Saturday, October 18, 2014


News Clips For The Day


EBOLA – TWO ARTICLES

Why Won't The Fear Of Airborne Ebola Go Away? – NPR
by NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE
October 17, 2014

How many times do top officials have to say that the Ebola virus is not airborne?
A lot, apparently.

Here is President Obama Thursday: "This is not an airborne disease. It is not easy to catch."

And the day before: "It is not like the flu. It is not airborne."

And Friday, a reporter asked the inevitable question about airborne Ebola when Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, held a press briefing about nurse Nina Pham's transfer to the National Institute of Health.

"There is no evidence whatsoever that this virus is airborne-transmitted," said Fauci emphatically. "Everything we know about this virus is that it is direct contact with bodily fluids."

This gets said over and over. It's backed up by epidemiological studies of past outbreaks. Yet the possibility of Ebola spreading through the air keeps being raised.

At a hearing Thursday, for example, lawmakers grilled Dr. Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"You've already said a couple of times that you don't believe that this is airborne," said Republican Congresswoman Renee Ellmers from North Carolina. And yet, she noted, the two nurses still got sick. "They followed precautions, I am sure, and now we are having this conversation and I'm very concerned about that."

Frieden responded that the investigation is ongoing but the nurses treated the Ebola patient when his vomit and diarrhea contained a lot of virus: "We are confident this is not airborne transmission."

When government officials keep saying this isn't airborne, it seems like what they're really trying to tell the public is, "Don't worry about catching this virus in the course of your normal daily activities."

"I think that what they are trying to convey with the idea that 'it's not airborne' is that you likely need to be relatively close to the person where there are some bodily fluids present," says Rachael Jones, who studies infectious disease transmission at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

She says if someone down the hall from you had Ebola and threw up vomit that contains the virus, "those particles are not going to travel hundreds of feet or hundreds of meters to cause an infection."

But if a health care worker or a family member gets very close to someone who has a lot of symptoms, which is when people with Ebola are most contagious, Jones says droplets of body fluid could potentially travel through the air for short distances.

"If you vomit there are projectile droplets that could spray up," she notes.

And she says there's reason to be concerned that an Ebola patient might produce even smaller droplets that someone in close quarters could inhale and get sick from — during medical procedures like putting in a breathing tube.

"A lot of these medical processes that health care workers perform produce small aerosols," says Jones. This is why she and a colleague recently wrote a commentary saying this needs to considered when protecting health care workers.

So even though Jones takes issue with the White House's flat statement that the Ebola virus cannot spread through air, she says this is really not a concern for the public.

"There is not epidemiological evidence that community-based exposure, such as being at a shopping mall or walking down the street or riding a bus, is associated with disease transmission," she notes.

Still, what if the Ebola virus mutates? That's another fear that keeps surfacing. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, spoke about that on CNN this week.

"I'm worried about it because we know so little about it," he said. "You'll hear different people describe whether it could become airborne." He said that scientists did not agree. "I don't know who's right. I don't want to take that chance. So I'm taking it very seriously."

It's true that researchers can't absolutely rule out the idea that mutations might change how the virus spreads, but this seems unlikely, says Alan Schmaljohn, a virologist the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He said the chance of that is "very low, probably in the range of winning the multi-state lottery."

On Capitol Hill, the CDC's director said his team has been on the lookout for any significant genetic mutations. "What we've seen is very little change in the virus," Frieden told lawmakers. "We don't think it is spreading by any different way."
Chances are that's not the last time he'll have to say that.




“But if a health care worker or a family member gets very close to someone who has a lot of symptoms, which is when people with Ebola are most contagious, Jones says droplets of body fluid could potentially travel through the air for short distances. 'If you vomit there are projectile droplets that could spray up,' she notes. And she says there's reason to be concerned that an Ebola patient might produce even smaller droplets that someone in close quarters could inhale and get sick from — during medical procedures like putting in a breathing tube.... 'There is not epidemiological evidence that community-based exposure, such as being at a shopping mall or walking down the street or riding a bus, is associated with disease transmission,' she notes.... Still, what if the Ebola virus mutates? … It's true that researchers can't absolutely rule out the idea that mutations might change how the virus spreads, but this seems unlikely, says Alan Schmaljohn, a virologist the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He said the chance of that is 'very low, probably in the range of winning the multi-state lottery.' On Capitol Hill, the CDC's director said his team has been on the lookout for any significant genetic mutations. 'What we've seen is very little change in the virus' Frieden told lawmakers. 'We don't think it is spreading by any different way.'”

