Thursday, July 31, 2014


News Clips For The Day


http://news.yahoo.com/former-irs-official-called-gop-crazies-email-162459872--finance.html

Former IRS official called GOP 'crazies' in email
AP 
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
July 29, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former IRS official at the heart of the agency's tea party controversy called Republicans "crazies" and more in newly released emails.

Lois Lerner used to head the IRS division that handles applications for tax-exempt status. In a series of emails with a colleague in November 2012, Lerner made two disparaging remarks about members of the GOP, including one remark that was profane.

Republican Rep. Dave Camp, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, released the emails Wednesday as part of his committee's investigation. Camp says the emails show Lerner's disgust with conservatives.

In one email, Lerner called them crazies. In the other, she called them "assholes." The committee redacted the wording to "_holes" in the material it released publicly, but a committee spokeswoman confirmed to the AP that the email said "assholes."

Congress and the Justice Department are investigating whether the IRS improperly scrutinized applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups.




This is indeed wrong, but it doesn't prove that the President had anything to do with this. It also doesn't prove Lerner violated anyone's rights knowingly, either. There is, however, so much bad feeling between the parties nowadays that this kind of enmity on the part of some people is not surprising. To put it in writing in a medium that could become public is very foolish indeed, though. It does make me curious to see what else is in the emails, and it makes me wonder where they were finally found. I was behind her until this story, but now I'm not so sure. I just wish the Tea Party wouldn't be so hostile and contrary in their dealings in Congress. It does make for bad feeling among the Democrats. It's no wonder Obama has started bypassing them in order to get anything done. The following from Breitbart details some of the emails. I will try to get more copies of them as well.


http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/07/30/New-Emails-Expose-Lois-Lerner-Rants-About-Conservative-Crazies

NEW EMAILS EXPOSE LOIS LERNER RANTS ABOUT CONSERVATIVE 'CRAZIES'
by CHARLIE SPIERING  30 Jul 2014, 9:33 AM PDT

When she wasn’t working to persecute conservative Tea Party groups, former IRS official Lois Lerner spent her time taunting conservatives on her Blackberry. A new email chain shows Lerner participating in a conversation describing conservatives as scary, crazy, right wing, whacko, assholes.

“So we don’t need to worry about alien teRrorists,” Lerner wrote in an email about right wing radio shows. “It’s our own crazies that will take us down.”

The new emails were released by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Later Lerner wrote that “maybe we are through” as a country “if there are that many assholes.”

“Well you should hear the whacko wing of the GOP,” the recipient of Lerner’s email replied, criticizing conservatives for buying and storing food and ammunition while complaining about illegal immigrants.

“This email shows that Ms. Lerner’s mistreatment of conservative groups was driven by her personal hostility toward conservatives,” Camp writes in his letter to Holder. “This new evidence clearly demonstrates why Ms. Lerner not only targeted conservatives, but denied such groups their rights to due process and equal protection under the law.”

See Email quotations below:


On terrorists:

“So we don't need to worry about alien terRorists. It's our own crazies that will take us down.”

On right wing radio shows:

“And I'm talking about the hosts of the shows. The callers are rabid.”

On the far right:

“Well, you should hear the whacko wing of the GOP. The US is through; too many foreigners sucking the teat; time to hunker down, buy ammo and food, and prepare for the end. The right wing radio shows are scary to listen to.”

On A-holes:

“Maybe we are through if there are that many __ holes.”




It would have been better if she hadn't put these emails on the IRS computer system to be found and used against her. They still don't prove she purposely cheated conservative groups on their IRS records merely because they are conservative, but they do show her rancor toward them. They show her saying some things I agree with, unfortunately. The right wing “Patriots” and terrorists like Timothy McVeigh are as bad as any foreign terrorists – they all plant bombs that hurt innocent people, from abortion clinics and black churches to government buildings.

The right wing radio shows are “scary” if you believe what the hosts like Rush Limbaugh say. He tries to be as controversial and crude as he can to appeal to the “angry white men” who are his primary audience. He gets his salary for “keeping the pot stirred.” I'm sure there are members of the GOP who financially support his radio spot. I never, ever listen to him, or read anything he has said except when it is so outrageous that it makes the news. He once, for instance, called a female who called in to the show “a vagina.” That made the news. I can't believe so many people listen to that kind of bilge water day after day and actually like it.

