Wednesday, November 19, 2014


News Clips For The Day


Saudi reform center for jihadists offers alternatives to extremists
By HOLLY WILLIAMS CBS NEWS November 18, 2014, 7:05 PM

SAUDI ARABIA -- Islamic terrorist groups get many of their recruits from Saudi Arabia. It's a sore subject for the Saudis, who are part of the U.S.-led coalition conducting air strikes against ISIS.

The Saudis claim they have reformed thousands of terrorists and turned them into law abiding citizens.

Saudi Arabia's terrorist reform center looks more like a hotel than a prison. Its inmates take courses in non-violent Islam and do art as therapy. They've all recently served jail time for terrorist offenses and aren't allowed to appear on camera.

But we were given a tour of their recreation facilities, comfortable living quarters, and special apartments for conjugal visits.

Saudi Arabia is a fertile recruiting ground for al Qaeda and ISIS -- and nearly 3,000 men have been treated here.

But Dr. Hameed Al-Shaygi denies Saudi Arabia bears any responsibility for fueling terrorism. He balks at the notion that the conservative Islam that's practiced in Saudi Arabia is a kind of gateway to violent extremism.

"If that true, then how come we have some Europeans, some British, some Danish, some Dutch went to Syria," he said.

The Saudis claim the three-month program has a success rate of over 80 percent. And Col. Omar Al-Zalal told us financial incentives are a powerful factor.

"Medical, schooling, laundry, food," he said. "All free, yes."

If they pass the exams, the Saudi government gives them an allowance, help finding a job, and even pays for their weddings.

Over lunch we met Abdulrahman Al-Howaiti, a star graduate who's now studying engineering. He told us he joined al Qaeda in Yemen because he was angered by the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

He was asked if he would have at one point in his life have tried to kill an infidel, such as the reporter interviewing him.

"Of course," he laughs.

But after al Qaeda asked him to become a suicide bomber he came home and turned himself in.

"They told me I should wear a suicide vest and blow up a building," he said. "But that wouldn't have achieved anything, and even if it did, I wouldn't have been around to see it."

Saudi Arabian officials admit rehabilitation doesn't always work - but they've had some spectacular failures. When the Saudi police arrested 88 suspected al Qaeda operatives in September, they discovered that 59 of them had been through reform programs and then released.




“Saudi Arabia's terrorist reform center looks more like a hotel than a prison. Its inmates take courses in non-violent Islam and do art as therapy. They've all recently served jail time for terrorist offenses and aren't allowed to appear on camera. But we were given a tour of their recreation facilities, comfortable living quarters, and special apartments for conjugal visits. Saudi Arabia is a fertile recruiting ground for al Qaeda and ISIS -- and nearly 3,000 men have been treated here.... The Saudis claim the three-month program has a success rate of over 80 percent. And Col. Omar Al-Zalal told us financial incentives are a powerful factor. 'Medical, schooling, laundry, food,' he said. 'All free, yes.' If they pass the exams, the Saudi government gives them an allowance, help finding a job, and even pays for their weddings.... Saudi Arabian officials admit rehabilitation doesn't always work - but they've had some spectacular failures. When the Saudi police arrested 88 suspected al Qaeda operatives in September, they discovered that 59 of them had been through reform programs and then released.”

This sounds like addiction programs in the US. AA has an impressive success rate – it's free of charge, goes on until the member fails or succeeds any number of times, and amounts to a massive revision of his thought processes. It's like group therapy with access to after hours support and is completely voluntary. Our hospitals and treatment centers only last a short time and don't always provide support services like therapy groups. They are very expensive and insurance doesn't always pay for it. Maybe Saudi Arabia needs a long term membership and support program like AA after their clients are detained and rehabilitated, because mental quirks aren't all a result of life circumstances like joblessness. They are a product of the individual's basic mental health, philosophical outlook, social/cultural influences, and a strong personal desire to stop drinking or using drugs.

