Wednesday, February 4, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-launches-916-million-earth-science-satellite/

NASA launches $916 million soil moisture satellite
By WILLIAM HARWOOD CBS NEWS
January 31, 2015


A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket boosted an innovative NASA satellite into orbit Saturday, kicking off a three-year, $916 million mission to measure the moisture, frozen and liquid, in the top few inches of Earth's soil to improve forecasting, to better understand the causes and impact of droughts, floods and other natural disasters and to improve long-range climate change projections.

"With the launch of this project, decision makers will be better able to understand the water cycle and how soil moisture fits into that," said Christine Bonniksen, NASA program executive of the Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, mission. "The soil actually gathers the precipitation prior to it entering the rivers and then evaporating back into the atmosphere. As a result, soil moisture impacts many areas of human interest, including flood, drought, disease control and weather."

Running two days late because of high winds aloft Thursday, the long-awaited mission got underway at 9:22 a.m. EST (GMT-5, 6:22 a.m. local time) when the 165-ton Delta 2 booster's first stage engine roared to life, followed by ignition of three strap-on solid fuel boosters.

Lighting up the pre-dawn sky with a torrent of flame, the 127-foot-tall rocket quickly climbed away from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, arcing away to the south over the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles.

The strap-on boosters burned out 65 seconds after liftoff and were jettisoned 35 seconds later. The Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-27A first-stage engine continued to burn another two-and-a-half minutes before shutting down as planned. The first stage then fell away and the second stage's AJ10-118K engine ignited, continuing the boost to orbit.

Ten minutes and 44 seconds after launch, the second stage engine shut down and the booster entered a 41-minute coast phase. Finally, about 55 minutes after takeoff, the second stage engine re-ignited for 12 seconds to put the spacecraft in the desired 426-mile-high orbit around Earth's poles.

Moments later, the 2,000-pound SMAP satellite was released to fly on its own and engineers reported the spacecraft's solar panels unfolded and locked in place as planned. Four small "cubesats" carried aloft on the Delta 2's second stage as part of an educational initiative were scheduled for release about 48 minutes after SMAP's deploy.

It will take two months to check out and calibrate SMAP's two instruments, an L-band microwave radiometer and radar, and to deploy and spin up the unusual 19.7-foot-wide mesh dish-like reflector needed to collect science data. Both instruments share the offset reflector, tuned to detect moisture in the top 5 centimeters -- 2 inches -- of soil around the planet.

The stowed reflector's boom assembly will be commanded to unfold 16 days from now. Then, starting four days later, the satellite's antenna will be commanded to unfurl.

"It starts at 12 inches in diameter," said Kent Kellogg, SMAP project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "This is passive release of the strain energy, that'll bloom the antenna out to about seven feet in diameter. Then we'll do the powered deployment, which will deploy the antenna out to its final 20-feet-in-diameter size. That process takes about 30 minutes to complete from start to finish."

To collect the desired soil moisture data, the antenna, which is tilted with respect to the satellite's body, must rotate, sweeping out a circular swath directly below the spacecraft. Starting about 50 days after launch, engineers will spin the antenna up to 4.5 rpm.

"As we begin to spin up, the spacecraft actually counter-rotates in the opposite direction," Kellogg said. "This is by design and is a feature of the fact that we're trying to spin up a very large structure with a relatively small spacecraft. Once the antenna has reached a stable spin rate, the spacecraft attitude system will regain sun pointing very quickly, and we continue on."

After confirming the stability of the satellite with its now-spinning antenna, the spin rate will be gradually increased to 14.6 rpm. The spinning reflector will sweep out a 620-mile-wide swath as the satellite orbits, passing over the equator every day at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. local time.

Dara Entekhabi, SMAP science team lead at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the radiometer will act somewhat like a camera, using microwaves to "see" in daylight and darkness, penetrating clouds, vegetation and the top few inches of soil to measure water volume. The satellite's radar is not as sensitive, but will provide higher resolution.

"The radar will be providing our high resolution data, and the radiometer provides the high accuracy data," said Bonniksen. "When you put these together, it's very similar to looking through both lenses on a pair of bifocals at the same time. As a result, we will have a highly accurate global map of soil moisture for our scientists to use."

SMAP is unique in that "it has returns in two very distinct areas," Entekhabi said. "One of them is in fundamental understanding of how the environment works. The second is in the arena of applications. SMAP provides data that affect our everyday lives in terms of dealing with some really serious natural hazards."

Soil moisture links the planet's water, energy and carbon cycles, he said, and "if it wasn't for the soil moisture variable, these three processes over land would vary independently, but they don't. They work in concert like gears in a clock. They are linked together through the soil moisture variable."

Understanding the details of those interactions will help scientists improve short- and long-term forecasting.

"As water evaporates from soil water to vapor in the atmosphere, it feeds the water cycle," Entekhabi said. "It takes energy to vaporize water, and water vaporizing cools the surface and maintains the temperature much like humans have evolved sweating to regulate body temperature. The same thing happens with Earth system. And as plants transpire and pick up biomass through absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing water vapor, they are engaged in the water and energy cycles as well.

"So these three cycles are intimately linked through the water variable. Through measurements SMAP can make, we can test and improve models that we use for atmospheric weather prediction and climate change projections."

SMAP is designed to generate global maps of soil moisture every two to three days, data that will help researchers improve near-term forecasts while building a database that will improve long-range projections, including soil moisture's impact on climate change.

While soil moisture represents less than 1 percent of Earth's water, it plays a critical role "because it's what's interacting with the terrestrial biosphere, with the vegetation, it's what determines how much runoff occurs due to incident precipitation, how much fresh water there is in the rivers and lakes," Entekhabi said.

"It's a tiny amount, but a very important amount. It's not the percentage of the total that's important, but where that soil moisture is and what it's affecting."

This was the 153rd Delta 2 launch since the rocket's debut in 1989 and the booster's 98th straight success dating back to 1997, leaving just two Delta 2's in ULA's inventory. It was the second flight this year for United Launch Alliance and the company's 93rd overall.




"Dara Entekhabi, SMAP science team lead at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the radiometer will act somewhat like a camera, using microwaves to "see" in daylight and darkness, penetrating clouds, vegetation and the top few inches of soil to measure water volume. The satellite's radar is not as sensitive, but will provide higher resolution.... The soil actually gathers the precipitation prior to it entering the rivers and then evaporating back into the atmosphere. As a result, soil moisture impacts many areas of human interest, including flood, drought, disease control and weather.".… “Soil moisture links the planet's water, energy and carbon cycles, he said, and "if it wasn't for the soil moisture variable, these three processes over land would vary independently, but they don't. They work in concert like gears in a clock. They are linked together through the soil moisture variable. "Understanding the details of those interactions will help scientists improve short- and long-term forecasting. "As water evaporates from soil water to vapor in the atmosphere, it feeds the water cycle," Entekhabi said. "It takes energy to vaporize water, and water vaporizing cools the surface and maintains the temperature much like humans have evolved sweating to regulate body temperature. The same thing happens with Earth system. And as plants transpire and pick up biomass through absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and releasing water vapor, they are engaged in the water and energy cycles as well.... SMAP is designed to generate global maps of soil moisture every two to three days, data that will help researchers improve near-term forecasts while building a database that will improve long-range projections, including soil moisture's impact on climate change. "It's a tiny amount, but a very important amount. It's not the percentage of the total that's important, but where that soil moisture is and what it's affecting." While soil moisture represents less than 1 percent of Earth's water, it plays a critical role "because it's what's interacting with the terrestrial biosphere, with the vegetation, it's what determines how much runoff occurs due to incident precipitation, how much fresh water there is in the rivers and lakes," Entekhabi said.”

