Thursday, January 15, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2015/01/obama_community_college_plan_free_education_is_an_elegant_and_forward_thinking.html

Kludge Not
Obama’s plan for free community college is elegant and forward-thinking—unlike virtually all U.S. policy fixes.
By Jordan Weissmann


A few years ago, Johns Hopkins University political science professor Steven Teles wrote a wonderfully insightful essay titled “Kludgeocracy: The American Way of Policy.” In computer-programmer slang, a kludge is a clumsy or awkward patch that keeps a system working without addressing its fundamental problems, the equivalent of duct tape on a busted-up fender. It might be temporarily effective but also sets up problems down the road. “When you add up enough kludges, you get a very complicated program,” Teles wrote, “one that is hard to understand and subject to crashes. In other words, Windows.” America’s government, Teles argued, is addicted to kludges, just like Steve Ballmer–era Microsoft. To avoid ticking off entrenched interests, or voters who are suspicious of government even though they not-so-secretly want its help, Washington has come to specialize in roundabout, inelegant policy ideas that fix old difficulties but create new ones. Obamacare, which was designed to leave most of our unfathomably complicated and expensive health care system in place while expanding insurance coverage, is the most obvious case. But another example, Teles writes, is “our Byzantine system of funding higher education.”

I found myself thinking about that observation last week, after President Obama unveiled his plan to make community college tuition free for every student “willing to work for it.” The announcement surprised and delighted many liberals, who tend to believe that the government has an obligation to provide a basic education to everybody in the country. In post-industrial America, that increasingly means at least a couple years of college. Ipso facto, free higher education is a good idea. But philosophical reasons aside, the Obama plan is also exciting for the simple reason that it isn’t another kludge.

To understand why that’s so important, we need to talk about why college is so expensive in this country in the first place. It’s a complicated story, but the basic outline is this: For several decades now, colleges have failed to control their costs. At the same time, budget-pressed states have cut per-student funding. Combined, those two forces have pushed public colleges and universities to increase their tuition. (You can argue over whether government defunding or out-of-control spending is more important, but both have played a role.) The federal government, seeing all this, has tried to combat rising prices without demanding too much from states or schools, instead offering loans, grants, and tax breaks directly to students so they can afford an education.
Of course, this has bred other problems. Federal financial aid has made it possible for states to keep cutting their appropriations and for schools to keep hiking tuition without hurting enrollment. Meanwhile, it’s also nourished a predatory for-profit college industry that lures in low-income, underprepared students so it can feed off their federal loan and grant dollars. (Disclosure: Slate is owned by Graham Holdings Co., owner of Kaplan University, a for-profit college company.) Add it all up together, mix in rising enrollment and a faltering economy that’s hammered family incomes, and you get our enormous student-loan problem. We saw the system was malfunctioning. We patched it with one kludge after another. And now we’re staring at the blue screen of death.
Obama’s plan could show us a way to make our entire system of higher education more efficient.

Theoretically, we could solve all this by reinvesting in our public colleges so that tuition stays cheap. For a while now, I’ve argued that Washington could actuallymake state-school tuition free for today’s students if it just redirected the money it spends on financial aid at private schools into the public system. It’s similar to the idea that America would be better off if we laid waste to our weird public-private health care system and switched to single payer. But just like that particular liberal dream, making public colleges tuition-free with the money we already spend is unrealistic because it would be massively disruptive to the status quo, and university lobbyists would scream bloody murder.

But it might not be so crazy to try the experiment on a smaller scale with community colleges, as Obama has proposed. Under his plan, the federal government would pay 75 percent of the cost of tuition for students enrolled at least half time while participating states would pick up the rest. In other words, Washington would give a hand only if state governments promise not to use it as an excuse to shirk their own responsibilities. Implicitly, it also encourages states to make sure community colleges keep their costs down—though, unlike four-year schools, their spending hasn’t grown much in recent years. In the end, it seems designed to break the cycle of increasing costs and rising government aid. And it may be realistic because in the grand scheme of things, it’s dirt cheap.

Yes, dirt cheap. Right now, the White House estimates that its plan would cost the federal government $60 billion over 10 years. The states would be on the hook for another $20 billion. To put that in context, the feds currently spend almost $68 billion annually on financial aid—a large chunk of which is delivered as tax breaks that often go to high-income families. States, meanwhile, award billions more in scholarships to students. Somewhere in those giant pools of money, it should be possible to find $8 billion a year that would be better spent making community colleges tuition-free.

One major argument against free community college is that it’s unnecessary. The published tuition at two-year public schools has been rising. But as Slate columnist Reihan Salam notes at National Review, it’s still inexpensive. And after government- and institution-based financial aid is taken into account, low-income students already pay $0 in tuition, on average. “I’m hard-pressed to see why this initiative will have a ‘huge’ impact, given that we’re presumably most concerned about improving community college access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds,” he writes.

