Tuesday, May 6, 2014


News Clips For The Day


American Doomsday: White House Warns of Climate Catastrophes – NBC
First published May 6th 2014

Scorching temperatures, flooded cities, and changes in the growing season are just some of the hard realities of a changing climate that are beginning to directly affect Americans, says a new White House report.

“Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present,” the White House report says.

The third National Climate Assessment, the result of four years of research by scientists and experts, was released on Tuesday. A 1,300-page draft version of the National Climate Assessment was issued last year.

“Corn producers in Iowa, oyster growers in Washington State, and maple syrup producers in Vermont are all observing climate-related changes that are outside of experience," they wrote in the report.

"Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present."

The changes could help fuel wildfires across the Southwest, lead to lengthened growing season in the Midwest, and cause heat waves and coastal flooding in the Northeast, according to the report. Glaciers will shrink in Alaska even as drought leads to “increased competition for scarce water resources for people and ecosystems,” the report warns.
“This National Climate Assessment concludes that the evidence of human-induced climate change continues to strengthen and that impacts are increasing across the country,” the report states.

Researchers underscored the high temperatures experienced in recent years by Americans, including 2012, which was the hottest year the continental United States has yet had on record, according to the report. The report projects that temperatures will rise a further 2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit in coming decades.

“Americans are noticing changes all around them,” the researchers wrote in the report. “Summers are longer and hotter, and extended periods of unusual heat last longer than any living American has ever experienced. Winters are generally shorter and warmer.”

The report drew a direct connection between human activities and the uptick in global temperatures over the past five decades, leading to erratic weather experienced across the country. Extreme weather events that have changed over that period include heatwaves that have swept the West while similar bursts of cold weather have become less frequent.

“Summers are longer and hotter, and extended periods of unusual heat last longer than any living American has ever experienced. Winters are generally shorter and warmer.”

“Natural drivers of climate cannot explain the recent observed warming,” the report states. “Over the last five decades, natural factors (solar forcing and volcanoes) alone would actually have led to a slight cooling.”

The report comes after a series of other high-profile warnings on the pace and effects of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is releasing a series of global assessments. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society have all issued their own reports or begun educational campaigns.

The White House’s report presents “actionable science” on how to deal with climate change and its effects, John Podesta, a counselor to President Obama, told NBC News’ Chuck Todd on Tuesday. The peer-reviewed report is the most comprehensive yet produced on the effects of climate change in the U.S., Podesta said.

Some climate experts who spoke to NBC News in advance of the report’s release highlighted the need for quick action to mitigate the effects of climate change.

“While President Obama has taken some important steps to address climate change at home, his administration is undermining that progress by ignoring the huge amounts of carbon pollution that would accompany the fossil fuel industry’s plan to export coal, liquefied natural gas and oil abroad,” said Gabe Wisniewski, Greenpeace USA's climate and energy campaign director, in an email. “Climate change is a global crisis which will only be made worse by extracting and exporting fossil fuels, whether it’s fracked gas from Appalachia, coal strip-mined from Montana, or oil drilled from the Arctic.”




2012 was the “hottest year on record” for the continental USA, and a series of events have been occurring that indicate the presence of climate change. Experts are stating the need for “quick action to mitigate the effects of climate change,” but a list of those changes to be enacted is not given in this article. According to Gabe Wisniewski of Greenpeace, “While President Obama has taken some important steps to address climate change at home, his administration is undermining that progress by ignoring the huge amounts of carbon pollution that would accompany the fossil fuel industry’s plan to export coal, liquefied natural gas and oil abroad.”

The truth is that there is no substitute readily available for fossil fuels as people around the world still need a means to heat their homes and provide electricity without the householder paying a fairly steep cost to install roof solar panels or other means of providing energy. Cars still run on gasoline or diesel for the most part and many homes use oil or gas tanks. Of course the fossil fuel industry has actively fought the development of widespread solar panel use and wind farms to make it less expensive to install and maintain as it becomes more common. In one newspaper article within the last year it was discussing the fact that some cities have had difficulty billing homes that have solar panels on their roofs because they make so much electricity that they sold some back to the electrical company. California's Net Energy Metering is one solution. See. http://www.pge.com/en/myhome/saveenergymoney/solar/nembill.page for a description of this.

Al Roker of NBC is going to interview the President today at 3:00. I don't know when it will be aired. I will try to watch it.




Oregon Governor Performs CPR, Helps Save Unconscious Woman – NBC
—Elizabeth Chuck
First published May 6th 201

It's not in his job description as governor, but Oregon's John Kitzhaber may have saved someone's life on Monday.

Kitzhaber, a former emergency room doctor, spotted an unconscious woman in downtown Portland around 5 p.m. and performed CPR until paramedics arrived, NBC affiliate KGW reported.

