Friday, July 25, 2014


News Clips For The Day


http://www.smh.com.au/commonwealth-games-glasgow-2014/commonwealth-games-news/hockeyroos-in-world-media-spotlight-after-queen-photobomb-20140725-zwntu.html

Hockeyroos in world media spotlight after Queen photobomb
Ian McCullough and Liza Kapelle
July 25, 2014

GLASGOW: Hockeyroos players Jayde Taylor and Brooke Peris have become internet sensations after their selfie was photo-bombed by the Queen.

The picture, retweeted almost 7800 times in the first nine hours, was taken after Australia's 4-0 win over Malaysia in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Thursday.

Hockey Australia officials were bombarded with requests for interviews with the pair from a host of American TV networks, and the photo was splashed across the front pages of most of the British newspaper websites, the frontpage of The Times newspaper the BBC Sport homepage and the Huffington Post.

Taylor admitted the photograph was planned after the Queen met the players on a visit to the Glasgow National Hockey Centre.

"We were warming down on the second pitch after our game and the Queen came out to meet Donny [Madonna Blyth, Australian women's hockey captain]," Taylor said.

"The security guard led us all round and we got to meet her.

"She asked us a bit about the pitch, how we were going and told us to enjoy our time here. She was lovely, really, really lovely.

"Brooke and I planned it so that when she came out the door she would be behind us.

"And then she came out and smiled at the camera. We were in the right spot at the right time."

Other athletes did their best to get their own as the Queen visited other Games venues in Scotland's largest city.

England hurdler Andy Turner uploaded a photo of himself with the Queen in the background and Australian rugby sevens captain Ed Jenkins also boasted of a selfie.
But Australian swimmers dipped out.

Belinda Hocking, Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Matt Abood and Katherine Downie had a moment with the royal.

"We weren't allowed to get any selfies - we asked but they (officials) said no unfortunately," Hocking said.

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh spent almost an hour at Tollcross Swimming Centre where the swimmers gave her a team badge.

"She was pretty happy and said she would add it to her collection," Abood said.

"It didn't stack up too well with her brooch though - I didn't ask for a swap."

Defending Olympic 100m hurdles champion Sally Pearson didn't selfie either when she met the Queen at lunch.

"It was an honour, very exciting, and we talked about the weather," Pearson said.
"She said that it looks like I brought the sun here."





Queen Elizabeth used to be criticized as being too controlled and less than stylish in her dress. She was always respected, but not necessarily admired. At the time of Princess Di's death and funeral she had to be pushed into lowering the Union Jack to half mast over Buckingham Palace, and the public was not pleased. Diana, of course, was the polar opposite of the Queen and very open to the public, so she was well-loved. Since Diana's death the Queen has gradually warmed up in her manner in front of the camera. There was a hint of the old Queen a few weeks ago when two boys skipped around in front of her trying to include her in their selfie. She had a quizzical and even suspicious look on her face, an expression which the press caught and described as “bemused.” I had the impression that it was her first personal experience with the selfie craze and she didn't understand what the two boys were doing. It's clear now, that she has caught on to selfies and is allowing herself to have a little fun with it. The first time I saw her sense of humor was when she and President Bush were at some ceremony in front of the cameras and he committed one of his eccentric word errors, causing her to gently tease him. He laughed at himself. I liked them both for showing their human sides.







A coalition of the grieving, and the frustrated
CBS NEWS July 25, 2014

GRABOVO, Ukraine -- They're calling it the coalition of the grieving and, says Mark Phillips, of the frustrated.

The lack of any progress in the search for the missing remains of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims has driven both the Dutch and the Australians to announce plans to try and send security contingents into the battleground of eastern Ukraine.

When Flight 17 fell to the ground on July 17 in territory held by pro-Russian rebels, the plane's 298 passengers and crew -- most of them were Dutch citizens -- all died. U.S. intelligence agencies believe the rebels likely fired a surface-to-air missile at the civilian jetliner, possibly mistaking it for a Ukrainian military aircraft.

The security situation in the region around the crashsite and the rebel-held city of Donetsk, just to the west, is deteriorating. Ukraine's military said Friday that its forces had come under fire from pro-Russian separatists -- and, they said,artillery from the Russian side of the border.

The hope is that security teams from the Netherlands and Australia, and possibly elsewhere in Europe, can secure the site and help intensify the search. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Friday that he was close to an agreement with Ukrainian officials to send in as many as 90 federal police.

But the terms of any deal the two nations might reach with the central government in Kiev -- which doesn't control the crash site or the area around it -- or the separatist militants who do, remains a mystery.