See the website – http://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/rehab.html on US efforts to rehabilitate criminals. “The Debate on Rehabilitating Criminals: Is It True that Nothing Works?”, by Jerome G. Miller, D.S.W. I quote from that article, “On January 18, 1989, the abandonment of rehabilitation in corrections was confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Mistretta v. United States, the Court upheld federal "sentencing guidelines" which remove rehabilitation from serious consideration when sentencing offenders. Defendants will henceforth be sentenced strictly for the crime, with no recognition given to such factors as amenability to treatment, personal and family history, previous efforts to rehabilitate oneself, or possible alternatives to prison. The Court outlined the history of the debate: "Rehabilitation as a sound penological theory came to be questioned and, in any event, was regarded by some as an unattainable goal for most cases." The Court cited a Senate Report which "referred to the 'outmoded rehabilitation model' for federal criminal sentencing, and recognized that the efforts of the criminal justice system to achieve rehabilitation of offenders had failed. But had they?"

The Saudi program does indoctrinate them with a peaceful Islamic philosophy, but it doesn't have an ongoing membership program like AA does, or at least that was not reported in this article. If the fundamentalist jihadists in the country do dominate the society, the graduates of a three month program will be “swimming up stream” when they get out, despite their new job. Britain recently made the teaching by a radical cleric unlawful. That article said that poverty was not as strong an influence on the rise of jihadism as the inflammatory teachings of such clerics. When people open their minds up to emotional religious teachings they stop thinking for themselves, and become malleable emotionally. Still, any success that their program has should be applauded. If it works, perhaps we should do it in the West.





As Ferguson braces for grand jury decision, leaders aim for longterm reforms
By STEPHANIE CONDON CBS NEWS November 19, 2014, 6:00 AM

Activists in Ferguson, Missouri and nationwide are waiting to see whether a grand jury will indict police officer Darren Wilson for the killing of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown. The decision could set off major demonstrations, and Gov. Jay Nixon has pre-emptively activated the National Guard and declared a state of emergency for possible unrest.

The potential indictment, however, is simply one more step in a long, often uncomfortable conversation about justice and inequality sparked by Brown's death and the subsequent demonstrations. On Tuesday, Nixon announced the members of a 15- person commission he's created to consider how to fix the deep-seated problems that have led to the tension in Ferguson and the greater St. Louis community.

"Change of this magnitude is hard but maintaining the status quo is simply not acceptable," Nixon said Tuesday. Specifically, the commission is tasked with tackling law enforcement community relations and disparities in areas like education, housing, transportation and health care.

The reforms Nixon may have in mind are substantial enough that he's giving the commission until September 2015 to issue specific recommendations. The governor insisted that the lengthy deadline doesn't amount to foot-dragging. He pointed out that the state is already embracing some reforms -- police officers have undergone thousands of hours of special training to handle demonstrations, while his administration already has plans to help connect young people with summer jobs next year.

"A myriad of things have been going on to strengthen the response and protect people's right to speak," Nixon said. "But I do think it is important to have this independent commission be able to look at the deeper issues that need to be dealt with structurally."

The recommendations from the commission -- which includes religious leaders, law enforcement leaders and youth activists, among others -- should send "a clear clarion call for the need for action for long term issues," the governor said.

Furthermore, he added, "It's also my expectation the commission will not hesitate to make recommendations for positive steps that can and should be taken prior to the release of its report."

For the activist groups organizing demonstrators ahead of the grand jury decision, the sort of reforms needed are clear. The Don't Shoot Coalition, a collection of dozens of activist groups, has compiled a list of demands that includes justice for Michael Brown and independent investigations into other allegations of excessive police force. It calls for an end to racial profiling in the St. Louis region, civilian oversight of police practices and ongoing initiatives to ensure law enforcement departments represent their respective communities.

Missouri governor: Violence "cannot be repeated"
New Ferguson recordings emerge ahead of grand jury vote

The group Hands Up United also has a list of demands that specifically includes the de-escalation of militarized policing of protesters, the firing of Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson and the appointment of a special prosecutor to take the case out of the hands of County Prosecutor Robert McCullough. The group is also calling for more action on the national level, including a visit to Ferguson from President Obama.

Some Ferguson-based activists are attempting to mobilize more civic action among the African-American community, but as with the policy reforms, political change is slow in coming.

Michael Brown's death and the subsequent unrest in Ferguson became a flashpoint in the election of the St. Louis County Executive, with a group of African-American leaders throwing their support behind the Republican candidate. The Democrat in the race, Steve Stenger, lost their support because he backed County Prosecutor Robert McCullough. However, as Reuters reported, the turnout of Ferguson voters in the County Executive race was relatively low, and Stenger managed to win by a small margin.