This, I think, undersells the benefits of Obama’s plan. The White House is proposing a so-called first-dollar program, meaning that it would zero out tuition costs and let students use their federal grants to help cover living expenses. That might make it possible for some students to work fewer hours and attend full time, which in turn may make them more likely to graduate.

If so, it would be reason to celebrate. As Tyler Cowen and others have noted, community colleges have a terrible dropout problem. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, about 61 percent of first-time undergraduates who enroll at them fail to finish any kind of degree within six years. In fact, it’s fair to say that we don’t need more students attending college so much as we need more students who finish it. And bringing down living costs so students can study instead of work.

But again, the Obama plan isn’t merely appealing because it might increase college access or success. It’s exciting because it could show us a way to make our entire system of higher education more efficient by forcing the federal government and states to cooperate on controlling costs and providing funding. That’s not to say there wouldn’t be challenges. Take Tennessee, where state officials expect community-college enrollment to grow by about one-third thanks to a free-tuition program that helped inspire the White House’s proposal. Accommodating those students will take money and classroom space, and under Obama’s plan, we should expect the same to happen in other states. (That said, depending on how many of those students would have started as undergraduates at four-year colleges, the state’s university system could end up saving some expenses.)

But compared with the dilemma of declining state funding and uncontrolled costs, drawing more kids into the community-college system isn’t such an awful problem to have. Compared with what we’ve tried already, free higher education may the elegant solution we’ve been waiting for, instead of just another kludge.




“When you add up enough kludges, you get a very complicated program,” Teles wrote, “one that is hard to understand and subject to crashes. In other words, Windows.”.... To avoid ticking off entrenched interests, or voters who are suspicious of government even though they not-so-secretly want its help, Washington has come to specialize in roundabout, inelegant policy ideas that fix old difficulties but create new ones.... But another example, Teles writes, is “our Byzantine system of funding higher education.” I found myself thinking about that observation last week, after President Obama unveiled his plan to make community college tuition free for every student “willing to work for it.” The announcement surprised and delighted many liberals, who tend to believe that the government has an obligation to provide a basic education to everybody in the country. In post-industrial America, that increasingly means at least a couple years of college. Ipso facto, free higher education is a good idea. But philosophical reasons aside, the Obama plan is also exciting for the simple reason that it isn’t another kludge.... The federal government, seeing all this, has tried to combat rising prices without demanding too much from states or schools, instead offering loans, grants, and tax breaks directly to students so they can afford an education. Of course, this has bred other problems. Federal financial aid has made it possible for states to keep cutting their appropriations and for schools to keep hiking tuition without hurting enrollment.... Add it all up together, mix in rising enrollment and a faltering economy that’s hammered family incomes, and you get our enormous student-loan problem. We saw the system was malfunctioning. We patched it with one kludge after another. And now we’re staring at the blue screen of death. Obama’s plan could show us a way to make our entire system of higher education more efficient.... Under his plan, the federal government would pay 75 percent of the cost of tuition for students enrolled at least half time while participating states would pick up the rest. In other words, Washington would give a hand only if state governments promise not to use it as an excuse to shirk their own responsibilities.... Yes, dirt cheap. Right now, the White House estimates that its plan would cost the federal government $60 billion over 10 years. The states would be on the hook for another $20 billion. To put that in context, the feds currently spend almost $68 billion annually on financial aid—a large chunk of which is delivered as tax breaks that often go to high-income families.... “I’m hard-pressed to see why this initiative will have a ‘huge’ impact, given that we’re presumably most concerned about improving community college access for students from disadvantaged backgrounds,” he writes. This, I think, undersells the benefits of Obama’s plan. The White House is proposing a so-called first-dollar program, meaning that it would zero out tuition costs and let students use their federal grants to help cover living expenses. That might make it possible for some students to work fewer hours and attend full time, which in turn may make them more likely to graduate.... But compared with the dilemma of declining state funding and uncontrolled costs, drawing more kids into the community-college system isn’t such an awful problem to have.

“But philosophical reasons aside, the Obama plan is also exciting for the simple reason that it isn’t another kludge....” Our highly polarized and competitive relationship between the Democrats and Republicans, and the old issue of “States Rights” combine to form compromise after compromise which don't totally please anybody, but do include enough votes across the aisle to pass the bill. It's no wonder if this produces ungainly and partly to largely ineffective laws. Yet I would not scrap our system which maintains our basic freedoms, except of course for the need for federal legislation to top state and local. For instance, minorities are given the right to vote if they are US citizens, but right wing forces have set up a system of required personal identity cards that are sometimes expensive or simply difficult to get. To get a drivers license or personal picture non-driver ID card you have to have a birth certificate or several other types of documentation which many poor people don't have. Thus the Tea Party can block minorities from voting in some cases as effectively as a law disenfranchising them would do.

