Wednesday, September 24, 2014


News Clips For The Day


http://news.yahoo.com/holder--al-qaeda-offshoot-struck-by-airstrikes-was-close-to-attac-on-u-s---allies-200859317.html

Holder: Al-Qaida offshoot hit by airstrikes was close to attack on U.S., allies
A.G. links Khorasan Group plotting to summertime aviation restrictions
Yahoo News
By Katie Couric, Michael Isikoff, and Olivier Knox

Attorney General Eric Holder revealed Tuesday that President Barack Obama ordered American airstrikes against the Khorasan Group in Syria because the shadowy al-Qaida offshoot was close to launching attacks on the United States or its allies. The group's plotting led to a tightening of air travel restrictions this past summer, Holder said.

While most Americans had never heard of that band of Islamist extremists prior to the sustained overnight bombing campaign, “this is a group that has been known to us for two years,” Holder told Yahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric.

“We hit them last night out of a concern that they were getting close to an execution date of some of the plans that we have seen,” he said. “And the hitting that we did last night, I think, will probably continue until we are at a stage where we think we have degraded their ability to get at our allies or to the homeland.”

U.S. officials told Yahoo News that the Khorasan terror plot involved American and European aircraft. Holder did not confirm that but linked the group directly to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson’s decision in early July to forbid uncharged cellphones, laptops, and other electronic devices on some U.S.-bound flights originating overseas.

"I can say that the enhanced security measures that we took [in] the aviation sector some months ago," Holder told Couric, "[were] based on concerns we had about what the Khorasan Group was planning to do."

The Khorasan Group comprises “seasoned” or “veteran” al-Qaida fighters from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen, according to U.S. officials. It is thought to be led by a man so close to Osama bin Laden that he was told about the terrorist strikes of Sept. 11, 2001, before they happened.

Members of the group converged on Syria, forged links with militant rebel groups, and worked to enlist Westerners, including Americans, for “external operations” — attacks made possible by the new recruits’ European or U.S. Passports.

Its members were “constructing and testing improvised explosive devices,” one official said.

“We were monitoring active plotting that posed an imminent threat to the U.S. and potentially our allies,” one senior official told reporters at a background briefing. “That was the united view of our intelligence community.”

“It was a threefold perfect storm,” added one U.S. counterterrorism official, describing the intelligence that prompted Obama to order the airstrikes that pounded Khorasan Group facilities in Syria overnight.

U.S. officials had picked up intelligence that the plot to attack Western aircraft had reached advanced stages and “there were timetables on it,” one official told Yahoo News.

It was this intelligence that led to Monday night’s strike — using Tomahawk missiles and precision bombs — on Khorasan training camps, munitions facilities, and command and control centers west of Aleppo. The strikes also targeted Khorasan’s leader, Muhsin al-Fadhli, a 5-foot-5 Kuwaiti-born militant who formerly led al-Qaida in Iran.

But while U.S. officials told reporters that the strikes had been effective in hitting their targets, they could not confirm whether they had gotten al-Fadhli. U.S. officials have offered a $7 million reward for any information that led to his capture.

The comments today about a possibly imminent attack by Khorasan were especially striking since they appeared to contradict repeated assurances from senior U.S. government officials in recent weeks denying there was any specific or credible information about any plots against the U.S. Homeland.

Until last week, when Director of National Intelligence James Clapper first referred to Khorasan as a “potential” threat, there had been few public references to it.

Obama had never said the group’s name in public before his brief remarks Tuesday about the overnight U.S.-led onslaught against Islamic State targets in Syria.

“We also took strikes to disrupt plotting against the United States and our allies by seasoned al-Qaida operatives in Syria who are known as the Khorasan Group,” Obama said on the South Lawn of the White House. “And once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and try to do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people.”

U.S. officials told Yahoo News that they first picked up intelligence two years ago about Khorasan Group operatives moving into Syria and forging links with the al-Nusra Front, another Syrian rebel group that was aligned with al-Qaida. As first reported by Yahoo News, National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen alluded to the group — but not by name — last July when he told the Aspen Security Forum that veteran al-Qaida operatives had moved into Syria for the purpose of taking advantage of the country’s civil war to mount attacks against the U.S.

“In some cases this is essentially the same cast of characters that we’ve had our eye on for many years. These are known operatives to us rather than a new group appearing out of whole cloth,” a senior administration official told reporters on a conference call arranged by the White House.

The United States had been contemplating striking the extremist cell “separate and apart from the growing threat from ISIL,” as the militant group Islamic State is also known, the official said. “Clearly the fact of the United States launching a military action in Syria provided an opportunity to take that action.”

