Sunday, August 17, 2014


News Clips For The Day


More violence, unrest in Ferguson
AP CBS August 17, 2014, 1:25 AM
Last Updated Aug 17, 2014 9:50 AM EDT

FERGUSON, Missouri - Seven people were arrested and one person was shot early Sunday morning as police used smoke and tear gas against protesters who defied a curfew in a St. Louis suburb where a black teen walking down the street had been shot by a white police officer.

Police moved armored vehicles down the street in in Ferguson, Missouri, just after the start of the curfew Sunday. They used smoke and tear gas on protesters who refused to move back, essentially ending the confrontation nearly an hour after the midnight curfew. Seven people were arrested for failure to disperse.

Saturday marked a week since a white Ferguson officer, Darren Wilson, shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9. The shooting ignited racial tension in the mostly-black suburb and has led to looting and several run-ins between police and protesters.

Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson said the timing of police action on Sunday was coincidental.

Police received a report that people broke into a barbecue restaurant and some were on the roof - creating a potential danger for officers trying to disperse the protesters. Police were responding to that report - not the fact that protesters were still on the street after curfew, Johnson said.

Things got worse when a man with a handgun went into the street as police were nearing the restaurant. He ran away, but there was plenty of violence. A man was shot and critically wounded in the same area. Police were searching for the shooter. Someone shot at a police car - it wasn't clear if it was hit.

Hundreds of other protesters left peacefully before the curfew took effect. But remaining protesters - chanting "No justice! No curfew!" - refused to leave the area.

As officers put on gas masks, a chant from the distant crowd emerged: "We have the right to assemble peacefully." A moment later, police began firing canisters into the crowd of protesters.

Highway Patrol Spokesman Lt. John Hotz initially said police only used smoke, but later told The Associated Press that they also fired tear gas canisters.

Jayson Ross, who was leading the protesters toward police before the canisters were fired, said: "They got guns. We got guns. We are ready."

Gov. Jay Nixon on Saturday declared a state of emergency in Ferguson. The curfew announcement came after tensions again flared in Ferguson late Friday night. Earlier that day, local police identified the officer who shot Brown as Darren Wilson and released documents and video footage alleging that Brown had robbed a convenience store just before he was shot. Police said Wilson was unaware Brown was a suspect when he encountered him walking in the street with a friend.

Nixon said the U.S. Department of Justice is widening its civil rights investigation of the shooting.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who is in charge of security in Ferguson, said 40 FBI agents were going door-to-door in the neighborhood starting Saturday, talking to people who might have seen or have information about the shooting.

In announcing the curfew, Nixon said that though many protesters were making themselves heard peacefully, the state would not allow looters to endanger the community.

Darrell Alexander, 57, worried Saturday night that the curfew might spur anger and more violence.

"I think it's an antagonistic decision to not allow people to express their freedom of speech. It's an overreaction," he said.

Members of various black community groups were urging people to abide by the curfew, which runs from midnight to 5 a.m. Sunday, reports CBS affiliate KMOV-TV in St. Louis. A woman from the New Black Panther Party walked the street with a bullhorn, telling the crowd: "Please, please be out of the area by 12 o'clock."

Some responded to her pleas by cursing at police, while others acknowledged they planned to leave before midnight.

But Keyon Watkins, a 26-year-old computer science worker from St. Louis, said that if many others stay in the street, he would join them.

"All of this is just building up -- pent-up aggression by being mistreated on a daily basis," Watkins said.

On Saturday, some residents said it appeared the violent acts were being committed by people who came from other suburbs or states.

Wilson, the officer who shot Brown, is a six-year police veteran who had no previous complaints against him, the local police chief has said.

The Ferguson Police Department has refused to say anything about Wilson's whereabouts, and Associated Press reporters were unable to contact him at any addresses or phone numbers listed under that name in the St. Louis area.

Wilson has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch said it could be weeks before the investigation wraps up.





Police received a report that people broke into a barbecue restaurant and some were on the roof - creating a potential danger for officers trying to disperse the protesters. Police were responding to that report - not the fact that protesters were still on the street after curfew, Johnson said. Things got worse when a man with a handgun went into the street as police were nearing the restaurant. He ran away, but there was plenty of violence. A man was shot and critically wounded in the same area. Police were searching for the shooter. Someone shot at a police car - it wasn't clear if it was hit..... Jayson Ross, who was leading the protesters toward police before the canisters were fired, said: "They got guns. We got guns. We are ready." ….Nixon said the U.S. Department of Justice is widening its civil rights investigation of the shooting. Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Ron Johnson, who is in charge of security in Ferguson, said 40 FBI agents were going door-to-door in the neighborhood starting Saturday, talking to people who might have seen or have information about the shooting.... Members of various black community groups were urging people to abide by the curfew, which runs from midnight to 5 a.m. Sunday, reports CBS affiliate KMOV-TV in St. Louis. A woman from the New Black Panther Party walked the street with a bullhorn, telling the crowd: "Please, please be out of the area by 12 o'clock.".... "All of this is just building up -- pent-up aggression by being mistreated on a daily basis," Keyon Watkins said. On Saturday, some residents said it appeared the violent acts were being committed by people who came from other suburbs or states.