He was on his way to dinner when he noticed the woman on the ground, and a person attempting to help her. He told his driver to pull over and ordered his security detail to call paramedics, then "jumped out of the vehicle" to rush to the woman's aid, chief spokeswoman Nkenge Harmon Johnson said in an email to The Oregonian.

The woman — who wasn't identified — wasn't breathing and may have overdosed on drugs, KGW said. Kitzhaber gave her CPR until paramedics arrived minutes later and used a defibrillator that restarted her heart, Lt. Rich Chatman of the Portland Fire Bureau told The Oregonian.

She was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive, the governor's office said.

Alan Ferschweiler, one of the paramedics on the scene, told The Oregonian it was "pretty neat" seeing the governor in action.

“He was surprisingly calm, and you could see he went right back to the days where he was an emergency room doctor. To go and assist the governor and take over this patient from him is pretty surprising. It definitely took us off-guard," he said.

This isn't the first time Kitzhaber has used his medical knowledge in office. Four years ago, during a gubernatorial primary debate, he darted away from his podium to help a man who was suffering a seizure. And he's performed emergency aid numerous times at the state Capitol, according to The Oregonian.

Kitzhaber declined to comment on Monday's incident. His communications director told KGW, "The Governor wishes her well and hopes that she seeks treatment in order to avoid the bad situation she was faced with today."



John Kitzhaber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is the 37th and currentGovernor of Oregon. A member of the Democratic Party, Kitzhaber has served three nonconsecutive terms as Governor, from 1995 to 2003 and a third term since 2011. He also served in the Oregon House of Representatives and Oregon Senate, including as Senate president. He was also an emergency room surgeon and has worked as a health care administrator.

After his first tenure as Governor, Kitzhaber became the Director of the Center for Evidence Based Policy at the Oregon Health & Science University, served as the Executive Chair and President at both the Foundation for Medical Excellence and the Estes Park Institute, and founded the health care advocacy group the Archimedes Movement. In September 2009, Kitzhaber announced he would run for a third term as Governor, defeating Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury in the Democratic primary and former professional basketball player Chris Dudley with 49% of the vote in the Oregon's 2010 gubernatorial election.

During his political career, Kitzhaber became famous for often wearing blue jeansinstead of more formal slacks or suit pants. He created a minor stir when he wore jeans to his inauguration in 1995, with popular weekly magazine Newsweekcommenting on his attire.[33] During his 2010 campaign for a third term as governor, Kitzhaber frequently eschewed the necktie as well, preferring a button-down shirt and suit jacket with no tie.




Like many people who are highly intelligent, Kitzhaber obviously cares little about outer signs of social status, wealth and formality. Such people sometimes are mavericks, choosing to think for themselves rather than conform. I'm sure some people won't like him for those things, but others will like him more. Since 1996, Oregon has elected a majority of Democrats according to an Internet article, so he will probably stay in office if he chooses to run again. I, for one, certainly do like politicians like that. Obama has several times been seen in blue jeans when not at an official event. I like for politicians to be relaxed in their approach and “think on their feet.” I always liked Bill Clinton for those reasons. Of course, if he had had a little more rigidity he probably wouldn't have gotten involved with Lewinski -- speaking of whom, see below.

“He was on his way to dinner when he noticed the woman on the ground, and a person attempting to help her. He told his driver to pull over and ordered his security detail to call paramedics, then "jumped out of the vehicle" to rush to the woman's aid, chief spokeswoman Nkenge Harmon Johnson said." The governor has assisted people medically "numerous times" since he came into office.





Lewinsky: 'It's Time to Burn the Beret and the Blue Dress' – NBC
First published May 6th 2014

Monica Lewinsky has opened up about her affair with President Bill Clinton in a piece in Vanity Fair, saying that she “deeply regrets” her relationship with him but insisting that it was “consensual.”

"It's time to burn the beret and bury the blue dress," she writes in the piece. "I, myself, deeply regret what happened between me and President Clinton. Let me say it again: I. Myself. Deeply. Regret. What. Happened."

Lewinsky also responds to a report that Hillary Clinton referred to her as a "narcissistic loony toon" but also blamed herself for her husband's extramarital exploits.

"She may have faulted her husband for being inappropriate, but I find her impulse to blame the Woman—not only me, but herself—troubling," she writes.

And she claims that, at 24, she declined an offer by interrogators to wear a wire in the presence of Clinton's confidantes in exchange for immunity.

"Courageous or foolish, maybe,” she writes. "But narcissistic and loony?"

Despite some critics' persistent accusations that Bill Clinton engaged in "predatory behavior" with Lewinsky, she maintains that the sexual relationship was consensual and not abusive.

“Sure, my boss took advantage of me, but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship,” she continues. “Any ‘abuse’ came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position. The Clinton administration, the special prosecutor’s minions, the political operatives on both sides of the aisle, and the media were able to brand me. And that brand stuck, in part because it was imbued with power.”