The Supreme Court, to make the kluges legal, has backed some state laws of that sort, but not others, and for some very arcane reasons. We all love the court system in this country as it is a necessity overall to maintain our system of laws, but sometimes if conservatives or liberals have “packed” the court over the years, its judgments can become unfairly biased, though supposedly the judges are to avoid political pronouncements. One thing that I think would be helpful would be for no judgeship on any level to extend beyond a short term such as eight years, say. A lifetime tenure is no better in the courts than it is in education. In both cases it keeps incompetent people in their positions. Yes, I would like to see teachers and professors have to defend their job, too. It would also be helpful if all judges are elected rather than appointed. A great deal of time is wasted in the Senate as members indulge in a talkathon called a filibuster to postpone or prevent the approval of a president's appointment.

This Slate article makes excellent arguments for the approval of President Obama's proposal. I am convinced. Slate publishes some really good articles. The right wing in our country, of course, is saying that some or much of the money might be wasted (as though that would be sufficient reason to prevent the funding.) A commenter on yesterday's article who had taught in community college said that many or even most people attending community college are incompetent students, either untaught or not bright. I disagree that the poor are “not bright,” though they may come from homes where a high level of vocabulary and other academic attainments are simply not present. They are, in other words, looking for a way to get out of the poverty cycle, which is surely what we want. Just because reading on the college level or doing college math may be an uphill climb for a student, that doesn't mean he shouldn't have the chance to try. Obama's proposal would simply remove the financial difficulty involved, so that those who want to get a degree and are willing to work hard can do it, and without a heavy burden of student loans which they can't afford either.





RELIGION AND FREE SPEECH – THREE ARTICLES

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-paris-terror-attacks-charlie-hebdo-limit-to-free-speech/

Pope Francis: "There is a limit" to free speech
By ANNA MATRANGA CBS NEWS
January 15, 2015

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE -- Pope Francis defended freedom of expression and freedom of religion Thursday, calling them both basic human rights.

In the wake of the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris that left 12 people dead, ostensibly in retribution for its depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, the pontiff was adamant that "one cannot kill in the name of God," but he cautioned against insulting or ridiculing other faiths, saying "there is a limit to free speech."

Many around the world have defended the magazine's right to publish the cartoons, but just as many have questioned whether it was an unnecessarily provocative act.

Muslim cartoonist defends Charlie Hebdo
France arrests 54 in hate speech crackdown
New Charlie Hebdo issue draws fire

"One cannot provoke, one cannot insult other people's faith, one cannot make fun of faith," Pope Francis said in response to a question about the Paris terror attacks during a press conference aboard his plane on the way to Manila, Philippines.

He was unequivocal that nothing could justify the massacre in Paris, but suggested the magazine had gone too far.

Using an analogy, the pope said if a dear friend were to utter "a swear word against my mother, he's going to get a punch in the nose. That's normal."

"There are so many people who speak badly about religions, who make fun of them... they are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to (my dear friend) if he says a word against my mother."

Recently the Vatican issued a declaration -- along with several Muslim leaders -- condemning the attacks in Paris. But the document also called on the media to treat religions with respect.

When a reporter asked whether Pope Francis was worried about his own safety or that of the faithful who gather to see him, he admitted his concern.

"I am worried about the faithful, truly," he said, adding that Vatican security personnel were taking all necessary measures.

Regarding his own safety, he said he does have fears, but also "a dose of recklessness."

In what was perhaps the most personal note of the news conference, Francis conceded that he feared pain.

"I have said to the Lord, 'I only want to ask you one grace; Don't make me feel pain,' because I am not courageous in front of pain. I am very, very timid."

The Argentine pope also announced that during his upcoming trip to the United States in September, he will canonize a U.S. saint, Junipero Serra, an 18th century Franciscan missionary who established the Catholic Church in California.

The Pope will attend the World Day of Families in Philadelphia, and although the rest of his schedule has not been announced, it is widely believed that he will visit the United Nations in New York, and Washington D.C.

The unexpected announcement about Serra has led some observers to believe that he may also schedule a stop on the West Coast of the United States.

Another reporter asked whether the pope believed humans were responsible for climate change.

"I don't know about all of it, but for the most part it is man who continually slaps nature around," he said. "We have exploited nature too much. Thanks be to God that today there are voices, so many people who are speaking out about it."

Francis is working on an encyclical -- an important teaching document -- on the environment to be published this summer, before a climate change summit in Paris in December.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/french-lawmakers-approve-more-airstrikes-against-isis/

France arrests 54 in hate speech crackdown, boosts anti-ISIS support
AP January 14, 2015

PARIS - France ordered prosecutors around the country to crack down on hate speech, anti-Semitism and those glorifying terrorism and announced Wednesday it was sending an aircraft carrier to the Middle East to work more closely with the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Authorities said 54 people had been arrested for hate speech and defending terrorism since terror attacks killed 20 people in Paris last week, including three gunmen. The crackdown came as Charlie Hebdo's defiant new issue sold outbefore dawn around Paris, with scuffles at kiosks over dwindling copies of the satirical weekly that fronted the Prophet Muhammad anew on its cover.