It is almost unavoidable in this time of moment to moment news reports and instant communication via the Internet, that an event such as this is turning out to be will draw outsiders who want to support the townspeople by showing up to march. If they behave in a violent way, however, they are just making the problem worse and serving to justify more police action.

I empathize with black people who live in what are often poverty stricken and crowded city areas with angry police interactions occurring “on a daily basis.” The policeman had a right to tell the teenagers to get out of the street, and they should have complied immediately with no “back talk,” but the officer either panicked when his car door was (he thought) pushed back against him as he tried to get out or he reacted in anger, because shooting an unarmed person half a dozen times is excessive violence. Police officers need to be trained to be less aggressive in dealing with the public. They need to learn to talk logically and calmly to ease the tension rather than exacerbating it.

Also, there is no excuse for city police forces to fail to hire plenty of black officers. The police chief in another article said that they had had trouble recruiting and keeping any more than the three who are currently employed in St. Louis. I would like to suggest that white policemen may have had hostile interactions toward new black recruits which might cause the black men – and women! – to resign or fail partly due to the stress. Policing is a public contact job in which even those who actually are involved in a crime need to be arrested without egregious verbal or physical abuse, and those who have mental health issues are put under medical care immediately and treated as gently as possible.

Finally, there have been recommendations by some in the news that police officers should go back to foot patrols and a greater involvement in community interactions, so that the citizens know them personally and – if their interactions are benign enough – come to trust them. Then the neighbors will be more likely to come forward and aid the police than they presently are in so many poor, predominantly black areas. Community policing should not be ignored. It is not a waste of time. That's one area where the use of more black policemen and women come in, as well as mandated sensitivity training for all police officers – and discipline needs to be used when white officers rebel against the training of new minority members or worse, even join racist groups. It was reported in one city policing story – I can't remember where within the last few months – that a number of people on the police force were active in the KKK.

Finally, both black and white officers need to be fair in what they do. Things like racially based aggression – both verbal and physical, spraying mace directly into people's eyes rather than aiming at their chest area, the now banned but still used choke hold, extensive and unnecessary use of tasers, and beatings administered on people who have complied already are inexcusable. Those things are bullying and abusive. Officer should be punished or fired for such actions. There has been an increased tendency toward hostility by police officers since the time when I was young. There were two policemen in my neighborhood and they were both gentle and friendly in daily interactions. People don't have to be hostile bullies in order to be police officers.






Report: Armed men attack Liberia Ebola clinic, freeing patients
CBS/AP August 17, 2014, 9:02 AM

MONROVIA, Liberia - Armed men attacked an Ebola clinic in Monrovia, local witnesses told Agence France Presse.

As many as 29 potentially Ebola-infected patients fled, the news agency reported.

"They broke down the doors and looted the place. The patients all fled," said Rebecca Wesseh, who witnessed the attack and whose report was confirmed by residents and the head of Health Workers Association of Liberian, George Williams.

The attack comes just one day after a report of a crowd of several hundred local residents, chanting, 'No Ebola in West Point,' drove away a burial team and their police escort that had come to collect the bodies of suspected Ebola victims in a slum in the capital, Reuters reports. The mob then forced open an Ebola isolation ward and took several patients out, many saying that the Ebola epidemic is a hoax.

The isolation center, a closed primary school originally built by USAID, was being used by the Liberian health ministry to temporarily isolate people suspected of carrying the virus, Reuters reports. Some 10 patients had "escaped" the building the night before, according to a nurse, as the center had no medicine to treat them.

While the armed attack is likely the most brazen attack on health workers trying to contain the deadly outbreak, it is far from the first in the region worst-hit by it.

There have been numerous reports of locals attacking those trying to stop the disease by throwing stones at aid workers, blocking aid convoys and forcibly removing patients from clinics. Many locals blame foreigners for bringing the disease, saying it had never been there before they arrived.

The mistrust of central government and help from outside runs deep in this part of West Africa. All three countries worst-hit by the outbreak -- Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea -- are relatively fresh off decades of either brutal civil war or iron-fisted dictatorships.

The Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 1,100 people in West Africa could last another six months, the Doctors Without Borders charity group said Friday. One aid worker acknowledged that the true death toll is still unknown.

New figures released by the World Health Organization showed that Liberia has recorded more Ebola deaths - 413 - than any of the other affected countries.

Tarnue Karbbar, who works for the aid group Plan International in northern Liberia, said response teams simply aren't able to document all the erupting Ebola cases. Many of the sick are still being hidden at home by their relatives, who are too fearful of going to an Ebola treatment center.

Others are being buried before the teams can get to remote areas, he said. In the last several days, about 75 cases have emerged in Voinjama, a single Liberian district.

"Our challenge now is to quarantine the area (in Voinjama) to successfully break the transmission," he said.

