Thursday, Jul 10, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Can U.S., Europe curb threat of Western fighters returning from Syria?
By STEPHANIE CONDON CBS NEWS July 10, 2014

With thousands of Westerners, including dozens of Americans, traveling to Syria to fight in the brutal civil war there, U.S. and European officials are grappling with how to quell the threat of those fighters returning home to commit more violence.

"This is a global crisis in need of a global solution. The Syrian conflict has turned that region into a cradle of violent extremism," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holdersaid in a speech for Norwegian diplomats in Oslo this week. "But the world cannot simply sit back and let it become a training ground from which our nationals can return and launch attacks. And we will not."

U.S. intelligence officials estimate that there are more than 7,000 foreign fighters in Syria from more than 50 countries. The notion of foreign fighters is nothing new -- a declassified State Department report from 1993 notes that "the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan reverberated throughout the Muslim world, summoning thousands of volunteers to fight the jihad."

But thanks to the nature of the Syrian war and modern mass communications, the involvement of foreign fighters in this conflict is larger than it has been in just about any other instance, Matt Levitt, a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told CBS News.

"It is the latest incarnation of an old phenomenon, but it is the largest in scale," said Levitt, who previously served as the deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the Treasury Department and before that as an FBI counter-terrorism analyst.

"You're dealing with a conflict that is happening at a time when mass communication exists, in a place that's not off in Afghanistan, but in Syria -- off the back step of Europe," he said. "It's closer in a very physical and virtual way."

The conflict is drawing people in, he said, because they see the crisis unfold in real time and become convinced the rest of the world isn't doing enough to help. And while committing jihad in the West may seem like a bridge too far for Westerners, they may travel to Syria in the name of defending their fellow Muslims.

"The sectarian nature of this conflict brings it to a whole new level and is one of the forces that makes this so magnetic, such a draw," Levitt said. "It's closer, it's easier [to get to], it's sectarian in nature, it's defensive -- put all these things together, and it's just a bad mix."

Most foreign fighters end up dying on the battlefield, but those who want to return are difficult to track. Those from the West can travel back to Europe or potentially the U.S. visa-free. That problem is aggravated by the fact that fighters in Syria could join forces with terrorists with sophisticated bomb-making techniques, like Ibrahim Al-Asiri.

"Authorities are worried about continued bomb-making evolutions and attempts to evade security procedures," CBS News Senior National Security Analyst Juan Zarate said. "We know that bomb making experts like Ibrahim Al-Asiri -- the member of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen -- is still out there, still innovating, still training others."

The U.S. has responded by stepping up security some overseas airports with direct flights to the U.S. To help quell the violence in Syria, the Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned three companies suspected of aiding the Syrian government. Since the onset of unrest in Syria, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on nearly 200 individuals and entities, including the government of Syria, its Central Bank, and affiliated oil companies.

Levitt called the sanctions "praiseworthy action that can make a difference on the periphery."

"They are most effectively -- arguably only effective -- if done in tandem with other tools," he added.

While no one in the U.S. is considering putting boots on the ground, Levitt said the U.S. may eventually have to reconsider air strikes in Syria. On top of that, he said, "The arming and training of moderate opposition is a long time in coming."

The administration did recently ask Congress for $500 million -- more than expected -- to train and arm vetted Syrian rebels. However, the delay in that effort allowed radical groups -- like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) -- to grow and thrive, and subsequently fuel the ongoing crisis in Iraq.

Engaging in Syria is a challenge, Zarate said, in part because U.S. intelligence there is "deficient in many ways."

"We don't have the kind of visibility we need into all elements of this network," he said, which is "now diverse in terms of nationalities involved."

As the al Qaeda-driven movement metastasizes, he said, "The question is are they operating singly and on their own, or are they beginning to share techniques and modalities... This is a tangled web where the outer rims of the network are beginning to interact with each other, and that's very dangerous."