The only international effort at finding the missing bodies, or parts of bodies, thus far has come from the Red Cross. The charity's workers said they came to try to lend some dignity, speed and thoroughness to a search that so far has shown none of those qualities.

Oran Finnigan of the Red Cross forensic service told CBS News the objective was, "to ensure that these remains are collected in a dignified manner as soon as possible."

But on Thursday, at least, they lacked coordination, and as the first group of European observers to arrive at the sprawling crash site worries, there is plenty to search for.

"There are some telltale signs that I don't really want to get into that indicate the existence of human remains," said Michael Borkiurkiw, of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The local emergency workers who had collected the bulk of the victims' remains left days ago.

If and when Australian and Dutch security personnel do arrive, a largely empty crash site may await them. And it stretches for miles and miles.

Even now, the OSCE observers, few Malaysian investigators and one Australian official on the scene continue to discover previously unseen chunks of the Boeing 777's wreckage.

Deep in the woods, about a mile from the main crash site, the inspectors recently came across a huge piece of the shattered fuselage that they hadn't seen before.

A week after the crash, a vast swath of once-picturesque farmland needs a thorough search for the destroyed remains of both human being and aircraft.

That hasn't yet begun to happen.




“The lack of any progress in the search for the missing remains of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 victims has driven both the Dutch and the Australians to announce plans to try and send security contingents into the battleground of eastern Ukraine.... The hope is that security teams from the Netherlands and Australia, and possibly elsewhere in Europe, can secure the site and help intensify the search. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Friday that he was close to an agreement with Ukrainian officials to send in as many as 90 federal police.... The local emergency workers who had collected the bulk of the victims' remains left days ago. If and when Australian and Dutch security personnel do arrive, a largely empty crash site may await them. And it stretches for miles and miles.... A week after the crash, a vast swath of once-picturesque farmland needs a thorough search for the destroyed remains of both human being and aircraft. That hasn't yet begun to happen.”

This is a sad situation. The Pro-Russian rebels have started shooting down planes again without completing the task of removing bodies from the crashsite. If they were responsible people they would immediately agree to a cease-fire and aid the OSCE and Red Cross, and now the Dutch and Australians, in completing the painful search. Their precious war could wait a few weeks or months.






Doctor had gun, wounded hospital shooter, prosecutor says
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP July 24, 2014

DARBY, Pa. - A doctor wounded by a patient in a deadly shooting Thursday afternoon at a suburban hospital campus in Darby, Pa. returned fire and wounded the patient, authorities said.

Investigators believe the doctor had his own gun and acted in self-defense, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said.

The patient, who had psychiatric problems, opened fire after entering the doctor's office with a caseworker Thursday afternoon, Whelan said. The female caseworker was killed. The doctor appears to have suffered only a graze wound and was expected to be released from treatment later in the day.

Authorities have not publicly identified the gunman or his two victims. CBS Phillyreports Whalen said the gunman was shot three times. Both the doctor and the suspect were taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment, according to the station.

The shootings occurred on the third floor of a wellness center attached to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, just southwest of Philadelphia. The center, which does not have metal detectors, is attached to the hospital by a pedestrian bridge.

Just what led to the shooting was unknown, Whalen said. Two guns were recovered, and the shooting was still being investigated.

"The scene is secure. Everyone is safe," Whelan told a late afternoon news conference.

The 213-bed teaching hospital is part of the Mercy Health System, a large Catholic health care network serving the region.





It is controversial for a doctor to be armed with a gun while seeing patients, but in this case one of the patients actually fired on the doctor and his case worker. The patient is described as having psychiatric problems. The doctor was only slightly wounded, but the female caseworker was killed. The psychiatric patient is at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment and so is the doctor. The doctor had apparently had negative experiences before, because the article said he was carrying a gun for self-protection.






Who's benefiting from test-optional colleges? – CBS
By LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY MONEYWATCH July 25, 2014

One of the most unpleasant roadblocks that teenagers face when getting into college is taking the ACT or SAT admissions tests.

Studies have shown that the most important factors in predicting college success aren't standardized test scores, but high school grades and the rigor of a student's high school classes. In contrast, standardized test scores are highly correlated with income.

On average, for instance, students whose parents make $150,000 a year are going to perform better on the SAT than teenagers who live in households making $100,000 and so on down the income ladder.

In the face of criticism about the relevance and fairness of the standardized tests, a large number of schools over the years have become test-optional, which generally means students can apply for admission without submitting their scores. Just this week, Bryn Mawr College , an elite women's college, became the latest school to make the ACT and SAT optional.

