Saturday, June 21, 2014


News Clips For The Day


http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-immigration-border-20140620-story.html

Republicans blame Obama policies for immigration crisis on border
By MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE, RICHARD SIMON
June 19, 2014

Republicans are challenging the president's characterization of the surge in young immigrants from Central America across the southern border as an unforeseen crisis, accusing his administration of contributing to the influx and demanding that he deploy National Guard troops and other resources to secure the border.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday called the flood of unaccompanied minors across the U.S.-Mexico border a "failure of diplomacy."

"I've known about this for two years. The president has known about this," Perry said during a briefing in Washington.

Since October, 47,000 children have been caught crossing the southern border alone, a more than 90% increase from last year, federal officials said. The number of unaccompanied children caught could reach 90,000 this year, with many crossing here in the Rio Grande Valley.

President Obama spoke by phone with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday to discuss a regional response to the situation.

According to a White House statement, Obama “noted that these unaccompanied children are vulnerable to crime and abuse.” He welcomed Mexico's efforts to help target the criminals that lure families into sending children north. He also noted that Mexico had warned migrants of the “likelihood that they will be returned to Central America.”

On Friday, Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Central American officials in Guatemala to try to stem the flow of migrants north, and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is expected to visit Brownsville.

Critics say that's not enough.

Perry and other Texas officials this week authorized an increase in border security by the state's Department of Public Safety. The department will use existing resources, plus $1.3 million extra per week, to increase staffing and overtime along the border. It does not plan to erect any new checkpoints, department spokesman Tom Vinger said.

Critics note that young migrants are heading north not just to flee deteriorating economic and security conditions in Central America, but also lured by rumors that they will be granted permisos, permission to stay legally. They say these rumors originated with Obama's executive order creating Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that allowed children who had immigrated illegally to delay deportation.

"We are essentially incentivizing the flow of this population by not returning the unaccompanied juveniles to their countries of origins quickly. Indeed, once they arrive in the United States, we try to find sponsors for them in this country, and they effectively stay here permanently," Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said on the House floor this week.

Cole is also upset that, with shelter space in Texas scarce, migrant children are being flown to a temporary shelter opened last month at Oklahoma's Ft. Sill.

Senate Assistant Minority Leader John Cornyn (R-Texas) also blamed Obama's policies for contributing to the border crisis and called on him to swiftly curtail it.

Cornyn had yet to receive a response Thursday from the chiefs of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services to a list of questions he sent the day before concerning the influx of young immigrants.

Among the questions in his letters, which were co-written by Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from the Rio Grande Valley:

"Has the surge in illegal border crossers and the number of unaccompanied alien children apprehended by DHS diverted critical resources away from your department's border security and national security objectives? What is your department's plan to ensure that transnational criminal organizations do not exploit the vulnerabilities exposed by the crisis on our southern border?"

Aaron Peña, a lawyer who lives in the valley and served in the Texas state Legislature as both a Democrat and a Republican, said he had been disappointed by Obama's response to the border crisis.

"He just doesn't seem to care — it's not a priority to him," Peña said Thursday, adding that it seems the president "just wants to ignore it."

At a briefing Thursday in Washington, Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) responded to such criticism, saying that the increase in unaccompanied children started long before the Senate passed immigration legislation last year and before Obama created DACA two years ago.

"None of the unaccompanied children crossing our border would be eligible for DACA," he said. "Why are they coming if it isn't the lure of these laws? They're fleeing for their lives."

He noted that the children weren't just fleeing to the United States but also seeking refuge in Mexico and other neighboring countries.

"These are kids who are coming here because of what's happening in their own country," Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Downey) said. "I just hope that at some point, we'll be able to put these polarizing arguments aside and look at it from the basis of what the facts are and how we can realistically address this issue."

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said the crisis was largely caused by thousands in Central America who believe "it is better to run for their lives and risk dying than to stay and die for certain."

Juan Sheenan, Catholic Relief Services' representative in Honduras, said the Obama administration and its critics needed to address the root causes of the migration, not just the crisis at the border.

"It is one thing for the U.S. to say do not migrate, but without anti-violence and anti-poverty assistance and really understanding the situation, it's like returning kids to a battlefield," he said. "A message of just stay home, without any willingness to address root causes, is a strategy that just won't work."

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com
richard.simon@latimes.com





“Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday called the flood of unaccompanied minors across the U.S.-Mexico border a 'failure of diplomacy.' 'I've known about this for two years. The president has known about this,' Perry said during a briefing in Washington.” Has this really been going on for two years? I have only seen news reports about it for the last month or so. Was it kept hidden, or was the number of migrants newly tallied?

