Wednesday, June 18, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Record cutbacks at Social Security as retirement claims surge
By JAKE MILLER CBS NEWS June 18, 2014

As the gradual retirement of the Baby Boomers foists more people onto its rolls than ever before, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been reducing services and shuttering field offices at a record clip, according to a report released Wednesday by a bipartisan Senate committee.

The SSA has closed 64 field offices since 2010, including over two-dozen in just the last year, marking the largest five-year decline in service locations in the agency's history, the Senate Special Committee on Aging notes. It has also reduced a number of in-person services, trying to shift seniors and other beneficiaries into an online system, and it has cut roughly 11,000 workers from its payroll in the last three years.

As a result of these closures, the report says, "communities are too often left without the resources they need."

Too often, the SSA's closure procedures exclude "both its own managers and the affected public," the report says. The administration "rarely surveyed what would happen to a community if an office closed there and failed to detail any remaining or transition services that would be available."

"Seniors are not being served well when you arbitrarily close offices and reduce access to services," said the committee's chairman, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., according to the New York Times. "The closure office is neither fair nor transparent and needs to change."

The SSA had told Congress that it uses six metrics to determine whether an office should be closed, including the impact on the public and SSA employees, the demographics of the area each office serves, and the facility's proximity to other offices.

But the report says the closures often appear to be arbitrary, panning four of the six metrics identified by the SSA as "incomplete or insufficient."

"Ultimately SSA has no clear way to compare office against each other and determine which offices are most needed by the American public," the report notes.

SSA officials have blamed the cutbacks on budget constraints, saying they've been squeezed between increasing demand and the same budget pressures that have affected the entire federal government.

The SSA has seen a "staggering" 27 percent increase in retirement claims since 2007, from 2.6 million to 3.3 million, according to testimony prepared for the hearing on Wednesday for Nancy Berryhill, a deputy commissioner with the SSA.

The report notes the fiscal crunch facing the SSA, explaining, "Continuing budget constraints, which began at the start of the decade, have forced SSA to make difficult decisions to reduce service to the public."

"It is beyond question that eliminating superfluous services, including certain field offices, makes sense for an agency looking for ways to serve more with less," the report states. "However, it is also clear that the agency has not done enough to consider the impact of the decisions it has made in recent years on the people who rely on Social Security the most: the poor, disabled or otherwise limited elderly populations."




It is probably true that all middle class and many poor people do have a computer and the Internet now, but they aren't all equally confident and knowledgeable on website interactions, especially elderly people. Also many websites are not easy to access – where to click for what function can be small, not centrally located, strangely phrased or other deficiencies. Some websites I've been on are so easy to operate that they are fun, but others are a maze. The SSA does have a central telephone number at which the user can get questions answered and have paper application forms sent to their home address within ten days or so. Most people, if they can't read the application form and understand written instructions can ask a friend to help. Closing offices does not, to me, seem to be too great a problem. So far the reduction mentioned in this article only includes offices and therefore certainly some local personnel as well. I think the elderly and handicapped will be able to cope with this. At least the Agency isn't reducing the amount of checks or limiting coverage.





U.S. Patent Office cancels 6 Redskins trademark registrations
CBS/AP June 18, 2014

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled six federal trademark registrations for the Washington Redskins, ruling that the football team's name is "disparaging to Native Americans."

The Washington Post reports that the case was filed on behalf of five Native Americans.

"We decide, based on the evidence properly before us, that these registrations must be cancelled because they were disparaging to Native Americans at the respective times they were registered," the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board wrote in its opinion.

In its ruling, the board cites federal trademark law that "prohibits registration of marks that may disparage persons or bring them into contempt or disrepute."

However, the board noted that the "registrations will not appear in the USPTO's records as cancelled until after any judicial review is completed."

Suzan Shown Harjo, one of the plaintiffs who testified at last year's hearing, said she was "thrilled and delighted" with the decision. The Redskins did not immediately comment.

The board's ruling is similar to one it issued in 1999. That ruling was overturned in 2003 in large part on a technicality because the courts decided that the plaintiffs were too old.

The new case was launched in 2006 by a younger group of Native Americans. A hearing was held in March 2013.

Just like last time, the Redskins can retain their trademark protection during an appeal.

In a statement, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said that if the decision is not appealed or if it is affirmed by a federal court, the trademark owner "will lose the legal benefits conferred by federal registration."

The ruling announced Wednesday comes after a campaign to change the name has gained momentum over the past year.

Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who is among the lawmakers who has urged the NFL for a change in the team name, said Wednesday that she was "excited" by the board's ruling.

