Friday, September 12, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Rare blood type linked to dementia risk – CBS
By TARA HAELLE HEALTHDAY September 10, 2014, 6:06 PM

Your blood type may play a small role in your risk for dementia, a new study finds.

People with blood type AB, which includes about 4 percent of the population, appear to have an increased risk for memory problems as they age. Over about three years, individuals with blood type AB were almost twice as likely to show memory problems as those with type O blood, the most common blood group, the study found.

But experts cautioned that those with AB blood shouldn't panic because other circumstances play a bigger part in their risk for mental impairment.

"If you were to do the same study and look at smoking, lack of exercise, obesity and other lifestyle factors, the risk of dementia is much, much higher," said Dr. Terence Quinn, a clinical lecturer in stroke and geriatric medicine at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. "People who are worried about dementia, whether they have that blood group or not, should look at making those lifestyle changes."

In the study, researchers gave more than 30,000 people, aged 45 and older, a series of memory and thinking skills tests and then tested them again a little more than three years later. From this group, 495 participants scored low enough to qualify as having some memory or thinking impairment, and their blood types were compared to those of 587 participants with normal cognitive (mental) scores.

After making adjustments for differences in the participants' age, race, sex and geographical region, those who had AB blood types were 82 percent more likely to have impaired thinking skills than those with type O blood, according to the study.

Yet these findings, published online Sept. 10 in the journal Neurology, aren't necessarily surprising considering other recent research, said the study's senior researcher, Dr. Mary Cushman, a professor of hematology at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. It's already known that having blood type AB can affect blood clotting characteristics and risk of blood vessel-related conditions, she said. In addition, her research group found earlier this year that the AB blood type was linked to a higher risk of stroke.

About half of the association between stroke and AB blood type in the previous study was related to higher levels of clotting factor VIII, a blood protein that helps blood clot to stop bleeding. Factor VIII is the protein that is deficient in individuals with hemophilia. Too little factor VIII, and a person's blood doesn't clot properly. Too much, and the body forms clots too easily, potentially leading to heart attacks, stroke or large blood clots that clog veins.

But in this study, only about 20 percent of the association between memory problems and AB blood type could be explained by higher levels of factor VIII, suggesting other reasons for the link, Cushman said.

Though it's not clear what those reasons are, it may relate to the link between AB blood type and vascular problems, considering that stroke and dementia share several risk factors, she said. Those with memory and thinking impairment in the study were also more likely to smoke and to have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease or high cholesterol.

"People who have AB blood type should not be overly worried about these findings since the association we saw was relatively small and requires other research for confirmation," Cushman said. An association does not prove cause-and-effect.

She said it's more important that all individuals aim for a healthy lifestyle, regardless of blood type. Healthy lifestyle choices she recommended included not smoking, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy diet and keeping up with preventive care, such as controlling blood pressure and blood sugar.

"It is also important to exercise your brain by staying 'cognitively active' with things like reading and playing games like cards or puzzles," Cushman said.

Quinn, who wasn't involved in the research, said the study provides some insight into the underlying cause of dementia. "Along with other work, this study implies that blood is a predictor of dementia, and that's probably related to possible changes in blood, such as silent strokes or silent blood clots, that may, over time, cause memory problems."

He also emphasized the importance of healthy behaviors in reducing your risk of dementia.

"Although these studies are interesting and give us knowledge, the way to prevent dementia is not through drugs that affect blood," Quinn said. "It's through environmental, lifestyle factors."




Blood type AB has been linked with an 82% increase in dementia, along with an increase in a blood clotting factor that causes strokes and heart attacks. This article stresses exercise and healthy diet, along with brain exercise such as reading, playing cards and doing puzzles. 'Along with other work, this study implies that blood is a predictor of dementia, and that's probably related to possible changes in blood, such as silent strokes or silent blood clots, that may, over time, cause memory problems.'" I think I'll ask the doctor for a blood type test next time I'm there, and look into finding or starting an exercise group in my apartment building. I feel sure doing a blog counts as brain exercise. God help me to follow through on this exercise plan and do it sooner rather than later. I may not have much time left. Both of my parents had blood related illnesses and/or deaths and both of my sisters have high blood pressure or have had a stroke. So far, I've only had high cholesterol and I take medication for it, but I'm relatively young yet. When I'm 75 or older, there may be changes in my health that doom me to some form of dementia.




