Thursday, January 8, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/opinion/sunday/brazen-attempts-by-hotels-to-block-wi-fi.html?_r=0

Brazen Attempts by Hotels to Block Wi-Fi
By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
JAN. 3, 2015

Some large hotel chains want to block guests from using their own wireless Internet devices. It’s a blatant attempt to limit customer choice, and the Federal Communications Commissionshould say no.

Marriott International and the American Hotel and Lodging Association are asking the F.C.C. to give hotels the green light to remotely disable the Wi-Fi devices that some travelers use to connect their laptops and tablet computers to the Internet through cellular services from companies like Verizon. This would force guests to buy the wireless Internet service provided by hotels.

In its petition, the hotel industry asks the commission to create an exception to rules that prohibit anyone from “willful or malicious interference” with wireless communications that are “licensed or authorized” by the government. The industry asserts that because Wi-Fi signals use unlicensed frequencies, they do not deserve the same protection as licensed services like cellphone networks. That is an absurd argument, since the government has authorized unlicensed Wi-Fi devices and networks. Other countries, like Britain, prohibit “deliberate interference” of wireless communications.

In October, the F.C.C. fined Marriott $600,000 for preventing customers from using their own Wi-Fi devices at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville. The commission said the hotel was charging people attending and exhibiting at a conference $250 to $1,000 per device to connect to the hotel-operated Wi-Fi service. Previously, the F.C.C. prohibited Boston’s Logan International Airport from blocking Wi-Fi networks set up by airline clubs.

Hotel industry officials say they want to protect guests from rogue Wi-Fi networks that are designed by criminals to look as though they are part of hotel-operated Wi-Fi systems and that are used to hack into travelers’ computers. They say this issue is a particular worry at conferences where dozens of exhibitors and thousands of visitors are using Wi-Fi.

Some of these security concerns have merit. But the best way for hotels to deal with rogue networks is to inform law enforcement agencies and help them apprehend criminals who are trying to steal information. In justifying its request, the industry likens what it wants to do to some universities’ restricting the amount of data that students can send and receive over campus wireless networks. But while universities may restrict the use of their own systems, they generally do not prevent students from setting up and using their own networks.

Marriott and the hotel association say that if the commission rules against them, some hotels might prohibit guests from checking in with Wi-Fi devices or restrict such equipment from some parts of their properties, a move that would only alienate their customers. The F.C.C. should not give hotels the power to block Wi-Fi devices that many customers rely on.



http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-wi-fi-problem-for-hotels-1419812931

A Wi-Fi Problem for Hotels?
Industry Group Seeks Guidance From FCC on Blocking Other Wireless Networks Set Up on Hotel Properties
By SHIRA OVIDE
December 29, 2014

Modern technology has made it possible for people to set up their own personal Wi-Fi networks anywhere they want. Except in the occasional Marriott.

An industry group that includes Marriott International Inc. has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission for guidance on whether hotels are acting within the law when they disable unauthorized Wi-Fi access points set up on their properties.

The hotels say they are trying to make sure their own wireless networks don’t get bogged down and to prevent criminals from tricking people into logging onto fake Wi-Fi networks.

The issue is a flash point for some consumers who believe hotels are trying to force people to use hotel Internet Wi-Fi service—often for a price. And it has broader implications for how convention halls, companies and hospitals manage what has become a must-have communications service.

…

“The effort to try to cloak this as a security issue is kind of silly,” said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge, a consumer-advocacy group on telecommunications and technology issues. “Hotels make a lot of money, particularly from the leasing of convention Wi-Fi.”

The hotel group says it isn’t seeking to stop hotel guests from using their own Wi-Fi devices. Harvey Kellman, a Marriott assistant general counsel, said there is confusion about whether Wi-Fi operators such as hotels are permitted to use legal telecom-network equipment to see what devices are on a network and to knock out “rogue” Wi-Fi networks on their property.

“We just want to follow the rules, as soon as we understand what the rules are,” he said.

FCC representatives didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“Hotels are responsible for ensuring that vital personal data and information is protected, and need some flexibility in using tools that help protect that data without fear of legal penalty,” said Katherine Lugar, chief executive of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

Some experts in communications law say there already are legal ways to protect networks. Hotels, for example, could use widely available technology that detects unauthorized wireless hot spots and then ask their owners to disable them. That, however, would be more labor intensive than simply spiking any unwanted Internet network from afar, they say.

The FCC’s enforcement arm has already found a Marriott-managed hotel acted improperly in using Internet-monitoring gear to disable Wi-Fi at the Gaylord Opryland hotel and convention center in Tennessee. The Gaylord complex is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc.

After a complaint last year, an FCC investigation found one or more employees at the Marriott-managed facility had disabled wireless hot-spot networks that people created on the conference grounds.

The hotel complex allows meeting planners to set up their own Wi-Fi networks in the conference center or pay $250 to $1,000 to use the Gaylord’s Internet-related services.

The FCC’s enforcement arm said it believed the hotel employees were using Internet-monitoring equipment in a way that violated the law against interference.

Marriott in October agreed to a $600,000 civil penalty.

The investigation prompted the hotel chain to petition the FCC for a broader ruling. Marriott says it believes the Gaylord Opryland acted lawfully.

The FCC rejected Wi-Fi blocking in a similar case nearly a decade ago. Then, Logan International Airport in Boston had ordered a shutdown of several Wi-Fi networks offered in airport club lounges. The airport authority said it was worried about security problems or interference of public-safety communications from Wi-Fi networks it didn’t control.

Travelers and airlines said the airport authority was unfairly trying to crush alternatives to its own Wi-Fi network. The FCC in 2006 dismissed the airport authority’s arguments about safety dangers or the interference law not applying to Wi-Fi.