A senior U.S. official also confirmed to Yahoo News Tuesday that there were “communications” between the Khorasan operatives and members in Yemen of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror group that has most alarmed U.S. officials because of its advanced bomb-making capabilities.

Al-Fadhli was first designated as a global terrorist by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2005. At the time, U.S. officials linked him to terror plots dating back to October 2002 involving attacks to blow up the French ship MV Limburg against U.S. Marines based on Failaka Island in Kuwait.

But he was also described as a key terrorist financier, providing financial and material support to both al-Qaida and the network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the original leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, the group that has since morphed into the Islamic State.

Al-Fadhli was again designated by the Treasury Department in December 2012. This time, officials described him as a top member of al-Qaida’s network operating in Iran, helping to facilitate the flow of fighters and money through that country. Although al-Fadhli was at one point arrested by the Iranians, he was later released. In one of the early hints of his involvement in the Syria conflict, Treasury officials said then that his network was “working to move fighters and money through Turkey to support” al-Qaida elements in Syria. He also was “leveraging his extensive network of Kuwaiti jihadist donors to send money to Syria via Turkey.”

Amid concern in Washington that the group could recruit Americans, Holder told Yahoo News that the United States and its allies would soon unveil a new approach to tagging potential terrorist threats among citizens returning home after fighting alongside jihadis overseas.

”It will be focused on people who have terrorist connections and come up with new ways in which information is shared between INTERPOL members that, frankly, don’t exist now,” he said. “We have red notices that we use for people who are charged with crimes. But we’re gonna come up with a new kind of notice that deals with people who are suspected of engaging in terrorist activities.”




“While most Americans had never heard of that band of Islamist extremists prior to the sustained overnight bombing campaign, “this is a group that has been known to us for two years,” Holder told Yahoo News Global Anchor Katie Couric. 'We hit them last night out of a concern that they were getting close to an execution date of some of the plans that we have seen,' he said. 'And the hitting that we did last night, I think, will probably continue until we are at a stage where we think we have degraded their ability to get at our allies or to the homeland.'... The Khorasan Group comprises “seasoned” or “veteran” al-Qaida fighters from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen, according to U.S. officials. It is thought to be led by a man so close to Osama bin Laden that he was told about the terrorist strikes of Sept. 11, 2001, before they happened. Members of the group converged on Syria, forged links with militant rebel groups, and worked to enlist Westerners, including Americans, for “external operations” — attacks made possible by the new recruits’ European or U.S. Passports.... U.S. officials had picked up intelligence that the plot to attack Western aircraft had reached advanced stages and “there were timetables on it,” one official told Yahoo News. It was this intelligence that led to Monday night’s strike — using Tomahawk missiles and precision bombs — on Khorasan training camps, munitions facilities, and command and control centers west of Aleppo. The strikes also targeted Khorasan’s leader, Muhsin al-Fadhli, a 5-foot-5 Kuwaiti-born militant who formerly led al-Qaida in Iran.... 'And once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and try to do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people.'... Treasury officials said then that his network was “working to move fighters and money through Turkey to support” al-Qaida elements in Syria. He also was 'leveraging his extensive network of Kuwaiti jihadist donors to send money to Syria via Turkey.'”

So we have a new group to deal with. Khorasan, like Al-Qaeda, is sponsored by no national government, though in the case of the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan they exist in large numbers and seem to have some control on the government, plus they represent a radical fundamentalist branch of Islam which some zealots espouse. Al-Qaeda, and Khorasan, however, operate and organize more like a vast criminal organization such as the drug lords of Mexico than like a religious or political movement. Their goals are to deliver terroristic attacks, intimidate the national governments and get richer and richer. They seem to want to manipulate governments when they can, but not form a government. ISIS, on the other hand is trying to form a government covering several Middle Eastern nations. It's hard to know which is more disturbing.

The good news I've seen recently is that a number of Middle Eastern nations are stepping up to help fight ISIS, at least, and some comment from moderate Islamic clerics has been heard denouncing the new fundamentalism and warlike focus. To me, that is what we have needed. As someone once said to me, you can't make war on an idea, but this brand of Islam can be isolated and rejected by peaceful members of the Islamic faith. Unfortunately, they may have to do battle with them, too, to achieve that, as those groups tend to invade and take over small mostly defenseless areas, often killing the men and boys and enslaving the women. It is my hope that more and more Islamic clerics will disavow the radical fundamentalist Shia law and conversion by conquest philosophies, thus stabilizing their areas and giving a strong, peaceful central government a chance. Otherwise, we may have WWIII between the Islamic countries vs the Western powers, yet. Hopefully that won't be a nuclear war.