"Finally people are recognizing that this issue can no longer be a business case for the NFL to use this patent," Cantwell said. "This is not the end of this case, but this is a landmark decision by the patent office."

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he won't attend a Redskins home game until the football team changes its name.

In a letter to the team's president, Reid called the Redskins name a racial slur that disparages the American people. The Nevada Democrat, who said he represents 27 tribes in his state, rejected Bruce Allen's invitation to a Redskins home game until the team does the right thing and changes its name.

In May, half of the Senate wrote letters to the NFL urging a change in the team's name. Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has vowed never to change the name.

Allen had written to Reid saying the football team's nickname is "respectful" toward Native Americans.

"Daniel Snyder may be the last person in the world to realize this, but it's just a matter of time until he is forced to do the right thing and change the name," Reid said Wednesday after the ruling.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected a request from a company to sell pork rinds using the word "Redskins" because it deemed the term to be "derogatory slang."




“In a letter to the team's president, Reid called the Redskins name a racial slur that disparages the American people. The Nevada Democrat, who said he represents 27 tribes in his state, rejected Bruce Allen's invitation to a Redskins home game until the team does the right thing and changes its name.... Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has vowed never to change the name.” What a standoff! I used to live in DC, so the Redskins were “my team,” to the degree that I watched sports, and I understand that it is a long-running tradition, but I agree with Senator Reid that the name should be dropped. The team will not stop winning if the name changes.






Ukraine leader to order "short" cease-fire
CBS/AP June 18, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's president said Wednesday that government forces will unilaterally cease fire to allow pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country a chance to lay down weapons or leave the country as U.N. monitors say they're documenting a steady rise in killings, torture and abductions.

Petro Poroshenko's plan, announced following conversations with Russian and German leaders, aims to end two months of fighting in eastern provinces that form the nation's industrial heartland. It could also help ease the worst crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War, which was triggered by Moscow's annexation of Crimea that followed the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Russia president.

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed a possible cease-fire in a phone conversation with Poroshenko late Tuesday. Poroshenko's office said he also discussed his peace plan with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"The plan will begin with my order for a unilateral cease-fire," Poroshenko told reporters in Kiev. "I can say that the period of the cease-fire will be rather short. We anticipate, that immediately after this, the disarming of the illegal military formations will take place."

He said that those who lay down arms and haven't committed grave crimes will be granted amnesty, and there will be joint patrols against looters and other criminals.

Poroshenko didn't say when the cease-fire could be declared, but the country's defense minister, Mykhailo Koval, was quoted as saying the cease-fire could begin "literally within days."

Any such cease-fire would raise the question of whether the separatists would respect it, and whether Russia had the desire or the ability to persuade them to do so.

Russia has denied Ukrainian and Western claims that it was fomenting the insurgency in the east by sending troops and weapons, insisting that Russian nationals among the rebels are volunteers. Some top rebel leaders visited Moscow Tuesday and met with senior officials and lawmakers.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking in Baku, Azerbaijan, said that any cease-fire should be "comprehensive," not temporary. However, he said that if it was followed by negotiations "then it could be the step President Poroshenko has promised and which in general we were all waiting for."

Separatists have seized government buildings, held disputed referendums and declared independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions along Ukraine's eastern border with Russia. Ukrainian troops have struggled to suppress the insurgents, who on Saturday shot down a military transport plane, killing all 49 on board.

The U.N. says at least 356 people, including 257 civilians, have been killed since May 7. There have been more than 200 reports of torture, and 81 people were being held on June 7 as the deadly conflict raged in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russia separatist rebels and the government in Kiev.

Poroshenko was elected after a protest movement drove his predecessor, Viktor Yanukovych, from office in February.

In his inaugural address June 7, Poroshenko said he was willing to negotiate with people in the region, but not with "terrorists" with "blood on their hands." He proposed an amnesty for separatists who have not committed violent acts, early regional elections and new efforts to create jobs in the area.

U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay says in the report Wednesday the country's "climate of insecurity and fear" has displaced 34,000 people, nearly half in Donetsk and Luhansk.

The report says "abductions, detentions, acts of ill-treatment and torture, and killings by armed groups are now affecting the broader population of the two eastern regions."




