Monday, August 11, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Ukraine Stories August 9 and 10

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28724487

Ukraine crisis: Army closes in on Donetsk rebels
9 August 2014

Civilians have been taking refuge in bomb shelters in Donetsk

Ukrainian government forces are poised to take a key town in the east, which would divide the last two major pro-Russian rebel groups, reports say.

A rebel commander was quoted as saying Krasnyi Luch, a town between the two rebel strongholds of Luhansk and Donetsk, had been captured by the army.

Other rebels later said they would be willing to accept a ceasefire.

Some 1,500 people are believed to have died since the conflict began in April, when rebels stormed cities in the east.

The government stepped up operations to retake rebel-held areas following the election of Petro Poroshenko as president in June.

'Completely encircled'

Rebel commander Igor Girkin was quoted by Russian media as saying that Krasnyi Luch had been "captured" after Cossacks defending the town "ran away".

A small detachment of rebels, he said, was still holding out in the town, which connects the city of Donetsk with Ukraine's Luhansk region on the Russian border.

Girkin, who is also known as Strelkov, said his men in the Donetsk region were "completely encircled".

Ukrainian security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said he could not confirm that government forces had taken Krasnyi Luch.

Aleksandr Zakharchenko, the newly installed political leader of the rebels in Donetsk, was later quoted by the AP news agency as saying he would accept a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, in the city of Luhansk, second only to Donetsk in its importance to the rebels, there are fears of a humanitarian disaster.

The city council reported on its website (in Russian) on Saturday that the city of 425,000 people had been without electricity and power for a week. Mobile phones and land lines were not working, it said.

Parts of the city were still being bombarded and most shops were shut, although bakeries and some chemist's shops remained opened, it added, quoting residents.

Western government accuse Russia or arming the rebels, a claim the government in Moscow denies.

In the latest violence, the Ukrainian government says 13 soldiers were killed on Friday.

A civilian was killed in Donetsk on Saturday when a shell hit a street in the city's Kirovskyy district, the city's official authorities reported. Shells also hit the Petrovskyy district, they added.

In other developments

The Russian navy "expelled" a US submarine from its territorial waters in the Barents Sea on Thursday, a navy source told Russian media
Russia announced it was freeing five Ukrainian officers for "humanitarian reasons", a day after announcing their arrest for suspected war crimes in Ukraine
The authorities in the Ukrainian capital Kiev dismantled protest barriers erected during the winter in the city centre
The UK and US v not to use humanitarian assistance as a pretext for sending troops into the east



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/08/10/ukraine-fighting/13858395/

Ukraine: No cease-fire until rebels surrender
Doug Stanglin and Katharine Lackey, USA TODAY
3:28 p.m. EDT August 10, 2014

As fighting raged Sunday in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, a Ukrainian military spokesman denied separatists' calls for a cease-fire, saying a truce would only be possible if they surrender.

"If there is this initiative, it should be carried out by practical means and not by words — by raising white flags and by putting down guns," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said while speaking to journalists Sunday, according to Reuters. "We have not seen these practical steps yet."

In a statement released after Lysenko spoke, rebels said they still wanted a temporary cease-fire on humanitarian grounds, but remained defiant, adding, "As long as the Ukrainian army is continuing military action there can be no cease-fire," according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, conditions were deteriorating in Donetsk as Russian-backed rebels and the Ukrainian military exchanged fire Sunday. At least one person was killed and 10 wounded in shelling, while more than 10 residential buildings, a hospital and a shop were heavily damaged overnight.

"This is a real war! It's impossible to live in this city, I've been sleeping in the basement for the past week," said Inna Drobyshevskaya, a 48-year-old lawyer in Donetsk.

"We don't want Novorossiya (New Russia) for this price," she added, referring to a term used by rebels to describe the parts of eastern Ukraine seeking independence from the government in Kiev.

The developments come after a top separatist leader admitted that Ukrainian forces had surrounded Donetsk and called for a cease-fire Saturday.

"We are ready for a cease-fire in order to avert the humanitarian catastrophe growing," Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-styled Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), said in a statement posted on a rebel website, according to the Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.

Igor Girkin, a top commander of the pro-Russia militants, also acknowledged Saturday that Donetsk was surrounded and conceded that Ukrainian troops had gotten the upper hand in eastern Ukraine after four months of fighting.

The appeal by Zakharchenko comes as Russia is pressing to send a humanitarian convoy into Ukraine to parts of the besieged eastern regions, an offer that the Ukrainian government has labeled a ploy to cover a military invasion.
Although Western countries say Moscow has assembled about 20,000 troops just across the border, Russia has denied it.

Zakharchenko — who took over as prime minister of the DPR last week — warned that rebels were determined to defend Donetsk if Ukrainian forces tried to capture the city of 1 million people. At least 300,000 of Donetsk's residents have fled.

"The fight will be for every street, for every house, for every meter of our land," Zakharchenko said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday and called for "urgent measures for preventing an impending humanitarian catastrophe" in eastern Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. It added that Kerry "confirmed such work is being carried out with the Kiev authorities."

Contributing: The Associated Press




In the last few days Ukrainian army troops have surrounded Donetsk and two nearby towns, and living conditions in the area are very difficult, with a lack of water and electricity in Luhansk for the last week. “Civilians have been taking refuge in bomb shelters in Donetsk. Ukrainian government forces are poised to take a key town in the east, which would divide the last two major pro-Russian rebel groups, reports say. A rebel commander was quoted as saying Krasnyi Luch, a town between the two rebel strongholds of Luhansk and Donetsk, had been captured by the army. Other rebels later said they would be willing to accept a ceasefire.”

Ukrainian authorities have stated that they will not agree to a cease-fire unless the rebel forces lay down their guns. Meanwhile, Moscow has threatened to send in a “humanitarian” force, and both the US and UK have warned Putin against such an action, stating that they will view such a move as an invasion.

A citizen of Donetsk stated “'This is a real war! It's impossible to live in this city, I've been sleeping in the basement for the past week,' said Inna Drobyshevskaya, a 48-year-old lawyer in Donetsk. 'We don't want Novorossiya (New Russia) for this price,' she added, referring to a term used by rebels to describe the parts of eastern Ukraine seeking independence from the government in Kiev.”