In Richard Preston's book “The Hot Zone,” the virus spread from a group of infected monkeys from one room to a group which had not been exposed, a control group, possibly through the air vents joining the two rooms. Of course as with these Texas health workers who apparently failed to take sufficient precautions in the Duncan case, it is equally possible that the scientists in Reston likewise were not stringent enough in their suiting up or hand washing procedures and transmitted the disease to the control group of monkeys. It only takes a droplet of contaminated blood, saliva, etc., after all.





California Nurses' Union Pulls Ebola Into Contract Talks – NPR
by APRIL DEMBOSKY
October 17, 2014

The powerful California Nurses Association has put Ebola on the bargaining table in its negotiations for a new contract with Kaiser Permanente.

Contract talks have been going on for months, and the nurses' most recent demands are focused on Ebola — better training, more staffing, protective gear that goes beyond what's recommended by federal officials and even a special life insurance policy.

"We'd like to have an extra supplemental coverage, for specifically Ebola, if we were to contract Ebola while we're at work," says Diane McClure, a nurse at Kaiser Permanente's hospital in Sacramento, where a patient suspected of having Ebola was treated in August. He later tested negative for the virus.

She says even a month after the Ebola scare at her hospital, nurses hadn't received any meaningful hands-on training.

"They felt that all they had to do was pull up some [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] information online and put some flyers on the tables and in the bathroom and that was it," says McClure, who is a member of the nurses' bargaining team.

Leaders from California's union and its partner in lobbying, National Nurses United, are quick to label the problems with training as a symptom of the country's fragmented health care system. The CDC issues guidelines, state departments of public health pass them on, then it's up to each hospital to take it from there.

The unions say fragmentation and a lack of protocols are the reasons two nurses at Dallas' Texas Health Presbyterian hospital were infected with Ebola. They've hosted several rallies for the nurses at the Dallas hospital, while noting that it isn't unionized.

Joanne Spetz, an economics professor at the nursing school of the University of California San Francisco, says National Nurses United is doing what any other group that's looking to gain membership would do.

"Of course it's opportunistic," says Spetz, but "Texas is a state that has had virtually no union representation for registered nurses. So NNU may view this as an opportunity to demonstrate to nurses in the state what the value of their representation might be."

Kaiser Permanente has yet to respond to all of the California Nurses Association's demands. In a statement, Kaiser Permanente said that it is rolling out new training this week, including videos and simulation exercises. And it is supplying protective gear that is consistent with current CDC guidelines.

This story is part of a reporting partnership that includesKQED, NPR and Kaiser Health News. Kaiser Health News is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.




“Contract talks have been going on for months, and the nurses' most recent demands are focused on Ebola — better training, more staffing, protective gear that goes beyond what's recommended by federal officials and even a special life insurance policy.... She says even a month after the Ebola scare at her hospital, nurses hadn't received any meaningful hands-on training. 'They felt that all they had to do was pull up some [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] information online and put some flyers on the tables and in the bathroom and that was it,' says McClure, who is a member of the nurses' bargaining team. Leaders from California's union and its partner in lobbying, National Nurses United, are quick to label the problems with training as a symptom of the country's fragmented health care system. The CDC issues guidelines, state departments of public health pass them on, then it's up to each hospital to take it from there.... Kaiser Permanente has yet to respond to all of the California Nurses Association's demands. In a statement, Kaiser Permanente said that it is rolling out new training this week, including videos and simulation exercises. And it is supplying protective gear that is consistent with current CDC guidelines.”

