Sunday, February 1, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.maryvilledailyforum.com/news/article_65e740fe-a73b-11e4-a3cf-2fb417d36e2d.html

Local man faces hate crime charge
By Tony Brown
January 29, 2015

Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rice on Wednesday announced that he has filed a felony assault charge against Tommy Dean Gaa, 65, Maryville, in connection with an alleged hate crime.

According to a probable cause statement filed by Maryville Public Safety Officer Adam James, Gaa was taken into custody after ordering breakfast at a local business on Sunday, Jan. 25, where he was waited on by an African-American employee.

The employee, according to James’ statement, asked Gaa if he wanted white or wheat toast, and Gaa allegedly responded by saying, “I’m prejudiced. I’ll take white.”

Moments later, Gaa is said to have approached the employee, allegedly grabbing her arm in a manner that caused bruising and asking her if she “liked to party.”

According to the probable cause statement, Gaa then allegedly said, “I have a place I would like to take you where I hung your grandpa.”

The report stated the employee then left the part of the business open to the public and returned to a kitchen area.

James reported that Gaa initially denied making the statements, then allegedly admitted that he committed at least some of the acts described above.

According to the officer’s report, Gaa “volunteered” a comment about there being “good and bad” people of different races, and in doing so uttered a highly offensive term for people of African descent.

Gaa was released from the Nodaway County Jail on $4,900 bond.


http://fox2now.com/2015/01/29/missouri-man-charged-with-felony-after-alleged-racial-slur/

Missouri man charged with felony after alleged racial slur
JANUARY 29, 2015, BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

MARYVILLE, Mo. (AP) – A white northwest Missouri man is charged with felony assault after he allegedly confronted a black waitress as she served him breakfast.

Nodaway County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Rice announced Wednesday that he charged 65-year-old Tommy Dean Gaa, of Maryville, with felony assault motivated by discrimination.

The Maryville Daily Forum reports Gaa is accused of confronting the waitress on Sunday and grabbing her arm, causing bruising. A probable cause statement says Gaa said “I have a place I would like to take you where I hung your grandpa” and used racial slurs.

Gaa was released from the Nodaway County Jail on $4,900 bond. Online records don’t indicate if he has an attorney.

Rice says the comments were bad enough but Gaa crossed the line when he grabbed the waitress.




At least prosecutors in Missouri are making criminal charges for these less than deadly, but highly disrespectful and hurtful events. Black people used to have to suffer such abuse without getting even a little bit of justice. This 65 year old may be a dementia patient or simply very uneducated – maybe a chronic alcoholic. Whatever is true of him, he is going to have to face a jury. I wonder what the penalty for this hate crime is?





http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/28/381622350/why-teens-are-impulsive-addiction-prone-and-should-protect-their-brains

Why Teens Are Impulsive, Addiction-Prone And Should Protect Their Brains
January 28, 2015

Teens can't control impulses and make rapid, smart decisions like adults can — but why?

Research into how the human brain develops helps explain. In a teenager, the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls decision-making, is built but not fully insulated — so signals move slowly.

"Teenagers are not as readily able to access their frontal lobe to say, 'Oh, I better not do this,' " Dr. Frances Jensen tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross.

Jensen, who's a neuroscientist and was a single mother of two boys who are now in their 20s, wrote The Teenage Brain to explore the science of how the brain grows — and why teenagers can be especially impulsive, moody and not very good at responsible decision-making.

"We have a natural insulation ... called myelin," she says. "It's a fat, and it takes time. Cells have to build myelin, and they grow it around the outside of these tracks, and that takes years."

This insulation process starts in the back of the brain and heads toward the front. Brains aren't fully mature until people are in their early 20s, possibly late 20s and maybe even beyond, Jensen says.

"The last place to be connected — to be fully myelinated — is the front of your brain," Jensen says. "And what's in the front? Your prefrontal cortex and your frontal cortex. These are areas where we have insight, empathy, these executive functions such as impulse control, risk-taking behavior."

This research also explains why teenagers can be especially susceptible to addictions — including drugs, alcohol, smoking and digital devices.

Interview Highlights

On why teenagers are more prone to addiction

Addiction is actually a form of learning. ... What happens in addiction is there's also repeated exposure, except it's to a substance and it's not in the part of the brain we use for learning — it's in the reward-seeking area of your brain. ... It's happening in the same way that learning stimulates and enhances a synapse. Substances do the same thing. They build a reward circuit around that substance to a much stronger, harder, longer addiction.