I hope that the Ukrainian government will retake the Russian held areas in Eastern Ukraine successfully and then agree to a peace plan in which Kiev gives the East more autonomy and representatives in the government. Any and all reprisals against Russian speakers should stop. Then, while I'm hoping, I hope that the Russian speakers will live their lives peacefully and accept Kiev's desire to link the country to European countries, at least as much as to Russia. Russia should then “play nice” and stop trying to prevent Ukraine from being under Western influences and maintaining a truly autonomous government. I was so happy when Russia was not an enemy to the US, and I would like for that situation to come back into being. Russia should not be greedy.





Protests over Missouri teen's death turn violent
CBS/AP August 10, 2014, 11:18 PM
Last Updated Aug 11, 2014 1:38 AM EDT

FERGUSON, Mo. -- People smashed car windows and carried away armloads of looted goods from stores Sunday night after thousands of people packed a suburban St. Louis area at a vigil for an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by a police officer.

The candlelight gathering was for 18-year-old Michael Brown, who police said was shot multiple times Saturday after a scuffle involving the officer, Brown and another person in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb of the city.

Afterward, some people looted a convenience store. Several other stores along a main road near the shooting scene were broken into and looted, including a check-cashing store, a boutique and a small grocery store.

People were seen carrying bags of food and toilet paper. TV footage showed streams of people walking out of a liquor store carrying bottles of alcohol, and in some cases protesters were standing atop police cars or taunting officers who stood stoic, often in riot gear.

Other witnesses reported seeing people vandalize police cars and kick in windows. Television footage showed windows busted out of a TV station van.

"Right now, the small group of people are creating a huge mess," Ferguson's mayor, James Knowles, told St. Louis KTVI-TV. "Contributing to the unrest that is going on is not going to help. ... We're only hurting ourselves, only hurting our community, hurting our neighbors. There's nothing productive from this."

As the investigation of Brown's death progresses, "we understand people want to vent their frustrations. We understand they want to speak out," Knowles added. "We're going to obviously try to urge calm."

St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said there were no reports of injuries but confirmed widespread property damage. "Right now I'm just worried about people, not property," he said.

Earlier in the day, a few hundred protesters had gathered outside Ferguson Police headquarters. At one point, many of them marched into an adjacent police building, some chanting "Don't shoot me" while holding their hands in the air. Officers stood at the top of a staircase, but didn't use force; the crowd eventually left.

County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the shooting occurred after an officer encountered two people -- one of whom was Brown -- on the street near an apartment complex in Ferguson.

Belmar said one of the men pushed the officer back into his squad car and a struggle began. Belmar said at least one shot was fired from the officer's gun inside the police car. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said authorities were still sorting out what happened inside the police car. It was not clear if Brown was the man who allegedly struggled with the officer.

The struggle spilled out into the street, where Brown was shot multiple times. Belmar said the exact number of shots wasn't known, but "it was more than just a couple." He also said all shell casings found at the scene matched the officer's gun. Police are still investigating why the officer shot Brown, who police have confirmed was unarmed.

Officials say the officer was attacked, but CBS News' Julian Johnson reports many in the community are not satisfied with that explanation.

Speaking to reporters at the scene, Dorian Johnson said he was with man with Michael Brown, and he gave a different account of events. Johnson said the officer pulled up next to the two teens and exchanged words with them before choking Brown and trying to pull him into the squad car. The officer, he said, then exited his car, fired a shot and chased after Brown, who was running for his life.

"He shot again and once my friend felt that shot he turned around and put his hands in the air and started to get down, and the officer still approached with his weapon drawn and fired several more shots."

"We wasn't causing no harm to nobody [sic]," Johnson said. "We had no weapons on us at all."

Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson told KSDK-TV there was no apparent video footage of the shooting from a nearby apartment complex, or from any police cruiser dashboard cameras or body-worn cameras that the department recently bought but hasn't yet put in use.

Jackson said blood samples had been taken from Brown and the officer who shot him, with those toxicology tests generally expected to take weeks to complete.

Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, said he had graduated from high school and was about to enter a local college. She said she doesn't understand why police didn't subdue her son with a club or Taser, and she said the officer involved should be fired and prosecuted.

"I would like to see him go to jail with the death penalty," she said, fighting back tears.

The killing drew criticism from some civil rights leaders, who referred to the 2012 racially charged shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a Florida neighborhood watch organizer who was acquitted of murder charges.

"We're outraged because yet again a young African-American man has been killed by law enforcement," said John Gaskin, who serves on both the St. Louis County and national boards of directors for the NAACP.

The Rev. Al Sharpton called the shooting "very disturbing" and said he planned to go to Ferguson to meet with the family.

St. Louis County Police Department is in charge of the investigation, and Dooley said he will request an FBI investigation. The U.S. Justice Department said Attorney General Eric Holder had instructed staff to monitor developments.

The race of the officer involved in the shooting has not been disclosed. He has been with the Ferguson Police Department for six years, Belmar said, and has been placed on paid administrative leave.




"Right now, the small group of people are creating a huge mess,' Ferguson's mayor, James Knowles, told St. Louis KTVI-TV. "Contributing to the unrest that is going on is not going to help. ... We're only hurting ourselves, only hurting our community, hurting our neighbors. There's nothing productive from this.' As the investigation of Brown's death progresses, "we understand people want to vent their frustrations. We understand they want to speak out," Knowles added. "We're going to obviously try to urge calm."

“County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the shooting occurred after an officer encountered two people -- one of whom was Brown -- on the street near an apartment complex in Ferguson. Belmar said one of the men pushed the officer back into his squad car and a struggle began. Belmar said at least one shot was fired from the officer's gun inside the police car. Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson said authorities were still sorting out what happened inside the police car. It was not clear if Brown was the man who allegedly struggled with the officer. The struggle spilled out into the street, where Brown was shot multiple times. Belmar said the exact number of shots wasn't known, but "it was more than just a couple." He also said all shell casings found at the scene matched the officer's gun. Police are still investigating why the officer shot Brown, who police have confirmed was unarmed.”