Lewinsky says she decided to go public after the suicide of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who took his own life in 2010 after his encounter with another man was streamed over the web without his knowledge. The story reminded her and her mother of the shame and scorn she faced and the suicidal impulses she experienced, she says.

“Perhaps by sharing my story, I reasoned, I might be able to help others in their darkest moments of humiliation. The question became: How do I find and give a purpose to my past?” she writes.




"'I, myself, deeply regret what happened between me and President Clinton. Let me say it again: I. Myself. Deeply. Regret. What. Happened.'" says Monica Lewinsky. “'Sure, my boss took advantage of me, but I will always remain firm on this point: it was a consensual relationship,” she continues. “Any ‘abuse’ came in the aftermath, when I was made a scapegoat in order to protect his powerful position.'”

“'Perhaps by sharing my story, I reasoned, I might be able to help others in their darkest moments of humiliation. The question became: How do I find and give a purpose to my past?' she writes.” Women and sexuality is still a highly biased subject, despite changes in some other ways in women's position in American society. There is still a “scarlet letter A” on the woman's breast, but not on the man's. I think if she writes a book she will have a market for it.

I always felt somewhat sorry for her, though I thought she was plenty old enough to know better. Clinton, himself, it was said, “counseled with Billy Graham,” but didn't apologize to Lewinsky, and only referred to her as “that woman.” Clearly he had an affair with her because he found her attractive. He shouldn't have treated her as a “throw away.” I'll try to get a copy of the Vanity Fair article and read it. I don't want to buy the magazine, but I should be able to find it in the library and check it out.






Smart guns fire up both sides of gun control debate
CBS NEWS May 6, 2014

It's something straight out of a James Bond movie: a gun that only its owner can fire.

That kind of technology is now available in the real world. It's called a "smart gun." Made in Germany, it requires users to wear a radio-controlled watch to fire it, reports CBS News' Jan Crawford.

Maryland gun store owner Andy Raymond announced plans last week to sell it, but within 30 minutes of news getting out, the protests started coming in.

"Things went crazy," Raymond said. "People just started calling. All three of our lines were just boom, boom, boom. A hundred emails. I mean, just like that."

One caller warned Raymond's business would be burned to the ground. Another threatened that Raymond would get what was coming to him.

It's a weapon that fires up people on both sides of the gun control debate.

Some groups who support stringent gun laws say it could lead to wider gun ownership.

Gun rights supporters are even more opposed. They say it could eventually make smart gun technology mandatory in all weapons.

So Raymond backed down, announcing his decision not to sell the guns in a video rant he posted on Facebook.

"So anyway, obviously I received numerous death threats today. I really [expletive] appreciate that, it's really [expletive] classy," Raymond said in the video.

A similar situation happened in Southern California in March. The Oak Tree Gun Club planned to sell the smart gun, but there was a backlash from gun owners. 

The store reversed course.

"I don't know anyone who wants a smart gun," said Lee Williams, investigative reporter for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune who writes a gun column.

He said opponents see the smart gun laws as a back door way to ban guns.

"If you require only smart guns to be sold and only smart guns to be possessed, the guns that they own now will be declared illegal and it could be a further intrusion on their 2nd Amendment rights," Williams said.

A New Jersey law would do just that. It would eventually require all handguns sold in the state to have the same kind of technology.

California is considering a similar law and Democrats in Congress have proposed federal legislation.

As the technology becomes more available, however, people on both sides say it's only a matter of time before these guns get on the market.

"The technology isn't going away," Raymond said. "If people want to defeat it they need to defeat it in the free market. Then don't buy it."

Groups including law enforcement are not ready to invest because they say the technology isn't reliable yet.




This is apparently the kind of thing that the NRA absolutely fears and hates – something that might tend to cause weapons that are not “smart” to be made illegal to own. Two states, NJ and CA are actually proposing such legislation. I must say, the only thing that looks useful about the technology is that it would prohibit the gun's use by anyone other than the true owner, so it would make the “smart” gun useless in the case of theft. However, it would also make it useless if you got up in the middle of the night after hearing the window glass break and couldn't find your radio-controlled watch. I guess if that happened to me I would just go back to my old defensive weapon of choice – a claw hammer. All in all, though, I certainly wouldn't spend money on such a pistol. A German shepherd is more effective and makes a loving pet besides.






Israeli archaeologist says he has found King David's citadel – CBS
AP  May 6, 2014

An Israeli archaeologist says he has found the legendary citadel captured by King David in his conquest of Jerusalem, rekindling a longstanding debate about using the Bible as a field guide to identifying ancient ruins.

