Tuesday, July 8, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Two drones almost collide with NYPD helicopter
CBS NEWS July 8, 2014

Two drones nearly hit a New York Police Department helicopter flying over the George Washington Bridge early Monday, and officers arrested the wayward drones' operators, police say.

The story was first reported by the New York Post.

According to police, the Aviation Unit chopper was on patrol some 2,000 feet up when the drones, which are unmanned aircraft, headed toward it at around 12:15 a.m. The helicopter had to swerve to avoid a collision.

A Post source called it a "very dangerous" scenario.

"Although [drones] may only weigh a few pounds, that's all birds weigh, and look what they did to the Sully Airbus," the Post quotes its source as saying -- referring to the 2009 "Miracle on the Hudson," in which US Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger to crash-land a jetliner in the Hudson River after a bird strike. Sullenberger is now a CBS News aviation and safety expert.

The police chopper followed the drones until they landed nearby. The helicopter's crew called street patrol officers, who arrested Remy Castro, 23, and Wilkins Mendoza, 34, and charged the Manhattan residents with reckless endangerment.

A friend, Jonathan Reyes, 27, told the Post that Castro and Mendoza bought the drones within the last two weeks for $500 to $700 each.

He said Castro told him they had bought the drones "just for the fun of it" and have flown them as high as 5,000 feet.

A law-enforcement source told the Post the drones "represent a threat to aviation safety, from helicopters to much larger aircraft."
Safety isn't the only issue.

As domestic drones use has increased, so has the concern of privacy watchdogs who worry about the aircraft being used for illegitimate purposes.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence John Miller told CBS New York that as drones become cheaper and more widely marketed, more people will buy them.

The FAA has only recently begun creating regulations for and allowing the use ofcommercial and private drones in American airspace.

Miller said the drones that have come to New York City did not have sinister purposes, like the one that flew over what was temporarily renamed Super Bowl Boulevard in Times Square this past winter and caused a bit of a stir.

"It was traced to a window that it was returned to, and an individual received a summons there for violation of that airspace regulation," Miller said.

That drone was taking photos for a commercial.




It looks like everybody who is anybody will have his own fleet of drones now, flying them without regard for public safety. $700 is almost nothing. Even I could afford that. One news article said that drones may be used for package deliveries now, and according to this they may be spying on people as well. At least in this case the police helicopter pilot saw the drones in time and got out of their way. I wonder what charge the police will bring – reckless piloting? I do hope there won't be many plane crashes because of them. This is like motorcycles. There is no really safe way to have them on the roads. Even if the riders aren't playing around doing wheelies they can wobble and turn over if the rider isn't careful. Oh, well, this is one more piece of technology that is too appealing to keep under control, like smart phones. I'm sure they'll be here in Jacksonville soon. I wouldn't mind having one myself.






Man chokes to death at South Dakota hot dog eating contest
CBS/AP July 8, 2014

CUSTER, S.D. -- A Fourth of July hot dog eating contest in South Dakota turned tragic when a contestant choked to death.

Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler told the Rapid City Journal that 47-year-old Walter Eagle Tail, of Custer, died Thursday at a hospital after attempts to save him failed at the scene.

"It all happened within minutes," Wheeler told the newspaper. "I think everybody was pretty well shocked about it."

The Custer Chamber of Commerce sponsored the contest. The group canceled a pie-eating contest scheduled for Friday.

Chamber Executive Director Dave Ressler said the group is "at a loss for words."

Speed-eating competitions are popular over the Fourth of July weekend. Eight-time champion Joey "Jaws" Chestnut managed to eat 61 hot dogs in 10 minutes at the annual Coney Island contest on Friday, eight short of the record 69 he swallowed in the 2013 competition.




This is a shame. Hot dog eating contests are really fun to watch, but it is clear that they really aren't chewing them enough. It's a wonder no one has choked before now. My favorite eating contest, however, is a pie eating contest. That's harmless, just incredibly messy. There is a very small, thin Chinese woman who was competing in both a hot dog and a pie contest on the news a few years ago. It's amazing that anybody can eat that much and stay so thin. I'll bet they don't eat again for several days afterward. I would never be able to do that. Three dogs or two pieces of pie are my limit.