Just like learning a fact is more efficient, sadly, addiction is more efficient in the adolescent brain. That is an important fact for an adolescent to know about themselves — that they can get addicted faster.

It also is a way to debunk the myth, by the way, that, "Oh, teens are resilient, they'll be fine. He can just go off and drink or do this or that. They'll bounce back." Actually, it's quite the contrary. The effects of substances are more permanent on the teen brain. They have more deleterious effects and can be more toxic to the teen than the adult.

On the effects of binge drinking and marijuana on the teenage brain

Binge drinking can actually kill brain cells in the adolescent brain where it does not to the same extent in the adult brain. So for the same amount of alcohol, you can actually have brain damage — permanent brain damage — in an adolescent for the same blood alcohol level that may cause bad sedation in the adult, but not actual brain damage. …

Because they have more plasticity, more substrate, a lot of these drugs of abuse are going to lock onto more targets in [adolescents'] brains than in an adult, for instance. We have natural cannabinoids, they're called, in the brain. We have kind of a natural substance that actually locks onto receptors on brain cells. It has, for the most part, a more dampening sedative effect. So when you actually ingest or smoke or get cannabis into your bloodstream, it does get into the brain and it goes to these same targets.

It turns out that these targets actually block the process of learning and memory so that you have an impairment of being able to lay down new memories. What's interesting is not only does the teen brain have more space for the cannabis to actually land, if you will, it actually stays there longer. It locks on longer than in the adult brain. ... For instance, if they were to get high over a weekend, the effects may be still there on Thursday and Friday later that week. An adult wouldn't have that same long-term effect.

On marijuana's effect on IQ

People who are chronic marijuana users between 13 and 17, people who [use daily or frequently] for a period of time, like a year plus, have shown to have decreased verbal IQ, and their functional MRIs look different when they're imaged during a task. There's been a permanent change in their brains as a result of this that they may not ever be able to recover.

It is a fascinating fact that I uncovered going through the literature around adolescence is our IQs are still malleable into the teen years. I know that I remember thinking and being brought up with, "Well, you have that IQ test that was done in grade school with some standardized process, and that's your number, you've got it for life — whatever that number is, that's who you are."

It turns out that's not true at all. During the teen years, approximately a third of the people stayed the same, a third actually increased their IQ, and a third decreased their IQ. We don't know a lot about exactly what makes your IQ go up and down — the study is still ongoing — but we do know some things that make your IQ go down, and that is chronic pot-smoking.

On teenagers' access to constant stimuli

We, as humans, are very novelty-seeking. We are built to seek novelty and want to acquire new stimuli. So, when you think about it, our social media is just a wealth of new stimuli that you can access at all times. The problem with the adolescent is that they may not have the insider judgment, because their frontal lobes aren't completely online yet, to know when to stop. To know when to say, "This is not a safe piece of information for me to look at. If I go and look at this atrocious violent video, it may stick with me for the rest of my life — this image — and this may not be a good thing to be carrying with me." They are unaware of when to gate themselves.

On not allowing teenagers to have their cellphones at night

It may or may not be enforceable. I think the point is that when they're trying to go to sleep — to have this incredibly alluring opportunity to network socially or be stimulated by a computer or a cellphone really disrupts sleep patterns. Again, it's also not great to have multiple channels of stimulation while you're trying to memorize for a test the next day, for instance.

So I think I would restate that and say, especially when they're trying to go to sleep, to really try to suggest that they don't go under the sheets and have their cellphone on and be tweeting people.

First of all, the artificial light can affect your brain; it decreases some chemicals in your brain that help promote sleep, such as melatonin, so we know that artificial light is not good for the brain. That's why I think there have been studies that show that reading books with a regular warm light doesn't disrupt sleep to the extent that using a Kindle does.




