Friday, August 22, 2014

News Clips For The Day


Suggested video just for fun:

http://news.yahoo.com/video/playful-beluga-whale-teases-kids-100033813.html
Playful Beluga Whale Teases Kids

A trip to the aquarium is usually a chance for children to watch sea animals go about their own business, oblivious to outside observers. In this video, a beluga whale turns the tables as it teases two startled kids, pressing its mouth against the glass panel dividing them. Watch their brilliant reaction as the mischievous mammal then turns his back on the pair, pretending to have forgotten about them, only to turn around and startle them again and again. Credit: YouTube/MichelleCotton


Peekaboo! What we can learn from playful beluga whale
By VINITA NAIR CBS NEWS August 21, 2014, 8:08 PM

MYSTIC, Conn. -- Juno the whale has a reputation for watching the people who come to watch him. It happens when he's eating or when visitors walk by his tank.

And it seems he can give as good as he gets -- as demonstrated by a video of him darting playfully at two small children watching him from behind a glass wall. The video was recorded last year, but has been shared more than 400,000 times in the last few days.

Dr. Tracy Romano is the chief marine biologist at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, where Juno shares a 750,000-gallon tank with two other belugas.

When asked what he is doing with the kids, Romano answers: "He's really just playing with them. He's playing peekaboo. Boo! ... The kids getting his reaction is really what's spurring him on to keep doing it."

She explains, "This behavior was not trained in Juno ... Belugas as a species are very social and playful animals."

Beluga antics have gone viral before. There is a viral video from a Chinese aquarium. And the video with Juno has been viewed nearly 4 million times.

But little is known about how belugas process information.

"Intelligence is hard to define. I would say that these whales are highly evolved for adapting to their environment. As far as what they're thinking, we can't say what they're thinking," says Romano.

A mystery about a creature that many have already figured us out.



“Juno the whale has a reputation for watching the people who come to watch him. It happens when he's eating or when visitors walk by his tank. And it seems he can give as good as he gets -- as demonstrated by a video of him darting playfully at two small children watching him from behind a glass wall. … Dr. Tracy Romano is the chief marine biologist at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, where Juno shares a 750,000-gallon tank with two other belugas. When asked what he is doing with the kids, Romano answers: 'He's really just playing with them. He's playing peekaboo. Boo! ... The kids getting his reaction is really what's spurring him on to keep doing it. She explains, 'This behavior was not trained in Juno ... Belugas as a species are very social and playful animals.' 'Intelligence is hard to define. I would say that these whales are highly evolved for adapting to their environment. As far as what they're thinking, we can't say what they're thinking,' says Romano.”

I once had the pleasure of watching a gorilla mother and her baby playing with human children on the other side of the glass, placing her hand against the glass as the kids put theirs up to hers. Her baby followed suit. She looked at the kids with what seemed to be genuine friendliness and amusement. That was at the Washington DC zoo. I didn't know beluga whales were this intelligent, but other large sea mammals are, so it isn't surprising.

Animal intelligence varies from species to species, but to me, those animals that interact responsively with humans (the great apes, some monkeys, dogs, cats, horses, dolphins and whales) are “intelligent” in that they are doing something that is outside the range of their required activities – finding food, capturing prey, raising young, etc. – and which involves “problem solving” and in the case of this whale and several apes, communication. I always knew cats, horses and dogs were intelligent, though when I was a child in the 1950's many adults denied animal intelligence. B F Skinner began working on the issue in the 1950s and '60s with training animals which weren't even considered intelligent. Chickens, flat worms and fish can be trained easily to come and receive their food. Mammals do spontaneous things beyond their training, which is what I call “thinking.” Many things are interesting to me, but this is one of the most interesting. Surely in this day and time, humans will stop abusing and killing animals for no reason whatsoever. The grief and dejection that an abused animal seems to feel – they exhibit depression – is appalling when I think about the fact that they can't defend themselves, and only occasionally decide to run away. Humans are intelligent enough to have developed the ability to be evil in their behavior to other beings, both animal and human.