Now activists have an eye on the three Ferguson city council seats that will be on the ballot next year. Even though two-thirds of residents in the town of 21,000 are black, just one of six city councilmembers is African-American.

"People are awake now. They know who the mayor is and what kind of person he is, and they know who the council members are," Hands Up United leader Tory Russell said.

In the meantime, local leaders are working with federal officials from the Justice Department to improve community relations with law enforcement. Attorney General Eric Holder has been deeply engaged in the efforts, and last week he participated in a call with Missouri officials to thank them for their preparations for protests. Holder stressed that going forward, "it will be more important than ever that the law enforcement response to the demonstrations always seek to deescalate tensions and respect the rights of protestors," according to a statement from the Justice Department.

The attorney general declined to say when the Justice Department will wrap up its own civil rights investigation into the Ferguson Police Department.





I really like Holder. He is fair, but not afraid to assert himself. I also, from what I have seen of him, like the Governor. His move to call out National Guard troops to maintain order, but allow demonstrations, is much better than letting the Ferguson police do it, considering the way they have chosen to behave in other encounters. One policemen even pointed an automatic rifle at a demonstrator, cursed at him, and threatened to kill him. Governor Nixon also has set up a 15 member commission to examine the deep-seated community relations problems between police and the primarily black neighborhoods. The article says “'Change of this magnitude is hard but maintaining the status quo is simply not acceptable,' Nixon said Tuesday. Specifically, the commission is tasked with tackling law enforcement community relations and disparities in areas like education, housing, transportation and health care.... police officers have undergone thousands of hours of special training to handle demonstrations, while his administration already has plans to help connect young people with summer jobs next year.... The recommendations from the commission -- which includes religious leaders, law enforcement leaders and youth activists, among others -- should send 'a clear clarion call for the need for action for long term issues,' the governor said. Furthermore, he added, 'It's also my expectation the commission will not hesitate to make recommendations for positive steps that can and should be taken prior to the release of its report.'”

The Don't Shoot Coalition “calls for an end to racial profiling in the St. Louis region, civilian oversight of police practices and ongoing initiatives to ensure law enforcement departments represent their respective communities;” and another organization called Hands Up United is demanding “the de-escalation of militarized policing of protesters, the firing of Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson and the appointment of a special prosecutor to take the case out of the hands of County Prosecutor Robert McCullough. The group is also calling for more action on the national level, including a visit to Ferguson from President Obama.” In addition three city council seats are up for grabs at the next election, and hopefully some black candidates will run and be elected to improve the black/white ratio. Local leaders are also working with the DOJ to improve officer/citizen relations. In my opinion a return to the old-fashioned foot patrol would cause police and citizens to get to know each other on a personal basis, and hopefully in a friendlier way. If police officers are available to arrest men who are beating their wives, or who have forced their way into an elderly lady's house, they will more likely be seen as a force for good rather than the regular “stop and frisk” routine which is too often an attempt to find a good reason to arrest someone.

A top down emphasis on tickets and arrests has been mentioned in at least one of the articles about Ferguson, with the police officers having a quota on the number of tickets they hand out; and often not only do the citizens lose their driving license, they really can't afford to pay those fines. That causes resentment toward the police. That's done by city police forces all over the South simply for the purpose of making money for the city, and also property is confiscated and sold, also to finance the city. I hate to use such a crude phrase, but that really, really sucks. It's the epitome of “dirty copper.” Violence is the worst thing in these situations, but the sheer corruption that goes on, from officers confiscating and selling drugs to being on the take for bribes, and worse, planting those same drugs on some other guy they find on the street to justify arresting him. Sometimes that's what they use their community contact for. I personally think that most police officers aren't “dirty,” but it is so tempting that it occurs more often than we would like to think.

