Tuesday, August 26, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Israel police searching for missing American hiker – CBS
AP  August 26, 2014, 7:08 AM

JERUSALEM -- Israeli police said Tuesday they are searching for a young New Jersey religious student who went missing during a hike in a forest outside Jerusalem last week.

Twenty-three-year-old Aaron Sofer of Lakewood, New Jersey, has been missing since Friday, when he went on a hike with a friend in the Jerusalem Forest, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

Rosenfeld said police have launched an extensive search for Sofer, who is an ultra-Orthodox student at a yeshiva - a Jewish religious school. Sofer's parents have flown to Israel.

On Monday, New Jersey politicians called for more help from both the U.S. and Israeli governments in the search for Sofer. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith and other local officials in New Jersey were planning a news conference for Tuesday in Lakewood to seek help in finding the student.

Rosenfeld said he was looking into reports that Sofer was with a companion when he disappeared.

He said the police were pursuing all avenues in their investigation, including the possibility that Sofer may have fallen victim to an attack by Palestinian militants.

The crisis between Israelis and Palestinians has spiked in recent weeks with the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which erupted on July 8.

That war stemmed from the abduction and killing of three Israeli teens in the West Bank by Hamas operatives in June, which triggered a massive Israeli arrest campaign in the West Bank, followed by an increase in rocket fire from Gaza.

In an apparent revenge attack, rightwing Israeli Jews kidnapped and burned to death a young Palestinian boy near Jerusalem in early July.



http://jpupdates.com/2014/08/25/breaking-sofer-found-jerusalem-forest/

Jewish Political News and Updates
August 25, 2014

After a 3 day manhunt, emergency authorities believe to have a lead in finding the Yeshiva student, Aaron Sofer, who went missing Fri day afternoon in the Jerusalem Forest.

Police and K9 dogs have found personal belongings believed to be of Sofer and have evacuated the scene for civilians, JP has learned.

The massive search was launched on Saturday night, after Sofer was reported missing since Friday afternoon.

Sofer, a resident of Lakewood studying in Jerusalem, went missing during a hike in the Beit Zayit area of the Jerusalem Forest with a friend when they reportedly became separated while navigating a steep incline.

ZAKA and United Hatzalah joined the manhunt along with Israeli police and the Shin Bet.



Between these two articles a slightly fuller story emerges. Both boys went hiking and became separated while going down a steep hill. “Police and K9 dogs have found personal belongings believed to be of Sofer and have evacuated the scene for civilians, JP has learned.” I do hope this won't turn out to be another kidnapping by Hamas. Such things will only keep the war going.




New technology lets parents set controls for teen drivers – CBS
ByJERRY EDGERTON MONEYWATCH August 26, 2014, 5:00 AM

Many parents fear letting their teenagers start to drive, and with good reason. Fatal auto crashes are the leading cause of death among Americans ages 15 to 20. But new technology can help give parents some peace of mind by letting them set a limit on the car's speed and by tracking the location of their teenage driver on the road.

Ford and General Motors have taken two different approaches. Ford's MyKey lets parents set the maximum speed of the car and limit the volume of the audio system. General Motors Family Link -- part of its OnStar service -- tracks the location of the car driven by a teenager and sends text messages to the parents if it is driven outside a stipulated area. Here is a closer look at these two systems.

Ford MyKey

Available in any model equipped with the MyFordTouch infotainment system, this technology gives a special key to the parent that allows setting the controls. Maximum speed can be set for 80 MPH. Beeper reminders will sound as the car reaches designated speeds -- say 50 MPH or 65 MPH. The parent can put limits on the volume of the audio system to minimize distraction. And the radio will not turn on if seat belts are not fastened.

MyKey was developed as Ford safety executive Andy Sarkisian worried about his two daughters who were nearing driving age. He says he wanted a system that allowed parents to set limits but still gave teens some driving freedom.

"MyKey is not about control, it's about love," he says. "It's about helping them manage the transition from childhood to adulthood and keeping them safe while they do it."

General Motors Family Link

The GM system does not involve controls on the car itself. But it lets parents stipulate where the teenager can drive. Once you set that perimeter online, you will get a text message if your teenager decides on a sudden road trip and crosses that digital barrier. You also can locate the vehicle at any time by going onto the system's web site.