“In a teenager, the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls decision-making, is built but not fully insulated — so signals move slowly. "Teenagers are not as readily able to access their frontal lobe to say, 'Oh, I better not do this,' " Dr. Frances Jensen tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. Jensen, who's a neuroscientist and was a single mother of two boys who are now in their 20s, wrote The Teenage Brain to explore the science of how the brain grows — and why teenagers can be especially impulsive, moody and not very good at responsible decision-making. "We have a natural insulation ... called myelin," she says. "It's a fat, and it takes time. Cells have to build myelin, and they grow it around the outside of these tracks, and that takes years."... Brains aren't fully mature until people are in their early 20s, possibly late 20s and maybe even beyond, Jensen says.... It's happening in the same way that learning stimulates and enhances a synapse. Substances do the same thing. They build a reward circuit around that substance to a much stronger, harder, longer addiction. Just like learning a fact is more efficient, sadly, addiction is more efficient in the adolescent brain. That is an important fact for an adolescent to know about themselves — that they can get addicted faster.... So when you actually ingest or smoke or get cannabis into your bloodstream, it does get into the brain and it goes to these same targets. It turns out that these targets actually block the process of learning and memory so that you have an impairment of being able to lay down new memories.... People who are chronic marijuana users between 13 and 17, people who [use daily or frequently] for a period of time, like a year plus, have shown to have decreased verbal IQ, and their functional MRIs look different when they're imaged during a task.... It is a fascinating fact that I uncovered going through the literature around adolescence is our IQs are still malleable into the teen years.... It turns out that's not true at all. During the teen years, approximately a third of the people stayed the same, a third actually increased their IQ, and a third decreased their IQ. We don't know a lot about exactly what makes your IQ go up and down — the study is still ongoing — but we do know some things that make your IQ go down, and that is chronic pot-smoking.... We, as humans, are very novelty-seeking. We are built to seek novelty and want to acquire new stimuli. So, when you think about it, our social media is just a wealth of new stimuli that you can access at all times. The problem with the adolescent is that they may not have the insider judgment, because their frontal lobes aren't completely online yet, to know when to stop.”

So parents need to interact frequently with their kids to guide them, not just command them which may not work at all during the teen years, to regulate their activities in general, and use of cell phones and the various computer devices that they love so much. An ongoing close relationship with ones children is the best way to ensure that they do not stray into the enticing activities that so many of their peers are into.

Set up rules about the use of electronic devices. Don't let them use it in the several hours before sleep because it interferes with Melatonin action in the brain. Don't buy them a Kindle, but give them instead a library card. Enforce lights out with no networking on the oh so necessary smart phone. Be on the lookout each morning for kids who are too sleepy to function in the morning when they are supposed to get up, bathe and dress, eat and collect all the things they need for school. They may be texting their friends all night rather than sleeping.

Even more important, take your kids to church and have them join their religiously based youth group or a girl scout troop, a boys and girls club at school, or a campus group like Drama Club or the band. The parent doesn't have to be very religious to do that, as the Unitarian Universalist Church welcomes everyone of every faith or lack thereof, and has youth programs. The point of kids joining an adult-supervised and thought provoking social training group activity is that the child is less likely to get into something really bad like shoplifting, drug using, bullying, gang banging and the various other possibilities – skinny dipping, maybe. That is also to prevent them from entertaining themselves by roaming wherever and whenever they please without introducing you to their friends, so that you can try to detect druggies and young gangsters among their friends. I don't think kids should be given complete freedom until they are 19 or so, and perhaps have a part time job. They also shouldn't be given the family car without telling you where they're going. There is a device I saw in a news article that can be engaged in the car to make a record of times when the speed goes up too high and one that will temporarily disable their cell phone while they are driving. Another is available that will stop the car from cranking if the driver is under the influence of alcohol. Trust your kids, but verify.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/01/28/381935337/a-saint-with-a-mixed-history-junipero-serras-canonization-raises-eyebrows

A Saint With A Mixed History: Junipero Serra's Canonization Raises Eyebrows
Jasmine Garsd
JANUARY 28, 2015

The name Junípero Serra is well known in California: Schools and streets are named in his honor, and statues of the 18th century Spanish missionary still stand. But Native American activists are far less enamored with the friar, saying Serra was actually an accomplice in the brutal colonization of natives. They object to Pope Francis' recent announcement that he will canonize Serra when he travels to the U.S. this fall.

Addressing the controversy, Francis X. Rocca, Rome bureau chief for Catholic News, told NPR that Pope Francis has made a point of canonizing famous evangelizers. "And he picked someone who was a Spanish speaker," Rocca pointed out. "That might be his own background as a South American, but also reaching out to the growing part of the Church in the United States who is Hispanic."

Serra, a Franciscan friar, founded the Mission of San Diego in 1769. As the Spanish army built fortresses nearby, he moved north, creating eight other missions all the way up to the San Francisco Bay.

As the Spaniards pushed through California, so did diseases, which wiped out large numbers of the native population. Tribes were pushed to convert and to live in the missions, where they where taught to farm. Those who disobeyed were severely punished. It was not unheard of for someone to be whipped to death.

