Wednesday, May 28, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Chechen Leader Denies Sending Troops to Ukraine
By PETER LEONARD Associated Press
May 27, 2014

DONETSK, Ukraine  As the fighting becomes more ferocious in eastern Ukraine, Chechnya's Moscow-backed leader insisted Wednesday he had not sent any of his famous troops to help pro-Russia insurgents but said some Chechens may have gone there on their own.

Scores of rebel fighters have been killed this week around the major eastern city of Donetsk, and Ukrainian border guards have reported at least one gun battle as they blocked groups of armed men trying to cross into Ukraine from Russia. Ukraine and the West have accused Moscow of fomenting the unrest, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied sending any troops to help the insurgents.

Fighters who looked like Caucasus residents have been seen among the pro-Russia rebels who have seized government buildings, declared independence from Ukraine and are fighting government forces in the east.

In a statement posted on his Instagram, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said two-thirds of the three million Chechens live outside his province in Russia's North Caucasus mountains, so he "can't and mustn't know where each of them goes."

"If someone saw a Chechen in the zone of conflict, he's there on his own," he said.

Kadyrov's pro-Russia forces, known for their warrior spirit and deadly efficiency, helped Russia win a quick victory in a 2008 war with neighboring Georgia. The 37-year old-leader has vowed an unswerving fealty to Putin and has hailed the Russian leader's policy in Ukraine.

In the most furious battle yet, rebels in Donetsk tried to take control of its airport Monday but were repelled by Ukrainian forces using combat jets and helicopter gunships. Dozens of men were killed and some morgues were overflowing Tuesday. Some insurgent leaders said up to 100 fighters may have been killed.

The city remained tense Wednesday, with Ukrainian fighter jets flying overhead. Some gunshots were heard.

In Slovyansk, a city 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Donetsk which that [sic] has seen constant clashes over the past few weeks, residential areas came under mortar shelling Wednesday from government forces. A school was badly damaged and other buildings were hit. Residents told The Associated Press that several people were wounded.

Kadyrov, a former rebel who fought Russian forces in the first of two devastating separatist wars, switched sides during the second campaign when his father became the region's pro-Russia leader. Following his father's death in a rebel bombing, Kadyrov rebuilt the region relying on generous Kremlin funding and squelched the rebel resistance with his ruthless paramilitary forces, which have been blamed for extrajudicial killings, torture and other abuses.

Putin praised Kadyrov last week after he negotiated the release of two Russian journalists arrested by Ukrainian forces and accused of assisting the rebels in the east, earning Putin's praise. The Chechen leader has not said how he got the journalists freed, but has directed threats at the Ukrainian authorities.

"If the Ukrainian authorities want so much to see 'Chechen units' in Donetsk, why go to Donetsk if there is a good highway to Kiev?" he said in Wednesday's statement.

However, he added that he fully supports Putin's policy to help restore peace in Ukraine.



“Ukrainian border guards have reported at least one gun battle as they blocked groups of armed men trying to cross into Ukraine from Russia.... Fighters who looked like Caucasus residents have been seen among the pro-Russia rebels....” Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has denied sending his troops into Ukraine, but said that some may have gone in on their own. He also said that 2/3 of Chechens live in the North Caucasus mountains of Russia. Of his fighters, the article says they “squelched the rebel resistance with his ruthless paramilitary forces, which have been blamed for extrajudicial killings, torture and other abuses.” The article says that Kadyrov recently negotiated the release of two Russian newsmen. He has threatened the Kiev government, saying “'If the Ukrainian authorities want so much to see 'Chechen units' in Donetsk, why go to Donetsk if there is a good highway to Kiev?'”




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-separatists-beating-in-donetsk-signals-change-in-standoff-with-russia/


Fighter jets drop new reality on eastern Ukraine – CBS
By CHARLIE D'AGATA CBS NEWS May 28, 2014

DONETSK -- If the fighter jets roaring overhead weren't enough of an indication that the situation in Donetsk had changed dramatically, the thundering air strikes that followed erased any doubt.

It was the Ukrainian military's biggest and most rapid response since the unrest began here in the east three months ago.

Their target: pro-Russian separatists who had launched an audacious attempt to seize the city's international airport.

The separatists made their first move on the airport in the dead of night. Pictures emerged of heavily-armed militants in the airport terminals and holding positions on the roof.

By mid-morning, rebel reinforcements were arriving by the truckload, spreading out among the buildings and trees which line the airport perimeter.