While the U.S. is considering its options, the Europeans are "a little apoplectic about how quickly this has become so serious an issue for them," Levitt said. The threat became clear for many Europeans after a Frenchman, suspected to have spent time fighting in Syria, was linked to a shooting that occurred in May at the Jewish Museum in Brussels.

On Wednesday, French lawmakers unveiled a bill to ban foreign travel of those suspected of being radicalized, Agence France-Presse reports. Additionally, AFP reported, nine European Union ministers agreed in a closed-door meeting Tuesday to a plan to identify more young people who intend to fight in Syria.




"'This is a global crisis in need of a global solution. The Syrian conflict has turned that region into a cradle of violent extremism," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holdersaid in a speech for Norwegian diplomats in Oslo this week.'But the world cannot simply sit back and let it become a training ground from which our nationals can return and launch attacks. And we will not.'" The Obama administration asked for 500 million dollars “to train and arm vetted Syrian rebels. However, the delay in that effort allowed radical groups -- like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) -- to grow and thrive, and subsequently fuel the ongoing crisis in Iraq.” The Treasury Department has sanctioned “nearly 200 individuals and entities” who have aided the Syrian government.

The threat of Western Islamic citizens fighting in Syria and then returning home to cause terrorist events in Europe or the US has caused great fear. The ability of those fighters to return to their own countries without being detected is one of the main issues. France has already had such a situation, with a man being involved in a shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. Unlike Afghanistan, Syria is “off the back step of Europe,” as Matt Levitt, a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy said. “On Wednesday, French lawmakers unveiled a bill to ban foreign travel of those suspected of being radicalized, Agence France-Presse reports. Additionally, AFP reported, nine European Union ministers agreed in a closed-door meeting Tuesday to a plan to identify more young people who intend to fight in Syria.”

I assume the NSA's massive supply of telephone numbers will be in play in this. I hope they get proper court permission for searching the database, but this is the kind of situation that the compilation of personal information was set up for. There is a great outcry against illegal immigrants from Central America, but at least they aren't here to commit jihad. They just want to pick tomatoes or do construction.






Gov. Perry likens Texas border situation to Katrina
CBS NEWS July 10, 2014

In May 2012, Texas Gov. Rick Perry sent a letter to President Obama alerting him to 5,200 unaccompanied minors in Texas from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Perry told CBS News he never received a reply to that letter.

Now, the number of children from those three countries being detained in Texas is 57,000, reports CBS News correspondent Major Garrett.

After meeting with the Republican governor and local leaders who have been willing to provide housing for some of the unaccompanied minors already in Texas, Mr. Obama dismissed calls to visit the border during his fund-raising swing through Texas.

"There is nothing that is taking place down there that I am not intimately aware of and briefed on," said Mr. Obama. "This isn't theater, this is a problem. I'm not interested in photo-ops, I'm interested in solving the problem."

Perry warned the border situation could spin out of control, and evoked memories of federal mismanagement after Hurricane Katrina.

"As I recall President Bush got chastised greatly for not showing up in New Orleans when Katrina occurred," Perry said.

"The parallel for me is that when we know a hurricane is coming, we put things into place so that we can deal with it," he said. "I have told this administration and others have told this administration for years that this was exactly what was going to happen."

President Obama also urged parents in Central America to stop sending their children to the United States with the false hope that they will be allowed to stay.

"This is an incredibly dangerous situation and it is unlikely that their children will be able to stay," he said. "And I've asked parents across Central America not to put their children in harm's way in this fashion."

Perry told CBS News that Americans need to see their president on the border.

"The first thing I asked him when I sat on Marine One was, 'I hope you'll come to the border.' And he responded and said, 'Hey, listen, my guys have been down there six times.' Your guys are one thing, but you're another," Perry said.

He said if the president visited the border, Americans would feel like he cared about what was going on there.

"That's what presidents do. That's what leaders do. They show up," he said. "They interact and they see for themselves what's going on so I think it is very important for him."




