Saturday, January 24, 2015


ON FREEDOM OF RELIGION


http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/01/14/after-satanists-planned-to-give-away-coloring-books-florida-school-board-halts-religious-distributions-entirely/

After Satanists Planned to Give Away Coloring Books, Florida School Board Halts Religious Distributions Entirely
By Hemant Mehta
January 14, 2015

In January of 2013, World Changers of Florida, Inc. held Bible distributions at a number of public high schools in Orange County, Florida. No student would be forced to take one, but there would be a table set up where interested students could take a copy if they wanted:

This alone could have been illegal, but the Orange County School Board agreed that non-Christian groups could also have a distribution if they wanted.

When the Central Florida Freethought Community (CFFC) called their bluff and planned their own giveaway, they were heavily censored. Many of their books, they were told, could not be given away, including titles such as Sam Harris‘ Letter to a Christian Nation and Ibn Warraq‘s Why I am Not a Muslim.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation didn’t buy their explanations for why the books were censored and filed a federal lawsuit against the district in June of 2013. Before the lawsuit was ruled upon, the district agreed to let the atheists give away whatever books they wanted.

Because CFFC wasn’t notified that there would be no censorship, they didn’t bother submitting a formal request to do a distribution, but the floodgates had finally opened.
Then the fun began.

The Satanic Temple announced last year that they would file a formal request to do a giveaway of materials about Satanism, which eventually morphed into a single fantastic coloring book:

After all of this, the Orange County School Board finally — finally! — considered not allowing outside groups to do book distributions a couple of months ago:

Worried about facing national ridicule if a Satanic group is allowed to give out coloring books to children, the Orange County School Board moved Thursday toward preventing any outside group from distributing religious materials on campus.

…

The board discussed the issue during a workshop Thursday. The earliest it could vote to change the policy would be late January or early February, officials said.

“This really has, frankly, gotten out of hand,” said chairman Bill Sublette. “I think we’ve seen a group or groups take advantage of the open forum we’ve had.”

That last statement is just bananas. It didn’t get out of hand at all; Sublette was just mad because non-Christian groups took them up on their offer and that was never supposed to happen.

Well, the Orange County Public Schools board has finally decided to halt the distributions completely… at least until the policy can be “reworked.” They were fine with the Bibles being given away, but they have no desire to let atheists or Satanists have the same opportunities:

“Nothing’s going to be going on in this district this month,” confirmed Kathy Marsh, communications director for OCPS.

Marsh said no materials will be allowed from outside groups until the school system’s distribution policy can be “reworked” to avoid future problems. The school system is currently in talks with its attorneys to hash out the most efficient policy, she added.

…

For Florida Family Policy Council President John Stemberger, the school board’s decision to ban Bible distribution in the face of opposition was “unfortunate.”
“It required courage on their part, which is lacking,” he said. He believes the school board caved in to pressure after concerned parents spoke out at board meetings against Satanist materials being made available in schools.

“This is precisely what the Freedom From Religion people want,” Stemberger added. “They want to get rid of religion, and that’s their strategy. And everybody’s played into the strategy. It’s unfortunate.”

This is a typical Christian Right talking point. FFRF and CFFC and The Satanic Temple weren’t asking for special favors. They didn’t even force the district to stop third-party Bible distributions. They gave the district the choice of allowing all theistic and non-theistic groups to give away materials… or allowing none of them to do it.

That isn’t anti-Christian. It’s pro-neutrality.

And Stemberger sees neutrality as inherently anti-Christian because his God is a special little snowflake who needs to be coddled and given special treatment at all times.

(Large portions of this article were posted earlier. Top image via FFRF. Thanks to Brian for the link)




“In January of 2013, World Changers of Florida, Inc. held Bible distributions at a number of public high schools in Orange County, Florida. No student would be forced to take one, but there would be a table set up where interested students could take a copy if they wanted: This alone could have been illegal, but the Orange County School Board agreed that non-Christian groups could also have a distribution if they wanted.… The Satanic Temple announced last year that they would file a formal request to do a giveaway of materials about Satanism, which eventually morphed into a single fantastic coloring book: After all of this, the Orange County School Board finally — finally! — considered not allowing outside groups to do book distributions a couple of months ago:… Marsh said no materials will be allowed from outside groups until the school system’s distribution policy can be “reworked” to avoid future problems. The school system is currently in talks with its attorneys to hash out the most efficient policy, she added.... “This really has, frankly, gotten out of hand,” said chairman Bill Sublette. “I think we’ve seen a group or groups take advantage of the open forum we’ve had.” That last statement is just bananas. It didn’t get out of hand at all; Sublette was just mad because non-Christian groups took them up on their offer and that was never supposed to happen.”

“This is precisely what the Freedom From Religion people want,” Stemberger added. “They want to get rid of religion, and that’s their strategy. And everybody’s played into the strategy. It’s unfortunate.”

The religious materials should not be given away on the public school campuses and no high school teacher should try to force her students to “believe” in any particular way. Freedom from religion is built into the Constitution in specific wording directly alongside the freedom of people to worship as they please. As a practical matter, some forms of worship would probably be considered criminal – such as the slaughter of animals, or worse still, humans. Likewise sexual activity as a part of religious practice would be considered a crime I assume. I just looked on the Net, however, and only found one mention of orgiastic worship from the 1800s and another as recently as last year. Interestingly, the Oklahoma Civic Center, a city organization, did not act to prohibit the Satanic Black Mass that was to be conducted there. See the following article from CBS – “http://cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/catholic-bishop-stop-satanic-mass-orgiastic-ritual-pain-and”., Catholic Bishop: Stop Satanic Mass, An ‘Orgiastic Ritual of Pain and Perversion, August 7, 2014:

“So far, however, as Oklahoma Civic Center management specialist Kelly Hadsall told CNSNews.com, “since the center is a city-owned facility, the First Amendment of the United States Constitution does not allow us to turn away productions based on their content.”