“President Obama spoke by phone with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Thursday to discuss a regional response to the situation. According to a White House statement, Obama 'noted that these unaccompanied children are vulnerable to crime and abuse.' He welcomed Mexico's efforts to help target the criminals that lure families into sending children north. He also noted that Mexico had warned migrants of the 'likelihood that they will be returned to Central America.'” In addition, Joe Biden was in Guatemala to consult with officials there to stop the migration. Republicans say it's “not enough.”

Texas Governor Perry has authorized an increase in state security forces at the border, but has not increased the number of border checkpoints. “Obama's executive order creating Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA” is being blamed for the rumors which Republicans say have started the northward flow. Rep. Tom Cole stated that the failure to send the migrants back home “quickly” and the policy of trying to find sponsors for them in this country is the cause of the problem. A Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar has co-signed a letter to Obama asking for a reversal of policy.

As for Rep. Cole's argument that we should send them all back home, I don't see how you do that with 70,000 kids from three Central American countries. If that is done, it should be done immediately when they are discovered, rather than putting them into a holding center. Why is Mexico not stopping them at their border? There is need for international cooperation here, including all South and Central American nations involved. What about UN involvement to stabilize conditions there?

Senator Durbin argues that the increase in the number of unaccompanied children began before Obama's DAKA went into effect two years ago and before “last year's legislation.” The article doesn't say what legislation that was. “He noted that the children weren't just fleeing to the United States but also seeking refuge in Mexico and other neighboring countries.” Juan Sheenan, Catholic Relief Services' representative in Honduras stressed that the conditions in their home countries need to be addressed in order to prevent the problem.






Ebola "totally out of control" in West Africa – CBS
AP June 20, 2014

DAKAR, Senegal -- The Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa is "totally out of control," according to a senior official for Doctors Without Borders, who says and [sic] the medical group is stretched to the limit in its capacity to respond.

International organizations and the governments involved need to send in more health experts and to increase the public education messages about how to stop the spread of the disease, Bart Janssens, the director of operations for the group in Brussels, told The Associated Press on Friday.

Ebola has already been linked to more than 330 deaths in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, according to the latest numbers from the World Health Organization.

"The reality is clear that the epidemic is now in a second wave," Janssens said. "And, for me, it is totally out of control."

The outbreak, which began in Guinea either late last year or early this year, had appeared to slow before picking up pace again in recent weeks, including spreading to the Liberian capital for the first time.

"I'm absolutely convinced that this epidemic is far from over and will continue to kill a considerable amount of people, so this will definitely end up the biggest ever," he said.
The multiple locations of the outbreak and its movement across borders make it one of the "most challenging Ebola outbreaks ever," Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, said earlier in the week.

The outbreak shows no sign of abating and that governments and international organizations were "far from winning this battle," Unni Krishnan, head of disaster preparedness and response for Plan International, said Friday.

But Janssens' description of the Ebola outbreak was even more alarming, and he warned that the governments affected had not recognized the gravity of the situation. He criticized the World Health Organization for not doing enough to prod leaders and said that it needs to bring in more experts to do the vital work of tracing all of the people who have been in contact with the sick.

"There needs to be a real political commitment that this is a very big emergency," he said. "Otherwise, it will continue to spread, and for sure it will spread to more countries."

The World Health Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

But Tolbert Nyenswah, Liberia's deputy minister of health, said that people in the highest levels of government are working to contain the outbreak as proved by the fact that that Liberia had a long period with no new cases before this second wave.

The governments involved and international agencies are definitely struggling to keep up with the severity of the outbreak, said Krishnan of Plan, which is providing equipment to the three affected countries and spreading information about how people can protect themselves against the disease. But he noted that the disease is striking in one of the world's poorest regions, where public health systems are already fragile.

"The affected countries are at the bottom of the human development index," he said in an emailed statement. "Ebola is seriously crippling their capacities to respond effectively in containing the spread."

The situation requires a more effective response, said Janssens of Doctors Without Borders. With more than 40 international staff currently on the ground and four treatment centers, Doctors Without Borders has reached its limit to respond, he said.

"It's the first time in an Ebola epidemic where (Doctors Without Borders) teams cannot cover all the needs, at least for treatment centers," he said.

It is unclear, for instance, if the group will be able to set up a treatment center in Liberia, like the ones it is running in in Guinea and Sierra Leone, he said. For one thing, Janssens said, the group doesn't have any more experienced people in its network to call on. As it is, some of its people have already done three tours on the ground.

Janssens said this outbreak is particularly challenging because it began in an area where people are very mobile and has spread to even more densely populated areas, like the capitals of Guinea and Liberia. The disease typically strikes sparsely populated areas in central or eastern Africa, where it spreads less easily, he said.