Finally, though I haven't seen a news article on this subject, I think a Neighborhood Watch committee would be helpful in those poor communities, to involve the citizens in the policing and overall safety of their community. I also think that volunteer groups to help fix up houses that look depressing and unsafe, clean up empty lots that have become dump sites, etc. would also improve morale and root out drug sellers. In one city in the news 15 or so years ago, the police achieved success by examining abandoned houses for signs of drug use and demolishing or boarding them up. I personally believe that the origin of criminality is emotional negativity, except for some people who have mild to serious mental or brain problems. A very interesting article I read was on poor impulse control among criminals who had been incarcerated, and brain scans of their neuronal activity showed less active frontal lobes in those people, the area where our logic and impulse control is housed. I believe that the number of people who are in prison partly because of mental deficiency is high enough that efforts should be made to medicate them rather than simply throwing them into a jail cell. Too often police officers are abusive to mentally ill people rather than tazing them and taking them to mental health facilities. The same is true of chronically homeless people.

See http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/michael-brown-shooting/missouri-cop-resigns-after-pointing-rifle-ferguson-protesters-n191751/ –

“A suburban St. Louis cop who was suspended for pointing his semi-automatic rifle and threatening protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, has resigned, the police chief told the Associated Press. Lt. Ray Albers, who was put on indefinite leave from the St. Ann Police Department after being caught on a cellphone video that went viral, quit the job he had held since 1994 on Thursday. Albers could not be reached for comment.

The video showed the officer pointing his gun at a demonstrator who apparently had his hands up. He cursed and appeared to say, "I will ... kill you" before a sergeant made him lower his weapon and walk away. Albers was among the officers called in from neighboring towns to deal with unrest after a Ferguson police officer shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old, Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

The video, which contains profanity, has gotten more than half a million hits on YouTube.”






Groundhog rampage sends New Hampshire man fleeing
CBS NEWS November 19, 2014, 8:36 AM

HAMPTON, N.H. - A rodent went on a rampage in Hampton, New Hampshire Tuesday morning.

Gary McGrath said he was in the backyard of his home on Little River Road when "a furry little fuzzball" came after him, reports CBS Boston.

The fuzzball, also called a groundhog or woodchuck, ran up to McGrath's foot. He said he give it a light tap. It ran after him again and he kicked it again.

McGrath said he went into the garage and the rodent went in the front of the building and chased after him again. The groundhog then ran after McGrath as he went to his house. McGrath captured several pictures of the animal trying to claw through the front glass door.

What he found out later is the groundhog paid his neighbor a visit a few hours earlier.

Kevin Bowersox was getting ready for work when he saw the animal chasing his 105-pound Sheepdog in the backyard.

Bowersox says he went out to quiet the dog and the groundhog chased him into the house and then ran after the dog again. He said at the time he thought Murphy, the dog, had disturbed the animal.

McGrath said he has no doubt the groundhog was rabid.

He called animal control and they took care of the animal.

McGrath is a woodworker. Since no one was hurt, he said his friends are already making sure he doesn't forget, coming up with phrases like - how much wood would a woodworker chuck if a woodchuck would chuck a woodworker.

Both men said they haven't seen other animals behaving strangely, but they will now be more cautious.



Prevalence of rabies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Almost all human deaths caused by rabies occur in Asia and Africa. There are an estimated 55,000 human deaths annually from rabies worldwide.[1]

Dog licensing, killing of stray dogs, muzzling, and other measures contributed to the elimination of rabies from the United Kingdom in the early 20th century. More recently, large-scale vaccination of cats, dogs and ferrets has been successful in combating rabies in many developed countries.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease, caused by the rabies virus, a member of the Lyssavirus genus of the Rhabdoviridae family. It survives in a diverse variety of animal reservoirs, including bats, monkeys, raccoons, foxes, skunks, wolves, coyotes, dogs, mongoose, weasels, cats, cattle and otherdomestic farm animals, groundhogs, bears and other wild carnivores. However, in Asia, parts of America and large parts of Africa, dogs remain the principal host. Mandatory vaccination of animals is less effective in rural areas. Especially in developing countries, pets may not be privately kept and their destruction may be unacceptable. Oral vaccines can be safely distributed in baits, and this has successfully reduced rabies in rural areas of Canada, France and the United States and elsewhere, like in Montreal where baits are successfully used among raccoons in theMount Royal park area.