In a letter inserted in church bulletins on Aug. 3, Bishop Slattery said, “As a part of Satanic worship, a Black Mass attempts to invert the action and meaning of the Eucharist in order to mock Christ’s sacrifice and worship Satan through an orgiastic ritual of pain and perversion. It blasphemes everything which we hold as sacred and redemptive; and the spiritual dangers it poses ought not be dismissed.”

This 2014 article seems to prove that the government does stand well away from controlling religious practice in this country. Unfortunately it is a case that I would tend to think should be forbidden rather than allowed. It is an example of hysterical religious practice that amounts to mental illness in my eyes. I also feel the same way about some of the more “enthusiastic” Christian Churches, with their worshipers swaying around and holding their hands in the air. This kind of religion does not “elevate” the mind, but rather overcomes it. I firmly believe in deep and logical thinking with emotional composure, firmly coupled with continuing education as a personal goal and separation of church and state.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/duke-reverses-plan-to-allow-islamic-call-to-prayer-from-campus-chapel/

​Duke reverses plan to allow Islamic call to prayer from campus chapel
CBS NEWS
January 15, 2015

DURHAM, N.C. -- A "credible and serious security threat" was a primary reason that Duke University officials on Thursday abandoned plans to allow Islamic students to start broadcasting a weekly call to prayer from the Duke Chapel tower, a university spokesman said.

Members of the Duke Muslim Students Association were supposed to start the three-minute weekly call or chant, known as adhan or azan, on Friday afternoon. Now, the call to prayer will take place in a quad outside the chapel, CBS affiliate WRAL in Raleigh reported.

"Duke remains committed to fostering an inclusive, tolerant and welcoming campus for all of its students," Michael Schoenfeld, Duke's vice president for public affairs and government relations, said in a statement. "However, it was clear that what was conceived as an effort to unify was not having the intended effect."

Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Rev. Billy Graham and the head of the international relief organization Samaritan's Purse, on Wednesday blasted Duke's decision to allow Islamic prayers from the bell tower. In a post on his Facebook page, he said followers of Islam are "butchering" people who don't share their beliefs.

In a Thursday interview with WRAL News, Graham refused to back down, even those Muslims who have condemned radical Islamic actions.

"I don't feel I owe an apology to anybody. I think Duke University, they owe an apology," he said. "They're the ones who owe the apology to Christian students and the ones who donated money for the chapel."

Islamic students have used the chapel basement for prayers for several years. Schoenfeld said most of the prayers would continue in the basement after the initial call in the quad, which he said is used for many interfaith activities.

More than 700 of Duke's 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students identify themselves as Muslims.

"No one is saying they can't worship their God," Graham said, adding that he disagreed with using the bell tower and a microphone to broadcast the chant.

"You're taking that bell tower, and you're turning it into a Muslim minaret," he said. "I think it's a slap at the Christian faith."

In majority-Muslim countries across the globe, the adhan is broadcast from mosques and on television and radio stations five times a day to correspond with prayer times. On Fridays, the day of worship in Islam, sermons are also broadcast.

In the United States, amplified adhan exists in a handful of communities.

Khalilah Sabra, executive director of the Muslim American Society in Raleigh, called Duke's reversal "a terrible shame," saying it's unfair for Graham and others to blame all Muslims for the violent acts of a few.

"Duke took a coward's way out and cannot pretend to be advocates of diversity. This was primarily because it caved into the fallout nourished by racism," Sabra said in an email to WRAL. "A huge gap could have been bridged; now it may remain broken."

Graham applauded Duke's choice not to allow the Islamic call to prayer from the bell tower, calling it "the right decision."

The North Carolina Council of Churches supported Duke's effort to allow the call to prayer from the bell tower, saying it would only help everyone's faith.

"Our understanding of other faiths grows stronger through discussion and interaction, and our own faith is deepened," council Executive Director George Reed said in an email to WRAL News. "Why wouldn't they encourage prayer within the university community? Why wouldn't they foster interfaith dialogue? Why would anyone challenge that?"

Many people did, however. Schoenfeld said Duke received numerous negative calls and emails about allowing the Islamic call to prayer, and Durham police said the university had requested extra security Friday afternoon - before officials moved the activity to the quad.

Students and university administrators said they still support efforts to preach diversity on campus.

"Our Muslim community enriches the university in countless ways," Schoenfeld said. "We welcome the active expression of their faith tradition - and all others - in ways that are meaningful and visible."

"Every religion has had ups and downs. Every religion has had violence associated with its history," student Akshay Save said, calling it unfair to stigmatize Islam. "This is what we're taught, to embrace diversity."

"It's not really a way of showing love or loving one's neighbor by not allowing it to happen. By allowing it to happen could be a stronger message of acceptance and love," student Nathan Bullock said.

"Duke is a higher institution, and you would expect diversity of opinion and debate, but given the raw sentiment and recent events, it is having a different reaction," said Rolin Mainuddin, an associate professor of political science and Western religion at nearby North Carolina Central University.

