Saturday, September 6, 2014


News Clips For The Day


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/04/steve-southerland-fundraiser_n_5765978.html

GOP Congressman Held A Male-Only Fundraiser That's Straight Out Of 'Mad Men'
By Samantha Lachman
Posted: 09/04/2014

The “small group of concerned men" invited to a Republican congressman's fundraiser were instructed to "tell the Misses not to wait up" so they could enjoy "after dinner whiskey and cigars" without any women present.

BuzzFeed reported Thursday on an invitation sent by Rep. Steve Southerland's (R-Fla.) campaign in March.

“Good men sitting around discussing & solving political & social problems over fine food & drink date back to the 12th Century with King Arthur’s Round Table,” the invitation said, before going on to detail the five-course menu.

The campaign of Gwen Graham, Southerland's Democratic challenger, called the fundraiser "offensive" in a statement emailed to The Huffington Post.

"Now that we've learned we have a 'leave the misses at home' Congressman, it's time for us to be 'send the Congressman home' voters," Graham Campaign Manager Julia Gill Woodward wrote. "Congressman Southerland is dismissing this offensive fundraiser as 'a private event,' and that's the problem: Congressman Southerland tells us one thing in public, while doing the opposite in private. That, without question, is The Washington Way of doing business, and it's wrong for North Florida."

Southerland campaign manager Luke Strickland told BuzzFeed that bringing attention to the private event was “laughable."

The representative has previously said he voted to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act in a television ad without mentioning that he voted for a weaker version that wasn't ultimately passed out of Congress.

Graham, who has outraised Southerland, is the daughter of Bob Graham, Florida's popular former governor and senator.

Read the entire invitation at BuzzFeed.


With Graham Name, Democrats See Rare Chance For Florida Win
Reuters
Posted: 08/25/2014

By Letitia Stein

TAMPA, Fla., Aug 25(Reuters) - On a campaign tour across north Florida, congressional candidate Gwen Graham kept her dad busy at a grill flipping hamburgers and hotdogs for voters.

Bob Graham, the popular former governor and long-time U.S. senator, features prominently in his daughter's challenge to a Tea Party conservative, one of the nation's most closely watched races that is offering Democrats a rare chance to unseat a southern Republican in the U.S. Congress.

Father and daughter appear together in televised ads introducing the first-time political candidate, who says: "I'm Gwen Graham, and Dad and I approved this message."

"People understand what a Graham Democrat is," Gwen Graham said in an interview, highlighting her father's legacy as a hard worker and consensus builder in nearly four decades in office.

"That is what people want to get back to," she said. "They know that I am someone they can trust."

The enduring appeal of the Graham name has surprised pundits and raised Democratic chances in a politically divided district, testing the party's ability to reconnect with traditional, white southern voters who have largely abandoned its national ticket.

Gwen Graham, with $2.6 million in campaign funding, has outraised incumbent U.S. Representative Steve Southerland, a Panama City funeral home owner in his second term in office.
Despite strong headwinds favoring Republicans in the midterm elections, the Washington-based Cook Political Report recently switched the race from "lean Republican" to "toss-up."

"This is really the only race in the country where a Democratic challenger has made significant progress," said David Wasserman, Cook's U.S. House editor, noting that early polls show a tight race, shifting his initial skepticism of Graham's chances in the conservative Florida Panhandle.

"If Graham wins, the story really is that candidates still do matter," he said.




“The campaign of Gwen Graham, Southerland's Democratic challenger, called the fundraiser 'offensive' in a statement emailed to The Huffington Post.” It's more than merely offensive. It's beyond belief in a modern Western society. “The 'small group of concerned men' invited to a Republican congressman's fundraiser were instructed to 'tell the Misses not to wait up' so they could enjoy 'after dinner whiskey and cigars' without any women present. BuzzFeed reported Thursday on an invitation sent by Rep. Steve Southerland's (R-Fla.) campaign in March. 'Good men sitting around discussing & solving political & social problems over fine food & drink date back to the 12th Century with King Arthur’s Round Table,' the invitation said, before going on to detail the five-course menu.”

The good news is that Graham has outraised Southerland financially, and has made “significant progress” according to the Cook Political Report. He should take note of the old axiom “Pride goeth before a fall.” This article reminds me of the “men's rights” groups from the blog of Wednesday, September 3. article on For Men's Rights Groups, Feminism Has Come At The Expense Of Men – NPR, by JOEL ROSE, September 02, 2014. I will simply glory in the fact that Gwen Graham may very well beat the pants off the jerk.