President Francois Hollande, speaking aboard the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to members of the military, said the situation "justifies the presence of our aircraft carrier."

One of the Paris gunmen had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, while two others said they were backed by Yemen's al-Qaida branch. France is already carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq.

A top leader of Yemen's al-Qaida branch claimed responsibility Wednesday for the Charlie Hebdo massacre that left 12 dead at the paper, saying in a video the massacre came in "vengeance for the prophet." The newspaper had received repeated threats previously for posting caricatures of Muhammad.

A high-ranking French intelligence official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that authorities see the claim as "opportunistic" and that AQAP appears to have served as an inspiration instead of orchestrating the attacks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to be able to discuss sensitive intelligence matters.

U.S. intelligence officials, however, said they have no evidence AQAP coordinated the attack or knew about it in advance. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss classified matters publicly.

Since the attacks, France has deployed 10,000 troops and 120,000 security forces in an area the size of Texas to protect sensitive sites, including Jewish schools and synagogues, mosques and travel hubs. French police say as many as six members of the terror cell may still be at large.

France has been tightening security and searching for accomplices since the terror attacks began, but none of the 54 people mentioned Wednesday have been linked to the attacks. That's raising questions about whether Hollande's Socialist government is impinging on the very freedom of speech that it so vigorously defends when it comes to Charlie Hebdo.

Among those detained for a Facebook posting was Dieudonne, a popular and controversial comic who has repeated convictions for racism and anti-Semitism. He was later released and will be put on trial next month for justifying terrorism, a judicial official said on condition of anonymity in keeping with French custom.

Like many European countries, France has strong laws against hate speech, especially anti-Semitism in the wake of the Holocaust.

The Justice Ministry sent a letter to all French prosecutors and judges urging more aggressive tactics against racist or anti-Semitic speech or acts. The order did not mention Islam.

The core of Charlie Hebdo's staff died a week ago when gunmen stormed its offices, igniting three days of bloodshed around Paris that left 17 victims dead. The attacks ended Friday when security forces killed both Charlie Hebdo gunmen -brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi - and an accomplice - Amedy Coulibaly - who killed a policewoman and later four hostages at a kosher grocery.

Working out of borrowed offices, the Charlie Hebdo employees who survived put out a new weekly issue Wednesday. Its 50,000 copies ran out nearly immediately. Due to the high demand, the print run was increased to 5 million, according to spokeswoman Anne Hommel - 100 times the usual circulation. Kiosk operators in Paris told people to return Thursday for a second run.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Google is among many companies and individuals who donated money to produce this week's edition of Charlie Hebdo. The issue was distributed in 18 countries outside France and translated into other languages.

Many Muslims believe their faith forbids depictions of the prophet, and reacted with dismay - and occasionally anger - to the latest cover image. Some who had supported Charlie Hebdo after the terror attacks felt betrayed and others feared the cartoon would trigger yet more violence.

The publication raised tensions in Turkey, and caused huge crowds and frenzied eBay bidding in some European countries.

In its message to prosecutors and judges, France's Interior Ministry said it was issuing the crackdown on hate speech order to protect freedom of expression from comments that could incite violence or hatred. It said no one should be allowed to use their religion to justify hate speech.
The government order warned authorities to be particularly attentive to any incidents that could lead to urban unrest or violence against police. That suggests the government fears new riots like the wave which swept through France's neglected housing projects and immigrant communities a decade ago.

The government is writing broader new rules on phone-tapping and other intelligence to fight terrorism, spokesman Stephane Le Foll said. It also is launching a deeper project to rethink France's education system, urban policies and integration model, in an apparent recognition that the terror attacks exposed deeper problems about inequality in France, especially at its housing projects.

Dieudonne, a comic who popularized an arm gesture that resembles a Nazi salute and who has been convicted repeatedly of racism and anti-Semitism, is no stranger to controversy. His provocative performances were banned last year but he has a core following among France's disaffected youth.

The comic wrote an open letter to France's interior minister. "You are looking for a pretext to forbid me. You consider me like Amedy Coulibaly when I am not any different from Charlie," he wrote.

Coulibaly had claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, while the Kouachi brothers told survivors they were sent by al-Qaida in Yemen.

Defending his caricature of Muhammad on Charlie Hebdo's latest cover, cartoonist Renald Luzier argued that no exceptions should be made when it comes to the freedom of expression.

He said when the weekly was threatened before, the reaction was often: "Yes, but you shouldn't do that (publish cartoons of Muhammad). Yes, but you deserved that."

"There should be no more 'Yes, but," he insisted.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls displayed a copy of the satirical paper as he left a Cabinet meeting Wednesday but his hand carefully covered Muhammad's face.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/muslim-cartoonist-defends-charlie-hebdo/

Muslim cartoonist defends Charlie Hebdo
CBS NEWS
January 14, 2015

Photograph – Despite objecting to the content of Charlie Hebdo, Turkish cartoonist M.K. Perker, a Muslim himself, believes in the newspaper's free speech rights.