The claim by Eli Shukron, like many such claims in the field of biblical archaeology, has run into criticism. It joins a string of announcements by Israeli archaeologists saying they have unearthed palaces of the legendary biblical king, who is revered in Jewish religious tradition for establishing Jerusalem as its central holy city - but who has long eluded historians looking for clear-cut evidence of his existence and reign.

The present-day Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also wrapped up in the subject. The $10 million excavation, made accessible to tourists last month, took place in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem and was financed by an organization that settles Jews in guarded homes in Arab areas of east Jerusalem in an attempt to prevent the city from being divided. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as the capital of a future independent state.

Shukron, who excavated at the City of David archaeological site for nearly two decades, says he believes strong evidence supports his theory.

"This is the citadel of King David, this is the Citadel of Zion, and this is what King David took from the Jebusites," said Shukron, who said he recently left Israel's Antiquities Authority to work as a lecturer and tour guide. "The whole site we can compare to the Bible perfectly."

Most archaeologists in Israel do not dispute that King David was a historical figure, and a written reference to the "House of David" was found in an archaeological site in northern Israel. But archaeologists are divided on identifying Davidic sites in Jerusalem, which he is said to have made his capital.

Shukron's dig, which began in 1995, uncovered a massive fortification of five-ton stones stacked 21 feet (6 meters) wide. Pottery shards helped date the fortification walls to be 3,800 years old. They are the largest walls found in the region from before the time of King Herod, the ambitious builder who expanded the Second Jewish Temple complex in Jerusalem almost 2,100 years ago. The fortification surrounded a water spring and is thought to have protected the ancient city's water source.

The fortification was built 800 years before King David would have captured it from its Jebusite rulers. Shukron says the biblical story of David's conquest of Jerusalem provides clues that point to this particular fortification as David's entry point into the city.
In the second Book of Samuel, David orders the capture of the walled city by entering it through the water shaft. Shukron's excavation uncovered a narrow shaft where spring water flowed into a carved pool, thought to be where city inhabitants would gather to draw water. Excess water would have flowed out of the walled city through another section of the shaft Shukron said he discovered - where he believes the city was penetrated.

Shukron says no other structure in the area of ancient Jerusalem matches what David would have captured to take the city. The biblical account names it the "Citadel of David" and the "Citadel of Zion."

Ronny Reich, who was Shukron's collaborator at the site until 2008, disagrees with the theory. He said more broken pottery found from the 10th century BC, presumably King David's reign, should have been found if the fortification had been in use then.

Shukron said he only found two shards that date close to that time. He believes the reason he didn't find more is because the site was in continuous use and old pottery would have been cleared out by David's successors. Much larger quantities of shards found at the site date to about 100 years after King David's reign.

Reich said it was not possible to reach definitive conclusions about biblical connections without more direct archaeological evidence.

"The connection between archaeology and the Bible has become very, very problematic in recent years," Reich said.

Critics say that some archaeologists are too eager to hold a spade in one hand and a Bible in the other in a quest to verify the biblical narrative - either due to religious beliefs or to prove the Jewish people's historic ties to the land. But other respected Israeli archaeologists say recent finds match the biblical account more than naysayers claim.

Shukron, a veteran archaeologist who has excavated a number of significant sites in Jerusalem, said he drew his conclusions after nearly two decades exploring the ancient city.

"I know every little thing in the City of David. I didn't see in any other place such a huge fortification as this," said Shukron.

The biblical connection to the site is emphasized at the City of David archaeological park, where the "Spring Citadel" - the excavation's official name - has been retrofitted for tourists, including a movie projected on a screen in front of the fortification to illustrate how it may have looked 3,800 years ago. The City of David - located in east Jerusalem - is one of the most popular tourist sites in the holy city, with 500,000 tourists visiting last year.

"We open the Bible and we see how the archaeology and the Bible actually come together in this place," said Doron Spielman, vice president of the nonprofit Elad Foundation, which oversees the archaeological park. He carried a softcover Bible in his hand as he ambled around the excavation.

The site has come under criticism because of the Elad Foundation's nationalistic agenda. Most of the foundation's funding comes from private donations from Jews in the U.S. and U.K., and its activities include purchasing Arab homes near the excavated areas and then helping Jews move in, sometimes under heavy guard.

Critics say this political agenda should not mix with archaeology.




Much of Biblical archaeology is suspect by some scholars due to the religious and political influence on Israeli and Christian archeologists' work. In this case, Ronny Reich, Shukron's former collaborator stated that he thinks the evidence is insufficient for calling this a Biblical site. Only one physical piece of proof exists that there was a King David in history at all. Another problem with the site is that it is maintained by a conservative Jewish organization called the Elad Foundation, whose “nationalistic” activities include “purchasing Arab homes near the excavated areas and then helping Jews move in, sometimes under heavy guard.” This is one more step by Israel toward what Palestinians consider to be a land grab, and a major stumbling block to Israel-Palestinian
peace accords. It's one more piece of depressing news.