Saturday, February 28, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/28/asia/bangladeshi-american-blogger-dead/index.html

American writer hacked to death in Bangladesh spoke out against extremists
By Ben Brumfield, CNN
Sat February 28, 2015

(CNN)In his writings, author Avijit Roy yearned for reason and humanism guided by science.

He had no place for religious dogma, including from Islam, the main religion of his native Bangladesh.

Extremists resented him for openly and regularly criticizing religion in his blog. They threatened to kill him if he came home from the United States to visit.

On Thursday, someone did.

As usual, Roy defied the threats and departed his home in suburban Atlanta for Dhaka, where he appeared at a speaking engagement about his latest books -- one of them titled "The Virus of Faith." He has written seven books in all.

As he walked back from the book fair, assailants plunged machetes and knives into Roy and his wife, killing him and leaving her bloodied and missing a finger.

Afterward, an Islamist group "Ansar Bangla-7" reportedly tweeted, "Target Down here in Bangladesh."

Investigators are proceeding on the notion that Roy's murder was an extremist attack. His father, Ajay Roy, filed a case of murder with the Shahbagh police Friday without naming suspects.

No one came to their aid as they were hacked down, a witness said. "I shouted for help from the people but nobody came to save him."

But at night, secularist sympathizers marched through a street holding torches; by day, others held a sit-in to protest Roy's killing. The government condemned the attack.

Who was the software engineer, a U.S. citizen from Alpharetta, Georgia, who drew such rage from some and adoration from others?

Who was Avijit Roy?

Software was his career, but writing and blogging were his calling. And he did not speak alone. Roy founded the religion critical blog Mukto Mona, which served multiple writers.

He called it "an Internet congregation of freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, atheists and humanists mainly of Bengali and South Asian descent who are scattered across the globe."

Its mission was to promote science, secular philosophy, democracy and religious tolerance in articles by academics and activists.

Its headers contain quotes by famous scientists, including one attributed to Albert Einstein condemning the doctrine of heaven and hell as a means of enforcing ethics:

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary."

To the most devout and to extremists, Roy's criticisms amounted to blasphemy. He took aim at the sentiment in a blog post headlined, "Happy Blasphemy Day, Happy Birthday 'Mukto Mona.'"

Some who felt oppressed by religion said he spoke for them.

"Avijit Roy, your voice of reason and your passion for free thinking will never die. You were a voice to so many voiceless," a fan wrote after his death.

How stark was his criticism?

Very. Roy and the blog's other critics took off the gloves when it came to religion, particularly Islam.

Roy was a fan of Bill Maher's harsh reproach of Islam and a critic of Reza Aslan, who has countered Maher's standpoint.

His blog called Aslan "an Islamic apologist, who obviously feels threatened by the growing Atheist movement in the U.S. and worldwide."

Roy likened women in burkas to "living zombies," tweeting out a cartoon of one standing next to a child dressed as a ghost for Halloween.

Did he blame religion for violence?

Yes. He began one of his final articles by writing that January's Charlie Hebdo massacre in France was "a tragic atrocity committed by soldiers of the so-called religion of peace."

He doled out scathing criticism after another Bangladeshi blogger was hacked to death outside his home in 2013 by assailants with machetes.

"The virus of faith was the weapon that made these atrocities possible," Roy wrote.

But he also criticized Christianity. "So, Pope Francis thinks 'evolution is real'! And it is still a major headline news in this century," he recently tweeted.

To Roy, God was an outdated notion.

Did he only criticize religion?

Roy sought enlightenment in doubt, criticism and reason. Question everything, was a theme in his online posts. Never think you've found the truth.

He was a science geek who admired Charles Darwin, evolutionary psychology and astrophysics, according to a Facebook account in his name. CNN could not independently verify it belongs to him.

Roy was a fan of "Cosmos," the TV series explaining the science behind the origin of the universe, and of the geek sitcom "The Big Bang Theory."

Mukto Mona contains sections titled "Science" and "Rationalism," but most of the articles hold science up to religion as a litmus test, which it invariably fails.

"To me, it is a rational concept to oppose any unscientific and irrational belief," Roy said.

Could he have known he would be killed?

That's likely. He regularly attended a February book fair in the Bangladeshi capital, and last year, after he launched "The Virus of Faith," the death threats began streaming in.

They landed in his email inbox and cropped up on social media.

"A well-known extremist ... openly issued death threats to me through his numerous Facebook statuses," Roy wrote.

His book "hit the cranial nerve of Islamic fundamentalists," Roy wrote. After the Charlie Hebdo attacks, an online Bangladeshi bookstore pulled it after extremists put pressure on it.
But is seemed the author was safe in Alpharetta.

"Avijit Roy lives in America and so, it is not possible to kill him right now. But he will be murdered when he comes back," the Islamist wrote, according to Roy.

He couldn't let that stop him, Roy's friend Michael De Dora said.

"Avijit was very idealistic," he said. "His understanding was that he wouldn't be killed, that if anyone ever tried to attack him or hated him, that they could just kind of have a chat and he would convince them ... that they could at least have a dialogue."

He never had a chance to. They attacked from behind.




“He had no place for religious dogma, including from Islam, the main religion of his native Bangladesh. Extremists resented him for openly and regularly criticizing religion in his blog. They threatened to kill him if he came home from the United States to visit. On Thursday, someone did. As usual, Roy defied the threats and departed his home in suburban Atlanta for Dhaka, where he appeared at a speaking engagement about his latest books -- one of them titled "The Virus of Faith." He has written seven books in all.... Afterward, an Islamist group "Ansar Bangla-7" reportedly tweeted, "Target Down here in Bangladesh."... No one came to their aid as they were hacked down, a witness said. "I shouted for help from the people but nobody came to save him." But at night, secularist sympathizers marched through a street holding torches; by day, others held a sit-in to protest Roy's killing. The government condemned the attack.... He called it "an Internet congregation of freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, atheists and humanists mainly of Bengali and South Asian descent who are scattered across the globe." Its mission was to promote science, secular philosophy, democracy and religious tolerance in articles by academics and activists. Its headers contain quotes by famous scientists, including one attributed to Albert Einstein condemning the doctrine of heaven and hell as a means of enforcing ethics: "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary.".... Roy was a fan of Bill Maher's harsh reproach of Islam and a critic of Reza Aslan, who has countered Maher's standpoint. His blog called Aslan "an Islamic apologist, who obviously feels threatened by the growing Atheist movement in the U.S. and worldwide." Roy likened women in burkas to "living zombies," tweeting out a cartoon of one standing next to a child dressed as a ghost for Halloween.... "The virus of faith was the weapon that made these atrocities possible," Roy wrote. But he also criticized Christianity. "So, Pope Francis thinks 'evolution is real'! And it is still a major headline news in this century," he recently tweeted.... "Avijit Roy lives in America and so, it is not possible to kill him right now. But he will be murdered when he comes back," the Islamist wrote, according to Roy. He couldn't let that stop him, Roy's friend Michael De Dora said. "Avijit was very idealistic," he said. "His understanding was that he wouldn't be killed, that if anyone ever tried to attack him or hated him, that they could just kind of have a chat and he would convince them ... that they could at least have a dialogue." He never had a chance to. They attacked from behind.”