Mainuddin, who is Muslim, said Duke had to consider the effect of its decisions on fundraising.

"It's a private university, so the pressure will be stronger than a public university," he said.


Answers.Yahoo.com:

What does it mean if Duke's University religious affiliation is the United Methodist Church? Best Answer – Many of Duke's Trustees, along with those of other Universitieis such as Northwestern, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, or the University of Southern California come from the Methodist Church conference. 

"Duke was originally founded as Trinity College. 

What most people don't understand in America is that today's educational system came from the religious, the Congregationalists and Presbyterians. They mandated reading, writing and arithmetic for every child in every town in the greant North East around 1660, free of charge. These were the first public schools for children in the world. 


A large portion, about 60%, of the world's Royalty and affluent education was done by the Jesuits. The Catholic Monistary Schools were the primary form of Education for the Western World. There were also some private or secultar schools, but by and large the Kings, Dukes, Earls, Burgers of the Western World were trained in Religious schools. 

In America it was decided in the 1700s that institutions of higher learning were vital and the local governments and the Clergy got together and formed such institutions, the first of which was Harvard. Its goal was to teach Science and Arts. It took years to get Europe to accept the Harvard school and get it accredited as a College acceptable to the European colleges, but they finally did. 

Most, if not all, of the so-called Ivy League schools are religious in origin and nature. 

Most of these come from traditional, conservative religious organizations with roots going back to the founding of the American Colonies. 

Some, the Catholic ones, such as Notre Dam, go back even further. 

Most of these Universities today don't actually require you to be overtly religious or a member of their religion. They would certainly not be happy to find you are anti-religious. 

While it might help to be a Southern Methodist to get into Duke it is not a requirement. 

They look for candidates that will honor the history of the school as a leader in the education field."




“In majority-Muslim countries across the globe, the adhan is broadcast from mosques and on television and radio stations five times a day to correspond with prayer times. On Fridays, the day of worship in Islam, sermons are also broadcast. In the United States, amplified adhan exists in a handful of communities. Khalilah Sabra, executive director of the Muslim American Society in Raleigh, called Duke's reversal "a terrible shame," saying it's unfair for Graham and others to blame all Muslims for the violent acts of a few. "Duke took a coward's way out and cannot pretend to be advocates of diversity. This was primarily because it caved into the fallout nourished by racism," Sabra said in an email to WRAL. "A huge gap could have been bridged; now it may remain broken."... "Duke is a higher institution, and you would expect diversity of opinion and debate, but given the raw sentiment and recent events, it is having a different reaction," said Rolin Mainuddin, an associate professor of political science and Western religion at nearby North Carolina Central University. Mainuddin, who is Muslim, said Duke had to consider the effect of its decisions on fundraising. "It's a private university, so the pressure will be stronger than a public university," he said.

Many people in this country of various religions are very unwilling to have fundamentalist Islamists get a toehold in this country, and it is going to be reflected in situations like this. Having the Islamic call to prayer broadcast across the community is a step too far. For them to worship in a basement on the campus does not strike me as a problem, but rather the embracing of their religious freedom in a more proper manner. I am sorry to hear that the Adhan is already being conducted in several US communities. As a result of its experiment with the call to prayer, Duke University has received “... numerous negative calls and emails about allowing the Islamic call to prayer, and Durham police said the university had requested extra security Friday afternoon...”

I am liberal in my personal beliefs, but I am pragmatic as well, and I don't want Sharia Law to be practiced in the US at all, even in family courts. Though they are refugees in many cases, Islamic people who move here need to conform to American behavioral and social culture in certain ways. To me that means that “honor killings” and the so-called female circumcision should be punished by a sentence up to life in prison if they occur here. The US and Europe have progressed beyond those kinds of religious practices. That sort of thing is nothing short of barbaric.

On a simpler level, women should not be required by their father, brother or husband to wear a garment that covers their whole body, either. The simple head scarf is beautiful and not, in appearance at any rate, as demeaning for women, though I object to their being forced socially or physically to wear that as well. Islamic women need to be free to dress as Americans, study any subject they want, pursue any career, and entertain themselves as they will. Certainly they should be able to drive or move away from the family home freely if they are full adults. To be fair, I also object to the Mormon-related polygamous living relationships that have been allowed by U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups of Utah in August of last year and for some time before. Harems are demeaning no matter what religion is doing it. Women are not chattel and should not be brought up in that sort of environment in which they learn to be submissive to men rather than following their own thoughts and judgments. Men in those groups should start helping in the kitchen and not under any conditions beat or otherwise abuse their wives.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/should-parents-be-allowed-to-choose-whether-to-vaccinate-their-kids/

Should parents be allowed to choose whether to vaccinate their kids?
CBS NEWS
January 23, 2015

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The measles outbreak that started at Disneyland last month continues to spread, with at least 85 cases in seven states -- including an Arizona family of four, health officials announced Friday night.

The latest cases sparked a strongly-worded scolding from a public health official.

"This is a case where a family that has decided to not vaccinate their children are experiencing the consequences of that decision in a very real way" said Pinal County Public Health Director Tom Schryer. "These cases of measles will trigger a very intensive effort on the part of public health throughout the state and nation to identify others that they had contact with who are also unvaccinated so we can stop the transmission of this serious disease."

Most measles cases are in California, where parents are allowed to choose not to have their children vaccinated.

Six-month-old Livia Simon has been quarantined for three weeks at her home in Oakland. She was potentially exposed to measles at this nearby hospital by a child whose parents had refused a measles vaccine.