While more than 800 institutions are test-optional, a significant number are open-enrollment schools that allow the vast majority of applicants to attend. Many of the most selective schools in the test-optional lineup are private liberal arts colleges. A new study suggests that even though one of the main motivations that these colleges cite in adopting a test-optional policy is creating more diverse campuses by improving the admission chances of low-income and minority students, they're falling short of that target.

Andrew Belasco, CEO of College Transitions, a college consulting firm in Athens, Ga., conducted the recently published study that looked at 180 selective private schools including 32 that have test-optional policies. Overall, Belasco says, the main beneficiaries of the test-optional policy could be the private colleges themselves.

A peak into test-optional policies

When schools become test-optional, it encourages more students who might have previously considered their chances of admission to be weak, to apply. More applications can lead to higher admission rejection rates, which make schools look more selective. At the same time, the published test scores of individual colleges could rise because freshmen with lower scores never submit them.

What's controversial and new in Belasco's findings is this: Low-income and minority enrollments did not see any more gains at the test-optional colleges than at the schools that still require the standardized tests. Belasco said this discovery surprised him.

"Our findings suggest that test-optional admissions policies, as a whole, have done little to meet their manifest goals of expanding educational opportunity for low-income and minority students. However, we find evidence that test-optional policies fulfill a latent function of increasing the perceived selectivity and status of these institutions. In doing so, these policies may serve to reproduce and maintain the current social structure -- and its inequalities -- within U.S. higher education."

Dueling test-optional reports

Bob Schaeffer, public education director at FairTest.org, a group that advocates against standardized testing, said the new research conflicts with another report conducted by William C. Hiss, the former dean of admissions at Bates College, which is test-optional. That research concluded that students who took advantage of test-optional policies and enrolled were more likely to be women, minorities, low-income and first-generation students.

The two studies, however, focused on different things. Hiss's research looked at postsecondary outcomes such as grade-point averages and graduation rates of low-income and minority students and concluded that no significant differences existed between those who submitted test scores and those who didn't.

Based on who was more likely to keep their test scores a secret, Hiss suggested that test-optional policies have improved the enrollment of underrepresented groups. Belasco, however, says results of the earlier research do not support that conclusion.
None of this means some schools haven't made strides in becoming more diverse since making tests optional. At Lawrence University, for instance, the percentage of minority domestic students increased from 10 percent when it rolled out a test-optional policy in 2006 to 25 percent today. Coupled with its testing policy, said Ken Anselment, dean of admissions, the Wisconsin college also began partnering with nonprofits working with underrepresented teenagers.

Test-optional policies and wealthy students

Tony Bankston, dean of admissions at Illinois Wesleyan University and a skeptic of test-optional policies, believes some of the main beneficiaries of the no-test admission route are likely affluent and wealthy students.

"Everybody is struggling with enrollment, and colleges are looking more and more for students who have the ability to pay a substantial portion of college," Bankston observed. Test-optional policies open the door to take wealthy students who would have been borderline applicants. "I think a lot of this is going on behind the scenes," he suggested.

If your child is interested in a test-optional school, you can find the complete list of these institutions at FairTest.org.




“Studies have shown that the most important factors in predicting college success aren't standardized test scores, but high school grades and the rigor of a student's high school classes. In contrast, standardized test scores are highly correlated with income.” It has been noted before that those who attend private prep schools and who take training courses to help them pass such tests do have better scores. Both of those things are not part of the free public education system. As a result of the perceived unfairness of the system, many colleges have now become test optional, often giving a more diverse campus with more black, poor and minority students as their goal.

“However, says Andrew Belasco, CEO of College Transitions, a college consulting firm in Athens, Ga., 'the main beneficiaries of the test-optional policy could be the private colleges themselves.'... What's controversial and new in Belasco's findings is this: Low-income and minority enrollments did not see any more gains at the test-optional colleges than at the schools that still require the standardized tests. Belasco said this discovery surprised him.”

“Bob Schaeffer, public education director at FairTest.org, a group that advocates against standardized testing, said the new research conflicts with another report conducted by William C. Hiss.... that research concluded that students who took advantage of test-optional policies and enrolled were more likely to be women, minorities, low-income and first-generation students. The two studies, however, focused on different things. Hiss's research looked at postsecondary outcomes such as grade-point averages and graduation rates of low-income and minority students and concluded that no significant differences existed between those who submitted test scores and those who didn't....”

Lawrence University is a case of a test-optional college that did improve its enrollment of poor and minority students from 10% in 2006 when it changed its acceptance policies. Today the minority enrollment is at 25%, a considerable increase. That college also began cooperating with non-profits who work with such students to improve their skills.