Dorian Johnson, Brown's friend, stated that the police car pulled up beside them and began a verbal exchange, after which the police officers tried to pull Brown in to the car while choking him. The officer shot once and Brown ran; with the officer shooting him once. Brown then turned around with his hands in the air, but the officer continued to shoot him. Investigators stated that all the shells came from the officer's gun. Unfortunately, there is no video of the incident and investigators are performing drug testing on both the officer and on Brown.

Lesley McSpadden, Brown's mother, stated the officer should be fired and prosecuted, questioning why a taser or club were not used instead of a gun. John Gaskin of the NAACP and Rev. Al Sharpton are speaking out on the case. “St. Louis County Police Department is in charge of the investigation, and Dooley said he will request an FBI investigation. The U.S. Justice Department said Attorney General Eric Holder had instructed staff to monitor developments.” The police officer has been placed on administrative leave.

This is one more unnecessarily violent incident , with a police officer firing multiple shots at a young black man who was unarmed. There is unfortunately no evidence of what the case concerned, what the officer said to the young men, or whether Brown was being aggressive or defensive. Whichever it was, it is always against the law and very unwise to lay hands on a police officer, and the chance that gunplay will be involved is always there. If this was a case of racial profiling, as the officer pulled his car over to talk to the young men and then got out in a way which they thought was threatening, there will be more in the news about it, I am sure. People are allowed to walk down the street, generally speaking.





Another bid for peace as latest Gaza truce holds
CBS/AP August 11, 2014, 4:23 AM

JERUSALEM -- Israel said a new cease-fire with the militant Hamas group was holding in the Gaza Strip Monday morning, a day after the two sides agreed to resume talks in Cairo.

The military said no rockets were fired Monday morning at Israel and that the military hadn't targeted any locations in the densely populated territory since the cease-fire went into effect on midnight Sunday.

The quiet was meant to allow for the resumption of talks on a long-term truce to end a month of heavy fighting in Gaza that has killed more than 1,900 Palestinians. On the Israeli side, 67 people have died, all but three of them soldiers. It has been the worst violence since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip with an election victory in 2007.

Palestinian negotiators have been pressing for an end to the crippling Gaza blockade imposed by Egypt and Israel eight years ago, while Israel wants all Gaza militants to be disarmed.

Israeli officials said Sunday that they had accepted Egypt's latest offer for a truce, but added they were wary after the process broke down last week.

Israel initially walked away from cease-fire talks over the weekend after militants resumed their rocket fire on southern Israel, but the negotiators for the Jewish state reportedly returned Monday morning to Cairo to resume talks.

The halt in shelling in Gaza was allowing aid groups to get some humanitarian aid into the battered Palestinian territory, and the government of Turkey to evacuate some of the residents most urgently in need of help. Four Palestinians arrived Monday in Ankara -- the first evacuees of what was expected to be dozens flown out over the coming days under a deal agreed by Turkey and Israeli officials in Cairo.




“Israel said a new cease-fire with the militant Hamas group was holding in the Gaza Strip Monday morning, a day after the two sides agreed to resume talks in Cairo.... The quiet was meant to allow for the resumption of talks on a long-term truce to end a month of heavy fighting in Gaza that has killed more than 1,900 Palestinians. On the Israeli side, 67 people have died, all but three of them soldiers. It has been the worst violence since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip with an election victory in 2007. Palestinian negotiators have been pressing for an end to the crippling Gaza blockade imposed by Egypt and Israel eight years ago, while Israel wants all Gaza militants to be disarmed.... The halt in shelling in Gaza was allowing aid groups to get some humanitarian aid into the battered Palestinian territory, and the government of Turkey to evacuate some of the residents most urgently in need of help.”

This has happened numerous times now, only to be broken by Hamas shelling Israel again. As long as the Palestinian groups nurture their hatred of Israel, and as long as Israel “punishes” them for their attacks, there will be no peace, I don't think. Still, maybe this truce will be a step to peace talks, recognition of Israel's right to exist as a state, and fair and humane treatment of the Palestinian people. I do hope so.






25 years ago in Virginia, a very different Ebola outbreak
AP August 10, 2014, 3:27 PM

RESTON, Va. - It had all the makings of a public-health horror story: an outbreak of a wildly deadly virus on the doorstep of the nation's capital, with dozens of lab monkeys dead, multiple people testing positive, and no precedent in this country on how to contain it.

Americans' introduction to the Ebola virus came 25 years ago in an office park near Washington Dulles International Airport, a covert crisis that captivated the public only years later when it formed the basis of a bestselling book.

Initially thought to be the same hyper-deadly strain as the current Ebola outbreak that has killed hundreds in Africa, the previously unknown Reston variant turned out to be nonlethal to humans. But the story of what might have been illustrates how far U.S. scientists have come in their understanding of a virus whose very name strikes fear, even in a country where no one has fatally contracted it.

Gerald Jaax, one of the leaders of a team of Army scientists that responded to the 1989 outbreak in Reston, Virginia, closely watched the meticulously planned transfers this month of two American aid workers from Liberia to a specialized facility in Atlanta, the first Ebola patients ever brought to the U.S. Jaax recalled his days urgently trying to corral the country's first known outbreak.

In the fall of 1989, dozens of macaques imported from the Philippines suddenly died at Hazelton Research Products' primate quarantine unit in Reston, where animals were kept and later sold for lab testing. Company officials contacted the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland - Jaax's unit - concerned they might be dealing with an outbreak of hemorrhagic fever among the monkeys.

Initial testing revealed something much worse: Ebola, specifically the Zaire strain, which had a 90 percent fatality rate in humans. Four workers at the quarantine facility tested positive for exposure to the virus.

Amazingly, they never even got sick.

Researchers eventually realized they were dealing with a different strain, one now known as Ebola-Reston. Though its appearance under a microscope is similar to the Zaire strain, Ebola-Reston is the only one of the five forms of Ebola not harmful to humans.