Professor Steven Hackel of the University of California, Riverside, is the author of Junípero Serra: California's Founding Father. "Serra believed that Indians where children," he said. "That they where a primitive, impoverished, hungry and naked people, mired in superstition and the silliness of their grandparents."

But others take a more nuanced view of Serra. In aninterview with The Guardian newspaper, author David McLaughlin, founder of the California Mission Resources Center website, described Serra as a "talented but flawed man of his time" who "lived an exemplary religious life by the terms of his day."

The article also quotes Father Tom Elewaut, a priest at San Buenaventura Mission, who said that while colonialism was a tragedy, "Serra was a protectorate of the Native Americans." Several historians say that Serra challenged those who sought to enslave the Indians.

Deborah Miranda, a literature professor at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, is a member of the Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation of California. Her book Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir is a compilation of stories related to her own family's experience with California missionaries.

Miranda told NPR that Serra turned a blind eye to the abuses Native Americans suffered. "But he didn't put a stop to it," she said. "I think he was very ambitious and very much caught up in the opportunity to create a civilization. He was playing God in a way."

There are other Latin American historical figures the pope could choose to canonize, said Miranda. Why not pick Bartolome De Las Casas, a 16th century bishop who was vocal about atrocities against Native Americans? She also suggested Francis consider Monseñor Óscar Romero, who criticized the Salvadoran government's human rights record during the country's civil war and was assassinated.

These are issues the pope may soon have to address. Before his trip to the U.S., he's scheduled to go to several Latin American countries — Bolivia, Paraguay and Ecuador. All three have large indigenous populations. Rocca of Catholic News points out that Bolivia's President Evo Morales is particularly outspoken about indigenous rights and may press the issue.

University of California professor Hackel says that the way the canonization process is unfolding is unfortunate. "I think they have the obligation to acknowledge what missions meant for California Indian people," he said. "I think they have an obligation to have a debate and discussion, and even solemn moments of reflection, and perhaps even [an] apology."




“But Native American activists are far less enamored with the friar, saying Serra was actually an accomplice in the brutal colonization of natives. They object to Pope Francis' recent announcement that he will canonize Serra when he travels to the U.S. this fall…. "Serra believed that Indians where children," he said. "That they where a primitive, impoverished, hungry and naked people, mired in superstition and the silliness of their grandparents.".… The article also quotes Father Tom Elewaut, a priest at San Buenaventura Mission, who said that while colonialism was a tragedy, "Serra was a protectorate of the Native Americans." Several historians say that Serra challenged those who sought to enslave the Indians.…. Miranda told NPR that Serra turned a blind eye to the abuses Native Americans suffered. "But he didn't put a stop to it," she said. "I think he was very ambitious and very much caught up in the opportunity to create a civilization. He was playing God in a way."…. "And he picked someone who was a Spanish speaker," Rocca pointed out. "That might be his own background as a South American, but also reaching out to the growing part of the Church in the United States who is Hispanic." Serra, a Franciscan friar, founded the Mission of San Diego in 1769. As the Spanish army built fortresses nearby, he moved north, creating eight other missions all the way up to the San Francisco Bay. As the Spaniards pushed through California, so did diseases, which wiped out large numbers of the native population. Tribes were pushed to convert and to live in the missions, where they where taught to farm. Those who disobeyed were severely punished. It was not unheard of for someone to be whipped to death. … But Native American activists are far less enamored with the friar, saying Serra was actually an accomplice in the brutal colonization of natives. They object to Pope Francis' recent announcement that he will canonize Serra when he travels to the U.S. this fall.”

“These are issues the pope may soon have to address. Before his trip to the U.S., he's scheduled to go to several Latin American countries — Bolivia, Paraguay and Ecuador. All three have large indigenous populations. Rocca of Catholic News points out that Bolivia's President Evo Morales is particularly outspoken about indigenous rights and may press the issue. University of California professor Hackel says that the way the canonization process is unfolding is unfortunate. "I think they have the obligation to acknowledge what missions meant for California Indian people," he said. "I think they have an obligation to have a debate and discussion, and even solemn moments of reflection, and perhaps even [an] apology." Spain is no more responsible for the near extinction of the American Indians than are the non-Hispanic whites who forced most Indians off their land in the late 1800s and into reservations, after killing many of them when they fought back. Only in the mid to late 1900's have many well educated whites come to regard American Indians as equals.