'Safe Passage' for students through Chicago's violent streets
By DEAN REYNOLDS CBS NEWS September 5, 2014, 7:19 PM

CHICAGO - In the city's bloodiest neighborhood, on a street corner all by herself, Rayvell Thompson stands guard.

"I look for people, facial expressions, and you know, body language," said Thompson. "You know, things like that."

A mother of four, Thompson is one of nearly 2,000 unarmed workers providing safe passage for children going to and from Chicago's public schools.

As sirens occasionally wailed and police patrols cruised by, Thompson told CBS News she could identify gunfire just by hearing it, and she had been on that street corner when she heard shooting.

Fifty schools were closed in the area for budget reasons last year, meaning many kids were transferred to unfamiliar schools on unfamiliar streets. It would maybe not be a big deal in other towns, but Chicago is a different story.

Morgan Street, in the Englewood neighborhood is the dividing line between two rival gangs: The Black Disciples and the Gangster Disciples. And if you're in the area and you don't understand that, you could have a problems on your hands.

The Safe Passage workers are placed a block or two away from each other along what the police say are high-risk routes. If they see something suspicious, they can report it on two-way radios or call 911.

Over the last four years, 114 school children were murdered in Chicago. Last year alone, 200 of them were wounded in what police say were often gang-related incidents.

A 15-year-old girl was shot five blocks from here on Monday.

Rayvell and her co-workers say the violence goes down when they're on the job. And the school system says attendance is up.

"I love this job because I have a great passion for kids," said Thompson. "I love working with kids."

"They tell me that they feel safe with us being out here," Thompson said of the school children. "Also the parents. The parents too feel safe being out here and it makes a big difference."

As children passed by, Thompson told them, "Good morning, guys... have a good day, ok? See you later."

In some of Chicago's most violent neighborhoods, that simple expression is almost a prayer.




'I look for people, facial expressions, and you know, body language," said Thompson. "You know, things like that.' A mother of four, Thompson is one of nearly 2,000 unarmed workers providing safe passage for children going to and from Chicago's public schools.... Morgan Street, in the Englewood neighborhood is the dividing line between two rival gangs: The Black Disciples and the Gangster Disciples. And if you're in the area and you don't understand that, you could have a problems on your hands.... The Safe Passage workers are placed a block or two away from each other along what the police say are high-risk routes. If they see something suspicious, they can report it on two-way radios or call 911.... As children passed by, Thompson told them, 'Good morning, guys... have a good day, ok? See you later.' In some of Chicago's most violent neighborhoods, that simple expression is almost a prayer.”

A neighborhood without friendliness and a protective presence is just one more difficulty for school children these days. I don't believe most kids are running in gangs, but many of them are, and they are clearly taking lives. Two hundred were wounded last year and 114 died. When I first saw this article I envisioned gangs of boys waiting on the street to beat up kids who had to go past them. The so-called knockout game is new, and a sign of pure evil as far as I'm concerned, which is being fostered by kids becoming enured to cruelty and violent crime. These killings are much worse than that, though.

I'm glad to see that people have organized themselves to fight the problem. A citizen located every block or two to watch the street traffic for people who are up to no good, ready to call 911 for help, is a great thing. They are unarmed, so they aren't contributing to the violence by shooting a gun. Such people are heroes, too, because not only are they doing a great deal of good, they are potentially targets for attackers who would like to rule the streets. I'm sorry to hear that Chicago has a gang problem of this severity, but the neighbors are banding together to fight the bad guys in a very effective way. It's like neighborhood watch, but a little more assertive.





THREE GREAT NEWS CLIPS –


Deer stop traffic on Golden Gate Bridge
CBS NEWS September 5, 2014, 11:10 PM

SAUSALITO , Calif. -- Two northbound deer briefly stopped traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge Friday night as they made a run for the hills of Marin County, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The deer, reported at 5:24 p.m., appear to have entered the bridge from the south, CHP Officer Andrew Barclay told CBS San Francisco.

They quickly brought the three northbound lanes traffic to a halt behind them as they ran from San Francisco toward Marin. CHP officers were caught in the resulting traffic backup and by the time they reached the scene, the deer were gone, Barclay said. However, several videos and photos taken by people on the bridge have surfaced.

Drivers appeared to have slowed behind the animals, leaving the lanes clear in front of them.

"They pretty much created their own traffic break," Barclay said, noting that northbound traffic tends to be backed up and slower around 5:30 p.m. Anyway.