Unions are generally thought to be about demanding higher wages for their membership, which companies tend to fight. In this case they are fighting for a safe working situation, and I would like to think that they will gain membership as a result of this very clear need. Nurses work long, hard hours and carry a great responsibility. They should be paid well, and their knowledge and expertise should be honored by doctors. I have heard that doctors in many cases act like the lord of the manor in the operating room, even making sexually demeaning comments. Nurses are very well-trained these days and are qualified to offer advice to the doctor when they think his judgments are not valid. My niece who is a nurse told the family that she had to go up against a doctor once on a matter of diagnosis. She was not fired, but it was considered a bold thing for her to have done. She has since taken a doctorate in nursing and teaches at a college. I don't know if she is in a union or not. I'm glad to see these nurses stand up for their needs, though, and I have no doubt that they are improving the care patients receive, especially for this terrible illness.




Palestinians want U.N. to vote on Israel withdrawal deadline – CBS
AP October 17, 2014, 11:11 PM

Photograph: A Palestinian protester throws stones towards Israeli security forces during clashes close to the Israeli Ofer military prison, near the West Bank village of Betunia on October 17, 2014, following a protest after Israeli authorities restricted access to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem.  ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

UNITED NATIONS -- The Palestinian U.N. ambassador said Friday his government wants the U.N. Security Council to vote on a resolution before the end of the year that would set November 2016 as the deadline for Israeli troops to withdraw from all Palestinian territories.

Riyad Mansour said Friday that if the resolution is defeated -- which is almost certain because of opposition from Israel's closest ally the United States and others -- the Palestinians have other options.

"This is not going to be an open-ended exercise," he said. "The main option is to go with a vote."

Palestinian officials said Thursday they have seven "yes" votes in the 15-member Security Council and are seeking additional support. A minimum of nine votes is needed for approval, and then the measure can be vetoed by one of the five permanent members, including the United States.

The draft resolution is an expression of Palestinian frustration with the repeated failure of U.S.-led negotiations with Israel on the terms of an independent Palestinian state. The last round broke down in April, after nine months of fruitless talks in which the two sides couldn't agree on the ground rules.

Mansour said the Palestinians will not go back "to the same kind of negotiations that have led us nowhere for more than 20 years."

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power, asked earlier this month about a deadline for an Israeli pullout, said that the United States strongly believes the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is through negotiations between the two parties.

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor said when the draft was first circulated that by pursuing the resolution the Palestinians were "bypassing negotiations by taking unilateral action" and "avoiding a real dialogue."

Mansour said the Palestinians are committed to voting on the resolution and "the centerpiece of our resolution is the time frame."

He said one option if the draft resolution is defeated is for the Palestinians to join more treaties and conventions and the International Criminal Court.

When the U.N. General Assembly recognized a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in October 2012, the Palestinians gained the right to seek membership in U.N. institutions and treaty bodies and possibly take their complaints over Israeli settlement-building on occupied land to the ICC, which is independent. Earlier this year, it joined 15 international treaties and conventions.

"We want to create legal facts on the ground that we exist as a state," Mansour said, adding that joining additional treaties, conventions and the ICC will further "acknowledge that a Palestinian state does exist."

Palestine joined Paris-based UNESCO in 2011 before becoming a U.N. observer state, leading to a U.S. cutoff of funding to the educational, scientific and cultural agency under a U.S. law that bans support for any U.N. agency with Palestine as a member.

Mansour said the Palestinians may also go to the U.N. General Assembly where resolutions are not legally binding but there are no vetoes.



International Criminal Court
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt)[2] is anintergovernmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague in the Netherlands. The ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes and it may one day be able to exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression. The ICC is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and it may therefore only exercise its jurisdiction when certain conditions are met, such as when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals or when the United Nations Security Council or individual states refer investigations to the Court. The ICC began functioning on 1 July 2002, the date that the Rome Statute entered into force. The Rome Statute is a multilateral treaty which serves as the ICC's foundational and governing document. States which become party to the Rome Statute, for example by ratifying it, become member states of the ICC. Currently, there are 122 states which are party to the Rome Statute and therefore members of the ICC.

