinks the likelihood that the disease will reach Central and South America is “overblown.” Ploetz also stated that bananas “won't disappear” but the Cavendish is under threat. He does say that there are other bananas available that actually taste better. I'll be looking for those in the stores.


Supreme Court upholds Michigan affirmative action ban
CBS/AP April 22, 2014

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled by a 6-2 vote that Michigan voters had a right to ban affirmative action in their state via a ballot initiative.

The case, referred to Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, reviewed a 2006 Michigan ballot initiative that bans the consideration of race or sex in public education, government contracting and public employment.

The court struck down a ruling from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had said the Michigan initiative -- because it came in the form of a constitutional amendment -- "reordered the political process" in a way that put special burdens on racial minorities.

Justice Anthony Kennedy said voters chose to eliminate racial preferences because they deemed them unwise.

Kennedy said nothing in the Constitution or the court's prior cases gives judges the authority to undermine the election results.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor read her dissent aloud in the courtroom Tuesday. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with Sotomayor in dissent.




“The case, called Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, reviewed a 2006 Michigan ballot initiative that bans the consideration of race or sex in public education, government contracting and public employment.” Could this be the end of Civil Rights? According to Kennedy the Appeals Court had attempted to “undermine the elections results,” and that the electorate eliminated racial preferences because “they deemed them unwise.” I expect some reaction to this decision among legislatures around the country and in the population as a whole. I don't believe segregated schools and women being demoted or fired in the workplace will easily become the law of the country again, at least not right now. There is too much progress being made in these areas for that. I will be on the alert for articles on this subject.




Federal agency reverses approval of powdered alcohol
CBS News April 22, 2014

Earlier this month, the government approved a new product called Palcohol - just add water for an instant cocktail, or you can supposedly sprinkle it on your food.
"Nothing even close to this has been on the market in the recent past in the U.S., or ever," said attorney Robert Lehrman.

Lehrman deals with the regulation of alcoholic beverages. His blog post about Palcohol created a major internet buzz.

The products include powdered vodka and rum, as well as cosmo and lemon drop cocktails.

"I'm quite astonished that this got approved. In the past, and really to this day, the agency that regulates this tends to be quite careful and rather traditional," said Lehrman.

That agency is the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. It's gotten a lot of attention since approving Palcohol's product labels -- the last step after it okayed both the distillery and formula.

But late yesterday, a spokesman told CBS News' Jan Crawford that those approvals were "issued in error," and refused to give further explanation.

Palcohol creator Mark Phillips says he just needs to resubmit the labels and his products remain on track to hit stores this fall, but that raises questions about how Palcohol might be used or abused.

For instance, the company's website warns against the dangers of snorting the powder. Yet, young people may be willing to experiment.

"Underage drinking is a big concern when it comes to powderized alcohol," said Lehrman. "I do think parents and teachers - this probably will get their attention in a big way."

Like with instant coffee, people are saying the powder just isn't the same as the real thing, which is why critics say Palcohol's biggest market is those underage drinkers who don't seem to care that much about taste.

For instance, the company's website warns against the dangers of snorting the powder. Yet, young people may be willing to experiment.

"Underage drinking is a big concern when it comes to powderized alcohol," said Lehrman. "I do think parents and teachers - this probably will get their attention in a big way."

Like with instant coffee, people are saying the powder just isn't the same as the real thing, which is why critics say Palcohol's biggest market is those underage drinkers who don't seem to care that much about taste.




The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, usually a “rather traditional” body according to lawyer Robert Lehrman. His blog on the subject became an Internet firestorm. I just heard about it on NBC television news last night, and now it has been revoked. According to the report the Bureau said the labels had been “issued in error.” Creator Mark Phillips said he “just needs to resubmit the labels,” and the product will be approved.

I expect to see some legislative action on this, though, at least I hope so. It would be too easy for underage people to buy it and hide it from their parents, restaurant owners or school administrators so they could add it to their drinks and drink without being caught. It also could be the next “date rape” drug. This article also mentions the fear that kids will try to “snort” it. This is just one more problem which could be a very big one, and it isn't as if adults can't buy drinks for legal drinking. If their goal is to hide the fact that they are drinking, then it simply should be made illegal and the production f it banned. Phillips should find another way to make money.





Asteroids hitting Earth more often than previously thought, ex-NASA astronauts' group says
By Amanda Cochran CBS News April 22, 2014

Large asteroids are hitting the Earth far more often than anyone realized, according to a new warning from a group led by former NASA astronauts. They say the only thing preventing a meteor from destroying a major city is "blind luck."

From 2000 to 2013, the B612 Foundation says 26 meteorites packing the punch of an atomic bomb exploded on Earth. They all landed far from humans.

The group's findings make one realize meteor impacts could be three to 10 times more common than previously thought, "CBS This Morning' contributor Michio Kaku, a physics professor at the City University of New York, explained.

Kaku, author of "The Future of the Mind," said that "a city buster" that could take out New York City could hit every 30 years, instead of every 150 years like previously thought.

"Remember, we had that meteor that sailed over Russia? What was astonishing was that it was only 60 feet across," Kaku said. "It had the force of 20 Hiroshima bombs. In other words, we had underestimated a whole class of small meteors less than 100 feet across."

"We have very limited information," he said. "We have no space telescope out there dedicated to locking onto these things and we can only see evidence of asteroids 150 feet across. This (meteor over Russia was) 60 feet across, which has forced us to...reanalyze and recalibrate the probability of a meteor impact."

Experts are now working to create an early warning system with a satellite called The Sentinel, sponsored by B612, a private foundation, Kaku noted. The next step is to create an interceptor that could go out and "detonate something to push an asteroid out of the way."

"This is now going to be a priority for space scientists," Kaku said. "Something that we had neglected all these decades, we now realize we can't ignore anymore."




“Large asteroids” not small ones are fairly frequently hitting the earth. That's a real surprise. In the last 13 years 26 meteorites “packing the punch of an atomic bomb” have hit earth, luckily in uninhabited places. The scientists now think that there may be 3 to 10 times more of them coming into the atmosphere than previously believed.

Michio Kaku said, “We can only see evidence of asteroids 150 feet across. This (meteor over Russia was) 60 feet across, which has forced us to reanalyze and recalibrate the probability of a meteor impact." An early warning system is being planned using “a satellite called The Sentinel, sponsored by B612, a private foundation,” after which an interceptor to “push” the asteroid out of the way would then ideally be used. The trouble is, every article I ever read about this talks about intercepting the asteroid, possibly even using a nuclear weapon to “push” it or break it up.

Some scientists have said that having a cluster of large space rocks falling down on earth could be as bad as having one huge one since more locations on the planet would be endangered in that case, and any device other than a nuclear bomb is hypothetical – it hasn't been developed yet. Unfortunately, this device should be invented soon. We are in some level of daily peril of a large event occurring, and we have no defense against it. I have closed my mind to it because it is such a horrific possibility. I'm not afraid on a daily basis, but I probably should be. Maybe this new satellite will be of some use, or maybe it would be better not to know ahead of time. I can imagine the panic if the public found out about a large asteroid coming right for us. I can only remain stoic. At some point I will surely die no matter what.