"That could be what saved the deer from getting hurt," he added. "If it was lighter traffic the cars would have been moving faster."

Barclay said it is not the first time animals have been reported on the bridge, but it is the first time it has happened in the two years he has served as a public information officer.



http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/local/2014/09/05/jax-woman-turns-114/15140885/

Jacksonville woman turns 114 Monday
Lindsey Boetsch, First Coast News
September 5, 2014

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Milk was $0.21 a gallon, a dozen eggs cost $0.28, and a pound of butter would cost you $0.26.

The year was 1900 and many people can't say they were there first hand. Blanche Cobb was there. She turns 114 on Monday.

"I was born in Georgia, the eighth of September in 1900," said Cobb.

She's having a birthday party this Sunday at Bibleway Apostolic Church.

"On my birthday, there will be a birthday party. I'm proud of it and glad of it," said Cobb.

She lives with her daughter Maehelen Shields in Northwest Jacksonville in a home they moved into back in 1978. The walls, full of so many stories, are home to pictures of some of her 13 children and grandchildren and great grandchildren.

"It's wonderful to have a mother to live that long. I don't know what I would do without her, We don't know who's going first, But it's beautiful, she's always been a mother," said Shields.

There's a family tree that Maehelen says isn't complete. There are six generations living in her family. At the top -- Blanche and her late husband Johnny. They were married in 1920. There also are awards, like a '12 Who Care' award for volunteering, a picture with President Obama, and a resolution saying Blanche is one of the oldest and most active voters in Duval County.

"She was the first black lady to register to vote when they first started registering for voting, this is a thing that says she's been voting ever since," said Shields.

She was still voting at 106. She's learned a lot in her almost 114 years and has always remained very faithful. Another secret has deep roots. She eats sweet potatoes every day.

"There's a gentleman out here who gives her a bunch of sweet potatoes each month. And he told us, as long as she lives, she wouldn't have to buy another sweet potato," said Shields.



http://www.mediaite.com/online/daily-awww-baby-gets-hearing-aid-hears-mother-for-first-time/

Daily AWWW: Baby Gets Hearing Aid, Hears Mother for First Time
Media ITE
by Tina Nguyen
September 4th, 2014

News palate cleanser time: let’s watch a 7-week old baby get his very first hearing aid and hear his parents for the first time.

“Our beautiful son Lachlan was diagnosed as having moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears,” his father, Tony Lever, said on YouTube. “Our beautiful little boy is now two years old and doing remarkably well.”

Gonna go melt out of happiness now; real news will be back in a second.

SEE this website to watch the baby's face as he hears clearly for the first time. When his parents speak he first looks surprised and then grins. What a sweet face!





California blue whales rebound from near extinction
By AGATA BLASZCZAK-BOXE CBS NEWS September 5, 2014, 5:43 PM

The California blue whale population has rebounded to near historic numbers after being close to extinction decades ago, according to new research.

Scientists estimate that there are now about 2,200 California blue whales, which constitutes 97 percent of historic levels. This is also the only population of the blue whale species that has recovered from whaling and from being near extinction as a consequence.

"The recovery of California blue whales from whaling demonstrates the ability of blue whale populations to rebuild under careful management and conservation measures," study author Cole Monnahan, a doctoral student in quantitative ecology and resource management at University of Washington, said in a statement.

Blue whales are the largest and heaviest animals on earth, measuring nearly 100 feet long and weighing 190 tons as adults.

According to new data published earlier this summer in the journal PLOS ONE, about 3,400 California blue whales were caught between 1905 and 1971.

"Considering the 3,400 caught in comparison to the 346,000 caught near Antarctica gives an idea how much smaller the population of California blue whales was likely to have been," study author Trevor Branch, a UW assistant professor of aquatic and fishery sciences, said in a statement.

Although the number of blue whales that get struck by ships these days likely exceeds allowable U.S. limits, those strikes do not seem to threaten the animals' recovery, the researchers noted, adding that the current whale numbers are reaching the habitat limit, as the population is growing more slowly.

"Our findings aren't meant to deprive California blue whales of protections that they need going forward," Monnahan said. "California blue whales are recovering because we took actions to stop catches and start monitoring. If we hadn't, the population might have been pushed to near extinction - an unfortunate fate suffered by other blue whale populations."
The new findings were published online Friday in the journal Marine Mammal Science.