These contests are a type of entertainment that are so zany they appeal to nearly everyone. I also like turkey and hog calling contests and especially “hollering contests.” An Asian man won a hog calling contest that was on the news a few years ago. Again, he was small and thin, but he had a powerful voice. This kind of thing has no “intellectual” appeal, but the contestants have to have a sense of humor to do it. I like to see people have fun without any embarrassment. Catching a news article like that gives me a chuckle. The TV news is one of the most interesting and often entertaining things in my life. I do try to glean the most actual information that I can from it, of course. I really love the news.





Israel Launches Military Offensive Against Gaza – ABC
By Daniel Estrin – Associated Press
July 8, 2014

The Israeli military launched what could be a long-term offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday striking nearly 100 sites in Gaza and mobilizing troops for a possible ground invasion aimed at stopping a heavy barrage of rocket attacks against Israel.

The military said "Operation Protective Edge" looks to strike the Islamic Hamas group and end the rocket fire that has reached deeper into Israel and intensified in recent weeks.

The attacks come as tensions have soared over the killing of three Israeli teenagers and the apparent revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager by three Jewish suspects.

The military said it was seeking to "retrieve stability to the residents of southern Israel, eliminate Hamas' capabilities and destroy terror infrastructure operating against the State of Israel and its civilians."

Nearly 300 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israel in recent weeks, including a barrage of close to 100 projectiles on Monday alone, the military said, a huge surge after years of relative quiet that followed a previous Israeli campaign to root out Gaza rocket launchers.

Israel has responded with dozens of airstrikes, and eight Palestinian militants were killed Monday. Israel had signaled that it would not launch a larger offensive if the militant group Hamas ceased the rocket fire. But the same time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the military to prepare options for every scenario.

"We have repeatedly warned Hamas that this must stop and Israel's defense forces are currently acting to put an end of this once and for all," said Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said the current round of hostilities was being dictated by Hamas and Israel would continue its barrage so long as its citizens were under fire from Gaza.

"We don't expect it to be a short mission on our behalf," he said.

After a brief early morning lull, the rocket fire from Gaza resumed Tuesday with more than 15 rockets fired toward southern Israel, including the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon. Associated Press video footage showed launches from inside Gaza residential neighborhoods.

The military said five of the projectiles were intercepted by the country's sophisticated Iron Dome missile defense system. A German cruise operator docking in the Ashdod port said debris fell onto one of its ships late Monday as it was departing.

None of the 2,700 vacationers and crew aboard the AIDAdiva was harmed and the ship continued to Crete without delay.

Israel's defense minister announced a special state of emergency in the region Tuesday as summer camps and kindergartens were shut down and residents were encouraged to stay close to their homes.

The military said it had targeted four houses belonging to Hamas militants involved in launching rockets at Israel or other militant activity. There were no reported casualties in the strikes.

The military identified the men whose houses were targeted as Eiad Sakik, Abdullah Hshash, Samer Abu Daka, and Hassan Abdullah. The Associated Press filmed Abu Daka and Abdullah's demolished homes in the Khan Younis area of the Gaza Strip.

In addition, the military said it struck three militant compounds, 18 concealed rocket launchers, and other militant infrastructure sites. Most were targeted by airstrikes, and three were attacked from the sea. Later, it also took out a Hamas command center embedded within a civilian building.




It's too bad if there is a new war between Israel and Palestine, but the Arabs have been in the news trading rocket shots with Israel for weeks now. “The Israeli military launched what could be a long-term offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday striking nearly 100 sites in Gaza and mobilizing troops for a possible ground invasion aimed at stopping a heavy barrage of rocket attacks against Israel.... The military said it was seeking to 'retrieve stability to the residents of southern Israel, eliminate Hamas' capabilities and destroy terror infrastructure operating against the State of Israel and its civilians.'”

“Israel had signaled that it would not launch a larger offensive if the militant group Hamas ceased the rocket fire.... 'We don't expect it to be a short mission on our behalf,'” Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said. The rockets are said to be coming from a residential area in Gaza. Israel apparently knows the locations of many Hamas sites across the border, having hit two leader's houses, three militant compounds, 18 rocket launchers and “other” sites. Israel and Hamas know each other well. I wish they could stop fighting long enough to make peace. Both will have more prosperity if they do.






