Monday, September 15, 2014


News Clips For The Day


'Mom, Please Help': FBI Probing Alleged Abuse of Deaf, Autistic Kids – NBC
BY ALIZA NADI
First published September 14th 2014

The FBI is investigating the alleged abuse and neglect of vulnerable deaf and autistic children at a residential treatment center in Florida, NBC News has learned.

An exclusive NBC News investigation found that 10 different patients at NDA Behavioral Health System in Mt. Dora, Florida, also known as the National Deaf Academy, have alleged physical abuse to a government-funded advocacy group for the disabled in 2013. Three families, including the family of one of those ten patients, are now filing suits alleging abuse.

“He’s been broken,” said Hannah, who alleges in her lawsuit that her son was physically abused and inappropriately touched. “And our whole family has been broken.”

“If they do this to him –- and he can talk,” she said, “think of what they do to the ones who can’t talk.”

According to two other, separate lawsuits and a state report, three patients have died since 2009 in allegedly negligent circumstances. Local police were also called to the facility 49 times in 2013, according to police records.

Two former NDA employees told NBC News that they personally saw bruising, black eyes and chokeholds at the facility in 2012, but they felt pressure from the former CEO to cover it up. One of the employees said she called the state’s abuse hotline a dozen times in just six weeks to report incidents.

The employee, Carol Savage, said she also told a superior after one incident that the police should be called. “They said, ‘No, no, no, we don’t call the police here,’” recalled Savage. An attorney for NDA strongly denied the allegation. “NDA has procedures to direct employees to contact authorities under appropriate circumstances and no employees are ever discouraged from utilizing these processes if appropriate,” said the attorney.

Savage, a licensed therapist, said that she and her fellow whistleblower feel guilty now because they’re not at NDA looking out for the patients. Said Savage, “We feel like we left them behind … because these people can’t articulate for themselves.”

506 Calls to Police, 99 Investigations

The National Deaf Academy was founded in Mt. Dora, 30 miles north of Orlando, in 2000, and began to specialize in caring for deaf children and adults who also had behavioral or psychological conditions. Parents found that the 22-acre facility, which is licensed for 60 adult and 72 child patients, was one of the few places in the U.S. that could provide care for children who were both deaf and autistic. NDA attracted patients from around the country.

But NBC News found that police, state regulators and disability advocates all said the number of complaints to officials and calls to police from NDA were “high.”

Between 2008 and 2013, there were 506 “calls for service” from NDA to Mt. Dora police, which included everything from staffers reporting runaways to patients alleging abuse. A complete record of resolutions of the calls was unavailable, but of a list of 54 investigations between 2008 and 2014 provided by Mt. Dora police, 15 involved alleged battery, 10 involved alleged abuse, and three involved alleged sexual abuse. The only arrests listed, however, were for criminal mischief.

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The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) launched 99 of its own investigations into alleged abuse or neglect between 2004 and 2014. The central allegation in 35 of the cases was “physical abuse,” while “sexual abuse” or “molestation” were the principal accusations in 15. Other allegations included “asphyxiation,” “bone fracture,” and “bizarre punishment.”

DCF found that five cases of alleged physical abuse and one case of inadequate supervision were “verified,” meaning “a preponderance of the credible evidence results in a determination that the specific harm or threat of harm was the result of abuse, abandonment or neglect.” Fifteen other investigations yielded “some indicator” that the accusations were credible, including six cases of physical abuse and one allegation of sexual abuse.

Follow NBC News Investigations on Twitter and Facebook.

In June 2012, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), the licensing authority for health care facilities in Florida, made an unannounced visit to NDA stated in an inspection report that the facility failed to report three out of six incidents of alleged abuse between April and June 2012 that were entered in its own internal “grievance log.” “Based on interview and record review (sic),” said the report, “the facility failed to report all incidents of suspected abuse.”

There have been two deaths cited in lawsuits and one cited in a state report during the past five-and-a-half years at NDA.

In 2009, according to a lawsuit, a developmentally disabled 18-year-old choked to death after she was allegedly left unsupervised during lunch. The suit has been settled, according to court records. A year later, a deaf patient on suicide watch fled the school grounds and was hit by a car. AHCA alleged that the Deaf Academy had failed to meet the “minimum criteria required by the level for which the facility is licensed, which is contrary to law” and fined NDA $6,000. Another lawsuit alleges that in 2012, a diabetic teen died because NDA was negligent and didn’t provide the care outlined for the patient. The case has been settled for an undisclosed amount.

“We Are Not Saying the Crime Did Not Occur”

When John and Hannah visited the National Deaf Academy in 2012 while looking for a treatment facility for their autistic and bipolar 10-year-old, the Georgia couple knew nothing about allegations of abuse. They said their insurance company was willing to pay for NDA, and the campus and the staff impressed them.

“We were just excited to see what they were going to do with our son,” recalled Hannah.

But on their son’s first overnight stay with his parents outside NDA, said Hannah, he told them a staff member punched him in the face. Later, when she called her son at NDA, she said she heard staff members trying to keep him from talking.

Hannah called her insurance company and said a representative told her there had been allegations of abuse at NDA.

“In my heart, I felt so guilty as a mom because of that time when he told us of them hitting him,” said Hannah. “Because who wants to believe that their son is being hit?”

John and Hannah rushed to Mt. Dora to get their son, and said that when they arrived he had scabies and had lost 22 pounds. Even before they arrived back home in Georgia, they say they found evidence of possible abuse.

The couple said that on the trip their son talked about a staff member who said their son gave “the best massages,” and that he seemed to be in pain. According to a medical report provided to NBC News by the family, medical personnel at a Georgia emergency room found rectal bleeding and an abrasion, and said the boy had reported pain in his penis and in “wrong place #2."