About whackos – there are whackos of all persuasions including left wing whackos, but there is a certain set that are planning for a race war or “the end times.” I have seen things on the Internet giving advice on how to stock your fallout shelter with canned and dry goods, and stockpile ammunition. The groups who call themselves “Patriots” are groups who get together out in the woods and dress in camouflage, shooting at targets and making assault maneuvers against an imaginary foe. They are “training” so they can prevent the Federal government from sending troops in to take over their communities and declare martial law. To me that really is “whacko.”




Big-box stores may see dark days ahead – CBS
By AIMEE PICCHI MONEYWATCH July 31, 2014, 5:45 AM

Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) gained dominance by offering everything from groceries to children's toys, often putting smaller, local stores out of business in the process.

Now, it's the revenge of the smaller retailers.

Walmart is being forced to focus on "defensive investments" as it seeks to counter the popularity of online retailers such as Amazon (AMZN), as well as smaller chains such as dollar stores and drugstores. That's according to a new report from Goldman Sachs (GS), which downgraded its investment rating on the retail giant.

Walmart is creating its own smaller stores through its Neighborhood Market and Express brands. But it may be tough for these operations to "move the needle" for Walmart, Goldman wrote in the Tuesday report.

"The firm contends that Neighborhood Markets offers competitive returns, but the jury is still out on its Express stores, as well as on the concept of tethering these boxes to supercenters for inventory, labor, and management," the Goldman analysts noted.

Walmart may generate only 2.8 percent of revenue off its total 2013 revenue base from these smaller stores, the report adds.

Yet with Walmart reporting fiscal second-quarter earnings on Aug. 14, Goldman said it doesn't see an "unusual 2Q earnings risk."

Both Walmart and Target have had tough years. Walmart recently said it's replacing Bill Simon, its U.S. chief, shaking up its management after several quarters of declining same-store sales. As for Target, it tapped a new chief executive following its data-breach debacle, which may have affected as many as 110 million customers and caused some people to shun the store.

On top of that, competitive pressure on big-box retailers may become more intense, given the recently announced $8.5 billion deal for Dollar Tree to buy Family Dollar. The combined ultra-discount retailers will have more than 13,000 locations -- more outlets than Walmart.

As consumers' pocketbooks grow more strained -- thanks to flatlining household income and higher prices for consumer items -- they're seeking out bargains at smaller stores, such as dollar stores, and at online retailers, such as Amazon.

Amazon, Goldman noted, "clearly lurks as the biggest external competitive threat" to Walmart.




The day of the small store in small towns may be permanently gone. In the 1950's and 60's I lived in a small city of about 10,000. The downtown wasn't much, but to get to larger stores the shopper had to drive seven miles to the next slightly larger city, and many people did. To many, however, we just went to our local Belks and Roses, a men's clothing store, a shoe shop, a bakery, a butcher shop, a drugstore and a hardware store. The drugstore did double duty as a soda shop. Now it is possible to buy all of these things at any Walmart. The downtown of Thomasville is all but gone now, with several shopping centers around the town housing big box stores, a movie theater and some restaurants. One change now is that when I was young, we who were relatively poor only bought what we thought we needed, going without a new wardrobe of clothing at the beginning of every school year or lots of books. Luckily there was a pretty well-stocked public library there, and I was a member from the time I was in the fourth grade.

For myself, nowadays, I try not to go to Walmart because it is so large, and I hate having to walk miles past thousands of displays searching for one item. Walmart has made an improvement, however. They have created a link between their website and each local store for ordering items on the Net. I now pay ahead on the Net with a credit card and then simply go to the store I have designated to pick up the item from the service desk, so I no longer have to walk the aisles feeling bewildered and lost. I still don't buy groceries at Walmart, as their prices are not all less expensive than my local grocery store, and I have to drive four miles to the nearest Walmart.

I don't shop at Dollar Tree or Family Dollar, but there is a Dollar General I go to when I go to the Southside to eat lunch with my friend. I buy condensed milk, coffee, and small items that are definitely less expensive there, as I use large quantities of both. I pick up a dozen or more cans of milk and three large cans of coffee there once a month or so. Most of my shopping, however, is done at my local Publix grocery store and Walgreens drugstore. If I buy anything that is electronic or related I will probably go to Walmart or Staples. I prefer shopping at Staples, but Walmart is closer. Staples is great, though, because if I can't find something the sales counter attendant will call a manager, who will walk me right to it and they never act grumpy about it. Their selection for electronics or other office supplies is also much better than that at Walmart.