But Jaax and his unit, including his wife Nancy , also a scientist, did not know that while at the monkey house. They just knew they had to clean it out, and do it while keeping a relatively low profile that wouldn't scare the neighbors.

"You could walk in and smell monkey everywhere," said Dr. C.J. Peters, who oversaw the Army's response to the outbreak. "There was a little shopping center nearby. ... There was plenty of opportunity for trouble."

While the Army scientists had strong protocols in place for studying viruses safely in a lab, they were not well prepared to stabilize and contain an outbreak in a private facility. At the time, Jaax said, nobody - including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control - had that kind of experience. In the Reston incident, the CDC took the lead in managing the human-health aspect of the response, while the Army dealt with the monkeys.

Back in 1989, there was concern that Ebola could spread through the air, said Peters, now a professor with University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Indeed, researchers concluded there must have been some sort of aerosol spread of the virus within the monkey house, Jaax said.

The Reston animals had to be euthanized from a safe distance - "monkeys are aerosol-producing machines," Jaax said. In his 1995 book "The Hot Zone," Richard Preston described how Jaax modified a mop handle so it could be used to pin a monkey in its cage where it could safely be injected and eventually euthanized. Later, to disinfect the air, the team cooked formaldehyde crystals on electric frying pans.

Ebola is no longer thought to be an airborne virus; scientists say the disease can only be spread through direct contact with bodily fluids.

The Reston crisis also elevated Ebola into the public consciousness, albeit not immediately. In an era when the country was preoccupied with the AIDS epidemic, which hit 100,000 cases in the U.S. that year, the Army and CDC scientists carried out their tasks in relative obscurity.

It was only after "The Hot Zone" became a best-seller and focused attention on the public-health battle to confront emerging disease outbreaks that the Reston event became well known and Ebola became a household word.

"The big difference between now and 1989 is that nobody else knew what Ebola was," said Jaax, now an associate vice president at Kansas State University.

One of the most important legacies of Reston, Jaax said, was that none of the dozens who worked to contain the outbreak was exposed to the virus. The plans developed on the fly to keep the responders safe worked, he said, and provided a good blueprint for the protocols used to bring back the American aid workers earlier this month.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior associate at the UPMC Center for Health Security in Baltimore and an infectious disease physician, said the Reston responders' incorrect belief that they were dealing with a virus that was deadly to humans provided the ideal trial run for handling such an outbreak.

"It's like you're performing with a net underneath you, but you don't know it's a drill," Adalja said.

Ebola-Reston returned to the U.S. in 1996 in monkeys in Texas that had been imported from the Philippines. The Philippines has seen three outbreaks since the strain was identified, affecting primates, pigs and nine people. The workers who handled the animals developed antibodies, but did not get sick.

Hazelton abandoned the Reston facility in 1990, and the company was later swallowed up by a competitor. The monkey house was torn down a few years later. The new building there hosts several small offices and a day-care center.

Some of the office park workers are aware of the site's history; many are not.

Back in 1989, Vicky Wingert worked at the local homeowners' association, in offices across the street from the monkey house. She said nobody had any idea there was a problem until people showed up in hazmat suits. Even then, very little information trickled out, she said.

"At the time, it wasn't a big deal. Looking back, it probably should have been," she said.



I was sitting in my apartment in Washington DC at 9:30 one night waiting for the news to start at ten when the station made an announcement that hazmat teams had been deployed at Reston, VA, just 20 miles away from Washington, and that there would be more on the news report at 10:00. I waited in a good deal of curiosity to see what the story was about, but they never showed the story. Days went by and there was no explanation. A few years later I found the book The Hot Zone at the library and checked it out. That was when I found out that I had been within the danger zone of an Ebola outbreak.

The good news was that, while humans at the research center tested positive for the virus, they did not get sick. Apparently the monkey virus could not infect humans with disease. The bad news was that the virus was spread by the air like flu and not by close contact as in other outbreaks. Viruses mutate all the time, and the human Ebola virus could easily gain the property of spreading by air. On that occasion, the army sent a group into Reston to kill all the monkeys and decontaminate the lab, and the whole story was hushed up. That's why there was no news report after all.

The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, though it was not fictionalized and was told in a cool distanced way while describing events between top officials as they dealt with a potential disaster, maintained a high level of suspense and was as interesting as any spy novel. A movie was then made of the book, which fictionalized parts of the story, throwing in a dastardly public official, the occupation of the town by the military and the romantic life of a young doctor who was sent into Africa to deal with an outbreak there. The book was better, and I would suggest people read it.

The following is a story about how present day Africans are coping with the current outbreak. It needs no explanation, and is good reading. Check it out.






Panic, Pouring Rain, A Ray Of Sun: Reporting On Ebola In Sierra Leone – NPR
by MARC SILVER
August 11, 2014 8:19 AM ET

NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton is in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, covering the Ebola outbreak that began earlier this year in Guinea and has spread to neighboring countries.

When we reached her by phone on Sunday, she was in a car "trying to fight an infestation of ants." Back in her hotel, she shared her impressions.

You mentioned that you're just back from church.

Yep. I went to listen to sermons just to see if Ebola was mentioned. The Roman Catholic Church has a prayer they say at the end of every Mass against "the dreadful disease of Ebola": "Hear our humble cry and save our country from the Ebola disaster. By the power of your divine touch, heal all those who have been affected by the Ebola virus and totally free them from the clutches of the evil one."

And the evil one is …

Ebola.

Was there any crying when the prayer was said?

No crying. But it was heartfelt. Everybody repeated it. It's printed at the back of the Sunday liturgical celebration: "May your spirit repel and destroy the harm of this dreadful disease."

You were in Guinea covering the start of this Ebola outbreak. Do things seem different at this stage of the outbreak, in Sierra Leone?

In Guinea, there didn't seem to be a huge amount of panic. There was fear. In Sierra Leone, I'm finding fear, panic, suspicion, denial, a whole mix. What surprised me is the level of denial.

Despite the fact that there have been nearly 2,000 cases and almost 1,000 deaths, people still are in denial?