Russia's Putin orders new flexing of military muscle – CBS
AP September 11, 2014, 5:20 AM

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered military forces in the country's east to carry out a major exercise to test their preparedness, a day after announcing a push to develop new offensive weapons.

This is a second major drill of combat readiness since June when the conflict in eastern Ukraine was already raging. The previous drill in the Volga region and the Urals involved 65,000 troops. In May, Russia and China held a joint naval exercise in the East China Sea.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on state television on Thursday that the "combat alert" in the eastern military district, which encompasses eastern-most territories including those bordering on China and Japan, was issued at 10 a.m. Moscow time, or 0600 GMT.

Russia news agencies later quoted Shoigu as saying that the seven-day drill will test the defense of Russia's sea border. As part of the exercise Russia's Pacific fleet will repel the enemy's naval attack.

Putin on Wednesday accused the West of using the Ukraine crisis to reinvigorate NATO, and said Moscow will ponder a response to the alliance's decision to create a rapid-reaction "spearhead" force to protect Eastern Europe.

Russia is developing an array of new nuclear and conventional weapons to counter  recent moves by the U.S. and NATO, but will carefully weigh the costs to avoid overburdening its economy, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday.

Addressing a Kremlin meeting on weapons modernization plans, Putin said the West shouldn't be surprised about Moscow's efforts in view of U.S. missile defense plans and other decisions he said have threatened Russia's security.

"We have warned many times that we would have to take corresponding countermeasures to ensure our security," Putin said, adding that he would now take personal charge of the government commission that oversees military industries.

He said the weapons modernization program for 2016-2025 should focus on building a new array of offensive weapons to provide a "guaranteed nuclear deterrent," re-arming strategic and long-range aviation, creating an aerospace defense system and developing high-precision conventional weapons.

Putin wouldn't provide any details of prospective weapons, but he and other officials have repeatedly boasted about new Russian nuclear missiles' capability to penetrate any prospective missile shield.



All-Star Astronauts From U.S., China Mull Prospect of Space Cooperation – NBC
-- David Lom and Zhang Xiwen
First published September 11th 2014

BEIJING – Did space just see the intergalactic equivalent of Nixon-era pingpong diplomacy?

Astronauts from the U.S. and China talked friendship and cooperation in a rare gathering of international planetary all-stars in Beijing - despite a U.S. law banning official cooperation with China’s ambitious space program.

Buzz Aldrin was among more than 30 prominent space explorers from the United States, including active NASA astronauts acting in their “private capacity,” who joined a large contingent of astronauts and cosmonauts from 16 countries at the first space conference hosted by China in cooperation with the Association of Space Explorers (ASE).

In addition to Aldrin, Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian to walk in space and who served as commander of the International Space Station, was among the astronaut all-stars.
In exclusive interviews with NBC News, China’s first man in space, Yang Liwei, American astronaut Mario Runco Jr. and space expert Andy Turnage discussed the potential benefits of spaceflight cooperation among different countries. They expressed hope that space could be a new frontier for U.S.-China cooperation, reviving the old debate on whether the U.S. and China should be working together in and outside of orbit.




Clearly we have a new arms race with Russia. Putin blames the US' missile shield – which is not in existence yet – for threatening Russia. Meanwhile, he is giving appearances of moving into the former Soviet Union nations again, if the interference in Ukraine's government is any sign of a greater plan. We had a number of years of cooperation with Russia on the space and scientific front, but that now may be doomed.

The above article on a potential partnership with China on space exploration is interesting. China herself is not without military rivalry with the US, but we do have a substantial economic tie with them which has gone on to one degree or another since the presidency of Richard Nixon. Of course, we always berate them for their lack of freedom for their citizens and for their rivalry with some of our Asian allies such as Japan. Hopefully the US will maintain a balance of peaceful interactions with them, though, without a threat of war.