'The recovery of California blue whales from whaling demonstrates the ability of blue whale populations to rebuild under careful management and conservation measures,' study author Cole Monnahan, a doctoral student in quantitative ecology and resource management at University of Washington, said in a statement.... Blue whales are the largest and heaviest animals on earth, measuring nearly 100 feet long and weighing 190 tons as adults.... 'Our findings aren't meant to deprive California blue whales of protections that they need going forward,' Monnahan said. 'California blue whales are recovering because we took actions to stop catches and start monitoring.'”

I will always remember the blue whale which hangs in a long room in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. It stretches from one end of the room to the other. They are like elephants – magnificent, and in their own way beautiful. I don't have any sympathy with an advanced country like Japan having an annual whale hunt. I support traditions until they cause great harm such as killing a near extinct animal, shark fin soup as a delicacy, elephant tusks and the ivory market, and rhinoceros horn and tiger parts for Chinese traditional medicine, etc. There is an American Indian group in Alaska that holds an annual whale hunt, but they still use the whale as a staple food, and they preserve the blubber and meat from the hunt to use later in the year. They aren't like an elite group who are privileged and lazy using animal parts, especially since that kind of Chinese medicine is absolutely ineffective. The Chinese and Japanese are very bright and in many ways advanced people. They should outlaw such black market products and join the rest of the world.







Will Al-Qaida Find Followers In India? – NPR
by JULIE MCCARTHY
September 05, 2014

Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is shown here in a still image posted online in 2011. In a video released this week, he announced that al-Qaida was establishing a faction in the Asian subcontinent with a focus on India.

After a year of silence, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has exhorted his "Muslim brothers" to join a newly established South Asia faction that would "defend the vulnerable in the Indian subcontinent."

He listed Burma and Bangladesh, and specifically named three states in India — Assam, Gujarat and Kashmir. In disputed Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state — which is claimed by both Pakistan and India — an insurgency agitates for independence. Assam has its own separatist movement and Gujarat was the site of religious riots in which 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in 2002.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was then Gujarat's chief minister.

Friday's headlines in Indian newspapers reflected the general worry: "Clear and Present Qaeda Danger," said The Times of India. "India Now In Al Qaeda sights," wrote The Hindu.

But Wilson John, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, says al-Qaida's decision to start an arm in the subcontinent may be the result of a bitter turf war and should be seen through the prism of a fading franchise.

John says al-Qaida is being eclipsed by the younger, more brutal Islamic State. Once a part of Osama bin Laden's jihadist organization, IS has gained ground in Syria and Iraq — and infamy with the beheadings of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

"Obviously [al-Qaida] is feeling threatened by the emergence of IS and the possible copycat emergence of other groups which may challenge AQ," John said. "So AQ is in a desperate attempt to move to stop these rebellions within the group. These are all the attempts to stem the bleeding of AQ's dominance."

John also says al-Qaida could feel the pressure to do something spectacular in this part of the world.

"The possibility of an attack in the near future is quite high," he said.

No Previous Inroads In India

But Ajai Sahni, the executive director of the Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, says the Islamist group has had India in its sights since before 2006, when bin Laden spoke of a "Crusader-Zionist-Hindu" conspiracy against the Muslim world.

Sahni says the fact that many of India's 176 million Muslims have grievances with the state does not mean they are ripe for recruitment by al-Qaida. He says some one dozen Indian Muslim youths traveled to Iraq to take up the cause of the Islamic State, but there is little evidence of a groundswell of Islamist recruits in India.

"Islam in India has grown in an extremely organic fashion over centuries. And it has evolved ways of accommodation with other faith systems and communities which are unique to India," he added. "So it becomes very difficult to dehumanize the other. And if you're to wage jihad versus the unbeliever, you have to dehumanize him in some measure."

The online video alarmed the government which said the threat from al-Qaida to India was quote "very real and imminent."

But retired Commodore Uday Bhaskar calls that an overreaction.

"The content of the video put out by the al-Qaida cannot be ignored," he said. But, he added, "we do not have to swing to the other extreme wherein you have pushed the panic button and interpreted this as a major national security threat."




“Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri … announced that al-Qaida was establishing a faction in the Asian subcontinent with a focus on India. After a year of silence, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has exhorted his 'Muslim brothers' to join a newly established South Asia faction that would 'defend the vulnerable in the Indian subcontinent.'... He listed Burma and Bangladesh, and specifically named three states in India — Assam, Gujarat and Kashmir.... But Wilson John, senior fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, says al-Qaida's decision to start an arm in the subcontinent may be the result of a bitter turf war and should be seen through the prism of a fading franchise. John says al-Qaida is being eclipsed by the younger, more brutal Islamic State.... But Ajai Sahni, the executive director of the Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, says the Islamist group has had India in its sights since before 2006, when bin Laden spoke of a 'Crusader-Zionist-Hindu' conspiracy against the Muslim world.... The online video alarmed the government which said the threat from al-Qaida to India was quote 'very real and imminent.' But retired Commodore Uday Bhaskar calls that an overreaction.”