“In May 2012, Texas Gov. Rick Perry sent a letter to President Obama alerting him to 5,200 unaccompanied minors in Texas from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Perry told CBS News he never received a reply to that letter.” I hate to say it, being a Democrat, but there is the basis of a scandal here. Obama has refused to follow Perry's advice and visit the border area, saying “'Hey, listen, my guys have been down there six times.' Your guys are one thing, but you're another,' Perry said.... He said if the president visited the border, Americans would feel like he cared about what was going on there. 'That's what presidents do. That's what leaders do. They show up,' he said. 'They interact and they see for themselves what's going on so I think it is very important for him.'"

Some 57,000 children are being held in Texas alone, with a number of other locations throughout the nation. In Texas, Obama met with “ Republican governor and local leaders who have been willing to provide housing for some of the unaccompanied minors already in Texas.” On the subject of visiting the border, the President said, “"There is nothing that is taking place down there that I am not intimately aware of and briefed on," said Mr. Obama. "This isn't theater, this is a problem. I'm not interested in photo-ops, I'm interested in solving the problem." Perry warned Obama that the situation at the border could be like “Katrina.” Obama has promised, on the TV news today, to send National Guard troops to the border to aid in the situation. That is a good thing. I don't especially care if he visits or not, but the Border Patrol are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of kids to be detained, since they aren't able under US law simply to send them right back home immediately.

“President Obama also urged parents in Central America to stop sending their children to the United States with the false hope that they will be allowed to stay. 'This is an incredibly dangerous situation and it is unlikely that their children will be able to stay,' he said. 'And I've asked parents across Central America not to put their children in harm's way in this fashion.'" This is important, but I would like to see a real push to deal with the three unstable nations' leaders to stop the flow of migrants at the source, by improving the living conditions there, communicating directly with the parents of these children and policing their own borders.







How technology could help prevent kids' deaths in hot cars
By ELIENE AUGENBRAUN CBS NEWS July 10, 2014

The news is always tragic, and seems to happen far too often: a child left in a hot car is found dead of heat stroke when a caregiver forgot or did not know they were there.

"It could happen to anyone. This is not a bad parenting problem," laments Kristy Arbogast, the lead author of a 2012 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report on technologies to prevent heat stroke for children in hot cars. She is the co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research an Prevention at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

A car's temperature can rise rapidly in the hot sun -- topping 120 degrees inside, on an 80 degree day -- and children should never be left alone in a parked car, not even for a minute.

Could a smart car seat or some other technology help harried, distracted parents and caregivers remember to take their kids out of the car?

Smart car seats

A company called TOMY International developed one possible solution.

In 2013, it began selling a "smart car seat" with iAlert technology that communicates between one of TOMY's First Years Brand car seats and your smartphone. The car seat, available through Amazon for $284, has temperature, angle, and motion sensors. If the seat gets too hot, the company says it will send an alarm to your phone. The system also alerts you if the seat is installed improperly or if the child has unbuckled themselves while the car is in motion.

Amazon customers gave it mixed reviews. Though the seat's comforts and non-electronic features seemed fine, a few reviewers found that the alert system was unreliable. For example, customer "Jackie D" said on July 24, 2013: "When the unit was connected, the alerts would come through 9 out of 10 times but the problem is that they should come through 10 out of 10 times. When setting up secondary contacts to receive text alerts, the alert failure rate was even higher, maybe 2 out of 10 went through and when these did go through they still took at least 10 minutes to receive."

Customer "CRP Ag" commented on October 17, 2013: "Despite my reservations, if you view the alerts as another tool in your toolkit as a parent trying to keep your child safe, this is a nice innovation. Once the kinks are worked out, this will be a great device."

TOMY responded on the Amazon customer review site to Jackie D's comment, promising to work with her to address the issues she raised. CBS News contacted the company's public relations firm but was unable to get a statement at press time.

Wireless proximity sensors

Another type of technology that could help in these situations is a proximity sensor. Proximity sensors couple two devices: one part is activated when the child is in their car seat and the other is with the caretaker. An alarm sounds when the two devices become separated.