In the midwestern United States, skunks are the primary carriers of rabies, composing 134 of the 237 documented non-human cases in 1996. The most widely distributed reservoir of rabies in the United States, however, and the source of most human cases in the U.S., are bats. Nineteen of the twenty-two human rabies cases documented in the United States between 1980 and 1997 have been identified genetically as bat rabies. In many cases, victims are not even aware of having been bitten by a bat, assuming that a small puncture wound found after the fact was the bite of an insect or spider; in some cases, no wound at all can be found, leading to the hypothesis that in some cases the virus can be contracted via inhaling airborne aerosols from the vicinity of bats. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned on May 9, 1997, that a woman who died in October, 1996 in Cumberland County, Kentucky and a man who died in December, 1996 in Missoula County, Montana were both infected with a rabies strain found in silver-haired bats; although bats were found living in the chimney of the woman's home and near the man's workplace, neither victim could remember having had any contact with them.[18] Similar reports among spelunkers led to experimental demonstration in animals.[19] This inability to recognize a potential infection, in contrast to a bite from a dog or raccoon, leads to a lack of proper prophylactic treatment, and is the cause of the high mortality rate for bat bites.



This Wikipedia article on rabies includes a close up photo of a mad dog with its teeth bared and saliva dripping from its mouth. Scary stuff. It had wandered up on a man's porch and he photographed it through the glass door. Rabies lives at all times and places in wild animal populations, but we rarely see them. Sometimes one bites our dog or cat, or chases us around the yard like this woodchuck, and comes to our attention. A wild animal that is aggressive toward a human or any other larger animal is very likely rabid. They should be afraid and running away instead of fighting.

A friend of mine knows a woman who had to take rabies shots when she disobeyed a sign at a pond prohibiting swimming there. She went in anyway and was bitten by a beaver severely enough that she had to have surgery on her knee and now walks with a cane. They did catch that beaver and found that it was rabid. I have also heard of skunks, squirrels, foxes, raccoons, and even a cow that came down with it. The article I read says that any mammal can get rabies. Personally I keep my distance from all wild animals. I love almost all life forms – with the exception of spiders, bats, and poisonous snakes – but with great care and respect. I have never had the urge to pick them up and I certainly won't knowingly go swimming with them.





Sen. Bernie Sanders On How Democrats Lost White Voters – NPR
Steve Inskeep
November 19, 2014

Photograph – Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, says "the average person is working longer hours, lower wages, and they do not see any political party standing up and fighting for their rights."

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is one of two independents in the Senate. Now, the self-described socialist says he may run for president.

Sanders is aligned with Senate Democrats, but he has spoken lately of a problem with the Democratic coalition that elected President Obama. He says working-class white voters have abandoned Democrats in large numbers. The party, he says, has "not made it clear that they are prepared to stand with the working-class people of this country, take on the big money interests."

NPR's Steve Inskeep sat down with Sanders in his office and talked about the senator's plan for the middle class, how he says the Democratic Party lost its way, and American action against the Islamic State.

On what the Democrats should learn from their midterm election defeat
To see where the Democratic Party is, I think, it's important to understand where America is. And where America is, is that today we are seeing the collapse, the continued collapse, of the American middle class. You have working-class families who have given up the dream of sending their kids to college. My family never had any money. My father came ... from Poland without a nickel in his pocket. He was able to send two of his kids to college. That dream is now not a reality for a whole lot of folks in this country.

And then people look out and they say, "Gee, the wealthiest people are doing phenomenally well." And where are the Democrats? Do people see the Democratic Party standing up to Wall Street? Any of these guys going to jail? Not really. The average person is working longer hours, lower wages, and they do not see any political party standing up and fighting for their rights. What they see is a Republican Party becoming extremely right wing, controlled by folks like the Koch brothers. But they do not see a party representing the working class of this country.

On why he says Democrats are losing white voters

Well, I am focusing on the fact that whether you're white or black or Hispanic or Asian, if you are in the working class, you are struggling to keep your heads above water. You're worried about your kids. What should the Democratic Party be talking about, Steve? What they should be talking about is a massive federal jobs program. There was once a time when our nation's infrastructure — roads, bridges, water systems, rail — were the envy of the world. Today that's no longer the case.
I would say if you go out on the street and you talk to people and say, "Which is the party of the American working class?" People would look to you like you were a little bit crazy, they wouldn't know what you were talking about, and they certainly wouldn't identify the Democrats.