Standing up strongly for an unpopular viewpoint is really very dangerous in most parts of the world, sometimes including my own Southern USA. Many relatively uneducated people do tend to believe all or most of what society – their parents, neighbors and peers – tell them, no matter how bizarre it may sound, believing that to be the heart of virtue, especially if what they have been taught is magical and reinforces obedience under a rigid societal structure.

Believing in a meditative philosophy like Buddhism or Confucianism would tend to include speculative thought, logical reasoning and learning rather than mindless behavior, but those religions aren't common in the West, the Middle East or Africa. When I was growing up in the South people would sometimes refer to those scathingly as “Godless religions.” Interestingly, people from the far Eastern countries have been described as having a higher group IQ range than anyone else on Earth. As individuals their IQ's vary, of course, just as those of American and European genetic groups do.

I personally believe in the power of society to set the tone of a religious group. A relatively high standard of living, if not wealth per se, improves the ability of a child to grow up thinking and feeling in a benign way, and therefore forming his culture as he grows into adulthood and participates in his neighborhood into one of decency and gentleness. In the US there are very few individuals who, though they may disagree adamantly, will take a knife and brutally kill their fellow human being over his opinions. We have been brought up, if we are relatively prosperous and of a moderate and rational religious background, to accept differences with kindness, instead. That, to me, is the ideal, rather than to swallow whole all the religious or societal things we have been taught. People who don't think for themselves are fitted for membership in a mob or a sheep herd, it seems to me – not to become a highly principled person who will help the needy, defend the underdog, or fight for right over wrong.





http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/27/technology/google-porn-blogger/index.html

Google allows porn on Blogger after backlash
By David Goldman
February 27, 2015

Video – Netflix picks up Sundance porn documentary

In a reversal, Google says that porn will continue to be allowed on its Blogger site.

Google (GOOGL, Tech30) said it has received a big backlash after deciding earlier in the week that bloggers will no longer be able to "publicly share images and video that are sexually explicit or show graphic nudity." The ban was to have taken place on March 23.

Instead, Google said that the company would simply double down on its crackdown of bloggers who use their sites to sell porn.

In July, Google stopped porn from appearing in its online ads that appear on Blogger. And in 2013, Google decided to remove blogs from its Blogger network that contained advertisements for online porn sites.

"We've had a ton of feedback, in particular about the introduction of a retroactive change (some people have had accounts for 10+ years), but also about the negative impact on individuals who post sexually explicit content to express their identities," wrote Jessica Pelegio, Google's social product support manager, in a post on Google product forums. "So rather than implement this change, we've decided to step up enforcement around our existing policy prohibiting commercial porn."

Google said blog owners who continue to host adult content should continue to mark their blogs as "adult." Visitors to those Blogger sites will see an "adult content" warning before they can enter.

The company said it was never its intention to completely ban nudity from Blogger.

Even under its now defunct "graphic nudity" ban, Google said it would have allowed nudity "if the content offers a substantial public benefit, for example in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts."

But that would have put Google in the position of deciding what is art and what is pornography -- a decision that Instagram and other sites have struggled with.

It's unclear how many sites would have been affected by the new rules. A spokeswoman for Google declined to comment.




“Google (GOOGL, Tech30) said it has received a big backlash after deciding earlier in the week that bloggers will no longer be able to "publicly share images and video that are sexually explicit or show graphic nudity." The ban was to have taken place on March 23. Instead, Google said that the company would simply double down on its crackdown of bloggers who use their sites to sell porn.... "We've had a ton of feedback, in particular about the introduction of a retroactive change (some people have had accounts for 10+ years), but also about the negative impact on individuals who post sexually explicit content to express their identities," wrote Jessica Pelegio, Google's social product support manager, in a post on Google product forums. "So rather than implement this change, we've decided to step up enforcement around our existing policy prohibiting commercial porn.".... The company said it was never its intention to completely ban nudity from Blogger. Even under its now defunct "graphic nudity" ban, Google said it would have allowed nudity "if the content offers a substantial public benefit, for example in artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts." But that would have put Google in the position of deciding what is art and what is pornography -- a decision that Instagram and other sites have struggled with. It's unclear how many sites would have been affected by the new rules. A spokeswoman for Google declined to comment.”

Personally I have never had any attraction to what I consider to be porn, but I do not include simple nudity in that category. I don't want to watch, listen to or read about sexual activity, use a nude or otherwise sexual depiction in an actively sexual way. I also am not willing to participate in a group sexual activity. I've always been pretty much vanilla in my tastes, and I am of the opinion that being obsessed with sexual material of any kind is damaging psychologically, including possibly leading to violent acting out of some sort. I especially hate Sadomasochism, violence, child porn, or some of the things I've heard of that are even worse. Your imagination will fill in the gaps in this statement, I'm sure. I leave it up to the individual to decide whether he is gay or lesbian or bisexual, as I am well aware that they are not any more likely to be sadistic, violent, or attracted to children than are straight people.

It is interesting that Google had such a strong opposition to it's policy. There must be more people out there who are into these things than I would have thought. The sting operations that various police departments have set up on Internet sites, and aired live on television regularly, produce people from all sorts of privileged, educated and highly responsible backgrounds. My favorite was a Rabbi and another time a school principal. Seeing the perps when they come to the door expecting a teenaged girl and find instead two large policemen does give me a kick. While I think adults who are truly voluntarily involved in these activities have a right to do them, I have no sympathy with people who are involved in cruel assaults on relatively helpless victims. It's one more thing that does damage our society and add to the viciousness and unfairness that is outside our doors in modern cities.





ANIMALS AND DISEASE


http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/local/florida/2015/02/27/i-am-going-bat-crazy/24140673/

Bats invade Baker County home
Ken Amaro, First Coast News
February 27, 2015


BAKER COUNTY, Fla. -- The Johnson family lives in a four bedroom house, but the family has refused to use a bathroom, a bedroom and the office space because of what's living in the ceiling.

"Don't use them at all," said Lois Johnson.