The couple is filing suit against NDA, alleging inappropriate touching, physical abuse and exposure to pornography. At the family’s request, Mt. Dora police investigated their suspicion of abuse, but did not file charges because they were not able to identify a suspect or find forensic evidence.

“We are not saying the crime did not occur. We are saying that we cannot prove it,” a Mt. Dora police spokesperson told NBC News.
“I Would Scream Because It Hurt”

Daniel’s parents didn’t find out about his alleged abuse at NDA until long after he’d left the facility.

In 2013, Christine Ogden and her husband learned there was a deaf boy with OCD, ADHD and PTSD housed at a psychiatric facility in Washington state whom they might be able to adopt. But Ogden said staffers at the facility told them they thought 13-year-old Daniel might have been abused at the last place he’d been housed – NDA.

According to Ogden, the Washington facility said Daniel had been “overmedicated” and a “zombie” when he arrived in 2010. NDA records obtained by NBC News show that the facility said he had acted out sexually, assaulted staff and self-harmed.

When Daniel came to live with her in Virginia, said Ogden, he started to open up about his experiences at NDA, where he’d lived for nine months. Via sign language, said Christine, he told her about injections of powerful drugs that put him to sleep, having his hair pulled and being dragged into the shower.

Through an interpreter, Daniel told NBC News about the hair pulling, the shower and the injections. “I would scream because it hurt,” he said. “They would take me down and then they’d give me the shot.”

Ogden said that a mental health workers had described Daniel to her as a “scared, feral” child.

Said Ogden, who is suing NDA, “It makes me very angry because I often feel like if we had gotten Daniel before all this … we would not have the same types of challenges that we’re having now. He’s so joyful, but he’s so broken.”

A third family pulled their deaf child out of NDA after a 14-month stay in 2012 and 2013 when his grandmother said she saw abrasions on his neck and a bruise on his arm during Skype conversations.

All three families plan to sue NDA, alleging abuse and neglect, and are being represented by Jacksonville, Florida attorney Bruce Maxwell, whose severely handicapped daughter lived at a residential facility in Georgia until she died in 2012 – a facility he said was well-run. “I definitely have a spot in my heart for [special needs kids] and it drives my passion,” said Maxwell.

“Mom, Please Help”

Kyle Gilrain and Carol Savage, who worked at NDA as therapists in 2012, filed their suit against the Academy in 2013. They allege that they were fired after they reported abuse and neglect to corporate headquarters and to state officials.

NDA denies all allegations and the case is pending. In a statement, an NDA attorney said, “Carol Savage and Kyle Gilrain were terminated because they were noncompliant with the obligations of their positions. They failed to follow procedures at the facility with respect to patient care as well as administrative duties and responsibilities. “

Gilrain went to work at NDA in 2012 because he knew then-CEO Deana Goldstein from another facility in Virginia where they’d both worked several years earlier.

He told NBC News that after three or four months at NDA, patients started telling him they were being abused by the staff – physically restrained and coerced in ways, including chokeholds, Gilrain felt were excessive.

“I had a patient that wrote home to his mother in a Mother’s Day card, ‘Mom, please help,’” recalled Gilrain. “And that was all the card said. [He was] severely autistic, deaf, and wasn’t able to communicate it to her any other way.”

Gilrain said that he began to report alleged abuse, neglect and overmedication to the Department of Children and Families and the Agency for Health Care Administration. He provided information to Disability Rights Florida, a government-funded advocacy group for the disabled, and sent a letter to the compliance office at the headquarters of the company that has owned NDA since May 2010, Universal Health Services (UHS).

He said his old friend from Virginia, Deana Goldstein, was upset that he was contacting the agencies. She told him via email that “All allegations of abuse are not reportable in FL as they are in VA,” and asked him to report the incidents on company forms instead of documenting them in the patient record.

Not long after his letter to UHS, and nine months after he began work at NDA, Gilrain was fired.

Carol Savage was coming in the door as Gilrain was leaving, and cared for some of the same patients. She said that within her first week, “they were telling me about being choked, being hit. Within the first week, I saw bruising.” She said that soon after that, she witnessed the use of brute force first-hand.

“I’ve called the [DCF] abuse hotline before,” said Savage, who has worked at other treatment facilities. “I have never called the abuse hotline 12 times in a six-week period.”

Savage said she was told specifically that she was not supposed to call the abuse hotline, and that Goldstein handed her a card with her cell number and asked her to call the number before she called the hotline.

Carol said that two weeks after sending an email detailed alleged problems at the facility to an executive at UHS, and just six weeks after she was hired, she was fired.

Savage and Gilrain made contact with each other after leaving NDA, and decided to file a whistleblower suit. Neither has landed a job since, and both have lost their homes to foreclosure.

Gilrain said he doesn’t regret reporting the alleged incidents. “I’m not happy now because it’s hard to find a job and I really do like what I do. But I couldn’t have lived with myself.”

Incidents “Isolated and Unacceptable”

All of the incidents described by Gilrain, Savage and the three families suing NDA allegedly occurred while the Academy was being run by Deana Goldstein, who was CEO from 2009 to late 2013. Goldstein declined to comment to NBC News.

In a statement, new NDA CEO Gregory Sizemore said that “the isolated and unacceptable” alleged incidents revealed in the NBC News investigation “are exceptions and do not reflect the high quality of care provided at NDA nor the hundreds of success stories of children whose lives have been enhanced by their time at NDA.”

“Since becoming CEO in December 2013,” said Sizemore, “I have worked with our dedicated team to ensure that each patient receives the high quality, individualized care that he or she deserves.”

“All employees receive training on their obligations to report any incidents to the facility and/or regulatory agencies,” he added, “and employees who do not make these required reports or whose conduct fails to meet our high standards have been disciplined and even terminated.”