There is no cure or licensed treatment for Ebola and patients often die gruesome deaths with external bleeding from their mouths, eyes or ears. The killer virus is transmitted through bodily fluids like blood, sweat, urine and diarrhea. A handful of people have received an experimental drug whose effectiveness is unknown.

Liberia's assistant health minister, Tolbert Nyenswah, said three people in Liberia were receiving the ZMapp on Friday. Previously, only two Americans and a Spaniard had gotten it. The Americans are improving, but it is not known what role ZMapp played. The Spaniard died.

The American doctor infected with Ebola while working in Liberia said Friday he is "recovering in every way" and holding onto the hope of a reunion with his family.

Dr. Kent Brantly remained hospitalized Friday at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. His comments came in a statement issued through the Christian aid group Samaritan's Purse.

The World Health Organization has approved the use of such untested drugs but their supply is extremely limited.

The U.N. health agency has said the focus on containing the outbreak should be on practicing good hygiene and quickly identifying the sick and isolating them. That task is made harder, however, by the shortage of treatment facilities.

Beds in such centers are filling up faster than they can be provided, evidence that the outbreak in West Africa is far more severe than the numbers show, said Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for World Health Organization in Geneva.

There are 40 beds at one treatment center that Doctors Without Borders recently took over in one quarantined county in Liberia. But 137 people have flocked there, packing the hallways until they can be sorted into those who are infected and those are not, said Joanne Liu, the group's international president.

Nyenswah described a similar situation in a treatment center in Liberia's capital of Monrovia: In one ward meant to accommodate up to 25 people, 80 are now crowded in. Another treatment center with 120 beds is expected to open Saturday outside Monrovia.
"It's absolutely dangerous," said Liu, who recently returned from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. "With the massive influx of patients that we had over the last few days, we're not able to keep zones of patients anymore. Everybody is mixed."

Liu likened the situation to a state of war because the "frontline" was always moving and unpredictable. She said the outbreak could last six more months.

The death toll is now 1,145 people in four countries across West Africa, according to figures released Friday by the World Health Organization. At least 2,127 cases have been reported in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Nigeria, WHO said.

Sierra Leone's president, Ernest Bai Koroma, told journalists Friday that the country has lost two doctors and 32 nurses to Ebola.

"We need specialized clinicians and expertise and that is why we are appealing to the international community for an enhanced response to our fight" against Ebola, he said.

The Ebola crisis is also disrupting food supplies and transportation. Some 1 million people in isolated areas could need food assistance in the coming months, according to the U.N. World Food Program, which is preparing a regional emergency operation.

Amid a growing number of airline cancellations, the U.N. will start flights for humanitarian workers on Saturday to ensure that aid operations aren't interrupted. In the coming weeks, they will also ferry staff to remote areas by helicopter.





Kenya Shuts Borders To Ebola-Hit West African Countries – NPR
by SCOTT NEUMAN
August 17, 2014

The Kenyan government has taken the step of closing its borders to travelers from West African countries affected by the growing Ebola outbreak.

The suspension applies to Kenyan ports of entry for people traveling from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, the country's Health Ministry says. It goes into effect from Tuesday midnight.

"This step is in line with the recognition of the extraordinary measures urgently required to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa," the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The BBC reports that after announcing the decision, Kenyan Health Minister James Macharia said it was "in the interest of public health" and warned Kenyans and health workers who had returned from the banned countries to undergo strict checks and quarantine if necessary.

The World Health Organization has said that because of Kenya's status as a major transport hub in Africa, the country is at "high risk" from Ebola. Earlier, Kenyan officials feared that four cases of Ebola had entered the country, but tests later proved negative. The U.N. agency said that as of Friday, 1,145 people had died from Ebola of 2,127 total known cases.

After the announcement, national carrier Kenyan Airways said it was halting flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Associated Press says:

"The airline said flights actually help to contain the Ebola outbreak by transporting medical staff, supplies and equipment to West Africa.
"But doctors representing the Kenya Medical Association had asked Kenya Airways to suspend flights to the four countries affected by Ebola 'until things stabilize.' "

Other countries and individual airlines have taken similar steps in recent days. Major carriers British Airways and Emirates Airlines have suspended flights to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

The AP says:

"Nigeria became the fourth Ebola-affected country late last month after a Liberian-American man sick with the disease flew to Lagos on an ASKY flight and infected several people before he died.

"Officials in Cameroon, which borders Nigeria, announced Friday it would suspend all flights from all four Ebola-affected countries. Korean Air announced on Thursday it would temporarily halt its service to Kenya despite the fact there are no cases of Ebola in the country."





“The Kenyan government has taken the step of closing its borders to travelers from West African countries affected by the growing Ebola outbreak.... 'The airline said flights actually help to contain the Ebola outbreak by transporting medical staff, supplies and equipment to West Africa. 'But doctors representing the Kenya Medical Association had asked Kenya Airways to suspend flights to the four countries affected by Ebola 'until things stabilize.' …. 'This step is in line with the recognition of the extraordinary measures urgently required to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa,' the Health Ministry said in a statement.... 'Officials in Cameroon, which borders Nigeria, announced Friday it would suspend all flights from all four Ebola-affected countries. Korean Air announced on Thursday it would temporarily halt its service to Kenya despite the fact there are no cases of Ebola in the country.'”