Because when dusk falls, Johnson's Baker County rental home becomes a bat cave.

"I want these bats gone," she said.

Johnson said the bats have been a problem since October. There is a stench and heavy droppings in one of the rooms.

She is anxious because since the problem was reported nothing has changed. Florida wildlife officials told the Johnsons that state law forbids them from moving the bats after March 16..

"I want just them to rid the bats," said Johnson.

The Baker County Health Department is involved to a limited degree. The health department is now advising the family on how to cope with the unwanted guests and it is providing anti-rabies shots.

"We have another one today and another in a few weeks," Johnson said.

Why is it taking so long to get rid of the problem? Bats are protected by state law, so they must abide by state laws governing how and when the bats can be moved.

"We have a certified removal company and they want to wait for the weather conditions to be right for removal of the bats, " said Rhonda Huckeby, the family's landlord.

Johnson pays $600 a month and likes her neighborhood. She said she can't afford to move.

"I'm a grandmother, where am I going to go?" she said.

But Johnson said she cannot continue to live in a bat cave and still call it home; something has to be done soon.

"I don't know. I am going bat crazy," she said.





Ken Amaro is one of my favorite people on the nightly local news. People call him for all sorts of issues that they can't seem to get any action on from the city government or the electric company or whatever. I always enjoy the news, but his show is one of the highlights for me.

Bats, however, are among my least favorite animals. They are known widely for carrying rabies, but even without that they are simply not one of the graceful and pretty animals. If confronted they open their mouth widely and show a lot of sharp little teeth. If they are vampire bats they even live on blood. Here in the Southern USA, though, they are not vampires and they do a very good thing for humans – they kill bugs, including those most dangerous pests the mosquitoes. So consider me one of the friends of bats, if only from a distance. I noticed it says in this article that the whole family in that has is taking rabies preventative shots. I'm glad to hear it.



http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs099/en/

Media centre
Rabies
Fact Sheet N°99
Updated September 2014

Key facts
Rabies is a vaccine-preventable viral disease which occurs in more than 150 countries and territories.
Infection causes tens of thousands of deaths every year, mostly in Asia and Africa.
40% of people who are bitten by suspect rabid animals are children under 15 years of age.
Dogs are the source of the vast majority of human rabies deaths.
Immediate wound cleansing and immunization within a few hours after contact with a suspect rabid animal can prevent the onset of rabies and death.

Every year, more than 15 million people worldwide receive a post-exposure vaccination to prevent the disease – this is estimated to prevent hundreds of thousands of rabies deaths annually.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease (a disease that is transmitted to humans from animals) that is caused by a virus. The disease affects domestic and wild animals, and is spread to people through close contact with infectious material, usually saliva, via bites or scratches.
Rabies is present on all continents with the exception of Antarctica, but more than 95% of human deaths occur in Asia and Africa. Once symptoms of the disease develop, rabies is nearly always fatal.

Rabies is a neglected disease of poor and vulnerable populations whose deaths are rarely reported. It occurs mainly in remote rural communities where measures to prevent dog to human transmission have not been implemented. Under-reporting of rabies also prevents mobilization of resources from the international community for the elimination of human dog-mediated rabies.

Transmission

People are usually infected following a deep bite or scratch by an infected animal. Dogs are the main host and transmitter of rabies. They are the source of infection in all human rabies deaths annually in Asia and Africa.

Bats are the source of most human rabies deaths in the Americas. Bat rabies has also recently emerged as a public health threat in Australia and western Europe. Human deaths following exposure to foxes, raccoons, skunks, jackals, mongooses and other wild carnivore host species are very rare.

Transmission can also occur when infectious material – usually saliva – comes into direct contact with human mucosa or fresh skin wounds. Human-to-human transmission by bite is theoretically possible but has never been confirmed.

Rarely, rabies may be contracted by inhalation of virus-containing aerosol or via transplantation of an infected organ. Ingestion of raw meat or other tissues from animals infected with rabies is not a source of human infection.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/three-leprosy-cases-confirmed-in-florida/

Three leprosy cases confirmed in Florida
By JESSICA FIRGER CBS NEWS
February 27, 2015

Photograph – Two people were diagnosed with leprosy in Florida after contact with a 9-banded armadillo. The animal is said to be a carrier of the disease in the southern U.S.  ISTOCKPHOTO

Health officials in Florida report that in the last five months, three people in Volusia County have been diagnosed with leprosy. Two of the cases are thought to be linked to recent contact with nine-banded armadillos. The leathery animal is suspected to be a carrier of the bacteria in the southern U.S., according to a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2011 that analyzed the genomes of one wild armadillo and three U.S. leprosy patients.

Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, is a rare condition caused by the bacteria mycobacterium lepra. While a majority of humans are not susceptible to the bacteria, it's transmitted through droplets from the nose, mouth and through close contact with someone who is sick but has not been medically treated with drugs.

The bacteria multiply slowly in the human body, and the incubation period can last as long as 20 years before the symptoms actually emerge. Leprosy affects the skin, peripheral nerves, lining of the respiratory tract and eyes. Over the years, it damages tissue and can cause disfigurement of the skin, bone and cartilage. Tumor-like growths, collapsed facial features and claw hands are common once the disease has progressed.

Most people think of leprosy is disease that disappeared with biblical times when it was considered a curse from God and associated with committing sins. The Hebrew word for leprosy used in the bible -- tsara'ath -- loosely translates to "unclean."

According to the World Health Organization, there were 189,018 known cases and 232,857 new cases diagnosed worldwide in 2012. Leprosy still has a presence in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Burma, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Tanzania. All report approximately 1,000 cases each year.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are approximately 100 new cases of leprosy each year, and most are seen in southern states including Texas, Louisiana and Florida. Between 1994 and 2011 there were just over 2,300 new cases of leprosy diagnosed in the U.S.




Here is another basically cute little animal that is all over Northern Florida. You can see them by the roadside if you go out into woodsy areas. Sadly, they carry that ancient scourge – known from the Bible – leprosy. I understand there are two kinds of leprosy, both caused by a bacteria. See the following from Wikipedia.


Leprosy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Leprosy /ˈlɛprəsi/,[1] also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is achronic infection caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae[2] andMycobacterium lepromatosis.[3] Initially, infections are without symptoms and typically remain this way for 5 to as long as 20 years.[2]Symptoms that develop include granulomas of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes.[2] This may result in a lack of ability to feel pain and thus loss of parts of extremities due to repeated injuries.[4] Weakness and poor eyesight may also be present.