In dealing with global warming we need good data, and this satellite should provide that. Conservative politicians may vote against anything having to do with man-made climate change, but NASA is on top of the game. I would hate to see the earth literally dry up, as it seems to be doing in the Western USA and some other places. Lakes and rivers are shrinking already. Hopefully desalinization and new ways of recycling waste water will grow ever better technology. I will clip any articles I see on this subject.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/armed-with-u-s-weapons-ruthless-militia-beating-isis-in-iraq/

​Armed with U.S. weapons, infamous militia beating ISIS
By HOLLY WILLIAMS CBS NEWS
February 2, 2015

Photograph – The Badr Brigade chants as they celebrate a recent victory against ISIS

AL MUQDADIYAH, Iraq - In Al Muqdadiyah they're celebrating victory over ISIS.

"Run away ISIS, we'll crush you," the soldiers chanted, a week after they drove out the extremists.

But these soldiers are not part of Iraq's National Army. Instead, they're volunteers with a Shiite Muslim militia known as the Badr Brigade.

"Our guns all come from the Iraqi Defense Ministry," said Badr Brigade Commander Essam Yahya Hussein, who ran a grocery store before he joined the fight six months ago.

The U.S. spent $20 billion training and arming the Iraqi army. Now many of its weapons are in the hands of these unchecked militiamen.

But with the Iraqi army in disarray, they have the best track record of defeating ISIS in central Iraq. The villages around Al Muqdadiyah are battle scarred and the local people have all fled. The battle for Al Muqdadiyah lasted four days, and when ISIS was finally defeated its fighters fled over hills where they've now regrouped.

The Badr Brigade may be effective, but they were born of Iraq's bloody civil war and their notorious death squads are implicated in the torture and murder of thousands of Sunni Muslims.

Last week, they were accused of shooting more than 70 unarmed Sunni men in Al Muqdadiyah- a video appears to show the aftermath.

"It's not true," said the militia leader when we asked him about the alleged massacre. "The civilians are our brothers."

Despite their murky past the Badr Brigades are being given unprecedented power by Iraq's Shiite dominated government. General Ali Al-Wazir commands the Iraqi Army's 20th Battalion, but now he and his men - along with their American weapons and equipment - have been put under the command of the leader of the Badr Brigade.

"But you're national army and he's part of the Badr organization," I said.

"He was given the job by the prime minister," General Al-Wazi told me. "Everybody knows it."

As for Iran, its officials have admitted that their Quds special forces are fighting against ISIS in Iraq. That means, in Iraq, the U.S. is on the same side as both Badr - an infamously brutal militia - and Iran. It's a connection that shows just how complicated the battle against ISIS has become.




“The U.S. spent $20 billion training and arming the Iraqi army. Now many of its weapons are in the hands of these unchecked militiamen. But with the Iraqi army in disarray, they have the best track record of defeating ISIS in central Iraq. .... The Badr Brigade may be effective, but they were born of Iraq's bloody civil war and their notorious death squads are implicated in the torture and murder of thousands of Sunni Muslims. Last week, they were accused of shooting more than 70 unarmed Sunni men in Al Muqdadiyah- a video appears to show the aftermath. "It's not true," said the militia leader when we asked him about the alleged massacre. "The civilians are our brothers.".... As for Iran, its officials have admitted that their Quds special forces are fighting against ISIS in Iraq. That means, in Iraq, the U.S. is on the same side as both Badr - an infamously brutal militia - and Iran. It's a connection that shows just how complicated the battle against ISIS has become.”

I am glad to see that some strong and efficient fighters are using our weapons in Iraq instead of the national army who literally dropped their weapons and ran when faced by ISIS. Also, I think we should be fighting alongside Iran because they, too, have volunteered to oppose the black flagged ISIS on the battlefield and not just in the air. Some half a dozen countries have volunteered to bomb ISIS from the air, which is helpful, but there is an ongoing need for boots on the ground. Besides, I think it's time we tried to normalize relations with Iran now that some more liberal leaders have to come to power there. Meanwhile the GOP continues to oppose a nuclear agreement with Iran.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/harper-lee-second-novel-to-be-published-in-july/

Harper Lee's second novel to be published in July
AP
February 3, 2015

"To Kill a Mockingbird" will not be Harper Lee's only published book after all.

Publisher Harper announced Tuesday that "Go Set a Watchman," a novel the Pulitzer Prize-winning author completed in the 1950s and put aside, will be released July 14. Rediscovered last fall, "Go Set a Watchman" is essentially a sequel to"To Kill a Mockingbird," although it was finished earlier. The 304-page book will be Lee's second, and the first new work in more than 50 years.

The publisher plans a first printing of 2 million copies.

"In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called 'Go Set a Watchman,'" the 88-year-old Lee said in a statement issued by Harper. "It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, persuaded me to write a novel (what became 'To Kill a Mockingbird') from the point of view of the young Scout.

"I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn't realized it (the original book) had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it. After much thought and hesitation, I shared it with a handful of people I trust and was pleased to hear that they considered it worthy of publication. I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years."

Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal was negotiated between Carter and the head of Harper's parent company, Michael Morrison of HarperCollins Publishers. "Watchman" will be published in the United Kingdom by William Heinemann, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

According to publisher Harper, Carter came upon the manuscript at a "secure location where it had been affixed to an original typescript of 'To Kill a Mockingbird.'" The new book is set in Lee's famed Maycomb, Alabama, during the mid-1950s, 20 years after "To Kill a Mockingbird" and roughly contemporaneous with the time that Lee was writing the story. The civil rights movement was taking hold by the time she was working on "Watchman." The Supreme Court had ruled unanimously in 1953 that segregated schools were unconstitutional, and the arrest of Rosa Parks in 1955 led to the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott.

"Scout (Jean Louise Finch) has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father, Atticus," the publisher's announcement reads. "She is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father's attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood."

Lee herself is a Monroeville, Alabama native who lived in New York in the 1950s. She now lives in her hometown. According to the publisher, the book will be released as she first wrote it, with no revisions.

"To Kill a Mockingbird" is among the most beloved novels in history, with worldwide sales topping 40 million copies. It was released on July 11, 1960, won the Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into a 1962 movie of the same name, starring Gregory Peck in an Oscar-winning performance as the courageous attorney Atticus Finch. Although occasionally banned over the years because of its language and racial themes, the novel has become a standard for reading clubs and middle schools and high schools. The absence of a second book from Lee only seemed to enhance the appeal of "Mockingbird."

Lee's publisher said the author is unlikely to do any publicity for the book. She has rarely spoken to the media since the 1960s, when she told one reporter that she wanted to "to leave some record of small-town, middle-class Southern life." Until now, "To Kill a Mockingbird" had been the sole fulfillment of that goal.

"This is a remarkable literary event," Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham said in a statement. "The existence of 'Go Set a Watchman' was unknown until recently, and its discovery is an extraordinary gift to the many readers and fans of 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' Reading in many ways like a sequel to Harper Lee's classic novel, it is a compelling and ultimately moving narrative about a father and a daughter's relationship, and the life of a small Alabama town living through the racial tensions of the 1950s."

The new book also will be available in an electronic edition. Lee has openly stated her preference for paper, but surprised fans last year by agreeing to allow "Mockingbird" to be released as an e-book.




"In the mid-1950s, I completed a novel called 'Go Set a Watchman,'" the 88-year-old Lee said in a statement issued by Harper. "It features the character known as Scout as an adult woman, and I thought it a pretty decent effort. My editor, who was taken by the flashbacks to Scout's childhood, persuaded me to write a novel (what became 'To Kill a Mockingbird') from the point of view of the young Scout. "I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told. I hadn't realized it (the original book) had survived, so was surprised and delighted when my dear friend and lawyer Tonja Carter discovered it.... "Scout (Jean Louise Finch) has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father, Atticus," the publisher's announcement reads. "She is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father's attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood." Lee herself is a Monroeville, Alabama native who lived in New York in the 1950s. She now lives in her hometown. According to the publisher, the book will be released as she first wrote it, with no revisions.”