Attorneys working with the hotel industry say there were different legal questions in the FCC petition and the Logan case, which revolved around the legal rights of property tenants such as airlines.

Some attorneys say the FCC has been more aggressive recently about preventing cellphone or Internet networks from being blocked or shut down. The commission this month issued an advisory notice to local law enforcement about the illegality of devices that block or interfere with cellphones, Wi-Fi or other communications.

The commission is also considering a petition from correctional institutions to clarify whether prisons can use certain types of technology to knock out prison inmates’ contraband cellphones. The FCC previously has said prisons weren’t permitted to broadly disable cellphone use, in part because it interfered with legal cellphone usage from local residents and businesses.

Write to Shira Ovide at shira.ovide@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications
Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. owns the Gaylord Opryland hotel and conference center in Tennessee, and Marriott International Inc. manages the facility. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Marriott owns the hotel complex. (Dec. 29, 2014)

COMMENTS

Ray Kung

Why put up the "security" card? 
If Marriott is truly believing security is the concern, perhaps they should give free plus free Marriott points for people using its free wifi service. doing so will disincentive using personal Wi-Fi and this so call issue resolved.

so, its all about money, period - not safety.


Dean L Oestreich

It would seem ridiculous to point to WiFi security issues when Marriott and Marriott Time Share have such a terrible history of credit card/personal information hacking. You can't protect my credit card security and personal information, but you need an extra $8.00 per day to protect my internet security? This has as much to do with "security" as red light camera's have to do with "safety".

9 days ago




Hotel bills are expensive enough without this $13.95 a day fee for basic access to the Internet, according to Daily Kos. As with any ala carte billing system, the resulting bill can zoom upward to an unbelievable amount of money. That's one thing that's wrong with hospital billing, too. It's a case of the big boys trying every means they can to gain more control and make more money. If there is one thing the ultra-conservative mind loves as much as money it is power. It is not his fellow man or his neighbor.




HAPPY THOUGHTS – TWO ARTICLES

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2015/01/07/375577465/as-2015-begins-some-ruminations-on-science-and-life

As 2015 Begins, Some Ruminations On Science And Life
Marcelo Gleiser
Blogger, 13.7: Cosmos & Culture
JANUARY 07, 2015


Over the years, I've been collecting thought fragments and sentences that come to me during the day or in the course of my writing books and essays.

Since this is a time of introspection and self-analysis, I wanted to share some of them with the 13.7 readers — along with my wishes for a creative and healthy 2015. I hope these may be useful to you in one way or another. Here it goes:

Limits are not obstacles but triggers that expand your boundaries.

Boundaries can be jails or invitations — it all depends on how you see them.

Even if my vision is blurred, I'd much rather see little than live in darkness.

The day we become too afraid to step into the unknown is the day we stop growing.

The new exists at every moment. All it takes is to look at the world with enchantment.

Knowledge is meaningful information.

We erect walls between reality and imagination, become sensible and forget to keep the mind open to contemplate the impossible.

Doubt drives change.

The search for knowledge is an insatiable flirt with the unknown.

The meaning of life is to find meaning in life.

The future belongs to those who make it happen.

Where you are depends on how far you want to get.

Be the future of your planet.

Marcelo Gleiser, a world-renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist, is professor of natural philosophy, physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers and is the author of dozens of essays and four books, including The Island of Knowledge: The Limits of Science and the Search for Meaning. You can keep up with Marcelo on Facebook and Twitter: @mgleiser





I love this list. It contains many things which will tend to create a positive attitude and the basis for lifelong learning, which is one of my ideals. “The future belongs to those who make it happen. Where you are depends on how far you want to get. Be the future of your planet.” As I age, possibly to develop some form of dementia, these thoughts are spurring me to continue my mental and personal development and fight that fearsome enemy to the end.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/06/375434388/a-pandas-first-snow-day-pile-on-the-cuteness

A Panda's First Snow Day: Pile On The Cuteness
Bill Chappell
Blogger, Producer
JANUARY 06, 2015


Photograph – An African lion cub regards her habitat after a morning snowfall at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Because life isn't all political drama and misdeeds, we bring you a video of the young panda Bao Bao frolicking in the snow at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

The zoo posted the video this afternoon, noting that the 16-month-old Bao Bao "was quite the little snow panda. She spent her morning tumbling down the hill in her yard, climbing and sliding down trees and pouncing on her mom."

The zoo also notes that the giant pandas' natural mountain habitat in China includes cold and snowy winters.

Several inches of snow fell in Washington on Tuesday, leading the Smithsonian zoo to close for the day. But the pandas got out to enjoy the day, as did the lions, tigers and wolves.

But the happiest of them all may have been the seals, whose snouts and whiskers were coated white with snow.

When we checked on the "panda cam" this afternoon, the zoo residents had moved indoors to snack on copious amounts of bamboo. No word on whether the zoo offered hot chocolate.




Animals being beautiful – see the website for a magnificent lion photograph and a video of two panda cubs frolicking in the snow. A visit the zoo always gives me a boost of positive energy and joy. The idea of so many of our animals going extinct is really depressing to me. The zoos are becoming the only repository of endangered species. Thank goodness the manner in which they are usually housed nowadays has improved. No more lions, bears, wolves pacing around in a cage. We now for the most part have them in larger outdoor enclosures where they can get a little exercise. Of course there was a tiger in the news within the last couple of years who jumped a fence thought to be too high for that and attacked a rowdy idiotic young man who was taunting her. He lived, but I'm sure he won't do that again.