By contrast, the epicenter of this outbreak is near a major regional transport hub, the Guinean city of Gueckedou.

He said the only way to stop the disease's spread is to persuade people to come forward when symptoms occur and to avoid touching the sick and dead.

"There is still not a real change of behavior of the people," he said. "So a lot of sick people still remain in hiding or continue to travel. And there is still news that burial practices are remaining dangerous."




Bart Janssens of Doctors Without Borders states the need for more health professionals is great. “'The reality is clear that the epidemic is now in a second wave,' Janssens said. 'And, for me, it is totally out of control.'" “The multiple locations of the outbreak and its movement across borders make it one of the 'most challenging Ebola outbreaks ever,' Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization, said earlier in the week.” Janssens has said that WHO has not done enough to produce action in the governments involved and “'the vital work of tracing all of the people who have been in contact with the sick.'”

He says Doctors Without Borders is stretched to the limit and needs other organizations to send in people. The epidemic, he said, began in a location where the people “are very mobile” and has spread to the cities, whereas it usually remains in sparsely populated areas “where it spreads less easily.” This time the epicenter is near Gueckedou, a major regional transport hub. The sick people are not responding to a plea for them to come forward when they begin to get sick and to avoid the “dangerous burial practices” which I understand from other outbreak stories involve the washing and touching of the bodies, which are the primary source of infection. Getting the people to deviate from their folkways is hard, but until they do the epidemic will continue.







Murder charge still pending against woman at 102 – CBS
AP June 20, 2014

BOSTON - Nearly five years after a woman was charged with killing her 100-year-old roommate in a Massachusetts nursing home, a second-degree murder charge is still pending against her at the age of 102.

Laura Lundquist, diagnosed with dementia, was deemed incompetent to stand trial after she was charged with strangling Elizabeth Barrow, who was found in her bed with a plastic bag tied around her head.

Since then, the oldest murder defendant in the state's history has been held at a psychiatric hospital. Prosecutors say they don't expect the case to ever go to trial, but just in case, the murder charge remains on the books.

Barrow's son, Scott, says he has never pushed for Lundquist to be prosecuted.

"It would be like prosecuting a 2-year-old," he said in an interview Thursday. "It's just an awful thing that happened. How could she be held accountable for this when she's not in her right mind?"

After Lundquist was indicted in 2009 at age 98, Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter said prosecutors pursued a second-degree murder charge because they didn't believe Lundquist had the cognitive ability to form premeditation, which must be proven in a first-degree murder case.

Sutter's spokesman, Gregg Miliote, said the case remains open.

"Ms. Lundquist was deemed incompetent to stand trial, and we are told that is unlikely to change," Miliote said. "However, the court is updated on her competency every three months ... and if her competency to stand trial should change, the matter would move forward in the courts."

Scott Barrow is hoping a wrongful-death lawsuit he filed against the nursing home, its owners and operators will eventually be heard by a jury. In 2012, an arbitrator ruled in favor of the nursing home and found no negligence.

The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard arguments in the case in April and is expected to rule soon on whether it can go to trial.

Lundquist, in her paranoia, believed Elizabeth Barrow was trying to take over the room they shared at the nursing home, Sutter said after she was indicted. Lundquist told Barrow she would soon get her bed by the window because she would outlive her, he said.

Scott Barrow said he had asked nursing home staff to separate his mother and Lundquist, but they assured him the two were getting along. He said his mother did not want to leave the room because she and her husband had lived there together before he died in 2007.

Lundquist's lawyer, Carl Levin, declined to comment on Lundquist or her health, citing the ongoing criminal case and health care privacy laws.

After Lundquist was charged, Scott Picone, then the nursing home's chief of operations, said the two women had been offered room changes twice in the months before Barrow's death but both declined. He said the two women were friendly toward each other and often said "goodnight" and "I love you."

Picone did not immediately return a call seeking comment Friday. Peter Knight, a lawyer representing Picone and other nursing home officials in Barrow's lawsuit, also did not immediately return a call.





That Lundquist's condition was judged incorrectly by nursing home staff, seems obvious. The news article describes her as “paranoid” in addition to having dementia, and anyone who is paranoid is potentially dangerous. “Lundquist told Barrow she would soon get her bed by the window because she would outlive her, he said.” Was that statement by Lundquist overheard by staff, or by Barrow? Either way, they should definitely have been separated immediately, and Lundquist's meds should have been checked by a psychiatrist. It's not uncommon for people with dementia to have symptoms of psychosis as well as memory problems.