The other problem with Walmart besides its sheer size is the fact that it is nearly impossible to get someone to help me find anything there. They have lots of customers and very few sales clerks. The wait at a line may be ten minutes or more. I'm not like so many women – I hate to shop. I don't clip coupons or follow sales. The only time it's fun for me is if I have a friend with me and we eat lunch afterward. I'd much rather go sit in a park and feed the squirrels for sheer entertainment.

I would like to know how the large shopping malls are doing financially. Are they losing money to the dollar stores? My nearest shopping mall and a trip to Staples are the only shopping experiences that are fun for me. My local shopping mall is Regency Square and they have nice women's clothing stores, a jewelry store, numerous other stores, a candy shop, Auntie Annie's hot pretzels, and a food court with pretty good restaurants. After going there and having lunch there is a movie theater two blocks away. I still want a companion for the day, but that is my idea of shopping fun.






Pennsylvania town applauds plan to shelter migrant children
By HANNAH FRASER-CHANPONG CBS NEWS July 30, 2014, 10:45 PM

EMSWORTH, Pa. -It was standing room only at a community meeting in a western Pennsylvania town as Sister Linda Yankoski explained why she's opening her doors to migrant children who have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border alone.

"There are children sleeping on the floor," Yankoski said at Tuesday night's meeting, "and I have a bed."

Yankoski, the chief executive officer of Holy Family Institute, a Catholic children's home and school in Emsworth, says she has room for up to 36 unaccompanied alien children, or UACs. Yankoski says her decision to take in some UACs - more than 57,000 have crossed this year - is rooted in faith.

"They are the most vulnerable children right now living in America," she said in an interview. "We have the resources, we have the ability and we have the will to do this. It's just part of who we are."

The decision raised some concern in the community, a mostly residential enclave of about 2,800 outside Pittsburgh. People raised questions about health, safety and the misuse of dollars which some say are better off serving local children.

"If we have needs here and we have bills we have to take care of here, what is responsible?" asked Rob Medonis, a resident from nearby South Hills who attended the meeting.

Emsworth Mayor Dee Quinn, who was initially "stunned" to hear the news that Holy Family would become a shelter, said she wanted answers for her constituents.

"A lot of them are concerned about the illnesses that the children could be bringing here," Quinn said Tuesday afternoon, "to not only the community but even if the people that work there get in touch with these children, then they could be carrying that to wherever they live."

But most at the meeting, which drew nearly 200 people, were supportive of Yankoski's plan.

"This is something...we're called to do as human beings," said Fox Chapel resident Sara Cuada Berg. "If you're not Christian, than at least believe it to be something that you do for your fellow human beings."

Cuada Berg, who was one of about two dozen to approach a microphone set up between chairs at Sacred Heart Church, arrived in the area from Nicaragua when she was a teenager. She recounted her first years in the United States, living at Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden, Pa.

"You gave me a home," she said. "It is because of what you did for me that I am the person I am today."

Others offered to donate money or volunteer at the shelter on Holy Family's 10-acre campus. One man, who described himself as a "blue-collar American," summed up his reaction with a question: "Will you call me if you need any help?"

It's unclear how long each child will be at Holy Family, but Yankoski says she was told that stays usually last between 30 and 40 days. She didn't know, however, how many of the children coming to Emsworth may have relatives or other sponsors in the Pittsburgh area. While Pittsburgh is the second largest city in Pennsylvania, census data shows that only 2.3 percent of its population is Hispanic or Latino.

"There isn't any way for us to know how many of the children coming to our Pittsburgh shelter will stay in Pittsburgh," she said. "There may be some that are placed with their relatives in Pittsburgh but from what I understand families live across the U.S."

The timeline is important to some residents, who have voiced worry about the children attending local public schools. Holy Family plans to arrange classes - math, English, history - led by Spanish-speaking educators for the children on its campus, at a cost that Yankoski says will be reimbursed by the U.S. government, along with costs for food and clothing. A child might be enrolled in a public school, but only after leaving the shelter.