More Americans Favor Mixing Religion And Politics, Survey Says – NPR
by SCOTT NEUMAN
September 23, 2014

Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe religious influence on life in the U.S. is waning and nearly half think that churches and other houses of worship should play a greater role in the national discourse on social and political matters, according to a new Pew study.

The findings by Pew's Religion & Public Life Project show that 72 percent of more than 2,000 people surveyed think religion's hold on America is in decline, as opposed to 22 percent who believe its influence is on the rise. Most of those surveyed who said religion was losing influence also viewed that decline as a bad thing.

Nearly half of those surveyed think that churches and other houses of worship should make their views known on social and political issues, an increase of 6 percentage points, to 49 percent, from the midterm 2010 elections when 43 percent said so. Self-identified Republicans were significantly more likely to want more religion in public life (59 percent) than Democrats (42 percent).

Since 2010, the percentage of the public that views religion's role as positive increased to 58 percent from 49 percent, while a quarter of those surveyed view that role as negative, down marginally from 26 percent four years ago.

Pew says:
"The findings reflect a widening divide between religiously affiliated Americans and the rising share of the population that is not affiliated with any religion (sometimes called the 'nones'). The public's appetite for religious influence in politics is increasing in part because those who continue to identify with a religion (e.g., Protestants, Catholics and others) have become significantly more supportive of churches and other houses of worship speaking out about political issues and political leaders talking more often about religion. The 'nones' are much more likely to oppose the intermingling of religion and politics."

As we reported two years ago, the percentage of those "nones" has grown in recent years, especially among younger Americans. In a 2012 Pew survey, 1 in 5 in the U.S. said he was "religiously unaffiliated," a group that includes those who say they have no particular religion as well as self-described atheists and agnostics. Among those under 30 years of age, fully one-third said that religion played "little or no role" in their lives.

Other findings in the latest poll: a slight drop in support for allowing gays and lesbians to marry, with 49 percent of Americans in favor and 41 percent opposed; a 5-point dip in support from a February Pew Research poll, but about the same level as in 2013, Pew says. However, Pew notes: "It is too early to know if this modest decline is an anomaly or the beginning of a reversal or leveling off in attitudes toward gay marriage after years of steadily increasing public acceptance."

There has also been a rise in the number who view homosexuality as a sin (50 percent from 45 percent a year ago). While almost half (49 percent) of those surveyed say they believe that businesses such as caterers and florists should not be allowed to reject same-sex couples as customers, nearly as many (47 percent) said they approved of such a practice.

Some other points from the survey worth noting:
47 percent see the Republican Party as "friendly toward religion," but only 29 percent said that about the Democratic Party. Pew also says: "our surveys have found a steady rise in the percentage of people who view the Obama administration as unfriendly toward religion — rising to 29% today compared with 23% in 2012 and 17% in 2009."

34 percent of white evangelicals believe the GOP has "not done a good job of representing their views on abortion because the party is too liberal," according to Pew.

The survey was based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 2-9, 2014, among a national sample of 2,002 adults drawn from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The sampling error for different demographic subsets ranged from 2.5 percentage points to 11.4 percentage points.

Note: An earlier version of this post said results of the latest survey showed an 8 percentage-point decrease in support for same-sex marriage. Support actually dipped by 5 percentage points.





“Nearly three-quarters of Americans believe religious influence on life in the U.S. is waning and nearly half think that churches and other houses of worship should play a greater role in the national discourse on social and political matters, according to a new Pew study.... Nearly half of those surveyed think that churches and other houses of worship should make their views known on social and political issues, an increase of 6 percentage points, to 49 percent, from the midterm 2010 elections when 43 percent said so. Self-identified Republicans were significantly more likely to want more religion in public life (59 percent) than Democrats (42 percent).... As we reported two years ago, the percentage of those 'nones' has grown in recent years, especially among younger Americans. In a 2012 Pew survey, 1 in 5 in the U.S. said he was 'religiously unaffiliated,' a group that includes those who say they have no particular religion as well as self-described atheists and agnostics. Among those under 30 years of age, fully one-third said that religion played 'little or no role' in their lives.... Other findings in the latest poll: a slight drop in support for allowing gays and lesbians to marry, with 49 percent of Americans in favor and 41 percent opposed; a 5-point dip in support from a February Pew Research poll, but about the same level as in 2013.... There has also been a rise in the number who view homosexuality as a sin (50 percent from 45 percent a year ago). While almost half (49 percent) of those surveyed say they believe that businesses such as caterers and florists should not be allowed to reject same-sex couples as customers, nearly as many (47 percent) said they approved of such a practice.... Pew also says: 'our surveys have found a steady rise in the percentage of people who view the Obama administration as unfriendly toward religion — rising to 29% today compared with 23% in 2012 and 17% in 2009.'... 34 percent of white evangelicals believe the GOP has 'not done a good job of representing their views on abortion because the party is too liberal,' according to Pew. The survey was based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 2-9, 2014, among a national sample of 2,002 adults drawn from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.”