“Scott Barrow is hoping a wrongful-death lawsuit he filed against the nursing home, its owners and operators will eventually be heard by a jury. In 2012, an arbitrator ruled in favor of the nursing home and found no negligence.... Scott Barrow said he had asked nursing home staff to separate his mother and Lundquist, but they assured him the two were getting along.” Scott Picone said both residents had been offered room changes, but both declined. He did not return a call from CBS, however.









Arthritis drug helps hairless man regrow full head of hair
By AGATA BLASZCZAK-BOXE CBS NEWS June 20, 2014

A novel treatment involving the use of an arthritis drug helped a 25-year-old man grow a full head of hair after a rare disease left him completely hairless.

There is no known cure for alopecia universalis -- the autoimmune disease that the man suffers from, which causes a loss of all body hair. Yale researchers came up with an effective targeted treatment that helped the patient grow his hair back, including eyebrows, eyelashes, facial hair and body hair.

"The results are exactly what we hoped for," Dr. Brett A. King, assistant professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine and senior author of a paper outlining the results online in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, said in a statement. "This is a huge step forward in the treatment of patients with this condition. While it's one case, we anticipated the successful treatment of this man based on our current understanding of the disease and the drug. We believe the same results will be duplicated in other patients, and we plan to try."

The patient in the study had also been diagnosed with plaque psoriasis, a condition characterized by scaly red areas of skin. The only hair he had was within the psoriasis plaques on his head. He went to Yale Dermatology to get treated for the psoriasis; he had never been treated for the alopecia.

When King examined the patient, he thought that both diseases could be addressed with the use of a single drug for rheumatoid arthritis called tofacitinib citrate. The drug had been used to treat psoriasis in people and it had been effective at reversing a less extreme from of alopecia in mice.

"There are no good options for long-term treatment of alopecia universalis," King said. "The best available science suggested this might work, and it has."

Indeed, after two months of treatment with 10 mg of the arthritis drug a day, the patient's psoriasis showed some improvement. And, for the first time in seven years, the man had grown scalp and facial hair. After three more months of therapy at 15 mg a day, the patient completely regrew scalp hair and started regrowing eyebrows, eyelashes, facial hair, armpit and other hair.

"By eight months there was full regrowth of hair," study coauthor Dr. Brittany G. Craiglow, said in a statement. "The patient has reported feeling no side effects, and we've seen no lab test abnormalities, either."

Tofacitinib citrate seems to trigger hair growth by turning off the immune system attack on hair follicles that is prompted by the disease, King said.

The drug helps in some cases of psoriasis, and it was mildly effective in treating this patient's psoriasis, the researchers said.

King has submitted a proposal for a clinical trial involving a cream form of the arthritis drug as a treatment for a less extreme form of alopecia, which causes a hair loss that is typically less extensive than alopecia universalis.




Tofacitinib citrate is a drug for rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease, which worked in one test case to reverse two other autoimmune diseases – alopecia universalis and plaque psoriasis. Experiments in mice had been effective against psoriasis. The human patient was given first 10 mg and then after two months 15 mg orally, with all body hair growing back within 8 months.

Alopecia is especially traumatizing when it occurs in women and children, as the emphasis on beauty is so high in this society. The result against his psoriasis was “mildly effective.” King hopes to start a clinical trial using a crème form of the drug to combat a less extensive form of of alopecia. Every couple of months a charity calls me raising money for “children with hair loss,” and their condition is probably alopecia, so hopefully those children can also profit from taking the drug.





Thousands Gather to Greet Summer Solstice – ABC
London June 21, 2014

Self-styled Druids, new-agers and thousands of revelers have watched the sun rise above the ancient stone circle at Stonehenge to mark the summer solstice — the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.

English Heritage, which manages the monument, says some 36,000 sun-watchers gathered on the Salisbury Plain about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London on Saturday. Police say the event was peaceful with only 25 arrests, mainly for drug offenses.

Couples kissed, dancers circled with hoops and revelers took part in a mass yoga practice as part of the free-form celebrations.

Stonehenge was built in three phases between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C. and its purpose is remains under study. An icon of Britain, it remains one of its most popular tourist attractions.





In 1987, and not at the summer solstice, a woman friend and I went to England for ten days. We did go to Stonehenge and admired its grace and strength. Unfortunately, by that time, tourists were no longer allowed inside the circle itself, so I couldn't touch the stones and "feel their magic," but I got photos from several angles and of the neolithic long barrows that are also on the property. This gathering of 36,000 visitors is really impressive. I hope they didn't leave trash of all kinds on the site for the caretakers to clean up. Dancing with hoops and doing yoga on the grounds seem like good ways to honor the thousands of years the circle has stood there. Personally I chose to be very quiet and let the atmosphere seep into my consciousness, with a little free-form meditation. I will always remember it.