This enforced isolation of the entire West African area is sad, because there is still such a need for doctors and supplies there, but it is probably a wise move. The reports of uprisings in Liberia against the police and aid workers make it impossible to help the people there. There are rumors that the whole story about Ebola is a hoax, and that the Westerners who came to help actually brought the disease, and those who had been quarantined have been set free by a mob of several hundred people. Also many families are hiding their ill, and there is fear of going to the hospitals set up to meet the emergency need.

To make it worse, many in the three nations hardest hit don't trust their governments as they have recently been living with civil wars and “iron-fisted dictatorships,” so the people aren't cooperating now with government attempts to stop the outbreak. This is really a terrible situation, for which there seems to be no solution. If laboratories had stockpiled sera during the previous epidemics, perhaps there would now be medicine to cure more of the people. The failure of that shows a reprehensible lack of foresight. Its pattern of dying down and then popping up again should tell health officials that they need to make large quantities of a vaccine or serum for future use. A serum which was derived from goats was used a number of years ago by Russians, and blood transfusions from recovered patients was used in Africa, both with good results. Unfortunate neither of those things is currently being pursued, and there are too many who need drugs anyway. The inability of the people to understand what viruses are and how to combat them – such as not touching their dead – will almost certainly cause this outbreak to get much worse before it stops.





Stepping up the fight against elephant poachers
CBS NEWS August 17, 2014, 9:41 AM

NIGHT STALKERS who hunt and kill African elephants for their ivory are threatening the existence of that species. And even the most drastic protective measures by conservationists are not enough. We caution you that some of the images in this Cover Story are painful to watch. M. Sanjayan of Conservation International is a CBS News Contributor:

This story was broadcast on March 9, 2014.

As a cloudless day yields to a moonlit night in this savannah in Northern Kenya, a dozen wildlife rangers armed with automatic weapons begin their nightly patrol.

Tonight, the team is on edge, says Commander John Palmieri.

"They give us a big, big worry," he said, as there is more poaching on the full moon.

And it is a deadly business. Dozens of rangers have been killed in Africa battling poachers in the last few years.

Each night, rangers go up to an observation point at higher ground, then sit all night long and scour these valleys, looking for any sign of movement, or a gunshot.

Night vision goggles help spot elephants -- and see potential human threats.

For this night at least, it was all quiet for Nature's so-called "great masterpiece."

The African elephant is the largest mammal to walk the Earth; a majestic creature that shares many noble characteristics with humans -- strong family units and maternal bonds, intelligence, longevity and, yes, terrific memories.

Also, like us, they seem to grieve, and appear to mourn their dead, a trait which, tragically, has been on display far too often of late.

Some 25,000 elephants a year are now being lost to poachers in Africa.

"It's the worst that it's been in the last 30 years," said Ian Craig. "It's a steady deterioration, and it's getting worse."

The Kenyan-born Craig leads conservation efforts for the Northern Rangelands Trust, an innovative partnership of nearly 20 wildlife conservancies.

In years past, said Craig, the typical poacher was a solitary local simply trying to feed his family. Today, though, foreign criminal syndicates with sophisticated equipment kill viciously and in ever greater numbers.

In an infamous 2012 episode, an estimated 300 elephants were gunned down in Cameroon right inside a national park.

So who's behind it?

"I think clearly China is driving this, or it's coming from the Far East," said Craig. "Ninety percent of the ivory being picked up in Nairobi Airport, or Kenya's port of entry and exit, is with Chinese nationals."

Despite laws banning the harvest and sale of ivory, it remains a powerful status symbol in China and the Far East, where it is used commonly to make artworks and religious icons.
The economic boom there has tripled the price of ivory in just the last four years. And it has rejuvenated the poaching economy in Africa.

The price on an elephant's head, Craig said, is about $2,000, or $2,500 to the gunman

"So it's several years' worth of wages from that elephant," said Sanjayan.

And therefore, said Craig, "People are prepared to risk their lives to kill them."

You hear about ivory wars, said Sanjayan, but it doesn't seem real until one comes across an elephant's carcass ... the animal had no chance against being shot by automatic weapons, no chance at all.

And then, it comes flooding right at you, and you can't escape the fact that people are willing to kill something this big just for a tooth.

There are some encouraging signs.

This past January, China crushed six tons of illegal ivory, and Hong Kong pledged to destroy 28 tons over the next two years.

Kenya has also enacted tougher anti-poaching laws. One smuggler faces seven years in jail.

United States cracks down on elephant ivory trade (Video)
Hillary Clinton calls on world leaders to end African elephant slaughter
Dramatic effort to save elephants as Cairo's illegal ivory trade booms

But the poaching continues . . . and protecting elephants has become an arms race.