On African-American support for Democrats

Well, here's what you got. What you got is an African-American president, and the African-American community is very, very proud that this country has overcome racism and voted for him for president. And that's kind of natural. You've got a situation where the Republican Party has been strongly anti-immigration, and you've got a Hispanic community which is looking to the Democrats for help.

But that's not important. You should not be basing your politics based on your color. What you should be basing your politics on is, how is your family doing? ... In the last election, in state after state, you had an abysmally low vote for the Democrats among white, working-class people. And I think the reason for that is that the Democrats have not made it clear that they are prepared to stand with the working-class people of this country, take on the big money interests. I think the key issue that we have to focus on, and I know people are uncomfortable about talking about it, is the role of the billionaire class in American society.

On why Americans are uncomfortable talking about the 'billionaire class'
Because they fund organizations like NPR and the media in general. Because they make huge campaign contributions, to politics, to politicians of all stripes.
On the U.S. approach to battling the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq
I think the president is ... moving us in the right direction. My own view is that if we're gonna be successful in defeating this brutal organization called ISIS, what needs to happen is that the people in the region, the Muslim nations, are gonna have to take the responsibility of leading that effort. It cannot be the United States of America. In many ways I think that's exactly what ISIS wants. They want this to be a war of the United States versus ISIS, of the West versus the east, of Christianity versus Islam. What has got to happen is countries like Saudi Arabia which, by the way, has the fourth-largest defense budget in the world ... they're gonna have to step up to the plate and take the leadership in fighting ISIS.




“Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is one of two independents in the Senate. Now, the self-described socialist says he may run for president. Sanders is aligned with Senate Democrats, but he has spoken lately of a problem with the Democratic coalition that elected President Obama. He says working-class white voters have abandoned Democrats in large numbers. The party, he says, has 'not made it clear that they are prepared to stand with the working-class people of this country, take on the big money interests.'... What should the Democratic Party be talking about, Steve? 'What they should be talking about is a massive federal jobs program. There was once a time when our nation's infrastructure — roads, bridges, water systems, rail — were the envy of the world. Today that's no longer the case.... In the last election, in state after state, you had an abysmally low vote for the Democrats among white, working-class people. And I think the reason for that is that the Democrats have not made it clear that they are prepared to stand with the working-class people of this country, take on the big money interests. I think the key issue that we have to focus on, and I know people are uncomfortable about talking about it, is the role of the billionaire class in American society.... On why Americans are uncomfortable talking about the 'billionaire class' Because they fund organizations like NPR and the media in general. Because they make huge campaign contributions, to politics, to politicians of all stripes.... My own view is that if we're gonna be successful in defeating this brutal organization called ISIS, what needs to happen is that the people in the region, the Muslim nations, are gonna have to take the responsibility of leading that effort.... What has got to happen is countries like Saudi Arabia which, by the way, has the fourth-largest defense budget in the world ... they're gonna have to step up to the plate and take the leadership in fighting ISIS.'”

While I'm interested to see that Sander's political persuasion is actually Socialism, rare today among well-known politicians; and while I'm in favor of taking on the big money interests, I think he is not looking at the real central issue among WASP men in this country, which is race and religion. WASPs nowadays are primarily against all the results of the 1970's “revolution” among the young people and the overall liberalization in government from women's issues, evolution and environmental concerns, poverty programs, education that is liberal in its trend, to the banning and criminalizing of hate crimes. So many of the WASPs hate the Jews, the athiests and the darker skinned peoples. Lynching and Klan riding are a part of Southern life as late as the 1960's, and the South isn't the only fertile ground for such beliefs. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and I think other states that have a large rural and small town population are “socially conservative” about race and religion. Hate is not a crime, there. Hate is one of their basic rights. There is a real danger of our nation becoming the next Nazi stronghold.