ISLAM STANDS UP – TWO ARTICLES


Arab States Pledge Some Military Help in ISIS Fight – NBC
— Erin McClam
First published September 11th 2014

Arab allies of the United States agreed Thursday to join the American military campaign against ISIS “as appropriate,” and they pledged to work to stop the flow of money and foreign fighters to the militants.

The pledge came after meetings between Secretary of State John Kerry and the allies in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A day earlier, President Barack Obama vowed to build an international coalition to defeat ISIS — diplomacy that promises to be tricky.

Kerry, at a press conference, praised the cooperation and said of ISIS: “Their barbarity literally knows no limits, and they have to be stopped.”

In a joint statement with the United States, the allies, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, said:

The participating states agreed to do their share in the comprehensive fight against ISIL, including: stopping the flow of foreign fighters through neighboring countries, countering financing of ISIL and other violent extremists, repudiating their hateful ideology, ending impunity and bringing perpetrators to justice, contributing to humanitarian relief efforts, assisting with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of communities brutalized by ISIL, supporting states that face the most acute ISIL threat, and, as appropriate, joining in the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign against ISIL.



http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/09/11/3566181/why-isis-is-in-fact-not-islamic/

Why ISIS Is Not, In Fact, Islamic
BY IGOR VOLSKY, JACK JENKINS
POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

Conservatives reacted harshly to President Obama’s claim on Wednesday night that the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) “is not Islamic,” accusing the commander-in-chief of naiveté and ignorance. “What kindergartner briefs the President on terrorism?” Ron Christie, a GOP strategist tweeted. “ISIS says it’s Islamic, lots of people say it’s Islamic, only the president won’t,” George Will told Fox News shortly after the speech.

But the full context of Obama’s remark points to an important distinction between Islam and the extremist ideology that’s sweeping parts of Iraq and Syria. “No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim,” Obama said. “ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.”

Indeed, even from the viewpoint of a casual observer, ISIS is an abomination to Islam. Explosions tend to capture the media’s attention more than peaceful coexistence, and a minuscule minority of extremist groups claiming to be Islamic have exploited this fact as a way to reinvent Islam as a “violent” religion. But just because you shout God’s name while committing murder doesn’t make your actions righteous. Islam, as millions of Muslims can attest, is a peaceful religion that calls on its followers to choose community over conflict, or, as it says in Surah al-Hujurat of the Qur’an (49:13): “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise [each other]).”

But ISIS clearly has little regard for this or other fundamental tenets of Islam. They have sparked the rage of Iraqi Muslims by carelessly blowing up copies of the Qur’an, and they have killed their fellow Muslims, be they Sunni or Shia. Even extremist Muslims who engage in warfare have strict rules of engagement and prohibitions against harming women and children, but ISIS has opted to ignore even this by slaughtering innocent youth and using rape and sexual slavery as a weapon.

And despite the conservative backlash, Obama’s analysis has received support from an unlikely voice: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY). During an appearance on Fox News’ Hannity, the potential 2016 presidential candidate, praised the president for differentiating ISIS ideology from the beliefs of Muslims in America and around the world. “Well, I think there was one important point that he was making about them not being Islamic or a form of true Islam,” he said. “I think it is important not only to the American public but for the world and the Islamic world to point out this is not a true form of Islam. This is an aberrant form that should not represent most of the civilized Islamic world.”
Granted, it’s always a tricky business decrying a religious tradition that is not your own. Also, while many faiths have internal hierarchies with judges that decide what is or isn’t proper behavior, Islam is a decentralized religious tradition that — as much as ISIS claims otherwise — lacks a single religious authority. But just as the diverse collective of Protestant Christians listen to each another, the opinion of a broader Islamic community always matters, and President Obama’s condemnation of ISIS is backed up by a global chorus of Muslim voices that are working to rebuke’s the group’s claim on Islam. Virtually every single American Muslim organization has publicly disavowed both the ideology and the practices of ISIS, and just hours before Obama’s address, dozens of Muslim American clerics and community leaders distanced their religion from the beliefs of the terrorist extremists.

“ISIS and al Qaeda represent a warped religious ideology,” Faizal Khan, imam of the Islamic Society of America mosque in Silver Spring, said during a press conference with Muslim-American leaders from Indonesia, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Sudan and Trinidad. “Either we reject this violence in the clearest possible terms, or we allow them to become the face of Islam and the world’s perception of us for years to come.”