Anthropology in the 1950s or so initiated more scientific studies of their cultures done with a much greater respect for all indigenous groups of any race, with an emphasis on avoiding things that change the people, which includes missionary activities and colonialism. At least many anthropologists did. Some anthropologists to this day view Native Americans along with black people as inferior races, and as a result believe that they should be modified to fit European standards at the expense of cultures that are thousands of years old. Let's face it, “White man's burden” has been the rule wherever Europeans and Americans have gone, colonizing and “converting to Christianity.” I think the Pope, who shows so much advanced thought, should rethink this matter. It's a shame he has already announced his decision.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/01/28/381938804/va-steps-up-programs-as-more-veterans-enter-hospice-care

VA Steps Up Programs As More Veterans Enter Hospice Care
Quil Lawrence
JANUARY 28, 2015

Photograph – A hospital bed is draped with a flag after a veteran died in the hospice ward at St. Albans VA in Queens, N.Y.

Ask Americans if someone in their family served in the military, and the answer is probably no. After all, fewer than 1 percent of Americans serve these days.

But ask if one of their grandfathers served, and you'll likely get a different answer. Between World War II and the wars in Korea and Vietnam, millions of men were drafted into service — and both men and women volunteered.

Now, that generation of veterans is getting older. And as many of them near the end of their lives, aging into their 80s and 90s, the demand for hospice care has been growing with them. That means that the Department of Veterans Affairs is spending a lot more on what's known as end-of-life care.

"I think they call it end-of-life care," notes Thomas O'Neill, a 68-year-old resident at the St. Albans VA hospital in Queens, N.Y. "But whatever it is ... they treat you like gold. If you're going to be sick, this is the place to be."

O'Neill served a year in Vietnam, from 1966 to 1967, at a time when the war was killing more Americans in a year than the total U.S. casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

"The only good thing was the nighttime, because you knew another day closer to coming home," he says. "To be honest with you, I was scared. I was very scared the whole year — and I don't think I was the only one."

When he came home, he didn't talk to anyone about the war. O'Neill says he nearly drank himself into the grave. In 2011, he finally went to the VA to treat the post-traumatic stress disorder he'd been enduring for 40 years. Last year, he learned he has terminal cancer.

"They can tell you you got three months. They don't really know," he says. "I came to terms with this. I'm not happy with the diagnosis, but I came to terms with it."

Coming to terms with the end of life can be a bit different for veterans, says Dr. Alice Beal, who directs VA palliative care for most of New York City.

"If a veteran's been in combat, a veteran's likely to have killed," Beal says. "I think no matter what your culture is, when you meet your maker — even if it's been to save your buddy, to save your life, to save your country — it's just a burden the rest of us haven't even thought of."

Sometimes that means vets want to tell their stories at the end of life, Beal says. Sometimes the stories come unbidden.

"If you've had blood on your hands, it comes up," she says. "People who have PTSD, maybe have not had it unmasked their whole life, but as they're dying, all of a suddenly they get flashbacks."

Beal says the goal in hospice is to make life as good as it can be for as long as possible; that usually means focusing on relieving pain for the last weeks or months of life.

The hospice ward is a contradiction: It's brightly decorated, and at the entrance there's a fish tank and an electric fireplace. But there's also usually a room recently vacated, with an American flag draped on the bed and a lantern on the nightstand honoring a veteran who passed on.

"It's a real tossup between respect and release. Around here we tend to be full of life," Beal says. "But you don't want to be too joyful in the presence of a family who is grieving."

All VA facilities now have a palliative care team, but only a fraction of veterans enter VA hospice, according to Dr. Scott Shreve, who directs VA hospice care nationwide. Shreve says the vast majority prefer to stay in their communities and near family instead.

The VA and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization are collaborating on a project called We Honor Veterans, to help civilian hospice workers ask the right questions.

Volunteers with We Honor Veterans sometimes show up to find elderly veterans who haven't mentioned much about serving in the military to their family or community, like 92-year-old Florence Keliher, in Hallowell, Maine.

"I served during World War II in the Army Nurse Corps. I was on Tinian, the little island in the South Pacific," Keliher says. "We had a ward full of patients — airplane crashes and things like that. They flew from Tinian to Japan to bomb. Some had trouble taking off sometimes."

Keliher's son, Pat, who lives up the road, says he never heard much about his mother's time at war until a grandchild asked to type up some of Keliher's stories:

"The patients we nursed in the wards on afternoon duty broke our hearts. It sounds like a cliche, but they were so young. Malaria, horrible burns. ... I was only 23 years old, but I felt much older than the patients I tended, some of whom called for their mothers in their distress."