Runaway Country: Why Is Washington So Bad at Crisis Management? – NBC
BY CHUCK TODD, MARK MURRAY AND CARRIE DANN

Crisis management in the Age of Obama

Another week, another crisis for the Obama White House -- this time all the Central American children who have crossed into the country. Today, the White House is formally asking Congress for about $2 billion for immigration judges, attorneys, and asylum officials. But what we find striking is that this is yet another event controlling the White House rather than the other way around.

Here is the formula, which we also saw recently with the crisis in Ukraine, the crisis at the VA, and the new crisis in Iraq: A conflict or public-policy problem gets a tremendous amount of media attention. Congress and the political opposition begin pointing fingers at the White House. And then the White House -- after hedging, hemming and hawing -- finally reacts. This was especially true after DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson dodged the question Sunday on “Meet the Press” whether the children would be deported, and then a day later when White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest answered affirmatively that they would be deported.

In short, the White House is always reacting and rarely gets ahead of a problem. Their response is usually the same: We didn’t see this coming; it’s much worse than we anticipated, all leaving the impression that they just don’t have their arms around the government they run. The question is whether this is the new normal in this age of polarization and speedy news cycles, or if this is unique to Obama’s presidency?

Crisis management with the Do-Nothing Congress

But that is just one layer to this story. Another layer is Congress’ inability to legislate -- and its preference instead to politicize any public policy issue for maximum partisan gain. Your 113th Congress spends more time pointing fingers than solving problems. A case in point is this immigration story. After all, the “Gang of 8” immigration legislation -- which the Senate passed a year ago but which the House won’t act on -- spends billions and billions on additional border enforcement.

Yet that legislation (or any compromise to it) is dead for this year and perhaps the rest of Obama’s presidency. So this isn’t just the administration’s crisis; it’s Congress’, too. As for the White House’s $2 billion request for the border, House GOP leaders are taking a wait-and-see approach. When First Read asked Speaker John Boehner’s spokesman if the House would pass the request before the August recess, he responded: “We won't know until we see what's actually in it.”

When we followed up by asking if it could pass if it’s a reasonable request, he added, “We'll see.” Hard to imagine that either party wants this legislation staring them in the face after Labor Day in an election year. One has got to assume it’s August or bust.

Covering crises in New Media

And a third layer to all of this is us -- the media. We easily move from crisis to crisis, sometimes stoking it along the way. “Look at what’s happening in Ukraine! Why can’t Obama stop Putin?” “Look at what’s happening at the VA! Why didn’t Obama and Congress do more to foresee the mismanagement and respond to the horror stories?” “Look at what’s happening in Iraq! Why didn’t the White House see ISIS coming?” And now: “Look at what’s happening on the border! Why didn’t the administration and Congress anticipate this happening?” But here is the rub: Notice how quickly some of those older stories have disappeared from the front pages.

Remember Ukraine? What about the VA? (Quick: Name the person Obama appointed to be the new VA secretary. Here is the answer.) In some ways, this justifies the administration’s reaction mode to crises -- because a week later, it knows the media will be devouring another story. Of course, what matters most, politically, is what the public is digesting. And while none of these stories is likely penetrating at a crisis-like level for the average American, the collection of these stories clearly is. What else explains the poor marks the president and Congress and the entire Washington structure is receiving?

Other moving parts in this immigration story

The Obama administration says that its desire for “expanded authorities” to deal with the border crisis is separate from its $2 billion request. "We already sent a letter to the congressional Leadership last week on our desire for expanded authorities and we are still seeking those authorities and have made clear we will work with Congress to get those authorities,” an administration official tells NBC’s Peter Alexander. (But just because it’s separate, does NOT mean the administration is somehow open to NOT seeing the law changed. Right now, the biggest roadblock to the White House request for the law to be changed is not Republicans but Democrats, who are quietly trying to pressure the White House to back off its ask on changing the 2008 law.) The Austin American-Statesman is reportingthat the White House is open to President Obama having a meeting with Texas Gov. Rick Perry to discuss the immigration situation… Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is callingfor Obama go to border when he travels to Texas on Wednesday. “Going to Texas, without going to the border,” McCain said. “I don’t know how you do that — go to fundraisers and don’t go to the border and see for yourself how we are being inundated by tens of thousands.”