Countless Islamic groups around the globe have also vehemently rejected ISIS.French Imams are blasting the militant group from their pulpits. Britian’s largest Mosque has declared them “Un-Islamic.” Sunni and Shia clerics in Iraq havedistributed a fatwa to nearly 50,000 mosques announcing that ISIS is “not in any way linked to [the Muslim] faith” and warning that failing to stand up against the group is effectively a sin. Even Egypt’s Grand Mufti has lambasted the group, and Dar al-Ifta, one of the most influential Muslim schools in the world, has launched a global campaign to strike the word “Islamic” from ISIS’s title, seeking to rebrand it as “al-Qaeda Separatists in Iraq and Syria,” or QSIS, saying the organization has “tarnished image of Islam across the globe.”

As one Libyan tweeted: “If you think Muslims aren’t condemning ISIS, it’s not because Muslims aren’t condemning ISIS. It’s because you’re not listening to Muslims.”

This issue, of course, isn’t unique to Islam. The Ku Klux Klan burns crosses and preaches hate in the name of Jesus Christ, and the ostensibly Christian “Lord’s Resistance Army” regularly ravages villages and recruits child soldiers in Western Africa. Hindu extremists burned mosques and sparked violence in India in the 1990s. Buddhist extremists exist, and are spewing hatred in several parts of Asia. But in all of these cases, the vast majority of believers worked or are working to disavow the actions of fanatics and preserve the core, peaceful principles of their faith — just as Muslims are now doing with ISIS.

Ultimately, the decision of whether or not one is or isn’t religious is left up to God. But we are all tasked with religious life here on earth, where the opinion of a religious community should matter, and Muslims the world over have made their position clear: No matter how many people they kill to gain power, how many fellow Muslims they terrorize into submission, or how loudly they scream their self-righteous blasphemy to the heavens, ISIS is not — nor will ever be — Islamic.




“In a joint statement with the United States, the allies, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, said: The participating states agreed to do their share in the comprehensive fight against ISIL, including: stopping the flow of foreign fighters through neighboring countries, countering financing of ISIL and other violent extremists, repudiating their hateful ideology, ending impunity and bringing perpetrators to justice, contributing to humanitarian relief efforts, assisting with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of communities brutalized by ISIL, supporting states that face the most acute ISIL threat, and, as appropriate, joining in the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign against ISIL.” This is really impressive, and could lead to the isolation of groups like al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and ISIS.

The second article on moderate Islamic groups and their statement against Islamic fundamentalism was also encouraging. It has been my opinion for a number of years that until the peaceful Islamic groups stand together against the military and cultural aggressiveness of such groups, they will continue to take over larger and larger parts of the world's religious beliefs. Hopefully that march toward conquest is waning.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/07/worlds-muslim-population-more-widespread-than-you-might-think/. JUNE 7, 2013, World’s Muslim population more widespread than you might think, BY DREW DESILVER:

“There are an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, making Islam the world’s second-largest religious tradition after Christianity, according to the December 2012 Global Religious Landscape report from the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Although many people, especially in the United States, may associate Islam with countries in the Middle East or North Africa, nearly two-thirds (62%) of Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Pew Research analysis. In fact, more Muslims live in India and Pakistan (344 million combined) than in the entire Middle East-North Africa region (317 million).

Muslims make up a majority of the population in 49 countries around the world. The country with the largest number (about 209 million) is Indonesia, where 87.2% of the population identifies as Muslim. India has the world’s second-largest Muslim population in raw numbers (roughly 176 million) though Muslims make up just 14.4% of India’s total population. Pew Research has put out several major reports recently on Muslims around the world, including ones on differences in their religious beliefs and practices, their views of religion, politics and society, and their use of the internet. 





Companies Step Up Pressure on Ebola: We Need Action Now – NBC
BY MAGGIE FOX
First published September 11th 2014

West Africa’s Ebola epidemic has started affecting mining operations, and companies feeling the pinch are pushing back. They’re pressuring governments and calling in ambassadors to demand international help to battle the crisis.