There are substantial public service announcements, posters with very graphic illustrations of the symptoms of Ebola, and yet people can look you in the eye and say, "Nobody in my family has had Ebola. I haven't seen it with my own eyes. I don't think Ebola exists."

At least nobody here in Freetown is saying it's the white health workers' fault as we found in Guinea. But there have still been attacks on health centers and ambulances in Sierra Leone's Ebola epicenters in the east, which have now been sealed off by troops.

Two American health workers have been infected and are being treated with an experimental drug. What's the reaction?

This has become a talking point — not so much on the street but certainly in social media, which is very active here in Sierra Leone and in the diaspora. The same for Liberia. It's coming into the general consciousness, people are discussing: How come it's foreigners, Westerners? They haven't said "white people" per se, because Sierra Leoneans are very courteous, but you know that's what they mean. They are asking how come it's Western health workers [who have access to the drug] — we have health workers here, too, in West Africa, who are dying.

How do you protect yourself?

With gloves, anti-bacterial gel (I don't know whether it has the alcohol content it should have to be effective), chlorine wipes, masks for my mouth, I've even got thermometers. And other people's goodwill. I don't want to pass it on to anyone if I should be infected, and I know Sierra Leoneans don't want to pass it on to me. You can be as judicious as you try to be but you just don't know.

Are people changing their behavior to avoid infecting others?

Sierra Leoneans are the most friendly people in the world. But the penny seems to have dropped. It has finally clicked. People are finally understanding that even though you're friendly, you don't shake hands. Nobody's shaking hands. Sierra Leoneans are very big huggers. But there's no hugging, not even air kissing. Although the smiles are still huge and sincere.

And what kind of reception do you get as a journalist?

They're grateful to have journalists here, they say, to cut through the misinformation on all sides. But I'm also being told: Make sure you tell the whole truth about what's happening here.

Is there any hope in this difficult time?

Oh, yes. People are saying, "We're praying." It's through prayer and through carefully listening to instructions and following them [that people have hope]. So you do find buckets of chlorinated water outside hotels, shops, people's homes, government and other offices. People are doing their little bit.

The idea is to wash hands with the water?

Yes, wash your hands, especially when entering. And it's prominent on the awareness posters: Wash your hands often with soap and water. It's an effective barrier.

Anything you want to add?

It's rainy season and it's pouring down. Sometimes it makes things feel worse. And then the sun comes out and shines, you feel a little better. When I was in the car battling the ants, it was lashing rain. But the sun has just come out.





Embattled Iraq PM refuses to quit amid crisis
CBS/AP August 10, 2014, 8:15 PM
Last Updated Aug 11, 2014 4:59 AM EDT

BAGHDAD - Iraq's embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in a surprise speech late Sunday, resisted calls for his resignation and accused the country's new president of violating the constitution, plunging the government into a political crisis even as the U.S. appeared to increase its support for Iraqi and Kurdish forces battling Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants.

Al-Maliki is seeking a third-term as prime minister, but the latest crisis has prompted even his closest allies to call for his resignation. A parliament session scheduled for Monday to discuss the election and who might lead the next Iraqi government was postponed until Aug. 19.

On Sunday night, in a nationally televised speech, al-Maliki declared he will file a legal complaint against the new president, Fouad Massoum, for committing "a clear constitutional violation."

Al-Maliki, whose Shiite-dominated bloc won the most seats in April elections, accused Massoum of neglecting to name a prime minister from the country's largest parliamentary faction by Sunday's deadline. He said the president has violated the constitution "for the sake of political goals."

Al-Maliki, speaking on Iraqi TV for the first time since U.S. forces launched airstrikes and humanitarian airdrops in Iraq last week, said the security situation will only worsen as a result of Massoum's actions.

"This attitude represents a coup on the constitution and the political process in a country that is governed by a democratic and federal system," al-Maliki said. "The deliberate violation of the constitution by the president will have grave consequences on the unity, the sovereignty, and the independence of Iraq and the entry of the political process into a dark tunnel.

The political infighting could hamper efforts to stem advances by Sunni militants who have seized a large swath of northern and western Iraq in recent weeks.

President Obama warned Americans on Saturday that the new campaign to bring security in Iraq requires military and political changes and "is going to be a long-term project." Obama said Iraqi security forces need to revamp to effectively mount an offensive, which requires a government in Baghdad that the Iraqi military and people have confidence in. Obama said Iraq needs a prime minister -- an indication that suggests he's written off the legitimacy of the incumbent, al-Maliki.

Critics say the Shiite leader contributed to the crisis by monopolizing power and pursuing a sectarian agenda that alienated the country's Sunni and Kurdish minorities.

After al-Maliki's speech, Brett McGurk, a deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran, expressed support for Massoum.

"Fully support President of Iraq Fuad Masum as guarantor of the Constitution and a PM nominee who can build a national consensus," McGurk tweeted.

"The government formation process is critical in terms of sustaining stability and calm in Iraq, and our hope is that Mr. Maliki will not stir those waters," Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday in Australia. "There will be little international support of any kind whatsoever for anything that deviates from the legitimate constitutional process that is in place and being worked on now. They need to finish that and give a new government an opportunity to be voted on and move forward."

The U.S. airstrikes have reinvigorated Kurdish forces battling ISIS militants in northern and western Iraq. Kurdish forces retook two towns from the Sunni militants on Sunday, achieving one of their first victories after weeks of retreating, a senior Kurdish military official said.

While a senior defense official told CBS News the Pentagon was not providing additional weaponry directly to the Kurds, U.S. officials told the Associated Press that other American government agencies were.

Previously, the U.S. had insisted on only selling arms to the Iraqi government in Baghdad, but the Kurdish peshmerga fighters had been losing ground to ISIS in recent weeks. The officials wouldn't say which U.S. agency was providing the arms or what weapons were being sent.

The CIA has historically done similar quiet arming operations. The move to directly aid the Kurds underscores the level of U.S. concern about ISIS' gains in the north, and reflects the persistent administration view that the Iraqis must take the necessary steps to solve their own security problems.