Family Link is a $3.99 per month add-on to the GM OnStar service, which calls emergency services if you are in a crash and also provides navigation service. All GM vehicles are equipped for OnStar, but the basic service is $19.99 a month or $29.99 if you get GPS navigation. At the OnStar web site, you also can set up text messages for specific locations -- for instance to tell you that your teen has arrived at school at 8 a.m. Daily.

More options

If you're not in the market for a new car, a small plug-in device called Truvolo, currently in development, could soon offer some similar features. Truvolo plugs into your car's diagnostics port, which is normally found under the dashboard. Each time the car is started, the self-diagnostic feature kicks in, checking for mechanical problems before the car leaves the driveway.

Beyond that, its built-in sensors can report details of how the car is being driven and let parents know via an app on their smartphone if a teen driver is rapidly accelerating, swerving or slamming on the brakes. It also provides alerts based on specific locations, so parents can see when their child arrives home or at school.

While this technology can enable you to track your teenager's every move, could it also strain relations within the family? John McFarland, GM director of global marketing and innovation, says parents need to deal honestly with their children about such systems and controls. "You have to be really transparent with your teenagers about what technology you are using and why," says McFarland. "I plan to tell my son in a few years when he can drive that we need to have an agreement where and how he can drive and that technology lets me make sure he is living up to that agreement."

Beyond where and how fast they drive, teenagers have been the focus of concern about distracted driving caused by cellphone calls or texting.

Beginning with 30 of its 2015 models, GM will have voice-activated controls and buttons on the steering wheel to have text messages read aloud and then answered by voice. Or, you can set an automatic response to a text that says: " I am driving and will respond when I arrive." The latter option is much safer, says Carroll Lachnit, features editor for Edmunds.com. "There still is the issue of cognitive distraction," she says. "Even with eyes on the road and hands on the wheel, researchers says people can be less 'present' in their driving when they are talking even on a hands-free smartphone."

Whatever their approach to the problem, parents now have new technology at hand to help them keep their beginning drivers a little safer on the road.




Both of these systems would be very useful, but from the price stated in this article, they are a bit pricey, at least for a poor family. It's like the cost of signing on to the Internet. Many people will have to do without it. The problem of texting while driving or making calls on the phone is still a very big problem. Voice-activated controls, especially programmed to answer “I'm driving right now” is much better. I wonder if there are devices which could be installed on the car to prevent acceleration beyond a certain speed, without requiring a monthly fee. There used to be a device that could be installed that would prevent the engine from starting if the driver had alcohol on his breath. That would be another good thing to go ahead and install on any car that the family members would be driving, because after all nobody should be drinking while driving, and teenagers are prone to doing that, too.





Bullying begins even before kids start school – CBS
By TARA HAELLE HEALTHDAY August 26, 2014, 5:32 AM

In a finding that illustrates the complexity of bullying, Dutch researchers report that obese boys are more likely to bully and be bullied than their thinner peers and the vicious cycle begins before these children ever step foot inside a school.

Past research has shown an association between bullying and weight, but most of those studies focused on older children or teens. The average age of the children in this new study was 6.

"I was very surprised by how young these kids are," said Rachel Annuziato, an assistant professor for clinical psychology at Fordham University in New York City. "I think our understanding of bullying is that it's something that starts a little later cognitively and developmentally, but this suggests that isn't the case. From the day kids walk into school, this is a concern."

She said researchers have typically thought of bullying as a school-based phenomenon in which students learn bullying behavior from other kids. But these findings imply that kids are learning this behavior outside of school.

Annuziato said she also found it interesting that obesity increased the risk of being both a perpetrator and a victim for boys.

"Kids who are being picked on might start to think this is the way to fit in, to pick on other kids," she suggested. "That becomes their way to assert themselves after they've experienced bullying."

The link between being a bully and a victim of bullying may also offer clues to the link between bullying and obesity, said Susan Tortolero, a professor of public health at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston.

"A lot of these risk behaviors may have to do with self-regulation, self-discipline and decision-making, which gets into the executive functioning of the brain," Tortolero said. "It could be that poor coping is going on here, too. They could be expressing aggression because they're being bullied and they don't know how to cope with it or express it."