Poroshenko has ordered a unilateral cease-fire to begin in a few days time, saying “those who lay down arms and haven't committed grave crimes will be granted amnesty, and there will be joint patrols against looters and other criminals. Putin and he discussed “a possible” cease-fire late Tuesday by telephone. It isn't clear whether Putin will make an effort to convince the separatists to lay down their arms. “U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay says in the report Wednesday the country's "climate of insecurity and fear" has displaced 34,000 people, nearly half in Donetsk and Luhansk. The article hasn't stated whether those leaving their homes are Russian or Ukrainian. Likewise it doesn't say who has been doing the “killings, torture and abductions.” Hopefully the Ukrainian forces haven't been committing those crimes.





Deadly Brawl Is Latest Test of Self-Defense Laws – ABC



A Colorado prosecutor said he's frustrated that the state's "Make My Day" law prevents him from charging a man who killed an acquaintance during a drunken brawl that spilled into his home, becoming the latest test to self-defense gun laws nationwide.

The New Year's Day shooting involving "foolish, drunken children" likely was not what lawmakers had in mind when they adopted Colorado's law, Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said. It protects homeowners from prosecution for using deadly force when someone illegally enters their home and there's reason to believe that person will commit a crime.

Self-defense laws like Colorado's have received renewed attention recently after deadly shootings in Montana, Minnesota and Nevada.

After a six-month investigation, Hautzinger decided last week not to file charges against Joseph Hoskins, 36, in the death of Randy Cook, 47.

After a night of drinking at a party in the western Colorado city of Grand Junction, Cook and another man went to fight Hoskins outside his house. The fight moved inside and to Hoskins' bedroom, where the homeowner said Cook tried to snatch away his shotgun. Hoskins tackled Cook and shot him, according to Hoskins' account of the night, which was relayed to investigators through an attorney.

"These grown men, otherwise basically upstanding, law-abiding citizens, are acting like drunken children, and as a result, a good man got killed, and I can't hold anyone accountable for it in the criminal justice system," Hautzinger told The Associated Press.

He said Cook apparently had no involvement in an ongoing Facebook feud between Hoskins and the other man that had been brewing for days before they decided to square off.

"It sticks in my craw to be unable to hold Joseph Hoskins accountable for his actions," Hautzinger said. "But it's not a very close legal call."

Hoskins did not return calls seeking comment, and his attorney, Terry Ryan, said he could not talk about the case.
Beginning with Florida in 2005, at least 22 states have expanded the self-defense principle known as the "castle doctrine," the premise that a person has the right to defend their home against attack. Colorado was not among them. The broadened laws say the doctrine can be applied to confrontations outside the home, with language such "stand your ground" and "no duty to retreat."

The laws make it easier for a person to shoot someone and avoid prosecution by saying they felt an imminent danger, which has increasingly placed the burden on prosecutors to prove self-defense did not occur, said Steven Jansen, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.

"It has created an increase in investigation and an increase in frustration among prosecutors when trying to make decisions," he said. "You have to proactively anticipate that self-defense is going to be claimed."

The concept came under national scrutiny in the 2012 shooting of an unarmed Florida teenager, Trayvon Martin, by a neighborhood watch volunteer who was following him. George Zimmerman was acquitted last year after arguing self-defense.




“Beginning with Florida in 2005, at least 22 states have expanded the self-defense principle known as the "castle doctrine.... 'It has created an increase in investigation and an increase in frustration among prosecutors when trying to make decisions,' he said. 'You have to proactively anticipate that self-defense is going to be claimed.'" I have always thought that if attacked I would make a good effort to defend myself whether inside or outside, and worry about the trial later. Once in DC about 10:30 at night I picked up a large chunk of broken concrete and brandished it at a man who was silently standing beside the sidewalk and watching me. He then just as silently turned his face to the wall and let me pass. If he had come closer I would have hit him in the head with it as hard as I could, and he seemed to understand that. I was just grateful that the concrete was there for me to pick up. It's not always about the law, but about the practical situation. I never thought that Zimmerman should have been acquitted, though, because he went to his car and got his gun, then followed Martin down the street challenging him after the police told him not to, and then when Martin fought – and very effectively – he called it self defense. That shouldn't be the way the law works. You shouldn't be able to use it after provoking the fight.






Barrier Reef Won't Be Called Endangered for Now – ABC


A decision to add the Great Barrier Reef to a list of World Heritage in Danger has been held off a year, after the U.N.'s cultural agency said Australia has made progress in protecting it.

In January, environmentalists had criticized a plan by an Australian agency to dump vast swaths of sediment on the world's largest system of coral reefs as part of a dredging project for a major coal port expansion.
UNESCO's World Heritage Center has asked Australia to submit an updated report on the state of conservation of the site by February 2015. It did not say what progress it had observed.
"UNESCO is confident the overall direction towards next year's decision is a positive one," said the center's director, Kishore Rao.