More than 30 other children are also in home isolation in the Bay Area, many under the age of one -- too young to be immunized.

"People say it's a personal choice not to vaccinate but it's a personal choice with a lot of possibly catastrophic consequences for other people," Livia's mom Jennifer Simon says.

California is one of 19 states that allow parents to refuse vaccinations based on their personal beliefs. A recent study shows many of these parents live in affluent neighborhoods.

Kaiser Permanente analyzed medical records of more than 150,000 children in Northern California. They found five clusters of under-immunization, mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area. About two out of 10 kids in the clusters either refused immunizations or were under-immunized.

"Some of the clusters were in places that we wouldn't necessarily have predicted," says De. Tracy Lieu, a researcher at Kaiser. "It tends to include a group of highly educated parents who have many questions about vaccines."

With one more week of quarantine, Jennifer Simon hopes her daughter will be okay.

"We've been really lucky she hasn't contracted measles," she says. "And so it's been an inconvenience but it hasn't been a tragedy -- and I don't want it to be a tragedy for anyone else."

Parents who refuse to vaccinate often fear rare side effects of vaccines.

California is trying to make it harder to get those personal belief waivers, now requiring parents to get a signature from a doctor saying they have been made aware of the risks of not vaccinating.




“Most measles cases are in California, where parents are allowed to choose not to have their children vaccinated. Six-month-old Livia Simon has been quarantined for three weeks at her home in Oakland. She was potentially exposed to measles at this nearby hospital by a child whose parents had refused a measles vaccine. More than 30 other children are also in home isolation in the Bay Area, many under the age of one -- too young to be immunized. "People say it's a personal choice not to vaccinate but it's a personal choice with a lot of possibly catastrophic consequences for other people," Livia's mom Jennifer Simon says.... California is trying to make it harder to get those personal belief waivers, now requiring parents to get a signature from a doctor saying they have been made aware of the risks of not vaccinating.”

I believe public health matters should supersede such philosophical differences as these. Usually the belief will be one linked with a cult or other religious group. To me when parents do this kind of thing they are actually engaging in child abuse, and they are in addition causing danger, sometimes great danger as in the case of Ebola, to anyone who happens to come near the child who becomes ill. Measles comes in two forms, neither of which is as serious as TB, Ebola, anthrax, etc., but it can cause a pregnant woman to miscarry, or so they used to say. Some diseases like mumps affect children differently from adults. Men who get mumps can become sterile and all adults tend to experience it more severely than children. I had measles when I was a child, so I hope that means that I am still immune to it now. I rarely am close to a child now living in this apartment house with other oldie goldies, so I'm sure I'll be okay even if it comes all the way across the country to Florida.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/baby-with-new-glasses-sees-mom-for-the-first-time/

Baby with new glasses sees mom for the first time
CBS NEWS
January 23, 2015

Baby Louise was born with albinism, a genetic condition in which a person has little or no pigment in their hair or skin. The absence of melanin can also interfere with a person's ability to see due to a lack of pigment in the eyes.

The 8-month-old baby was recently fitted for special eyeglasses that allow her to see everything much more clearly, including her mother. Watch the video above to see this little girl's big grin.




There isn't really any story to this pretty photograph, but go to the website and watch the video. The baby with her little glasses really is cute.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bad-cops-in-cleveland-need-to-be-weeded-out-police-chief-says/

Bad Cleveland cops need to be weeded out, police chief says
60 Minutes
January 22, 2015

In his first national interview since a Cleveland cop gunned down a 12-year-old playing with a pellet gun, Police Chief Calvin Williams allows 60 Minutes inside his police force

The U.S. Justice Department was already investigating the Cleveland Police when one of the division's officers gunned down a 12-year-old playing with a pellet gun last November. In his first national interview since that tragedy, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams disagrees with parts of the Justice Department's report and defends his troubled force, saying the majority are good, but there are bad officers he is working hard to rid the division of and the bad reputation they have given it.

Bill Whitaker reports from Cleveland, where he accompanies the city's law enforcement officers on routine patrol and as they engage in community outreach for a story on the hot-button issue of policing in America. He also conducts the first sit-down interview with the family of a mentally ill woman killed in an altercation with Cleveland police officers. His story will be broadcast Sunday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

"Of course there are [bad guys among Cleveland Police] and it's my job to make sure we weed out the bad people from this division and that we nurture and grow and support the good officers that are out there," says Williams.

He also aims to keep potentially bad operators off the force. The rookie officer who shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice had been deemed emotionally unfit by another police department. "Those are things that are under investigation," Williams tells Whitaker. "We know some of the things that happened in that process and we're...changing the way some of that is done."

In the Rice incident that made national headlines, the boy was shot dead within a few seconds of the arrival of the police cruiser. "A 12-year-old boy lost his life. Period," says Williams. "And what makes it even more difficult for me not just as a person who lives in the city but as a chief, is that that happened at the hands of a police officer."

The year before the Rice tragedy, Cleveland requested the Justice Department investigate its police after more than a 100 of them joined a high-speed chase of a vehicle whose engine backfire was mistaken for a gunshot. Two unarmed persons died inside the car; police fired at it 137 times. For that incident and others, the Justice Department report found a systemic pattern of "unnecessary and excessive use of deadly force." Williams denies the findings are systemic.