I can't wait for this to come out. I'm sure it will be an instantaneous NYT Bestseller. It probably can't be as good as Mockingbird, because the relationship with a father doesn't have the drama that her first book did. Still, I'll be interested in seeing what she had to say.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bryn-mawr-college-apologizes-after-being-accused-of-fat-shaming-students-with-elevated-bmi/

Bryn Mawr accused of "fat-shaming" students
CBS NEWS
February 3, 2015

Pennsylvania's Bryn Mawr College is apologizing after sending e-mails to students identified as overweight.

The messages that invited them to join a program to shed pounds were sent with the intention of raising awareness about health risks associated with being overweight, but the idea backfired and the liberal arts college is now being accused of "fat-shaming," reports CBS News medical contributor Dr. Holly Phillips.

Located 11 miles west of Philadelphia, Bryn Mawr is known for its liberal traditions and female student body.

So when English major Rudrani Sarma received a message saying she was invited to a "weight loss success" program for students with "elevated BMI's," she demanded to know why.

"Initially, I was pretty horrified. I've dealt with an eating disorder for many years and I didn't know how I could receive something like this from the same health center that treated me," Sarma said.

Sarma, a junior at the college, soon discovered that her BMI had been miscalculated and was issued an apology.

Even if her BMI had been in the category, however, Sarma said she definitely would not have welcomed the invitation.

"I would have felt just as horrified and just as uncomfortable," Sarma said. "I would have felt as if my school was discriminating against me."

To vent her frustration, Sarma turned to Facebook, posting an open letter to her school, saying in-part: "You're telling students that it's more important to lose weight than to be healthy" and "you discriminate based on weight by compiling a list of quote on quote (sic) fat students ... How dare you Bryn Mawr?"

Judy Balthazar, the undergraduate interim dean, regrets the impact the messages have had. She said they were sent out of concern about student health.

"The email was all about health and well-being," Balthazar said. "And so the part that I really want to come away with this emphasizing is that ... our culture has made it impossible for us to talk about weight without implying that we're talking about somebody's worth or somebody's beauty."

But that's exactly what sophomore Natalie DiFrank felt when she received the message.

"Being a fat woman is -- the idea that a constant thought and reminder I had in my head that I do not fit in on campus," DiFrank said. "And I think it did trigger a lot of feelings for me personally. I'm feeling, 'Oh my god, my body is being eradicated. They want my body out of here.' The health center is looking at me as a problem that needs to be changed."

Because of Sarma's letter, "body policing" and "fat-shaming" soon became the school's hottest topics of conversation.

"Sending out a message like this isn't necessarily about health; it's about weight, and health and weight are not the same thing," Sarma said.

It's a conversation Sarma plans to continue, while administrators take a closer look in addressing matters of student health.

"If we really need to be having that conversation with the student, we need to figure out how we can do it face to face, and how we can wait until the student initiates the conversation rather than us go proactively," Balthazar said.

The director of the school's health center has issued an apology to those who received the original message, but Sarma and her supporters said the impact has had far more reach and are asking the administration to apologize to the entire student body.




“So when English major Rudrani Sarma received a message saying she was invited to a "weight loss success" program for students with "elevated BMI's," she demanded to know why. "Initially, I was pretty horrified. I've dealt with an eating disorder for many years and I didn't know how I could receive something like this from the same health center that treated me," Sarma said. Sarma, a junior at the college, soon discovered that her BMI had been miscalculated and was issued an apology. Even if her BMI had been in the category, however, Sarma said she definitely would not have welcomed the invitation.”

Instead of tabulating every student's BMI and sending out a letter, the college should simply advertise its gym facility in their website and/or college brochure. Letting prospective students know the exercise program is available is a good thing, but making them feel they are being watched individually and judged on something that most people consider to be strictly personal is not only insulting. It's spooky.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/french-soldiers-on-anti-terror-patrol-attacked-by-man-with-knife/.

French soldiers on anti-terror patrol attacked by man with knife
CBS/AP
February 3, 2015

PARIS -- An attacker with a knife hidden in his bag attacked three soldiers on an anti-terror patrol in front of a Jewish community center in southern France on Tuesday, two police officials said.

Sarah Baron, a police union official in the city of Nice, said the attacker was detained after the attack near the Galeries Lafayette department store. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said the attacker had an identity card with the name Moussa Coulibaly.

The surname, which is relatively common for families of Malian descent, is the same as that of the man who seized hostages in a kosher supermarket in Paris and gunned down a policewoman last month.

Another police official said the attacker pulled a knife at least 20 centimeters (8 inches) long out of a bag and set upon one of the soldiers, injuring him in the chin. He then swiped two other soldiers - one in the cheek, the other in the forearm - before being apprehended by riot police stationed near the building, which houses the city's Jewish community center.

A manager at the center, who did not want to be identified because she was afraid, confirmed soldiers posted in front of the building were attacked. She said it happened around lunchtime and no one was inside the office.

The attacker, aged about 30, had a record of theft and violence, the official said on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. His motive was not yet clear, the official added.

Mayor Estrosi told BFM television that a possible accomplice had been detained.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) just released a video featuring French mujahideen calling for fresh attacks in France in response to the re-publication ofcartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. In the video, which was distributed through the usual ISIS channels, including on the group's main forum, the main speaker specifically called for stabbing policemen in a bid to steal their guns, and then use guns to cause more carnage.

France has been on high alert since the attacks in the Paris region by three Islamic extremists that left 20 people dead, including the gunmen. More than 10,000 soldiers have been deployed around the country to protect sensitive locations, including major shopping areas, synagogues, mosques and transit hubs.

Earlier Tuesday, French authorities arrested seven men and a woman suspected of involvement in a network to send fighters to join Islamic extremists in Syria.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said those arrested in the Paris and Lyon areas are not suspected of links to the Jan. 7-9 attacks.

Police are trying to thwart new violence and find possible accomplices to three radical Islamic gunmen who attacked a kosher grocery andnewspaper Charlie Hebdo. The men claimed allegiance to extremists in the Mideast.

Three of those arrested Tuesday had traveled to Syria and returned in December 2014, a French official said, though it was unclear whether they joined ISIS or another group.

The network began sending French fighters to Syria in May 2013, and at least one of them was killed there, the official said. Other members of the network are still in Syria.

The group did not appear to be involved in any particular plot, or linked to any other networks already broken up in France in recent months, said the official, who was not authorized to be publicly identified discussing security matters.

France has seen hundreds of homegrown radicals join extremists abroad, most linked to ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Cazeneuve said recent atrocities by ISIS - including the killing of a Japanese hostage - "only strengthen the government's determination to fight terrorism every day and every hour."

French authorities have come under criticism for being overzealous in cracking down on potential threats since the attacks, arresting dozens for comments seen as defending terrorism and notably questioning an 8-year-old boy.




“An attacker with a knife hidden in his bag attacked three soldiers on an anti-terror patrol in front of a Jewish community center in southern France on Tuesday, two police officials said. Sarah Baron, a police union official in the city of Nice, said the attacker was detained after the attack near the Galeries Lafayette department store. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said the attacker had an identity card with the name Moussa Coulibaly. The surname, which is relatively common for families of Malian descent, is the same as that of the man who seized hostages in a kosher supermarket in Paris and gunned down a policewoman last month.... The attacker, aged about 30, had a record of theft and violence, the official said on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. His motive was not yet clear, the official added. Mayor Estrosi told BFM television that a possible accomplice had been detained. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) just released a video featuring French mujahideen calling for fresh attacks in France in response to the re-publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.... More than 10,000 soldiers have been deployed around the country to protect sensitive locations, including major shopping areas, synagogues, mosques and transit hubs. Earlier Tuesday, French authorities arrested seven men and a woman suspected of involvement in a network to send fighters to join Islamic extremists in Syria. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said those arrested in the Paris and Lyon areas are not suspected of links to the Jan. 7-9 attacks.... Three of those arrested Tuesday had traveled to Syria and returned in December 2014, a French official said, though it was unclear whether they joined ISIS or another group. The network began sending French fighters to Syria in May 2013, and at least one of them was killed there, the official said. Other members of the network are still in Syria.... Cazeneuve said recent atrocities by ISIS - including the killing of a Japanese hostage - "only strengthen the government's determination to fight terrorism every day and every hour." French authorities have come under criticism for being overzealous in cracking down on potential threats since the attacks, arresting dozens for comments seen as defending terrorism and notably questioning an 8-year-old boy.”