This story is shocking to me. The people of Australia should consider the Great Barrier Reef one of their national treasures, not do something to destroy it – for any reason at all, especially some dredging project so a coal port could expand. “'UNESCO is confident the overall direction towards next year's decision is a positive one,' said the center's director, Kishore Rao.” How some people can be so insensitive toward the natural world, a thing of tremendous beauty, is beyond me. To some people only “the almighty dollar” has any meaning. To me they are depraved.





In Odd Twist, Industry Agrees to Ban 'Microbeads' – ABC



Environmentalists in Illinois expected a battle royal over their call for a statewide ban on "microbeads" — tiny bits of plastic used in personal care products such as facial scrubs and toothpaste that are flowing by the billions into the Great Lakes and other waterways. Discovered only recently, scientists say they're showing up inside fish that are caught for human consumption.

But instead of resisting, leading companies quickly collaborated on a ban that was enacted by the state legislature this spring. And with similar measures now pending in at least three other large states, the extinction of microbeads is taking shape as one of the unlikeliest events in the politics of nature: a low-stress compromise by interest groups that are often at each other's throats.

"To have that happen in one year is rare," said Jen Walling of the Illinois Environmental Council, recalling the pessimistic response when she initially sought legislative sponsors. "I was not predicting we'd get it done at all."

Don't get used to it, said Mark Biel of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois, which represented the product manufacturers during three months of negotiations. The quick deal resulted from unique circumstances, he said, including the availability of substitute ingredients.

"I just concluded that maybe this was one of those issues where it would be smart to try to work something out," he said.

Disagreements over details are delaying similar bills in California and New York, while a measure in Ohio has gained little traction. Still, all sides expect deals in most cases, and that given those states' outsized place in the market, microbeads will disappear from U.S. products as the industry swallows the cost.

Environmentalists hope the collaborative experience carries over to debates concerning the Great Lakes' other ills. Biel's group last year helped scuttle a proposal to restrict flame retardants, which some consider an emerging contaminant in the freshwater seas. Still, he says the microbead talks nurtured a better working relationship, as have negotiations over fending off invasive species like the Asian carp.

"There is room for common ground," he said.

It's been known for years that the world's oceans teem with masses of floating plastic. But microplastics in the Great Lakes were discovered only when scientists dragged the surface of all five lakes in 2012 and 2013 with specially designed nets and found the specks everywhere.

Barely visible without a microscope, the bits flow through wastewater treatment plant screens and into the lakes. Sherri Mason, an environmental scientist with State University of New York-Fredonia who was a leader of the research team, said the beads are showing up the stomachs of Great Lakes perch and in fish-eating birds like the double-crested cormorant. Her group is studying whether the particles are absorbing toxins in the lakes.

Because treated wastewater flows into so many waterways, Mason said, "Every river and every inland lake you look at is going to have some plastic in it."

The plastic exfoliants apparently came into widespread use in the 1990s, preferred because they are smoother to the skin than natural ingredients. Laurent Gilbert, director of advanced research at L'Oreal, said they have "no proven environmental toxicity."





Tiny plastic beads – what a sneaky foe – the environment is polluted in so many ways that it makes me sick. Our technological world is fully beyond our control, and there are very few places that are “pristine” any more. Every day in the news there's a new gadget or chemical. I hope I will still be able to walk by a meadow and see some flowers or a bird as long as I live. I have never exactly “worshiped” the world, but I have depended on it to give me peace.





Dad: No Warning From Son Accused in Foiled Plot – ABC



The father of a 17-year-old boy who is accused of plotting to kill his family and attack his southern Minnesota school says there were no signs his son was having problems.

The father spoke with reporters Wednesday after a hearing for his son in Waseca.

He says he didn't know his son had a storage locker that police say contained bomb-making materials. And he wishes the teen would've asked for help before his April arrest.

The Associated Press doesn't generally identify juveniles accused of crimes and is not naming the teen's father to protect his son's identity.

Police say they found a 180-page journal in which the teen allegedly outlined plans for attacking Waseca Junior and Senior High School. A judge is keeping that journal under seal for now.





This is a good news story. The police actually found out about the plot and arrested the boy. I do hope they see that he gets mental health treatment, because normal people don't focus with fury on their peers and plan to kill them. Maybe since he didn't actually get to the point of making an attempt, he won't be tried as an adult, and will go to an asylum for long-term and comprehensive treatment.