As a group of separatist fighters took cover in a cluster of trees at the end of an on-ramp to the airport, three helicopter gunships seemingly came out of nowhere and opened fire, tearing into the woods and the grassy area in front.

The fighters on the ground tried to fight back, spraying gunfire in every direction.

The Ukrainian military operation -- using jet fighter air strikes, helicopter gunships, heavy artillery and a ground assault by Ukrainian paratroopers -- was unprecedented.

Bodies piled up at the morgue. Rebel commanders have said they lost more than 100 fighters. The Ukrainian government said its forces suffered no losses in the assault.

The battle for the airport may prove pivotal for two reasons: it was the highest-profile attack separatists have launched so far, and it triggered the highest-profile response from the Ukrainian military so far.

Pro-Russian separatists have had the run of this region for a number of weeks. Armed gunmen roam the streets freely. There has been virtually no Ukrainian troop presence in Donetsk, and while there are still Ukrainian police here, neither side pays the other much attention -- the local police represent no challenge to the heavily armed gunmen.

Separatists still control important government buildings, and they made good on their vow to ensure that not a single vote was cast here in the country's presidential elections.

While president-elect Petro Poroshenko has called for peaceful negotiations with the separatists, he's compared the armed pro-Russians to "Somali pirates," and said the crisis should be resolved in a matter of hours, not months.

Now Donetsk is bracing for what comes next. Shops and restaurants are closed. Rumors are rife that Ukrainian military units are getting ready to launch an invasion to retake the city.

In an emergency televised address on Tuesday, the Donetsk's mayor warned people to stay indoors, while assuring nervous residents that government forces would not push into the center of the city. At night, this normally bustling city of more than 1 million people, seems virtually deserted.

The large-scale military response signaled a significant change in tactics.

Ukraine's government has been reluctant for months to unleash its heavy weapons against pro-Russian separatists, for fear of provoking a response from Moscow. There are still tens of thousands of Russian troops massed near the Ukrainian border, but U.S. officials told CBS News on Tuesday that about 6,000 of the approximately 40,000 troops near the border had returned to their home bases, and a couple thousand more are getting ready to move.

Moscow announced the planned withdrawal of troops from the border area several days ago, but officials said it could take almost a month for the repositioning to be completed.

The separatists won't last long without Russian backing. On Tuesday, the separatist leader in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, made a direct appeal to Putin for help. He may be feeling more isolated, and increasingly desperate.

The Russian government has demanded an immediate halt to Ukraine's military offensive in the east, but the repositioning of Russian troops away from the Ukrainian border sends a message.

And Ukrainian deputy prime minister Vitaly Yarema said Tuesday that the "anti-terrorist operation" would continue in the east, "until all the militants are annihilated."




“The battle for the airport may prove pivotal for two reasons: it was the highest-profile attack separatists have launched so far, and it triggered the highest-profile response from the Ukrainian military so far.” It is probably no coincidence that Russia has finally started moving its troops back from the Ukrainian border. It is also cheering to see that Denis Pushilin the separatist leader has “made a direct appeal to Putin for help,” and that the Ukrainian deputy prime minister Vitaly Yarema said that the operation will continue in the east “until all the militants are annihilated.” It looks like the Kiev government is going to continue playing hardball now, and I have hope that Russia will continue to become more respectful and cooperative. I would like to see this nation as a member of NATO, a friend of the US, and a democratic and prosperous state.





Renowned Poet and Author Maya Angelou Dies at 86 – NBC
BY REHEMA ELLIS AND ELIZABETH CHUCK
First published May 28th 2014

Maya Angelou, the renowned poet, author and civil rights activist, has died, officials in her hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, told NBC News. The author of the celebrated autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" was 86 years old.

Her death comes less than a week after Angelou announced she would not attend the 2014 MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon, where she was to be honored, citing "health reasons." Last month, she also canceled an event in Fayetteville, Arkansas, because she was recovering from an "unexpected ailment" that left her hospitalized.

"The mayor is very saddened to hear the loss of a woman of such renowned phenomenal status as Dr. Angelou. Our prayers are with her family, her staff and all the people she has worked with," Linda Jackson-Barnes, assistant to Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines, said.

Angelou was born on April 4, 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri, under the name Marguerite Annie Johnson. She grew up to become a singer, dancer, actress, writer and Hollywood's first female black director.