Pakistan Says 307,501 Have Fled Tribal Region – ABC
Peshawar, Pakistan June 21, 2014

A Pakistani government official says the number of people who have fled a tribal area bordering Afghanistan where the army is fighting militants has risen to 307,501.

Senior official Arbab Muhammad Arif said Saturday that since Wednesday, 25,242 families had left the area and registered at checkpoints along the way.

Arif says the figure includes 62,000 people who left the area of operations before June 18. He says displaced families were provided with food, drinks and 5,000 rupees ($50) per family.

The Pakistani army launched a long-awaited operation against foreign and local militants in North Waziristan on June 15. It claims to have killed 262 militants and destroyed scores of their hideouts so far.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pakistani-military-advances-against-taliban-positions-militants-warn-of-retaliation/2014/06/16/a7302552-f55d-11e3-8aa9-dad2ec039789_story.html

Pakistan expands war with Taliban in North Waziristan
BY TIM CRAIG AND SHAIQ HUSSAIN June 16 2014

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s government on Monday rallied support for a sustained assault on Taliban fighters and other militants, as fighter jets bombed terrorist havens in North Waziristan and the army shifted manpower into major cities to help guard against retaliatory strikes.

The military operation is shaping up to be the nation’s biggest campaign against the Pakistani Taliban in at least five years. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif authorized the move amid growing concern that Islamist militants pose an existential threat to the country.

“The army is fighting to protect the sovereignty of the motherland,” Sharif said in an address to the National Assembly on Monday night.

For years, Pakistan’s leaders have adopted a restrained approach toward the Taliban, which had found refuge in lawless tribal areas in the northwest.

But the recent attack on Karachi’s international airport, which killed 26 people and undermined the global image of Pakistan’s largest and wealthiest city, triggered the more muscular response. Sharif, who had been advocating peace talks with the Taliban, may also have been rattled by Sunni rebels’ rapid advance in northern Iraq last week, analysts say.

“Any operation or surgery is more effective when the patient is not in an emergency-like situation,” said Shahid Latif, a military analyst and retired Pakistani air force commander. “If militants could become a huge problem in Iraq, they could be equally dangerous here, so it’s better to eliminate them now before it’s too late.”

The military operation — code-named Zarb-e-Azb, after a sword used by the prophet Muhammad in an ancient battle — began Sunday with airstrikes killing 140 suspected terrorists in North Waziristan, including the alleged mastermind of the Karachi attack, officials said. Those strikes continued Monday, killing 27 suspected militants.

Tens of thousands of ground troops are also moving into the area, and military snipers have taken up positions near the towns of Mirali and Miran Shah, officials said.

During a firefight Monday evening, seven militants and two soldiers were killed, military officials said. Six soldiers also were killed by a roadside bomb earlier in the day.

A Mirali resident said he saw soldiers advance to nearby hilltops Monday. The resident, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of safety concerns, said the militants appear to be fleeing the area.

In his address, Sharif acknowledged that his peace effort had failed and said he had no choice but to authorize a war within the country’s borders.

“It is time to show unity,” he said. “Earlier, there was space for different opinions on a North Waziristan operation, but now that it has been launched, the whole nation, and especially the opposition, needs to back the government and the army.”

Most major Pakistani political parties have endorsed the operation, and on Monday it even won the support of the Movement for Justice. The party’s leader, Imran Khan, had been among the most vocal supporters of talks with the Taliban.

The united stances comes amid growing concern about the country’s stability as the U.S. military withdraws from neighboring Afghanistan.

The Pakistani Taliban — also known by the initials TTP, for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan — is allied with but separate from the Afghan Taliban that is fighting U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Elements of both, along with the Afghan Haqqani network and remnants of al-Qaeda’s core leadership, are located in rugged North Waziristan.

Latif, the analyst, said the ability of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to quickly sweep into northern Iraq last week and come within 60 miles of Baghdad shows how dangerous a militant threat can be when left unchallenged.

“The U.S. says it’s not going to send its troops back into Iraq, so our leadership was also concerned about what will happen after NATO withdraws from Afghanistan,” Latif said.

But it remains unclear whether the Pakistani operation will be broad enough to have a major effect in a country that is home to more than three dozen militant groups.

The early stages of the operation appear aimed primarily at the Taliban and Islamist militants from Uzbekistan who have found refuge in North Waziristan.

It was not known whether the Pakistani military will also target the Haqqani network, which has been linked to attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

And even if the military dislodges the militants from North Waziristan, the porous border with Afghanistan makes it likely that many could escape.

Still, military experts are confident that Pakistan can deliver at least a serious short-term blow to the Taliban. They noted that the military largely expelled Taliban fighters from the Swat Valley in the west after several operations from 2007 to 2009.