"We are not going to have to utilize community resources for the care of these children," she said.

The meeting came to a close after about an hour and a half of discussion but no changes to Holy Family's plan.

"There will always be people for it and there's always going to be people against it," Quinn said. "But at least hopefully they will be more at peace with what's going to happen in our neighborhood."

The children are set to arrive later this year, though no exact date has been set.




“The decision raised some concern in the community, a mostly residential enclave of about 2,800 outside Pittsburgh. People raised questions about health, safety and the misuse of dollars which some say are better off serving local children.... Emsworth Mayor Dee Quinn, who was initially "stunned" to hear the news that Holy Family would become a shelter, said she wanted answers for her constituents. "A lot of them are concerned about the illnesses that the children could be bringing here," Quinn said....But most at the meeting, which drew nearly 200 people, were supportive of Yankoski's plan.”

“The timeline is important to some residents, who have voiced worry about the children attending local public schools. Holy Family plans to arrange classes - math, English, history - led by Spanish-speaking educators for the children on its campus, at a cost that Yankoski says will be reimbursed by the U.S. government, along with costs for food and clothing. A child might be enrolled in a public school, but only after leaving the shelter.”

This is an ideal situation for the undocumented children, as the city doesn't have to finance their stay there and they won't go to the local schools unless they leave the shelter. The charity is set up for giving shelter to people, and it is a part of their religious mission. There is question about illnesses spreading to the local community, but in one earlier article it said that medical screening is one of the things that the Border Patrol are doing, so hopefully the children who arrive will be healthy. The best news, however, is that the people in this community are mainly welcoming to the children rather than being hostile to immigrants. I hope to see more towns like this one in the news, since there is such a great need for welcoming communities. Until we get our laws set up to discourage such children from coming, these are not adults who are able to work and care for themselves, and it is indeed inhumane to keep them in prison-like conditions without human contact. I think not even most Republicans would want that.







Filmmaker ​Richard Linklater on "Boyhood" and time
CBS NEWS July 27, 2014, 10:23 AM

Richard Linklater's 2003 film "School of Rock" starred Jack Black as a musician who never grew up. Martha Teichner tells us about Linklater's NEWEST film:

Never before has one of filmmaker Richard Linklater's movies generated the kind of buzz "Boyhood" has.

The film follows a boy, Mason (played by Ellar Coltrane) from age six to 18. He literally grows up before your very eyes.

His sister is played by Lorelei Linklater, the director's daughter; their divorced parents, by Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke.

What's remarkable about "Boyhood" is that it was shot over twelve years. Time (and how it changes people) is the subject.

"What Rick is doing with this movie has been done in literature a lot," said Hawke, "But it hasn't really been done in a movie, and you get the chance to really watch a family develop over the course of a decade, and it's a powerful tool."

"The manipulation of time is the unique property of cinema," said Linklater. "If cinema is painting, time is the paint. It's that fundamental."

Linklater visited one of the earliest locations used in the film, when the main character is in first grade. "I haven't been back here . . . it's been 12 years since we filmed here," he said.

"I had one of these in my life, from [the time] you're born 'til you're about seven. It's the house you kind of grew up in and that seems like home. For the rest of your life you kind of have dreams that you're still back there."

The story is moved along by the accumulation of small but emotionally-loaded moments, including one scene that came straight from Linklater's own boyhood.

"I call it my redneck bar mitzvah year," Linklater said. "I got a personalized Bible and a 20-gauge. I look back and say, "Oh that is kind of funny," but I think there's a part of this that wants also wants to see something that is part of my life."

Born in Houston, Linklater went to college on a baseball scholarship, but when a heart condition ended his sports career, he dropped out and went to work on an offshore oil rig.

"When I was on land, I was watching three, four films a day and going home and reading about the actor, the director, the studio. So it was a great education."

In his early twenties, with his oil rig earnings, he moved to Austin, Texas, determined to make films. Austin was a prominent feature of his first film, "Slacker." Linklater is in it as well. His eccentric characters kind of bounce off each other randomly over a 24-hour period.

He made "Slacker" for $23,000. Released in 1991, it grossed more than $1.2 million.

"I just kind of dedicated my life to film," he said. "It's like, if it's the priesthood, I joined. And that was it. That was just my whole life, and I didn't know where that would lead."