Kenya spends tens of millions of dollars a year on its 3,000-member wildlife ranger force.

Tracking dogs hunt poachers in the field and detect ivory being smuggled.

Digital radio systems now connect rangers with observation posts throughout the country. And GPS collars can track family groups of elephants in real time.

They've even built wildlife "underpasses" beneath highways, allowing elephants to travel safely through historic migration corridors.

Just as important, is getting locals invested in wildlife. In many areas, tribesmen don't just lead tours, they run the preserves.

Profits from tourism help communities understand that living elephants can be more valuable than dead ones.

"They're seeing these new lodges developing," said Ian Craig. "They're seeing better security for themselves. They're seeing money being generated from tourism going into education. And so where these benefits are clean and clear to communities, it's working."

But changing attitudes takes time -- and time is NOT on the elephant's side.

From a high of 1.3 million African elephants in the late 1970s, poaching reduced populations to critical levels by 1980.

The numbers are plummeting again: there are only about 500,000 elephants left. If poaching continues unchecked, African elephants could be functionally extinct in our lifetime.

In an extraordinary attempt to save the life of just one animal, a Kenyan veterinarian armed with a tranquilizer dart shot Mountain Bull, a 6-ton local legend who's been targeted by poachers for his massive tusks.

This magnificent bull elephant has already had lots of interaction with poachers; in one incident alone, he's been shot 8 times -- the slugs are still within his body -- but he has survived.

Now conservationists and rangers are doing something dramatic: they're taking off part of his tusks in the hopes that it will make him less of a target. The operation was over quickly, and eventually the noble giant wobbled to his feet and headed back to the bush to hopefully live out his days in peace.

But sadly is was not meant to be. Recently, the carcass of Mountain Bull was found near the foot of Mt. Kenya attacked with poison spears. The reminiscence of his tusks were unceremonious hacked off by poachers.

Craig worries that unless the lust for ivory is controlled, the elephant may not survive.

"The supply here is finite," he said. "This isn't gold. This isn't diamonds. This is even more precious, because it's been grown by an animal, and we're killing that animal to supply that demand."




“Some 25,000 elephants a year are now being lost to poachers in Africa. 'It's the worst that it's been in the last 30 years," said Ian Craig. "It's a steady deterioration, and it's getting worse.' The Kenyan-born Craig leads conservation efforts for the Northern Rangelands Trust, an innovative partnership of nearly 20 wildlife conservancies. In years past, said Craig, the typical poacher was a solitary local simply trying to feed his family. Today, though, foreign criminal syndicates with sophisticated equipment kill viciously and in ever greater numbers..... 'I think clearly China is driving this, or it's coming from the Far East,' said Craig. 'Ninety percent of the ivory being picked up in Nairobi Airport, or Kenya's port of entry and exit, is with Chinese nationals.' The economic boom there has tripled the price of ivory in just the last four years. And it has rejuvenated the poaching economy in Africa.”

“This past January, China crushed six tons of illegal ivory, and Hong Kong pledged to destroy 28 tons over the next two years. Kenya has also enacted tougher anti-poaching laws. One smuggler faces seven years in jail.” That doesn't sound to me like a severe enough sentence for this slaughter of hundreds of elephants. There are some 3,000 wildlife rangers, using tracking dogs to capture poachers and track the ivory where it is being transported, plus the elephants now have GPS collars to allow them to be found and guarded more easily. Wildlife underpasses beneath highways have been built, as in the US in some places, and the Africans are being recruited to run preserves and guide tours – making it a personal interest for the villagers and giving them a new source of income – protecting the animals rather than killing them for ivory. Also, in an attempt to save the life of living elephants rangers are now shooting them with tranquilizer darts and cutting off their massive tusks. Unfortunately this didn't save the life of Mountain Bull, one of the largest specimens, as the rangers left enough of his tusks to tempt the poachers. The lust for money overcomes all, it seems.






Abducted Amish girls were sexually abused, prosecutor says
CBS/AP August 16, 2014, 5:52 PM

CANTON, N.Y. - Two young Amish girls were sexually abused after their abduction from a roadside farm stand in northern New York, a prosecutor said Saturday.

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain's disclosure came hours after the county's sheriff said the couple charged in the kidnapping were prowling for easy targets and may have planned to abduct other children.

Stephen Howells Jr. and Nicole Vaisey, both of Hermon, were arrested Friday on charges they snatched the 7-year-old and 12-year-old sisters from a roadside farm stand in front of their home near the Canadian border.

St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells said at a news conference Saturday that investigators are looking into whether the pair had plotted or carried out other abductions.

"We felt that there was the definite potential that there was going to be other victims," Wells said.

The sisters were abducted Wednesday from their family's farm stand in Oswegatchie and were set free by their captors Thursday.

Howells and Vaisey were arraigned late Friday on charges of first-degree kidnapping with the intent to physically harm or sexually abuse the victims.

The sheriff said Howells, 39, and Vaisey, 25, "were targeting opportunities" and did not necessarily grab the girls because they were Amish.