Leprosy is spread between people. This is believed to occur through a cough or contact with fluid from the nose of an infected person.[5] The two main types of disease are based on the number of bacteria present: paucibacillary and multibacillary.[4] The two types are differentiated by the number of poorly pigmented, numb skin patches present, with paucibacillary having five or fewer and multibacillary having more than five.[4] The diagnosis is confirmed by finding acid-fast bacilli in a biopsy of the skin or via detecting the DNA by polymerase chain reaction.[4] It occurs more commonly among those living in poverty and is believed to be transmitted by respiratory droplets.[4] It is not very contagious.

Leprosy is curable with treatment.[2] Treatment for paucibacillary leprosy is with the medications dapsone and rifampicin for 6 months.[4]Treatment for multibacillary leprosy consists of rifampicin, dapsone, andclofazimine for 12 months.[4] These treatments are provided for free by the World Health Organization.[2] A number of other antibiotics may also be used.[4] Globally in 2012, the number of chronic cases of leprosy was 189,000 and the number of new cases was 230,000.[2] The number of chronic cases has decreased from some 5.2 million in the 1980s.[2][6][7]Most new cases occur in 16 countries, with India accounting for more than half.[2][4] In the past 20 years, 16 million people worldwide have been cured of leprosy.[2] About 200 cases are reported per year in the United States.

Leprosy has affected humanity for thousands of years.[4] The disease takes its name from the Latin word lepra, which means "scaly", while the term "Hansen's disease" is named after the physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen.[4]Separating people by placing them in leper colonies still occurs in countries such as India,[9] China,[10] and Africa.[11]However, most colonies have closed since leprosy is not very contagious.[11] Leprosy has been associated with social stigma for much of history, which is a barrier to self-reporting and early treatment.[2] The word "leper" is considered insulting with the term leprosy being prefered.[12] World Leprosy Day was started in 1954 to draw awareness to those affected by leprosy.

Leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves andmucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions (light or dark patches) are the primary external sign.[14] If untreated, leprosy can progress and cause permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes. Contrary to folklore, leprosy does not cause body parts to fall off, although they can become numb or diseased as a result of secondary infections; these occur as a result of the body's defenses being compromised by the primary disease.[15][16] Secondary infections, in turn, can result in tissue loss causing fingers and toes to become shortened and deformed, as cartilage is absorbed into the body.




http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/26/living/domestic-truffles-eatocracy-feat/index.html

Unearthing America's truffle trove
By Sarah LeTrent and Jeremy Harlan, CNN
Fri February 27, 2015

Walland, Tennessee (CNN)Jim Sanford and his dog Tom poked around the hazelnut grove on Blackberry Farm, a 9,200-acre luxury resort set in the foggy foothills of Tennessee, one Wednesday morning in December.

They were on the hunt again, though not for deer or waterfowl or the usual Tennessee fare.

The man and his curly-haired dog were searching for something fancier: Tuber melanosporum or black Périgord truffles.

Black truffles are one of the most sought after (and expensive) delicacies in the world. Often referred to as a "black diamond," the subterranean fungus can retail for $1,000 a pound or cost a diner upward of $75 extra for a simple shaving on a dish of creamy pasta or slow-scrambled eggs.

Sanford and Tom's morning hunt proved fruitless. But the pair has had better luck than most sniffing out truffles on American soil -- a relatively new and wholly unpredictable ground for cultivation.

"This is not something where you just plant your trees and wait for your fortune to grow," Sanford said as Tom trotted behind him.

Truffles are a funny fungus; they grow underground, typically among hazelnut and oak trees, and keep most of their secrets there with them. There is a primitive understanding of the climactic and soil conditions required for the fungus to flourish, but cultivation methods are far from foolproof. Stateside, those practices are in their infancy.

Chefs such as Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson of Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder, Colorado, certainly wouldn't mind sourcing truffles closer to home. He hosts an annual truffle dinner series and features them prominently in dishes when in season.

Every year, he buys domestic truffles from budding regions like the Pacific Northwest, but the quality isn't as reliable as he'd like it to be.

"We're counting down the minutes," he said with a hopeful tone. "Once it clicks, whether it's Blackberry or someone else, once there's a tipping point, it will really blow up."

Enthusiasts describe the truffle's olfactory Siren song, which is part of its allure, as "dank," "earthy," "musky," "pungent" -- the gist is its aroma and taste are unparalleled. "It transforms an otherwise ordinary dish into something very extraordinary," Sanford said.

Different types of truffles are found all over the world, but the Périgord and white variety from Alba, Italy, are the top dogs of the gastronomic set.

The elusive truffle hunt is often romanticized: Man and beast wander into the woods of southwest France with a shovel and a calling. A bird chips, a breeze flows and the storybook closes with "happily ever after."

If only it were that simple.

Until recently, the black truffle had been solely imported to the United States.

Less than 100 miles away from Blackberry Farm -- in Chuckey, Tennesee, of all places -- that began to change around 2007.

It all started with another Tom. Tom Michaels, who grew up mushroom hunting and wrote his Ph.D. dissertation at Oregon State University on black truffle cultivation, set his eyes on eastern Tennessee to try out his fungal knowhow in 1999.

As if the truffle business doesn't sound risky enough, it takes about six to 10 years for a tree with roots that have been inoculated with truffle spores to potentially produce a truffle. The season for harvesting runs three months from December to February.

"I'll have done everything to two trees next to each other, and one will have truffles and one won't," Michaels said.

Luckily for Michaels, something clicked.

Soon, he showed up at the kitchen of Blackberry Farm's restaurants with his basket of epicurean delights and a brochure for Tennessee truffles, though it was only his third sale.

The first question from proprietor Sam Beall: "How come I didn't know about this?"

Beall and Michaels teamed up to seed and sniff out truffles locally.

Enter the four-legged Tom, who was sourced by local breeder Hilarie Gibbs-Sykes from Italy to simplify the hunt.

Sanford, a Blackberry employee for 14-plus years who had previously run the resort's horse program, was recruited to handle the truffle-hunting canine.

At the height of Michaels's truffle business, Tom helped haul in 200 pounds in one season.

"It was a thousand dollars a pound so if you do the arithmetic, that's a good dog," Sanford said.

Mother Nature firmly in charge

In 2009, Michaels and his product were written up in GQ magazine, where food writer Alan Richman called it the "hillbilly truffle." Two years earlier, storied New York Times food writer Molly O'Neill devoted an entire column titled "Coveted, French, and Now in Tennessee" to his endeavors.

If we know anything about agriculture, though, it's that Mother Nature holds the reins.

Michaels' hazelnut trees were hit with blight after his initial success, and he had to start over with a new blight-resistant variety.