Sanders mentioning the hated billionaires funding NPR. So do plenty of Middle Class people and even poor people. I have given to NPR for years now. They happily take small donations. The people who fund NPR are the somewhat more educated segment of the population, and they aren't all wealthy. In the 1970's our group who were among the first in our families to attend college, and then became liberals due partly to a large liberal push in society at the time, with the strongest element being the elimination of the Jim Crow society. It's a societal war with brown and nonreligious people fighting against white supremacy with a push toward Christianity as the state religion, that is still continuing today, which with the Tea Party has become even more highly contested on both sides. I am glad to see Sanders in office, as he usually votes with the Democrats, but he may not be a social liberal – just an economic liberal, so I wouldn't vote for him. I would vote for Bill Maher if he were to run. He's an Independent, too, but he's a real liberal.





http://michigancitizen.com/court-rules-michigan-has-no-responsibility-to-provide-quality-public-education/

Court rules Michigan has no responsibility to provide quality public education
Posted by: The Michigan Citizen 
Posted date: November 13, 2014

DETROIT — In a blow to schoolchildren statewide, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled on Nov. 7 the State of Michigan has no legal obligation to provide a quality public education to students in the struggling Highland Park School District.

A 2-1 decision reversed an earlier circuit court ruling that there is a “broad compelling state interest in the provision of an education to all children.” The appellate court said the state has no constitutional requirement to ensure schoolchildren actually learn fundamental skills such as reading — but rather is obligated only to establish and finance a public education system, regardless of quality. Waving off decades of historic judicial impact on educational reform, the majority opinion also contends that “judges are not equipped to decide educational policy.”

“This ruling should outrage anyone who cares about our public education system,” said Kary L. Moss, executive director of the American Civil Liberties of Michigan. “The court washes its hands and absolves the state of any responsibility in a district that has failed and continues to fail its children.”

The decision dismisses an unprecedented “right-to-read” lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Michigan in July 2012 on behalf of eight students of nearly 1,000 children attending K-12 public schools in Highland Park, Mich. The suit, which named as defendants the State of Michigan, its agencies charged with overseeing public education and the Highland Park School District, maintained that the state failed to take effective steps to ensure that students are reading at grade level.

“Let’s remember it was the state that turned the entire district over to a for-profit charter management company with no track record of success with low performing schools,” said Moss. “It is the state that has not enforced the law that requires literacy intervention to children not reading at grade level. It is the state’s responsibility to ensure and maintain a system of education that serves all children.”

In a dissenting opinion, appellate court judge Douglas Shapiro accused the court of “abandonment of our essential judicial roles, that of enforcement of the rule of law even where the defendants are governmental entities, and of protecting the rights of all who live within Michigan’s borders, particularly those, like children, who do not have a voice in the political process.”

MEAP test results from 2012 painted a bleak picture for Highland Park students and parents. In the 2013-14 year, no fewer than 78.9 percent of current fourth graders and 73 percent of current seventh graders will require the special intervention mandated by statute. By contrast, 65 percent of then-fourth graders and 75 percent of then-seventh graders required statutory intervention entering the 2012-13 school year.

“We respect the decision of the court in this manner,” says Bill DiSessa with the Michigan Department of Education, “and commend all educators who work to get all children in Michigan reading at grade-level by the end of third grade.

“In a general sense, 3rd grade reading proficiency has been and will be one of this agency’s top priorities. Students learn to read by 3rd grade, and read to learn after that.”
Referring to State Superintendent Mike Flanagan’s July 2014 announcement he will use his authority to suspend low-performing charter school authorizers from chartering new schools, DiSessa says, “The department wants to make sure there’s accountability for all schools in the state be they public or charter.”




This is an unspeakable ruling on what school systems are supposed to do. If some 65% or higher aren't reading up to grade level by the time the third grade is over, there is a lack of proper teaching. Was there by any chance a racial element in this case? In the South, black schools often had to take hand me down schoolbooks because they weren't allowed new ones, and the best teachers weren't assigned there. Also, teachers sometimes don't spend as much time with black students who don't do well because they have a basic belief that the students aren't intelligent enough to learn well. Whether they are black or white, if a student isn't learning they simply need extra help. When I was young some students, if they weren't reading up to grade level, were held back to repeat the grade.