TELEVISION WARS


http://www.greenvillegazette.com/dish-network-finally-pulls-fox-news-off-the-air-and-then-this-happened-to-fox-and-its-awesome/

The Fox News Network, which has become the bane of liberals due to their dominance in the 24-hour cable news sector, appears to have pushed their clout too far with Dish Network. The company wanted the nation’s number 2 satellite TV provider to pay a premium rate to carry their network. Dish Network refused and Fox News withdrew their top-rated channel along with the Fox Business channel from Dish. However, that wasn’t all.

Fox News went on the offensive and asked their viewers to drop their Dish Network subscriptions in favor of a competitor carrying Fox News. Thus far, neither side has budged. However, Fox News’ loss of a major carrier has temporarily hurt their ratings. Dish Network has a total subscriber base of 13 million. The political left is thrilled over Dish not carrying Fox News.

However, it is likely that the two companies will soon come back to the negotiating table with Fox News likely conceding their demands. The overall 2014 ratings for 24-hour cable news channels had Fox News being the only network that grew its viewership. CNN’s ratings held steady in the important 25-54 age demographic, but their overall ratings declined.

At the same time, MSNBC, whose CEO in 2008 famously pledged to make the place for progressives to find shelter, had their overall ratings collapse by 20%. Their decline was so pronounced that it made CNN rise to the number 2 spot in terms of most popular news network despite losing market share. Once Fox News eats some well-deserved humble pie, their ratings should return to their normal upward trajectory. What bothers liberals is that pro-Democrat MSNBC is losing viewers to the Fox News channel.



http://www.multichannel.com/news/distribution/carry-dish-has-lost-90000-subs-fox-news-disconnect/386701

Carry: Dish Has Lost 90,000 Subs from Fox News Blackout
No Contact Between Parties Since Dec. 20 Disconnect
1/07/2015 2:30 PM Eastern

Tim Carry says Dish’s disconnect from Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network has been a costly one for the No. 2 DBS provider.  

Carry, executive vice president of distribution for FNC and FBN, estimated that Dish has lost some 90,000 subscribers since the channels were removed from the provider's 14 million subscribers late on Dec. 20.  

He based the total on the number of viewers that have reached out to the www.keepfoxnews.com website and 888-numbers, and others that have contacted Dish directly.  

Carry said that a combined 350,000 have called about or visited the section of the Fox website providing a list of alternative providers in the viewers’ area. He said the numbers began picking up on Dec. 26, after the Christmas holiday.   Given “dwell times” reaching four to five minutes, Carry said the programmer has extrapolated that at least 45,000 of these respondents have dropped Dish.   He said those are not the only means for network viewers to express their disconnect displeasure and intention to move one, and projects that a like number have contacted Dish directly to drop the provider.   “We think they’ve lost about 90,000 subscribers over the past two weeks tied to Fox News,” he said.  

A Dish spokesman said, "As is our policy, we don't comment on rumor and speculation."   Fox officials say Dish dropped the signals for the two networks at 11:50 p.m. on Dec. 20, 10 minutes ahead of the expiration of their contract. Dish maintains that Fox that pulled the plug and introduced a third unrelated service into the discussions.  

Carry said the parties have yet to connect since:  “They have not spoken to us at all.  There has not been any outreach on any level. Their positioning that they are actively negotiating rings hollow.”   Dish CEO Charlie Ergen in a Christmas Eve video on Dishstandsforyou.com said the parties were nearing a deal, even though Fox News was looking for an increase doubling its rate – a hike he said was somewhat justified given its leadership status in the space. He said the talks, broke down when Fox introduced a third network into the conversation, for which it was eyeing a “surcharge” that would have trebled the cost for a service that was not scheduled to expire “for some time.” Ergen didn’t identify the service.   Many believe that network in question was either Fox Sports 1 or FXX, which were converted from Speed and Fox Soccer Channel on Aug. 17, 2013 and Sept. 2, 2013, respectively. Many distributors launched the services at that forbears’ monthly license fee: some 23 cents for Speed and 18 cents for Fox Soccer.    

Carry maintains his position that the blackout is tied to the networks in question.  

“These are big companies with many assets and properties,” he said. “Other things were discussed, but the negotiations broke down over core issues to Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.”   As to ratings slippage the cable news leader has sustained over the past couple of weeks following the blackout, Fox News officials attribute the downturn to the loss of Dish's overall subscriber base, those who may switched providers and are not yet being measured by Nielsen, as well as a disruption in viewing patterns during the year-end holiday period. The Nielsen numbers should come into sharper view as the nation returns to more typical professional and personal schedules this week.  

See more at: http://www.multichannel.com/news/distribution/carry-dish-has-lost-90000-subs-fox-news-disconnect/386701#sthash.ctEGWWq2.dpuf




“The company wanted the nation’s number 2 satellite TV provider to pay a premium rate to carry their network. Dish Network refused and Fox News withdrew their top-rated channel along with the Fox Business channel from Dish. However, that wasn’t all. Fox News went on the offensive and asked their viewers to drop their Dish Network subscriptions in favor of a competitor carrying Fox News. Thus far, neither side has budged. However, Fox News’ loss of a major carrier has temporarily hurt their ratings.... However, it is likely that the two companies will soon come back to the negotiating table with Fox News likely conceding their demands.... The overall 2014 ratings for 24-hour cable news channels had Fox News being the only network that grew its viewership. CNN’s ratings held steady in the important 25-54 age demographic, but their overall ratings declined.”

The report that Dish Network has lost 90,000 subscribers over this issue is coming from Tim Carry of FNC and FBN according to Multichannel.com. Multichannel also states “Dish maintains that Fox that pulled the plug and introduced a third unrelated service into the discussions.” Now Fox is claiming to be on the defensive. Even if Dish does lose some subscribers, I'm glad to see Fox bested. Fox was asking an exorbitant fee to carry their channels. The story is also covered on IBTimes – http://www.ibtimes.com/dish-network-blackout-fox-news-ratings-take-hit-nasty-carriage-dispute-continues-1771328. In their report they say Dish has been playing hardball with CNN and 8 Turner channels as well.