"You have to have a temperament that can deal with a lot of anxiety for many years," Michaels, 67, said.

Last year, Michaels yielded about 60 pounds on his land and sold the majority off to hyper-local ingredient-focused chefs such as Sean Brock in Charleston, South Carolina, and Linton Hopkins in Atlanta. This year, after a series of unseasonable cold snaps, and only a few days left in the season, he hasn't unearthed any truffles of sellable quality.

"Mother nature took its course," Michaels said with the matter-of-factness of someone who has been here before.

Back at Blackberry Farm, Sanford's pin that read "Truffle Dog Trainer" reflected the sun as he crouched beneath a tree to dig up a truffle-scented practice tube that Tom found. On the days when there isn't any luck, training is a commitment to the cause.

Blackberry found only one Périgord truffle last winter on its property.

If it seems like a wild goose chase, that's because it is. But Tom is a Lagotto Romagnolo; he not only enjoys the chase -- it's in his DNA. According to the American Kennel Club, Tom's breed is the only one recognized as a "specialized truffle searcher."

"We wouldn't be talking about any of this if it wasn't for Tom," Sanford said. "He has really put everything we're talking about in cultivating truffles in North America on the map."

Working like a dog at a Long Island vineyard

Now 13 years old, Tom is passing the baton through his bloodline by breeding and sharing his skills. He and Sanford travel around the country to help train other canines in areas like Oregon with an eye on the truffle prize.

At Blackberry and every where else, they're hoping it's not a matter of if, but when, a consistent yield will happen.

As they say, every dog will have its day.




“Sanford and Tom's morning hunt proved fruitless. But the pair has had better luck than most sniffing out truffles on American soil -- a relatively new and wholly unpredictable ground for cultivation. "This is not something where you just plant your trees and wait for your fortune to grow," Sanford said as Tom trotted behind him. Truffles are a funny fungus; they grow underground, typically among hazelnut and oak trees, and keep most of their secrets there with them. There is a primitive understanding of the climactic and soil conditions required for the fungus to flourish, but cultivation methods are far from foolproof. Stateside, those practices are in their infancy.... Every year, he buys domestic truffles from budding regions like the Pacific Northwest, but the quality isn't as reliable as he'd like it to be.... Less than 100 miles away from Blackberry Farm -- in Chuckey, Tennesee, of all places -- that began to change around 2007. It all started with another Tom. Tom Michaels, who grew up mushroom hunting and wrote his Ph.D. dissertation at Oregon State University on black truffle cultivation, set his eyes on eastern Tennessee to try out his fungal knowhow in 1999. As if the truffle business doesn't sound risky enough, it takes about six to 10 years for a tree with roots that have been inoculated with truffle spores to potentially produce a truffle. The season for harvesting runs three months from December to February.... At the height of Michaels's truffle business, Tom helped haul in 200 pounds in one season. "It was a thousand dollars a pound so if you do the arithmetic, that's a good dog," Sanford said.... If we know anything about agriculture, though, it's that Mother Nature holds the reins. Michaels' hazelnut trees were hit with blight after his initial success, and he had to start over with a new blight-resistant variety. "You have to have a temperament that can deal with a lot of anxiety for many years," Michaels, 67, said..... If it seems like a wild goose chase, that's because it is. But Tom is a Lagotto Romagnolo; he not only enjoys the chase -- it's in his DNA. According to the American Kennel Club, Tom's breed is the only one recognized as a "specialized truffle searcher." "We wouldn't be talking about any of this if it wasn't for Tom," Sanford said. "He has really put everything we're talking about in cultivating truffles in North America on the map."

What a fun story! This is a brand new way to get rich in the US if everything goes right. As Michaels says, you have to be patient and persistent. Some years you get very few truffles, but another year he got a whopping 200. I'm sure they will still be priced way over my head so I won't be eating any. What I would really like to do is go to the farm and watch the dog hunt and dig truffles. If I win the Lotto, I may do that, as I tour as much of the US as I can – one of my lifetime wishes. For now, though, I'll just read about truffles and truffle dogs in the news.





http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/boris-nemtsovs-murder-may-have-been-provocation-russian-officials-n314716

Boris Nemtsov's Murder May Have Been Provocation: Russian Officials
 Alexey Eremenko and F. Brinley Bruton
February 28th 2015

MOSCOW — Russia's top investigative authority said it was looking at whether the shooting death of prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov early on Saturday was aimed at destabilizing the state.

A line of inquiry not mentioned in the statement on the website for Russia's Investigative Committee was the possibility that he was gunned down because he was one of President Vladimir Putin's staunchest critics.

The committee would investigate whether Nemtsov was slain as a "sacrificial victim for those who do not shun any method for achieving their political goals," the committee said in the statement.

The committee was also looking at the possibility that Nemtsov,who was shot as he walked across a bridge in Moscow earlier on Saturday, was linked to Islamic extremism, the Ukraine conflict or his personal life.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov also called the murder "a provocation" benefiting the opposition and said on Kommersant FM radio that ratings-wise, "Boris Nemtsov was just a little more than an average citizen."

The 55-year-old former deputy prime minister's death ignited a fury among opposition figures who assailed the Kremlin for creating an atmosphere of intolerance of any dissent and called the killing an assassination. Prominent journalist Ivan Zassoursky even called Nemtsov "Russia's Kennedy."

But in a statement from the Kremlin on Saturday, Putin sent his condolences to Nemtsov's mother, Dina Yakovlevna Eydman, calling his death an "irreparable loss."

"Boris Nemtsov left his mark on the history of Russia, in politics and public life. He dropped out to work on important positions in the difficult transition period for our country," Putin said in the statement, adding, "Everything will be done to the organizers and executors of the vile and cynical murder are punished."

Nemtsov was shot two days before leading a major opposition rally in Moscow. He was working on a report detailing Russia's involvement in the war in Ukraine, his friends said.




“Russia's top investigative authority said it was looking at whether the shooting death of prominent opposition leader Boris Nemtsov early on Saturday was aimed at destabilizing the state. A line of inquiry not mentioned in the statement on the website for Russia's Investigative Committee was the possibility that he was gunned down because he was one of President Vladimir Putin's staunchest critics. The committee would investigate whether Nemtsov was slain as a "sacrificial victim for those who do not shun any method for achieving their political goals," the committee said in the statement.... Nemtsov was shot two days before leading a major opposition rally in Moscow. He was working on a report detailing Russia's involvement in the war in Ukraine, his friends said.... The 55-year-old former deputy prime minister's death ignited a fury among opposition figures who assailed the Kremlin for creating an atmosphere of intolerance of any dissent and called the killing an assassination. Prominent journalist Ivan Zassoursky even called Nemtsov "Russia's Kennedy."