Finally the General Assembly convened a conference in Rome in June 1998, with the aim of finalizing the treaty to serve as the Court's statute. On 17 July 1998, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by a vote of 120 to 7, with 21 countries abstaining. The seven countries that voted against the treaty were China, Iraq, Israel,Libya, Qatar, the United States, and Yemen.[10] Following 60 ratifications, the Rome Statute entered into on 1 July 2002 and the International Criminal Court was formally established.[11][11] The first bench of 18 judges was elected by the Assembly of States Parties in February 2003. They were sworn in at the inaugural session of the Court on 11 March 2003.[12]

The Rome Statute established four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Those crimes "shall not be subject to any statute of limitations".[

 Three of these states—Israel, Sudan and the United States—have informed the UN Secretary General that they no longer intend to become states parties and, as such, have no legal obligations arising from their former representatives' signature of the Statute.[19][21] Ukraine, a non-ratifying signatory, accepted the Court's jurisdiction regarding a limited period in 2013-2014.[22] 41 United Nations member states[18] have neither signed nor ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute; some of them, including China and India, are critical of the Court.[23][24] A 2009 declaration by the Palestinian National Authority accepting the jurisdiction of the Court[25] was deemed invalid by the Prosecutor in early 2012 as he did not consider Palestine a "state" for the purposes of the Rome Statute.[26] The Prosecutor does not consider this situation healed by a vote in the United Nations General Assembly later in 2012 which recognized Palestine as a non-member observer state.[27][28]




“When the U.N. General Assembly recognized a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in October 2012, the Palestinians gained the right to seek membership in U.N. institutions and treaty bodies and possibly take their complaints over Israeli settlement-building on occupied land to the ICC, which is independent. Earlier this year, it joined 15 international treaties and conventions. 'We want to create legal facts on the ground that we exist as a state,' Mansour said, adding that joining additional treaties, conventions and the ICC will further 'acknowledge that a Palestinian state does exist.' Palestine joined Paris-based UNESCO in 2011 before becoming a U.N. observer state, leading to a U.S. cutoff of funding to the educational, scientific and cultural agency under a U.S. law that bans support for any U.N. agency with Palestine as a member. Mansour said the Palestinians may also go to the U.N. General Assembly where resolutions are not legally binding but there are no vetoes.”

Perhaps if Palestine would recognize Israel as a state and renounce the violent Hamas organization the US would in turn recognize Palestine. At this point the resolution to force Israel to remove its troops from Palestinian territory by November 2016 most likely won't pass due to opposition from Israel and the US. Fatah, the other Palestinian political party, has renounced violence. The fact that they have cooperated with the US and Israel over peace negotiations has caused them to become unpopular with many in Palestine, however, who are adamantly opposed to the state of Israel. See article on the subject for further reading at this website: http://www.cfr.org/israel/hamas/p8968





"Loud music" shooter Michael Dunn gets life in prison
By JULIA DAHL CBS NEWS October 17, 2014, 11:51 AM

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The man who opened fire into a car full of teenagers, killing one, after an argument over loud music, was sentenced to life without parole on Friday.

Michael Dunn, 47, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis, and three counts of attempted second degree murder for shooting at the other teens in the car with Davis. In his first trial, the jury deadlocked on the first-degree murder charge.

Dunn had previously been sentenced to 60 years in prison on the three attempted murder counts. The life sentence for Davis' murder was mandatory after the state decided against seeking the death penalty. According to the Florida Times-Union, Davis' father, Ron Davis, said that he and the teen's mother asked prosecutors not to seek to execute Dunn.

"Whether someone is bad or a monster or whatever it may be, I don't have the right to take their life," Davis reportedly said. "Only God has that right. I firmly believe that."

Dunn encountered the teens on the evening of November 23, 2012, when he and his girlfriend pulled up next to their SUV in the parking lot of a Jacksonville convenience store. Dunn asked the teens to turn down the music in their car and Davis took issue with his request. The two exchanged heated words as Davis sat in the back seat of the SUV.