Does this represent the approaching death of rational thought in the US? I belong to a religion that actively fosters rational thought – the Unitarian Universalist Society. If the GOP is now being considered “too liberal,” then heaven help us. Yes, “heaven” – the God of my understanding wants his humans to use their minds to find truth (that's why he gave them to us), exploring philosophy, scientific thought and political openness freely, working arduously toward the acceptance of differences between people and therefore try to achieve peace, and of course becoming good neighbors to all. This country was founded partly on the right of each citizen to pursue whatever religion or philosophy he chooses and not be required to believe in any at all if he just can't. It's about democracy. We mustn't lose sight of that. Freedom of religion is our right, not to take over the US government through our religion to form a repressively religious power structure. If you are mentally drawn to a Calvinist style group, then join one, but don't try to make others join against their will.





Anti-addiction activists to FDA head: Quit – CBS
AP  September 24, 2014, 3:50 AM

WASHINGTON -- Anti-addiction activists are calling for the Food and Drug Administration's top official to step down, saying the agency's policies have contributed to a national epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse.

In a letter released Wednesday, more than a dozen groups ask the Obama administration's top health official to replace FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, who has led the agency since 2009. The FDA has been under fire from public health advocates, politicians and law enforcement officials since last October, when it approved a powerful new painkiller called Zohydro against the recommendation of its own medical advisers.

The new letter is the first formal call for new leadership at the FDA over the issue.

"We are especially frustrated by the FDA's continued approval of new, dangerous, high-dose opioid analgesics that are fueling high rates of addiction and overdose deaths," states the letter, which is addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, who oversees the FDA and other health agencies. The groups signing the letter include Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, a 900-member advocacy group that petitioned the FDA to drastically restrict opioid use. The FDA rejected that petition last year.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services said opioid abuse "is a serious issue and one that the secretary is focused on."

"Secretary Burwell appreciates hearing from stakeholders on the important issue of prescription opioid abuse, and looks forward to responding to their letter," spokeswoman Tait Sye said in a statement.

Deaths linked to the addictive medications, including OxyContin and Vicodin, have more than tripled over the last 20 years to an estimated 17,000 in 2011, the most recent year for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports figures.

The CDC has called on doctors to limit their use of the medications to the most serious cases of pain, such as cancer patients and end-of-life care. But the vast majority of prescriptions written in the U.S. are for more common ailments like arthritis and back pain.

Hamburg has supported broad use of the drugs, noting that 100 million Americans reportedly suffer from chronic pain.

The letter to HHS says the commissioner and the FDA are out of step with efforts by the CDC and other parts of the federal government.

"Dr. Hamburg's support for using opioids to treat chronic non-cancer pain is squarely at odds with efforts by the CDC to discourage this widespread practice," states the letter, which is signed by the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse and 15 other groups.

FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson said Hamburg has been "a tireless public health advocate" for over 20 years.

"Preventing prescription opioid abuse and ensuring that patients have access to appropriate treatments for pain are both top public health priorities for the FDA," Jefferson said in a statement.

The calls for Hamburg's resignation come almost a year after the FDA approved Zohydro, the first extended-release, pure form of hydrocodone ever cleared for the U.S. market. Hydrocodone was previously only available in immediate release, combination pills that contain smaller amounts of the drug.

Commissioner Hamburg has defended the drug's approval by saying that it fills an important medical niche. Older combination pills like Vicodin mix hydrocodone with other drugs like acetaminophen, which can cause liver damage at high levels.

Members of Congress from West Virginia, Massachusetts and Kentucky have introduced bills to ban the drug. And attorneys general from 28 states asked the FDA to revoke the drug's approval or require that the pills be reformulated to prevent users from crushing them for snorting or injection.

But Wednesday's letter also criticizes the FDA for approving drugs that are actually designed to be harder to abuse.