Kurdish peshmerga fighters were able to push the militants out of the villages of Makhmour and al-Gweir, some 28 miles from the Kurdish capital of Irbil, Brig. Gen. Shirko Fatih said.

The United States launched a fourth round of airstrikes Sunday against militant vehicles and mortars firing on Irbil as part of efforts to blunt the militants' advance and protect American personnel in and around the Kurdish capital.

U.S. warplanes and drones have also attacked militants firing on minority Yazidis around Sinjar, which is in the far west of the country near the Syrian border.

In the Kurdish capital on Sunday, the president of the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government, Massoud Barzani, said American military support has been effective thus far, but, he added, peshmerga soldiers require more firepower to defeat the militants.

"We are not asking our friends to send their sons to fight on our behalf," Barzani told The Associated Press in a brief interview. "What we are asking our friends is to provide us support and to cooperate with us in providing us with heavy weapons that we are able to fight this terrorist group."

Barzani met Sunday with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who traveled to Baghdad and Irbil pledging France's commitment to providing humanitarian aid. Fabius also met with al-Maliki and called on Iraqi leaders to unite in the face of the escalating crisis.

"The marching order is solidarity," Fabius said. He called on Iraqis to form a "government of broad unity so that all Iraqis feel represented and together lead the battle against terrorism."

A week ago, Al-Maliki ordered the Iraqi air force to support Kurdish forces against the militants, in a rare instance of cooperation between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government, which have for years been locked in disputes over oil and territory.

Meanwhile, thousands of Yazidi refugees fleeing the militants continued to pour across the border from Syria into Iraq after a weeklong journey through blazing hot mountains. Followers of an ancient religion with links to Zoroastrianism, the Yazidis said the militants had given them the choice of converting to Islam or dying.

As they crossed the border, many Yazidis said they had lost sisters, daughters, young children and elderly parents during the trip. They said militants sprayed gunfire at fleeing crowds, sometimes splitting up families by taking the women and killing the men.

It was not clear how many Yazidis were missing. In the span of 30 minutes, about a dozen displaced Yazidis approached one journalist, pleading for assistance to find their loved ones.

British officials estimated Saturday that 50,000 to 150,000 people could be trapped on Sinjar Mountain, where they fled to escape the Islamic extremists, only to become stranded there with few supplies.

Britain said its air force has already dropped water containers and solar lanterns over the mountains.

During his Sunday blessing at the Vatican, Pope Francis expressed outrage at the violence aimed at religious minorities in Iraq and called on the world "to stop these crimes."

He cited "the thousands of people, including Christians, who have been brutally forced from their homes, children who have died from thirst during the escape and women who have been seized."

He also spoke of "the destruction of religious, historic and cultural treasures."

In a statement issued Sunday, the European Union said it was "appalled by the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation, with hundreds of thousands civilians, mainly from minorities, fleeing the areas of conflict."

Some of the militants' acts "may constitute crimes against humanity and must be investigated swiftly, so that the perpetrators are held accountable," the EU said.




“On Sunday night, in a nationally televised speech, al-Maliki declared he will file a legal complaint against the new president, Fouad Massoum, for committing "a clear constitutional violation." Al-Maliki, whose Shiite-dominated bloc won the most seats in April elections, accused Massoum of neglecting to name a prime minister from the country's largest parliamentary faction by Sunday's deadline. He said the president has violated the constitution 'for the sake of political goals.'... 'The deliberate violation of the constitution by the president will have grave consequences on the unity, the sovereignty, and the independence of Iraq and the entry of the political process into a dark tunnel.'”

“Obama said Iraqi security forces need to revamp to effectively mount an offensive, which requires a government in Baghdad that the Iraqi military and people have confidence in. Obama said Iraq needs a prime minister -- an indication that suggests he's written off the legitimacy of the incumbent, al-Maliki.... Critics say the Shiite leader contributed to the crisis by monopolizing power and pursuing a sectarian agenda that alienated the country's Sunni and Kurdish minorities. After al-Maliki's speech, Brett McGurk, a deputy assistant secretary of state for Iraq and Iran, expressed support for Massoum. 'Fully support President of Iraq Fuad Masum as guarantor of the Constitution and a PM nominee who can build a national consensus,' McGurk tweeted.”

“The U.S. airstrikes have reinvigorated Kurdish forces battling ISIS militants in northern and western Iraq. Kurdish forces retook two towns from the Sunni militants on Sunday, achieving one of their first victories after weeks of retreating, a senior Kurdish military official said.... While a senior defense official told CBS News the Pentagon was not providing additional weaponry directly to the Kurds, U.S. officials told the Associated Press that other American government agencies were. Previously, the U.S. had insisted on only selling arms to the Iraqi government in Baghdad, but the Kurdish peshmerga fighters had been losing ground to ISIS in recent weeks. The officials wouldn't say which U.S. agency was providing the arms or what weapons were being sent.”

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has promised French humanitarian aid, but says, “'The marching order is solidarity,' Fabius said. He called on Iraqis to form a 'government of broad unity so that all Iraqis feel represented and together lead the battle against terrorism.'” A week ago, Al-Maliki ordered the Iraqi air force to support Kurdish forces against the militants, in a rare instance of cooperation between Baghdad and the Kurdish regional government, which have for years been locked in disputes over oil and territory.”

Al-Maliki has shown resistance to working with the Sunni minority and the Kurds, though he clearly needs all hands on deck to fight ISIS. Failure to provide representative governments is the cause of weakened nations in many places. It is part of the problem with Kiev's situation in Ukraine. The acceptance of a fully democratic government is the source of US strength. Our minorities give their part to the whole. The majority rules, but minorities are legally protected, at least in theory. On the local level private citizens, local officials or police forces still sometimes show discrimination against racial or cultural minorities. When a police officer treats black or Hispanic people unfairly, there is likely to be an outcry from the public and an official investigation about the matter. I think that is a sign that our government, overall, is working as it should.





California Debates 'Yes Means Yes' Sex Assault Law – ABC
By Julie Watson AP
August 10, 2014

College students have heard a similar refrain for years in campaigns to stop sexual assault: No means no.