The Hindus are often as harsh and vicious toward women as the Islamists are, but they haven't shown signs of trying to gobble up large new territories. John says al-Qaeda's current move “should be seen through the prism of a fading franchise,” as ISIS gains more world attention in recent months. Muslims have been at odds with Hindus for many years, particularly over disputed territory, and including riots in 2002, but they have not grown rapidly in India – “'there is little evidence of a groundswell of Islamist recruits in India.'” Still, this does sound like one more problem of the same kind. Hopefully the Hindu government will be able to defend the country against al-Qaeda's incursions.





The Changing Face Of West Africa Has Fueled The Ebola Crisis – NPR
by JASON BEAUBIEN
September 05, 2014

There's been a lot of finger-pointing this week over whom to blame for the slow response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Questions are being raised about why this epidemic has spun out of control and turned into the worst Ebola outbreak in history.

The inability of local health care providers and international aid groups to contain the virus is part of the problem. But major demographic and environmental changes in Africa are also contributing to the crisis.

The Africa of today is far different from the Africa of 1976 when Ebola was first discovered. Over the past four decades, the population of the continent has tripled. Forests have been cut down. Roads have sliced into areas that used to be almost inaccessible to outsiders.

These changes have made it more likely that Ebola outbreaks will occur and that when they do, they'll affect more people than in the past.

"If we just take a look at this current Ebola outbreak, the virus hasn't changed, Africa has changed," says Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "We now have this virus in an urbanized population among people who travel far and wide."

In the past, most Ebola outbreaks happened in remote, sparsely populated parts of Central Africa. Health officials controlled the outbreaks by quarantining the affected villages. The outbreak didn't spread because the people couldn't go anywhere.

In the current outbreak, people infected with Ebola have ended up on buses, communal taxis and airplanes. "That's the modern world we live in today," says Osterholm. "And trying to control an infectious agent in that world is very different than it was 20 or 30 years ago."

Making things worse, the population growth and deforestation happening across Africa increase the chances that more outbreaks like this one will occur.

Most of the time, the Ebola virus lives inside animals — probably fruit bats — in the jungle. Outbreaks occur when Ebola "spills over" from its animal host to a person. Jonathan Epstein, an epidemiologist with the EcoHealth Alliance in New York who studies emerging viral diseases, says increased human activity in and around forests — logging, farming, hunting — creates more chances for viruses like Ebola to jump over to people. "So this is really a probability game," he says. "This is a matter of opportunity for spillover to happen."

While it's impossible to pinpoint whether cutting down one particular forest led to one particular disease outbreak, Epstein says humans are making these outbreaks worse.

In West Africa, the virus is being carried by passengers on buses that link remote rural villages to capital cities. It's spreading through social rituals such as funerals. The virus is moving from person to person in hospitals.

"This outbreak is totally driven by social dynamics," says Epstein. "This, right now, is the largest outbreak because of factors that really have to do with people."

It's being fueled not just by population growth and new transportation networks but also by human emotion. When people with Ebola are afraid and flee treatment centers, they end up spreading the virus further.

Back when Ebola first emerged the Cold War was on, and the world was also very different politically. If the U.S. or the Soviet Union wanted to provide aid during a humanitarian crisis or stomp out an outbreak, they simply did it.

Today that's no longer the case, says Osterholm of CIDRAP: "We don't always know who's in charge; we don't know what they're in charge of. We have all these other changes that are occurring, and yet we still have the same infectious agents emerging. This concept of a changing world is really an important one and raises the question of what are we going to do in the future."

Because one thing is certain: The changes that have led to this crisis are not going away.




“Over the past four decades, the population of the continent has tripled. Forests have been cut down. Roads have sliced into areas that used to be almost inaccessible to outsiders. These changes have made it more likely that Ebola outbreaks will occur and that when they do, they'll affect more people than in the past. 'If we just take a look at this current Ebola outbreak, the virus hasn't changed, Africa has changed,' says Michael Osterholm.... 'So this is really a probability game," he says. "This is a matter of opportunity for spillover to happen.'... It's being fueled not just by population growth and new transportation networks but also by human emotion. When people with Ebola are afraid and flee treatment centers, they end up spreading the virus further.... 'We don't always know who's in charge; we don't know what they're in charge of. We have all these other changes that are occurring, and yet we still have the same infectious agents emerging....'”