A few are evacuating staffers — international workers only — but others said they wanted to stick it out. Some are laying aside competitive differences to work together to help medical charities as the epidemic spreads out of control. The numbers of people infected and killed by the virus have doubled in less than a month, the World Health Organization says.

This week, the CEOs of 11 companies operating in the region sent an open letter to world governments asking for more help right away.

“We need it to happen faster and we need it in country and on the ground,” said Bill Scotting, chief executive of ArcelorMittal Mining, one of the companies. “Those resources have to come from out of country and they need to come fast.”

“We need it to happen faster and we need it in country and on the ground."

WHO says it will take at least $600 million to even begin to turn back the epidemic, which has now killed nearly 2,300 people and infected twice that number. “If not controlled, you will see an exponential increase in loss of life,” Scotting said. “Time is not on our side, and we need to raise the level of urgency and the speed at which the international community reacts on this.”

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) says the U.S. has committed more than $100 million to help. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday it was committing $50 million. ArcelorMittal says it’s spent at least $1 million for medical supplies, fuel, chlorine, mattresses, vehicles, satellite phones, information campaign materials and other resources.

Although WHO doesn’t recommend it, some airlines have stopped or limited flights to affected countries. “There are only a couple of carriers going in. It makes it harder to get the resources you need,” Scotting said.

“There is a risk the measures being taken to restrict travel to the countries most impacted by the virus will aggravate the growing humanitarian crisis,” the 11 CEOs of companies such as ArcelorMittal, gold mining firm IAMGOLD Corporation and others wrote in their open letter.

“Ebola is without doubt a horrific virus. But it is a virus that with the right understanding, precautions and processes in place should be avoidable and containable. That’s why we are calling for the immediate opening of humanitarian and economic corridors to the affected countries and urge the international community to … lift any travel bans in accordance with the WHO recommendation.”

It’s not affecting mining operations yet for ArcelorMittal, an international steel maker that mines iron ore in Liberia. But work on expanding operations has been slowed considerably, Scotting told NBC News.

Companies are worried about profits but also about workers, Scotting said. “We talking about individual lives here,” he said. “We are talking about the economic development of whole communities.”

Organizations such as ArcelorMittal have an outsized influence in a developing nation such as Liberia, and they’re making use of their direct access to President Ellen Sirleaf and her ministers, as well as to ambassadors from other countries.

“We believe we have a voice which can be heard, which the average Liberian doesn’t have,” Scotting said.

"They just want to get them out of Dodge."

Dr. Robert Quigley, vice president of medical services for International SOS, says his company has evacuated “hundreds" of foreign staffers from the region. But he says companies that normally compete have laid aside their differences to work together against Ebola. “Their effort is to influence the amount of money that has been committed to this effort to contain disease,” Quigley told NBC.

He says the companies are cooperating with nonprofit groups that are on the ground trying to help fight the epidemic. Most, if not all, of the major international companies operating in the area are members of International SOS, which helps companies plan for and cope with emergencies.

“They are paying attention and they are doing what they are told, because they know if they don’t the consequences will be dire,” Quigley said.

Before it’s over, International SOS will likely have helped to evacuate thousands of employees, Quigley predicts. “They just want to get them out of Dodge,” he said.




Though I am somewhat cynical about this development in the Republican sector of the world, who are too often very unenthusiastic about government projects that help struggling individual people, their joining in the fight to develop a vaccine and produce it in very large quantities, bringing in more organizations to fight the epidemic, may help. There is a need to raise $600,000,000 to stop the epidemic, according to WHO, and big business is good at raising money. Eleven CEOs of large companies have written an open letter in which they request the reopening of humanitarian sources and the lifting of the travel ban, which prevents aid from coming in as it prevents the disease from spreading. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already raised $50,000,000, the US has raised $100,000,000, and “ArcelorMittal says it’s spent at least $1 million for medical supplies, fuel, chlorine, mattresses, vehicles, satellite phones, information campaign materials and other resources.” I just hope the scientific work on vaccines will be ready to test in humans within the next few months, as has been predicted. Only that can really solve the problem.





http://www.freepress.net/blog/2014/09/08/democratic-leader-nancy-pelosi-endorses-title-ii

Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi Endorses Title II
Candace Clement
September 8, 2014
Net Neutrality
The FCC and Media Policy

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is going to have to overturn rocks to find support for his proposed rules that turn the Internet into a two-tiered system and destroy all hope of real Net Neutrality.