Now, as universities around the country that are facing pressure over the handling of rape allegations adopt policies to define consensual sex, California is poised to take it a step further. Lawmakers are considering what would be the first-in-the-nation measure requiring all colleges that receive public funds to set a standard for when "yes means yes."

Defining consensual sex is a growing trend by universities in an effort to do more to protect victims. From the University of California system to Yale, schools have been adopting standards to distinguish when consent was given for a sexual activity and when it was not.

Legislation passed by California's state Senate in May and coming before the Assembly this month would require all schools that receive public funds for student financial assistance to set a so-called "affirmative consent standard" that could be used in investigating and adjudicating sexual assault allegations. That would be defined as "an affirmative, unambiguous and conscious decision" by each party to engage in sexual activity.

Silence or lack of resistance does not constitute consent. The legislation says it's also not consent if the person is drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep.

Lawmakers say consent can be nonverbal, and universities with similar policies have outlined examples as maybe a nod of the head or moving in closer to the person.

Several state legislatures, including Maryland, Texas and Connecticut, introduced bills in the past year to push colleges to do more after a White House task force reported that 1 in 5 female college students is a victim of sexual assault. The U.S. Education Department also took the unprecedented step of releasing the names of schools facing federal investigation for the way they handle sexual abuse allegations.

But no state legislation has gone as far as California's bill in requiring a consent standard.

Critics say the state is overstepping its bounds. The Los Angeles Times in an editorial after the bill passed the state Senate 27-4 wrote that it raises questions as to whether it is "reasonable" or "enforceable." The legislation is based on the White House task force's recommendations.

"It seems extremely difficult and extraordinarily intrusive to micromanage sex so closely as to tell young people what steps they must take in the privacy of their own dorm rooms," the newspaper said.

Some fear navigating the murky waters of consent spells trouble for universities.

"Frequently these cases involve two individuals, both of whom maybe were under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and it can be very tricky to ascertain whether consent was obtained," said Ada Meloy, general counsel of the American Council on Education, which represents college presidents.

She said schools need to guarantee a safe environment for students, while law enforcement is best suited for handling more serious sexual assault cases.

John F. Banzhaf III, a George Washington University's Law School professor, believes having university disciplinary panels interpret vague cues and body language will open the door for more lawsuits.

The legal definition of rape in most states means the perpetrator used force or the threat of force against the victim, but the California legislation could set the stage in which both parties could accuse each other of sexual assault, he said.


"This bill would very, very radically change the definition of rape," he said.

University of California at Berkeley student Meghan Warner, 20, said that's a good thing. She said she was sexually assaulted during her freshman year by two men at a fraternity but didn't report it because she believed "that unless it was a stranger at night with a weapon who attacked you when you were walking home, that it wasn't rape. It's just a crappy thing that happened." She now runs campus workshops to teach students what constitutes consent.

"Most students don't know what consent is," she said. "I've asked at the workshops how many people think if a girl is blacked out drunk that it's OK to have sex with her. The amount of people who raised their hands was just startling."

Defining consent may be easy to do on paper, said Laura Nguyen, a 21-year-old San Diego State University senior, but "we're talking about college students out at night and the reality is there's not just 'yes' or 'no.' There is a lot of in between. I really think it depends on the situation."

The legislation initially stated that "if there is confusion as to whether a person has consented or continues to consent to sexual activity, it is essential that the participants stop the activity until the confusion can be clearly resolved."

After some interpreted that as asking people to stop after each kiss to get a verbal agreement before going to the next level, the bill was amended to say consent must be "ongoing" and "can be revoked at any time."

"California needs to provide our students with education, resources, consistent policies and justice so that the system is not stacked against survivors," state Sen. Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles Democrat, said in promoting the bill.

Supporters say investigators would have to determine whether consent had been given by both parties instead of focusing on whether the complainant resisted or said no.

Denice Labertew of the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault said the bill fosters a cultural change: "There's a lot of criticism around affirmative consent because it requires us to change the way we normally think about this."





I'm a feminist, and I want no rapist to be exonerated because a defense attorney decides to make the victim out to be a liar. Women hate to take a case to trial for fear they will be abused by the court a second time. However, since some women do “cry rape,” when they have actually fully consented, if the state of California can come up with a formula that does differentiate between the two situations it will create more fairness for both parties.

California is looking for “'an affirmative, unambiguous and conscious decision' by each party to engage in sexual activity.... Silence or lack of resistance does not constitute consent. The legislation says it's also not consent if the person is drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep. Lawmakers say consent can be nonverbal, and universities with similar policies have outlined examples as maybe a nod of the head or moving in closer to the person.... Several state legislatures, including Maryland, Texas and Connecticut, introduced bills in the past year to push colleges to do more after a White House task force reported that 1 in 5 female college students is a victim of sexual assault. The U.S. Education Department also took the unprecedented step of releasing the names of schools facing federal investigation for the way they handle sexual abuse allegations.”

“John F. Banzhaf III, a George Washington University's Law School professor, believes having university disciplinary panels interpret vague cues and body language will open the door for more lawsuits.'The legal definition of rape in most states means the perpetrator used force or the threat of force against the victim, but the California legislation could set the stage in which both parties could accuse each other of sexual assault', he said. 'This bill would very, very radically change the definition of rape,' he said.

Personally, I'm not sure how practical this is. I don't think most people verbalize very much when they are experiencing a sexual interaction. It tends to be an emotionally enthralling and highly instinctual interplay between the two partners, and they transmit their consent or lack thereof with their body language rather than a yes or no. I think if either party becomes uncomfortable and resists in any way at all, the other must consider that to be a “no.” I also think they absolutely should use a condom to prevent the spread of venereal disease and pregnancy. A woman who is taking birth control pills still needs to protect against disease. I also don't think that coed dorms, which are allowed on most campuses now, are a good idea. The temptation to become involved in a very casual and uncaring way is simply too great, especially if there is drug or alcohol use. I go with the “no means no” rule instead. No means stop, even if you don't want to.