The following article from Psychology Today is very interesting. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/open-gently/201302/the-intelligence-animals. It says, “Teach a small child how to touch a baby (or an animal) gently and how to speak in a kind patient voice.  Make it unacceptable to be mean to animals and expect children to help with chores. Two-year-olds can scoop dry cat food out of a bag. And I hope your two-year-old will grow old in a world where some of today's cruelties to both humans and animals have become unthinkable.”





Ukraine accuses Russia of "direct invasion" – CBS
Last Updated Aug 22, 2014 8:20 AM EDT

Moscow says it got tired of waiting for the nod from Kiev, so it ordered humanitarian convoy into rebel-held territory, against Kiev's will

IZVARYNE, Ukraine -- Russia unilaterally sent an aid mission into rebel-held eastern Ukraine on Friday, saying its patience had worn out after a week of delays it blamed on the Ukrainian government, which called the move a "direct invasion."

Trucks ostensibly loaded with water, generators and sleeping bags are intended for civilians in the city of Luhansk, where pro-Russian separatist fighters are besieged by government forces. Shelling of the city has been ongoing for weeks.

The relief supply mission proceeded despite both sides in the conflict ignoring pleas for a cease-fire, and without permission from Kiev, where leaders have suggested Russia might use the nearly 300 trucks to sneak in materials to support the separatists.

The Red Cross said it needed assurances of safe passage from all sides to bring in the supplies, but that it never was given those assurances. The organization confirmed that its staff were not accompanying the convoy, as called for by the agreement tentatively reached between Kiev and Moscow.

"The Russian side has decided to act," said a statement on the ministry's website. "Our column with humanitarian aid is starting to move in the direction of Luhansk."

"The endless delays hampering the initial deliveries of the Russian humanitarian relief aid to southeastern Ukraine have become intolerable," the Foreign Ministry said in its statement, which claimed it was solely the Ukrainian side holding up the delivery of the aid.

The statement insisted Moscow had "provided all essential security guarantees" to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and said the Ukrainian government had "delayed granting its formal consent required by the ICRC for several days, while repeatedly inventing new pretexts and stepping up attacks on Lugansk and Donetsk that involve military aircraft and heavy-duty armored vehicles, targeting residential areas and other civilian facilities."

A Ukrainian official later said that the nation's military would not take any military action against the convoy, and that while Kiev had not granted permission for the convoy to cross the border, the action was informally allowed to avoid "provocations."

Ukraine's Security Service chief, however, called the border crossing by Russia's massive aid convoy a "direct invasion." Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said the invasion "happened for the first time under the cover of the Red Cross." It wasn't clear why he had suggested Red Cross "cover," as the organization did not appear to be involved in the movement of the trucks.

Nalyvaichenko said those driving the aid trucks were Russian military men trained to drive combat vehicles. He said the half-empty trucks would be used to transport weapons to the rebels and take the bodies of Russian fighters away from eastern Ukraine.

Russian television reports suggested the trucks were moving into territory held firmly by the pro-Russian separatists, and that they were being guarded and escorted by the rebels.




The Red Cross said it needed assurances of safe passage from all sides to bring in the supplies, but that it never was given those assurances. The organization confirmed that its staff were not accompanying the convoy, as called for by the agreement tentatively reached between Kiev and Moscow.... The statement insisted Moscow had "provided all essential security guarantees" to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and said the Ukrainian government had "delayed granting its formal consent required by the ICRC for several days, while repeatedly inventing new pretexts and stepping up attacks on Lugansk and Donetsk that involve military aircraft and heavy-duty armored vehicles, targeting residential areas and other civilian facilities." A Ukrainian official later said that the nation's military would not take any military action against the convoy, and that while Kiev had not granted permission for the convoy to cross the border, the action was informally allowed to avoid "provocations.".... Ukraine's Security Service chief, however, called the border crossing by Russia's massive aid convoy a "direct invasion." Valentyn Nalyvaichenko said the invasion "happened for the first time under the cover of the Red Cross." It wasn't clear why he had suggested Red Cross "cover," as the organization did not appear to be involved in the movement of the trucks.