Besides Keliher's kids and grandchildren, a volunteer with Beacon Hospice also visits her regularly as part of the We Honor Veterans campaign. They play cribbage and swap stories.

Shreve says only half the community hospices nationwide are taking advantage of the We Honor Veterans program, which is free. He'd like to see more of them get on board. That's because half a million veterans will be needing end-of-life care each year for the next five years. Others simply found the war years too painful to talk about.




“Now, that generation of veterans is getting older. And as many of them near the end of their lives, aging into their 80s and 90s, the demand for hospice care has been growing with them. That means that the Department of Veterans Affairs is spending a lot more on what's known as end-of-life care. "I think they call it end-of-life care," notes Thomas O'Neill, a 68-year-old resident at the St. Albans VA hospital in Queens, N.Y. "But whatever it is ... they treat you like gold. If you're going to be sick, this is the place to be."... When he came home, he didn't talk to anyone about the war. O'Neill says he nearly drank himself into the grave. In 2011, he finally went to the VA to treat the post-traumatic stress disorder he'd been enduring for 40 years. Last year, he learned he has terminal cancer.... Coming to terms with the end of life can be a bit different for veterans, says Dr. Alice Beal, who directs VA palliative care for most of New York City. "If a veteran's been in combat, a veteran's likely to have killed," Beal says. "I think no matter what your culture is, when you meet your maker — even if it's been to save your buddy, to save your life, to save your country — it's just a burden the rest of us haven't even thought of." Sometimes that means vets want to tell their stories at the end of life, Beal says. Sometimes the stories come unbidden.... The hospice ward is a contradiction: It's brightly decorated, and at the entrance there's a fish tank and an electric fireplace. But there's also usually a room recently vacated, with an American flag draped on the bed and a lantern on the nightstand honoring a veteran who passed on. "It's a real tossup between respect and release. Around here we tend to be full of life," Beal says. "But you don't want to be too joyful in the presence of a family who is grieving."... Shreve says only half the community hospices nationwide are taking advantage of the We Honor Veterans program, which is free. He'd like to see more of them get on board. That's because half a million veterans will be needing end-of-life care each year for the next five years.”

Most of the WWII generation are already dead, or in their nineties. I'm glad a program like We Honor Veterans exists, because some have no family to share their memories. When I'm near death I hope some of my church members, friends and family will be able to visit me and talk. I don't feel any fear of death, and my religious beliefs don't include an afterlife, so for me it will simply be the end of my life. I do hope I'm not alone when I die, just because having someone around to hold my hand or talk a little bit will be a great comfort. It's good that the VA and We Honor Veterans are there for medical needs and human comfort for the veterans, especially if they are facing terrible memories of the war. People should be able to die peacefully.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/counting-the-homeless-to-change-their-fortunes/

Counting the homeless to change their fortunes
By JOHN BLACKSTONE CBS NEWS
January 30, 2015

LOS ANGELES -- The volunteers counting the homeless in Los Angeles walked on streets most would usually avoid, among people who are often treated as invisible. We tagged along with them Thursday night during their count.

Robert Malone volunteered to count because just months ago he was homeless. And like nearly one in ten of the homeless across the country, he's a veteran.

Malone lived out of a car but is now in an apartment thanks to a Veterans Administration program providing vouchers for housing.

In 2006 an estimated 195,000 veterans were homeless. Counts like the one we went on Thursday night show a significant drop: more than 74,000 in 2009 to fewer than 50,000 last year.

That's happened as the VA has aggressively expanded programs to identify and support homeless vets. Last night even the VA's new secretary, Robert McDonaldwas out counting and talking to the homeless.

Now it's McDonald's job to meet the goal set by President Obama to end veteran homelessness by the end of this year.

"You know what my worst nightmare is?" McDonald said. "I open up one of those tents and I find somebody I served with. That would break my heart because those guys looked out for me and I need to look out for them and that's why I'm here."

Veterans who are among those living here on LA's skid row could be moving to a more stylish part of the city. The Veterans Administration has announced plan to move veterans into housing it owns in a fashionable neighborhood just west of Beverly Hills.