It led to another movie about time, "Dazed and Confused," a comedy cult classic about Austin high school kids on the last day of school. The film introduced moviegoers to an unknown Matthew McConnaughey ("All right all right all righhhhttttt!")

Linklater has made 18 features, including popular hits like "School of Rock" starring Jack Black. His "Before" trilogy about one romance ("Before Sunrise," "Before Sunset" and "Before Midnight") with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, was nominated for two Oscars.





Some experimental films are very hard to follow as they hop from subject to subject, or just very strange, as with the early trials of movies shot in front of a single stationary camera, or whole movies filmed in the same room and consisting mainly of conversation or even monologues. I don't always like experimental films, but this one sounds very interesting. Exactly how faces and bodies change with age is fascinating to me. I will probably invest a few dollars to see this one when it comes out, even though it will lack a “plot” for the most part. Perhaps the narrator will give some information about the life of the family as background, and there will probably be real life conversations between the people, which I find interesting. One of the best films I have ever seen was Sacha Baron Cohen's “Borat.” It was full of very broad humor and offended some of the people in the film enough that they sued Cohen, but it was so entertaining in its natural, unscripted, bizarre action that I laughed all the way through. To someone who tends to love anthropological or sociological subjects, it was excellent. Another film that was great for similar reasons was “The Gods Must Be Crazy,” by Jamie Uys from 1980. Those two are probably available in any large public library for anyone who is interested in seeing them.






Maine police officer stops driver for speeding, then saves his life
CBS/AP July 30, 2014, 1:57 PM

KENNEBUNK, Maine -- Not many people can say they owe their lives to a near speeding ticket.

But 86-year-old Gavin Falconer can. He was pulled over Saturday by a police officer in Kennebunk, Maine. But shortly after handing over his license and registration, Falconer suffered an apparent heart attack and slumped over without a pulse.

Police say Officer Michael Harrington quickly transitioned from writing out a warning for the speeding infraction to administering CPR. A second officer then arrived with a defibrillator.

Falconer was brought to a hospital and is recovering. He tells WMTW-TV that he hopes to see the officer again and thank him.

Harrington says the incident is proof there is no such thing as a "routine" traffic stop.

"When you're thinking you're just going to give a guy a warning and -- next thing you know -- you're doing chest compression in the middle of rush-hour traffic. It's a little overwhelming," Harrington told the station.





“Harrington says the incident is proof there is no such thing as a 'routine' traffic stop. 'When you're thinking you're just going to give a guy a warning and -- next thing you know -- you're doing chest compression in the middle of rush-hour traffic. It's a little overwhelming,' Harrington told the station.” The experiences of real life police officers are more interesting to me than fiction, and they can be important. From the videotaped beating of Rodney King by what looked like dozens of policemen to the occasionally televised dash camera recordings, they show true human responses to situations and real “action” shots.

Sometimes they show heroism as in this news article, and other times they show hard core police abuse of their very high degree of power and trust. I respect “good” policemen very highly, but I have great scorn for racism, unnecessary violence, corruption or other harmful behavior. Is it worse for police to do these things? Yes, to me, because they are placed in a position of trust and if they are essentially criminals, I think they should not only be fired, but do prison time. That's like parents who abuse their children rather than administering good, healthy discipline. They are violating nature's highest and most honored responsibility.




Polio's Surge In Pakistan: Are Parents Part Of The Problem?
by NURITH AIZENMAN
July 30, 2014

What do the parents think? That's always a crucial question when it comes to vaccinating kids.

And it's particularly important in Pakistan, which is one of the last places in the world where the polio virus is still making kids sick.

Health workers in Pakistan are trying to convince millions of parents to allow their children take the polio vaccine. But the program faces vehement — and at times violent — opposition.

So researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health recently did a poll to find out if parents are part of the problem. The results surprised them.

Imagine you're a parent in northwest Pakistan. You live in a remote village, perhaps in a mud hut on top of a mountain. Every few weeks some strangers carrying vials of a clear liquid come knocking on your door.

"Frankly, if someone came to my house and said, 'You know, you don't know me from Adam, but I'd like to vaccinate your child,' I wouldn't let them," says Sona Bari, of the World Health Organization.

But eradicating polio worldwide depends on these parents in Pakistan saying yes.