A week or more ago those trucks were examined to see whether they were, in fact, carrying troops or weapons, and it was decided that they were not. Now, of course, the Russians could have changed what is in the trucks over this time period. The Ukrainians should have stopped the fighting at that time and allowed the water and other supplies through into Luhansk, which has been declared a humanitarian disaster area. Now they no longer have any assurance of what is in the trucks. Hopefully it's still just supplies. The delay between the examination of the cargo and the move into Ukraine today, has indeed been a long one, especially as water is one of the things the people of Luhansk need. This one time, I think the Russians need not be considered to be starting “an invasion.”






Hamas claims execution of informants for Israel – CBS
AP August 22, 2014, 6:33 AM

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Hamas said it shot dead 11 suspected informants for Israel on Friday, a day after an Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Gaza Strip killed three top Hamas military commanders.

The Hamas-run website Al Rai said the 11 were killed by firing squad and warned that "the same punishment will be imposed soon on others."

It suggested a link between the killing of the alleged informers and Israel's targeting of top Hamas leaders, saying that "the current circumstances forced us to take such decisions."

A Gaza security official said the suspected informants were killed in the Gaza City police headquarters. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the 11 had previously been sentenced by Gaza courts.

Al Rai, however, said they were killed after the completion of "legal procedures," suggesting a hastily arranged hearing.

Friday's killing marked the third time since the outbreak of the Gaza war six weeks ago that Hamas has announced the killing of alleged collaborators. On Thursday, it said seven people had been arrested and that three of them had been killed on suspicion of working with Israel.

In pinpointing the whereabouts of the Hamas commanders, Israel likely relied to some extent on local informers. Israel has maintained a network of informers despite its withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, at times using blackmail or the lure of exit permits to win cooperation.

Meanwhile, Israel-Gaza fighting continued for a third day since the collapse of Egyptian-led cease-fire talks earlier this week.

An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza farm killed two Palestinians on Friday, a Gaza health official said. By midmorning, Israel had launched about 20 airstrikes at Gaza, while Gaza militants fired at least 26 rockets at Israel, the Israeli military said.

The renewed exchanges have dashed hopes for a lasting truce after a month long war that has already killed over 2,000 Palestinians.

Earlier this week, Hamas rejected an Egyptian truce proposal under which Israel would gradually ease its blockade of Gaza, without giving specific commitments.

Hamas demands a lifting of the border closure, imposed by Israel and Egypt after the militant group's takeover of the coastal strip in 2007.

A quick resumption of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo seems unlikely, particularly after the killing of the three Hamas commanders. Senior Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said late Thursday that his group would not budge from its demands.

"We will not accept anything less than an end to the (Israeli) aggression and an end to the blockade," Haniyeh said in a statement posted by Al Rai. "Anyone involved in cease-fire efforts must understand that our people will not accept anything less than this."

Despite the crisis, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was in Qatar meeting Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal to push him to return to a cease-fire, and to encourage Qatar to support Egyptian cease-fire efforts, a Palestinian official said.

Abbas was set to travel to Egypt later Friday to meet with Egyptian intelligence officials to discuss cease-fire efforts, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss issues related to the negotiations.

Since Israel-Hamas fighting erupted on July 8, at least 2,086 Palestinians have been killed in the coastal territory, according to Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra.

Nearly a quarter of the dead - 469 - are children, according to the top UNICEF field officer in Gaza, Pernilla Ironside. Of the more than 10,400 Palestinians wounded, nearly a third are children, according to UNICEF figures, while some 100,000 Gazans have been left homeless.

On the Israeli side, 67 people have been killed in the past six weeks, including 64 soldiers, two civilians and a Thai worker.