Dunn argued that he thought he saw the barrel of a gun inside the car and was in fear for his life when he shot up the SUV. The prosecution said that the threat Dunn, a white man, perceived from the group of black teens was "only in his imagination." Dunn fired 10 shots in three short bursts, striking Davis three times. The teens were unarmed.

At the sentencing, Dunn made a short statement addressed to Davis' family: "I truly regret what happened... if I could roll back time and do things differently I would. Still, I'm mortified I took a life."

Davis' mother, Lucia McBath, tearfully addressed the court, saying that she misses her son's "wide, toothy smile." She continued, telling the court, "I raised my son to love, accept and forgive others...therefore I too must be willing to forgive. And so I choose to forgive Mr. Dunn for taking my son's life."




“According to the Florida Times-Union, Davis' father, Ron Davis, said that he and the teen's mother asked prosecutors not to seek to execute Dunn. 'Whether someone is bad or a monster or whatever it may be, I don't have the right to take their life,' Davis reportedly said. 'Only God has that right. I firmly believe that.'... At the sentencing, Dunn made a short statement addressed to Davis' family: 'I truly regret what happened... if I could roll back time and do things differently I would. Still, I'm mortified I took a life.' Davis' mother, Lucia McBath, tearfully addressed the court, saying that she misses her son's 'wide, toothy smile.' She continued, telling the court, 'I raised my son to love, accept and forgive others...therefore I too must be willing to forgive. And so I choose to forgive Mr. Dunn for taking my son's life.'”

The TV news report said that Ms. Davis did remark that Dunn, even as he apologized, “showed no remorse or humility.” Dunn is not what I would call an emotional man, but he did say that he “truly regrets what happened.” He was either fearful as he claims, or angry, but I did get the impression that his action was impulsive. He got into the argument over something that many people find annoying, but it wasn't a criminal act. Personally I believe people should turn their car radios down when they are close to another vehicle or are sitting in a public place, but I think the better thing for Dunn to have done would have been to go to another parking space farther away. Too many people nowadays are walking around town carrying a weapon, and the urge to defend your right to a disturbance-free environment needs to be reconsidered, perhaps. If Dunn really wanted to get the music stopped he should have used his cell phone instead of his gun and called the police. There are usually ordinances against disturbing the peace, and it is the police who should enforce them. Fights start daily over just such relatively minor provocations, especially in a racially mixed situation, ending with serious violence. I'm sure Dunn will think about this for the rest of his life. More importantly, I believe other people who face similar situations will “think again,” rather than pulling the trigger now. Shameful as this is, it used to be that few white men were even charged, but certainly not convicted, in these racially charged incidents, but “the times they are a changin.”

Many southerners may hate the 1964 Civil Rights Act, but the cultural results of it will not easily be turned around to the Jim Crow days. Those bigots are fighting a losing battle. The gut level reaction of blacks nowadays to the domineering and biased treatment by state, city or federal governments which used to go on, would be a very angry and probably violent one. If ultra conservative whites in this country want to see uninhibited riots all over the land, they should try to rescind that law. Many honest and liberal white people, students and elders alike, would stand up beside the blacks in opposition, too. That's why the situation in Ferguson hasn't become quiet again. The people there have had enough and they are thoroughly aroused. I hope the DOJ can come up with some results – such as the city council calling a special election and the blacks there going to the polls rather than staying home as they typically have in the past.




How The Florida Governor's Debate Became #Fangate – NPR
by S.V. DÁTE
October 17, 2014

If there's one thing Charlie Crist is afraid of, it's sweating in public.

Understand that, and what happened on a Fort Lauderdale governor's debate stage this week before a live television audience might make a bit more sense.

Viewers who tuned in Wednesday night to watch Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott and former Gov. Crist (once a Republican, now a Democrat) instead saw an empty stage, with moderators explaining about "an extremely peculiar situation." Within seconds Crist strode out and spent the next several minutes lamenting Scott's absence, and how it was ridiculous to argue over the fan at the base of Crist's podium when Florida faced so many important issues, before Scott finally joined him and the debate began.