This possibility was also raised by the researchers, whose earlier work showed that being overweight or obese can lead to social problems among children. Having difficulty managing their emotions might be contributing to both the peer problems and to abnormal eating behaviors, the researchers suggested.

In the new study, more than 1,300 Dutch children and their teachers were surveyed to learn which children were bullies or victims, how often bullying occurred and what form it took: physical (hitting, kicking); verbal (teasing, name-calling); relational (being excluded or shunned); or material (personal items hidden or broken). The children were classified as having a normal weight or being overweight or obese based on their body-mass index, a measurement used to assess a person's healthy weight for their height.

Lead researcher Pauline Jansen and her colleagues at Erasmus University Rotterdam took into account other factors that might increase the risk of bullying or being bullied. Those factors included age, sex, national origin and mother's level of education, as well as whether the child had siblings or lived with a single parent.

The findings were published online Aug. 25 in the journal Pediatrics.

Although the children in the study were from the Netherlands, Tortolero said she would expect to see similar findings among U.S. Children.

One way to address bullying behavior is to model healthy social relationships and build children's self-confidence, Tortolero said.

"If your child has a risk factor for kids picking on them, it's really important to give them skills to cope with those things and to build their self-esteem," she said. "If you teach your children to problem-solve and how to make decisions, then they will be more successful."

In addition to addressing the health issue of obesity by helping children make better choices with eating and physical activity, parents can help children find activities and hobbies they excel in, Tortolero said.




“In a finding that illustrates the complexity of bullying, Dutch researchers report that obese boys are more likely to bully and be bullied than their thinner peers and the vicious cycle begins before these children ever step foot inside a school..... 'A lot of these risk behaviors may have to do with self-regulation, self-discipline and decision-making, which gets into the executive functioning of the brain...The link between being a bully and a victim of bullying may also offer clues to the link between bullying and obesity,' said Susan Tortolero.... Having difficulty managing their emotions might be contributing to both the peer problems and to abnormal eating behaviors, the researchers suggested.... other factors that might increase the risk of bullying or being bullied. Those factors included age, sex, national origin and mother's level of education, as well as whether the child had siblings or lived with a single parent.”

Rachel Annuziato, an assistant professor for clinical psychology at Fordham University in New York City expressed surprise at how young the behavior starts. I was keeping a 5 year old and his 2 year old brother once when he, without provocation that I could see, began to hit his little brother hard on the arm with his fist. My impression was that first, he was probably in the habit of doing that all the time at home, and second, he did it because he was bigger and could get away with it. My response was to grab him by the arm and slap him pretty hard 4 or 5 times on the rump, sying sternly “Don't you hit your little brother!” He was very angry at me, and stayed back while I cuddled the two year old. The five year old then came up to the couch and sat down beside me and I put my arm around him, saying nothing. The next morning he came in with not only his mother, but his father too, who told him in my presence to obey me. I believe he got a spanking at home, too.

Read the parental accounts on bullies below. It is very enlightening. These children are between 10 months old and two years. Only one parent was actually doing anything even halfway effective to stop the bullying, and she was not using spanking. She intervened each time it occurred and made the bully child apologize. She said that “she's still mean,” but that she is learning to apologize. I believe that rather than bullying being a learned behavior, it is probably the primary behavior for many children, but not all. Their personalities do differ. One of the mothers spoke of having a bully and a “calm child.” I do believe in teaching timid or “too calm” children to defend themselves, especially verbally. A boy at my nephew's school once shouted at him and called him “a loudmouthed lime!” He was very impulsive in his early years and could be brash. Apparently he called the boy a name, or something. That was an effective self-defense on the other boy's part, and it wasn't physical. One of the “calm” children mentioned below had already learned on her own to “spin around” away from the bully and grab more tightly onto his toy. I was glad to see that, because even though it is defensive, it isn't passive. The parent can't always be around to prevent the bullying, and unless the kid defends himself he will be the butt of rude horseplay or worse whenever teachers aren't around. Many children aren't civilized until they grow old enough to feel guilty for their bad behavior.