M.K. Perker is a Turkish cartoonist, and was a personal friend of one of the murdered French cartoonists, Georges Wolinski. That's why it hurt really, really bad.

"This one I think was right after 9/11," he said looking at some of his political cartoons, which talks about a security check.

Coming from a conservative Muslim family, Perker told us he would never draw cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, but he defends the right of others to do so.

"There is no negotiation on freedom of speech," he said. "You can't bargain on this. You're either on this side or that."

His magazine, "Penguen," makes the same point on its latest cover. But the Turkish authorities disagree.

Last night, the police searched trucks distributing the Turkish version of the latest Charlie Hebdo.

Though Turkey is famous for its moderate form of Islam, the Turkish government only allowed the paper to go on sale today after confirming it did not include images of the Prophet Muhammad.

Violence, in the name of Islam, is all too familiar for many here in the Middle East. Far more Muslims have been killed by al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) than any other group.

But many Muslims believe that what they hold sacred is more important than free speech.

Meryam Ilayda Atlas is a conservative Turkish commentator who told CBS News the west is partly responsible for what happened in Paris.

"These people are provoking some very high level of anger from all over the world," she said.

The new Charlie Hebdo cover - which depicts the Prophet Mohammed - has done just that. It's been banned from all websites here in Turkey. And it's been condemned by the Jordanian Foreign Minister and Egypt's top Islamic cleric, among others.




Pope Francis – “He was unequivocal that nothing could justify the massacre in Paris, but suggested the magazine had gone too far. Using an analogy, the pope said if a dear friend were to utter "a swear word against my mother, he's going to get a punch in the nose. That's normal." "There are so many people who speak badly about religions, who make fun of them... they are provocateurs. And what happens to them is what would happen to (my dear friend) if he says a word against my mother."

Hate Speech In France – “France ordered prosecutors around the country to crack down on hate speech, anti-Semitism and those glorifying terrorism and announced Wednesday it was sending an aircraft carrier to the Middle East to work more closely with the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Authorities said 54 people had been arrested for hate speech and defending terrorism since terror attacks killed 20 people in Paris last week, including three gunmen. The crackdown came as Charlie Hebdo's defiant new issue sold outbefore dawn around Paris, with scuffles at kiosks over dwindling copies of the satirical weekly that fronted the Prophet Muhammad anew on its cover.... France has been tightening security and searching for accomplices since the terror attacks began, but none of the 54 people mentioned Wednesday have been linked to the attacks. That's raising questions about whether Hollande's Socialist government is impinging on the very freedom of speech that it so vigorously defends when it comes to Charlie Hebdo.... The government is writing broader new rules on phone-tapping and other intelligence to fight terrorism, spokesman Stephane Le Foll said. It also is launching a deeper project to rethink France's education system, urban policies and integration model, in an apparent recognition that the terror attacks exposed deeper problems about inequality in France, especially at its housing projects.

Muslim Cartoonist – Coming from a conservative Muslim family, Perker told us he would never draw cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, but he defends the right of others to do so. "There is no negotiation on freedom of speech," he said. "You can't bargain on this. You're either on this side or that." His magazine, "Penguen," makes the same point on its latest cover. But the Turkish authorities disagree. Last night, the police searched trucks distributing the Turkish version of the latest Charlie Hebdo. Though Turkey is famous for its moderate form of Islam, the Turkish government only allowed the paper to go on sale today after confirming it did not include images of the Prophet Muhammad.... But many Muslims believe that what they hold sacred is more important than free speech. Meryam Ilayda Atlas is a conservative Turkish commentator who told CBS News the west is partly responsible for what happened in Paris. "These people are provoking some very high level of anger from all over the world," she said.”

I personally do not agree with complete freedom of speech or any other action that is very provocative of strong anger. Art can be at issue, as with the Charlie cartoons, and the mention above of the neo-Nazi commentator who has popularized an arm gesture that resembles the Nazi salute is another example. In the Southern US, we have the Dixie Flag and the “Don't Tread On Me” flag. The US Constitution prohibits “fighting words” which includes what has separately been called “hate speech.” The following is a definition of “fighting words”: “fight·ing words, noun informal – words indicating a willingness to fight or challenge someone, words expressing an insult, especially of an ethnic, racial, or sexist nature.” The Pope has weighed in saying the same thing.

My father used to say, “Your rights end where my nose begins.” In other words there is an ethical issue involved in whether or not to allow complete freedom, and I think we also need to note that the very balance of world peace is involved in this. This is more than the provoking of citizens to civil disputes; it also is an international issue. What is going on over a cartoon makes me think of the book of Revelation in which governments of the world are all embroiled in a war over their religions. Whether or not it occurs at Megiddo, it is a true risk at this time, it seems to me, and not a delusion of paranoid fear. I have been thinking of WWIII since 9/11 over the events in the Middle East, and hoping for a peaceful agreement between Israel and Palestine. I do approve of the various moves that France made – arrested 20 for hate speech and for terrorism and sent an aircraft carrier to support the US against ISIS.