NDA’s corporate owner, UHS, said in a statement that the Academy is “independently operated” but “expected to meet the highest standards of patient care.”

“NDA serves an otherwise underserved community and we are confident that NDA has responded appropriately to address the alleged incidents referenced. NDA has a successful inspection record in its last three surveys conducted in 2013-2014 and we are confident that this trend will continue under its new leadership.”

The number of patients housed at NDA, however, has apparently dropped in recent years. The facility has a 132-bed capacity, but housed an average of 76.7 patients daily in 2012, which fell to 72.5 patients in 2013. NDA’s year-to-date average daily population for 2014 is 63.9.




I watched a documentary on kids with various illnesses, including autism. Autistic people vary from very high-functioning to mentally disabled and they can be very violent. I remember one autistic girl in her teens who was sitting on a couch in front of the TV in a treatment center, paying no attention to the TV and screaming incessantly. It is problems like that which cause the parents to put them in a treatment center like NDA, and it is probably impossible to handle these kids without medicating them to some degree.

These things don't justify very heavy medication, especially if it isn't targeted to their symptoms, but merely instead to turn them into “zombies.” Even worse is a lack of real treatment such as work with a therapist, hitting them, “bizarre punishments,” sexual abuse (especially rape as with the one boy) or “exposure to pornography.” This number of problems must relate to the state authorities failing to follow up on complaints – and there was no lack of complaints – instead, merely compiling a list of the problems without making any moves to close the institution. A shocking total of 506 “calls for service” from NDA to Mt. Dora police is on the record.

True, the FBI is investigating the place now, but the statements by the current owner Gregory Sizemore imply that the treatment center is proceeding forward with the investigations and trying to improve the situation, hoping not to be closed down completely. Sizemore speaks of the training that the employees undergo and the number of successes over the history of the place. He has only been the head since 2013.

I will look for future articles about NDA, especially on the FBI investigation. It is clear to me that whenever a parent or family put any mentally disabled person into a residential treatment center that they should look in all sources of information about complaints that have been received so far, and look at more than the one place before they send their family member anywhere. Since this place has several law suits ongoing, maybe a lawyer could do the research on the place. I wouldn't know how to search for lawsuits or sanctions from governmental overseeing bodies. I have noticed that in many cases or other subjects, I can go on Google, type in the name of the place or medication or whatever, and add the word “complaints.” Often that will bring up specific information that I hadn't thought to search for.

The same advice is applicable to nursing home centers for the elderly, because too many of them have similar complaints against them. My mother finally went into such a nursing home, and we were told to investigate the place, and also make frequent and irregularly spaced unannounced visits to our Mother. Any place that doesn't allow such visits should be off the list immediately. Letting a treatment center know you are coming gives them a chance to clean up the patient, her room and the facility in general in preparation for your visit. When I got divorced I was told by my lawyer that divorce, no matter how much good will you have toward your husband, is an “adversarial procedure.” Don't approach these situations in blind trust.





ISIS' brutality unites nations, but not enough
CBS/AP September 15, 2014, 4:59 AM

PARIS -- Newly outraged by the beheading of yet another Western hostage, diplomats from around the world are in Paris pressing for a coherent global strategy to combat extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) -- minus two of the main players and without any ground troops -- in a conflict that threatens to spill beyond the Mideast.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has been pressuring allies ahead of a conference Monday to show a united front, especially from majority-Muslim nations, saying nearly 40 countries agreed to contribute to a worldwide fight to defeat the militants before they gain more territory in Iraq and Syria.

The White House said Sunday it would find allies willing to send combat forces -- something the United States has ruled out -- but that it was too early to identify them. The U.S. has so far been alone in carrying out airstrikes.

Several Arab countries offered to conduct airstrikes against ISIS, according to a State Department official traveling with Kerry who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomat developments during his trip.

A second official gave some examples of what the U.S. would consider a military contribution: providing arms, any kind of training activity and airstrikes.

And as CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer reports, the meeting in Paris did bear fruit -- limited though it may have been; France requested and received permission from Baghdad to begin reconnaissance flights over ISIS-held territory in Iraq. While not the airstrikes Washington is after, they could be a precursor to French military action.

At the conclusion of the meeting in Paris, the organizers issued a joint statement saying 26 countries, as well as the European Union, United Nations and Arab League had pledged to fight ISIS by any means necessary, including military action -- but only in Iraq, and there was no further detail in the statement about what individual nations might have agreed to.

Muslim-majority countries are considered vital to any operation, although there have only been vague offers of help previously. Iran was struck off the invitation list, and Western officials have made clear they consider Syria's government part of the problem.

"Ultimately, this is a fight within Islam, within Sunni Islam," White House chief of staff Denis McDonough told Fox News on Sunday.

"That's why we know that ultimately to defeat and ultimately destroy ISIL, something that is not only in our interest but in the interest of the countries in the region, they are going to need to take the fight to it," he said, using an alternate acronym for the group.

"We'll build, we'll lead, we'll undergird, and we'll strengthen that coalition. But ultimately, they're going to help us beat them on the ground," McDonough said.

The reluctance of the U.S. and its major Sunni allies in the region to engage the two nations most eager to combat ISIS is one of the bigger underlying problems, explains CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk.

"The only nations which have been out front to offer boots on the ground are Iran and Syria," said Falk, "and the U.S. doesn't want it."

Speaking Sunday on "Face the Nation," Kerry insisted the objective was not to secure guarantees of boots on the ground -- from any nation.

"There are some who have offered to do so, but we are not looking for that, at this moment anyway," Kerry said.

But securing military commitments of other kinds -- to train and equip "moderate" Syrian rebels, carry out airstrikes, and provide intelligence -- will be most critical as the Obama administration maintains its promise to keep American combat forces out of the fight.