The groups take issue with the agency's July approval of a new painkiller called Targiniq, which combines oxycodone with the ingredient naloxone. The addition of naloxone is designed to block the euphoric effects of oxycodone when it is snorted or injected. But the groups point out that Targiniq tablets can still be abused by simply chewing them - the most common approach to abusing painkillers.

The FDA has faced criticism from lawmakers representing states that have been hardest hit by opioid abuse, including Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York and Congressman Hal Rogers of Kentucky.

Media representatives for all three lawmakers declined to comment on the letter. The American Pain Society, which represents physician pain specialists, also declined to comment for this story.




“Anti-addiction activists are calling for the Food and Drug Administration's top official to step down, saying the agency's policies have contributed to a national epidemic of prescription painkiller abuse. In a letter released Wednesday, more than a dozen groups ask the Obama administration's top health official to replace FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg, who has led the agency since 2009. The FDA has been under fire from public health advocates, politicians and law enforcement officials since last October, when it approved a powerful new painkiller called Zohydro against the recommendation of its own medical advisers....The groups signing the letter include Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, a 900-member advocacy group that petitioned the FDA to drastically restrict opioid use. …. The CDC has called on doctors to limit their use of the medications to the most serious cases of pain, such as cancer patients and end-of-life care. But the vast majority of prescriptions written in the U.S. are for more common ailments like arthritis and back pain. Hamburg has supported broad use of the drugs, noting that 100 million Americans reportedly suffer from chronic pain. The letter to HHS says the commissioner and the FDA are out of step with efforts by the CDC and other parts of the federal government.... Members of Congress from West Virginia, Massachusetts and Kentucky have introduced bills to ban the drug. And attorneys general from 28 states asked the FDA to revoke the drug's approval or require that the pills be reformulated to prevent users from crushing them for snorting or injection.”

It hasn't been long since arch-conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh made the news for an admitted addiction to OxyContin and two other powerful drugs. An article on this subject claims that those drugs can cause sudden deafness, and Limbaugh himself has recently gone deaf. He declined to say what the cause was, conveniently. Also, several medical offices in more than one part of Florida were raided and shut down within the last few years for existing solely to provide people who were arguably addicts with narcotic drugs. Millions of British housewives in the 1800's were addicted to opium for their menstrual cramps. And finally, the one and only Sherlock Holmes was described as an opium addict. This is not a new problem. I agree wholeheartedly with those doctors who are opposed to some of the high potency opioid drugs, and I do think the FDA should be screening for such things rather than approving them. I hope the President will sit on the FDA hard and make them change their abusive practices.





Arrests made after rocks tossed at police in Ferguson, Missouri
CBS/AP September 24, 2014, 9:54 AM

FERGUSON, Mo. - Protesters returned to Ferguson streets Tuesday night, with reports of smashed windows and possible arson coming hours after a makeshift memorial for Michael Brown burned.

The St. Louis suburb was the site of sometimes-violent protests and looting in the days after 18-year-old Brown, who was black, was shot and killed by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9.

Up to 200 protesters gathered late Tuesday night. Windows were smashed at a beauty shop on West Florissant Avenue, where much of the looting happened last month. A small fire outside a custard shop appeared to be intentionally set, according to fire officials.

Police began clearing the street around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday. There were no reports of injuries.

St. Louis County Police Department said seven people were arrested, one business was vandalized and at least four officers were hit with rocks by the unruly crowd, reports CBS affiliate KMOV in St. Louis.

St. Louis County Police said they received four calls for "shots fired" starting at 9:03 p.m.
Missouri State Highway Patrol scheduled a news conference Wednesday to discuss the unrest.

One of two memorials at the site where Brown was shot was destroyed in a fire early Tuesday morning. Police are investigating the cause of the blaze, but the fire renewed anger, especially among residents of the apartment community where Brown was killed.

Several people who gathered at the scene Tuesday blamed police for not acting quickly enough to put out the fire, which destroyed teddy bears, signs and other items.

The memorial site was quickly filled, becoming a new, and bigger, memorial.

Resentment lingers among those who question why Wilson hasn't been arrested and remains on paid administrative leave. A state grand jury is weighing whether he should face charges but a decision isn't expected until mid-October. The Justice Department is also investigating.