I no longer have cable due to the high fee that Comcast – my only choice – charges, but if I still had it I would watch CNN. I like them for several reasons. For one thing, they cater to true news junkies, with their Headline News channel for quick and immediate updates at any time during the day and an in depth style of reporting on CNN. They also have commentators who at least make an effort to provide more than one side on current issues, while covering the stories I consider important. I want to see environmental issues, sociopolitical issues, updates on what the legislature is doing, and of course political reporting – who's running for what. They also create very interesting documentaries on a variety of topics, rivaling those on National Public Television. Since I don't have cable I watch CBS or NBC in the morning or at 6:30 PM, and Fox at 10:00 PM. That Fox channel doesn't have O'Reilly on their 10:00 PM report and their commentators don't rant about anything, focusing instead on the main daily stories and the local news. I wouldn't depend on Fox alone for my news, because I've noticed when I had cable that often they don't even show stories about the environment, etc. I wish I could get Public Broadcasting, but their channel won't come in on my broadcast antenna TV.

I'm sorry to see that a large number of people across the nation are now watching FOX exclusively. It shows what I fear to be true – the public mind has turned toward the right in their thinking as well as increasingly backing the Tea Party in their voting. I wonder if the Ferguson stories and others about policing have radicalized a more quietly classist and racist group – the Lower Middle Class – who are in many cases losing ground financially and have become angrier and angrier as a result. They are also the ones who are most likely to be Fundamentalist Christians. Meanwhile many of the baby boomers have turned to the right as they aged. Getting old tends to cause people to become more conservative, I've heard. Even I am wary of the many local and state laws legalizing marijuana “for medical purposes.” Lots of Americans have become addicted to everything from pills to street drugs for the purpose of getting high, and use a number of drugs, not just “medical marijuana.” It's terrible for our health and usually causes brain damage. I think it's here to stay, though.




TERRORISTS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-shot-in-new-paris-attack/

Police swarm Paris suburbs in search for terror suspects
CBS/AP
January 8, 2015

Photograph – French police identified Cherif Kouachi (left) and his brother Said Kouachi (right), along with 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad (not pictured), as suspects in the attack on the newspaper Charlie Hebdo that left 12 people dead Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015 in Paris, France.

PARIS -- Frightened yet defiant, French residents held a day of mourning Thursday for 12 people slain at a Paris newspaper. French police hunted for the two heavily armed brothers suspected in the massacre, fearing they might strike again.

The two suspects - one a former pizza deliveryman who had a prior terror conviction and a fondness for rap -should be considered "armed and dangerous," French police said in a bulletin.

Ninety people have been questioned so far in the investigation and nine people close to the two suspects - Cherif Kouachi, 32, and his 34-year-old brother Said Kouachi - were detained for further questioning, officials said.

According to the Interior Ministry, 88,000 security forces have been deployed in the manhunt, including 50,000 policemen.

Authorities extended France's maximum terror alert from Paris to the northern Picardie region, focusing on several towns that might be possible safe havens for the two suspects, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters.

 FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTRY

Police were also seen searching homes in the village of Corcy, near the town of Longpont, further to the east but in the same region as Crepy-en-Valois. Most of the police activity reported Thursday was along or near to a highway running northeast from central Paris, the N2.

An official at the town's City Hall told CBS News that for about an hour on Thursday she heard police sirens and saw helicopters flying overhead, but that everything had gone quiet since. Photos from the town showed a large police presence.

French President Francois Hollande - joined by residents, tourists and Muslim leaders - called for tolerance after the country's worst terrorist attack in decades. At noon, the Paris metro came to a standstill and a crowd fell silent near Notre Dame cathedral to honor Wednesday's victims.

"France has been struck directly in the heart of its capital, in a place where the spirit of liberty - and thus of resistance - breathed freely," Hollande said.

France's prime minister said the possibility of a new attack "is our main concern" and announced several overnight arrests. Tensions ran high in Paris, where 800 extra police patrolled schools, places of worship and transit hubs. Britain increased its security checks at ports and borders.

The satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad and witnesses said the attackers claimed allegiance to al Qaeda in Yemen. Around the world, from Berlin to Bangkok, thousands filled squares and streets, holding up pens to defend freedom of speech and honor those killed in the massacre.

"The only thing we can do is to live fearlessly," wrote Kai Diekmann, editor in chief of Bild, Germany's biggest-selling daily. "Our colleagues in Paris have paid the ultimate price for freedom. We bow before them."

Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed in Wednesday's newspaper attack and 11 people were wounded, four of them critically. The publication had long drawn threats for its depictions of Islam, although it also satirized other religions and political figures.

Said Kouachi had lived in Reims, in the Champagne region, and police searched the apartment on Wednesday. Video showed technicians taking samples, likely fingerprints.

By Thursday afternoon, authorities focused their search around the towns Villers-Cotterets and Crepy-en-Valois northeast of Paris, according to an official with the national gendarme service. Police confirmed to CBS News that personnel had established checks at all major highway entry points into the capital city.

Two men resembling the suspects robbed a gas station in Villers-Cotterets early Thursday, and police swarmed the site while helicopters hovered above. Later large numbers of special police units arrived in Crepy-en-Valois amid reports the suspects had holed up there. However, the gendarme official later said the men had not yet been located.

A third suspect, Mourad Hamyd, 18, surrendered at a police station after hearing his name linked to the attacks, a Paris prosecutor's spokeswoman said. A senior U.S. intelligence source told CBS News that Mourad is the brother-in-law of the two brothers. The Kouachis are believed to have been connected to al Qaeda in Iraq (which later became ISIS) and have current links in Yemen, where one of them visited in 2011.