White House Chief of staff Denis McDonough said Sunday on "Face the Nation" that it will be up to regional partners and Syrian fighters to confront ISIS at ground level.

"We're going to provide our unique capabilities and airstrikes and intelligence and training and then it will be up to the Syrians on that side of the border to finish the job," said McDonough.

One of those allies could be Jordan, according to Republican Representative Michael McCaul, who said on "Face the Nation" he had "met with the Prince of Jordan just two days ago, who said he is ready today to put his troops into Syria to fight ISIS."

But the Paris conference, officially dedicated to peace and stability in Iraq, avoids mention of Syria, the power base of the militant organization gaining territory in both countries by the week. And the U.S. opposed France's attempt to invite Iran, which shares an 870-mile border with Iraq. The gathering itself will be brief, a matter of a few hours between its start and a planned joint statement.

In an exclusive interview on Sunday with The Associated Press in Paris, Iraq's President Fouad Massoum -- a Kurd, whose role in the government is largely ceremonial -- expressed regret that Iran was not attending the conference.

Massoum noted "sensitivities between some countries and Iran."

He also seemed not to welcome the possible participation Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in air strikes in Iraqi territory.

"It is not necessary that they participate in airstrikes; what is important is that they participate in the decisions of this conference," he said, underscoring Baghdad's closeness to Iran and how tensions among the regional powers could complicate the process of forming a Sunni alliance.

Speaking in his first interview since becoming Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi told state-run al-Iraqiyya in comments aired Sunday that he had given approvals to France to use Iraqi airspace and said all such authorizations would have to come from Baghdad.

The killing of David Haines, a British aid worker held hostage by the militants, added urgency to the calls for a coherent strategy against the brutal and well-organized group, which is a magnet for Muslim extremists from all over the world and rakes in more than $3 million a day from oil smuggling, human trafficking, theft and extortion, according to U.S. intelligence officials and private experts.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said his country would continue offering logistical help to U.S. forces and that counterterrorism efforts will increase, describing ISIS as a "massive" security threat that cannot be ignored.

"They are not Muslims, they are monsters," Cameron said.

Haines was the third Westerner to be killed by the extremists, after two American journalists. British officials also released the name of a second U.K. hostage being held by the group and threatened with death, identifying him as Alan Henning.

Following successes in Syria, fighters with ISIS -- among them many Iraqis -- took on the Iraqi military in Sunni-majority Anbar province, capitalizing on long-standing grievances against the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

When the militants arrived in Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, the U.S.-trained military crumbled almost instantly. Commanders disappeared. Pleas for more ammunition went unanswered. Troops ran from post to post, only to find them already taken by gunmen. In some cases, they stripped off their uniforms.

The militants seized tanks, missile launchers and ammunition that allowed their lightning advance across northern Iraq.

The CIA estimates the Sunni militant group has access to between 20,000 and 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria. A senior Iraqi intelligence official told The Associated Press that more than 27,600 ISIS fighters are believed to be operating in Iraq alone, including about 2,600 foreigners. He spoke anonymously as he is not entitled to brief the media.

McDonough said Iraq's newly inclusive Iraqi government allowed the U.S. and other countries to step up their role.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he was preparing to contribute up to 10 military aircraft and 600 personnel to be deployed to the United Arab Emirates. A statement from his office said special operations personnel who could assist Iraq's security forces were being prepared also, but combat troops were not being deployed. Australia was not on the list of countries attending the Paris conference released Sunday by the French presidency.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Sunday for "internationally agreed action to effectively stop the flow of fighters and money."

Germany on Friday banned all activity on behalf of the Islamic State group, including the distribution of propaganda and the display of its symbols, and is supplying Kurdish forces fighting the extremists in Iraq with assault rifles, anti-tank weapons and armored vehicles. But Germany has ruled out airstrikes and ground troops.

French President Francois Hollande and his Iraqi counterpart will co-chair the conference of 26 countries, plus the European Union, United Nations, and the Arab League. Hollande said the goals are to provide political support to the Iraqi government, coordinate humanitarian aid, and fight ISIS.

The conference agenda deliberately focused on Iraq for fear that discussions on Syria could distract from efforts to build a coalition. France had initially wanted to invite Iran, but U.S. and Saudi officials objected.

"Political feuds and differences between Iran from one side and the West and Saudi Arabia should be set aside," said Hadi Jalo, a Baghdad-based political analyst. "Iran should be invited because whether we like or not, Iran is a key player in the region."

Unlike the U.S., France is stopping short of possible action in Syria although the Paris government has not ruled out airstrikes in Iraq. The French fear that airstrikes on extremists within Syria could strengthen President Bashar Assad's hand and raise international legal problems.




Out of almost 40 nations only a few are proposing to send in ground troops to fight ISIS, and too many of them can't agree to meet with Iran, which could really be of help in the fighting. The US has said that there are other countries willing to send in ground troops, but “it was too early to identify them.” France is willing to fly bombers over Iraqi territory, but not over Syria. Jordan, according to Republican Representative Michael McCaul, “is ready today to put his troops into Syria to fight ISIS.” “Iraq's President Fouad Massoum -- a Kurd, whose role in the government is largely ceremonial -- expressed regret that Iran was not attending the conference.... He also seemed not to welcome the possible participation Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in air strikes in Iraqi territory....Germany is supplying Kurdish forces fighting the extremists in Iraq with assault rifles, anti-tank weapons and armored vehicles. But Germany has ruled out airstrikes and ground troops.... said Hadi Jalo, a Baghdad-based political analyst. 'Iran should be invited because whether we like or not, Iran is a key player in the region.'”