See the following article on a 10 month old female bully.

http://community.babycenter.com/post/a28708005/10_month_old_bully_can_i_do_anything

10 month old bully? Can I do anything?

rdy4babies
Posted 07/27/2011
One of my girls is constantly taking what her sister has, no matter if she has the exact same thing in her hands, she rips it from her hands! My poor calm child just lets her do it, then yells/cries! It's getting to the point where when my bully crawls near her sister, she immediately cries! How do I teach her not to do this, I say no, she laughs at me (no joke) I take the toy away and give it back to her sister, she just takes it again, how do I discipline a 10 month old?

CassieJMom
Posted 07/27/2011
yep I have one too. Its getting to the point that when he crawls near his sister she cries. He'll take her toys, climb on her, poke her in the eye. When he comes near she spins around and holds on tightly to whatever she has. He looks smaller in that he is as skinny as can be and she has some chub, but he has so much muscle that he weighs more. They are 11m

Bellaismine
Posted 07/30/2011
I have a bully too and my twins are 2 years (and the bully is the one who had all the extra fluid inutero). It is getting better. My bully is finally learning to apologize.  But she's still mean.  I just keep correcting, stopping, intervening, etc.




Two sewer workers die, apparently due to toxic fumes
CBS/AP August 26, 2014, 4:55 AM

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Two workers died after apparently getting overcome by toxic fumes in a sewer outside a Scottsdale shopping mall Monday, authorities said.

Scottsdale Fire Department officials say three workers were doing some maintenance or repair work in the sewer near The Promenade around 4 p.m. but weren't wearing full protective gear, for an unknown reason.

A bystander heard screams coming from the sewer and called authorities, Scottsdale Fire Division Chief Jay Ducote said.

One of the workers was able to climb out of the 15-foot sewer despite feeling lethargic, but the other two workers apparently were rendered unconscious by fumes inside, according to authorities.

Reporter Lindsey Reiser of CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO-TV said, "The stench coming from that sewage line at times was extremely overwhelming, even in the open air."

Ducote said arriving crews recorded high levels of hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulfide coming out of the sewer.

"Hydrogen sulfide is a really bad chemical that is lethal at 250 parts per million and it was about 200 parts per million with the hazmat teams got out there," Ducote said.

It wasn't immediately clear if the men were city workers or employed by a private company, authorities said, and their names weren't immediately released.

The lone survivor was taken to a Scottsdale hospital for evaluation.

Firefighters in full hazmat suits ventilated the 3-1/2 foot manhole cover for hours before crews started to go down into the sewer, using a tripod with harnesses to recover the bodies.

Crews also set up a decontamination tent for firefighters after the job was completed.




“One of the workers was able to climb out of the 15-foot sewer despite feeling lethargic, but the other two workers apparently were rendered unconscious by fumes inside, according to authorities. Reporter Lindsey Reiser of CBS Phoenix affiliate KPHO-TV said, 'The stench coming from that sewage line at times was extremely overwhelming, even in the open air.'... Firefighters in full hazmat suits ventilated the 3-1/2 foot manhole cover for hours before crews started to go down into the sewer, using a tripod with harnesses to recover the bodies. Crews also set up a decontamination tent for firefighters after the job was completed.”

I would love to know what the source(s) of the two unusual and dangerous gases could be. Perhaps they are byproducts of a chemical manufacturing activity which may be draining its waste into the sewer. Maybe another article will talk about it later. The comment that “at times” the scent was overwhelming even in open air, shows that somewhere along the line is a constant source of the contamination. Hopefully that will be investigated.




U.S. Slams 'Outside Interference' in Libya in Wake of Airstrikes – NBC
August 26, 2014

The United States warned against “outside interference” in Libya on Monday amid reports that airstrikes against armed Islamists allegedly carried out by Egypt with help from the United Arab Emirates caught Washington by “surprise.” Unidentified fighter jets attacked targets in Libya over the weekend and on Aug. 18, residents and witnesses said, as the country was torn apart by the worst fighting since the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Reuters and The New York Times reported that U.S. officials believe the airstrikes were carried out from Egyptian bases using UAE warplanes. NBC News could not independently verify the reports.