The airstrike Friday that hit the livestock farm where two workers were killed, also wounded three Paletsinians, al-Kidra said.

The Israeli military said its strikes targeted concealed rocket launchers and weapons sites.

Israel has said the three Hamas commanders killed Thursday had played a key role in expanding the militants' military capabilities in recent years, including digging attack tunnels leading to Israel, training fighters and smuggling weapons to Gaza. One of the trio also played a role in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit in 2006. After being held captive in Gaza for more than five years, Schalit was exchanged for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in 2011.

Israel says the Gaza blockade is needed to prevent Hamas and other militant groups from getting weapons. The restrictions prevent most Gazans from traveling outside the crowded coastal strip and bar most exports.




“Hamas said it shot dead 11 suspected informants for Israel on Friday, a day after an Israeli airstrike on a house in southern Gaza Strip killed three top Hamas military commanders. The Hamas-run website Al Rai said the 11 were killed by firing squad and warned that 'the same punishment will be imposed soon on others.'
…. Friday's killing marked the third time since the outbreak of the Gaza war six weeks ago that Hamas has announced the killing of alleged collaborators.... Israel has maintained a network of informers despite its withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, at times using blackmail or the lure of exit permits to win cooperation.”

Efforts to reinstate a ceasefire are underway, but Hamas refuses to accept any half measures from Israel. The Israeli attack that killed Hamas' three leaders was a great success in that they were highly placed in Hamas' leadership structure, including “digging attack tunnels leading to Israel, training fighters and smuggling weapons to Gaza.” The war goes on, therefore, with both sides refusing to give an inch. I remember from my history courses the Hundred Years War between England and France, and this seems to me to be the same situation. Both societies will suffer. When will the common people rebel against their leaders? Maybe never. They unfortunately seem to live in order to continue hating.




Robin Williams' ashes scattered in San Francisco Bay
CBS NEWS August 21, 2014, 3:10 PM

Robin Williams' body was cremated and his ashes scattered in the San Francisco Bay the day after he was found dead at his California home.

CBS News obtained a copy of the actor's death certificate. The funeral home was Monte's Chapel of the Hills in San Rafael, California. The cause of death shown states "pending."

Williams was found dead on Aug. 11 of an apparent suicide at age 63. His wife recently revealed that Williams had been suffering from the early stages of Parkinson's disease, along with anxiety and depression.

Authorities will continue to investigate his death and said that toxicology test results won't be completed for two to six weeks. Once those are in, another press conference will be held. It's unclear if Williams left a note.

On Monday, Williams' good friend Billy Crystal will do a special tribute at the Primetime Emmy Awards in his memory.




Some people left rude and heartless comments about Williams on a website I saw. People who maintain a doctrinaire form of religion accused Williams of being an atheist – a deep sin – and some of them also consider suicide to be “the unforgivable sin.” Indeed, some of the comments seemed to show true hatred of him, despite his gentleness and sense of humor. He was an unabashed political liberal, and he did have a drug and alcohol problem, which has apparently caused some people to dislike him. His sheer brilliance as a comedian and also a serious actor won most of us over to his side, however. He wasn't violent, sexually immoral person, or otherwise a sociopath like some of the Hollywood actors and actresses seem to me to be. He was a good husband and father, much loved by his family and friends, and admired by most people I know. Whatever else comes out in the news about him – whether or not he was under the influence of drugs at the time of his death, or whether he left a suicide note – I consider the case closed. I have always liked cremation ceremonies. It is so clean and final. The return of human ashes to the earth, and especially to flowing water, seems very spiritually complete to me. I have arranged for my body to be cremated when I die and scattered at the ocean, with a short Unitarian graveside service. Maybe Robin Williams and I will join the other free thinkers in our final existence, whatever it is.





Why Is Britain a Breeding Ground for ISIS Terrorists? – NBC
BY ALASTAIR JAMIESON
August 22, 2014

LONDON -- The voice of an apparent British militant narrating the video showing the beheading of American journalist James Foley has triggered renewed questions about why the U.K. is a breeding ground for jihadis.