“'Let’s remember it was the state that turned the entire district over to a for-profit charter management company with no track record of success with low performing schools' said Moss. 'It is the state that has not enforced the law that requires literacy intervention to children not reading at grade level. It is the state’s responsibility to ensure and maintain a system of education that serves all children.' I have never thought that Charter Schools are any better than public schools if the administrators are equally proficient in both. It's very likely that teachers may need to be replaced, and tutors assigned to the students. Hopefully this court ruling will be overturned. The ACLU will probably appeal the decision, after all.






http://www.salon.com/2014/11/17/sorry_nra_right_to_carry_gun_laws_are_actually_associated_with_an_increase_in_violent_crime/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Sorry, NRA: Right-to-carry gun laws are actually associated with an increase in violent crime
Joanna Rothkopf
MONDAY, NOV 17, 2014

The study debunks the oft-cited claim that more guns equals less crime

A new study from researchers at Stanford University debunks the oft-cited fact that more guns leads to less crime. In fact, the researchers found, the opposite is the case: right-to-carry laws are associated with higher rates of aggravated assault, rape, robbery and murder.

The results of the study are imperfect. Lead author of the study and Stanford law professor John J. Donohue III said, “Trying to estimate the impact of right-to-carry laws has been a vexing task over the last two decades.” While they specifically found that right-to-carry laws had yielded 8 percent more instances of aggravated assault, that number isn’t set in stone because of a number of confounding factors (such as various drug epidemics). Regardless, Donohue says that 8 percent is a low guess–the reality could be much higher.

Still, the study’s findings are significant in that it pokes a hole in the gun lobby’s main argument. The Washington Post’s Christopher Ingraham provides context:

The notion stems from a paper published in 1997 by economists John Lott and David Mustard, who looked at county-level crime data from 1977 to 1992 and concluded that “allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes and it appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths.” Of course, the study of gun crime has advanced significantly since then (no thanks to Congress). Some researchers have gone so far as to call Lott and Mustard’s original study ”completely discredited.”

One of the major critiques of the study came from the National Research Council, which in 2004 extended the data through the year 2000 and ultimately concluded that “with the current evidence it is not possible to determine that there is a causal link between the passage of right-to-carry laws and crime rates.” Or in other words, “More guns, less crime?”

Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, confirmed to the Huffington Post that the study accurately concluded that “right-to-carry laws increase firearm-related assaults,” although “the exact magnitude of that effect is uncertain.”




“The notion stems from a paper published in 1997 by economists John Lott and David Mustard, who looked at county-level crime data from 1977 to 1992 and concluded that “allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes and it appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths.” Of course, the study of gun crime has advanced significantly since then (no thanks to Congress). Some researchers have gone so far as to call Lott and Mustard’s original study 'completely discredited.'"

An angry man armed with a deadly weapon is more likely to kill someone with it if they get angry to the point that they start to fight. If that weapon is a gun, then it will be a gun death. Many men still carry knives or other lethal instruments. I can remember walking through a dark street in a dicey neighborhood to get to the store for some food. I carried a hammer in my handbag. I wouldn't have had it if I didn't think I might really need it. If I had been attacked that night, I had every intention of using the hammer. If I weren't attacked, I wouldn't have done any such thing. I think men especially are prone to getting into deadly fights when they are angry, though. If they have no lethal weapon the outcome of the fight will be much less dangerous in most cases. Most people can't fight with their fists well enough to kill another man – a woman or child, maybe, but not a fully grown man.

I wouldn't want the law to completely prohibit the conceiled carrying of a gun under such circumstances as I was in when I carried the hammer. I do think people should have to give a good reason for wanting a conceiled carry permit, though. I was living in that neighborhood because I could afford the rent. Ideally, I shouldn't have been living there. Personally, I have never wanted to buy a gun. They are involved in too many accidents for my tastes. Besides, I've heard that if you pull out a gun and point it at some dangerous person, they are likely to fight you for it and then use it on you. It doesn't make sense to me that a conceiled carry law will lessen the likelihood that the gun will be used in a killing. I don't think that really pans out in the real world. Michael Dunn wouldn't have taken on four nearly grown black men over loud music if he hadn't had that gun. He was a smart man. He would have either moved his car or rolled up all his windows until his girlfriend got back to the car. He would have been very angry about that, but he wouldn't have fought them without the gun. To me, that means that the presence of the gun caused the incident to play out the way it did. He is going to pay a severe penalty for that decision. All he needed to do was to get out his trusty cell phone – everybody has one now – and called 911 to make a complaint about four threatening men obnoxiously playing loud music. The cops would have come and rousted them.