Moments ago, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Chairman Wheeler in which she expresses her concerns that Internet service providers could discriminate against content and urges the FCC to “follow the court’s guidance and reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act.”

“This unequivocal message from Nancy Pelosi shows the serious momentum for real Net Neutrality,” said Free Press Action Fund President and CEO Craig Aaron. “Chairman Wheeler can no longer claim that there's no political support for reclassifying broadband as a common carrier. The more politically perilous path is digging in and defending his unworkable proposal. As the Democratic leader rightfully points out, the courts have given the FCC a clear path forward to prevent slow lanes and discrimination: It's called Title II. And as millions and millions of Americans have been telling the FCC, that’s the only way to protect the Internet and ensure it continues to thrive.”

Rep. Pelosi joins an impressive roster of leaders — including President Obama — who have called on the FCC to protect real Net Neutrality. And with companies as big as Netflix signed on for Wednesday’s symbolic Internet Slowdown, the pushback is only going to grow.

Wheeler needs to consider the input of the president, congressional leadership, hundreds of companies and millions of Internet users.

And to Congresswoman Pelosi, well, we have only two things to say: Thank you and welcome to Team Internet.

The full text of the letter appears below:

September 8, 2014

Dear Chairman Wheeler,

Thank you for working to restore rules protecting net neutrality after the D.C. Circuit’s decision to eliminate a key provision in the 2010 Open Internet Rules. These rules need to be properly in place to protect consumers and innovators.

I remain concerned, however, that the Federal Communications Commission may act in a way that would permit broadband providers to discriminate against the content consumers and innovators create and enjoy. Innovators prefer bright-line rules and worry the proposed rules would force them into commercial arrangements that require payment of tolls in cash or equity to get their ideas on the Internet.

I oppose special Internet fast lanes, only open to those firms large enough to pay big money or fraught enough to give up big stakes in their company. Fortunately, the court’s decision gave the Commission a clear path forward to prohibit discrimination and paid prioritization. The law allows the Commission to protect consumers and innovators with strong, but tailored rules defending the open Internet from a wide variety of threats.

I believe the FCC should follow the court’s guidance and reclassify broadband as a Telecommunications Service under Title II of the Communications Act. Importantly, Title II designation also gives the FCC certainty to protect consumers from fraudulent billing practices and privacy infringements while maintaining the guarantee that Voice-over-Internet Protocol calls and other data will reach their destination without interference, as called for in the Network Compact. The law’s forbearance mechanism is an appropriate tool to refine modern rules and will prevent the FCC from overburdening broadband providers.

Over a million Americans directly contacted your agency during the initial round of comments, and millions more signed petitions. In fact, many Americans filed comments with your agency over the broadband connection on their mobile phone or tablet. This proves how important it is for the FCC to ensure all Americans are able to enjoy the same robust net neutrality protections on wireless that they should enjoy on a wired connection.

Thank you for your consideration of my views on this matter, which will have a global, and domestic, impact.

Best regards,

Nancy Pelosi
Democratic Leader



http://www.dailydot.com/politics/what-is-title-ii-net-neutrality-fcc/

Title II Is The Key To Net Neutrality, So What Is It?
By Fran Berkman
May 20, 2014

What happens in the next four months will go a long way to determining the future of the Internet. By now, you probably know what’s at stake: net neutrality, or, as some call it, the open Internet.

Overwhelmingly, advocates for net neutrality are calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reclassify Internet service providers (ISPs) as common carriers under Title II of theCommunications Act of 1934 (PDF). The popular belief is that Title II classification would allow the FCC to protect net neutrality by regulating against against paid prioritization.

Paid prioritization is a subversion of net neutrality through allowing ISPs to discriminate between websites’ data. If allowed, ISPs could charge content providers, the most common example being Netflix, to deliver data to customers through a so-called “Internet fast lane.”