But Cleveland's top police officer does agree with some of the report's findings. "I agree that there are some issues within the Cleveland Division of Police as they pertain to the use of force...reporting and community issues," Williams says, alluding to a finding that his officers had a poor relationship with the community. "We are working diligently both with the Department of Justice and the community to make sure we correct these things," says Williams.




“The U.S. Justice Department was already investigating the Cleveland Police when one of the division's officers gunned down a 12-year-old playing with a pellet gun last November. In his first national interview since that tragedy, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams disagrees with parts of the Justice Department's report and defends his troubled force, saying the majority are good, but there are bad officers he is working hard to rid the division of and the bad reputation they have given it.... "Of course there are [bad guys among Cleveland Police] and it's my job to make sure we weed out the bad people from this division and that we nurture and grow and support the good officers that are out there," says Williams. He also aims to keep potentially bad operators off the force. The rookie officer who shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice had been deemed emotionally unfit by another police department. "Those are things that are under investigation," Williams tells Whitaker. "We know some of the things that happened in that process and we're...changing the way some of that is done."... In the Rice incident that made national headlines, the boy was shot dead within a few seconds of the arrival of the police cruiser.... For that incident and others, the Justice Department report found a systemic pattern of "unnecessary and excessive use of deadly force." Williams denies the findings are systemic.... "I agree that there are some issues within the Cleveland Division of Police as they pertain to the use of force...reporting and community issues," Williams says, alluding to a finding that his officers had a poor relationship with the community. "We are working diligently both with the Department of Justice and the community to make sure we correct these things," says Williams.”

Interestingly, it was the city of Cleveland who requested this investigation by the DOJ after a shocking event in which 100 police officers chased a car because they thought its backfire was a gunshot. They fired 137 shots into the car and two riders were killed. The DOJ found “systemic pattern of "unnecessary and excessive use of deadly force." Police Chief Williams denies that it is systemic, but a matter of bad apples. 100 officers going on a chase like that looks like a systemic problem to me. Some years ago there was a report in the news that some cities have stopped doing the high speed chase thing, due to its high level of danger to everybody in the area. Likewise shooting 137 times over a backfire is both foolish and possibly hysterical behavior – the kind of thing that happens in groups sometimes as one person's emotions overflow and those around him follow suit.

The shooting of the 12 year old boy with a toy gun, which happened “seconds”after the police car arrived on the scene is a similar case. There was no time taken for careful and logical thought there either. I understand people having a “gut reaction” but the police officer's gut reaction needs to be more accurate than that. I'm glad to see that Williams, who I notice is a black man, is going to be sincerely and thoroughly trying to weed out those who are unfit to be police officers and be entrusted with a gun. Again, this is not just a Cleveland or a Ferguson problem, but across the whole country. Careful hiring, careful retention, firm rules and much better supervision all need to happen. Police should not be sent out on the streets with their gun and told to do whatever seems right to them at the time.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/24/379553691/heavy-fighting-resumes-in-eastern-ukraine

Ukraine Rebel Leader Claims New Attack On Mariupol
Scott Neuman
January 24, 2015


"Today an offensive was launched on Mariupol. This will be the best possible monument to all our dead," Alexander Zakharchenko was quoted as saying by Russia's RIA news agency.

The remark comes amid a resumption of intense fighting by the separatists as a five-month cease-fire agreement with Kiev appeared to be all but finished.

The separatists launched rocket attacks on the Ukrainian government-held Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, where 15 people were reportedly killed and 46 injured in an open-air market.

As the AP explains, Mariupol is the main city between mainland Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

"Heavy fighting in the region in the autumn raised fears that Russian-backed separatist forces would try to establish a land link between Russia and Crimea.

"Rebel forces have positions within 10 kilometers (six miles) from Mariupol's eastern outskirts."

On Friday, Zakharchenko "vowed to push Ukrainian soldiers out of the area and said insurgents would not take part in any more cease-fire talks," The Associated Press reports.

The rebels on Friday also launched a push to retake the shattered airport in Donetsk, which has become a focal point of fighting in recent months.

The renewed fighting appears to spell the end of a cease-fire agreement reached in September with the help of Belarus.

As The New York Times notes:

"Civilians are being hit by deadly mortars at bus stops. Tanks are rumbling down snowy roads in rebel-held areas with soldiers in unmarked green uniforms sitting on their turrets, waving at bystanders — a disquieting echo of the "little green men" whose appearance in Crimea opened this stubborn conflict in the spring."

"The renewed fighting has dashed any hopes of reinvigorating [the] cease-fire ... It has also put to rest the notion that Russia's president, Vladimir V. Putin, would be so staggered by the twin blows of Western sanctions and a collapse in oil prices that he would forsake the separatists in order to foster better relations with the West."




“The remark comes amid a resumption of intense fighting by the separatists as a five-month cease-fire agreement with Kiev appeared to be all but finished. The separatists launched rocket attacks on the Ukrainian government-held Sea of Azov port of Mariupol, where 15 people were reportedly killed and 46 injured in an open-air market. As the AP explains, Mariupol is the main city between mainland Russia and the Russia-annexed Crimean Peninsula. "Heavy fighting in the region in the autumn raised fears that Russian-backed separatist forces would try to establish a land link between Russia and Crimea.... On Friday, Zakharchenko "vowed to push Ukrainian soldiers out of the area and said insurgents would not take part in any more cease-fire talks," The Associated Press reports.”