This article stated that Tony Bankston, dean of admissions at Illinois Wesleyan University believes that many colleges are now admitting student based specifically on whether their parents can pay a large part of their college expenses, and therefore the wealthy are still outnumbering the poor at those schools. “'Test-optional policies open the door to take wealthy students who would have been borderline applicants. 'I think a lot of this is going on behind the scenes,' he suggested.”

It looks to me as though the best route for a poor or minority student is still to do his very best in high school, reading beyond the scope of the assigned course work when possible to improve his vocabulary and background knowledge so that he will understand more of the college coursework when he faces it. Then he will want to apply to more than just one or two colleges, choosing them for their academic strengths in line with the student's own educational goals, their tuition and other costs as compared to their student aid offerings, their national standing and their cultural openness. Many state colleges are not only cheaper for an in state student, they are also excellent academically. There will be less social pressure from wealthy students at a state college. A trip to the college campus could give some information as to whether or not there are any other minority students on the school grounds or in their yearbooks. Then pick his best choice and be prepared to face a more difficult set of courses than he ever encountered in high school, partying no more than he can afford and studying harder than he may want to. In the end he will be prepared to go to graduate school if necessary to get a well-paying job within his field. With today's tight job market, the more specifically the student is prepared the better. A student who wants to find himself later working as an accountant or a zoologist should take coursework specifically aimed at those fields, rather than a history or English major. After all that is over he will find getting work easier and he can relax more and perhaps start a family.





DOJ Reaches Agreement For Oversight Of Albuquerque PD – NPR
by SCOTT NEUMAN
July 24, 2014

The mayor of Albuquerque has signed off on a framework of principles to submit the city's troubled police department to oversight by an independent monitor.

The deal, announced by the Justice Department, is aimed at addressing eight problem areas identified in a report last year by officials.

"This agreement marks an important step forward in addressing the unreasonable use of deadly force uncovered in our investigation into the Albuquerque Police Department," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "The residents of Albuquerque depend on their police department to serve their community with honor and integrity."

"[When] misconduct does occur, we will never hesitate to act in order to secure the civil rights of everyone in this country," Holder said. "As a result of our ongoing action, I am confident that the Albuquerque Police Department will be able to correct troubling practices, restore public trust, and better protect its citizens against all threats and dangers — while providing the model of professionalism and fairness that all Americans deserve."

As we reported in April, DOJ said it had found "patterns of excessive force" against people who pose a minimal threat. In the report, federal investigators identified 37 shootings by police, the majority of which were deemed unreasonable and in violation of suspects' constitutional rights. They also identified cases where officers used Tasers when subjects were passively resisting.

According to The Associated Press:

"Among the findings released in April: officers too frequently used deadly force on people who posed a minimal threat and used a higher level of force too often on those with mental illness.

"Albuquerque police have shot 41 people since 2010, 27 of them fatally."

The deal calls for better recruiting, training, use-of-force policies, interactions between officers and the mentally ill, the handling of internal investigations and civilian complaints, management and community engagement, according to AP.




Attorney General Eric Holder has issued a “framework of principles to submit the city's troubled police department to oversight by an independent monitor.... 'As a result of our ongoing action, I am confident that the Albuquerque Police Department will be able to correct troubling practices, restore public trust, and better protect its citizens against all threats and dangers — while providing the model of professionalism and fairness that all Americans deserve.'" There are some bad cops everywhere, but it seems that the city of Albuquerque has more than its share. Some 40 people have been shot 41 people, 27 of whom died, and used tasers when suspects were only “passively resisting,” and in a number of cases the suspect had psychiatric problems.

This news article says that “The deal calls for better recruiting, training, use-of-force policies, interactions between officers and the mentally ill, the handling of internal investigations and civilian complaints, management and community engagement, according to AP.”

I want to see more of these actions by DOJ because there are too many places where police don't try to follow the laws in making arrests. When a whole police department has this pattern of behavior the city and county almost certainly know about it and simply aren't moving to stop the problem. It is good that the DOJ included the mayor in this agreement. Good police officers are heroes, but without oversight they can't be expected to do everything as they should in all cases. Racism is also often involved; sometimes the homeless are treated roughly; and the mentally ill need to be sorted out from the regular criminals and put into psychiatric hospitals rather than arrested. Being a good police officer is a complicated task, yet there are some who succeed at it. Maybe there should be some news articles about those who consider their job to be a sacred trust, following the rules when making arrests and helping out with community relations.







Rep. Ryan Unveils His Anti-Poverty Plan, A Rebuke To LBJ Programs – NPR
by PAM FESSLER
July 24, 2014

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, speaking before the start of the Virginia GOP Convention in Roanoke last month, has unveiled a new plan aimed at tackling poverty in America.