But what TV viewers didn't know was that Scott's campaign was so agitated about the fan that it was demanding the event be canceled and that the TV station providing the live feed not proceed with the broadcast.

"Why? Who knows? Your guess is as good as mine," Wendy Walker, head of one of the debate's co-sponsors, Leadership Florida, told NPR Friday. "They had a bee in their bonnets about the fan.... I said, guys, do you want the story to be the fan?"

Which is pretty much what happened. Florida media covered actual issues raised in the debate, but nationally the story was the fan. On Twitter it was #Fangate and #Fantrum and#Fanghazi. Predictably, it even made The Daily Show.

Scott campaign spokesman Greg Blair said Scott never refused to participate in the debate, and said his delay was based on "confusion" caused by Crist's violating the no-fan rules. Scott was waiting to see the resolution when he saw the debate had started without him, Blair said.

Crist's reliance on fans is well known to followers of Florida politics. He hates the idea of sweating at a public event, and for years as education commissioner, attorney general and eventually governor insisted on having a portable fan at his feet as he would give a speech or participate in debates.

Crist's debate adviser, former state senator and federal prosecutor Dan Gelber, said the debate rules originally sent to the campaign on July 22 banned electronic devices but made no mention of fans. A later version sent out Oct. 6 did prohibit fans, and Gelber said he hand-wrote an addendum saying Crist could have a fan if "temperature issues" made one necessary. He submitted that to organizers and was told it was acceptable, he said.




“But what TV viewers didn't know was that Scott's campaign was so agitated about the fan that it was demanding the event be canceled and that the TV station providing the live feed not proceed with the broadcast. 'Why? Who knows? Your guess is as good as mine,' Wendy Walker, head of one of the debate's co-sponsors, Leadership Florida, told NPR Friday. 'They had a bee in their bonnets about the fan.... I said, guys, do you want the story to be the fan?' Which is pretty much what happened. Florida media covered actual issues raised in the debate, but nationally the story was the fan. On Twitter it was #Fangate and #Fantrum and#Fanghazi. Predictably, it even made The Daily Show. Crist's debate adviser, former state senator and federal prosecutor Dan Gelber, said the debate rules originally sent to the campaign on July 22 banned electronic devices but made no mention of fans. A later version sent out Oct. 6 did prohibit fans, and Gelber said he hand-wrote an addendum saying Crist could have a fan if "temperature issues" made one necessary.”

I would be interested to know what prompted the sponsors of the debate to issue a revised ruling on October 6 specifically prohibiting fans. Did Scott's camp threaten them or request the change? Electronic devices, to me, mean computers, smart phones, or auditory equipment inserted in their ears by means of which an assistant behind the stage could prompt the candidate if he needed help on a question. Those things shouldn't be allowed, I would agree, but something to improve the physical environment to make either man or both more comfortable seems only fair. It's like the glass of water that speakers are usually allowed. I am tempted to think that Scott specifically requested that the fan be banned because he was well aware that Crist usually used one. Didn't Scott think he could beat Crist without a trick of some kind?




U.S. To Temporarily Halt Funding For Controversial Virus Research – NPR
by NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE
October 17, 2014

Photograph: Avian influenza, or bird flu, causes an infectious and contagious respiratory disease. In the lab, several scientists have made the H5N1 strain more contagious, a controversial line of research.

The federal government will temporarily stop funding any new studies that could make three high-risk infectious diseases even more dangerous. The government is asking all scientists involved in this research now to voluntarily halt their current studies.

The unusual move comes after a long controversy over experiments with mutant forms of a bird flu virus.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said that the government will launch a review of the potential risks and benefits of certain experiments with three viruses: SARS, MERS and influenza.

The concern is that so-called gain-of-function studies would probe how these viruses work by altering them in ways that could make them more pathogenic or contagious.

Scientists have been arguing about the wisdom of doing such experiments ever since two studies of the H5N1 bird flu virus created mutant forms that could potentially spread between people and cause a pandemic, if they ever got out of the lab.

The prestigious National Research Council will be involved in the government's new deliberations, as will a government advisory committee called the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, which is meeting October 22 after not meeting for over a year.