Angelou had an impressive list of accolades: She was a three-time Grammy winner and was nominated for a Pulitzer, a Tony, an an Emmy for her role in the groundbreaking television mini-series "Roots."

But her success didn't come easily. Angelou's life struggles were fodder for her work.

Her childhood had been marked by sexual abuse, which she detailed in "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" — the first of numerous autobiographies she wrote.

Her first big break came as a singer in the 1950s.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.




Maya Angelou's birth name was Marguerite Annie Johnson. “She grew up to become a singer, dancer, actress, writer and Hollywood's first female black director. She was a three-time Grammy winner and was nominated for a Pulitzer, a Tony, and an Emmy for her role in the groundbreaking television mini-series "Roots." “Her first big break came as a singer in the 1950s.” I think of poetry writing and musical ability as being the product of great emotion, often pain. Angelou endured childhood sexual abuse, but apparently lived to adjust to the damage that it always causes, perhaps by means of her art. She obviously had a wide range of talents. I didn't know she was in “Roots,” which I watched spellbound through all its segments. I also am glad to see that she lived in Winston-Salem, NC, about forty miles from my home town of Thomasville, so that gives me a little link to her. Her death is a loss, but she lived a fulfilled and productive life. She was an important addition to the feminist cause and the world of art.





Facebook Users Help Reunite Abducted Baby, Mom in Just Three Hours – NBC
-Alastair Jamieson
First published May 28th 2014

A relieved mother in Quebec expressed thanks Tuesday after her abducted newborn baby was tracked down in three hours thanks to four strangers responding to an appeal on Facebook.

Authorities in Trois-Rivieres, Canada, issued an amber alert late Monday after a young woman disguised as a nurse walked into a hospital maternity ward and took Melissa McMahon’s day–old daughter Victoria.

A description of the suspect’s car was quickly issued by Quebec’s police force, the Surete du Quebec, and shared on social media.

In a desperate Facebook post, the baby’s father, Simon Boisclair, pleaded for friends to spread the description of the vehicle. “Help us please, after one day our daughter has been stolen,” he wrote.

A group of four people who saw the Facebook appeals while sitting at home were spurred into action, deciding to head out in search of the suspect’s car, according to local media.

“We were on Facebook,” Charlene Plante told Canada’s CTV channel. “We just wanted to do something for the night, so we went out to find the car.”

Another one of the four, Sharelle Bergeron, told the Globe and Mail newspaper: “It’s a pretty rare thing that something that exciting happens in Trois-Rivières.”

The breakthrough for the four amateur sleuths came when police circulated a hospital surveillance video picture of the suspect disguised in a nursing uniform. Plante recognized the 21-year-old suspect as a high school acquaintance and former neighbor.

The group headed to the suspect’s apartment and alerted police after seeing a vehicle matching the earlier description parked outside, the National Post reported.

The exact moment when an officer entered the building and removed the missing infant was recorded by the group on cellphone video and posted to Facebook by Bergeron's sister, Melizanne. The infant's entire ordeal lasted just over three hours.

In an emotional post on the site Tuesday, McMahon expressed her gratitude to the authorities and everyone who had helped find her daughter, who she said was “aptly named for this victory.”

“Four wonderful people, who we had the chance to meet, identified the woman through Facebook,” she wrote in French. “This is the reason why Victoria is in my arms right now.”

She added that every click and share on Facebook had “made the difference.”

Boisclair posted a picture of himself with the reunited mother and baby.

“You have to give credit to these young people,” Quebec state premier Philippe Couillard said, according to the Globe and Mail. “They showed a lot of initiative.”




A group of four young people who were reading Facebook saw Boisclair's appeal for help finding the abductor's car and decided to drive around looking for the car. “We just wanted to do something for the night, so we went out to find the car.” One of the four, Charlene Plante, recognized the would-be nurse from the surveillance video as a fellow high school student and former neighbor. The group drove to her apartment, which Plante also knew – must be a small town -- and found the getaway car parked outside, at which point they called the police. The police entered the apartment and removed the baby. What happened to the abductor was not stated. Every now and then a young woman like that abducts a newborn. It often turns out to be a case of mental instability. This whole thing was chronicled on Facebook with expressions of gratitude by the baby's mother. Good story. Hooray for Facebook and all courageous people!





Who’s Singing Lead? Animals Make Music at National Zoo – ABC
By Gillian Mohney
May 28, 2014

The Smithsonian National Zoo is putting together a band cuter (and furrier) than any boy band.