So here we go again. Actually there was never a complete stop in the fighting that I can remember. Here is a recent article on the current state of fighting.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/22/the-death-of-ukraines-cyborg-army-ukraine-russia-donetsk-airport-shelling/

The Death of Ukraine’s Cyborg Army
If the United States is really supporting Ukraine, as President Obama claims, then why are Kiev’s forces getting hammered?
BY JAMES MILLER, PIERRE VAUX
JANUARY 22, 2015

On Tuesday night, in a State of the Union speech that was heavy on domestic policy, President Barack Obama heralded a list of American accomplishments abroad, none more dubious than his claim that America was demonstrating “strength” in its response to the Ukraine crisis. “We’re upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small — by opposing Russian aggression, supporting Ukraine’s democracy, and reassuring our NATO allies,” the president optimistically intoned, while dismissing those who had appraised Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea as “a masterful display of strategy and strength.” Rather, said Obama, “it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters.”

For Obama to be right, and for America to be successfully leading the way to a free, peaceful, and democratic Ukraine, it stands to reason that Putin would have to be on the back foot and growing less belligerent by the day. Then why is he only ratcheting up his aggression?

In the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian government has lost key front-line positions. This week, Russia has dispatched hundreds of additional soldiers and armored vehicles across the border. In fact, as Obama was addressing Congress, the Ukrainian military was locked in a desperate fight to hold back advancing Russian forces west of Luhansk.

One of the most tragic developments of what is now, undeniably, a Russian-Ukrainian war has unfolded over the last week when more than 400 Ukrainian soldiers were nearly butchered on live, Russian state-controlled television. The group of several hundred Ukrainian volunteers and regular soldiers are known as “Cyborgs” to both their enemies and their supporters, owing to the fact that they’ve somehow managed to withstand wave after wave of separatist attacks since late September. The Kyiv Post describes this mix of Ukrainian regular soldiers and volunteers, some of whom are members of the right-wing Right Sector group, as “indestructible half-men, half-machines.” But perhaps no longer.

On Sunday, Jan. 11, just days after the terrorist attacks in Paris, a mix of Russian soldiers and Russian-backed separatists attacked Donetsk International Airport — or, rather, the rubble-strewn moonscape it has become — with an intense volley of rockets and shells followed closely by an infantry assault. By Jan. 13, the Ukrainian army’s position was so precarious that it did something we’ve not seen it do before: launch Grad rocket strikes less than half a mile in front of its own soldiers’ positions — a dangerous and desperate attempt to knock back advancing enemy columns.

Despite these efforts, by Jan. 14, a mix of Russian troops and Russian-backed separatist fighters had captured part of the airport’s new terminal. The next day, Russian journalists were able to film the fight from inside what remains of that building. Extraordinary drone video footage released on Jan. 16 illustrated the scale of damage to the airport, most of it caused by rockets and artillery, likely the work of the anti-Ukrainian forces as they tried to break the resolve of the Cyborgs.

Still, until this week the Cyborgs had won nearly every battle, casting them in a near-legendary light in Kiev.

While the battle for Donetsk Airport raged, the Russian-backed insurgents were also hitting nearby Ukrainian military positions, making it impossible for Kiev to supply reinforcements to the airport or to evacuate its forces efficiently. The Cyborgs remaining at the front were reporting that they were running out of ammunition and their wounded were bleeding to death. Somehow, however, they managed to launch several counterattacks and maintain partial control of the airport, but by the end of last week it very much looked as if these efforts would end in an Alamo-style massacre. Ukraine was about to lose the most symbolically important battle in the entire war.

It was only after people in Kiev began to protest the government’s lack of support for the Cyborgs that Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, pledged to organize a counterattack. But this week’s military mobilization has accomplished very little. While fighting was reported on the morning of Jan. 21, videos released later in the day appear to show Russian-backed fighters in control of the ruins of the new terminal. In the videos, large sections of the structure appear to have collapsed, and the bodies of dozens of Ukrainian soldiers could be seen. By the evening, Ukrainian media was widely reporting that the airport had fallen.

Beyond Donetsk, the areas where Russia is gaining ground now were the focus of intense fighting last fall, when a cease-fire brokered in Minsk between Kiev and Moscow was supposed to “freeze” the conflict. That cease-fire never happened. As winter set in, there was a shift from active combat operations to a more static war of attrition. Almost every day since the September truce, shelling has been exchanged between Ukrainian and separatist positions along all of these fronts, from Luhansk to Donetsk to Mariupol, resulting in thousands of civilian and military casualties. Now, a significant Russian offensive is once again underway.

Two Ukrainian checkpoints west of Luhansk, on the Bakhmutka highway, have either been overrun or are close to falling to Russian-backed fighters who, according to the Associated Press, are being supported by a significant amount of artillery, tanks, and armored vehicles.

This battle is crucial to Ukraine, and the offensive has been in the works for months.

In the city of Debaltseve — southwest of these positions and situated on the key highway between the separatist capitals of Luhansk and Donetsk — there were attempts made to encircle Ukrainian forces on Sept. 4. To the south, separatists swept across the Russian border at the end of August and captured the coastal town of Novoazovsk. Russian-backed fighters then pressed south along the highway from Donetsk, engaging Ukrainian forces in several large battles, leaving fields littered with charred armor. The road is now completely under separatist control and Russian-backed fighters regularly move west from this line to test Ukrainian positions flanking Mariupol — near Granitnoye, Gnutovo, and Chermalyk. Now, all of these areas are either under near-daily attack or are close to the front lines of the fighting.