“Protesters returned to Ferguson streets Tuesday night, with reports of smashed windows and possible arson coming hours after a makeshift memorial for Michael Brown burned.... Up to 200 protesters gathered late Tuesday night. Windows were smashed at a beauty shop on West Florissant Avenue, where much of the looting happened last month. A small fire outside a custard shop appeared to be intentionally set, according to fire officials. Police began clearing the street around 12:15 a.m. Wednesday. There were no reports of injuries. St. Louis County Police Department said seven people were arrested, one business was vandalized and at least four officers were hit with rocks by the unruly crowd, reports CBS affiliate KMOV in St. Louis.... Several people who gathered at the scene Tuesday blamed police for not acting quickly enough to put out the fire, which destroyed teddy bears, signs and other items. The memorial site was quickly filled, becoming a new, and bigger, memorial.”

Some sneaking person, undoubtedly white, just had to go down and burn the memorial. As a result the whole community is up in arms again. As long as people keep stirring up the rage, there will be no peace there. I don't believe in rioting, but when a large number of unfair actions occur, the public has a tendency to erupt in violence. When Martin Luther King was shot the southern racists got what they wanted – the most effective leader of black people in the history of the US was dead. The result, however, was a series of city riots that scared the “dickens” out of white people and resulted almost immediately in the passage of the Civil Rights Act. King was clearly a martyr.

This youth Michael Brown is also a martyr, it's beginning to seem. Ferguson needs to scrap it's white only city government sooner rather than later, and work on much better community relations in Ferguson. The rise in popularity of ultraconservative groups in the US is not going to end in the election of more and more Republicans, I don't believe, if those people keep stirring up racial strife and provoking violence. Instead, the name “Republican” will become more and more unpopular among truly moral Middle Class and poor Americans and the Democrats will step up to vote them out of office. I am certainly working to help the Democrats now.

The era of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Act has been a huge improvement over my young days when black people couldn't use public bathrooms, water fountains, restaurants, swimming pools, motel rooms, and even hospitals. They couldn't cast their ballots without harassment or worse. If whites try to turn the clock back to those things, there will be ever more dangerous responses from blacks. Republicans are still actively trying to stifle the black vote by election day tactics like stripping people randomly from the voter rolls based on their neighborhood or their first name, so that the citizen then has to make a special effort to get back his vote. That psychology doesn't work, because the repression of people by such unfair means just makes them more and more angry. That is really why Ferguson is having these problems. The neighborhoods have had years of harassment and abuse from the police, the city government and the justice system, and they are simple fed up.






Do you want to live beyond age 75? – CBS
By STEVE VERNON MONEYWATCH
September 24, 2014, 6:00 AM

Ezekiel Emanuel hopes to die at age 75. At least that's the title of a controversial article he recently wrote for the Atlantic. Emanuel, the director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and head of the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, has obviously given this a lot of thought.

If you read beyond the attention-getting headline, however, Emanuel is clear that he's not going to commit suicide at age 75. Rather, he'll just stop accepting life-extending interventions such as flu shots, preventative tests, chemotherapy and surgeries. In this case, it's a pretty safe bet he'll keep living well beyond age 75, when the odds of dying are roughly one in 25.

His rationale for discontinuing life-extending measures? By age 75, Emanuel says he'll have lived a complete life. For instance, he'll have seen his children launched into the world and grandchildren born. He's concerned about the physical limitations that are inevitable as you age, including a loss of creativity and the ability to work and contribute to your family, society and the world.

Emanuel rejects what he calls Americans' obsession with life extension by exercising, following strict diets, doing mental puzzles and popping supplements and other concoctions. He thinks our society isn't so much extending life as extending the dying process -- lengthening the time you're a victim of a debilitating chronic illness or the fragility of old age.

He wants to die before he becomes a burden on his family and society. He wants to be remembered as vital and healthy, not feeble and pathetic.

These are good good points and worth thinking about, but I disagree with Emanuel's basic conclusion -- that individuals, families and societies are better off if we die "swiftly and promptly," as his article's subtitle puts it.

I plan to live a long, healthy life that extends well beyond age 75 and includes continued contributions to my family and society. So, I'm taking steps to increase the odds that I'll be vital and healthy as long as possible. And I've made financial plans so I won't be a burden on my family if I need medical or long-term care. That's the responsible thing to do.

I'm not obsessed with popping pills and strict diets. Instead, I savor the food I eat, have fun getting my exercise and enjoy the way I look and feel.

How many people are over the hill by age 75? According to a recent study by researchers at RAND, the University of Illinois, Stanford University, and the University of Southern California, 33 percent of people aged 75 to 79 reported their health as "very good" or "excellent." It's probably safe to say this group is glad they're alive!

But "very good" or "excellent" is a pretty high bar. For many people, it's possible to have some health issues and still be able to work, contribute to your family or community, not be a burden on others and enjoy life.