"There was a lot of thought process that went into this," Wells said. "They were looking for opportunities to victimize."

A neighbor told CBS affiliate WWNY that three young children lived with the couple. Wells said one of the pair - he didn't specify whether it was Howells or Vaisey - had three children, but that the youngsters lived with "another parent."

The suspects are being held without bail and have a preliminary court appearance scheduled for Thursday.

Vaisey's lawyer, Bradford Riendeau told The New York Times that Howells had abused Vaisey and made her behave submissively. He said she made a "voluntary statement" to investigators after her arrest and was obtaining an order of protection against him.

"She appears to have been the slave and he was the master," Riendeau told the newspaper.

There was no answer Saturday at the offices of the St. Lawrence County Conflict Defender's Office, which is representing Howells.

Wells said the girls were able to provide details to investigators about their time in captivity. Speaking Friday night, he praised the girls' courage, WWNY said.

"The reason why we were able to make arrests tonight was because of just how strong they are, and things that they're able to remember," the sheriff said.

The kidnappings Wednesday touched off a massive search in the family's remote farming community. Wells said the couple used multiple "methods of coercion" to get the girls into their car, but he did not elaborate.

The girls turned up about 24 hours later at the door of a house 15 miles from where they were taken.

Searchers had scoured the farming community of about 4,000 people, a hunt hampered by a lack of photos of the girls for authorities to circulate.

The Amish typically avoid modern technology, and the family had to work with an artist who spoke their language, a German dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch, to produce a sketch of the older girl.




The suspects are being held without bail and have a preliminary court appearance scheduled for Thursday. Vaisey's lawyer, Bradford Riendeau told The New York Times that Howells had abused Vaisey and made her behave submissively. He said she made a 'voluntary statement' to investigators after her arrest and was obtaining an order of protection against him. 'She appears to have been the slave and he was the master,' Riendeau told the newspaper.... Wells said the girls were able to provide details to investigators about their time in captivity. Speaking Friday night, he praised the girls' courage, WWNY said. 'The reason why we were able to make arrests tonight was because of just how strong they are, and things that they're able to remember,' the sheriff said.... Wells said the couple used multiple "methods of coercion" to get the girls into their car, but he did not elaborate. The girls turned up about 24 hours later at the door of a house 15 miles from where they were taken.”

The Amish keep to themselves and live out a simple, rural life. They should be left alone. This article did say that the fact that the girls were Amish probably didn't contribute to their kidnapping, but rather their easy availability. This is so often the case when children are taken.

Parents need to watch more closely what their children are doing and where they are. People with that particular combination of sickness and evil in their nature are everywhere and they look just like everybody else, not like hoodlums. Often the abuser is a trusted friend of the family. We as a society are much more aware of this kind of crime now, and it may possibly be happening more often than when I was a kid. We walked all around our neighborhood and as long as we were back by suppertime it was considered okay. Now parents run the risk of hampering their kids self-confidence and street skills by overprotecting them, but it is understandable. It's really a shame.




U.S. rethinks giving excess military gear to police – CBS
AP August 17, 2014, 8:20 AM

WASHINGTON - After a decade of sending military equipment to civilian police departments across the country, federal officials are reconsidering the idea in light of the violence in Ferguson, Missouri.

The public has absorbed images of heavily armed police, snipers trained on protesters and tear gas plumes. Against that backdrop, Attorney General Eric Holder said that when police and citizens need to restore calm, "I am deeply concerned that the deployment of military equipment and vehicles sends a conflicting message."

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said police responses like that in Ferguson have "become the problem instead of the solution." Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said he will introduce legislation to curb the trend of police militarization.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said his committee will review the program to determine if the Defense Department's surplus equipment is being used as intended.

One night after the violence that accompanied the presence of military-style equipment in Ferguson, tensions eased when a police captain, unprotected and shaking hands, walked through a crowd in a gesture of reconciliation. The contrast added to the perception that the tanks and tear gas had done more harm than good.

As the country concludes its longest wartime period, the military has turned over thousands of surplus weapons and armored trucks to local police who often trained alongside the military.

A report by the American Civil Liberties Union in June said police agencies had become "excessively militarized," with officers using training and equipment designed for the battlefield on city streets. The report found the amount of goods transferred through the military surplus program rose in value from $1 million in 1990 to nearly $450 million in 2013.

"Every police force of any size in this country has access to those kinds of weapons now," said David Harris, a police expert at the University of Pittsburgh law school. "It makes it more likely to be used (and) is an escalation all by itself."

In Louisiana, masked police in full body armor carrying AR-15 assault rifles raided a nightclub without a warrant, looking not for terrorists but underage drinkers and fire-code violations. Officers in California train using the same counterinsurgency tactics as those used in Afghanistan.

"They're not coming in like we're innocent until proven guilty," said Quinn Eaker. SWAT teams last August raided his organic farm and community, the Garden of Eden, in Arlington, Texas. "They're coming in like: 'We're gonna kill you if you move a finger.'"