The population of West Africa has tripled, transport is fluid and easy, leading to the more rapid spread of the virus, and the people still are too often uneducated and fear their government rather than trusting authorities. When the government needs to enforce something like a ban on travel or the placing of Ebola patients in isolation units, the population often flees instead and in one case rioted against the health workers. Health workers – being generally white outsiders – were considered by some to have started the epidemic rather than working to stop it. There are even rumors of witchcraft causing the sickness.

The only thing that is going to help is for our medical research community to push through a vaccine. That seems to be happening now. A report yesterday said that November is the projected date for the new vaccine. Hopefully they will make it in large enough quantities to vaccinate most or all of the population in those areas where Ebola has occurred. As long as the population is going to continue to kill and eat fruit bats – determined by DNA tests to be carrying the Ebola virus – there will be an endless number of cases erupting there. Hopefully this will then begin to come to a halt.





In Ukraine, Cease-Fire Between Government, Separatists Takes Hold – NPR
by EYDER PERALTA
September 05, 2014

The government of Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists in the east say they have stopped fighting, honoring a cease-fire that took effect late Friday afternoon local time.

NPR's Corey Flintoff tells our Newscast unit that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered a cease-fire once separatists agreed to peace talks at a meeting in Belarus.

During a televised press conference, Poroshenko said the peace deal was forged based on a phone conversation he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"That's why I think this is very important," he said. "And why this cease-fire should last."

Corey adds:

"Ukrainian representatives met the separatists, along with representatives from Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"The negotiations come as Ukrainian troops came under heavy fire from militant forces in Donetsk and near the southern port city of Mariupol.

"Ukraine, the United States and NATO say the separatists are being joined in the assault by elite Russian troops with heavy artillery.

"Russia denies any involvement in the fighting."

On his twitter account, Poroshenko said he had ordered his military to stop fighting at 11 a.m. ET.

Human life, he added, is of the highest value.

"We must do everything possible to stop the bloodshed and put an end to the suffering," Poroshenko tweeted.

It's worth noting that previous cease-fire deals have fallen apart quickly.

Reuters also reports that not much has changed as far as the position of each party is concerned. Igor Plotnitsky, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, told Reuters that despite the cease-fire deal, it will still seek independence from Ukraine.

As we reported, the potential for a cease-fire was being watched closely by the members of NATO meeting in Wales on Friday.

During a press conference, President Obama said the U.S. was "hopeful, but based on past experiences also skeptical" about the brand-new cease-fire that took effect Friday in Ukraine.

Separately, as well as an alliance, NATO members had stepped up their rhetoric in regard to Russia, warning that if Russia invaded a member nation, it would face the full force of NATO, including the United States military.

To that end, NATO announced it was deploying several thousand troops in Eastern Europe and warned that more stringent sanctions could be placed on Russia by member states if it did not de-escalate the situation in Ukraine.

The cease-fire announced Friday fits in with a seven-point peace plan outlined by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

Update at 10:40 a.m. ET. Cease-Fire Based On Deal With Putin:

Speaking to reporters in Newport, United Kingdom, Poroshenko said this cease-fire was based on his peace plan and on an agreement he hashed out with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone.

"That's why I think this is very important," he said. "And why this cease-fire should last."

Poroshenko said he is prepared to take "significant steps" toward peace, including the release of prisoners and guaranteeing the protection of Russian culture and language in the eastern part of the country.

The peace plan, he added, is also "based on the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of my country."



http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/09/putin-ukraine-ceasefire-201493144144284567.html

Putin unveils peace plan for Ukraine
 03 Sep 2014

President Vladimir Putin has unveiled a seven-point plan for peace in Ukraine which he said could be approved by rival sides in the conflict during talks scheduled for September 5.

"In order to halt bloodletting and stabilise the situation in southeastern Ukraine" Putin called on both Kiev and pro-Russian separatists on Wednesday to quickly agree to implement his roadmap.

Ukraine's president immediately rejected the plan as an attempt to deceive the West about Moscow's real intentions.

"This latest plan is another attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the international community ahead of the NATO summit and an attempt to avert the EU's inevitable decision to unleash a new wave of sanctions against Russia," Petro Poroshenko said in a statement.

US President Barack Obama, on a highly symbolic visit to former Soviet republic and new NATO member Estonia, said it was "too early to tell" if the ceasefire deal would hold on the ground.