Baby Alert's ChildMinder SoftClip System Digital Wireless Technology Monitor replaces the plastic chest clip on the baby's car seat safety harness. You carry the other part with you as a key fob. Once the baby's chest device is clipped together, it connects digitally to the caretaker's device. If the two devices are separated by more than 15 feet for more than 6 minutes, an alarm goes off. It sells for $79.99 on Amazon.

Baby Alert also sells another version of the system, The ChildMinder Infant-Toddler ElitePad System, where the child's presence is detected by a pressure pad placed under the car seat cushion instead of through the harness clip.
The problem with this type of system, according to safety expert Arbogast, is that most deaths happen when there is a change in routine. For example, the person who usually drops the child off to daycare doesn't do it that day. "If you are relying on a key fob, you need to remember to transfer the key fob to someone else. It is easy to break the chain."

Other possible solutions

A major issue with relying on a smart car seat, or a proximity sensor attached to a car seat, is that they can only help protect a child who is actually buckled into the seat.

According to NHTSA, 47 percent of the nearly 40 kids that die in hot cars each year are not in car seats. Thirty percent entered an unlocked car to play and became trapped, while about 17 percent were left in the car intentionally by caregivers who were running errands.

Arbogast hopes that car manufacturers will develop and install systems in the car to detect anyone who is breathing and moving in that parked car. Such sensors might include carbon dioxide detectors or motion sensors. These systems would help not only young children, but people who cannot get out of a car due to medical conditions, the elderly, and even pets.

Another possible tech solution is using a GPS tracker or wearable device to help monitor your child. GPS trackers that are currently marketed to alert you to lost glasses, wallets, and keys can be adapted to help you keep track of your child, even when a nanny or someone else is actually with them. There are also number of new wearable GPS trackers designed just for kids. A Swedish startup called Tinitell has a Kickstarter campaign to develop a wearable GPS bracelet with a mini-phone built in that connects directly to a caregiver's phone. The device may not help an infant, but it could help older children, should they find themselves accidentally locked in a car.

While these options may seem promising, a high-tech solution to the problem could take years to perfect. The 2012 NHTSA study led by Arbogast concluded that the devices available at that time were "inconsistent and unreliable in their performance," requiring too much effort from caregivers to operate correctly. The report suggested that education efforts could have a more immediate impact on the problem than technology.

So for now, safety experts focus their advice on some decidedly low-tech tips -- such as putting your purse, wallet or cellphone in the back seat of the car so you won't forget to check it before leaving the vehicle. Read more safety tips here to help keep kids safe in the summer heat.





The writer of this article Ms. Augenbraun says, “Children should never be left alone in a parked car, not even for a minute.” I am afraid that, with so many cases of kids being left in hot cars, it may not be a matter of forgetting, but of intentionally running the risk of death in order to save the time it takes to unhook the baby and lift out the car seat. NHTSA says that 17% of such accidents occurred in this way. Parents say, “I'll only be a minute,” but they get stuck in a long line to transact their business and by the time they get back, the baby is dead. In one case recently the mother went to a job interview with the baby in the car. They always have a reason – “I couldn't get child care,” or “I had to pay my electric bill.” It's like why people who don't want to go to jail commit crimes – they think they will get away with it. I don't agree with Kristy Arbogast, “'It could happen to anyone. This is not a bad parenting problem.'" It's almost always negligence. It's hard, I think, for a parent to “forget” that his or her baby is in the car.

The following sounds like a really good new invention, however. It is a car seat rigged with motion sensors and heat sensors, and linked to the parent's smart phone. TOMY's First Years Brand car seat and phone are available through Amazon for $284.00 sends an alarm to the smart phone if the heat rises too high or if the seat is improperly fastened in place. Unfortunately, the alarm system has proven less than perfectly reliable. TOMY's public relations firm did not have a comment ready when CBS contacted them for this article.