CBS News' Clarissa Ward reports among those being held were Mourad, Said Kouachi's wife, sister and his sister's husband.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the branch of the terror network considered to represent the most immediate threat to the U.S. and other Western nations, is based in Yemen. A witness to the attack on Wednesday said one of the men claimed to be acting on behalf of "al Qaeda in Yemen" during the shooting.

The governor of a southern province in Yemen told The Associated Press on Thursday that four French citizens had been deported from Yemen in the last four months. Gov. Ahmed Abdullah al-Majidi said he didn't have their names and there was no confirmed link between those deportations and the Charlie Hebdo attack.

Two explosions hit near mosques in France early Thursday, raising fears the deadly attack at Charlie Hebdo was igniting a backlash against France's large and diverse Muslim community. No one was injured in the attacks, one in Le Mans southwest of Paris and another in Villefranche-sur-Saone, near Lyon, southeast of the capital.

French mosques attacked amid fear of reprisals

France's top security official, meanwhile, abandoned a top-level meeting to rush to a shooting on the city's southern edge that killed a policewoman. The shooter remained at large. Cazeneuve said no links were established to the newspaper killings at this stage.

Fears have run high in Europe that jihadis trained in warfare abroad would stage attacks at home. The French suspect in a deadly 2014 attack on a Jewish museum in Belgium had returned from fighting with extremists in Syria; and the man who rampaged in southern France in 2012, killing three soldiers and four people at a Jewish school in Toulouse, received paramilitary training in Pakistan.

Both al Qaeda and ISIS have repeatedly threatened to attack France, which is conducting airstrikes against extremists in Iraq and fighting Islamic militants in Africa.

Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, one of those slain, was specifically threatened in a 2013 edition of the al Qaeda magazine Inspire. A caricature of Islamic State's leader was the last tweet sent out by the satirical newspaper, minutes before the attack. Its feed has since gone silent.

One witness to Wednesday's attack said the gunmen were so methodical he at first mistook them for an elite anti-terrorism squad. Then they fired on a police officer. Once inside the building, the gunmen headed straight for Charbonnier, killing him and his police bodyguard first. Shouting "Allahu akbar!" as they fired, the killers then called out the names of other employees.

In Tunisia, the birthplace of one of the slain cartoonists, Georges Wolinski, dozens paid homage in a candlelight vigil outside the French ambassador's residence.

"These people were executed at point-blank range just because of drawings - drawings that didn't please everyone and provoked anger and controversy but still were just drawings," said journalist Marouen Achouri.

Meanwhile, Patrick Pelloux, a writer for the satirical magazine, said Charlie Hebdo would publish a new edition on Jan. 14.

CBS News has learned that in the aftermath of the attack on Charlie Hebdo, Attorney General Eric Holder will travel to Paris to attend an International Ministerial meeting on January 11, convened by the French Minister of Interior. The meetings will include discussions on addressing terrorist threats, foreign fighters and countering violent extremism.




“Ninety people have been questioned so far in the investigation and nine people close to the two suspects - Cherif Kouachi, 32, and his 34-year-old brother Said Kouachi - were detained for further questioning, officials said. According to the Interior Ministry, 88,000 security forces have been deployed in the manhunt, including 50,000 policemen.... French President Francois Hollande - joined by residents, tourists and Muslim leaders - called for tolerance after the country's worst terrorist attack in decades. At noon, the Paris metro came to a standstill and a crowd fell silent near Notre Dame cathedral to honor Wednesday's victims.... France's prime minister said the possibility of a new attack "is our main concern" and announced several overnight arrests. Tensions ran high in Paris, where 800 extra police patrolled schools, places of worship and transit hubs. Britain increased its security checks at ports and borders.... "The only thing we can do is to live fearlessly," wrote Kai Diekmann, editor in chief of Bild, Germany's biggest-selling daily. "Our colleagues in Paris have paid the ultimate price for freedom. We bow before them." Eight journalists, two police officers, a maintenance worker and a visitor were killed in Wednesday's newspaper attack and 11 people were wounded, four of them critically. The publication had long drawn threats for its depictions of Islam, although it also satirized other religions and political figures.... A third suspect, Mourad Hamyd, 18, surrendered at a police station after hearing his name linked to the attacks, a Paris prosecutor's spokeswoman said. A senior U.S. intelligence source told CBS News that Mourad is the brother-in-law of the two brothers. The Kouachis are believed to have been connected to al Qaeda in Iraq (which later became ISIS) and have current links in Yemen, where one of them visited in 2011.... The governor of a southern province in Yemen told The Associated Press on Thursday that four French citizens had been deported from Yemen in the last four months. Gov. Ahmed Abdullah al-Majidi said he didn't have their names and there was no confirmed link between those deportations and the Charlie Hebdo attack. Two explosions hit near mosques in France early Thursday, raising fears the deadly attack at Charlie Hebdo was igniting a backlash against France's large and diverse Muslim community. No one was injured in the attacks, one in Le Mans southwest of Paris and another in Villefranche-sur-Saone, near Lyon, southeast of the capital....

“Fears have run high in Europe that jihadis trained in warfare abroad would stage attacks at home. The French suspect in a deadly 2014 attack on a Jewish museum in Belgium had returned from fighting with extremists in Syria; and the man who rampaged in southern France in 2012, killing three soldiers and four people at a Jewish school in Toulouse, received paramilitary training in Pakistan.... CBS News has learned that in the aftermath of the attack on Charlie Hebdo, Attorney General Eric Holder will travel to Paris to attend an International Ministerial meeting on January 11, convened by the French Minister of Interior. The meetings will include discussions on addressing terrorist threats, foreign fighters and countering violent extremism.”