“The North Waziristan operation may take some time, but the terrorists will be eliminated,” said Shahzad Chaudhry, a former air force commander.

For now, however, much of Pakistan is on a war footing amid concern about retaliatory strikes from the Taliban.

Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said in a statement that the group will target foreigners and international companies that do business in the country.

In response to the threat, the army announced Monday that it was dispatching troops to major cities on standby.

Some of the troops appear to have already taken to the streets of Karachi, with television news channels airing footage of soldiers moving from nearby bases toward different areas of the port city. Vacations have been canceled for police officers in Karachi, where the militant threat is growing but a military operation is not practical because of the risk of civilian casualties.

Security was also noticeably tighter in Islamabad, where paramilitary forces patrolled the streets.

In Peshawar, a northwestern city of more than 1 million people, police announced that they will break up even groups of five or more people to try to deter an attack, officials said.

Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this report.





“Pakistan’s government on Monday rallied support for a sustained assault on Taliban fighters and other militants, as fighter jets bombed terrorist havens in North Waziristan and the army shifted manpower into major cities to help guard against retaliatory strikes.... 'The army is fighting to protect the sovereignty of the motherland,' Sharif said in an address to the National Assembly on Monday night. For years, Pakistan’s leaders have adopted a restrained approach toward the Taliban, which had found refuge in lawless tribal areas in the northwest.”

The term “restrained approach” is, it seems to me, an understatement. In fact, it appeared to me over the period that we have been fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, that Pakistan was definitely not an ally of ours, and I was proud of Obama for keeping our mission against Bin Laden a secret from the Pakistani government. Now, however, they may have decided that they don't want the most radical fundamentalist Islamic thought to rule the laws and mores of Pakistan. They see, now, that the fundamentalist groups were indeed trying to take over completely as they have done in other places. Military analyst Shahid Latif said, “'If militants could become a huge problem in Iraq, they could be equally dangerous here, so it’s better to eliminate them now before it’s too late.'”

This gives me great relief. Those militants, where they are taking over, first put women in the most conservative Islamic garb, prevent them from going outside their homes without a male escort, take the girls out of school and sometimes require that they marry, and start violent attacks in the countryside on anybody that they don't like. To me, that puts the society backward five hundred years, and the poverty of the people is usually so great that they can't do anything to combat the radical Islamic groups. It's truly up to the central government to stop them.

The government has sent in “tens of thousands” of ground troops and is carrying out air strikes. One resident of the town of Mirali said that “the militants appear to be fleeing the area.” That's a sign of succcess. “Most major Pakistani political parties have endorsed the operation, and on Monday it even won the support of the Movement for Justice. The party’s leader, Imran Khan, had been among the most vocal supporters of talks with the Taliban.” Sharif has recently attempted peace talks with the Taliban, and says now that his efforts failed. “'The united stances comes amid growing concern about the country’s stability as the U.S. military withdraws from neighboring Afghanistan.'” Some of the tribesmen hate us, but they need us, too. It's good to see that they realize their need.

“Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said in a statement that the group will target foreigners and international companies that do business in the country. In response to the threat, the army announced Monday that it was dispatching troops to major cities on standby.” Police in several cities are preparing to defend the population. In Peshawar, police stated they will break up all groups of five or more to prevent an attack, and in Karachi all police vacations have been canceled.

I hope Sharif's government can handle the threat and capture or kill the militants. Pakistan, after all, has an atomic bomb, and we can't afford for them to be totally taken over by lawless forces. Besides, they have been a festering point for al-Qaeda and Taliban growth, where the US was constantly criticized for sending in drone strikes against the militant leaders. Maybe the problem will begin to be solved gradually, and a real peace can exist between the US, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. Then if the Hindus could join in the peace, there would be less worry about a “loose nuke” in the region.





World Heritage Nod for Ancient Palestinian Village – NPR
Ramallah, West Bank June 21, 2014

The United Nations cultural agency has listed the Palestinian village of Battir as a World Heritage site in danger, raising hopes among residents Saturday that this will protect their community against Israel's West Bank separation barrier.

Battir, located just south of Jerusalem in the West Bank, is known for its ancient farming terraces and an irrigation system from Roman times.

In listing Battir on Friday, UNESCO said the village faces "irreversible damage," citing "the start of construction of a separation wall that may isolate farmers from fields they have cultivated for centuries."

Israel began building a separation barrier in the West Bank more than a decade ago, saying it's meant to keep out Palestinian militants. The Palestinians say the barrier has turned out to be a land grab because it slices off almost 10 percent of the West Bank.

The route of the barrier in the Battir area is before Israel's Supreme Court.