The Washington D.C. zoo provides animals — including otters, bears and apes — with musical instruments as part of the wildlife center’s enrichment program to help them engage different senses and learn certain tasks.

See Stories Of Other Amazing Animals

The zoo posted videos of the experiments online to show everyone how each animal tries their hand (or paw) at the different instruments. While  the sloth bear seems to both enjoy (and fear) the harmonica, the orangutan fearlessly plays a decent set of scales on the xylophone.

When energetic otters get a keyboard they fight for space at the keys. But the music isn’t all fun and games for the otters, the instruments engage the animals’ “sight, touch, and hearing senses.”

And for the great apes like Bonnie the orangutan, music or especially the xylophone can help the ape “participate in critical thinking studies.”
 
Hank, the sloth bear cub, was given a harmonica to encourage the cub to replicate the “natural behavior [of] sloth bears in the wild ”  to suck out and eat termites. While the technique is important for Hank to learn, it means his harmonica playing isn’t going to beat Bob Dylan’s anytime soon.




“While  the sloth bear seems to both enjoy (and fear) the harmonica, the orangutan fearlessly plays a decent set of scales on the xylophone.” Zookeepers have been in the news a number of times for various things they have done to provide “enrichment” for their animals in their boring life behind bars. Everything from cut fruit or meat – appropriate to the species – have been placed in their cages while they are away, for them to find later and enjoy. Lions, in the wild, are not given chunks of meat by humans, but must outwit and overwhelm their prey, which, I feel sure, gives them a sense of success and satisfaction. One lion on Animal Planet was being filmed in the chase and when his prey got away he gave an angry bodily movement and shook his tail like an irritated house cat. You could almost hear him swearing. They're not dumb, but they must live in caged environments and watch the people who are lined up in a row watching them. It always makes me a little sad when I go to a zoo. Still, it's the only way I can see any wild animals.

The most interesting thing I have seen with animals doing amazing things has to do with pots of paint and a brush. The animals, chimpanzees, gorillas and surprisingly elephants, will take up the paint brush (by the proper end), dip it in the paint and make marks on the paper provided. They all three, including the elephant, seemed to be involved mentally in the task and enjoying himself. Koko the famous gorilla, who can “speak” in sign language, painted a pretty good abstract which she called “flowers,” and a portrait of her owner's border collie, likewise naming him. The border collie consisted of a long horizontal black “muzzle” with upright ears and a visible “head.” You can't ask but so much of a gorilla. It was no better art than your average two year old can produce, but I could recognize the dog's head when the narrator gave the title of the painting. The well-known psychologist Desmond Morris did a great deal of work with chimpanzees, and was the first, as far as I know, to give them a paintbrush and watch them work.

I'm glad to see zoos trying to entertain their captives a little bit. In the case of endangered species the zoo population may soon be the only living examples of some of those animals, so there is a legitimate place for zoos in the world. Otherwise, I might be prone to say that we should do away with all zoos and turn all the animals out into the wild so they could be free. Of course, if they are well fed and cared for they may be fairly comfortable. I doubt that many species are intelligent enough to have the conscious awareness of being deprived that is involved with, say, putting a man in prison for his whole life, so they may even enjoy their life on a bright sunny day, and be interested in the crowds of humans who are watching them. There is often evident affection between some animals and their keepers, so maybe they await the daily visit by the keeper. I certainly do hope so.




http://www.npr.org/2014/05/27/316452303/a-killers-manifesto-reveals-wide-reach-of-misogyny-online

A Killer's Manifesto Reveals Wide Reach Of Misogyny Online
by NPR STAFF
May 27, 2014

The misogynistic manifesto written by Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old who police say killed six people before taking his own life Friday, quickly led to an outpouring on Twitter under the hashtag#YesAllWomen. Women and men alike used the hashtag to share stories and statistics about harassment and sexual assault.

According to the analytics site Topsy, there have been over 1.6 million tweets mentioning #YesAllWomen so far.

In a piece in The New Statesman, writer Laurie Penny says men have long expressed many of the same misogynistic thoughtsRodger conveyed in forums across the Internet.
In her piece, Penny writes, "Why can we not speak about misogynist extremism — why can we not speak about misogyny at all — even when the language used by Elliot Rodger is everywhere online?"