"It sounds like very good news," says Marc Lipsitch of the Harvard School of Public Health, who has been critical of experiments that could create new pathogens with the potential to cause human pandemics. "I was pleased to see they are at least asking the existing projects to pause."

Until officials adopt a final policy on these experiments, which they expect to do next year, new proposals won't be funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"Public involvement in this deliberative process is key, and the process is thus designed to be transparent, accessible, and open to input from all sources," NIH Director Francis Collins said in a statement.

"NIH has funded such studies because they help define the fundamental nature of human-pathogen interactions, enable the assessment of the pandemic potential of emerging infectious agents, and inform public health and preparedness efforts," Collins noted. "These studies, however, also entail biosafety and biosecurity risks, which need to be understood better."

Updated at 5:25 p.m.:

Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison whose lab has done studies with influenza, told NPR by email that he would initiate no new projects and would consult with NIH officials on projects that have experiments underway.

"I hope there will be an eventual resolution of the issues that surround research that is important to protecting public health and advancing influenza virus research," Kawaoka wrote, adding that he would participate in the upcoming NSABB meeting and looked forward to constructive discussions.




“In the lab, several scientists have made the H5N1 strain more contagious, a controversial line of research.... The federal government will temporarily stop funding any new studies that could make three high-risk infectious diseases even more dangerous. The government is asking all scientists involved in this research now to voluntarily halt their current studies.... The concern is that so-called gain-of-function studies would probe how these viruses work by altering them in ways that could make them more pathogenic or contagious.. Scientists have been arguing about the wisdom of doing such experiments ever since two studies of the H5N1 bird flu virus created mutant forms that could potentially spread between people and cause a pandemic, if they ever got out of the lab. The prestigious National Research Council will be involved in the government's new deliberations, as will a government advisory committee called the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, which is meeting October 22 after not meeting for over a year.... Until officials adopt a final policy on these experiments, which they expect to do next year, new proposals won't be funded by the National Institutes of Health.... 'NIH has funded such studies because they help define the fundamental nature of human-pathogen interactions, enable the assessment of the pandemic potential of emerging infectious agents, and inform public health and preparedness efforts,' Collins noted. 'These studies, however, also entail biosafety and biosecurity risks, which need to be understood better.'”

In other words these studies are useful in ways other than the making of “germ warfare” agents. I'll bet the problems that the Dallas hospital had with handling Ebola has caused NIH to become more cautious about disease pathogens. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity is meeting to discuss it on October 22, after not meeting for over a year, which seems to show a lack of government interest in the subject. That, along with the cases over the last couple of years of government labs mishandling some dangerous “bugs,” is causing them to be more careful about what they grow in petri dishes.





Egality N'est Pas La Réalité: French Women Wage Online War On Sexism – NPR
by ELEANOR BEARDSLEY
October 17, 2014

Photograph: Hundreds of women swapped business suits for short skirts and revealing tops in Paris in October 2011 to protest against sexual violence and victim blaming.

Caroline De Haas has had enough. The French feminist, 34, became so fed up with sexism in the country that she's launched a website to fight it.

Tapping on her keyboard, De Haas brings up the new site,Macholand.fr. On the screen are several "actions" targeted at sexist politicians or advertisers who have crossed the line.

Take, for example, Gerard Collomb, the mayor of France's second-largest city, Lyon. Collomb recently said the country's education minister, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, got her job simply because President Francois Hollande loves beautiful women.

"It's just incredible that in the 21st century, politics people could say that without any reaction in the political class," says De Haas. "Nobody say nothing!"

De Haas hopes that with Macholand, French women will now be able to speak out and have their opinion heard.

"It's a website to mobilize people against sexism," she says. "The sexism in the media, the sexism in advertising or the sexism in politics."

The site invites users to join the so-called action against Collomb.

"You can send a tweet to this guy to tell him what he say about the minister of national education is totally sexist, and he should shut up the next time he has an idea like this," says De Haas.

There seems to be no shortage of sexism in France. Feminists say the country's Latin roots and streak of machismo allow powerful men get away with bad behavior toward women.