By this measure, the researchers found more than three-fourths -- 77 percent -- of those age 75 to 79 reported no limitations in their ability to work or do housework. Most likely this group isn't much of a burden on anybody.

Only 12 percent reported needing some help with daily living activities or instrumental activities of daily living. This is the group that could possibly be considered a "burden" to others, although the actual proportion is likely to be much lower.

In a recent interview on CBS News, medical contributor Dr. David Agus rejects the idea of an arbitrary age beyond which you're no longer vital. Agus is optimistic about developing science and research that will help us live a long, high-quality life, with the potential to arrest or reverse some of the existing deadly diseases of old age.

Emanuel seems obsessed with how others will remember him and how they'll view him in his old age. "I want to celebrate my life while I'm still in my prime," he says. But is that really a good reason to stop living?

My parents and other older relatives still had a lot to contribute to their family and friends well after their prime years. At age 91, my mother inspired our entire family by attending the wedding of her granddaughter, a year before mom passed away. She enjoyed herself and looked jubilant.

My father hobbled to the high school graduation of another granddaughter -- my daughter -- a year before he died at age 88, inspiring us with an example of perseverance and family support.

While both are gone now, our family reveres the memory of the entire arc of their lives, from vitality to old age. Both needed care in their final years, and it was our honor to shoulder the burden by helping with their transition. The grandchildren saw their parents take care of the grandparents with love and devotion -- a great life lesson for younger generations.

Emanuel does raise serious issues that deserve discussion and debate. Boomers are on track to become a significant burden on the next generation in our later years, given our poor eating, exercising and spending habits. To mitigate this looming disaster, Agus reinforces the need to improve our health habits, and I've long advocated that people take the time to properly plan for their retirement years.

Many may also need to work in their retirement years to make ends meet, but so far, employers don't appear to be lining up to hire older workers en masse, and the average age at retirement hasn't increased in recent years. It's pretty clear that individuals, communities and society will need to evolve to accommodate an aging population, but it's definitely doable if we find the will.

So, does Emanuel, who's currently 57, really want to die at 75? Or is his real goal to stir up controversy and debate, from a safe distance of 18 years away, on how we can best live more consciously in our later years so we continue to contribute to society and not be a burden?

At the very end of the article, Emanuel reserves the right to change his mind as the time approaches. It will be interesting to check in with him in 2032 -- and I plan to be alive to do just that.

What's your opinion? Do you want to live beyond age 75?





“Emanuel, the director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and head of the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, has obviously given this a lot of thought. If you read beyond the attention-getting headline, however, Emanuel is clear that he's not going to commit suicide at age 75. Rather, he'll just stop accepting life-extending interventions such as flu shots, preventative tests, chemotherapy and surgeries....
He wants to die before he becomes a burden on his family and society. He wants to be remembered as vital and healthy, not feeble and pathetic.... I plan to live a long, healthy life that extends well beyond age 75 and includes continued contributions to my family and society.... How many people are over the hill by age 75? According to a recent study by researchers at RAND, the University of Illinois, Stanford University, and the University of Southern California, 33 percent of people aged 75 to 79 reported their health as "very good" or "excellent." It's probably safe to say this group is glad they're alive!... While both are gone now, our family reveres the memory of the entire arc of their lives, from vitality to old age. Both needed care in their final years, and it was our honor to shoulder the burden by helping with their transition.”

I come from a family of people who live into their 90s, so I don't expect to die at 75. I also don't want to, however. I want to keep doing my own shopping, getting books from the library, doing my blog, Facebook and email activities and helping the Democratic Party. I've never been rich, and never regretted that. I was taught to have pride in my life, even if I was poor. Likewise I don't regret reaching an age that I no longer want to be married or have a romance. I accept my life as it is. This Ezekiel Emanuel is just going through a bad time in his life. He's depressed. He needs to go to a good psychologist and get some antidepressants and cheer up, for goodness sake.






High schoolers protest conservative proposal
CBS/AP September 24, 2014, 5:53 AM

ARVADA, Colo. -- Hundreds of students walked out of classrooms around suburban Denver on Tuesday to protest a conservative-led school board proposal to focus history education on topics that promote citizenship, patriotism and respect for authority, in a show of civil disobedience that the new standards would aim to downplay.

The youth protest involving six high schools in the state's second-largest school district follows a sick-out by teachers that shut down two high schools in the politically and economically diverse area that has become a key political battleground.

Student participants said their demonstration was organized by word of mouth and social media. Many waved American flags and carried signs, including messages that read, "There is nothing more patriotic than protest."