Another promising type of device is called a proximity sensor. One sensor is in the baby's car seat to detect the baby's presence and another is on the parent's person. When the two devices get too far away from each other and alarm sounds. This is called the “Baby Alert's ChildMinder SoftClip System Digital Wireless Technology Monitor,” and sells at Amazon for $79.99. It's simpler and it's cheaper, but the parent can be away as long as 6 minutes without the alarm going off. I don't think the baby should be left at all, so the alarm should go off as soon as the parent is 15 feet away, period. Also, the success of the device depends on the harness clip being correctly fastened. The same company makes another model in which the baby's weight triggers the device when it is placed on a pad in the car seat. That is better. Ms. Arbogast says that this device is good, but when the parent who is typically responsible for transporting the baby gives the duty to her mate, but forgets to give him the all important key fob, the device won't work.

Arbogast expressed the hope that car manufactures would develop a system to detect life in the car – “anyone who is breathing and moving in that parked car. Such sensors might include carbon dioxide detectors or motion sensors. These systems would help not only young children, but people who cannot get out of a car due to medical conditions, the elderly, and even pets.” Another suggested device to help with those cases when a child escapes his caretaker and gets into the car on his own is a wearable device such as a bracelet with a GPS on it, which will contact the caretaker. Arbogast said that the devices that are available are not always reliable, however, and that leaving your purse – which you probably wouldn't leave the car without – in the back seat with the baby might be enough of a reminder to prevent “forgetting” the baby. It's also free of charge and very simple.






Earth's magnetic field is weakening 10 times faster – CBS
By KELLY DICKERSON LIVESCIENCE.COM July 9, 2014

Earth's magnetic field, which protects the planet from huge blasts of deadly solar radiation, has been weakening over the past six months, according to data collected by a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite array called Swarm.

The biggest weak spots in  the magnetic field-- which extends 370,000 miles (600,000 kilometers) above the planet's surface -- have sprung up over the Western Hemisphere, while the field has strengthened over areas like the southern Indian Ocean, according to the magnetometers onboard the Swarm satellites -- three separate satellites floating in tandem.

The scientists who conducted the study are still unsure why the magnetic field is weakening, but one likely reason is that Earth's magnetic poles are getting ready to flip, said Rune Floberghagen, the ESA's Swarm mission manager. In fact, the data suggest magnetic north is moving toward Siberia.

"Such a flip is not instantaneous, but would take many hundred if not a few thousand years," Floberghagen told Live Science. "They have happened many times in the past."[50 Amazing Facts About Planet Earth]

Scientists already know that magnetic north shifts. Once every few hundred thousand years the magnetic poles flip so that a compass would point south instead of north. While changes in magnetic field strength are part of this normal flipping cycle, data from Swarm have shown the field is starting to weaken faster than in the past. Previously, researchers estimated the field was weakening about 5 percent per century, but the new data revealed the field is actually weakening at 5 percent per decade, or 10 times faster than thought. As such, rather than the full flip occurring in about 2,000 years, as was predicted, the new data suggest it could happen sooner.

Floberghagen hopes that more data from Swarm will shed light on why the field is weakening faster now.

Still, there is no evidence that a weakened magnetic field would result in a doomsday for Earth. During past polarity flips there were no mass extinctions or evidence of radiation damage. Researchers think power grids and communication systems would be most at risk.

Earth's magnetic field acts like a giant invisible bubble that shields the planet from the dangerous cosmic radiation spewing from the sun in the form of solar winds. The field exists because Earth has a giant ball of iron at its core surrounded by an outer layer of molten metal. Changes in the core's temperature and Earth's rotation boil and swirl the liquid metal around in the outer core, creating magnetic field lines.

The movement of the molten metal is why some areas of the magnetic field strengthen while others weaken, Florberghagen said. When the boiling in one area of the outer core slows down, fewer currents of charged particles are released, and the magnetic field over the surface weakens.