According to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yevhen Perebyinis, the separatists have gained more than 500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory since the Minsk cease-fire nominally took effect in September. Ukraine now reports that 9,500 Russian troops are inside Ukrainian territory, which has allowed the separatists to control 7 percent of the country and 20 percent of its population.

Meanwhile, the death toll continues to rise. Last week, rockets fired byRussian-backed fighters hit a bus and killed 13 people in Volnovakha. In October, a funeral procession in Ukrainian-held Sartana, just outside Mariupol, was hit by artillery shells, which left seven civilians dead and another 15 wounded. It is now well established that the Russian-backed fighters often launch these rockets from civilian areas, effectively using the people of eastern Ukraine as human shields.

Kiev maintains that it needs precision weapons to effectively — and humanely — defend its territory and repel the separatist onslaught. But its requests to the international community, including to the United States, for drones to better target its artillery have fallen on deaf ears. (The United States says it has supplied Ukraine’s border guards with some lightly armored vehicles, but it’s not clear how Washington thinks these vehicles will stack up against T-72 tanks and other heavy Russian military equipmentthat are actively being deployed in eastern Ukraine.) Kiev has grounded its air force after Russian-backed separatists shot down multiple fighter jets — and, infamously, one civilian airliner — with advanced anti-aircraft systems like the Strela-10 and Buk.

In August, as the Russian buildup on Ukraine’s borders transitioned into an open invasion, Ukraine began losing significant amounts of territory and was forced to sign a cease-fire in Minsk to stop the bleeding. The United States and Europe said that this ceasefire was the only way forward, but the bleeding never stopped, the Russian-supported militants never stopped fighting, and the responsibility to fight back fell on the shoulders of Ukraine’s loyal Cyborgs.

When the Ukrainian soldiers defending the airport were overwhelmed due to increasing attacks, Kiev had no choice but to launch a counterattack or watch its men die. Now, the airport has fallen, and Ukraine has once again agreed to a new “cease-fire.” Will the fighting stop now? Will the West finally realize that Ukraine cannot resist Vladimir Putin’s invasion on its own?

Because right now it sure doesn’t look like Washington is helping defend Kiev from the bully in Moscow.




“In the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian government has lost key front-line positions. This week, Russia has dispatched hundreds of additional soldiers and armored vehicles across the border. In fact, as Obama was addressing Congress, the Ukrainian military was locked in a desperate fight to hold back advancing Russian forces west of Luhansk. One of the most tragic developments of what is now, undeniably, a Russian-Ukrainian war has unfolded over the last week when more than 400 Ukrainian soldiers were nearly butchered on live, Russian state-controlled television. The group of several hundred Ukrainian volunteers and regular soldiers are known as “Cyborgs” to both their enemies and their supporters, owing to the fact that they’ve somehow managed to withstand wave after wave of separatist attacks since late September. The Kyiv Post describes this mix of Ukrainian regular soldiers and volunteers, some of whom are members of the right-wing Right Sector group, as “indestructible half-men, half-machines.” But perhaps no longer.... According to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yevhen Perebyinis, the separatists have gained more than 500 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory since the Minsk cease-fire nominally took effect in September. Ukraine now reports that 9,500 Russian troops are inside Ukrainian territory, which has allowed the separatists to control 7 percent of the country and 20 percent of its population....Kiev maintains that it needs precision weapons to effectively — and humanely — defend its territory and repel the separatist onslaught. But its requests to the international community, including to the United States, for drones to better target its artillery have fallen on deaf ears. (The United States says it has supplied Ukraine’s border guards with some lightly armored vehicles, but it’s not clear how Washington thinks these vehicles will stack up against T-72 tanks and other heavy Russian military equipmentthat are actively being deployed in eastern Ukraine.) ….The United States and Europe said that this ceasefire was the only way forward, but the bleeding never stopped, the Russian-supported militants never stopped fighting, and the responsibility to fight back fell on the shoulders of Ukraine’s loyal Cyborgs. When the Ukrainian soldiers defending the airport were overwhelmed due to increasing attacks, Kiev had no choice but to launch a counterattack or watch its men die. Now, the airport has fallen, and Ukraine has once again agreed to a new “cease-fire.”

“Will the West finally realize that Ukraine cannot resist Vladimir Putin’s invasion on its own? Because right now it sure doesn’t look like Washington is helping defend Kiev from the bully in Moscow.” I agree fully with this writer. The situation is really sad. Our failure to send in heavy weapons or even some American special forces shows our complete unwillingness to get hurt, despite the decaying situation in Ukraine. Does Washington think that Russia is willing to start a full scale “hot war” with the US over our aid to Ukraine? I don't think so. I think we have become used to doing only strategic strikes with drones, etc., as when we pursued Taliban fighters in Pakistan, and are unwilling to do something like perhaps bomb Russian or Russian backed troops in Ukraine. Supposedly that is having some useful effect in Syria. If we could just send ammunition to Ukraine perhaps it would help. This report said they were running out of that, too.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/23/379432411/supreme-court-agrees-to-rule-on-constitutionality-of-execution-drug-cocktail

Supreme Court Agrees To Rule On Constitutionality Of Execution Drug Cocktail
Nina Totenberg
January 23, 2015

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to review Oklahoma's method of execution by lethal injection. The justices agreed to hear the Oklahoma case a week after refusing to halt another execution that used the same drug formula.

It takes the votes of five justices to halt an execution but only four votes to grant review. Therefore, last week, the high court refused to block the execution of death row inmate Charles Warner in Oklahoma, over the objections of the court's four liberal justices. Presumably, the court's five most conservative members voted to allow the execution to go forward.