When asked about the New York Times report, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: “I’d certainly refer you to the governments of Libya, Egypt, and the UAE.” She added: “We believe outside interference in Libya exacerbates current divisions and undermines Libya’s democratic transition.” Libya's ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Dabbashi, was skeptical about Egypt and UAE involvement, telling Reuters: "I don’t believe it.” Libya’s chaos deepened Tuesday when the parliament that was replaced in an election in June reconvened and chose an Islamist-backed deputy as its new prime minister, leaving the country with two rival leaders and assemblies, each backed by armed factions.




It doesn't surprise me that the more stable governments of Egypt and UAE are going to begin to intervene against the growth of very radical Islamists through the Middle East, and I don't blame them. Those groups are a threat to the civilized societies in the area. Someone in the news recently referred to ISIS as “barbarians,” and though that is a harsh term, their behavior is aptly described by the word. I prefer to see the interference than another uncivilized group take over somewhere without being confronted.





http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20140826/eu--ukraine/?utm_hp_ref=world&ir=world

Putin sits down with Ukrainian president for talks
NATALIYA VASILYEVA AND PETER LEONARD | August 26, 2014 

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The presidents of Russia and Ukraine sat down for talks Tuesday, meeting face-to-face for the first time since June on the fighting that has engulfed Ukraine's separatist east.

Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko were joined by the presidents of Belarus and Kazakhstan and three senior officials from the European Union in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.

"The fate of my country and Europe is being decided here in Minsk today. The interests of Donbass (eastern Ukraine) have been and will be taken into account," Poroshenko said Tuesday as the talks began.

The Ukrainian president was expected to face pressure to find a negotiated settlement — not a military victory — to the fighting that began in April between pro-Russian rebels and government troops. That was the option called for by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a visit to Kiev last weekend.

Opening Tuesday's meeting, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko urged both sides to "discard political ambitions and not to seek political dividend."

The talks came as Ukraine said its forces had captured 10 Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine and the shelling spread to a new front in the far southeast. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of supporting and arming the pro-Russian rebels, which Russia denies daily.

Putin has so far ignored requests from the rebels to be annexed by Russia — unlike in March, when he annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. But Associated Press journalists on the border have seen the rebels with a wide range of military equipment — including tanks, Buk missile launchers and armored personnel carriers — and have run into many Russians among the rebel fighters.

Ukraine wants the rebels to hand back the territory they have captured in eastern Ukraine, while Putin wants to retain some sort of leverage over the mostly Russian-speaking region so Ukraine does not join NATO or the European Union.

The Facebook page for Ukraine's anti-rebel operation said soldiers from a Russian paratrooper division were captured Monday around Amvrosiivka, a town near the Russian border.

Towering columns of smoke rose Tuesday from outside a city in Ukraine's far southeast after what residents said was a heavy artillery barrage. Ukraine accused separatists and their alleged Russian backers of trying to expand the conflict.

It was the second straight day that attacks were reported in the vicinity of Novoazovsk, which is in eastern Ukraine's separatist Donetsk region but previously had seen little fighting.

Local residents in Novoazovsk, some hastily packing up in order to flee, told The Associated Press it was not clear what direction the firing had come from Tuesday.
Ukrainian officials on Monday said artillery was fired from the Russian side of the border. A Ukrainian soldier who declined to give his name suggested that Tuesday's shelling could have come from rebels aiming to take out a Ukrainian rocket launcher.

In Kiev, Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security Council, blamed the shelling on "Russian mercenaries."

Novoazovsk lies on the Azov Sea on the road that runs from Russia to the major Ukrainian port of Mariupol. That same road goes west to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in March.

Ukraine said a small column of Russian tanks and armored vehicles crossed into Ukraine on Monday north of Novoazovsk, raising the possibility that pro-Russia separatists were aiming to take control of a strip of land that would link up Russia with Crimea.

"Russia is trying from its side to open a new front," Lysenko told reporters.

"The new columns of Russian tanks and armor crossing into Ukraine indicates a Russian-directed counteroffensive may be underway," U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt said on his Twitter account.

Lysenko said there were enough forces and equipment in Mariupol to defend the city of more than 450,000. An AP reporter saw excavators digging deep trenches Tuesday on the eastern edge of the city.

Ukraine's posting about the captured soldiers included videos of five of the men, one of whom said the soldiers had been told they were being mobilized to take part in military exercises.