I'm glad to see that an international group including the US is meeting to discuss this threat against all Western powers. Peaceful members of Islam are notably not involved in this violence. It's centered in ISIS, Boko Haram, the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Unfortunately all Islamic people outside the Middle East will be in danger from individuals and groups seeking vengeance and control of all things Islam, especially if they don't dress in the Western styles; and, lets face it, the fear in Western countries is well-founded. We never know what messages of hatred and jihad are being preached in the mosque around the corner – your corner.

This conflict of cultures is beginning to resemble an outright war. Peaceful and moderate Islamic believers need to speak out against the trend of downright viciousness which is occurring. Free societies like the US, the UK, France and Germany are under assault because they advocate the freedom that they believe in, whereas these Islamists believe in tightly controlled and rigid societies in which women and all manner of societal differences such as drinking, homosexuality, etc. are banned – often punishable by death. Unfortunately, because of our very freedoms, it is easier for people like jihadists to find a place in our cities. See the following article on this subject.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/7/french-islamist-mini-states-grow-into-problem-out-/

Muslims segregated from French society in growing Islamist mini-states
By Rowan Scarborough - The Washington Times - Wednesday, January 7, 2015


A backdrop to the massacre in Paris on Wednesday by self-professed al Qaeda terrorists is that city officials have increasingly ceded control of heavily Muslim neighborhoods to Islamists, block by block.

France has Europe’s largest population of Muslims, some of whom talk openly of ruling the country one day and casting aside Western legal systems for harsh, Islam-based Shariah law.

“The situation is out of control, and it is not reversible,” said Soeren Kern, an analyst at the Gatestone Institute and author of annual reports on the “Islamization of France.”

“Islam is a permanent part of France now. It is not going away,” Mr. Kern said. “I think the future looks very bleak. The problem is a lot of these younger-generation Muslims are not integrating into French society. Although they are French citizens, they don’t really have a future in French society. They feel very alienated from France. This is why radical Islam is so attractive because it gives them a sense of meaning in their life.”

While not a complete safe-haven for al Qaeda-type operatives, Paris and other French cities have become more fertile places for Muslim extremists in the past decade. City leaders have allowed virtual Islamic mini-states to thrive as Muslims gain power to govern in their own way.

“There are no-go areas not just in Paris, but all over France, where they are effectively in control,” said Robert Spencer, who directs JihadWatch.org, a nonprofit that monitors Muslim extremists.

“They’re operating with impunity, apparently secure in the knowledge that authorities cannot or will not act decisively to stop them,” he said. “And with the universal denial and obfuscation of the clear motive for the Charlie Hebdo attack, they have good reason to think that.”

The attackers who killed 12 people at the offices of the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo claimed to be members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen. Witnesses said they spoke perfect French, a strong indication that they are homegrown terrorists who received help from AQAP or another group.

Mr. Kern said the connection between the attack and the Islamization movement is that French jihadis are becoming bolder in trying to stamp out any criticism of Islam.
“What they are trying to do is shut down any sort of criticism of Islam, any sort of speech, cartoons, discussion, anything,” he said. “Essentially, the French government and the other European governments have lost control over the situation. It’s a snowball that is growing bigger and bigger, in particular over the past 10 years.”
Last year, AQAP put Charlie Hebdo editor and cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier on a “Most Wanted” poster for lampooning the Prophet Muhammad. He was among the 12 killed by hooded assailants firing assault rifles Wednesday morning at a weekly staff gathering.
The Middle East Media Research Institute reported that French jihadis on Twitter were openly chattering about how to retaliate against Charlie Hebdo for its comic book biography of Muhammad. One idea was to immediately start killing French nationals.
While French jihadis were plotting a wave of violence, Mr. Kern and the Gatestone Institute issued a report on the Islamization of France in 2013, and a follow-up in December.

The think tank, led by John R. Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the country’s Muslim population last year reached 6.5 million, or 10 percent of its 66 million people. That makes France the European country with the largest Muslim minority.

Some Muslim activists gleefully predict that France will be a Muslim-majority country in the not-too-distant future.



“Islam is a permanent part of France now. It is not going away,” Mr. Kern said. “I think the future looks very bleak. The problem is a lot of these younger-generation Muslims are not integrating into French society. Although they are French citizens, they don’t really have a future in French society. They feel very alienated from France. This is why radical Islam is so attractive because it gives them a sense of meaning in their life.” This is really the problem that white America has with the black people, especially in some places. Black people have been purposely pushed into their own highly restricted neighborhoods rather than integrating fully on a social basis into white society. That was done purposely. When I grew up in Thomasville, NC, I almost never saw a black person except in town and in the stores, where they had to go to shop. They used to walk down our street sometimes, as their segregated neighborhood was at the western end. The problem with this, other than that its being grossly unfair to the black people, is that hostility is bound to grow between the groups of people. In Ferguson it flared up, and in Los Angelos when the blacks rebelled with extreme violence over the Rodney King beating. Now France's Muslims are becoming a problem. I pray that they will get together to talk over issues and work toward solving their problems. That is also what I want to see happen in the US. I don't know if Muslims are being segregated like that in the US or not, but it is bound to cause trouble if they are. I want to approach people individually rather than as a group. That, to me, is the only real solution to the matter.




http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/08/375860692/sen-barbara-boxer-wont-seek-fifth-term-in-senate

Sen. Barbara Boxer Won't Seek 5th Term In Senate
Krishnadev Calamur
JANUARY 08, 2015

Four-term Sen. Barbara Boxer said she won't seek another term in the U.S. Senate in 2016, ending speculation about the California Democrat's political future.

"I will not be running for the Senate in 2016," she said in a taped interview with her grandson Zach Rodham.