“The volunteers counting the homeless in Los Angeles walked on streets most would usually avoid, among people who are often treated as invisible. We tagged along with them Thursday night during their count. Robert Malone volunteered to count because just months ago he was homeless. And like nearly one in ten of the homeless across the country, he's a veteran. Malone lived out of a car but is now in an apartment thanks to a Veterans Administration program providing vouchers for housing.... That's happened as the VA has aggressively expanded programs to identify and support homeless vets. Last night even the VA's new secretary, Robert McDonaldwas out counting and talking to the homeless. Now it's McDonald's job to meet the goal set by President Obama to end veteran homelessness by the end of this year.... Veterans who are among those living here on LA's skid row could be moving to a more stylish part of the city. The Veterans Administration has announced plan to move veterans into housing it owns in a fashionable neighborhood just west of Beverly Hills.”

I thought this would be a sad story, but its a very hopeful one instead. The number of homeless vets has dropped drastically since 2006. I had heard before that many of the homeless are in fact veterans. The VA has been doing more to prevent their ending up on the streets, with a housing supplement and a VA owned housing facility and other family supports. See the following material for more on the subject.



http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/prevention.asp
Department of Veterans Affairs / Prevention Services

National Call Center for Homeless Veterans

VA has founded a National Call Center for Homeless Veterans to ensure that homeless Veterans or Veterans at-risk for homelessness have free, 24/7 access to trained counselors. The hotline is intended to assist homeless Veterans and their families, VA Medical Centers, federal, state and local partners, community agencies, service providers and others in the community. To be connected with trained VA staff member call 1-877-4AID VET (877-424-3838). National Call Center Webpage

Health Care for Re-entry

The Health Care for Re-entry Veterans (HCRV) Program is designed to address the community re-entry needs of incarcerated Veterans.  HCRV's goals are to prevent homelessness, reduce the impact of medical, psychiatric, and substance abuse problems upon community re-adjustment, and decrease the likelihood of re-incarceration for those leaving prison.  HCRV Webpage 

Veteran Justice Outreach

The purpose of the Veteran Justice Outreach (VJO) initiative is to avoid the unnecessary criminalization of mental illness and extended incarceration among Veterans by ensuring that eligible justice-involved Veterans have timely access to VHA mental health and substance abuse services when clinically indicated, and other VA services and benefits as appropriate. Veteran Justice Outreach Webpage

Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program

The Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program is a new VA program that provides supportive services to very low-income Veterans and their families who are in or transitioning to permanent housing.  VA awards grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives who assist very low-income Veterans and their families by providing a range of supportive services designed to promote housing stability. For more information, please see the  SSVF Program Factsheet, the  Final Rule, and the list of  SSVF Program Frequently Asked Questions (Updated January 17, 2012).  In December, 2011, VA released its second SSVF Notice of Fund Availability (NOFA).  Details about the NOFA and the grant application process are available on the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program Webpage. 
 
Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration Program (VHPD)

The purpose of the Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) Program is to explore ways the Federal government can offer early intervention homelessness prevention.  The primary focus of this program is Veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a focus on the increasing number of female Veterans, Veterans with families especially with a single head of household, as well as those from the National Guard and Reserve who are being discharged from the military.  It is anticipated that this demonstration program will provide an opportunity to understand the unique needs of this new cohort of Veterans, and will support efforts to identify, conduct outreach and assist them in regaining and maintaining housing stability.  VHPD Webpage





http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/01/politics/obama-radical-islam-terrorism-war/index.html

Why Obama won't call terror fight a war on radical Islam
Jeremy Diamond, CNN
Sun February 1, 2015

(CNN)President Barack Obama once again refused to label the fight against terrorism as a war on radical Islam or any kind of "religious war," insisting that such labels hurt efforts to root out radical ideologies in Muslim communities.

Obama also cautioned against the risk of overplaying the threat of terror groups and said the U.S. should instead align itself with the overwhelming majority of Muslims who reject the radical ideology and tactics of terrorist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda.

READ: Obama defends Saudi relationship

"I don't quibble with labels. I think we all recognize that this is a particular problem that has roots in Muslim communities," Obama said in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. "But I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject this ideology."

Republicans have criticized Obama in recent weeks for refusing to label the terror threat the U.S. and the West faces as Islamic extremism or rooted in radical Islam. Obama stuck to condemning the terrorism and violent extremism in the wake of terror attacks in Sydney and Paris carried out by jihadists.

"We are in a religious war with radical Islamists," Sen. Lindsey Graham proclaimed on Fox News earlier this month. "When I hear the President of the United States and his chief spokesperson failing to admit that we're in a religious war, it really bothers me."

But Obama said the U.S. needs to be wary of handing terrorists "the victory of overinflating" their actions and the threat they pose to the U.S.

Obama emphasized that while he is mindful of the "terrible costs of terrorism," terror groups aren't an "existential threat to the United States or the world order."