At least 400 Britons are among the estimated 2,000 Europeans who are fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), according to Prime Minister David Cameron. And the ease with which Europeans can travel into Syria through Turkey has alarmed intelligence officials in the West.

On Thursday, NBC News reported that three militants with British accents had been dubbed "The Beatles" by hostages taken in Syria. A person close to several recent hostage negotiations said "The Beatles" were harsher than other guards. "Whenever the Beatles showed up, there was some kind of physical beating or torture," the source added.

Britain has a “deeply entrenched problem,” according to the Quillam Foundation, an anti-extremist think tank. “London historically has had Islamist ideology being taught openly without being challenged and there are many people who have grown up knowing and believing that the only way to be Muslims is to create this Islamic state," said Harris Rafiq, Quilliam's head of outreach. "It's not surprising that jihadis have been able to cherry-pick these people."

The true number of British jihadis could be even higher. Khalid Mahmood, a U.K. parliament lawmaker from Birmingham, England,estimates that at least 1,500 Brits have been recruited by extremists fighting in Iraq and Syria over the last three years — more than double the number of Muslims currently serving in the U.K. Military.

However, the numbers are inevitably higher in European nations with large Muslim populations. “When you look at the raw numbers, it’s not the best way to get a sense of how deep the problem is,” said Shiraz Maher, senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at London’s King’s College. “What we’ve done is to wade through the numbers of foreign fighters in relations to the Muslim population of those countries. When you do it like that, Belgium is actually way off the chart. But the Scandinavian countries feature very highly, and Britain as well.”

Britain’s problem with radicalized Muslims — described by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond as “a poison, a cancer” - is made acute chiefly because of its role as the biggest global ally of the United States in the tarnished invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

As the same time, English is gaining traction as the language of choice for recruitment videos and other online propaganda because it has greater viral potential on social media.

“It’s no coincidence that the [Foley beheading] video was in English,” said Ghaffar Hussain, managing director of Quillam. "If the West, particularly America, is where you are trying to get your message heard, it makes sense.”

Social media is a powerful tool, especially for recruiting young male Muslims, according to Hussain. “The violent messages appeal to the macho element and the sense of going to join a fight,” he said, citing the recent case of Muhammad Hamidur Rahman, a 25-year-old killed while fighting in Syria after quitting his job at a British branch of fashion chain Primark. “One minute you’re working as a shop assistant, next minute you’re on the front line with a gun. It’s an attractive idea for many.”

Last month, engineering student Abdul Raqib Amin also told how he had left Aberdeen, Scotland, to join ISIS. He described the journey to join the militants as one of the happiest moments of his life.

YouTube, Twitter and Facebook have partly replaced Britain’s previous funnel for extremism — radical preachers invited to speak at hardline mosques and Islamic schools.

A recent ICSR report also noted that social media had become essential in spreading the extremist message from the fighting fronts of wars that are so dangerous that Western journalists struggle to cover them. “Social media is no longer virtual: it has become an essential facet of what happens on the ground,” the report said.

Since the 2005 bombings on London's transport network, tackling fanatical messages has become an obsession in Britain - a mostly secular country despite Queen Elizabeth’s formal position as “defender of the faith” and head of the Church of England. Such has been the country’s multicultural ethos that the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, once stated that, as king, he wanted to be “defender of all the faiths,” including Islam.

Wearing the Islamic veil, or burqa, is banned in public places in France, Belgium and parts of Switzerland. In contrast, England’s professional body for family attorneys recently began offering training courses in drafting wills that are compliant with Islamic Shariah law.

Some commentators argue that this tolerance has left Britain more exposed to the threat posed to its Muslim communities by radical Islam.

“In the U.K., with our proud tradition of freedom and not wanting to get involved in religious disputes, we have been bending over backwards to regard murderous ideologies as expressions of free speech,” said Anthony Glees, director of the University of Buckingham’s Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies. “Islamist extremist ideologies have spread with relative ease under the cover of ‘free speech’ and ‘multiculturalism’.”