Events “controlling the White House” rather than vice versa – “The question is whether this is the new normal in this age of polarization and speedy news cycles, or if this is unique to Obama’s presidency?” Another “layer” to these crisis situations is Congress's “inability to legislate,” preferring instead to politicize everything for the sake of their reputations and positions. “So this isn’t just the administration’s crisis; it’s Congress,' too.” “And a third layer to all of this is us -- the media. We easily move from crisis to crisis, sometimes stoking it along the way.... But here is the rub: Notice how quickly some of those older stories have disappeared from the front pages. In some ways, this justifies the administration’s reaction mode to crises -- because a week later, it knows the media will be devouring another story.”

To me, it's no surprise when in the face of all this Obama keeps using Executive Orders to make changes, hopefully good ones, and doesn't react to Congressional pressure by cooperating. Gov. Perry and Sen. McCain are angry at Obama for not visiting the border region while he's in Texas. There is no way he can earn their approval, however, when in this era of political polarization their entire goal is to criticize.

He has been holding up so far under the strain and making some improvements – many of those Executive Orders that Boehner so hates were, in my eyes, progress. As to whether the eruption of crisis after crisis, with Republicans going on the attack over each one, sometimes manufacturing much of it in fact, is basically due to Obama's mismanagement, I don't think so. It's just inevitable. Also, I do believe that the feeding frenzy of the press is a large part of the problem. I don't see this pattern as new to the country under Obama. If I read all the news on a day to day basis, it's almost dizzying to see how everything morphs from the first mention to the ensuing days of CNN coverage to the snarky “fair and balanced” coverage of Fox News pundits. I often feel for the president, whoever he is at the time. Still, he took that job, and he has to deal with it.





Kerry Threatens to Cut Afghan Aid if Candidate Tries Power Grab – NBC
July 8, 2014

KABUL, Afghanistan - Secretary of State John Kerry threatened to cut financial and military aid to Afghanistan if any party tries to seize power illegally. His threat comes amid an electoral impasse that has worsened ethnic tensions and raised fears that Afghanistan could once again be plunged into civil war. “I have noted reports of protests in Afghanistan and of suggestions of a ‘parallel government’ with the gravest concern,” he said in a statement late Monday during a trip to Asia. Afghanistan, relies heavily on foreign aid, although most foreign forces are scheduled to leave the country this year.

Preliminary election results released earlier Monday put ex-finance minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in the lead for the presidency. Alleging massive electoral fraud, his opponent Abdullah Abdullah has rejected the results. "I assure you people of Afghanistan that I will sacrifice for you, but I will never accept a fraudulent government," he told his supporters. The former foreign minister has not said publicly he would form a parallel government, although his supporters have.




Kerry reacts to the threat of heightened ethnic tensions that could lead to civil war in Afghanistan. “'I have noted reports of protests in Afghanistan and of suggestions of a ‘parallel government’ with the gravest concern,' he said in a statement late Monday.” Ahmadzai's lead in the election has been questioned by his opponent Abdullah. “'I assure you people of Afghanistan that I will sacrifice for you, but I will never accept a fraudulent government,' he told his supporters. The former foreign minister has not said publicly he would form a parallel government, although his supporters have.” Kerry threatens to cut US financial and military aid if they do cause a split in the government. I will try to collect articles on this as they emerge. I would hate to see Afghanistan break apart after such a long struggle toward democracy.





Refugee Businesses Emerge Out of Crisis
—By Elizabeth MacBride, Special to CNBC.com

Outside, the yellow-orange dust blows over a city of tents from the UN Refugee Agency, but inside Majedah al-Dabogh's concrete beauty salon, the air is cool, the walls are pink, and a cabinet holds her small business's beauty supplies.

Al-Dabogh is a Syrian refugee who fled to this Jordanian border city of Zaatri as fighting rages in her home country. She's having trouble with her landlord, which she dismisses with a toss of her head.