"The truth of the matter is that they can do harm. But we have the capacity to control how we respond in ways that do not undercut what's the essence of who we are. That means that we don't torture, for example, and thereby undermine our values and credibility around the world," Obama said. "It means that we don't approach this with a strategy of sending out occupying armies and playing whack-a-mole wherever a terrorist group appears because that drains our economic strength and it puts enormous burdens on our military."

The U.S. needs to instead keep its response "surgical," Obama said, to address the specific threat the U.S. faces without alienating the majority of Muslims who are peaceful and reject extremism -- those who "have embraced a nihilistic, violent, almost medieval interpretation of Islam."




“President Barack Obama once again refused to label the fight against terrorism as a war on radical Islam or any kind of "religious war," insisting that such labels hurt efforts to root out radical ideologies in Muslim communities.…. "But I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject this ideology." Republicans have criticized Obama in recent weeks for refusing to label the terror threat the U.S. and the West faces as Islamic extremism or rooted in radical Islam. Obama stuck to condemning the terrorism and violent extremism.... "The truth of the matter is that they can do harm. But we have the capacity to control how we respond in ways that do not undercut what's the essence of who we are. That means that we don't torture, for example, and thereby undermine our values and credibility around the world," Obama said.... The U.S. needs to instead keep its response "surgical," Obama said, to address the specific threat the U.S. faces without alienating the majority of Muslims who are peaceful and reject extremism -- those who "have embraced a nihilistic, violent, almost medieval interpretation of Islam."

There certainly are a great many Islamic believers around the world, and only a few radical fundamentalist jihadists, especially in the Middle East and Africa. See the following article on world populations under Islam.

It is safe to say that our invasion of Iraq was not only useless, in that Iraq had nothing to do with al-Qaeda at that time and therefore with 9/11, but it was more damaging to the American national image around the world than anything the left leaning political groups in our country have said or done. No, Jane Fonda's spouting off in Vietnam did not really harm us very much, and only served to ruin her acting career. So, sending in an invading army to achieve regime change is often self-defeating. The tactic of selectively bombing specific ISIS leaders and serving to back up the Kurds on the ground, seems lately to be having a positive effect. I still want him to arm the Kurds more effectively and send in some American special forces groups. Maybe those guys who were so efficiently brutal toward captured Islamists at Abu Ghraib could go out on the ground with the Kurds and be brutal against ISIS At least they deserve it.

I do agree with Obama wholeheartedly that we are not in a religious war, but performing a police action of sorts against radical terroristic forces who are fairly small in number, and not a part of the native populations where they are fighting. Perhaps what we are already doing is more effective than sending in a squadron of paratroopers or thousands of tanks filled with soldiers. I hate to see the Kurds have to do all the fighting, but it does seem much better to me that local Islamic forces should fight on the ground against ISIS than Europeans and Americans, since that tends to harden the hatred that many in the Middle East cultures already harbor against Western people and ideas.

The truth is that this country is not likely to accept a reenactment of the draft to enlarge our army unless something more threatening happened, such as Russia moving into Eastern European nations such as Poland in an invasion. Ukraine, unfortunately, is not a member of NATO, so it is possible that NATO won't send in ground troops either.


http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/06/07/worlds-muslim-population-more-widespread-than-you-might-think/

World’s Muslim population more widespread than you might think
BY DREW DESILVER
JUNE 7, 2013

There are an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, making Islam the world’s second-largest religious tradition after Christianity, according to the December 2012 Global Religious Landscape report from the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Although many people, especially in the United States, may associate Islam with countries in the Middle East or North Africa, nearly two-thirds (62%) of Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Pew Research analysis. In fact, more Muslims live in India and Pakistan (344 million combined) than in the entire Middle East-North Africa region (317 million).

However, the Middle East-North Africa region has the highest concentration Muslims of any region of the world: 93% of its approximately 341 million inhabitants are Muslim, compared with 30% in sub-Saharan Africa and 24% in the Asia-Pacific region.

Muslims make up a majority of the population in 49 countries around the world. The country with the largest number (about 209 million) is Indonesia, where 87.2% of the population identifies as Muslim. India has the world’s second-largest Muslim population in raw numbers (roughly 176 million) though Muslims make up just 14.4% of India’s total population.

Pew Research uses an array of surveys, census reports, population registers and other data sources to estimate numbers of Muslims and other religious groups around the world, the goal being to count all groups and people who self-identify with a particular religion. The figures presented here are as of 2010.