This is entirely too complicated, and old grudges need to be set aside so a large number of ground troops can be sent into Iraq and Syria from somewhere. At least Germany is planning to provide weapons to the Kurdish forces in Iraq, but unfortunately they won't send in any ground troops of their own. At least a couple of voices are calling for Iran's involvement, Hadi Jalo the political analyst saying that it is “a key player in the region.” The US seems to be promising a decision later for “identifying” countries willing to offer ground troops – hopefully not much later. Egypt and Iran don't like each other, but they could lay those disagreements aside to cooperate in sending in soldiers on the ground. Syria is willing to send soldiers against ISIS, but the US doesn't want their involvement. I hope these various forces will join in soon, even with nations like Iran, to fight a one-time deadly enemy who have no national loyalties at all – whose only goal is to take over territory in the middle of the region. I do have hope for this goal, with so much expressed regional interest about the problem at this conference Hopefully the next news article will bring progress toward unity.







Progressive pope continues push for inclusion
CBS NEWS September 15, 2014, 6:58 AM

Twenty couples gathered Sunday in St. Peter's Basilica to say "I do" with Catholic Church leader Pope Francis presiding over the nuptials.

But as CBS News correspondent Don Dahler reports, the ceremony raised some eyebrows because, according to the church, some of the couples Pope Francis wed were technically living in sin.

Many had been living together prior to getting married, which is forbidden in Catholicism. Some even have children.

But none of that mattered to Pope Francis, who has been more progressive with his views of the church and its relationship with the modern world.

"Lots of people feel alienated from the church, they don't feel welcome there," said Candida Moss, theologian professor at the University of Notre Dame.

"But it seems like Francis is saying that the church has to be more progressive, it needs to be more practical and it needs to be more compassionate," Moss said.

The mass wedding is another example of how progressive Pope Francis has been during his tenure as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. It was the first time he led a group wedding since he was elected 18 months ago. Some say it's a sign that the pope wants the Catholic Church to be more inclusive.

The symbolic ceremony comes just weeks before the Synod of Bishops, a major meeting on issues of the family. There, catholic leaders are expected to discuss everything from marriage to divorce and even contraception.

They're also expected to discuss the issue of allowing divorced parishioners to receive communion, something deeply important to Catholics. The Vatican does not allow divorced Catholics to receive the sacrament.

"If the rules change, we would see a huge increase in the number of people eligible to take communion, therefore we would see a huge increase in the number of people going to church," Moss said.

Father Gilbert Martinez is pastor of a Catholic church in New York. He said divorce can end more than the marriage -- it can affect the couple's relationship with their church.

"Their hearts are broken and then they feel like they've been rejected for not being able to receive communion," Martinez said.

That meeting of bishops is set to take place from October 5th through the 19th. Pope Francis' approach of family issues differs greatly from his predecessor, Pope Benedict, who said that threats to traditional family undermine the future of humanity itself.




“Twenty couples gathered Sunday in St. Peter's Basilica to say "I do" with Catholic Church leader Pope Francis presiding over the nuptials. But as CBS News correspondent Don Dahler reports, the ceremony raised some eyebrows because, according to the church, some of the couples Pope Francis wed were technically living in sin.... 'Lots of people feel alienated from the church, they don't feel welcome there,' said Candida Moss, theologian professor at the University of Notre Dame. 'But it seems like Francis is saying that the church has to be more progressive, it needs to be more practical and it needs to be more compassionate,' Moss said.... The symbolic ceremony comes just weeks before the Synod of Bishops, a major meeting on issues of the family. There, catholic leaders are expected to discuss everything from marriage to divorce and even contraception. They're also expected to discuss the issue of allowing divorced parishioners to receive communion, something deeply important to Catholics. The Vatican does not allow divorced Catholics to receive the sacrament.... That meeting of bishops is set to take place from October 5th through the 19th. Pope Francis' approach of family issues differs greatly from his predecessor, Pope Benedict, who said that threats to traditional family undermine the future of humanity itself.”

If only more of the Protestant groups would liberalize their views, Christianity would make more sense to me. There would be more stress on helping the poor and on education. Since the Protestant Reformation the various Christian groups have been united firmly along doctrinal lines and in opposition to each other. I came from the Methodist Church. In my particular church there was little stress on who was saved, when was the end of the world to come, whether or not there was predestination, or on whether or not you were going to hell, much discussed among the Baptists. Baptists and other Evangelicals get very emotional during services and what I tend to consider to be hysterical in response to a rousing preacher such as Billy Graham. They stress faith healing and giving mega money to the church. They will pressure you to join, but will insist that you follow their party line completely.

The Methodists are directly descended from the Anglicans and are more unemotional, much more logical, stressing good works over “blind” faith, admitting the possibility of Evolution, even of a much less literal belief in every word of the Bible, and they within the last few years admitted women into high positions and even gays. If you ask them they will probably say that they believe Jesus rose from the dead, that his mother was a virgin and that his father was God, but they won't grab you by the sleeve and rant at you about it. Like all the standard Protestant churches, they believe in a three-part identity of God. They are very similar to the Catholics, as are the Anglicans, but they don't revere the Pope, of course. Some of them believe in faith healing. Very few if any of them are trying to take over the government, as some Baptists are currently doing. They never preach a sermon on who you should vote for at the next election. I respect and like most of those characteristics.

I don't believe in it all, though, so I have joined an even more liberal Protestant group, the Unitarian Universalists. The drift of Christianity away from fundamentalism is occurring among young people and thinking adults as they accept gays, blacks and Hispanic people personally; though there is a fervent outpouring of feeling now from the Baptists and related groups, with their close relationship with the Tea Party wing of the Republicans. To me, what is going on in the Protestant religion nowadays isn't even religion. It's politics. I hope young people will make the choice for free thought and acceptance of minorities more and more, as such people make better citizens and voters, descrying racism, antisemitism and something that resembles totalitarianism in government. I'm worried about our future as a nation, but I still have hope.