The lawyer representing village residents, Ghiath Nasser, said Saturday he hopes that the UNESCO recognition will help sway the judges to rule in favor of them.

Friends of the Earth Middle East, an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian group that joined the high court appeal against the barrier, said Israel needs to find another solution in this part of the West Bank.

The Israeli military "failed to strike the needed balance between the interest of security and cultural heritage preservation," said Gidon Bromberg, a member of the group. "We have been saying we can strike another balance. We can meet the need for security through electronic means, without building a physical barrier."

Israel's Defense Ministry, which is responsible for the barrier route, was not immediately available for comment. Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson said it's not clear if the barrier route will now be changed.




“Battir, located just south of Jerusalem in the West Bank, is known for its ancient farming terraces and an irrigation system from Roman times.... UNESCO said the village faces 'irreversible damage,' citing 'the start of construction of a separation wall that may isolate farmers from fields they have cultivated for centuries.'" Palestinians say that it is “a land grab,” in that it encloses 10% of Palestine's land in the West Bank. Israel's Supreme Court is studying the problem.

Friends of the Earth Middle East is an advocacy group which includes members from Jordan, Palestine and Israel, and has added its appeal to the Supreme Court deliberations. They state that Israel needs to “find another solution” to the militant problem in this part of the territory. Gidon Bromberg of the Friends of the Earth group says that an electronic technique could solve the problem without a physical barrier being erected there.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirshson simply said “it's not clear” if the route will be changed. It seems to me that the route could be deviated by a few miles – however long an area that would be needed – or as Friends said, explore a high tech solution even better. In the interest of fairness, they should make that much of an effort. If the Israelis and the Palestinians would each give a few inches in their positions, there could be a peaceful settlement between them and one of the worst “hot spots” in the Middle Eastern conflicts would be solved.






Going Against The Grain: FDA Threatens Brewers' Feed For Farmers – NPR
by SHELBY POPE
June 20, 2014

Want to infuriate the entire brewing industry? Start poking around its trash.

That's what the Food and Drug Administration discovered when it threatened to dramatically affect how breweries use their spent grain.

Last fall, the FDA proposed a new rule: Facilities producing feed for animals should be subject to regulations similar to those in food manufacturing. Any facility producing animal feed would be required to produce a written plan to identify and minimize contamination.

This proposed rule — part of the FDA's attempt to revamp its food safety rules by identifying potential problems before they occur — has major implications for breweries, which have been providing local farmers with free or discounted grain for centuries. And the looming FDA regulation — while not as controversial as originally anticipated — could still stifle the tradition of recycling spent grain.

When brewers make beer, they're left with massive amounts of leftover "spent" grain. The majority of brewers have arrangements to either give or sell it to local farmers — who welcome it as cheap and nutritious feed for their animals. Under the new rule, breweries that give away their grain would be classified as animal food producers, with the new set of rules and regulations.

The vagueness of the proposed rule led brewers and farmers to speculate that the FDA would require breweries to spend time and money to dry and package the grain, making it more cost-effective to simply dump the grain instead of giving it to farmers — driving up waste costs for breweries and depriving farmers of their cheap feed.

Brewers were terrified. The regulations could cost up to $13 million per brewery, said Scott Mennen, Widmer Brothers' vice president of brewing operations. That figure quickly circulated around the industry, and several members of Congress wrote to the FDA asking it to reconsider the rule. Before the comment period for the rule ended on March 31, it garnered 2,000 comments from brewers and farmers.

"There was a huge panic," says Brian Stechschulte, executive director of the San Francisco Brewers Guild. "It's a relationship that's been going on for centuries, and the FDA didn't provide any basis for making this new regulation, which also mystified a lot of the brewers."

While the FDA has since clarified its intent — it won't require the expensive drying and packing process, and emphasizes that the costs to breweries will be minimal — it's still unclear whether the rule would be a financial burden for breweries. And a major complaint remains: The FDA hasn't provided any evidence that there's been contamination or illness from spent grains, so why is it trying to regulate them?

"[It's] kind of a shot in the dark to try and find a resolution by approaching it through spent grain," says Andrew Ritter, head brewer at Oakland's Linden Street Brewery. "It had good intentions, [but] it would have been totally impossible for us to do."

According to brewers, there's just not much opportunity for contamination — most local breweries simply dump grain into green compost bins or trash bags once they're done, and wait for the farmer to come pick it up. At Linden Street, which gives its grain to a farm in Napa, it's never more than 12 hours between brewing and pickup.

For farmers like Achadinha Cheese Co., a family-run dairy in Petaluma that makes small-batch goat cheeses, losing access to the grain would be devastating.