People who don't want to be arrested should refrain from making threats or expressing sympathy with ISIS and al-Qaeda. France has a high number of Islamic immigrants and likewise have been sending fighters into Syria to fend off the ISIS advances. I am glad to see that they are not intimidated by the fundamentalist Islamic threat. In the US we have almost unlimited freedom of speech, but not entirely. Words that cause endangerment to the public or may be described as “fighting words” will be punished as a crime. I would say that making threats on the Internet is definitely “fighting words.” These terrorists are acting within Western nations mainly from small groups or as individuals, so they need to be arrested and imprisoned before they strike, causing the group's organization to be broken up. It only makes sense.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/02/03/383408537/would-fcc-plan-harm-telecom-investment-even-industry-opinion-is-mixed

Would FCC Plan Harm Telecom Investment? Even Industry Opinion Is Mixed
Joel Rose
FEBRUARY 03, 2015

Photograph – Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, introduces President Obama before the latter's remarks Dec. 3 at the quarterly meeting of the Business Roundtable, a group Stephenson chairs. Stephenson has said that increasing regulation of the broadband industry — as proposed by the president — would have a substantial chilling effect on its investment in infrastructure.

This week figures to be a big one in the debate about how to regulate the Internet.

Yesterday the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission announced he'll try to overrule laws in two states that restrict community-owned broadband networks. Later this week, he's expected to propose exactly what President Obama asked for last year: reclassifying the Internet under regulations known in the parlance of telecom wonks as Title II.

"In plain English, I'm asking them to recognize that for most Americans, the Internet has become an essential part of everyday communication and everyday life," Obama said in November.

Big cable and phone companies warn that would stifle investment and cost consumers more, but the truth may be more complicated.

This policy shift, which the FCC is expected to vote on before the end of the month, is what many Internet companies and public interest groups say is what the commission needs to do to stop broadband companies from charging extra to get information to consumers faster. But phone and cable companies warn that Title II would be a disaster.

"These regulations that we're talking about are public-utility-style regulations, and this industry's moving fast," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told an industry conference in November. "And if you can't bring new products to service at your speed, not the government's speed, why would you ever make these investments?"

Broadband industry executives have told the same story on Capitol Hill. But Fran Shammo, the chief financial officer of Verizon, seemed to go off script when he was asked about Title II at an investor conference in December.

"To be real clear, I mean, this does not influence the way we invest," Shammo said. "We're gonna continue to invest in our networks and our platforms. Nothing will influence that."

The differing messages don't necessarily result from a difference of opinion, but from a difference of audience, says Susan Crawford, co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.

"When they're talking to Wall Street, they say different things than when they're talking to the press about what the FCC might like to do," she says. "They trot out these really simple and nonsensical platitudes, like 'regulation inevitably leads to lower investment.' That's just not true."

The phone and cable industries also have warned that Title II could lead to billions of dollars in new taxes on consumers' broadband bills, but open-Internet advocates say those claims are wrong.

They also argue that Title II and robust investment can coexist, pointing to the success of the wireless phone industry, which is regulated in part under Title II. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said cell companies have been "monumentally successful" under Title II regulations, noting they made billions in investment under that system.

In theory, reclassification would give the FCC broad powers — including the ability to cap the price your Internet provider can charge. Wheeler has hinted that the commission won't actually try to use that power, but the mere threat of price regulation is enough to scare Wall Street, says Paul Gallant, an industry analyst at Guggenheim Partners.

"The uncertainty that Wall Street has, though, right now about Title II is a little bit overdone," he says. "I don't think there's any real prospect that the FCC will end up regulating prices. I just don't think it is a realistic fear."

Still, Gallant says phone and cable companies might find it harder to borrow money under Title II, which in turn could be a drag on investment in their networks.

But Michael Powell, a former chairman of the FCC who now heads the cable industry's trade group, said the the question is one of degree.

"All hyperbole aside, the issue isn't whether people will invest — of course they will, they have businesses to run," Powell said. "The real question is, will it be at a diminished and dampened level compared to the velocity and ambitions that the country has?"

Amid the disputes about customer bills and pace of investing, however, one thing is viewed as an absolute certainty: Big phone and cable companies almost certainly will take the FCC to court if the commission moves toward Title II as anticipated.




“Stephenson has said that increasing regulation of the broadband industry — as proposed by the president — would have a substantial chilling effect on its investment in infrastructure. This week figures to be a big one in the debate about how to regulate the Internet. Yesterday the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission announced he'll try to overrule laws in two states that restrict community-owned broadband networks. Later this week, he's expected to propose exactly what President Obama asked for last year: reclassifying the Internet under regulations known in the parlance of telecom wonks as Title II. … This policy shift, which the FCC is expected to vote on before the end of the month, is what many Internet companies and public interest groups say is what the commission needs to do to stop broadband companies from charging extra to get information to consumers faster.... Broadband industry executives have told the same story on Capitol Hill. But Fran Shammo, the chief financial officer of Verizon, seemed to go off script when he was asked about Title II at an investor conference in December. "To be real clear, I mean, this does not influence the way we invest," Shammo said. "We're gonna continue to invest in our networks and our platforms. Nothing will influence that."... "When they're talking to Wall Street, they say different things than when they're talking to the press about what the FCC might like to do," she says. "They trot out these really simple and nonsensical platitudes, like 'regulation inevitably leads to lower investment.' That's just not true." ... In theory, reclassification would give the FCC broad powers — including the ability to cap the price your Internet provider can charge. .. "All hyperbole aside, the issue isn't whether people will invest — of course they will, they have businesses to run," Powell said. "The real question is, will it be at a diminished and dampened level compared to the velocity and ambitions that the country has?" Amid the disputes about customer bills and pace of investing, however, one thing is viewed as an absolute certainty: Big phone and cable companies almost certainly will take the FCC to court if the commission moves toward Title II as anticipated.”

Well, we have one good thing happening – FCC Chairman Wheeler is firmly backing Net Neutrality and the right of local companies to set up their own Internet networks. AT&T et al are going to sue over the issues, according to the article. Fran Shammo, CFO of Verizon and one of the big boys, has said plainly that putting the Internet under Title II regulation isn't going to influence that company's investment at all. Likewise the fear that the FCC is likely to cap what an Internet Provider can charge for their service is also untrue. The FCC is expected to rule on the matters “before the end of the month,” so I will probably have another article on this soon. So far, so good.





EBOLA


http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2015/02/02/383316715/lack-of-patients-hampers-ebola-drug-and-vaccine-testing

Lack Of Patients Hampers Ebola Drug And Vaccine Testing
Richard Harris
FEBRUARY 02, 2015

Photograph – A nurse administers an experimental Ebola vaccine Monday at Redemption Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. Researchers aim to give shots to 27,000 people during the large trial.

On Monday, the first 12 volunteers received an experimental Ebola vaccine in Liberia, launching vaccine trials there. Over the next year or so, scientists hope to inject 27,000 volunteers. The goal is to test two different shots that could protect people from the deadly disease.