Should you worry about Social Security being cut? – CBS
By STEVE VERNON MONEYWATCH September 15, 2014

The latest official projection estimates that Social Security's Trust Fund will be exhausted in 2033, when it's forecast that about 77 percent of promised benefits can still be paid. Does this mean you should start your Social Security benefits as soon as possible so you receive benefits before they're cut?

I was recently asked this question by a reader who'll turn age 70 in 2031. If this person waits to collect benefits until that age and benefits are reduced in 2033 because of funding challenges, then he would have collected full benefits for only two years. By starting Social Security at age 62, however, this reader might collect more money -- or at least will have collected benefits for 10 years instead of two by 2033.

Here's some information to consider when thinking about this question. You can start Social Security retirement benefits at age 62 -- that's the earliest eligible age with the lowest monthly benefit. But your income is increased for each month you delay starting Social Security, until age 70, when benefits have been increased to the maximum amount possible. Many retirement analysts, including me, advocate delaying Social Security as long as possible -- to age 70 if you can -- as a way to maximize your expected lifetime payout. This strategy also increases the benefits paid to surviving spouses in most situations.

So how do you reconcile these two points of view?

I recognize that many people have varying opinions on this topic, so I'll just tell you what I'm doing personally and my reasons, based on my experience as an actuary who's spent a lot of time studying and thinking about these questions. I'm planning to delay my Social Security benefits until age 70 for the reasons cited above, and I'm working enough now to cover my living expenses while I let my retirement resources grow until age 70.

I'm not letting Social Security's current funding challenges affect my decision on when to start benefits because I believe Congress will act to replenish the retirement program. Social Security is enormously popular, and our political leaders would be highly reluctant to reduce benefit payments to millions of retired Americans, otherwise known as voter. The Trust Fund has come close to depletion a few times in the past, and Congress has always taken steps to assure that benefits will continue to current retirees and beneficiaries.

I believe Congress will likely adopt some combination of small benefit reductions and tax increases to prevent the Trust Fund from running dry. Congress made major adjustments to Social Security benefits in 1983, the last time the Trust Fund was close to depletion. At that time, the amount of the adjustments depended on your year of birth, not the year you started your Social Security benefits.

Congress also protected people close to retirement from benefit cuts -- the biggest impact was on the youngest workers who were far from retirement. The various proposals our leaders are currently studying follow that pattern: protecting people close to retirement and purposefully preventing a situation where people would be incented to start Social Security to avoid a benefit reduction.

There is no precedent for reducing benefits because the Trust Fund has run dry. Current law doesn't permit expenditures for benefits in excess of currently available amounts in the Trust Fund. In the unlikely scenario that Congress allows the Trust Fund to be exhausted, there's no automatic mechanism for reducing benefits to restore the funding balance. If lawmakers don't act, the Social Security Commissioner would need to decide whether to delay paying full benefits, or to cut benefits, until Congress acts.

The upshot: This scenario is so remote that I'm not letting it influence my decision on when to start my Social Security benefit.




“I'm not letting Social Security's current funding challenges affect my decision on when to start benefits because I believe Congress will act to replenish the retirement program. Social Security is enormously popular, and our political leaders would be highly reluctant to reduce benefit payments to millions of retired Americans, otherwise known as voter. The Trust Fund has come close to depletion a few times in the past, and Congress has always taken steps to assure that benefits will continue to current retirees and beneficiaries. I believe Congress will likely adopt some combination of small benefit reductions and tax increases to prevent the Trust Fund from running dry.... Current law doesn't permit expenditures for benefits in excess of currently available amounts in the Trust Fund. In the unlikely scenario that Congress allows the Trust Fund to be exhausted, there's no automatic mechanism for reducing benefits to restore the funding balance. If lawmakers don't act, the Social Security Commissioner would need to decide whether to delay paying full benefits, or to cut benefits, until Congress acts. The upshot: This scenario is so remote that I'm not letting it influence my decision on when to start my Social Security benefit.”

There are people on the right today who hysterically cry out that we must immediately and drastically cut Social Security and Medicare benefits and even allow younger people to collect what would be their taxable due in a private retirement fund. That would, of course, totally gut the Social Security program financially, and Democrats all stand up in defense against such a plan. Of course Tea Partiers and some other Republicans keep pushing the plan so they can reduce the size of the Federal Budget until it covers little more than the national defense. In my opinion they are nutjobs. The most conservative minds in this country want nobody to get money except those who are already the richest, and what they do with it is their business, right? It's all a power and money grab. Those who want the poor to be able to eat regularly are radicals, right?

Personally, I am living on my Social Security payments, though it's tight, and I am grateful that I have made enough money through the years to do that. I am supporting the Democrats as much as I can, tracking some of the bills that are going through the Congress, and writing people in Congress and the Senate as ActBlue notifies me of the need to do it. This news blog allows me to speak out with my own opinions to the world in general and the US in particular, as long as Net Neutrality is maintained, that is. I am concerned about that issue, as I think getting away from a free Internet will ruin it for most of us.





Thousands Gather In Germany To Rally Against Anti-Semitism – NPR
by SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON
September 14, 2014

In Berlin, thousands of people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday to demonstrate against a wave of harassment and attacks against Jews in Germany. Many blame the rising anti-Semitism there and across Europe on tensions over the Gaza conflict.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who attended the Berlin rally, said there is no place for anti-Semitism in Germany, particularly because of its Nazi past, and that fighting it is every German citizen's duty.

Merkel is usually reserved in her reproaches, but spared no punches in denouncing threats and violence toward Jews in Germany, some 160 cases of which were reported in recent months.

She called it a "monstrous scandal" that anyone in Germany would be hassled for being Jewish or for backing Israel. Merkel says all Jewish institutions in Germany are under police protection because of the current climate.

"We want Jews in Germany to feel secure, and to feel this is our joint home," Merkel said. She said like everyone who lives in Germany, Jews should feel they have a good future.