Police found no drugs or weapons and filed no charges after their search, which authorities said followed standard procedure.

In 1990, Congress authorized the Pentagon to give surplus equipment to police to help fight drugs, which then gave way to the fight against terrorism. Though violent crime nationwide is at its lowest level in generations and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have largely concluded, the military transfers have increased.

Police say the equipment, which includes free body armor, night vision goggles and scopes, keeps officers safe and prepares them for the worst case.

"A lot evolved from the military, no question," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Chief Bill McSweeney, who heads the detective division. "Is it smart for them to use that stuff and perhaps look like soldiers from Iraq going into a place? Is that smart or over the top? I'd say generally that's smart. Now, if you use that every time a guy is writing bad checks, that's getting rather extreme."

The U.S. has provided 610 mine-resistant armored trucks, known as MRAPs, across the country, nearly all since August 2013, including at least nine in Los Angeles County, according to Michelle McCaskill, a spokeswoman for the Defense Logistics Agency.

In rural western Maine, the Oxford County Sheriff's Office asked for an MRAP. Cpl. George Cayer wrote in his request that Maine's western foothills face a "previously unimaginable threat from terrorist activities."

In Orange County, Florida, masked officers in tactical gear helped state inspectors raid barber shops in 2010 to find people cutting hair without a license. Using a mini battering ram and pry bar at times, police arrested dozens of people. Officials said they found illegal items such as drugs and a weapon.

McSweeney said it's hard to argue that police shouldn't use the best equipment available.

"It's tempting to say, 'Shouldn't we wear these things? Shouldn't we approach this as if we could get shot?'" he said. "How do you say no to that question?"

Nick Gragnani, executive director of the St. Louis Area Regional Response System, said such supplies have proved essential in hurricane relief efforts and other disaster responses.

"The shame of it will be ... if somebody does a brushstroke and takes out all the funding and then we can no longer be prepared for that big incident," he said.

The LAPD's deputy chief, Michael Downing, who heads the department's counterterrorism and special operations bureau, said officers are dealing with "an adversary who is more sophisticated, more tactically trained."

Downing emphasized that though police might train with soldiers, they're not warriors with a mission to kill but public servants with no "enemies."

"In police work there are times we have to become soldiers and control through force and fear," Downing said. "But we have to come back to being a public servant as quick as we can to establish that normality and that ethical stature with communities, because they're the ones who give us the authority to do our police work."




A recent ACLU report states that the amount of goods transferred through the military surplus program rose in value from $1 million in 1990 to nearly $450 million in 2013. 'Every police force of any size in this country has access to those kinds of weapons now,' said David Harris, a police expert at the University of Pittsburgh law school. 'It makes it more likely to be used (and) is an escalation all by itself.'... In Louisiana, masked police in full body armor carrying AR-15 assault rifles raided a nightclub without a warrant, looking not for terrorists but underage drinkers and fire-code violations. Officers in California train using the same counterinsurgency tactics as those used in Afghanistan. 'They're not coming in like we're innocent until proven guilty,' said Quinn Eaker. SWAT teams last August raided his organic farm and community, the Garden of Eden, in Arlington, Texas. 'They're coming in like: 'We're gonna kill you if you move a finger.'”

This kind of police assault amounts to depriving citizens of due process and their civil rights. The following statement shows the ambivalence of some if not all of the police, and is rather shocking. “'A lot evolved from the military, no question,' said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Chief Bill McSweeney, who heads the detective division. 'Is it smart for them to use that stuff and perhaps look like soldiers from Iraq going into a place? Is that smart or over the top? I'd say generally that's smart. Now, if you use that every time a guy is writing bad checks, that's getting rather extreme.'" I am reminded of a statement in the news recently that American troops in Afghanistan were distrusted and hated specifically because of those storm-trooper techniques, such as kicking in the doors to private homes because they suspect a terrorist is there. Just like the police are described as doing in the raid in Louisiana, while they were looking for underage drinkers and fire code violations and, oh yes, they had no warrant. That's against the law in itself. Police authorities are culpable, I believe, if they are allowing their officers to engage in such a degree of overkill. It should be against the law if it isn't, surely sombody controls the city police organizations; plus it's terrible community relations, unethical, and shows a real lack of humanity. Cops shouldn't give up their souls to be a cop.

Hopefully Congress will put a stop to this kind of thing. It should hit the news and cause a public outcry every time it happens, but it doesn't. I had never heard of any of these other incidents mentioned in this article. Some governmental body needs to redefine what a proper role of the police departments is, and put pressure on the top police authorities to stop their officers from overstepping their bounds. Hopefully we will hear some progress by Congress on the legal front soon. LAPD's deputy chief, Michael Downing who is head of the counterterrorism and special operations bureau, made an argument for deployment of such weapons at times, but I feel sure that breaking into a barber shop to find barbers operating without a license in Orange County, FL is not a proper use.