Goats In The City? Making A Case For Detroit's Munching Mowers – NPR
by MAANVI SINGH
June 18, 2014

As more urban folk strive to produce their own food, gardens both large and small are popping up everywhere. And while it's not unheard of for city dwellers to keep bees and even chickens, only a brave few have been willing to try their hand at goats.

Enter billionaire Mark Spitznagel, who recently tried to revitalize Detroit's Brightmoor neighborhood with a herd of 18 baby goats.

As The New York Times reported, the plan was to direct the goats from Spitznagel's nearby farm in Michigan to graze on overgrown, abandoned lots. He would employ locals to herd and raise the animals, and eventually they'd be sold as meat. But the project met resistance. It's against the law in Detroit to keep farm animals in the city, and Spitznagel's herd was kicked out after two days.

So how hard is it to keep goats in a city anyway? Fans of these weed-munching animals point out that goats are an eco-friendly landscaping option, their meat is a staple in diets around the world and their milk makes for some delicious cheese. It also helps that they're totally adorable.

But "if you have a milk goat, the work is unrelenting," says Jane Grant, who keeps a few dairy goats and runs The Goat Justice League in Seattle. For her, it's worth it. "I get to live in the city and have really fresh milk from animals that I get to take care of."

Back in 2007, Grant lobbied the Seattle City Council to allow dairy goats in the city. As a long as owners know how to take good care of their animals, Grant tells The Salt, keeping a goat isn't too different from keeping a pet dog.

"It's important that the males be neutered," she says, or they can be smelly. Goats also require lots of hay, and space — about 200 yards for a pair. "You always need to have at least two goats," Grant says. They're herd animals and they need companionship.

"I think noise is the only problem with goats in cities," Grant says. Their bleating can be delightfully endearing and downright freaky – or some combination of the two. Some goat breeds like Nubian are very loud, Grant says; others like La Mancha and Oberhaslis are pretty quiet. So urban goaters will want to choose wisely.

But what if you want the agricultural benefits of goats, but don't actually want to raise them yourself?

If you're around San Francisco, you can hire a herd from City Grazing, a landscaping business that employes about 100 goats. They can clear overgrown land, including areas covered in dry brush that could fuel wildfires. And conveniently, goats generally prefer munching on weeds, ivy and even poison oak to manicured lawns, says chief goat officer David Gavrich. Plus, the land that these guys clear off is ideal for growing crops, he says. "Their waste is a fertilizer. It's a nice little closed environmental circle."

Goats on a diet of weeds and brush don't produce very tasty milk (Grant in Seattle feeds hers good quality hay), but their meat tastes just fine. So an agricultural project like the one Spitznagel developed in Detroit could work really well, Grant says. It just wasn't legal.

"We were really just getting our feet wet," says Leonard Pollara, a consultant for Spitznagel who helped implement Detroit's brief but memorable goat invasion.

Pollara says the project is not completely dead. He's going ahead with plans to sell the goats as meat. And the proceeds from the sale will be going back to the Brightmoor community to fund future urban agriculture projects. Pollara says they will continue to lobby the local government to allow city goats.

"While Detroit is in a dire situation," he says, "this is an absolutely amazing opportunity to redefine how agriculture happens in urban environments."





There are a couple of goats in a fenced in back yard in Jacksonville. My friend works at a building next door and I drive her there after we have lunch frequently. We pulled the car up and she started to get out when we heard a strange noise and looked through the weeds toward it. I could only see the goat's head, but it was watching us, probably hoping we would feed it. I don't know if those people have a permit or not. There is another location in town that has a really large fenced in field with several cattle and horses in it at a private boarding school.

People have a need for the company of animals. Before humans began to grow plants in the very beginning of the neolithic, they started keeping wild sheep and goats, wild dogs and even one wolf skeleton was found in a cave, cats in the Middle East, and horses. Cattle were among the latest to be domesticated, maybe because they were so large and dangerous. For thousands of years homo sapiens mainly hunted animals, but I imagine the cuteness of baby animals caused people to save them occasionally at least for a while until they grew too large to handle. Eventually they got the knack of maintaining and breeding them.

The weirdest animal that I know people keep is reindeer. The Sami of Scandinavia have domesticated reindeer which they follow on their migrations, using their skin, hair, milk and meat. They even ride them. One of my anthropology courses studied six herding or hunter-gatherer tribes and the Sami were one of them. I could have been completely happy as an anthropologist who goes to tribal areas to study other cultures. I can't live more than once, though, so I'll just be content with reading about such people both now and in prehistoric times.