But the number of Ebola cases is steadily declining across West Africa. And that good news is hampering drug and vaccine development, especially in Liberia. The country recorded only four Ebola cases last week, the World Health Organization said.

"We're in a bit of a strange situation," says WHO's Martin Friede, who heads the group coordinating Ebola drug development.

"On the one hand, the number of Ebola cases has really dropped dramatically. ... This is excellent for the countries involved," Friede says. "However, from a drug research and development perspective, this is not so good."

The reason is quite simple.

"It's very difficult conducting clinical trials when there are very few actual patients," Friede says.

One of the two drugmakers gearing up for clinical trials has given up. North Carolina-based Chimerix announcedFriday that it would halt a planned test of its drug, brincidofover, in Liberia.

The only other drug that has been part of an active trial is a Japanese flu medication calledfavipiravir. It's being tested in Guinea, and the trial has already recruited enough patients. "So at least there will be one trial where they will probably have had adequate numbers for [researchers] to make some estimate of efficacy, or at least of safety," Friede says.

The story with preventive vaccines is not quite so dire. The trials starting this week aim to inject 9,000 people with one vaccine, another 9,000 with a second vaccine, and another 9,000 with a placebo injection, over the next 12 to 15 months.

Vaccine researchers need healthy volunteers, not sick people. If nobody gets exposed to Ebola after getting the shot, doctors won't be able to tell for sure if the vaccine is effective. But there's value in these experiments, even if the epidemic fades away.

"There would still be a considerable amount of important data that one can get from a vaccine trial," says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Blood tests can measure the immune system response in people. If that response closely resembles the immune response in monkeys — where the vaccine has been shown to be protective — it's possible that a vaccine could be approved on that basis alone, Fauci says.

Another possibility is to expand the vaccine trials into Sierra Leone and Guinea, which reported 65 and 30 cases last week, respectively.

"That's not up to us," Fauci says. "We respect the countries' need to be able to make those decisions on their own."

Picking up and moving to another country is much harder for drug trials than for vaccine trials. After a country gives its approval, WHO's Friede says, researchers still need to make sure that care meets a minimum standard where the drug is tested. There also need to be enough nurses and doctors on hand, and they need to be trained in the conduct of clinical trials.

"So this is not at all easy," Friede says.

At this point, Friede is starting to talk about making sure the drug tests are ready to go for the next Ebola epidemic — although health authorities still need to remain vigilant, he says, to make sure this one is in fact coming to an end.



http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsoda/2015/01/02/371994171/where-could-ebola-strike-next-scientists-virus-hunt-in-asia

Where Could Ebola Strike Next? Scientists Hunt Virus In Asia
Michaeleen Doucleff
JANUARY 02, 2015

Photograph – The first step of virus hunting? Catch bats. Ecologist Kevin Olival travels around the world, looking for deadly viruses in bats. In Bangladesh, Rousettus fruit bats live in ancient ruins — and carry signs of Ebola.

A few years ago, disease ecologist David Hayman made the discovery of a lifetime.
He was a graduate student at the University of Cambridge. But he spent a lot of that time hiking through the rain forest of Ghana, catching hundreds of fruit bats.

"We would set large nets, up in the tree canopies," he says. "And then early morning, when the bats are looking for fruit to feed on, we'd captured them."

Hayman didn't want to hurt the bats. He just wanted a few drops of their blood.

Bats carry a huge number of viruses in their blood. When Hayman took the blood samples back to the lab, he found a foreboding sign: a high level of antibodies against Ebola Zaire.

Right away, Hayman was concerned.

Ebola Zaire is the deadliest of the five Ebola species, and it has caused the most outbreaks. The antibodies in the bat's blood meant the animals had once been infected with Ebola Zaire or something related to it.

Hayman knew West Africa was at risk for an Ebola outbreak. He and his colleagues even published the findings in the free journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, "so that anyone in the world could go and read them," Hayman says.

He thought health officials would also be worried. "We were all prepared for some sort of response, for questions," Hayman says. "But I have to say, not many came. ... Nothing happened."

That was two years ago. Now, with more than 20,000 Ebola cases reported in West Africa, health officials are definitely listening to Hayman.

Scientists think bats likely triggered the entire Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Just as Hayman predicted. "It's not a good way to be proven right," he says.

So now the big question is: Where else in the world is Ebola hiding out in bats? Where could the next big outbreak occur?

To find out, I called ecologist Kevin Olival at EcoHealth Alliance in New York City. Olival hunts down another virus in bats, called Nipah. In humans, it causes inflammation in the brain and comas. "It's the virus the movie Contagion is based on," Olival says.

Nipah has outbreaks every few years in Bangladesh. So Olival went there back in 2010 and captured a bunch of bats. Many had signs of Nipah in their blood. Others had something surprising: "There's antibodies to something related to Ebola Zaire."

Before this discovery, scientists thought Ebola Zaire was found only in Africa. "If you think about geographic space," Olival says, "it was a big shock to find evidence for this virus in a very faraway place in south Asia."

Olival and his colleagues published these findings in February 2013. Then, a few months later, a team reportedevidence for the virus in China.

The bats with these antibodies have a broad range across south Asia, Olival says. "These species are found all the way down into parts of Indonesia."

The data suggest that Ebola Zaire is far more widespread around the world than previously thought.

So does that mean Ebola could have outbreaks in Bangladesh, China or Indonesia?

"Well, that's a tricky one," Olival says. "I think if you have the right combination of potential events, and sort of the perfect storm brews, then, yeah, it's possible."

Now, there's no sign bats have infected people in Asia with Ebola Zaire. And antibody tests can't say whether the virus in the bats was specifically Ebola Zaire or something related.

But Olival isn't waiting to find out. Both he and David Hayman, who's now at Massey University in New Zealand, are working on ways to predict when and where Ebola and other deadly viruses will cause outbreaks.

In particular, Olival is working with USAID to build an early warning system for dangerous viruses. The system could alert communities when the risk of an outbreak is high. People could be more careful while hunting bats or avoid their guano.

"The ultimate goal is to move toward prediction," Olival says. "Again and again, we're hearing with the current massive Ebola outbreak that if it was detected earlier it would have been better contained."

Because both ecologists agree: It's not a question of whether a virus in the Ebola family will cause an outbreak outside of Africa, but a matter of when and where.



http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/virus-genes-human-genome/

Genes from Ebola Virus Family Found in Human Genome
By Katherine Harmon
July 30, 2010

A rush of new research has found evidence that some RNA viruses made their way into vertebrate genomes millions of years ago.

The strongest matches belonged to just two virus groups: Bornaviruses and filoviruses, the latter of which includes the deadly Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fever pathogens.

Vetted viruses

Because these pieces have been present in vertebrate genomes for some 40 million years, "there might be some selective advantage to having them," Skalka says.For bornaviruses and filoviruses in particular, she notes, "there must be something special about these viruses," to have kept them around for so long.

Skalka speculates that these two virus groups might also be evolving more slowly. One reason for that might be because they have found a happy equilibrium with a reservoir species—such as bats—that has fostered the relative stasis.

Genetic immunity

Although strains of hemorrhagic fever can be fatal for many humans and animals, these viral genetics might also be conferring some protection on their hosts. … But the real trick will be trying to figure out just what these genetic relics are doing in the genomes. "In the case of retroviruses" in the genome, "they have conferred benefits that have nothing to do with viruses," Coffin says, noting one retroviral genethat has been found to help with placental growth. "They are just genes that the host has found useful for one function or another."