"He wants to raise my rent — I can't pay more," she said with a shrug. Formerly a salon owner in Syria, she found a job in a salon in Jordan and then opened her own place here in the refugee camp, where she earns about 100-200 Jordanian dinars, or $140-$280, a month. After her flight from Syria and her two-year-long struggle to open the business, the message in her attitude is clear: She's not going anywhere.

Al-Dabogh is one of a growing number of people who've fled Iraq and Syria but are managing to build businesses, sometimes in the most difficult settings: refugee camps and communities that are home to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by fighting between their governments, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other groups. The UN estimates that 600,000 Syrian refugees are in Jordan, though the number is likely even higher.

For its part, the Jordanian government is struggling with the Herculean task of coping with the influx, often inconsistently. Because of concerns that Syrians and Iraqis will take jobs from native Jordanians, work permits are difficult to get. It's even harder to get a permit to open a business, say aid organizations. Those who do open businesses have connections or family within Jordan, or they just ignore the rules.

"Life is like a sea, and we have to be the captains," said Fadia Bayati, 42, an Iraqi, who earned a communications degree in Baghdad before her family was displaced by the war. After 10 years in Jordan, the mother of three sons earns about 350 dinars ($493) a month as a freelance medical researcher and a trainer in programs that teach people how to avoid sexual harassment. She also works as a volunteer liaison to refugee communities.

"I'll help," she assured Badria Qatlish, 40, a newly arrived Syrian refugee who fled with her husband and six children. Back home, soldiers snatched Qatlish's husband, who owned a photography studio, for questioning. They returned him eventually, but it was clear the time had come for them to get out, Qatlish said.

"The children were terrified," she said. "We couldn't live with that."

Her husband has been unable to find work, so with the help of Atlanta-based CARE, Qatlish has started a business selling Syrian kubbah — a wheat pastry stuffed with ground meat — to neighbors in the small city of Zarqa, another place where refugees have settled. The local schools just began to accept Syrians for enrollment, so she hopes she will be able to expand the business further when she has more child care.

Many of the refugee entrepreneurs are being aided by business-building and microfinance programs, which have ramped up in response to the crisis. According to the Jordanian government, there are eight microfinance institutions operating in the country, with a total portfolio of $173 million. In 2013, they served 270,000 clients. Many of the programs were established to aid Jordanians, but they help refugees, too.

"Life is like a sea, and we have to be the captains."

Last week, the San Francisco-based crowd-funder Kiva.org, which helps make loans to entrepreneurs around the world, set up another program: In partnership with Grameen-Jameel Microfinance Ltd., a nonprofit that provides funds in the Middle East, it is offering 13,000 people $25 to lend to a Middle Eastern entrepreneur through Kiva — essentially, a free trial on the website. A spokesman said 400 people had signed up so far.

As for al-Dabogh, she is hunkered down for a fight with her landlord. When the war worsened in Syria, she was on a visit to Jordan. Unable to return to the country after her village was destroyed, she stayed. Her seven grown children and ex-husband, meanwhile, fled to Lebanon. She would like to see them, but worries she wouldn't be able to return if she leaves.

As she talked, the rest of her story emerged. Her landlord wants to double her rent — if she won't marry him.

"I tell her, report him to the police," said Shaker al-Khaldi, a Jordanian government official who has become a friend.

The salon, where she also lives, is all she has, she said.
"I have suffered a lot in my life," she said. "It makes me stronger."




Such a scene looks like utter chaos to me, but a number of people have been able to set up a business there. You have to be related to somebody in Jordan to do so “or just ignore the rules.” Microbusiness loans are available to get started. This hairdresser's monthly income of $140-$280 sounds like so little, but she is apparently living on it. Another refugee whose husband can't find work has started a business making and selling meat pastries, and another is a medical assistant. There is probably a close connection between people living in such a situation, as they all are struggling to survive.

It's a heartening story among such a bleak-looking environment. The nation of Jordan, meanwhile, has to take care of all these people. It's like our current crisis with the children from Central America – overwhelming. It will continue to be a problem for some years, I imagine. The war between ISIS and Iraq will undoubtedly continue, displacing more and more people. Peace would be so good. There is always somebody over there who wants to take over what other people have, however. A continued war is inevitable.