"I don't think my education should be censored. We should be able to know what happened in our past," said Tori Leu, a 17-year-old student who protested at Ralston Valley High School in Arvada.

One student put it simply to CBS Denver, asking, "Where are we without our education?"

The school board proposal that triggered the walkouts in Jefferson County calls for instructional materials that present positive aspects of the nation and its heritage. It would establish a committee to regularly review texts and course plans, starting with Advanced Placement history, to make sure materials "promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights" and don't "encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law."

The proposal from Julie Williams, part of the board's conservative majority, has not been voted on and was put on hold last week. She didn't return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment Tuesday, but previously told Chalkbeat Colorado, a school news website, that she recognizes there are negative events that are part of U.S. history that need to be taught.

"There are things we may not be proud of as Americans," she said. "But we shouldn't be encouraging our kids to think that America is a bad place."

A student demonstrator, Tyrone G. Parks, a senior at Arvada High School, said Tuesday that the nation's foundation was built on civil protests, "and everything that we've done is what allowed us to be at this point today. And if you take that from us, you take away everything that America was built off of."

The proposal comes from an elected board with three conservative members who took office in November. The other two board members were elected in 2011 and oppose the new plan, which was drafted in response to a national framework for teaching history that supporters say encourages discussion and critical thinking. Detractors, however, say it puts an outsized emphasis on the nation's problems.

Tension over high school education has cropped up recently in Texas, where conservative school board officials are facing criticism over new textbooks. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, conservatives have called on an education oversight committee to ask the College Board, which oversees Advanced Placement courses, to rewrite their framework to make sure there is no ideological bias.

The College Board says the outline provides a balanced view of American history, and officials plan clarify instructions to teachers to make that clear by the end of the month.

Participating students were not punished, school district spokeswoman Lynn Setzer said. They will receive unexcused absences unless their parents call to relay permission for missed classes, Setzer said.

Superintendent Dan McMinimee has met with some of the students and renewed his offer to continue discussions on the issue. "I respect the right of our students to express their opinions in a peaceful manner," he said. "I do, however, prefer that our students stay in class."




“Hundreds of students walked out of classrooms around suburban Denver on Tuesday to protest a conservative-led school board proposal to focus history education on topics that promote citizenship, patriotism and respect for authority, in a show of civil disobedience that the new standards would aim to downplay. The youth protest involving six high schools in the state's second-largest school district follows a sick-out by teachers that shut down two high schools in the politically and economically diverse area that has become a key political battleground. Student participants said their demonstration was organized by word of mouth and social media. Many waved American flags and carried signs, including messages that read, 'There is nothing more patriotic than protest.'... The school board proposal that triggered the walkouts in Jefferson County calls for instructional materials that present positive aspects of the nation and its heritage. It would establish a committee to regularly review texts and course plans, starting with Advanced Placement history, to make sure materials 'promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights' and don't 'encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.' The proposal from Julie Williams, part of the board's conservative majority, has not been voted on and was put on hold last week. She didn't return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment Tuesday, but previously told Chalkbeat Colorado, a school news website, that she recognizes there are negative events that are part of U.S. history that need to be taught.”

This involvement of high school students in political and social activism is new to me. I can't remember another instance of it. They acquitted themselves well, though, and I loved their sign stating that protest is basic to democracy. That is how our country got started. You can't teach the Revolutionary war without teaching the liberal idea of freedom. What was the raid by Benjamin Franklin's young crew which we lovingly call the Boston Tea Party, but rebellion? I was pleased to see that a teacher revolt was also involved – a sick out that closed two schools in the area. I want to see more of that. Conservatives hate teachers unions. I would like to see those unions stand up for high schools giving a really good education more and more. Teachers have been very quiet in our society to be such a well-educated group.

It is clear to me that this new “conservative” or just plain right wing group in our society is becoming ultra right wing very fast. We need a public debate reaching from one end of our country to the other, so people who lean toward the middle, or even the left, can feel safe expressing themselves. Any of you who agree with me publish a copy of this blog article and entry in your local newspapers and on your Facebook pages. Call your school board and state departments of education. Go to the PTA meetings and talk about this. Get in the streets and march if your local school board tries a trick like this one. Tell Tea Partiers and the other right wing groups in your locality that you don't approve of what they are trying to stuff down the public throats. Of all the hateful things that the ultra right is trying to achieve, the attack on public education is the most dangerous of all. The poor simply can't afford more than a few books, much less private school tuition, and I don't trust religious schools not to indoctrinate the students as much as they teach. Public discourse is basic to our nation's health and governance, and public education underlies that.