The impetus for this entire debate came in January, when a federal appeals court struck down key parts of the FCC’s Open Internet Order of 2010. The ruling was a blow to net neutrality, however, it left the door open for the five-member FCC to write new rules to fortify the open Internet. Ever since, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has vowed to do so.

Many began to question Wheeler’s conviction, when it was reported last month that he intended to pursue a plan that would allow for paid prioritization.

Last week, the FCC voted 3-2 to approve a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on net neutrality. Basically, the FCC is going to take public comments on the topic for 120 days, then write rules that either reinstate or further fracture the open Internet.

While most reports on the last week’s FCC meeting suggested that the commission is moving forward with a plan that would allow some form of a “fast lane” and end net neutrality, the wording of the NPRM suggests that the fate of the Internet has yet to be determined.




This article at DailyDot is very informative, but very long, and I suggest you go to the website above and continue to read it. It's all about the drive for greater deregulation and reducing the limits to huge companies like COMCAST and AT&T who would be able to charge a much higher fee for Net space that ordinary users depend on. Netflix was specifically mentioned as a company which would suffer at their hands. They could probably increase the fees to anyone who uses the Internet and possibly even keep little people like me from having free Facebook, Wikipedia, LULU and Blogger services and more which I can't even imagine yet. The conglomerates could discriminate against politically active sites such as ActBlue who tend to be their opponents politically. I'm not interested in Netflix since I don't watch lots of movies, but I am interested in Blogger and ActBlue. Besides, its the loss of freedom that the FCC could initiate by allowing huge and very wealthy groups to buy influence and control the Internet, just as the Republicans have been doing in elections in recent years. The free flow of information and the affordability of Internet service, at this time, are my main concerns.

The congressional battle that is going on now is over whether to support Title II as the authority over Internet services or Section 706 of theTelecommunications Act of 1996 (PDF). “As the Democratic leader rightfully points out, the courts have given the FCC a clear path forward to prevent slow lanes and discrimination: It's called Title II. And as millions and millions of Americans have been telling the FCC, that’s the only way to protect the Internet and ensure it continues to thrive.” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has been leaning toward the less fully regulated Section 706 of the Republican-backed side, despite a massive outpouring of opinion from citizens and Net Neutrality oriented organizations. Like everything else, if it benefits the common man, the Republicans don't like it. I will continue to follow Nancy Pelosi and other Democrat's efforts to get Title II voted in as the authority over the Internet as they are covered in the news.





http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/09/11/1328881/-Another-Republican-candidate-implodes-by-telling-the-truth-about-his-beliefs?detail=email

Another Republican candidate implodes by telling the truth about his beliefs 
WED SEP 10, 2014

This time in a televised local debate, in front of an audience of interested voters and party loyalists. A spectacular fail, and I'm not exaggerating.

"Legitimate rape", "Macaca", "47%", when we catch Republicans saying what they really believe, it's curtains. Tonight, at a local candidate forum, the Republican candidate for Pueblo County Commissioner essentially endorsed the Sandy Hook truther position.

Even his Republican cheerleaders, who showed up en masse to support their challenger, turned on him. The boos, gasps, and shouts of shock and contempt came from just about all of the ~200 folks in attendance. There may have been a few people with their tin foil hats in their pockets, but the very vocal outrage seemed unanimous.

The debate was essentially over at that point. The cheerleader applause after each of his answers was distinctly muted. Details below the cloud rising from his vaporized candidacy.

The guy's name is Dr. Tom Ready, a dentist, and his Democratic opponent is the incumbent Sal Pace, who's served in various elected positions including the Colorado state legislature.

Ready began an answer to one of the moderator's questions by talking about the ludicrously high electric rates in Pueblo county (they are) and then stated his belief that we should go back to coal because "coal is clean" (eye roll). During his two minute statement, Ready declared that the reason rates were so high was that a bill Pace voted for at the state level forced the local utility to dump coal plants for natural gas. Pace explained that he spoke directly with representatives of the utility in question before he voted, and they told him that they were planning to close their coal plant anyway, so the switch to natural gas wouldn't alter their rate structure.