"Jewish life belongs to us; it's part of Germany's identity and culture," Merkel said.

But that's not how many Jews here feel these days, says Dieter Graumann, the president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, which organized the rally.

Graumann says on German streets, Jews are being called pigs and there are shouts for them to be gassed, burned and slaughtered. He says that he wishes more Germans would speak out against what is the worst anti-Semitism here in decades.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder agrees, saying that since 1945 Germany has been "one of the most responsible countries on the earth.

"The world looks to Germany for political, for economic and for moral leadership, but something has changed," Lauder said. "This summer all that progress of the last 70 years has been darkened by the rising tide of anti-Semitism."

That rising tide is largely being blamed on Muslim immigrants and right-wing extremists. One Christian protestor at the rally — Traugott Zedler — says a rabbi he knows was recently threatened by several men while he was out walking in Berlin with his daughter. Zedler says the men threatened to kill the rabbi, but the rabbi didn't let it rattle him.

But rally organizers say a growing number of German Jews are too afraid to wear religious caps or jewelry outdoors because they fear being harassed or worse.

That wasn't the case at Sunday's rally, where many participants also showed their support for Israel by singing patriotic songs and waving Israeli flags.

Protestor Karin Brandt said she hopes the large turnout will show Germans that it's no longer acceptable to be anti-Semitic.

"Never again do we want this hatred of Jews in Germany — never again," she said.




“In Berlin, thousands of people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate on Sunday to demonstrate against a wave of harassment and attacks against Jews in Germany. Many blame the rising anti-Semitism there and across Europe on tensions over the Gaza conflict. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who attended the Berlin rally, said there is no place for anti-Semitism in Germany, particularly because of its Nazi past, and that fighting it is every German citizen's duty. Merkel is usually reserved in her reproaches, but spared no punches in denouncing threats and violence toward Jews in Germany, some 160 cases of which were reported in recent months.... Merkel says all Jewish institutions in Germany are under police protection because of the current climate. 'We want Jews in Germany to feel secure, and to feel this is our joint home,' Merkel said. She said like everyone who lives in Germany, Jews should feel they have a good future.... Graumann says on German streets, Jews are being called pigs and there are shouts for them to be gassed, burned and slaughtered. He says that he wishes more Germans would speak out against what is the worst anti-Semitism here in decades.... That rising tide is largely being blamed on Muslim immigrants and right-wing extremists. One Christian protestor at the rally — Traugott Zedler — says a rabbi he knows was recently threatened by several men while he was out walking in Berlin with his daughter. Zedler says the men threatened to kill the rabbi, but the rabbi didn't let it rattle him.... Protestor Karin Brandt said she hopes the large turnout will show Germans that it's no longer acceptable to be anti-Semitic. 'Never again do we want this hatred of Jews in Germany — never again,' she said.”

I hope those who are against the new anti-Semitism will identify and write about the political candidates who cater to the anti-Jewish sentiment, both on the Internet and in their local newspapers, forming groups to oppose such immoral voices and to watch them if they form super conservative political groups. Match them man for man in rallies as they did this Sunday, and work together to protect Jews as they walk down the street. When 9/11 happened I remember a local church-related group in Thomasville where I was living at the time, who very creatively volunteered to walk down the street with the few Islamic people we had in the city, to give them companionship and protection. Those who would shout ugly things at Jews could, for instance, find that they were facing a German who takes up the Jewish cause and argues the neo-Nazi down. People who have cell phone cameras could take their pictures and publish it on a flyer or in the newspaper. I think that would be very interesting, and might discourage these crude manifestations of hatred.

I also think that mosques and churches where religious leaders are talking against the Jews should be watched by the government and at the very least denounced. Such mosques are often homes for jihadist activity. I personally fear this upsurge of the ultra right-wing groups, rather than merely hating them, because I think they are very possibly working against the government, at least here in the US. The bomber Timothy McVeigh who severely damaged a Federal building was a member of a right-wing splinter group like the “militias” that have sprung up across the West and South. They don't just make vile threats. Sometimes they act.




RUSSIA


Shelling In Donetsk Rocks Cease-Fire In Ukraine – NPR
by BILL CHAPPELL
September 14, 2014

The cease-fire in eastern Ukraine is being tested Sunday, with intense fighting reported near the airport in Donetsk Saturday and Sunday. An NPR team in that city was forced to flee the shelling.

Reporting from Donetsk, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley says she was with members of the international monitoring group the OSCE — Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe — when they nearly came under fire in Donetsk Sunday.

"We were in town, where a large store had been shelled. It was on fire. The whole street was smoky," Eleanor tells our Newscast unit. "And then all of a sudden, mortar rounds started booming around us. It was horrible. Everyone just scrambled."

"We just high-tailed it out of there," she says. "They were so close — we were told they were 200 yards away. So the shelling is now back in the city of Donetsk."

Ukraine's government forces say they've repelled attacks by pro-Russian separatists at the Donetsk airport, in violence that threatens the week-old peace.

In other news out of Ukraine:

Despite the fighting, a prisoner exchange of people held by the Ukraine and the rebels will go ahead as planned, Donetsk People's Republic First Vice-Premier Andrei Purgin says. According to ITAR-TASS, the exchange will use the formula "65 for 65."

New sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU "will bring an abrupt halt to exploration of Russia's huge Arctic and shale oil reserves and complicate financing of existing Russian projects from the Caspian Sea to Iraq and Ghana," Reutersreports.

Giving new details about a prolonged August clash in Ilovaisk, in the Donetsk region, Minister of Defense Valerii Heletei says Ukraine lost 107 soldiers in the violence. Heletei also said "more than 300 Russian soldiers" died in fighting he blamed on an artillery attack on Ukrainian units as they withdrew with captured troops. That's according to Ukrainian News; the incident remains under investigation.