"The flow of the liquid outer core almost pulls the magnetic field around with it," Floberghagen said. "So, a field weakening over the American continent would mean that the flow in the outer core below America is slowing down."

The Swarm satellites not only pick up signals coming from the Earth's magnetic field, but also from its core, mantle, crust and oceans. Scientists at the ESA hope to use the data to make navigation systems that rely on the magnetic field, such as aircraft instruments, more accurate, improve earthquake predictions and pinpoint areas below the planet's surface that are rich in natural resources. Scientists think fluctuations in the magnetic field could help identify where continental plates are shifting and help predict earthquakes.

These first results from Swarm were presented at the Third Swarm Science Meeting in Denmark on June 19.




“Earth's magnetic field, which protects the planet from huge blasts of deadly solar radiation, has been weakening over the past six months, according to data collected by a European Space Agency (ESA) satellite array called Swarm.” The Western hemisphere is now the location of the weakest part of the magnetic field, while the Indian Ocean has the strongest area. Scientist are unsure why this is happening, but they think that the magnetic poles “are getting ready to flip.” Rune Floberghagen, the ESA's Swarm mission manager says that magnetic north “is moving toward Siberia.”

"'Such a flip is not instantaneous, but would take many hundred if not a few thousand years,' Floberghagen told Live Science. 'They have happened many times in the past.'.... Previously, researchers estimated the field was weakening about 5 percent per century, but the new data revealed the field is actually weakening at 5 percent per decade, or 10 times faster than thought. As such, rather than the full flip occurring in about 2,000 years, as was predicted, the new data suggest it could happen sooner." Scientists don't expect any real danger to humans from this flip, but rather some difficulties with communication systems and power grids. “Scientists at the ESA hope to use the data to make navigation systems that rely on the magnetic field, such as aircraft instruments, more accurate, improve earthquake predictions and pinpoint areas below the planet's surface that are rich in natural resources.” It all sounds dramatic, but it's not harmful.






Is it time for a four-day workweek? – CBS
By KIM PETERSON MONEYWATCH July 10, 2014

Why don't more bosses implement a four-day workweek?

Doctors, executives and human resource experts say it would be great for the American workforce. People would have more time to see the dentist, hang out with their children and get errands done. Workers would be happier, and morale would improve.

Instead, much of America is still on a five-day week, with just two precious days on the weekend.

Google (GOOG) boss Larry Page praised the idea of a reduced workweek at a business summit last week. "The idea that everyone needs to work frantically to meet people's needs is just not true," he said. People need to feel busy and productive, he said, but they don't need to work so much to get there.

"Most people like working, but they'd also like to have more time with their family or to pursue their own interests," Page added. "So that would be one way to deal with the problem, is if you had a coordinated way to just reduce the workweek."

The merits of a four-day workweek have been proven repeatedly. Software company 37signals switches to a four-day workweek from May through October, and only asks employees to work 32 hours a week during that time. CEO Jason Fried wrote in The New York Times that employees get more productive during those months.

"When there's less time to work, you waste less time," Fried told the paper. "When you have a compressed workweek, you tend to focus on what's important. Constraining time encourages quality time."

Utah experimented with a four-day workweek for state workers, but switched back to a traditional week in 2011. Employees loved the four-day stretches, and spent their days off volunteering or working second jobs, The Associated Press reports. Employees had fewer conflicts with work and home and saved money on gas. There was just one problem: Residents complained because some state services weren't available on Fridays.

Market research firm Slingshot SEO has a four-day workweek, with employees clocking 10-hour days. "Your employee retention rate literally soars," wrote CEO Jay Love on Inc.com. "Who would ever want to give up three days at home, only commuting four days a week."

British doctors have recommended that the U.K. switch to a four-day week, saying it would help fight high blood pressure and mental health problems in the workforce. "The lunch hour has gone, people just have a sandwich at their desk and carry on working," public health professor John Ashton told The Daily Mail.