Penny tells NPR's Melissa Block that the language Rodger used to denigrate women online is similar to the verbal attacks and rape threats she's received as a writer.

She was angry, she says, when she heard of Friday's shooting. "I think that anger is politically important," she says. "Women are usually allowed to say that we're frightened or we feel like victims when we are the target of attacks like this. But what we're not allowed to say is that, 'Actually, I'm really, really cross. I'm furious. I want to stop this happening.' "

Interview Highlights

On men's rights forums and misogynistic language online

The language used on men's rights activists' forums is an extreme version of language that you see everywhere on the Web. ... It's not just sites which are dedicated to hating and slut-shaming women — it's online video games; it's YouTube and Facebook.

The ideology seems to be that men are owed sex and respect and love and adoration by women — not because they deserved it, not because that's what human beings need, but because that is their right as men. And if they don't get it, they're entitled to rape, to beat and even to kill, as was the ultimate end of Elliot Rodger's really sad, disturbing manifesto.

On the origin of #YesAllWomen from #NotAllMen

One of the most horrifying [reactions] has been the pushback that "not all men do this," "not all men think like this." Well, of course, not all men are killers, not all men are violent misogynists. But the idea that before we speak about misogynistic extremism we should take men's feelings into account and make sure no man listening to that conversation feels threatened or has his ego bruised, that's really, really dangerous. That's the language of silencing. And that's what the #YesAllWomen hashtag was a response to.

On the impact of a hashtag

Change doesn't happen when one person stands on a platform and says something powerful. Change is about tiny little alterations in mindset, and the Internet lets that happen much, much faster and much, much easier. It makes it impossible to ignore. And personally for me, that's what a hashtag does; that's what it's about. It all happens so much faster, and it happens on a much more intimate, personal level. It's both personal and political, and that's what makes it so powerful.

On the reaction from men to her post

Many men and boys have emailed me, not just to say, oh, my gosh, this is awful, but they're saying: How can I change this? How can I make this different? How can I, as a man, step up and support women and girls and create a better world?

Because they don't want young men to grow up in this world, either. That, to me, is what's really, really heartening about this conversation, as well as the fact that it's enabling women and girls of all ages ... to talk about their experiences in a public forum which is so wide and so broad, it allows them to be braver and be supported.




“Many men and boys have emailed me, not just to say, oh, my gosh, this is awful, but they're saying: How can I change this? How can I make this different? How can I, as a man, step up and support women and girls and create a better world?” This article speaks of “men's rights” websites. I haven't seen them, but I have seen “white rights” websites, and any number of other things that are repugnant, stupid and even damaging in that they influence one or more person's mental thought processes, thus producing a more dangerous and unjust society. The author Penny said that she has had similar things, to what was said in Rodger's “manifesto,” said to her when some men have read her writings, including “verbal attacks and rape threats.”

I looked her name up on the Internet and found a listing of her articles in The New Statesman. They range over a variety of topics, but did sound fairly outspoken and maybe controversial. So some readers got angry at her. Apparently a number of men have expressed their anger at her by threatening to rape her. This is, truly, a sign of a profound misogyny, as it isn't in any way a logical argument to any conceivable question. It does bring to mind a case in the news in one of the middle eastern countries in which a woman was “punished” for her having some viewpoints by a gang rape. I hope men with views like that never “take over” the society in this United States, as they have in some Islamic countries. That's what Sharia law is about. Of course, this article isn't aimed at a middle eastern country, but a sampling of men from across the Internet and, therefore, from across the human race, hence Penny's alarm.

Penny writes, "Why can we not speak about misogynist extremism — why can we not speak about misogyny at all — even when the language used by Elliot Rodger is everywhere online?" Penny's objection to the statement that “"not all men think like this'" was, “well, duhh,” but I would say that in the US, while too many men do think like that, especially in ignorant backwaters, in fact “most” do not. Most young men in the US grow up relatively mentally healthy, I think. As far as I'm concerned, her expression of anger rather than merely fear (an acceptable female feeling) is well within her rights, but there will be too many men who will be opposed to it and call her “bitch,” “slut” and any number of other things. Oh, yeah, I forgot the “c” word. Unfortunately they have a right to say those things because they are within the range of “free speech,” but I personally have no respect for those men and will not waste my time reading their “manifestos.” I'm glad she read Rodger's so she could write about it and now I won't have to read it to see what he said. Thank you for writing your article on this subject, Ms. Penny.