Strangers showing up at your door isn't the only hurdle to getting children vaccinated. In Pakistan, the Taliban threaten to kill parents who immunize their kids. More than 60 vaccinators have already been killed in the past two years.

"There have been health worker attacks, and there have been bans on polio campaigns for two years now," says Sherine Guirguis of UNICEF, a co-sponsor of the vaccine poll. "So there's this climate that we're working in."

The result of those bans: a surge in polio cases in Taliban-controlled regions. About 50 kids have been paralyzed this year in the two regions where the polio vaccine is banned, North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

The message to parents from all this: Don't even think of opening your door for a vaccinator.

And it's not just in the regions controlled by the Taliban. Rumors about the vaccine are common across Pakistan, the Harvard poll found.

"The vaccine is not halal, for example," Guirguis says. "Or that it's not made with ingredients that they feel comfortable with."

There's also the belief that the vaccine is a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children, or worse, that the vaccine gives kids AIDS.

On the plus side, only 1 in 10 parents nationwide thought the rumors might be true, the Harvard poll found. And even in theFederally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, only about a third of parents thought there might be something to the tales.

But researchers say these rumors can still be a problem. "People don't necessarily have to believe them in full," says Harvard's Gillian SteelFisher, who ran the poll. "But you worry about that kind of atmosphere of misunderstanding about the vaccine."

That's because of another challenge facing the polio eradication effort. With other vaccine initiatives, it's enough to reach a good majority of kids. But when it comes to polio, health workers are trying to wipe this disease off the planet. So even reaching 75 percent of kids isn't good enough, says UNICEF's Guirguis.

"Polio is a 100 percent program," she says. "You need to find every child, living in the most far-flung area, living in the most conflict-affected area."

And vaccinators don't need to reach kids only once, or even twice. They need to convince parents to vaccinate their child at least four times, in a single year. That's what it takes to get full immunity with this vaccine.

And when vaccinators keep showing up, some parents start to get exasperated, the WHO's Bari says. "So this is one of the few services they're seeing come to their door, for free," she says. "And yet it's coming over and over, which is something that's hard for them to understand."

Polio is a big priority for the international community. But it's become rare enough, even in Pakistan, that a lot of parents haven't ever seen it. It's not really on their minds.

The Harvard poll found that many parents don't think polio is that serious — that the paralysis it causes is curable. It isn't.

And yet, for all of these obstacles, when vaccinators can get to homes in the FATA region, parents there aren't turning them away. The poll found that among parents who confirmed that a vaccinator reached their door, 95 percent said that yes, their child did get the vaccine.





“Health workers in Pakistan are trying to convince millions of parents to allow their children take the polio vaccine. But the program faces vehement — and at times violent — opposition.... 'There have been health worker attacks, and there have been bans on polio campaigns for two years now,' says Sherine Guirguis of UNICEF, a co-sponsor of the vaccine poll. 'So there's this climate that we're working in.' The result of those bans: a surge in polio cases in Taliban-controlled regions. ...There's also the belief that the vaccine is a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children, or worse, that the vaccine gives kids AIDS.... They need to convince parents to vaccinate their child at least four times, in a single year. That's what it takes to get full immunity with this vaccine.”

That all sounds like bad news; but even with these problems, about 95% of the children have successfuly been vaccinated. Still UNICEF needs to reach every child – and presumably adults, too – for each to be vaccinated four times in a year or it won't achieve complete immunity.

There is very little trust of anything Western in such places as Pakistan, so it seems to me that the government of Pakistan should mandate the vaccination of the citizens. After all it will be their problem more than the world's if the disease runs rampant there. There is very little control over the actions of the Taliban by their government, however, so I don't have much hope for the people and their problems.

It's very sad. Religion can be ennobling, or it can bring unadulterated evil to a society. It all depends on what the religion is, and how much it rules the minds and lives of the people. In the US there are few such cults, but there have been some. Some people will willingly turn their entire ability to think over to the domination of some person or people in power. There is no cure for that situation except to ban the religion or educate the public to the point that they can see with full rationality the truth of any situation. We in the US don't believe in doing that, of course, and it is a solution that leaves a society open to whatever moral code, or lack thereof, may exist. There is really no way to root out deep-seated cultural beliefs, except by totalitarian control, which brings other evils which are undoubtedly worse.