There are some drawbacks to that kind of schedule, however. Ideally, the entire company should be on the same four-day week, or some employees may feel like they are missing out, CNN.com reports. One Denver attorney told the site that when she took a day off during the week, she felt like her stature at work diminished. "I became convinced that once out of sight, I was out of mind," she said.

Also, some workers may find it exhausting to pull a 10-hour shift four days in a row. That's a lot to ask, even for the reward of a three-day weekend.

Finally, some executives feel like they can't miss out on one day of business. They fear many emails and voicemail messages go unanswered. The rest of the business world isn't stopping, and customers and partners could get irritated at the lack of response.

So could America ever get on a path to a four-day workweek? Until company bosses become convinced of any real benefits, the chances are slim. "Often, it isn't that employers don't want to offer four-day workweeks, it's that they're not sure what's in it for them," workplace expert Lisa Horn told Next Avenue.




“Why don't more bosses implement a four-day workweek?” Google's Larry Page suggests “if you had a coordinated way to just reduce the workweek," things would be more relaxed and workers would be happier. The key, I think, is the word “coordinated,” as the confusion created by the changes could be stressful at first. Also, businesses which probably would want to be productive five days a week would have to initiate shifts in their workers' schedules if their doors are open the whole week. If they close one day a week they miss out on business and their telephones go unanswered. In some of the situations mentioned in this article, workers have to give up lunch hours or work ten hour days in order to get enough hours, and that is a stress on the body. The article concludes that the reason why most employers don't want to initiate such a change is that the benefits for the company just aren't there. Great for the employees, but not great for business.






Could A Socialist Senator Become A National Brand? – NPR
by AILSA CHANG
July 10, 2014

As members of Congress continue hammering out a bill to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs' beleaguered health care system, attention has focused on one man leading the charge: Bernie Sanders, Independent senator from Vermont and a self-described socialist.

Sanders barely got 2 percent of the vote when he first tried breaking into Vermont politics in the 1970s, but now there's buzz that the man known simply as "Bernie" may be a presidential candidate in 2016.

"The cost of war is huge," he said recently during lunch at Henry's Diner in Burlington, Vt., where he rose to become an immensely popular mayor in the 1980s. "It's not just tanks and guns and planes. It's what happens to people's lives."

Sanders' frizzy hair may have gotten whiter since his mayoral days, but it could still use a comb. And when he opens his mouth, you don't hear New England — you hear Brooklyn.

He's also not one for idle chitchat. Even the most casual conversation relentlessly returns to the central idea that animates him: the wide gulf between rich and poor in this country.

"What is part of my DNA — something I never will forget — is just the stress in the family over money. Of my mother, you know, feeling that we just never had enough money to do what she wanted to do," Sanders said, referring to his childhood years in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

During his time as mayor, he created more affordable housing in Burlington, and stopped development on the waterfront to make it more accessible.

"That's what Democratic socialism is. It is essentially — bottom line — making government work for all of the people," he said.

Winning Over Conservative Vermont

Sanders is the only member of Congress who calls himself a socialist. And if you're wondering how a Democratic socialist differs from a Democrat, he'll point to the time he took to the Senate floor for 8 1/2 hours in 2010, railing against President Obama for supporting Bush-era tax cuts.

That's drawn him few fans in corporate America.

But to understand how Bernie Sanders has become perhaps the most popular politician in Vermont, go to a place you wouldn't normally expect to be friendly to self-described socialists.

Called the Northeast Kingdom, this corner of Vermont is the most conservative part of the state. It's a lush and green region dotted with dairy farms.

Sanders does really well here.

Randy Meade, a dairy farmer, is a gun owner, thinks gay marriage is immoral and says the government should spend a lot less. But he has always voted for Sanders because he says Sanders protects small farmers like him against the larger dairy farms. When milk prices dropped a few years ago, the senator led the push for more government assistance so family farms wouldn't go out of business.

"He's not intimidated by large money," Meade says. "He's not intimidated by well-dressed people with, you know, $2-, $3,000 suits. That's not Bernie. And that's not us either."