Now, however, the court has agreed to review the questions presented by Warner, but in the cases of three other death row inmates scheduled to be executed soon. Presumably that decision was made by the four votes of the court's liberals. It is not entirely clear whether the court will allow scheduled executions to take place while it considers the issues in the case, but lawyers for three death row inmates said Friday they will be filing motions for stays of execution.

In 2008 the Supreme Court upheld a three-drug protocol used by most states in imposing the death penalty.

The questions presented in the cases stem from the fact that, since then, pharmaceutical-makers no longer are willing to provide the drugs traditionally used as sedatives in lethal injection. So the states have substituted various doses of the sedative midazolam, resulting in some notable botched executions. The state of Oklahoma says it has fixed its dosages and procedures, but death row opponents contend that the drugs being used are untested, experimental drug combinations that can cause great suffering, in violation of the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The Supreme Court is likely to hear the lethal injection case in April, though it could postpone review until next fall.




“The questions presented in the cases stem from the fact that, since then, pharmaceutical-makers no longer are willing to provide the drugs traditionally used as sedatives in lethal injection. So the states have substituted various doses of the sedative midazolam, resulting in some notable botched executions. The state of Oklahoma says it has fixed its dosages and procedures, but death row opponents contend that the drugs being used are untested, experimental drug combinations that can cause great suffering, in violation of the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.”

The main problem I have with the death penalty, other than this matter of their having at least once used a drug that paralyzed the prisoner without anesthetizing him, is that some of these people have been wrongly convicted of crimes in the first place, and should be set free. It would be far safer to eliminate the death penalty altogether, but give life sentences with no parole instead. That would be for rape, child molestation, first degree murder, etc. The following article is one on the subject of a citizen wrongly convicted of a crime before the scientific knowledge of DNA was being used. Eyewitnesses are notorious for making mistakes or even lying in court. See below.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/23/379417126/dna-exonerates-man-who-served-nearly-40-years-for-murder

DNA Exonerates Man Who Served Nearly 40 Years For Murder
Scott Neuman
January 23, 2015

Photograph – Joseph Sledge, 70, addresses members of the media after being released from jail in Columbus County, N.C., on Friday. He served nearly four decades behind bars for two slayings he didn't commit.

Joseph Sledge is a free man after 37 years in prison following Friday's decision by a judicial panel in North Carolina to overturn his 1976 conviction in the stabbing deaths of an elderly mother and her daughter.

The Associated Press says DNA evidence had helped to exonerate Sledge, now 70, whose case was referred last month to the three-judge panel by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.

According to the AP:

"The expert said none of the evidence collected in the case — hair, DNA and fingerprints — belonged to Sledge. A key jailhouse informant had also recanted his story, saying authorities promised him leniency in his own case for his trial testimony against Sledge.

"A district attorney who was not originally involved apologized to Sledge and promised to reopen the investigation.

" 'The system has made a mistake,' district attorney Jon David said."

David, who was not the original prosecutor, pledged to reopen the investigation and apologized to Sledge,according to Raleigh-based WRAL:

" 'There's nothing worse for a prosecutor than convicting an innocent person,' he said.

"Earlier Friday, a member of the Davis family took the stand, saying the family is 'heartbroken' by the decision that Sledge go free.

"Sledge then took the stand."

'I'm very, very sorry for your loss,' he said. 'I hope you get closure in this matter.' "

WRAL says that at the time of the murders, "Sledge had been serving a four-year sentence at a prison work farm for larceny when he escaped a day before the slayings. That factored into his conviction, as well as key testimony from two fellow prisoners who said Sledge admitted to the killings."

Raleigh's News & Observer reports: "Sledge has been proclaiming his innocence of the murders of Josephine and Ailene Davis since he was initially blamed in 1976. From the start, he has asked prosecutors, police and judges to take another look at his case. It took nearly four decades for the justice system to correct its mistake."

Sledge reportedly planned to have dinner at a restaurant before returning home to Savannah, Ga. He said he looked forward to sleeping in a real bed for the first time in nearly four decades.




"The Associated Press says DNA evidence had helped to exonerate Sledge, now 70, whose case was referred last month to the three-judge panel by the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.... "The expert said none of the evidence collected in the case — hair, DNA and fingerprints — belonged to Sledge. A key jailhouse informant had also recanted his story, saying authorities promised him leniency in his own case for his trial testimony against Sledge.... " 'The system has made a mistake,' district attorney Jon David said." David, who was not the original prosecutor, pledged to reopen the investigation and apologized to Sledge,according to Raleigh-based WRAL: " 'There's nothing worse for a prosecutor than convicting an innocent person,' he said. "Earlier Friday, a member of the Davis family took the stand, saying the family is 'heartbroken' by the decision that Sledge go free.... "Sledge has been proclaiming his innocence of the murders of Josephine and Ailene Davis since he was initially blamed in 1976. From the start, he has asked prosecutors, police and judges to take another look at his case. It took nearly four decades for the justice system to correct its mistake."

I'm glad to see that DNA evidence is being used so often now in court cases, because cases based strictly on logic and supposition are basically weak, and in this case the old “jailhouse snitch” situation was involved. Too often those prisoners will say anything to get their own time shortened. Sledge's photograph shows a man who looks relaxed and pleased, and not thank goodness overly damaged emotionally. Some people are completely broken by the experience of spending some 40 years in prison.