Why am I so suspicious of Putin's condolences to Nemtsov's mother? He was, after all, closely reporting on the Russian involvement in Ukraine, which is an unpopular cause among some in Russia. Journalist Zassoursky accused the Kremlin of “intolerance of any dissent.” The New York Times report on Russian dissent is on website http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/world/europe/russians-protest-putins-stance-on-ukraine.html?_r=0. Andrew Roth's September 21, 2014 article states –

“MOSCOW — Thousands of Russians marched through Moscow on Sunday in an antigovernment demonstration criticizing President Vladimir V. Putin for what they saw as his warmongering in Ukraine.

It was the first large-scale public demonstration against Mr. Putin since March, and one that brought out a sizable but often silent minority of Mr. Putin’s critics despite the patriotic fervor that has seized Russia since his annexation of Crimea in March.

“I am disturbed that Russia is fueling a war in Ukraine,” said Sergey Arefov, a lawyer who had attended opposition rallies here before. “I believe it is very dangerous for us and for Europe.”

In his hand he held a small Ukrainian flag, though he said he was nervous to ride with it on the subway. “I hid the flag,” he said sheepishly. “A year ago, I could never have imagined it would come to this.”





ACCEPTANCE ISSUES – THREE ARTICLES



http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/meteorologist-fired-natural-hair-controversy-talks-zendaya-n312786

Meteorologist Fired for Natural Hair Controversy Talks Zendaya
BY CHANDRA THOMAS WHITFIELD
February 25th 2015

Fired meteorologist Rhonda Lee is putting Giuliana Rancic on notice for her criticism of Disney star Zendaya's flowing dreadlocks at Sunday's Oscars ceremony. Lee was catapulted into the national spotlight and cast as the poster child for the plight of black women sporting "natural hair" in the workplace in 2012 when the news station she worked for reportedly fired her after she responded to a viewer's Facebook comment suggesting that she cover up her closely-cropped Afro with a wig "or grow some more hair."

Management at Shreveport, La. affiliate KTBS-TV, contended thatshe'd violated a rule that employees should not respond to "controversial" social media posts. Lee, who says similar issues were raised about her hair at several television stations where she'd worked, insisted that a station not responding to racist comments equates to condoning them.

She also claimed that no such written policy had ever been distributed to KTBS employees and she filed a wrongful termination lawsuit. Reports of her firing went viral, with traditional and social media outlets buzzing nationally and internationally over whether Lee had the right to defend her hairstyle (so many calls poured into the station it reportedly overloaded the station's phone lines and website). Many women — particularly African American women — said they could relate to her struggle.

Price Barker, the attorney representing KTBS-TV, declined to comment on the lawsuit. While awaiting her day in court, Lee has since moved on up — literally. Now married with an 18-month-old, she's a meteorologist for WeatherNation in Denver.

Lee recently spoke to NBC News about her legal fight, her charge to management in the corporate workplace and her thoughts on Zendaya's public response.

What did you think about Rancic's comments and Zendaya's response?

Zendaya is showing wisdom beyond her years. Mrs. Rancic not so much. It's a shame that so much time -- and as we can see now undeserved money — is dedicated to ignorance and classlessness as demonstrated by the likes of Mrs. Rancic. Her comments were blatantly racist and flat out ugly. For a woman charged with being able to see the beauty in things she was woefully off base and clearly has no business making fashion judgments. I don't know if there is a place for racism on that show. I certainly hope not. I hope those guilty of spewing such hatred are properly dealt with and that black hair in its natural state is heretofore seen as beautiful and not as a punchline.

Colorado… That's got to be quite a change from living in Louisiana?

I have lived in the south a long time, but I would hardly call myself a southerner. We moved around a lot when I was a child, but I was born in Plano, Texas. Denver is a beautiful place with a lot of nice people. I'm enjoying it here. I feel like it's one of those places where I could live forever. I don't have any ill will toward Louisiana in particular. I met my husband there and had my son there. Louisiana isn't the only place [I've worked] where things have gotten dicey in relation to my hair. It's always been an issue since I decided to get back into news without a [chemical] relaxer [in my hair].

Do tell.

Before I worked at KTBS, I worked in Austin, TX. The news director there came to me and asked, 'is this a hair decision that you're wanting to make?' They asked if I would mind wearing a wig to appeal to a 'wider,' audience, which I'd translated to meaning a whiter audience. I told them that if they wanted something done to my hair they would have to pay for it. When I told them how much a weave costs and how much a relaxer would be and how often it would have to be kept up, suddenly my natural hair was okay. I didn't change my hair.

Do you think that's a prevalent issue in the workplace in general?

I think if you want a black employee, you should be accepting of all that is included in that. I think that there should be training for people who do the hiring, especially in the media field. We've got to start training news directors to be more understanding of us as black people. There needs to be a 'come to Jesus' talk about diversity not just this lip service that gets done. Everyone talks diversity, but nobody does anything about it. All they do is hire the same person over and over, especially in media. If there was a white woman in that [on-air] job before, they're probably going to replace her with another white woman. The newsroom should be more reflective of the community it serves.
How did your firing impact your life?

I was not much of a social media person before this, but it was amazing to see the outpouring of support. The support has by far been beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I've gotten emails and social media posts from every corner of the globe. I was even recognized in Ireland. A woman came up to me and asked, 'are you that lady in America [who was fired over her hair?]' I told her I was and she said, 'that's just not right, that's just not fair. Can I give you a hug?'

Do you feel like your predicament has had a lasting effect?

It feels good to have received such support. It feels good to know that my story may have made a difference. Maybe some news directors or supervisors are thinking twice before they say something racially insensitive. I feel like I can see the results of what I did, everywhere. I see a lot more people feeling empowered to be who they are and wear their hair in its natural state. I also see a lot more people [working on camera] in the media feeling comfortable and empowered to wear natural hair. I don't care if you don't like my hair. At the end of the day, it's really an internal issue. It's not about other people; it's about you liking your own hair. If you embrace it and you like it, that's what really matters.




“Lee was catapulted into the national spotlight and cast as the poster child for the plight of black women sporting "natural hair" in the workplace in 2012 when the news station she worked for reportedly fired her after she responded to a viewer's Facebook comment suggesting that she cover up her closely-cropped Afro with a wig "or grow some more hair.".... Zendaya is showing wisdom beyond her years. Mrs. Rancic not so much. It's a shame that so much time -- and as we can see now undeserved money — is dedicated to ignorance and classlessness as demonstrated by the likes of Mrs. Rancic. Her comments were blatantly racist and flat out ugly. For a woman charged with being able to see the beauty in things she was woefully off base and clearly has no business making fashion judgments. I don't know if there is a place for racism on that show. I certainly hope not. I hope those guilty of spewing such hatred are properly dealt with and that black hair in its natural state is heretofore seen as beautiful and not as a punchline.”