His trip comes one day ahead of a NATO summit in Wales, where the military alliance will discuss Ukraine's crisis.

Seven-point plan

The first point of the Russian's president's plan is a "halt to active offensive operations by military forces and armed rebel units" around the rebel strongholds of Donetsk and Lugansk, Putin said in televised comments during a visit to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.

The roadmap also calls for a withdrawal by Ukrainian forces to positions from which they cannot shell cities, and a halt to air strikes by Kiev's military.

The blueprint also calls for deploying international observers to monitor a ceasefire, the unconditional release of all prisoners, the establishment of corridors for refugees and humanitarian aid, and the dispatch of aid to rebuild infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk, which have been the brunt of intense fighting.

"I believe that a final agreement between the authorities of Kiev and southeastern Ukraine can be reached and cemented during a meeting of the Contact Group on September 5," said Putin.

The Ukraine Contact Group, which includes representatives of Kiev, the separatist rebels, Moscow and the OSCE is scheduled to meet on Friday.

Earlier on Wednesday, Poroshenko was positive about today's talks between the two leaders.

"The parties reached mutual understanding on the steps that will facilitate the establishment of peace," amending an earlier statement that had spoken of agreement on a "permanent ceasefire".

Rebels have been battling Kiev's forces in the mainly Russian-speaking Donbas region, which is home to most of Ukraine's heavy industry and accounts for about 18 percent of the country's economic output.

On Monday, Ukraine's military pulled its forces back from defending a vital airport in the east against what is described as a column of Russian tanks, with Poroshenko accusing Moscow of "direct and open aggression".

The withdrawal from the civilian airport outside the city of Luhansk was the latest in a string of reverses for Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian rebels who Kiev says have the direct support of hundreds of Russian troops and armour.

Moscow has at various times denied either sending or planning to deploy troops into eastern Ukraine.




“NPR's Corey Flintoff tells our Newscast unit that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered a cease-fire once separatists agreed to peace talks at a meeting in Belarus. During a televised press conference, Poroshenko said the peace deal was forged based on a phone conversation he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'That's why I think this is very important,' he said. 'And why this cease-fire should last.'... 'Ukrainian representatives met the separatists, along with representatives from Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.'... Igor Plotnitsky, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, told Reuters that despite the cease-fire deal, it will still seek independence from Ukraine.... Separately, as well as an alliance, NATO members had stepped up their rhetoric in regard to Russia, warning that if Russia invaded a member nation, it would face the full force of NATO, including the United States military. To that end, NATO announced it was deploying several thousand troops in Eastern Europe....Poroshenko said he is prepared to take "significant steps" toward peace, including the release of prisoners and guaranteeing the protection of Russian culture and language in the eastern part of the country.

The cease-fire has begun, and hopefully will last until a peace agreement can be drawn up. Hopefully Russia will not make further incursions into Ukraine – I know, they haven't made any! – and Ukraine will pursue a Western European association without getting flack from Russia. Their people show a strong desire for democracy and freedom, and they are an educated and advanced population. Russia shouldn't continue to have its thumb on the scales of justice there.





Cheap Drinking Water From The Sun, Aided By A Pop Of Pencil Shavings – NPR
by MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF
September 05, 2014

Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel did it to survive on the Pacific Ocean. Robert Redford used the trick in All Is Lost.

When you're trapped on a boat, you can easily make fresh water, right? Simply let the sun heat up and evaporate salt water. Then trap the steam, condense it on a plastic surface and collect the fresh water. The liquid even gets sterilized in the process.

So why can't people around the world who lack clean drinking water do something similar?

Turns out, desalinating or sterilizing water with solar energy is way harder than Hollywood makes it look. The process is super inefficient and way too slow to be practical.

"The average yield is only about 1 cup per day," says the U.S. Air Force survival guide, even when you've got eight hours of sun and plenty of water.

But engineer Hadi Ghasemi, at the University of Houston, is trying to change that. He and a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a cheap material that desalinates water efficiently and fast using solar energy. And the secret to the new technology was sitting right on their desks: the graphite in pencils.

A simple solar still — and even more expensive versions with mirrors and lenses — heats up the entire water surface before it starts to evaporate, Ghasemi says. That takes time and wastes energy.

"Why do we need to heat the bulk of the liquid to get steam?" Ghasemi says. "Why not concentrate the solar energy at 'hot spots?' " Then all the energy goes into creating steam.

The trick to creating these "hot spots" is having the right material, he says. And that's where the graphite in pencils comes into play.