IMMIGRATION AND CONFLICT – TWO ARTICLES


http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/14/377262623/french-ambassador-to-u-s-outlines-predicament-of-immigration

French Ambassador To U.S. Outlines 'Predicament' Of Immigration
Bill Chappell
January 14, 2015

As it mourns the tragedy of last week's attack in Paris, France's government is also concerned about more attacks and how to adapt to prevent them. The concerns range from coping with 5,000 radical youth to becoming a society of immigration, France's ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, says.

While France's leaders had feared a terrorist attack within its borders, Araud says that "what happened was in a sense maybe worse than what we were expecting, because it was done in a very professional way."

Araud spoke with NPR's Melissa Block for today's All Things Considered. Here are more highlights from the interview:

France's Predicament: Immigration And Integration
"The French predicament is not only limited to France. It's a European problem. We are not used to being immigration countries. We don't have the culture of immigration the way you have — you, the Americans.

"So we have to adjust to the fact that we are becoming societies of immigration. And the fact is that most of our immigrants are Muslims. And of course, in Christian countries it creates some tensions. But I do think that the main problem is not so much religious. The main problem is a social problem, of integration."

Unemployment, Crime And Radicalization
Araud says France's high jobless rate poses a threat, because "as usual the immigrants are the first victims of unemployment, so they have a rate of unemployment of 20 percent, which means that you have a lot of these youths — Muslim youths — who are excluded from the social life."

He outlines an arc that some of those young people follow after committing petty crimes: "They go to prison, and in prison they are radicalized. They find a sort of raison d'etre in religion."

Preparing For A Possible Attack
"The French authorities have been expecting for some time a terrorist action. We have 5,000 radical youth; we have 1,200 young people who are in Syria or are coming back from Syria. They are trained. They are radicalized. I say 1,200 – [it] means we have identified 1,200. There are more than that.

"Sooner or later we were, unfortunately, fearing that something would happen. And what happened was in a sense maybe worse than what we were expecting, because it was done in a very professional way."

Muslims' Commitment To France
"France is a country of 65 million inhabitants. There are between 5 and 6 million Muslims. And I guess 99.9 percent of Muslims are peaceful citizens. All the polls are showing their commitment to France. They are French; most of them are born in our country. So the message that we have to send to them is, they are part of the nation. They are a full part of the nation."
Jews Increasingly Leaving France Over Safety Concerns
"It's not troubling; it's devastating. You know I've served twice in Israel, so I have in a sense a personal commitment to this question. Actually, we have seen a rise in this type of anti-Semitism for nearly a decade."

For the security of synagogues, Jewish schools and other places, Araud says, "We are going to step up the measures of protection that we have been taking for some time."
Araud adds, "I understand that it's really unbearable for a community, the Jewish one, to live under the protection .... and secondly, again, we can't protect everybody."




“The concerns range from coping with 5,000 radical youth to becoming a society of immigration, France's ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud, says. While France's leaders had feared a terrorist attack within its borders, Araud says that "what happened was in a sense maybe worse than what we were expecting, because it was done in a very professional way."... We don't have the culture of immigration the way you have — you, the Americans. "So we have to adjust to the fact that we are becoming societies of immigration. And the fact is that most of our immigrants are Muslims. And of course, in Christian countries it creates some tensions. But I do think that the main problem is not so much religious. The main problem is a social problem, of integration."... because "as usual the immigrants are the first victims of unemployment, so they have a rate of unemployment of 20 percent, which means that you have a lot of these youths — Muslim youths — who are excluded from the social life."... "They go to prison, and in prison they are radicalized. They find a sort of raison d'etre in religion."... "Sooner or later we were, unfortunately, fearing that something would happen. And what happened was in a sense maybe worse than what we were expecting, because it was done in a very professional way."... There are between 5 and 6 million Muslims. And I guess 99.9 percent of Muslims are peaceful citizens. All the polls are showing their commitment to France. They are French; most of them are born in our country. So the message that we have to send to them is, they are part of the nation. They are a full part of the nation."... Araud adds, "I understand that it's really unbearable for a community, the Jewish one, to live under the protection .... and secondly, again, we can't protect everybody."

Jews across Europe have been under a recurrent social pressure from the far right elements again. It isn't just Jews, though, and it isn't just being fueled by the Islamists. We still have the same problem in this country with blacks and Hispanics. I believe it has built to such an extent worldwide because of unstable and and illiberal financial conditions. Poverty breeds hatred of “the other” as scapegoating rears up again. Unfortunately conservatism tends to side with the dominant culture, so that Evangelical Christianity takes precedence over Judaism or Islam or any other outside group. Blacks in this country don't want to be discriminated against, but they too often speak against Jews with as much venom as the white Christians do. Personally I've always thought of the Jews as being the ethnic group who were God's favorite, and the ancestors of Christianity through Jesus. Likewise I haven't found it in my heart to hate blacks, who were brought here very much against their will and sold into slavery. Surely we owe them a much better chance at the American Dream than we have so far given them. You might say, I'm not responsible for their poverty and lower social status, but as whites we have all seen to it that we don't live in the black communities or allowed intermarriage and social interactions. Those white people who don't physically get into fights with blacks all too often vote to keep them out of their swimming pools and country clubs. It has only been a year or so since Cracker Barrel refused table service to a group of blacks.