The only kinds of case that typically occurs are when a shooter goes on the rampage or a crazed person is holding a hostage, and even then it should be more subtle, with a strong effort to “talk the crimnal down” rather than rushing the house. These beefed up police force operations began after 9/11 to combat terrorism, but when there is no terrorism occurring they shouldn't be used. To me, it's that simple. There needs to be strong leadership from the top that will crack down on police officers moving from the role of “protecting and serving” to being rogue cops. Rogue cops are a menace to a democratic society.









When Patients Read What Their Doctors Write – NPR
by LEANA WEN
August 17, 2014

The woman was sitting on a gurney in the emergency room, and I was facing her, typing. I had just written about her abdominal pain when she posed a question I'd never been asked before: "May I take a look at what you're writing?"

At the time, I was a fourth-year medical resident in Boston. In our ER, doctors routinely typed visit notes, placed orders and checked past records while we were in patients' rooms. To maintain at least some eye contact, we faced our patients, with the computer between us.

But there was no reason why we couldn't be on the same side of the computer screen. I sat down next to her and showed her what I was typing. She began pointing out changes. She'd said that her pain had started three weeks ago, not last week. Her chart mentioned alcohol abuse in the past; she admitted that she was under a lot of stress and had returned to heavy drinking a couple of months ago.

As we talked, her diagnosis — inflammation of the pancreas from alcohol use — became clear, and I wondered why I'd never shown patients their records before. In medical school, we learn that medical records exist so that doctors can communicate with other doctors. No one told us about the benefits they could bring when shared with patients.

In fact, before the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a federal law enacted in 1996, patients generally had to sue to see their records. HIPAA, as that mouthful is abbreviated, affirmed that patients have a right to their medical information. But the process for obtaining records was often so cumbersome that few patients tried to access them.

In 2010, Tom Delbanco, an internist, and Jan Walker, a nurse and researcher, started an experiment called OpenNotes that let patients read what their primary care providers write about them. They hypothesized that giving patients access to notes would allow them to become more engaged in their care.

Many doctors resisted the idea. Wouldn't open medical records inhibit what they wrote about sensitive issues, such as substance abuse? What if patients misunderstood the notes? Would that lead to more lawsuits? And what would patients do with all the information anyway?

After the first year, the results were striking: 80 percent of patients who saw their records reported better understanding of their medical condition and said they were in better control of their health. Two-thirds reported that they were better at sticking with their prescriptions. Ninety-nine percent of the patients wanted OpenNotes to continue, and no doctor withdrew from the pilot. Instead, they shared anecdotes like mine. When patients see their records, there's more trust and more accuracy.

That day in the Boston ER was a turning point for me. Since I started sharing notes with my patients, they have made dozens of valuable corrections and changes, such as adding medication allergies and telling me when a previous medical problem has been resolved. We come up with treatment plans together. And when patients leave, they receive a copy of my detailed instructions. The medical record becomes a collaborative tool for patients, not just a record of what we doctors do to patients.

The OpenNotes experiment has become something of a movement, spreading to hospitals, health systems and doctors' offices across the country. The Mayo Clinic, Geisinger Health System and Veterans Affairs are among the adopters so far. (The OpenNotes project has received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which also provides financial support to NPR.)

But there are new controversies arising. Should patients receiving mental health services obtain full access to therapy records, or should there be limits to open records? What happens if patients want to share their records on social media? Will such "crowdsourcing" harm the doctor-patient relationship? What if patients want to develop their own record and videotape their medical encounter? Are doctors obligated to comply?

Delbanco tells me that he considers OpenNotes to be "like a new medication." Just like any new treatment, it will come with unexpected side effects. In the meantime, patients and doctors don't need to wait for the formal OpenNotes program to come to town. Patients can ask their doctors directly to look at their records. Doctors can try sharing them with patients, in real time, as I do now. It's changed my practice, and fundamentally transformed my understanding of whom the medical record ultimately belongs to: the patient.

Wen is an attending physician and director of patient-centered care research in the Department of Emergency Medicine at George Washington University. She is the author of "When Doctors Don't Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Care," and founder of Who's My Doctor, a project to encourage transparency in medicine. On Twitter:




Authority is just too very authoritative for the good of our society in some cases. This statement from the above article is an eye opener. I had no idea that until 1996 I had no personal right to see my medical chart. Dr. Wen the writer of this article states, “In medical school, we learn that medical records exist so that doctors can communicate with other doctors. No one told us about the benefits they could bring when shared with patients. In fact, before the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, a federal law enacted in 1996, patients generally had to sue to see their records. HIPAA, as that mouthful is abbreviated, affirmed that patients have a right to their medical information. But the process for obtaining records was often so cumbersome that few patients tried to access them.” The experimental 2010 project Open Notes is being used by more physicians now, and though some questions have arisen, such as the patients sharing information from their charts on social media, or an exception being made in the case of mental therapies, most doctors seem to like the new openness and find a collaboration with the patient more productive of good treatments. Personally I am very glad to see this. I think secrecy from the patient could only be for the purpose of avoiding law suits, and doctors need to be liable under the law. They have too crucial a role in the lives of their patients for the situation to be otherwise.