Bernie Sanders says he has a ‘damn good platform’ to run for president in 2016 – ABC
By Jeff Zeleny, Richard Coolidge and Jordyn Phelps
August 11, 2014

The Fine Print

Sen. Bernie Sanders isn’t afraid to be called a socialist. In fact, the Vermont Independent proudly labels himself a Democratic socialist.

“Do you hear me cringing? Do you hear me running under the table?” Sanders said rhetorically when asked if Democratic socialist is an accurate description.

Sanders is so delighted with his brand of politics that he said in an interview with “The Fine Print” that it would be a “damn good platform” on which to run for president.

"If the American people understand what goes on in countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and other countries, they will say, ‘Whoa, I didn't know that!’” Sanders said, pointing out that health care is considered a right, “R-I-G-H-T,” among even the most conservative politicians in Denmark.

Sanders described his credo as a fight to protect America’s working class from what he sees as the threat of an approaching “oligarchic form of society.”

“You have today in America more income and wealth inequality than any time in this country since 1928 and more than any major country in the world,” Sanders said. “So, you got the top one percent owning 38 percent of the wealth in America. Do you know what the bottom 60 percent own? 2.3 percent.”

“You know what that is?" he said. "That's called oligarchy."

Though Sanders isn’t making any secret of his possible 2016 presidential bid, he said he’s still determining whether he could generate a sufficient level of grassroots support on which to build a campaign.

“Look, it's easy for me to give a good speech, and I give good speeches,” he said. “It is harder to put together a grassroots organization of hundreds of thousands of millions of people prepared to work hard and take on the enormous amounts of money that will be thrown against us.”

One of Sanders’ most likely competitors, should he choose to seek the Democratic nomination, is Hillary Clinton. And while Sanders praised Clinton for a successful career, he was critical of the Democratic Party’s seeming coronation of the former secretary of state.

"She has accomplished a lot of very positive things in her career, but I'm not quite sure that the political process is one in which we anoint people,” Sanders said.

Though he stopped short of criticizing Clinton directly, he said she is not a sufficient champion of his message for the middle class.

“What I'm telling you is that this country has more serious problems today than any time since the Great Depression,” he said. “Those are the real issues that we've got to start dealing with.”

To hear more specifics about Sanders’ potential presidential platform, check out this episode of “The Fine Print.”

ABC News’ Alexandra Dukakis, Gary Westphalen, Wayne Boyd, and Gayle Marcus contributed to this episode.



http://www.thenation.com/blog/162166/gang-six-plan-not-so-fast-says-bernie-sanders

'Gang of Six' Plan? 'Not So Fast,' Says Bernie Sanders
John Nichols on July 19, 2011

With a blessing from President Obama and support even from some deficit-hawk Republicans, momentum is building for the ten-year deficit reduction plan announced Tuesday by the “Gang of Six” Democratic and Republican senators. “Can’t We All Just Get Along” commentators like the proposal, while headlines declare: “Bipartisan Support Builds for Gang of Six $3.7 Trillion Deficit-Reduction Plan.”

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is typically grumbly, and Senate Democrats are complaining that they may not have enough time to pull everything together before the August 2 debt ceiling deadline. But the cheerleading for the “Gang of Six” plan is considerable and enthusiastic.

“This is a serious, bipartisan proposal that will help stop Washington from spending money that we don’t have, and I support it,” Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander says of the proposal to reduce the deficit by $3.7 trillion over the next ten years with deep spending cuts while increasing revenues by closing tax loopholes.

“Count me in!” chirps Colorado Democrat Mark Udall, who says: “There’s a lot of support for turning the gang into a mob.”

But the one senator who has stood most steadily in defense of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—and for fiscally sound budgeting—is not joining the mob.

He is objecting. And he says the American people should join him in challenging a a plan that he says would result in devastating cuts to needed programs.

“While all of the details from the so-called Gang of Six proposals are not yet clear, what is apparent is that the plan would result in devastating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and many other programs that are of vital importance to working families in this country. Meanwhile, tax rates would be lowered for the wealthiest people and the largest, most profitable corporations,” says Sanders.

“This is an approach that should be rejected by the American people. At a time when the rich are becoming richer and corporate profits are soaring, at least half of any deficit-reduction package must come from upper income people and profitable corporations. We must also take a hard look at military spending, which has tripled since 1997.”

Those are the right objections and the right concerns.

Americans who are weary of the ginned up debt ceiling fight might want the easy out of a “bipartisan” fix. But Sanders is wise to warn that a failure to read the fine print on the “Gang of Six” proposal could cost working families their retirement security and access to quality care—while expanding an already wide chasm between the wealthiest few and the great mass of Americans.





“'While all of the details from the so-called Gang of Six proposals are not yet clear, what is apparent is that the plan would result in devastating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and many other programs that are of vital importance to working families in this country. Meanwhile, tax rates would be lowered for the wealthiest people and the largest, most profitable corporations,' says Sanders.” That is Sander's comment on the Gang of Six Budget plan of 2011.

“Do you hear me cringing? Do you hear me running under the table?” Sanders said rhetorically when asked if Democratic socialist is an accurate description. Sanders is so delighted with his brand of politics that he said in an interview with “The Fine Print” that it would be a “damn good platform” on which to run for president. "If the American people understand what goes on in countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and other countries, they will say, ‘Whoa, I didn't know that!’” Sanders said, pointing out that health care is considered a right, “R-I-G-H-T,” among even the most conservative politicians in Denmark. Sanders described his credo as a fight to protect America’s working class from what he sees as the threat of an approaching “oligarchic form of society.”... “So, you got the top one percent owning 38 percent of the wealth in America. Do you know what the bottom 60 percent own? 2.3 percent.”

He states that this is defined as an oligarchy, and is the present condition, not a future threat. He doesn't say he plans to run for President, and it seems to me that he is not sufficiently well-known to win, especially against a group of backers as large as Hillary Clinton's. If he were to run against another candidate, I might vote for him, but I would like to see a woman in office as President next. After that, perhaps a socialist. I give him lots of credit for calling himself a socialist, as there has been such a witch hunt against the left in this country. He has courage, and perhaps a purity of vision, that distinguishes him from most political candidates. He is certainly interesting.