DRUG TESTS V VACCINE TESTS – On Monday, the first 12 volunteers received an experimental Ebola vaccine in Liberia, launching vaccine trials there. Over the next year or so, scientists hope to inject 27,000 volunteers. The goal is to test two different shots that could protect people from the deadly disease. But the number of Ebola cases is steadily declining across West Africa.... "It's very difficult conducting clinical trials when there are very few actual patients," Friede says. One of the two drugmakers gearing up for clinical trials has given up. North Carolina-based Chimerix announcedFriday that it would halt a planned test of its drug, brincidofover, in Liberia. The only other drug that has been part of an active trial is a Japanese flu medication called favipiravir. It's being tested in Guinea, and the trial has already recruited enough patients. "So at least there will be one trial where they will probably have had adequate numbers for [researchers] to make some estimate of efficacy, or at least of safety," Friede says.... Vaccine researchers need healthy volunteers, not sick people. If nobody gets exposed to Ebola after getting the shot, doctors won't be able to tell for sure if the vaccine is effective. But there's value in these experiments, even if the epidemic fades away. "There would still be a considerable amount of important data that one can get from a vaccine trial," says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Blood tests can measure the immune system response in people. If that response closely resembles the immune response in monkeys — where the vaccine has been shown to be protective — it's possible that a vaccine could be approved on that basis alone, Fauci says. Another possibility is to expand the vaccine trials into Sierra Leone and Guinea, which reported 65 and 30 cases last week, respectively. "That's not up to us," Fauci says. "We respect the countries' need to be able to make those decisions on their own."....

ASIAN STUDIES – Ecologist Kevin Olival travels around the world, looking for deadly viruses in bats. In Bangladesh, Rousettus fruit bats live in ancient ruins — and carry signs of Ebola. … So now the big question is: Where else in the world is Ebola hiding out in bats? Where could the next big outbreak occur? To find out, I called ecologist Kevin Olival at EcoHealth Alliance in New York City. Olival hunts down another virus in bats, called Nipah. In humans, it causes inflammation in the brain and comas. "It's the virus the movie Contagion is based on," Olival says. Nipah has outbreaks every few years in Bangladesh. So Olival went there back in 2010 and captured a bunch of bats. Many had signs of Nipah in their blood. Others had something surprising: "There's antibodies to something related to Ebola Zaire."... Olival and his colleagues published these findings in February 2013. Then, a few months later, a team reported evidence for the virus in China. The bats with these antibodies have a broad range across south Asia, Olival says. "These species are found all the way down into parts of Indonesia."... But Olival isn't waiting to find out. Both he and David Hayman, who's now at Massey University in New Zealand, are working on ways to predict when and where Ebola and other deadly viruses will cause outbreaks. In particular, Olival is working with USAID to build an early warning system for dangerous viruses. The system could alert communities when the risk of an outbreak is high. People could be more careful while hunting bats or avoid their guano. "The ultimate goal is to move toward prediction," Olival says. "Again and again, we're hearing with the current massive Ebola outbreak that if it was detected earlier it would have been better contained."

It looks as though scientists are making some significant developments in how to combat Ebola. Would it be feasible to use bats as experimental animals in developing a human vaccine? Or possibly rats or mice? As for moving the drug experiments from Liberia to Guinea or another part of Africa where there is still an ongoing outbreak, it seems to me that international disputes shouldn't get in the way of continuing the experiment in that way. The experiments to prove how an epidemic can be predicted is almost as important, I would say, as the vaccine/drug treatments themselves. If I see any new articles on such tests I'll clip them.





MEASLES


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-very-concerned-about-potential-for-large-measles-outbreak/

CDC "very concerned" about potential for large measles outbreak
By REBECCA KAPLAN FACE THE NATION
February 1, 2015

Tom Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said his agency is "very concerned" about the possibility of a large measles outbreak in the U.S. because of the growing number of people who have not been vaccinated against the disease.

"What we've seen is, as over the last few years, a small but growing number of people have not been vaccinated. That number is building up among young adults in society, and that makes us vulnerable," Frieden said in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. "We have to make sure that measles doesn't get a foothold in the U.S. It's been actually eliminated from this country for 15 years. All of our cases result, ultimately, from individuals who have traveled and brought it back here."

There are at least 102 reported cases of measles in 14 states, according to CDC statistics. Frieden said there will likely be more cases going forward, and the CDC is taking "aggressive public health action" to identify contacts and isolate those infected in order to stop the spread.

But, he said, the disease is preventable and the best way to do that is with the vaccine, which he said is "safe and effective."

There is a 92 percent vaccination rate in the United States, but the number of unvaccinated children is higher in certain states. In California, where an outbreak of the disease has been linked to Disney theme parks in the southern part of the state, 8 percent of kindergarteners fail to get the required immunizations against measles, mumps and rubella. In Pennsylvania, that number rises to 15 percent of kindergarteners.

Frieden said that among the parents who opt out of vaccinations citing a personal belief, "most of them don't have that deeply held concern."

"They just may not recognize that measles is still with us, that it's serious, and that not getting your kid vaccinated is not only a risk for your own kid, but puts other vulnerable kids in your community at risk," he added.

Still, Frieden did not advocate for mandatory vaccination rules akin to states like Mississippi and West Virginia, which have nearly 100 percent vaccination rates. He said it is a decision best left for the school board and the community.

"The future is within our control," he said. "If we vaccinate well, if we increase those vaccination rates, we can stop measles just as we stopped it before."



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pediatrician-delaying-measles-vaccine-outbreak-have-anecdotal-data/

​Pediatrician: Dangers of measles outbreak being "over promoted"
CBS NEWS
January 29, 2015

Photograph – Dr. Jay Gordon  CBS NEWS

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - As the number of measles cases continue to grow across the country, not all medical experts are concerned. Doctor Jay Gordon, a pediatrician in Santa Monica, California, believes the outbreak is being over hyped.

"This is definitely being over promoted as a large and dangerous outbreak," said Dr. Gordon. "Right now we don't have that many cases of measles, and we should speak a little more quietly, we're actually panicking people."

Dr. Gordon says the majority of his patients are not vaccinated for measles, mumps or rubella. He has signed hundreds of "personal belief exemptions," which allow parents to bypass laws requiring vaccinations.

"I think that measles could return to the United States if we stop vaccinating," said Gordon. "I'm not advocating that people stop giving the MMR, I'm advocating that parents have the right to choose how and when they get that vaccine."

Even so, Dr. Gordon doesn't believe the CDC's guidelines are appropriate for all patients. The CDC recommends that children get their first dose of the MMR vaccine between the ages of 12 to 15 months. Dr. Gordon believes the first shot shouldn't be given until the child is at least three years old, but admits he has no scientific evidence to support his belief.

"I have no evidence based medicine, there's no research saying that," said Gordon. "I have anecdotal data that has told me that. Anecdotal data does not stand up to public scrutiny. It's easy to attack. I have had, as I've said, many parents tell me that their child has been harmed by the MMR."

In general, Dr. Gordon thinks the value of vaccines has been overstated.

"I think there are some diseases that have decreased in volume because of good hygiene and good health," said Dr. Gordon.

Dr. Gordon says the measles are not to be taken lightly but believes that reports on the current outbreak are wrongly frightening the public.

"The last fatal case of measles in the United States was 11 or 12 years ago," he said. "The complication rate is very low in healthy children."




CBS – “There is a 92 percent vaccination rate in the United States, but the number of unvaccinated children is higher in certain states. In California, where an outbreak of the disease has been linked to Disney theme parks in the southern part of the state, 8 percent of kindergarteners fail to get the required immunizations against measles, mumps and rubella. In Pennsylvania, that number rises to 15 percent of kindergarteners. Frieden said that among the parents who opt out of vaccinations citing a personal belief, "most of them don't have that deeply held concern.".... "They just may not recognize that measles is still with us, that it's serious, and that not getting your kid vaccinated is not only a risk for your own kid, but puts other vulnerable kids in your community at risk," he added.”... "What we've seen is, as over the last few years, a small but growing number of people have not been vaccinated. That number is building up among young adults in society, and that makes us vulnerable," Frieden said in an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. "We have to make sure that measles doesn't get a foothold in the U.S. It's been actually eliminated from this country for 15 years. All of our cases result, ultimately, from individuals who have traveled and brought it back here."