Time has passed and racism hasn't gone away – just transformed itself under pressure. Instead of calling the young woman a “n...” they have criticized her perfectly neat and beautiful hair cut. The article has a picture of her and the short cut goes beautifully with her pixielike face.




http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2015/02/27/389579585/leonard-nimoys-mr-spock-taught-us-acceptance-is-highly-logical

Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock Taught Us Acceptance Is Highly Logical
Eric Deggans
TV Critic
FEBRUARY 28, 2015

Photograph – Born in Syria, Mousllie (shown here with his 17-year-old daughter, Sarah) came to Germany more than 20 years ago and is now a German citizen.
Soraya Nelson/NPR

For this Star Trek fan, Leonard Nimoy was more than the guy who played one of the most popular characters in the most popular science fiction franchise on American TV.

He was a serious actor whose journey to accept his unique fame mirrored many fans' personal struggles for acceptance — particularly back when science fiction and fantasy wasn't quite so cool. He was the guy whose status as the half human, half Vulcan Mr. Spock — a brilliant, capable officer from a race of aliens who suppress their emotions — would eventually be validated by the world's embrace of geek cool.

And he was the guy whose eventual acceptance of Star Trekwould make him the fan-friendly Yin to the Yang of Trekactors who seemed to have a tougher time embracing the show's legacy (yes, Mr. Shatner, that's a reference to you).

Even President Obama, who is sometimes called Spock by some pundits for his own distant cool in a crisis, gave props to the actor who created his sometimes namesake.

"Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy," the president said in a statement. "Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek's optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity's future."

Nimoy's acceptance of his Trek-fueled fame seemed to affect how he played the character in later years, both on the syndicated show Star Trek: The Next Generation and in movies. In these settings, Mr. Spock morphed from a conflicted outsider who often wore his alienation on his sleeve to a character who serenely embodied his conflicting natures, almost savoring the inconsistencies of his human friends.

Leonard Simon Nimoy died Friday at 83 of end stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He leaves a long legacy as a performer, artist, musician and writer, but he'll always be known to legions of fans as Mr. Spock, first officer of the Starship Enterprise.

The original Star Trek was a short-lived NBC series about a spacefaring starship crew that was canceled in 1969 after three seasons, originally described by its creator Gene Roddenberry as a science fiction version of the popular western series Wagon Train.

But the show flowered in syndication, as audiences warmed to the show's adventures and savored its technique of casting modern social issues in science fiction clothing. Back then, TV shows almost never dealt with social issues directly; while civil rights marches and Vietnam War protests were heating up the evening news, scripted TV shows preferred the make-believe, down home worlds of Mayberry and Hooterville.

Star Trek handled storylines about civil rights and war by setting the stories on faraway planets at a time when humans had mostly conquered their problems. And Nimoy was the show's breakout star, giving Star Trek its best window into a world of cultural conflict, playing a man born of two worlds never fully at home in either, at least at first.

With angular eyebrows and pointed ears, Spock had an elvin look which matched his precise efficiency. But he was also a coolly superior figure, working to understand his human colleagues even while remaining smugly sure he was above them all — a really appealing character for misfit fans looking for similar assurances.

As a young black man and science fiction fan, I strongly identified with Spock's struggles to fit in with his human coworkers as I struggled to fit in at mostly-white schools and workplaces. And I wouldn't be surprised if other fans struggling to fit into their communities for different reasons felt the same bond.

Even Spock's signature hand gesture, a "V" formed with the palm forward, fingers separated between the ring and middle finger, came from the actor's unique cultural perspective. Nimoy, the son of immigrants raised in an orthodox Jewish home, said it was inspired by a blessing performed by Jewish priests.

Still, Nimoy reportedly had a tough time initially with the typecasting that made it hard for audiences to see him as any other character. Tellingly, when he joined the cast of the spy show Mission: Impossible just after Trek ended, he played a make up expert who often pretended to be someone else.

But as his post-Trek career unfolded, Nimoy would find the fan love opened lots more creative doors. He released albums as a musician, hosted the non-fiction TV show In Search Of, appeared in the classic 1978 remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and wrote two books summing up his restless relationship with his signature character, 1977's I Am Not Spock and 1995's I Am Spock.

"I am not Spock," he wrote." But given the choice, if I had to be someone else, I would be Spock. If someone said, 'You can have the choice of being any other TV character ever played,' I would choose Spock. I like him. I admire him. I respect him."

So it makes sense that, when Paramount revived Trek as a movie franchise in 1979, Nimoy would return to the role, eventually directing the third and fourth films. He also played Spock in an animated version of Star Trek, on Next Generation and in the two recent J. J. Abrams films which rebooted the Trek world with younger actors.

Nimoy's Spock in the first Trek film was cold and distant, reluctantly drawn into joining his compatriots to save the Earth. But that man seems a serious contrast to the Spock who would sacrifice himself to save the Starship Enterprise in 1982's Wrath of Khan, telling Captain Kirk "I have been, and always shall be, your friend." For both the actor and the character, acceptance seemed to bring better, deeper work.

Fans who tracked Nimoy's career could see his creativity reached beyond the Trek universe. His work as a director included the 1993 hit 3 Men and a Baby and The Good Mother with Diane Keaton.

And Nimoy kept racking up interesting roles in other places, from Israeli prime minister Golda Meir's husband in the 1978 TV movie A Woman Called Golda to the shadowy Dr. William Bell on the Fox series Fringe. He even produced books pf photography, including a controversial collection of nudes featuring obese women called The Full Body Project.

In the end, Leonard Nimoy was the best example of an artist who took the early typecasting of a popular role and used it to fuel an expansive and creative career — giving fans the treat of seeing his signature character mature in the process.




“Even President Obama, who is sometimes called Spock by some pundits for his own distant cool in a crisis, gave props to the actor who created his sometimes namesake. "Long before being nerdy was cool, there was Leonard Nimoy," the president said in a statement. "Leonard was a lifelong lover of the arts and humanities, a supporter of the sciences, generous with his talent and his time. And of course, Leonard was Spock. Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek's optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity's future."