It was in Ready's back-and-forth rebuttal comments that he nuked his candidacy. Again he went after Pace for his vote on that bill, which also mandated a minimum percentage of electric generation from green sources, like solar or wind, which gave the utility an excuse forced the utility to raise its rates. (my strike)

At this point I thought, "Ruh roh, he's got Pace on that one." It was going take a deft answer to squirm around that shot, since it's hard to tell low income folks that they must pay more for electricity so it will be cleaner. Further, the host of the debate, The Pueblo Chieftain (which is the local, decidedly conservative newspaper with massive market penetration) had been hammering that very point for months.

I was caught off guard when Pace completely ignored the expensive clean energy attack by stating that the two candidates had agreed to keep it clean before the debate started, but since Ready went there... Pace proceeded to ask him about stuff on Ready's Facebook page dealing with Sandy Hook being faked so a gun ban could be passed. Oh, and Pace pointed out that he has a connection to someone whose kid was murdered in that school shooting.

I expected Ready to deflect this easily with a quick, "Why are you talking about nonsense on Facebook, I asked you about voting to raise rates on low income Puebloans for the sake of "clean energy". Explain that vote."

But no.

Ready went for it, and began to claim that there is no proof that Sandy Hook actually happened. Unbelievable.

That was when the crowd erupted. There for a second I thought they were going to drag him out in the street and tar and feather him like he was a Wall Street banker. I've never seen spontaneous public outrage come out of left field like that.

Then he started talking about a video that showed the father of one of the "victims" walking into a meeting laughing and joking and coming out crying. "Explain to me why he would do that!" This yahoo actually tried to make the truther argument while his own people were jeering him.

Stunning.

When the moderator asked Pace if he had a rebuttal Pace quietly said, "I have no further comment." I swear I saw him wag his tail as he swallowed a canary.




“Tonight, at a local candidate forum, the Republican candidate for Pueblo County Commissioner essentially endorsed the Sandy Hook truther position. Even his Republican cheerleaders, who showed up en masse to support their challenger, turned on him. The boos, gasps, and shouts of shock and contempt came from just about all of the ~200 folks in attendance. There may have been a few people with their tin foil hats in their pockets, but the very vocal outrage seemed unanimous.”

There are definitely intelligent, sane and well-educated people in the Republican party, but there are also a large number of people who are so paranoid that they can't take in facts and so uneducated that they can't read or understand them. Those people often fear the government and don't trust the news media. From that background come stories like “President Obama is not a US citizen,” 9/11 was a government conspiracy, and “the Sandy Hook killing never really happened.” To them it was a conspiracy to justify further gun control.

They listen to Rush Limbaugh to get their news. Limbaugh at least once admitted out loud that he is not a news commentator, but “an entertainer.” He is also a hatemonger. This kind of citizen generally thrives on hate actions and hate speech. Recently in Ferguson the KKK left fliers in the yards of citizens there, so they still want to burn crosses and kill black people in 2014. There are legitimate gun owners, but the NRA has a large following among the most ignorant people in the country, who want to prepare for US society and the rule of law to break down, and who often think “the government” is their enemy. Why do they think the government is their enemy if they are operating within the law? It's because of what they know they believe in, which does put them outside the law – a return to the days of lynchings or a race war – and not only the government, but most citizens of the US would oppose them on those issues.

Despite the persistence of “the truthers,” I still trust most Americans to stand by our society in most ways. When Americans are polled on issues that they espouse, those who want Social Security and Medicare preserved as our safety net still dominate; and interestingly when the news footage of the Ferguson police force in their highly militarized gear was shown, all the Congressmen – even the Tea Partiers – were shocked and began to look at the law that allows the Pentagon to arm the city police forces of the country with the power of armies. I was surprised at that, and glad. It showed some semblance of human caring and true civil rights. Also, I remember, one of the Tea Party candidates in the west stepped quickly away from the comments of Cliven Bundy the Nevada rancher. who defended the anti-black and specifically pro-slavery sentiments of the racist fringe, which though not so vocal as in the past, has not died down completely. I hope that those voices which I consider to be not only unacceptable, but also basically evil, will gradually recede into the background, and American rights and representative government will be strengthened further rather than dying out.