Dr. Gordon – “The CDC recommends that children get their first dose of the MMR vaccine between the ages of 12 to 15 months. Dr. Gordon believes the first shot shouldn't be given until the child is at least three years old, but admits he has no scientific evidence to support his belief. I have no evidence based medicine, there's no research saying that," said Gordon. "I have anecdotal data that has told me that. Anecdotal data does not stand up to public scrutiny. It's easy to attack. I have had, as I've said, many parents tell me that their child has been harmed by the MMR." In general, Dr. Gordon thinks the value of vaccines has been overstated.... Dr. Gordon says the majority of his patients are not vaccinated for measles, mumps or rubella. He has signed hundreds of "personal belief exemptions," which allow parents to bypass laws requiring vaccinations....

“"I think that measles could return to the United States if we stop vaccinating," said Gordon. "I'm not advocating that people stop giving the MMR, I'm advocating that parents have the right to choose how and when they get that vaccine."” This doctor is making mega bucks on new customers because of his willingness to sign parental waivers, it seems to me. He admits there is no medical research actually showing that vaccines are causing Autism or any other harmful condition. He says that “many” parents have told him that a child of theirs developed a problem after taking a vaccine. Meanwhile, schools, hospitals, theaters, transportation systems etc. are becoming the source of new measles cases until this outbreak is stopped. It started in California little more than three weeks ago, and has spread to quite a few other states already. One article last week said that, unlike Ebola which requires much closer proximity to spread, measles can be contracted from the air as far away as 20 feet. Besides, even Dr. Gordon acknowledges that measles does sometimes kill. Just because “healthy children” don't usually develop complications, the parent in the news last week of a three year old with leukemia, and therefore a compromised immunity system, is also not very uncommon. Lots of kids are not “healthy” and their parents don't deserve to suffer the death of their child so some whack jobs can go without vaccinating their kids. I think individual rights should have some limitations.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-forgotten-children-investigating-sex-trafficking-in-america/

The forgotten children: Investigating sex-trafficking in America
By INES NOVACIC CBS NEWS
February 4, 2015

Photograph – Mazzilli in his office with Inga Bearden, mother of missing Destiny Butler

NEW YORK - On an October afternoon in the office of his private investigation firm in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Joe Mazzilli - a former New York City cop who started the "Pimp Squad" in the late 1970s - sat at his desk, reviewing dozens of papers. He was preparing to meet yet another distraught parent whose child had gone missing.

"I want everything in my head, everything about your daughter. So let's take it from the top - the day she ran away," said Mazzilli, looking up at the mother of the missing 14-year-old girl whose face was splashed across some of the papers he had been reviewing. Their initial greeting had been brief: Mazzilli was straightforward in every aspect of handling a given case.

The girl, Destiny Butler, had been missing nearly eight months and her mother, 43-year-old Inga Bearden, was frustrated by the NYPD's lack of progress in the case. Mazzilli is no stranger to cases like Butler's. He formed his firm's "runaway squad" around 10 years ago and says he's dealt with hundreds of missing children cases.

"When they get on the street, these kids, it could be a matter of days before they get exploited. And most of the time it is--days. Especially young girls," Mazzilli said after Bearden had left his office.

By "exploited," Mazzilli meant children who are forced into prostitution - those who are victims of sex trafficking.

Sex trafficking is a crime most people associate with foreign women or girls -- from Latin America, Asia, or Eastern Europe -- but pimps and criminal gangs across America are increasingly targeting runaways from the U.S., typically teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds, who they force into prostitution. Experts say that the nature of the crime and the organized gang networks involved make it difficult to estimate exactly how many children are victimized, but according to the FBI, up to 300,000 children across America could be at risk. The Bureau classified human trafficking as the third largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. Anti-sex trafficking groups estimatethat, annually, it's a $10 billion business in America alone.

After spending much of his NYPD career working with the department's vice unit, Mazzilli continues to track the victims of pimps and gangs. His current "runaway squad," which works cases pro-bono and operates in Florida and Texas in addition to New York, consists of a handful of mostly retired cops who work to rescue missing children.

"I've been doing this a long time, since the 70s, with the flamboyant pimps. ... In those days, they used to round up prostitutes for loitering, and bring them to the cells, and we had signs there - things like 'If you wanna get out of the life, if you're a runaway, contact Mazzilli - all confidential.' So, we got a lot of calls."

Mazzilli said the circumstances of Butler's case are all-too familiar: a teenager from a broken home or rough neighborhood falling victim to a predator. These predators increasingly use digital technology - namely mobile phones and social media - to lure their victims.

"There were texts going back and forth from this child, this 14-year-old - naked pictures," said Mazzilli, after Bearden had described how her daughter's cellphone contained inappropriate messages. "From the get-go, it's a clear case of exploitation."

Butler was reported missing last February. Bearden was referred to Mazzilli last October through a comment on a Facebook page she set up to raise awareness about her daughter's disappearance. Bearden said she approached Mazzilli, feeling the police hadn't been helpful - a sentiment shared by several parents of child sex trafficking victims that CBS News spoke with.

CBS News sent several requests to the NYPD for information about how cases involving runaway minors are handled. A spokesperson said that they cannot comment in general, but wrote in an email that the detective assigned to Destiny Butler's case last updated Bearden on the case on Jan. 28.

While Mazzilli wishes the NYPD would be more willing to collaborate with him and other retired cops, he insists it's often not the officer's fault if cases don't seem to move forward quickly.

"Police departments across the country can't take on all these case. I mean, they can take these cases on, but how much attention can they give each one when so many kids go missing?" said Mazzilli.

Eight hundred thousand children go missing every year across the country, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an agency set up by Congress that works with the FBI and the Department of Justice to rescue missing children. With the rise of the Internet as a tool for pimps and gangs to cultivate and traffic victims, the number of these crimes is increasing.

"The Internet now has become the number one place for the sale of children for sex," Staca Shehan, the Director of the Case Analysis Division at the National Center told CBS News.

"Unfortunately this crime and the amount of kids we know to be victimized is increasing," said Shehan. Last year, 1 in 7 endangered runaways reported to the center were sex-trafficking victims, according to Shehan. In 2012, that number was 1 in 8.

According to their website, the center has receivedalmost 3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation over the past 17 years. The biggest threat to these runaway children - in hundreds of cities and small towns across America - are gangs.

Shehan said it was "crucial" for parents to report their child missing to the National Center hotline: "I would like to stress to them, please make that the first thing you do." One thing the center prioritizes is the monitoring of commercial websites for evidence of sex-trafficking crimes. These sites are easily accessible while regularly advertising the sale of young women for sex, many of whom look underage.

Missing children, including those classified as runaways, are often lured by predators online. Sometimes, they're drawn away from home to different states. Sometimes gangs will move them around within a given city, around a state, and even across state borders. The average age of entry into this kind of exploitation is 12 to 14 years old.

"[Predators] get the vulnerability and they get just how significant it is to prey on that vulnerability," said Lauren Hersh, director of Anti Trafficking Policy & Advocacy at Sanctuary for Families. She recently helped launch a high-profile campaign called the New Abolitionists to raise awareness about the issue of sex-trafficking as "modern-day slavery."

Hersh was a prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney's office for almost nine years. She helped set up their pioneering sex-trafficking unit in 2010. To date, the unit has indicted about 80 defendants. District Attorney's offices around New York work with units like the New York City Task Force Against Trafficking, set up in 2000 around the time Congress passed its first piece of anti-trafficking legislation. Since then, six other anti-trafficking laws have passed nationwide, according to the State Department, which monitors the issue because of its overlap with immigration.