"We took graphite and put it into the microwave for seven seconds," Ghasemi says. The gases in the mineral cause the outer layer to expand and pop. "It's exactly like a popcorn!"

The result is a thin, porous material that looks like a black sponge. It floats on the surface of water, like a sponge. But instead of soaking up liquid, the pores soak up the sun, Ghasemi and his colleaguesreported in the journal Nature Communications back in July.

The graphite has holes in it with just the right shape to concentrate solar energy and create tiny hot spots in the graphite. Water creeps into the holes through capillary action (just as water moves up the stem of a plant to its leaves). The droplets then heat up quickly and evaporate.

"It creates steam at a low concentration of solar energy," Ghasemi says. "So you don't need such expensive optical systems to concentrate the solar energy."

Ghasemi and his team still have many kinks to iron out before they can turn the technology into a useful product. A major one is what to do with all the salt.

"When water desalinates, it leaves behind the salt. Eventually the pores [of the graphite] will be clogged," says Gang Chen of MIT, who led the study. "We need to figure out how to handle that."

Although the material is highly efficient at converting solar energy into steam, the material still requires a cheap lens or mirror to concentrate sunlight by about tenfold. (By comparison, other technologies require 1,000-fold concentration of the light, which requires expensive optics.)

"We want to further reduce the concentration of sunlight needed," Chen says. "Then the technology wouldn't need fancy tracking technology to keep the sun focused on it."

Still, though, Chen is excited about developing the sun sponge for a myriad of other applications, such as making steam power and drying up surfaces after floods.

"The raw materials are very cheap compared to those used in other solar power generation now," he says. "The idea is just so simple. I don't know why we didn't think about it earlier."

For an illustration of the solar still and how it operates, go to this website – http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2014/09/05/342469699/cheap-drinking-water-from-the-sun-aided-by-a-pop-of-pencil-shavings.




'The average yield is only about 1 cup per day,' says the U.S. Air Force survival guide, even when you've got eight hours of sun and plenty of water. But engineer Hadi Ghasemi, at the University of Houston, is trying to change that. He and a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a cheap material that desalinates water efficiently and fast using solar energy. And the secret to the new technology was sitting right on their desks: the graphite in pencils.... 'We took graphite and put it into the microwave for seven seconds," Ghasemi says. The gases in the mineral cause the outer layer to expand and pop. "It's exactly like a popcorn!' The result is a thin, porous material that looks like a black sponge. It floats on the surface of water, like a sponge. But instead of soaking up liquid, the pores soak up the sun, Ghasemi and his colleagues reported in the journal Nature Communications back in July.... to concentrate solar energy and create tiny hot spots in the graphite. Water creeps into the holes through capillary action (just as water moves up the stem of a plant to its leaves). The droplets then heat up quickly and evaporate. 'It creates steam at a low concentration of solar energy,' Ghasemi says. 'So you don't need such expensive optical systems to concentrate the solar energy.'... A major one is what to do with all the salt. 'When water desalinates, it leaves behind the salt. Eventually the pores [of the graphite] will be clogged,' says Gang Chen of MIT, who led the study. 'We need to figure out how to handle that.'

And science moves on. The article says that this new idea has “a myriad of other applications.” Scientific discoveries are almost always built on previous ones, and those on still earlier ideas. It goes way back to Homo Erectus (some sources say Homo Habilis) in their first use of fire by mankind. Who knows how much information was lost when the great library at Alexandria, Egypt was destroyed by fire under the rule of Julius Caesar? It is supposed to have contained thousands of scrolls containing ancient knowledge. Some things which we consider to be modern knowledge were actually rediscovered, such as the use of steam to do work.

This particular piece of knowledge requires the use of a microwave, so it's probably really new, and also it is possibly a spontaneously generated idea, unless heated graphite has been observed and studied before now. I do hope this process can be developed to create large quantities of fresh water from the sea, because if we have very many droughts like this one that has been going on for a very long time now in California and other Western states, we will be needing more water sources for human and animal consumption, not to mention industry and farming. The US's largest reservoir Lake Mead near Las Vegas – the city's only water source – is shrinking constantly and the drought hasn't stopped. I have been worrying about it since I saw a news photo of the what used to be lake bottom, but is now deeply cracked dried mud. The Colorado River is being heavily used to supply water to Lake Powell and Lake Mead, and according to one article seven states are using that water. This article is at website – http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2013/world/fortune-telling-colorado-river-teeters-toward-first-ever-shortage-declaration/.