For much of this year, Republicans have talked about finding new ways to get Americans out of poverty but have offered few specifics — until now.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan unveiled his plan Thursday to fight poverty, which he says will help fix safety-net programs that he calls fragmented and ineffective.

Here are the highlights of Ryan's plan:

Allow states to experiment with federal aid, by merging things like food stamps, child care and welfare into what he calls an "Opportunity Grant."

Expand tax credits for working adults.

Make it easier for those with criminal records to get jobs and for others to go to college.

Track the results of these programs to make sure they actually work — Ryan says many existing ones don't.

"Too many families are working harder and harder, yet they're falling further and further behind," Ryan recently told an audience at a Washington think tank. He said that the solution is a healthier economy.

"A big part of that is having a safety net that is strong, both for those who cannot help themselves and for those who need just a helping hand to get up and going in life," he said. "That's our goal. The problem is, that's not what we're getting. "

Ryan says the federal government spends hundreds of billions of dollars a year fighting poverty, but that the nation's poverty rate is still high — 15 percent. His conclusion — like that of many Republicans — is that the system is broken, and that more flexibility should be given to states and those on the front lines working directly with the poor.

That makes many Democrats and anti-poverty advocates nervous; they argue poverty would be much higher without existing aid.

"We have to ask: How real is Congressman Ryan's proposal?" says Debbie Weinstein, executive director of the Coalition on Human Needs, a group of more than 100 anti-poverty organizations that has been fighting huge cuts in government spending — many of them proposed by Ryan's budget committee.

Though the Wisconsin Republican insists his plan won't reduce overall aid, Weinstein is skeptical. She says there's already not enough money for things that poor people need, like education and child care.

"So if he puts all the money together, and he says, let's spend more money on child care, then it's going to come from somewhere, and it's going to come from taking food out of people's mouths," she says.

Still, there are parts of Ryan's plan that could get bipartisan support, like expanding the earned income tax credit for childless adults. That's something Democrats have also proposed, though Ryan says he would pay for it by cutting spending on social programs that Democrats like.

There are also questions about his Opportunity Grant plan, a pilot program that would allow states to customize aid to an individual's needs and require aid recipients to work or train for a job.

Stuart Baker of the conservative Heritage Foundation applauds that idea, but he thinks states might need some financial incentives like those included in a 1996 welfare reform law.

"To get people out of welfare and into independent work — I don't see that in this, and I think that's an element that has to be looked at more carefully," he says.

Ryan admits there are still lots of unknowns about what will and won't help the poor, which is why he says his plan is a "discussion draft."

He says he's really just trying to start a conversation.




I have to give Ryan credit for even thinking about the poor with anything other than simple minded scorn, since so many Republicans don't. He has clearly looked at some of the problems the poor face. Life when you're poor is just an entirely different ballgame from the situations of the rich or even the Middle Class. I think expanding the tax credit for the working poor is a great idea, especially since the cost of living has continued to rise over the years and income hasn't.

I would not be against a rule that aid recipients must continue to try to find a job, but the fact is that jobs remain scarce since 2008. Job training as a path out of welfare has been in existence since the Clinton years in the “welfare to work” plan, and there are still people on welfare. The very poor are too far behind the rest of us to easily succeed in improving their conditions. It's a complex thing if you're illiterate to get a better paying job. Still, they must continue to try or they surely will remain at the bottom of the ladder.

Allowing states to “experiment” with administering the Federal aid is iffy, to me, as they haven't all shown any attempt at all since the Civil War and Reconstruction days, to help the poor and especially the minority poor. Also, it would be a great temptation to misuse the money if it is in the form of a huge fund given over to the state by the Federal government, or as bad to select who they will help, like only people of certain religions or racial groups for instance. I think each state should have to file a request to approve their particular plan before it is initiated, and every plan should be evaluated from the top by how effective it is in order to keep receiving the Federal “opportunity grant.”

I think it would be great for the Federal government to “make it easier for those with criminal records to get jobs and for others to go to college.” There are certain things that make getting a job even harder, and mental health difficulties or a criminal record are two of them. I think any plan to help the poor needs to include drug and alcohol rehab also. Some people want to turn addition into a simple sin rather than acknowledging that it is a health problem.

Going through some form of higher education should be partially or wholly reimbursed by the government for those students or adults who want to do that. I don't think they all need to go to a four year college and pursue a full degree. Some don't have a proper reading ability or other disabilities which preclude success in college. A trade school may actually be of more use in eliminating joblessness, because the more narrow and focused the education the more it improves the ability to qualify for a position. It's not as much fun, but I think it's more effective.