Despite the recent legislation, advocates for sex-trafficking victims say much more needs to be done to combat the issue.

"Sex-trafficking is one of the most violent felonies and yet the law recognizes it as a non-violent felony," said Hersh. "If a person, let's say a man, has sex with a child and commits statutory rape, he faces fewer penalties than if that same person has sex with that same child but hands her a $20 bill."

The relatively weak penalties is one of the reasons that very few sex-trafficking victims file charges against their exploiters. Additionally, many are wrongly classified as prostitutes and could face charges themselves.

Fear is another reason why victims don't seek to prosecute their abusers, since sex-trafficking and gang violence are often connected.

"It's tied to gang activity. These people don't care if they kill people. My hands are tied," said Erica, a mother of a sex-trafficking victim from Queens, who asked CBS News to only use her first name. She had turned to Mazzilli three years ago after her daughter had been missing for almost six months and police couldn't find her.

"That was really hard. And just knowing that as a mother I couldn't protect her, that was even harder. I don't think they realize that teenagers who go missing are at higher risk, and these predators know that."

The girl had been forced into prostitution at age 15 by the Bloods, a notoriously violent street gang. As mother and daughter sat together on a recent afternoon in their home, the now-18-year-old, who asked CBS not to use her name, described how her pimp held her hostage in a house in Brooklyn, along with a handful of other girls - some of whom were also underage.

"We were expected to bring back $500 every night, and if you didn't, that's when he would get violent," she said. She added how the so-called clubs he took her to were deliberately set up to help gangs run their sex-trafficking operations.

"It's like they were made for that," she said. "There's a lot in Brooklyn, some in Manhattan. ... You dance a little bit, whatever, then you go in the back, do what you need to do, then come back out and that was the order."

Like criminal gangs all over the U.S., gangs in New York profit enormously from sex-trafficking. It's not only the sale of children for sex online or in makeshift clubs -- gang members sometimes work with hotels and motels that facilitate sex-trafficking.

"We have a lot of work to do, and not just going after traffickers and buyers, but to make sure location are held accountable as well," said Hersh on a recent afternoon in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. She pointed to a hotel implicated in one of her past cases, involving the Bloods.

"These gangs are very good at teaching these victims: there's ramifications if you talk," said Mazzilli. "They need to tweak the law to go after them for racketeering."

The Unites States House of Representatives recently passed four anti-sex trafficking bills and is considering an additional eight that are expected to pass in the coming days. These proposed measures comes around the time of the Super Bowl, an event that draws a large amount of sex-trafficking. Last year, the FBI arrested more than 45 pimps and recovered 16 juveniles during a sting focused on child sex-trafficking during the Super Bowl season.

"Everyone needs to be put on notice - if you buy or sell an individual like a commodity, the law is coming after you," said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

The newly convened 2015 New York State legislature is also considering anti-sex trafficking legislation: the Trafficking Victims Protection and Justice Act would enhance protection and provide services for sexually exploited children.

But while advocates wait for stronger legislation, Joe Mazzilli will continue doing what he can to make a difference.

"I'm gonna keep doing this as long as I can do it," he said, as he continues to investigate the disappearance of Desitny Butler. Her case is currently active in New York and in Michigan. No suspects have been arrested, and to date, no one has been ruled out as a suspect. Mazzilli remains confident he will find her.

"This is the highlight of my career," said Mazzilli. "I'm here to find a kid, so if you're in my way, you've got a problem."




“Mazzilli is no stranger to cases like Butler's. He formed his firm's "runaway squad" around 10 years ago and says he's dealt with hundreds of missing children cases. When they get on the street, these kids, it could be a matter of days before they get exploited. And most of the time it is--days. Especially young girls," Mazzilli said after Bearden had left his office.... Sex trafficking is a crime most people associate with foreign women or girls -- from Latin America, Asia, or Eastern Europe -- but pimps and criminal gangs across America are increasingly targeting runaways from the U.S., typically teenagers from disadvantaged backgrounds, who they force into prostitution. Experts say that the nature of the crime and the organized gang networks involved make it difficult to estimate exactly how many children are victimized, but according to the FBI, up to 300,000 children across America could be at risk. The Bureau classified human trafficking as the third largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. Anti-sex trafficking groups estimatethat, annually, it's a $10 billion business in America alone.... His current "runaway squad," which works cases pro-bono and operates in Florida and Texas in addition to New York, consists of a handful of mostly retired cops who work to rescue missing children.... These predators increasingly use digital technology - namely mobile phones and social media - to lure their victims.... While Mazzilli wishes the NYPD would be more willing to collaborate with him and other retired cops, he insists it's often not the officer's fault if cases don't seem to move forward quickly. "Police departments across the country can't take on all these case. I mean, they can take these cases on, but how much attention can they give each one when so many kids go missing?" said Mazzilli. Eight hundred thousand children go missing every year across the country, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an agency set up by Congress that works with the FBI and the Department of Justice to rescue missing children. With the rise of the Internet as a tool for pimps and gangs to cultivate and traffic victims, the number of these crimes is increasing.... The biggest threat to these runaway children - in hundreds of cities and small towns across America - are gangs.... "Sex-trafficking is one of the most violent felonies and yet the law recognizes it as a non-violent felony," said Hersh. … Fear is another reason why victims don't seek to prosecute their abusers, since sex-trafficking and gang violence are often connected. "It's tied to gang activity. These people don't care if they kill people. My hands are tied," said Erica, a mother of a sex-trafficking victim from Queens, who asked CBS News to only use her first name. She had turned to Mazzilli three years ago after her daughter had been missing for almost six months and police couldn't find her.... Like criminal gangs all over the U.S., gangs in New York profit enormously from sex-trafficking. It's not only the sale of children for sex online or in makeshift clubs -- gang members sometimes work with hotels and motels that facilitate sex-trafficking.... The Unites States House of Representatives recently passed four anti-sex trafficking bills and is considering an additional eight that are expected to pass in the coming days. These proposed measures comes around the time of the Super Bowl, an event that draws a large amount of sex-trafficking.”

This is so sad. One of the saddest things about it is that young runaways are often trying to escape sexual or other abuse at home from their own parents. Some are probably simply drawn to the perpetrator via an appealing come on on the Internet. One problem with teenagers is that they are all naturally curious about sexuality, and someone sending them a nude photo of himself could be all it takes for them to leave home. Parents need to talk to their kids about sex and the importance of waiting until they are adults to get involved. They also need to be a supportive parent rather than an abusive one. Some parents aren't very well educated and are poor, but surely they can talk to their kids and try to keep them away from bad influences. Even poor parents can say and demonstrate their love to their children. Unfortunately too often those parents are alcohol or drug addicts or even hard core criminals. I'm glad to see that this group of ex-police officers are on the job to intervene for the kidnapped youngsters.

For every police officer who pointlessly shoots someone, there is a good and dedicated public servant, and more than one, actually. When I see an article about a cop who's a hero like this I try to clip it. Just out of curiosity I'm going to look on the Net under “hero cop.” See what I found below. The website Policeone.com has a number of these articles plus police viewpoints in their self-defense against people who fear or distrust them. Unfortunately some of them need to make more efforts to help the same community where they police the “bad guys,” so that they will be viewed as personable and helpful to a larger number of residents there. Their perceived "bad guys" shouldn't be largely black or brown skinned. The so-called "stop and frisk" policy is especially deleterious to good relations and trust among community members.

http://www.policeone.com/police-heroes/

Ky. cop buys baby formula for shoplifter's child

Pa. cop lauded for community work dies during charity race
Detective who collapsed and died during a 5K race Saturday morning in Philadelphia was running to raise money for his parish

Cops save beaten puppy buried alive in snow; owner arrested
Court papers show a veterinarian treated the dog for skull, leg, rib and back fractures as well as lost teeth