"I'd have to raise prices on my cheese, no two ways about it," says Jim Pacheco, a third-generation dairy farmer whose family has relied on brewers' grain to feed its animals since the 1960s. Twice a week, Pacheco goes up to Healdsburg's Bear Republic Brewing or Santa Rosa's Russian River Brewing to pick up 10 tons of spent grain, which he feeds to his cows and goats.

His wife, Donna, agrees. "This is a big portion of their food, and if we couldn't feed them this, we would be in trouble," she says. The cows and goats at Achadinha graze on pasture year-round, but when the grass dries up, the Pachecos rely on hay and brewers' grain.

The grain is even more vital to farmers this year, with the drought driving hay prices up. Last year, the Pachecos spent about $33,000 on hay. This year, they're estimating it'll be about $90,000.

"It's going to be a really, really tough year on top of the fact that they want to regulate the brewers' grain," says Donna Pacheco. "It could be enough to put us out of business."

It's not just farms that rely on spent grain. Several businesses have realized how much leftover grain beer produces and now use it in their products. There's a San Diego company that makes spent-grain dog biscuits, and at New York's Eataly, bakers make spent-grain bread. In San Francisco, ReGrained makes granola bars out of the grain, selling its Honey Almond IPA and Chocolate Coffee Stout bars at farmers markets around the Bay Area.

ReGrained began when Dan Kurzrock and his co-founder found themselves with large amounts of leftover grain while home-brewing in college. They get their grain from smaller brewers in San Francisco, who often have to compost or dump their grain because they have less access to farmers.

While it's unclear how the rule would affect businesses like ReGrained that aren't using the grain for animal feed, "we're a little relieved it's not something we have to address immediately," Kurzrock says. "It seemed like something that was adding barriers to sustainable practices that [are] harmless. It was a bit of a head-scratcher when we heard about it."

The FDA seems to be listening. It recently published an FAQ on its website, emphasizing that it understands people's confusion: No, it wouldn't require breweries to dry and pack spent grains. Yes, small breweries could be exempt from the rule. No, it doesn't know of any instances of any foodborne illness resulting from spent grain.

"We agree with those in industry and the sustainability community that the recycling of human food byproducts to animal feed contributes substantially to the efficiency and sustainability of our food system and is thus a good thing," FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine Michael R. Taylor wrote on the FDA's blog. "We have no intention to discourage or disrupt it."

The FDA plans to propose a new version of the rule later this summer. In the meantime, brewers are relieved, although still apprehensive about what's to come.

"It's not clear if they backed off," says Stechschulte. "Until that revision comes out sometime this summer, there's still some concern. It might not be as extreme, but it could still involve some new regulation or procedure that could increase costs."

It's also a blow to an industry already swamped with regulations. "That is more red tape that inevitably holds back small businesses," Stechschulte says. "Hopefully the government can come to a happy medium."

Shelby Pope is a freelance writer living in and eating her way through Oakland, Calif. A version of this post originally appeared on KQED's Bay Area Bites blog, based in San Francisco. Copyright 2014 KQED.





“Last fall, the FDA proposed a new rule: Facilities producing feed for animals should be subject to regulations similar to those in food manufacturing. Any facility producing animal feed would be required to produce a written plan to identify and minimize contamination”.with the plan of “identifying problems before they occur.” In other words, there is no problem with feeding animals grain which has been used for making alcohol. The breweries have been doing this for “centuries” according to this article, and the grain is discounted or even free. It gives the brewery a way to get rid of a large amount of grain that they can't use again, and the farmers get a bargain on their feed bill. The new rule would classify such breweries as “animal food producers.” This brings up the question of whether brewers, as animal food producers, would be required to dry and package it, which drives up their costs. If that occurs they would opt to simply dump the grain, thus the farmers are deprived of their food source. .Some 2,000 farmers and brewers and congressmen petitioned the FDA to clarify its stance. In answer, the FDA has declared that it will not require drying and packing. Brewers are still afraid it will end up costing them more.

Several other businesses are using the spent grain. One company makes dog biscuits with it, another makes bread, one makes granola bars. People are eating it. It has never had any health risks, and to dump a food product so useful is the height of wastefulness. “Regrained” is a business set up by a couple of college students who were brewing beer in college – hopefully not in a dormitory – who, when they saw how much grain they were throwing away began to see about using it. Regrained is making the granola bars.

The FDA has posted a notice on it website: “'We agree with those in industry and the sustainability community that the recycling of human food byproducts to animal feed contributes substantially to the efficiency and sustainability of our food system and is thus a good thing.".It is their plan to write a new rule this summer. Breweries are “still nervous,” but it will probably be okay, I think. The FDA seems to have gotten the message. After all, there have been no health problems from either people and animals eating the grain.