These things keep black people and other minorities “in their place” as much as lack of education and poor clothing do. It's all part of the same ball of wax, and is the root of some problems that are surfacing with considerable hatred now. Too many members of the white community are reacting with rage and increased abuse, while the blacks also have an increased level of hostility toward us whites since the Ferguson killing. Police forces, unfortunately, in allowing officer abuse to go on, are carrying out with their guns and billy clubs the neo-Nazi philosophy which has emerged in this country. That makes blacks distrust white police officers and whites in general. An open conflict is occurring much like that of the days of the Civil Rights era. Meanwhile, the good old KKK's descendants – the conservative movement -- don't like Jews any more than they do blacks. Add the Islamic element and you have a war which is international in scope. We need, as a society, to keep a lid on these conflicts plus actively working to reduce the causes of them.

Those causes are poverty, lack of education, lack of jobs, unequal rights and privileges and generally accepted racism. Our federal government provides a legal framework to stop the problems and we as an ethical nation should be doing that actively. There was good new here in Jacksonville last week. A large black Baptist Church has taken in all the white members of another Baptist church which was going under financially. It it the obvious right thing to do, and a blessing. Now we should do that all across the country. Whites and blacks not going to church together is one of the major causes of the continued racial ferment here. The French president spoke of integration being needed there. The same problem exists here in spite of the Civil Rights legislation in 1964 and later. We desperately need to solve that problem.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ohio-man-arrested-for-plot-to-attack-u-s-capitol/

Ohio man arrested for plot to attack U.S. Capitol
CBS NEWS
January 14, 2015

U.S. officials have arrested an Ohio man in connection with a plan to attack the Capitol building in Washington, D.C, CBS News confirms.

Christopher Lee Cornell -- also known as Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah -- was arrested by the FBI for the attempted killing of a U.S. government officer and for possession of a firearm in furtherance of attempted crime of violence.

The apparently ISIS-inspired plot, which included guns and bombs, was stopped very early in its formation. In the wake of the terror attack against a satirical newspaper in Paris, the U.S. has reaffirmed its commitment to preventing individuals from being radicalized by extremist groups like ISIS.

From the summer of 2014 through this month, Cornell established and used Twitter accounts under the alias Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah. He posted videos, statements and other content expressing support for the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS), according to the criminal complaint against him, filed in the Southern District of Ohio.

On Aug. 29, 2014, Cornell allegedly told an FBI informant via an instant messaging platform that he wanted to commit violent jihad. He told the informant, "I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves."

Cornell and the informant met in Cincinnati in October and again in November, the court document says. In their second meeting, Cornell allegedly revealed that he considers members of Congress enemies and wanted to attack the Capitol.

Cornell allegedly wanted to build, plant and detonate pipe bombs near the Capitol building and then use firearms to kill officials and employees at the Capitol. Cornell shared with the informant the research he had conducted to carry out the plan, the criminal complaint says.

Then, around Tuesday or Wednesday, Cornell and the informant took the final steps to travel to Washington. Cornell also this week purchased a semi-automatic rifle and around 600 rounds of ammunition to allegedly carry out his plan. Cornell was then arrested, and law enforcement took possession of the firearm.




“Christopher Lee Cornell -- also known as Raheel Mahrus Ubaydah -- was arrested by the FBI for the attempted killing of a U.S. government officer and for possession of a firearm in furtherance of attempted crime of violence. The apparently ISIS-inspired plot, which included guns and bombs, was stopped very early in its formation. In the wake of the terror attack against a satirical newspaper in Paris, the U.S. has reaffirmed its commitment to preventing individuals from being radicalized by extremist groups like ISIS.... Cornell allegedly wanted to build, plant and detonate pipe bombs near the Capitol building and then use firearms to kill officials and employees at the Capitol. Cornell shared with the informant the research he had conducted to carry out the plan, the criminal complaint says. Then, around Tuesday or Wednesday, Cornell and the informant took the final steps to travel to Washington. Cornell also this week purchased a semi-automatic rifle and around 600 rounds of ammunition to allegedly carry out his plan. Cornell was then arrested, and law enforcement took possession of the firearm.”