Glees added that Britain’s predominantly Sunni Muslim population was also particularly vulnerable to the allure of the jihadi message from Sunni ISIS.

“Across Europe, Muslim populations come from different parts of the Islamic world. British Muslims come primarily from Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Horn of Africa — in other words, places where the political culture is virulent,” he said. “I think it is a particular problem in the U.K. in as much as most of our Muslims are from Sunni background. It is not that that you are more likely to be a violent extremist if you’re from a Sunni background but it is much easier to call yourself a preacher. There is no hierarchy in the Sunni religion. Anyone can say they’re a preacher, and this gives them an opening into mosques, the college lecture circuit and other places where young people congregate.”

The problem has continued despite a series of multi-million dollar government campaigns to prevent young British Muslims from becoming radicalized. It is easy to find Muslims in London who publicly defend the establishment of the Islamic State and who favor Shariah law over the law of the land.

Quilliam's Harris fears the problem could come home to roost, saying he would be horrified if an attack on London occurred — "but I would not be surprised."

ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi "wants to make a statement he is a bigger terrorist, a bigger jihadi, a bigger figure than Osama Bin Laden was, and he has got to try to undertake an attack on the West. And London is a prime target for that display," Harris added.

Michele Neubert and Sarah Burke of NBC News contributed to this report.




“At least 400 Britons are among the estimated 2,000 Europeans who are fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), according to Prime Minister David Cameron.... Khalid Mahmood, a U.K. parliament lawmaker from Birmingham, England,estimates that at least 1,500 Brits have been recruited by extremists fighting in Iraq and Syria over the last three years — more than double the number of Muslims currently serving in the U.K. Military.... 'The violent messages appeal to the macho element and the sense of going to join a fight,' …. England’s professional body for family attorneys recently began offering training courses in drafting wills that are compliant with Islamic Shariah law.... It is not that that you are more likely to be a violent extremist if you’re from a Sunni background but it is much easier to call yourself a preacher. There is no hierarchy in the Sunni religion.”

Two things in this article reminds me of the Fundamentalist Christian movement in the US – “it is much easier to call yourself a preacher” and the fact that without even being undercover about it, many Fundamentalists are involved in trying to break down the division between church and state and call the US a “Christian country.” The Islamists are only different in that they want the laws to be from the Koran.

First the founding fathers of the Constitution were often what was called “Deists,” which is equivalent to the modern Unitarian Universalist religion. “Unitarian” means one god, and the church does not consider Jesus to be a god, but a teacher. The separation between church and state was for the purpose of seeing that no religion is in a position to require any citizen to become a member in order to have full rights within the society.

I am sorry to see from this article that Britain's particular danger among European countries is its very close affiliation with the United States. Another major problem is, like the US, its emphasis on freedom of speech and association. Islamist views are being preached openly around the UK and you can't go to prison for your religious beliefs. The fact that some British lawyers are learning to make documents that are aligned with Sharia Law is chilling. I think we should have laws that prevent the acknowledgment of Sharia Law. There already have been two or three – maybe more – incidents of “honor killings” in the US.
They have been tried for murder, and I think the situation needs to stay that way.

Finally, this article speaks of the macho appeal to going to a foreign country and fighting a war. In US movies since I was young there have been stories about such things – joining the French Foreign Legion, going to Israel when it was first set up, American high school boys faking their ages to join up and fight the Nazis. I approve of fighting the Nazis, and the movie Exodus was a wonderful film, but the emotional instability and naivete of young men and women make some of them prone to the error of joining a cult and committing violence in its name. That is what ISIS is – a cult. It is not standard Islam.




Would A Prize Help Speed Development Of Ebola Treatments? – NPR
by SCOTT HENSLEY
August 21, 2014

The human toll of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa is becoming clearer by the day. The virus has killed at least 1,350 people, making this the largest outbreak of the disease ever.
There's no Ebola cure, and only a few experimental treatments are in the works.