Boxer, 74, said neither age nor partisanship in Congress were factors in her decision.

Boxer, the junior senator from California, was first elected to the Senate in 1992. She served in the House for a decade before that. She was a strong supporter of environmental protections, abortion rights and gun control.

Boxer, a liberal, was a favorite to retain her seat had she run. She said she would work to ensure her Senate seat would remain with Democrats. The other seat from California is occupied by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, also a Democrat.




“She was a strong supporter of environmental protections, abortion rights and gun control. Boxer, a liberal, was a favorite to retain her seat had she run. She said she would work to ensure her Senate seat would remain with Democrats. The other seat from California is occupied by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, also a Democrat.”

We will miss Boxer. See a brief bio from Wikipedia below:

Barbara Boxer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Boxer won the 1992 election for the U.S. Senate. She previously held the record for the most popular votes in any U.S. Senate election in history, having received 6.96 million votes in her 2004 re-election, until her colleague, Dianne Feinstein, the senior Senator from California, surpassed that number in her 2012 re-election.[1] Boxer is the chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee and the chair of theSelect Committee on Ethics, making her the only senator to preside over two committees simultaneously. She is also the DemocraticChief Deputy Whip. 

Boxer currently ranks eleventh in seniority in the United States Senate and became the most senior junior Senator upon the retirement ofTom Harkin in January 2015.

On January 8, 2015, Boxer announced that she would not seek re-election in 2016.[2]

Barbara Levy Boxer was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish parents Sophie (née Silvershein; born in Austria) and Ira Levy.[3] She attended public schools, and graduated from George W. Wingate High School in 1958.

In 1962, she married Stewart Boxer and graduated from Brooklyn College with a bachelor's degree in Economics. While in college she was a member of Delta Phi Epsilon sorority and was a cheerleader for the Brooklyn College basketball team.[4]

Boxer worked as a stockbroker for the next three years, while her husband went to law school. Later, the couple moved to Greenbrae, Marin County, California, and had two children, Doug and Nicole. She first ran for political office in 1972, when she challenged incumbent Peter Arrigoni, a member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors, but lost a close election. Later during the 1970s, Boxer worked as a journalist for the Pacific Sun and as an aide to John Burton, then a member of Congress.[5] In 1976, Boxer was elected to the Marin County Board of Supervisors, serving for six years.[6] She was the Board's first woman president.[7]

In 1994, her daughter Nicole married Tony Rodham, brother of then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a ceremony at the White House.[8] The couple had one son, Zachary, and divorced in 2000.

Boxer's first novel, A Time to Run was published in 2005 by San Francisco-based publishing company Chronicle Books.[10] Her second novel Blind Trust was released in July 2009 by Chronicle Books.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/08/375849296/united-attendants-battle-firing-after-security-concerns

Fired United Attendants Fight Back Over 'Menacing' Graffiti Episode
Scott Neuman
JANUARY 08, 2015

More than a dozen United Airlines flight attendants who were fired for their insistence on additional screening measures after discovering "menacing" graffiti scrawled on an airplane have filed a federal complaint against their former employer.

The Los Angeles Times reports: "On July 14, 2014, United crews departing from San Francisco International Airport bound for Hong Kong found the words 'BYE BYE' in six-inch high letters alongside two faces, one smiling and the other one also smiling, but with eye brows drawn in a more sinister expression. The writing was traced in an oil slick from the auxiliary engine in the [Boeing 747] aircraft's tail cone. "

The 13 flight attendants have filed a federal whistleblower complaint with the Department of Labor. They say they found the drawing "menacing" and "devilish" and that they requested that more than 300 passengers aboard the July 14 flight be taken off for an additional security sweep.

Reuters says:

"The flight attendants, all with 18 or more years of experience, said the airline refused to deplane the passengers and conduct a security inspection. They said they disobeyed orders to work, believing the lives of more than 300 passengers and crew on the jumbo jet could be endangered."

"After a delay, the July 14 flight was eventually canceled. United accused the flight attendants of insubordination and fired them all, according to the complaint."

United spokeswoman Christen David said on Wednesday that: "All of FAA's and United's own safety procedures were followed, including a comprehensive safety sweep prior to boarding, and the pilots, mechanics and safety leaders deemed the aircraft entirely safe to fly."





"The flight attendants, all with 18 or more years of experience, said the airline refused to deplane the passengers and conduct a security inspection. They said they disobeyed orders to work, believing the lives of more than 300 passengers and crew on the jumbo jet could be endangered." It takes courage to stand up against authority, and this case was clearly justified to me. It was just such a post that was received in the unfortunate news office in Paris that was the only warning of an attack – not certainly a threat, but not the norm and with a satirical edge. If they had closed the newspaper office that day the jihadists would have had to go somewhere else to kill their targets. I hope their whistleblower complaint is supported, and they are given back their jobs and pensions. They all had at least 18 years with the company.




http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/08/375659085/can-connecticut-force-a-teenage-girl-to-undergo-chemotherapy

Can Connecticut Force A Teenage Girl To Undergo Chemotherapy?
LUCY NALPATHANCHIL
JANUARY 08, 2015

A 17-year-old Connecticut girl recently diagnosed with cancer has been removed from her home after refusing to undergo chemotherapy.

The girl, named Cassandra, is now in the custody of child welfare authorities and is being forced to undergo cancer treatment. The state Supreme Court is taking up her case Thursday to weigh whether she's mature enough to make her own medical decisions.

Cassandra is Jackie Fortin's only child. Fortin has been a single mother for Cassandra's entire life. Until last month, they lived together in Windsor Locks, Conn. Fortin says this is the first time they've been separated.

"Nobody, whether it's her age or an adult, should ever have to go through this by herself," she says.