Undercover activity seems to work pretty well in this country. There have been several of these cases in the last 15 or 20 years, not always against Islamic jihadists. The good thing is that the FBI builds a case that will hold up in court and then moves to the arrest. So often when police actions are carried out after a surprise attack as in Paris, there are one or more criminals who aren't known at the time and who then escape. I would be interested in knowing how many of these situations have occurred. A certain amount of government surveillance is necessary to produce results. Somehow we also have to retain our freedoms also, however. We don't want to be a police state, at least we liberals don't.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-sisters-accused-of-killing-brother-to-be-charged-as-juveniles/

Sisters accused of killing brother will be charged as juveniles
ByJULIA DAHLCBS NEWS
January 14, 2015

WHITE SPRINGS, Fla. - The Florida sisters who police say shot and killed their 16-year-old brother on January 5 will be charged as juveniles with second-degree murder, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

The 15-year-old and 11-year-old girls, who 48 Hours' Crimesider is not naming because of their age and the fact that at least one was a victim of sexual assault, were initially charged with first-degree murder.

According to the initial incident report, the girls' father is a truck driver and their parents left them alone with their brother and a 3-year-old sister while the mother accompanied the father on a trip. The 15-year-old told police that on the day of the shooting, her brother locked her in a room with just a blanket and a bucket to use as a toilet.

According to police, she said that while her brother slept, her younger sister helped her escape the room and the 15-year-old went outside and used a knife to cut the foam around the window air conditioning unit in the window of her parents' locked bedroom. In the bedroom, she told police, she found a handgun, loaded it, and then went into the living room where her brother was sleeping and shot him.

The arrest report says the girls then packed some things, put their 3-year-old sister in a bedroom, and walked to a nearby Dollar Store, where they called a friend, who later called police. The girls told them that the 15-year-old was routinely locked in the room her brother had kept her in.

The sisters' parents were arrested and charged with child neglect and according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office are still behind bars. According to their arrest report, the mother told police the 15-year-old was locked in the room about four times a week, and the father said the longest she was locked up was 20 days. In a search of the house, police found notes written by the parents asking the girl to explain why she should be let out of the room.

In the days after the alleged murder, police released documents which revealed that the 15-year-old had been sexually abused by her uncle in 2010. According to police reports, the uncle had the girl perform oral sex on him and kept video of the crimes. A year later, in a heavily redacted report, the girl's mother told a court-appointed volunteer that she found two people having sex in her house and that one of them "did not want to 'do it.'" The mother also said that she was concerned the uncle was having the same two people have sex with each other.

The uncle was convicted and is serving a life sentence, but it is unclear what - if any - action was taken regarding the sex inside the house. After the shooting, the 11-year-old told police she and her 3-year-old sister shared a room with their brother.

According to police documents, the family had not sought counseling for the 15-year-old in the aftermath of the sexual abuse and she had previously attempted to end her own life but "neither law enforcement or EMS was notified."




“According to the initial incident report, the girls' father is a truck driver and their parents left them alone with their brother and a 3-year-old sister while the mother accompanied the father on a trip.... The arrest report says the girls then packed some things, put their 3-year-old sister in a bedroom, and walked to a nearby Dollar Store, where they called a friend, who later called police. The girls told them that the 15-year-old was routinely locked in the room her brother had kept her in. The sisters' parents were arrested and charged with child neglect and according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office are still behind bars. According to their arrest report, the mother told police the 15-year-old was locked in the room about four times a week, and the father said the longest she was locked up was 20 days. In a search of the house, police found notes written by the parents asking the girl to explain why she should be let out of the room.... In the days after the alleged murder, police released documents which revealed that the 15-year-old had been sexually abused by her uncle in 2010. According to police reports, the uncle had the girl perform oral sex on him and kept video of the crimes. A year later, in a heavily redacted report, the girl's mother told a court-appointed volunteer that she found two people having sex in her house and that one of them "did not want to 'do it.'" The mother also said that she was concerned the uncle was having the same two people have sex with each other.... According to police documents, the family had not sought counseling for the 15-year-old in the aftermath of the sexual abuse and she had previously attempted to end her own life but "neither law enforcement or EMS was notified."

This situation is truly evil. How could parents be so abusive and neglectful? This girl shouldn't have been charged with “second degree murder,” but with “justifiable homicide.” The threshold for justifiable homicide may have been met here, but maybe the laws should be rewritten.

See the following from Wikipedia: “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justifiable_homicide – The concept of justifiable homicide in criminal law stands on the dividing line between an excuse, justification and an exculpation. In certain circumstances, homicide is justified when it prevents greater harm to innocents. A homicide can only be justified if there is sufficient evidence to prove that it was reasonable to believe that the offending party posed an imminent threat to the life or well-being of another. To rule a justifiable homicide, one must objectively prove to a trier of fact,beyond all reasonable doubt, that the suspect intended to commitviolence. A homicide in this instance is blameless and[1] distinct from the less stringent criteria authorizing deadly force in stand your groundrulings..... In deciding when intentional killings should be treated as justifiable,lawmakers are balancing multiple interests. On the one hand, statesusually allow citizens to protect themselves from harm. In modern times, this reflects a social contract where allegiance is rewarded by the provision of policing and other civil defense systems, and the apparatus of redress is a court system. In the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 states that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person, and many nations' policy allows for some degree of leniency for 'self-defense'.”