One called ZMapp, which contains antibodies against the Ebola virus, was used to treat two Americans who fell ill, a Spanish priest and three health care workers in Liberia, despite the fact that the medicine hadn't been safety tested for humans.

While the World Health Organization has said it's ethical to use unapproved treatments and vaccine in this unprecedented Ebola outbreak, there aren't many options. And supplies of ZMapp "are now exhausted," WHO said Thursday.

What would it take to make Ebola drugs a clinical reality? Financial incentives might help.

Even now, Ebola isn't the most appealing business proposition for drugmakers. While devastating to the people infected, Ebola hasn't, thankfully, been a widespread illness since it was first identified in 1976. Before the current outbreak, fewer than 3,000 people had reportedly died from the disease.

In the U.S., drugs to treat rare diseases have become lucrative, thanks to tax incentives, special regulatory protection and a willingness by insurers and governments to pay for life-saving treatments.

But Ebola, like many other diseases that are mainly a threat in less-developed countries, have been largely neglected by drugmakers.

Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO's assistant director-general, said last week that the lack of an approved Ebola drug is a "market failure" because the disease typically strikes "poor people in poor countries where there is no market."

Most Ebola drug research has been financed by the U.S. government, she said, with Canada also pitching in.

For Ebola, there may need to be more financial help to get research started and a reward for success. "As an investor, your expectation is that in the future very few people will have this disease and very few will be in rich countries," says Duke health economist David Ridley. "Should you pay money up front for clinical trials, or should you dangle a sufficiently big prize? It's both."

Ridley is one of the architects of an idea to encourage the development of drugs for neglected tropical diseases that has become U.S. law. Companies that get Food and Drug Administration approval for a drug to treat one of 16 neglected diseases disease get a voucher that moves any drug of their choice to the head of the line for agency review. The fast-track voucher can be sold to another drugmaker that's willing to pay for a shortcut.

Earlier this year, Knight Therapeutics, a Canadian firm, won a voucher when FDA approved its leishmaniasis drug, just the sort of medicine WHO's Kieny wants to see more of. Knight is now trying to cash in its leishmaniasis prize by selling the priority voucher to the highest bidder.

Funding by the Defense Department and National Institutes of Health has provide a push for Ebola research, Ridley says. "An extra pull, like the voucher, would be a great move," he says.

Ebola isn't on the list of neglected tropical diseases that automatically qualify for an FDA voucher. But Ridley says that would be easy to fix. The secretary of Health and Human Services can amend the voucher regulation to cover "any other infectious disease for which there is no significant market in developed nations and that disproportionately affects poor and marginalized populations."

That sounds like Ebola, doesn't it?




“What would it take to make Ebola drugs a clinical reality? Financial incentives might help. Even now, Ebola isn't the most appealing business proposition for drugmakers. While devastating to the people infected, Ebola hasn't, thankfully, been a widespread illness since it was first identified in 1976.... In the U.S., drugs to treat rare diseases have become lucrative, thanks to tax incentives, special regulatory protection and a willingness by insurers and governments to pay for life-saving treatments..... But Ebola, like many other diseases that are mainly a threat in less-developed countries, have been largely neglected by drugmakers. Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO's assistant director-general, said last week that the lack of an approved Ebola drug is a 'market failure' because the disease typically strikes 'poor people in poor countries where there is no market.'.... Most Ebola drug research has been financed by the U.S. government, she said, with Canada also pitching in.”

This NPR article mentions a voucher program under the FDA for financing research on unusual tropical diseases, but Ebola has not been on the list of such diseases. That's a terrible oversight, and now that it has become more widespread – and likely to visit the USA – I feel sure that situation will be changed. Unfortunately it's rather late in the game. Vaccines and serums take time to develop and produce in the large quantity that is now needed. The situation does show the flaw with the idea that the almost deified Republican concept “the Market” is the only economic force that should be allowed.