Star Trek, like The Twilight Zone, often had a moral/ethical statement to make, and every show was different. A few were simply funny or exciting adventures, but others were good enough to win numerous awards on both TV and in the theater. The shows did always end with a positive conclusion in that their main stars were never killed or disabled and the villain was outsmarted or vanquished in battle. In that way it was unlike the Twilight Zone, which could be as frightening and pessimistic as the Alfred Hitchcock Show. I really do like good sci-fi, and I miss TV that has a point to make. Of course, Law and Order is one show that does have important issues to bring out, with good actors and well-written plots, and the previews for a number of other shows such as West Wing look as though I would enjoy them, but they don't come on when I want to watch TV. Luckily Star Trek is still in reruns on certain “oldies” channels.







http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/02/27/389521933/a-german-muslim-asks-his-compatriots-what-do-you-want-to-know

A German Muslim Asks His Compatriots: 'What Do You Want To Know?'
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
International Correspondent, Berlin
FEBRUARY 28, 2015

Photograph – earlier this month, Dr. Sadiqu al-Mousllie, accompanied by his family and a few members of their mosque, stood in downtown Braunschweig, Germany, and held up signs that read: "I am a Moslem. What would you like to know?" in an effort to promote dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Sadiqu al-Mousllie sees humor as a good way to fight growing anti-Islam sentiment in Germany.

He lives in Braunschweig, in western Germany. Earlier this month, he decided to go downtown and hold up a sign that read, "I am a Moslem. What would you like to know?"

"This is a bridge of communication," the Syrian-born German says. "Some people dared to ask, some others not, so we went to them and give them some chocolate and a say of our prophet to know what Muslims are thinking about."

Mousllie, 44, says he hopes to do it every other week.

Several members of his mosque — including his Danish wife, Camilla, and their 17-old daughter, Sarah — joined him on the first outing.

The teen says many passersby were curious about her and her mother's Islamic headscarves.

"The weirdest question I got was if I'm showering with my hijab," Sarah says. "And I'm just — no, I don't shower with hijab, how should I do that? No one showers with their clothes on."

Her mother, who converted to Islam, says many Germans are equally confused about her being Muslim.

"They don't know ... where do I belong," says Camilla Mousllie, 42. "Some are confused and ask: Are the Danish people Muslim?"

But Sarah says she doesn't mind answering strange questions if it can help put to rest any misconceptions about Muslims and open up a dialogue with non-Muslims.

Their community in Germany is under increasing scrutiny after several recent threats and fatal attacks linked to Islamic extremists in Europe. The scrutiny sparked criticism from German Muslim leaders, who say it's is unwarranted and alienates Muslim citizens who've worked hard to integrate into German society.

Misinformation and discrimination, the dentist says, often hit Muslim children — including his own — the hardest.

Born in Damascus, Mousllie came to Germany nearly a quarter century ago to study; he eventually settled here and became a German citizen.

His five children, who were born in Germany, are Danish citizens like their mother, but they largely identify as German, Mousllie says. So when his son was in fourth grade and was told he didn't belong, the boy was upset.

"A friend of his in the class, he told [my son]: 'You are not a real German because your name is not German,' " Mousllie recalls. "That was a very bad situation for him. I felt it was like a world falling down for himself because he felt, well, am I part of this country or not?"

In recent years, Mousllie says he's been asking himself the same question.

At his specialty dental practice, Mousllie says he is treated like any other German. Outside the office, it's another matter.

"It's getting more difficult because a lot of Islamophobic themes are coming, people now mixing Islam and terror, so we have to explain a lot," he says.

Also alarming, Mousllie says, is the rising number of incidents against Muslims and mosques around Germany, including an attack three months ago in Braunschweig on a Syrian-born woman wearing hijab whose foot was run over by a car.

"You keep thinking what about my children, what about my family, how it's going to be in two years," he says.

Mousllie says watching democracy in Germany inspired him to fight for similar freedoms in his native Syria, and he serves as the German representative of the opposition Syrian National Council.

At home in Germany, as the Lower Saxony spokesman for Germany's Central Council of Muslims, Mousllie says he's tried to get authorities to help reduce tensions, including by not using what he and others in the Muslim community view as inappropriate words — for example, Islamism — when talking about extremists.

His efforts suffered a setback on Feb. 15 when Braunschweig authorities canceled a famous annual Carnival because of what Police Chief Michael Pientka called an Islamist-related terror threat.

"We know we have an Islamist scene here," Pientka told reporters, adding that from now on, the authorities would be watching it more closely.




“He lives in Braunschweig, in western Germany. Earlier this month, he decided to go downtown and hold up a sign that read, "I am a Moslem. What would you like to know?" "This is a bridge of communication," the Syrian-born German says. "Some people dared to ask, some others not, so we went to them and give them some chocolate and a say of our prophet to know what Muslims are thinking about." Mousllie, 44, says he hopes to do it every other week. Several members of his mosque — including his Danish wife, Camilla, and their 17-old daughter, Sarah — joined him on the first outing. The teen says many passersby were curious about her and her mother's Islamic headscarves. "The weirdest question I got was if I'm showering with my hijab," Sarah says. "And I'm just — no, I don't shower with hijab, how should I do that? No one showers with their clothes on.".... "A friend of his in the class, he told [my son]: 'You are not a real German because your name is not German,' " Mousllie recalls. "That was a very bad situation for him. I felt it was like a world falling down for himself because he felt, well, am I part of this country or not?" In recent years, Mousllie says he's been asking himself the same question..... "It's getting more difficult because a lot of Islamophobic themes are coming, people now mixing Islam and terror, so we have to explain a lot," he says. Also alarming, Mousllie says, is the rising number of incidents against Muslims and mosques around Germany, including an attack three months ago in Braunschweig on a Syrian-born woman wearing hijab whose foot was run over by a car. "You keep thinking what about my children, what about my family, how it's going to be in two years," he says. Mousllie says watching democracy in Germany inspired him to fight for similar freedoms in his native Syria, and he serves as the German representative of the opposition Syrian National Council.... "We know we have an Islamist scene here," Pientka told reporters, adding that from now on, the authorities would be watching it more closely.”

This is a great story. It reminds me of the black teenager in Ferguson Mo who got on TV for holding a sign at a demonstration against the police violence that said “Free Hugs.” A tall white policeman was photographed hugging him. It's a little thing, but it's a step in the right direction. As the Police Chief Pientka said, however, the authorities have to watch Islamic communities “more closely.” That doesn't mean abuse community members or arrest many people on a preventative basis as was done in the US with the Japanese, though. If a particular cleric is preaching violence, then put him in jail, but keep an open mind to the peaceful Islamic people. I didn't know until I read this article that the habit the press has fallen into of calling radical and extreme believers “Islamist,” as the Police Chief did in this last quotation, is considered discriminatory and offensive. I will personally stop using that term.