For the past month, her daughter has been held at a local hospital, undergoing chemotherapy treatment against her wishes. A court gave the state Department of Children and Families temporary custody of Cassandra, as well as the authority to make medical decisions for the teen, after doctors reported Fortin for neglect. Court papers document missed appointments and arguments with doctors over her daughter's diagnosis.

But Fortin says it's her daughter's right to refuse chemotherapy, saying she doesn't want to poison her body.

"This is not about death," Fortin says. "My daughter is not going to die. This is about, 'This is my body, my choice, and let me decide.' "

But Cassandra's doctors say that without treatment, she will die. They testified in previous hearings that Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system, is lethal without the recommended treatment. With treatment, she has an 85 percent chance of survival.

Kristina Stevens, an administrator with Connecticut's DCF, says the doctors' medical opinions prompted the state to get involved.

"We had the benefit of experts who could tell us with great clarity if in fact we don't do something, if the system doesn't react and respond, this child will die," Stevens says.

Cassandra is just eight months away from turning 18. Joshua Michtom, one of her attorneys, says this adds another complicated layer to the case.

"The general rule for adults is that you can say no to treatment no matter how life-saving it may be," Michtom says. "You can say no even to helpful treatment. If she were 18, no matter what anyone said, it would be her choice to make."

Her attorneys say maturity doesn't just develop at a certain age. They'll argue that Connecticut should adopt the mature minor doctrine, which allows courts to consider evidence on whether a teen is competent to make health care decisions.

This is the first time a case like this has come up in Connecticut, but other states have considered the question. Michtom points to Illinois and Maine as two states where courts decided that even though teenagers who weren't yet 18 had refused treatment or didn't want to be kept alive artificially, there was evidence to show they were mature enough when they conveyed their wishes.

That's Fortin's hope for her daughter. She says the state has ripped apart a normal family and turned their lives into a nightmare.

"I've never been in the system, never had a problem, nothing," Fortin says. "And all of a sudden we have a medical situation and now I'm being deemed as the bad mother."

Connecticut's Supreme Court has promised to rule quickly, but that doesn't mean the justices will decide whether Cassandra can refuse life-saving treatments.

Instead, it could send her case back to a lower court, giving her attorneys a chance to call on mental health experts to prove the teen is competent to make her own medical decisions.

Otherwise, she'll remain in DCF custody and continue treatment until at least September. That's when she turns 18.

UPDATE at 3:05 ET 1/8/15: The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that the state can require Cassandra to continue treatment. Fortin told reporters that she will continue to seek non-chemical treatments for her daughter.




“A 17-year-old Connecticut girl recently diagnosed with cancer has been removed from her home after refusing to undergo chemotherapy. The girl, named Cassandra, is now in the custody of child welfare authorities and is being forced to undergo cancer treatment. The state Supreme Court is taking up her case Thursday to weigh whether she's mature enough to make her own medical decisions.... "Nobody, whether it's her age or an adult, should ever have to go through this by herself," she says. For the past month, her daughter has been held at a local hospital, undergoing chemotherapy treatment against her wishes. A court gave the state Department of Children and Families temporary custody of Cassandra, as well as the authority to make medical decisions for the teen, after doctors reported Fortin for neglect. Court papers document missed appointments and arguments with doctors over her daughter's diagnosis. But Fortin says it's her daughter's right to refuse chemotherapy, saying she doesn't want to poison her body.... With treatment, she has an 85 percent chance of survival. Kristina Stevens, an administrator with Connecticut's DCF, says the doctors' medical opinions prompted the state to get involved. "We had the benefit of experts who could tell us with great clarity if in fact we don't do something, if the system doesn't react and respond, this child will die," Stevens says.... "The general rule for adults is that you can say no to treatment no matter how life-saving it may be," Michtom says. "You can say no even to helpful treatment. If she were 18, no matter what anyone said, it would be her choice to make." Her attorneys say maturity doesn't just develop at a certain age. They'll argue that Connecticut should adopt the mature minor doctrine, which allows courts to consider evidence on whether a teen is competent to make health care decisions.... "I've never been in the system, never had a problem, nothing," Fortin says. "And all of a sudden we have a medical situation and now I'm being deemed as the bad mother." Connecticut's Supreme Court has promised to rule quickly, but that doesn't mean the justices will decide whether Cassandra can refuse life-saving treatments. Instead, it could send her case back to a lower court, giving her attorneys a chance to call on mental health experts to prove the teen is competent to make her own medical decisions. Otherwise, she'll remain in DCF custody and continue treatment until at least September. That's when she turns 18.”

I do strongly believe that adults should be able to make this decision, and when I remember back to being 17, I think a “girl” that age is actually a woman, sexually and in her brain development. They not only know right from wrong, they can argue points effectively in many cases, and are sometimes confident enough to live on their own. It is only in this last century that such young women weren't considered ready to marry and bear children, and even go out into the world and work for a living – in most places it's possible for a sixteen year old to quit school and seek employment or marry.

In the 1950's we began to be considered children up into our teens. I think that trend, though it protects against labor abuses such as child labor, makes a false judgment of our actual ability to make choices. When highly conservative parents try to control a teen's movements as tightly as they would a child's, it is responsible for some of the crime that they get into. Many a young man or woman rebels against parental authority specifically because they are mature enough to have developed a strong personality and instinct to break free.

Cassandra may not have the personal courage to make such a decision, but that shows a reasonable doubt about how to proceed that should be taken into consideration in deciding the matter, so that would be rational. I would hate to see her take that decision for financial reasons, though. Her mother is a single parent and may be very poor. I also don't think her mother should unduly influence her decision. The decision to refuse treatment should be purely personal. The court seems to be of much the same viewpoint, and is seeking a psychologist's opinion of her competency. I will be interested to see how this develops.