The Northeast Kingdom includes the poorest sections of Vermont, where Sanders' ability to bring in federal help resonates more loudly than any dig that he's a "Leftist" or a "liberal." He brought more federally funded health centers here, and more outreach clinics for veterans.

A few of those vets were having beers recently at the Veterans of Foreign Wars club room in Newport, and although everyone had a gripe about the VA's health care system, none of it was aimed at Sanders. Instead, people like Steve Brochu pointed to the bill Sanders crafted to fund more facilities and more doctors.

"I really believe that he cares a lot about us, even though he's never experienced what we've been through," Brochu said. "He cares and he listens."

Vermont's population is smaller than most congressional districts. Still, it's striking how many people have actually met Sanders in person, even up there. His former chief of staff, Huck Gutman, gives credit to the senator's hundreds of town hall meetings.

"It's always amazing to me to go to a town meeting," Gutman said. "After 2 1/2 hours, I think, 'It's enough already, Bernie.' He wants everybody to speak who wants to speak."

'That's My Job'

This meticulous tending to constituents began during Sanders' days as mayor of Burlington, a time when he rode snow plows to make sure streets were cleared after storms and even took calls from constituents in the middle of the night.

His close friend Richard Sugarman remembers when one resident woke Sanders up at 2 or 3 in the morning to report that someone had thrown a brick through the resident's window. Sugarman told Sanders that "most mayors don't answer these kinds of calls." Sugarman recalls his friend saying, "That's my job, isn't it?"

Sugarman said Sanders can have a hard time relaxing. He takes only half of Sunday off.

"His idea of a big afternoon on Sunday — I don't want to make him sound like he's out of it — he'll say, 'You want to go to get an ice cream?' " said Sugarman.

Current and former staffers say working for Sanders can be exhausting. But his attention to detail has built an expansive base of supporters in a state where politics remains intimate. He isn't "Sen. Sanders" to anyone here. Instead, he's simply "Bernie."

That's what people called him in Montpelier, where, after the Fourth of July parade (scheduled for July 3) was canceled, Sanders decided to walk the streets anyway.

"Bernie for president!" one person shouted.

Another said, "I'm voting for you. You better run for president, but I've been waiting for you for 10 years, OK?"

To be sure, there are critics out here — some say the senator shouldn't call himself an Independent since he votes with the Democrats so often. But Sanders says people are confusing what it means to be an Independent.

"The issue for me about being an Independent is not to be somewhere in the middle of an extreme-right-wing Republican Party and a ... middle-of-the-road Democratic Party," he said. "To be an Independent is to try to represent the needs of the vast majority of the people."

Sanders remains coy about whether he'll actually run for president, but if he does, he says, it will be for those voters who aren't being well-represented by either party.





“To be sure, there are critics out here — some say the senator shouldn't call himself an Independent since he votes with the Democrats so often. But Sanders says people are confusing what it means to be an Independent. 'The issue for me about being an Independent is not to be somewhere in the middle of an extreme-right-wing Republican Party and a ... middle-of-the-road Democratic Party,' he said. 'To be an Independent is to try to represent the needs of the vast majority of the people.'"

Not many people call themselves Socialists since the leftist bashing of the 1950's. There is no law against voting for a socialist, it's just that you never see one running. I notice he doesn't call himself that, but rather an “Independent.” In a country that is so highly invested in wealth and the class structure, many people probably think he is “unpatriotic.” Instead, he is merely not one to follow the crowd or worship the powerful. I've never heard about him before, but from what I see in this article I like him, and might vote for him if he does run for president. It would be only the second time I haven't voted for a Democrat, but he shares most of the viewpoints with Democrats. I do hate to vote for a third party candidate, though, because it tends to split the Democratic vote and throw the election to the Republicans. I voted for the Peace candidate Eugene McCarthy when I was in college, after working for his campaign. He got a pretty good following, but the Republicans won. Still, it's very good to have him in Congress working against the Tea Party. I certainly wish him well.