Russian news agencies quoted an unnamed official in the Russian Defense Ministry as saying the soldiers were patrolling the border and probably crossed the border inadvertently.

Russia reportedly has tens of thousands of troops positioned in areas near the Ukrainian border, leading to persistent concerns that Moscow could be preparing an invasion.

The fighting in eastern Ukraine began in mid-April, a month after Russia annexed Crimea. It has killed over 2,000 people and forced over 340,000 to flee, according to the U.N.

___
Leonard reported from Novoazovsk, Ukraine. Jim Heintz in Kiev, Ukraine, and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.




Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko were joined by the presidents of Belarus and Kazakhstan and three senior officials from the European Union in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. 'The fate of my country and Europe is being decided here in Minsk today. The interests of Donbass (eastern Ukraine) have been and will be taken into account,' Poroshenko said Tuesday as the talks began....

Extensive fighting and the possible opening of a new front is ongoing as the talks proceed. Both sides are being pressed to stop the military activity and talk peace, but that doesn't seem to be happening. It's more of the same, but as long as Russia is trying to help the rebels and influence the aims of Ukraine – they are strongly opposed to Ukraine's desire to join NATO and interact more with the West. I hoped the talks between Putin and Poroshenko would be a breakthrough, but they apparently aren't.




Ukraine's President Dissolves Parliament, Calls For New Elections – NPR
by KRISHNADEV CALAMUR
August 25, 2014

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced today on the presidential website that he was dissolving parliament and called for fresh elections on Oct. 26.

Poroshenko said the move was in accordance with the country's constitution, noting that Ukraine's coalition government collapsed July 24.

He said many lawmakers in Parliament were allied with ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, and that some were "direct sponsors or accomplices" of pro-Russia separatist militants in the country's east.

Poroshenko's move comes ahead of a planned summit Tuesday in Belarus that includes him and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

Kiev has accused Russia of helping separatists fighting against government troops in eastern Ukraine. Relations between the two countries have suffered since Russia annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea in March.

The Ukrainian military today said Russian troops wearing the insignia of separatist fighters from eastern Ukraine crossed into their territory with tanks and armored personnel carriers. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, who is in the nearby city of Donetsk, told our Newscast unit that Ukrainian officials accused the Kremlin of trying to open a new front in Ukraine's civil war.

Here's more from Soraya:

"In Kiev, officials say Ukrainian forces have stopped the Russian troops and their dozen armored vehicles outside a town on the most south-easterly point on the Azov Sea. Ukraine said the forces' aim was likely to take control of the nearby port city of Mariupol.

"Heavy fighting was reported in the area.

"Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov disavowed any knowledge of the column and accused the Kiev government of spreading disinformation.

"The latest accusations are likely to dampen talks scheduled between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents in Minsk on Tuesday."




“Poroshenko said the move was in accordance with the country's constitution, noting that Ukraine's coalition government collapsed July 24. He said many lawmakers in Parliament were allied with ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, and that some were "direct sponsors or accomplices" of pro-Russia separatist militants in the country's east.”.... 'In Kiev, officials say Ukrainian forces have stopped the Russian troops and their dozen armored vehicles outside a town on the most south-easterly point on the Azov Sea. Ukraine said the forces' aim was likely to take control of the nearby port city of Mariupol.' Heavy fighting was reported in the area.”

An article yesterday said that if the Russians can take control of the road to Mariupol they would have free access to Eastern Ukraine, including the border crossing. This would be an important military advantage. It is good news that Ukraine has stopped the new armored vehicles in their progress.

Poroshenko's act of dissolving Parliament to provide for fresh elections is a good thing. Eastern Ukraine should have representatives in the government, but new ones should be elected. The leaders of Eastern Ukraine today are not loyal members of Ukrainian society at all, but advocates of joining Russia again.

In the US you can't just “dissolve” the legislature. If Obama could do that, the highjinks of Tea Partiers in closing down the government could be stopped. I get very tired of the warfare between the conservatives and the Democrats, but I wouldn't willingly vote the Republicans in or give up the progressives' right to compete against them. If that happened, the government would try to get rid of some of the best changes that we have won over the last 40 or so years, since the Civil Rights Act, for instance. The Republican party as it exists today does not believe in democracy, as I see it, and I fear the day that they take over completely.