Think of former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The Frenchman was arrested in New York City in May 2011 after allegedly assaulting a hotel maid. Though the case was dropped for lack of evidence, it brought to light that Strauss-Kahn had been engaged in sketchy behavior toward women in France for years, but no one had dared expose him.

Walk down any Paris street and no one seems to flinch at the number of naked women staring out from advertisements and magazine covers at news kiosks. And despite the fact that egalite is part of the French motto, French women earn 25 percent less than their male counterparts, and make up only a quarter of the country's parliament and 3 percent of chief executives.

De Haas, who runs her own company, decided to launch Macholand to let women (or men) join in collective Twitter, Facebook or email campaigns against sexism.

The site has been up a few days, and already more than 6,000 people have participated.

Another target on the site is a dating website that compares women to cars — in fact, I saw one of the company's giant ads posted right beside my son's elementary school. "French women also have beautiful chassis," it read, above a sultry-looking mademoiselle with most of her bare derriere exposed.

Visitors to Macholand.fr also are invited to start their own actions against sexism. You can upload a picture of the offensive person, place or thing and ask others to join you in doing something about it.

At a popular gym in Paris' 15th arrondissement, women of all ages are working out. Retiree Francoise Delamarre heard about the site on the news and thinks it's a great idea.

"It's like a forum to fight sexism instead of remaining frustrated and alone," she says.
Emilie Bresson, 34, agrees that French women lag behind women in some other European countries.

"No, I think we don't have the same rights as, for example, Scandinavian women," says Bresson. "I think they are more progressist on this point."

But Bresson thinks the best way to fight sexism is at the workplace, not on a website. She thinks French women have a long way to go before they'll be able to have families and build careers with the same ease as men.

Back at her office, De Haas remembers what first gave her the idea for Macholand. After contacting a company about a degrading advertisement, they wrote her back saying they were sorry she found it sexist.

"I said, oh my God, they think it's my opinion! They think that, okay, sexist or not sexist, is just an opinion." she says. "It's not an opinion, it's a fact. It's very dangerous."

De Haas says many women became outraged after she tweeted the company's response to her. That's when she realized it was pointless to act alone.

"If 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 people react in the same time to say the same thing, a company can no longer call it an opinion," says De Haas. "They have to recognize they have a problem."



http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/fast_facts/levels_of_office/Congress-Current.php

Center for American Women and Politics
Eagleton Institute of Politics

Women Serving in the 113th Congress 2013-15

Total Senate
100 (53D, 45R, 2I)
Women
20 (16D, 4R)
Total House
435 (201D, 234R)
Women
 79 (60D, 19R), plus 3 (3D) Delegates

FROM WIKIPEDIA: “As of January 3, 2013, thirty-six women have served or are serving as the governor of a U.S. state (including one from the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico). Currently, five women are serving as governors of U.S. states.”



In the US this year we have 20 percent of the seats occupied by women in Congress and 18.16 in the Senate, or well under the ¼ that they have in France. Our female governors are way behind France's record. I am pleased to see that a website is up to serve as a sounding board for women in France, however. Maybe the trend will spread to the US. France also has no monopoly on sexist and other socially ignorant (such as racist and anti-LGBT) statements. I would have to dig into the net to find their names but a number of cases have been in the news during this year. The men all ended up apologizing after their headquarters received a torrent of angry emails, but most of them probably haven't really repented. For samples, see the following article called “Top 50 Most Sexist Quotes on the Campaign Trail” on website “http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/110242/top_50_most_sexist_quotes.”

Women here also lag way behind men in the jobs and workplace environment. The comment by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently that raised a ruckus was his statement that for women to ask for a raise is “bad karma.” The attitude shown by Indian men toward women in their own country is far worse than this – try “bride burning” and gang rapes, for instance. Indian women have been speaking out against these things, though, so maybe things are changing there. Still, women's rights have a long way to go, even though it's definitely better here in the US than when I was growing up. I am used to it, but it still makes my blood boil when I hear particularly bad statements by people in power. They should be ashamed of such behavior.