Voters in Crimea are taking part in Russia's elections today, as the area that was annexed by Russia in March chooses a parliament.



Estonia 'Spy' Dispute Could Be Russia Making Anti-NATO Mischief – NPR
by COREY FLINTOFF
September 14, 2014

Russia and its tiny neighbor, Estonia, are embroiled in a spy controversy worthy of a John le Carré novel.

Estonia says Russian agents kidnapped one of its intelligence officials in a cross-border raid. Russia says the man was caught spying on its territory.

The affair could have wider implications for the NATO alliance, because it began just days after President Obama gave a speech in Estonia promising to protect the NATO member against foreign aggression.

Russia's state-run news media ran the story with video supplied by the FSB, Russia's federal security service. It showed an Estonian citizen, Eston Kohver, being hustled into a police station in handcuffs, and said that he had been arrested in Russia's western Pskov region as he tried to carry out an intelligence operation.

Then the video panned over a table showing items that Kohver was allegedly carrying when he was caught: a snub-nosed Taurus automatic, a stack of 50-euro notes worth about $6,500 and some miniature recording equipment. The video zoomed in on the gun to show the trademark and the fact that it was made in Miami.

The implication was that Kohver was packing classic spy gear, and that he was somehow linked to the United States.

Estonia acknowledges that Kohver is one of its intelligence officers, but the resemblance to Russia's version of the story ends there.

In the first place, Estonia says, Kohver was on the Estonian side of the border when he was captured in a surprise raid.

Eerik-Niiles Kross, former Estonian intelligence chief and national security adviser, says the Russian team jammed communications in the area, fired smoke bombs to cover its moves, crossed the border, kidnapped Kohver and spirited him back to Russia before Kohver's back-up team could react.

"This is actually a standard procedure for a tactical operation like that," Kross says.

He adds that Estonia initially played down the incident, hoping that Kohver could be recovered through negotiations, but that hope was dashed when Russia claimed that the agent was caught spying.

Estonia later said Kohver was grabbed while he was waiting to meet with someone he thought was an informer in a smuggling case that he was investigating.

Estonian officials released what they say is proof of their version of events: Russian border guards signed a protocol immediately after the raid took place, acknowledging that there was an incursion from the Russian side of the border.

Mark Galeotti, professor at New York University and a specialist in Russian security issues, says he believes that Russia carried out the kidnapping, and did it for several reasons. First, he says, Russia wants to show that it is not intimidated by Obama's promise that NATO will defend Estonia.

"Secondly," Galeotti says, "it's sending a message to the smaller countries of NATO along its border that they should realize that NATO is a beast that is very good at doing one thing, which is responding to an overt military act. But it's not so good at dealing with a whole variety of other ways that Russia can bring pressure to bear."

Finally, Galeotti says, the affair is a form of mischief by Russia to see if it can help divide the Western alliance.

Kross says Estonia doesn't expect NATO to get involved.

"We consider this a bilateral issue," he says. "This is our guy, our border, our fight. We have been dealing with the Russians for a very long time and I think we are quite capable of dealing with this one, too."

But Kross says it's important to view the incident in a wider context — to consider what it would take to trigger the NATO promise that an attack on one of the alliance members is an attack on them all.

In the meantime, a Russian court has ordered Kohver to be held for two months, pending the investigation of his case. If he's convicted of spying, he could face as much as 20 years in a Russian prison.




In the Ukraine article, I especially noted that tit for tat style fighting is still going on between both sides, though the Russians started the exchange of shelling, and that the Ukrainians seem to be ahead on the body count. “'Giving new details about a prolonged August clash in Ilovaisk, in the Donetsk region, Minister of Defense Valerii Heletei says Ukraine lost 107 soldiers in the violence. Heletei also said 'more than 300 Russian soldiers' died in fighting he blamed on an artillery attack on Ukrainian units as they withdrew with captured troops.”

The following is from the Estonia article: “Estonia says Russian agents kidnapped one of its intelligence officials in a cross-border raid. Russia says the man was caught spying on its territory. The affair could have wider implications for the NATO alliance, because it began just days after President Obama gave a speech in Estonia promising to protect the NATO member against foreign aggression.... Then the video panned over a table showing items that Kohver was allegedly carrying when he was caught: a snub-nosed Taurus automatic, a stack of 50-euro notes worth about $6,500 and some miniature recording equipment. The video zoomed in on the gun to show the trademark and the fact that it was made in Miami. The implication was that Kohver was packing classic spy gear, and that he was somehow linked to the United States.... In the first place, Estonia says, Kohver was on the Estonian side of the border when he was captured in a surprise raid. Eerik-Niiles Kross, former Estonian intelligence chief and national security adviser, says the Russian team jammed communications in the area, fired smoke bombs to cover its moves, crossed the border, kidnapped Kohver and spirited him back to Russia before Kohver's back-up team could react.... Russian border guards signed a protocol immediately after the raid took place, acknowledging that there was an incursion from the Russian side of the border.”

New York University professor Mark Galeotti, a Russia specialist, stated that Russia is trying to intimidate Obama after his recent trip to Estonia and show the NATO countries that short of an all-out attack Russia can interfere in smaller ways to destabilize them. He also said Russia is trying to divide the Western alliances. To me he is also flexing his political muscles within Russia to encourage those who support his aggression and raise his approval ratings. I am of the opinion that he has no more stomach for a full declaration of war than the EU and the US have, though, and I think he will continue to try intimidation and harassment tactics instead. For awhile I was really worried about the Ukrainian problems, but now I am more solidly behind Obama in his cool-headed actions, seeing that though Putin gets outrageous in his moves, he is sane enough to preserve the peace. Of course, he may prove me wrong. We'll see.