Monday, March 16, 2015


News Clips For The Day


THE RUSSIANS


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-considered-nuclear-option-over-crimea-putin-says/

Putin: Russia considered nuclear option over Crimea
AP March 15, 2015

Photograph – Vladimir Putin likens Crimea takeover to bear guarding his territory

MOSCOW - Russia was ready to bring its nuclear weapons into a state of alert during last year's tensions over the Crimean Peninsula and the overthrow of Ukraine's president, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks aired on Sunday.

Putin also expanded on a previous admission that the well-armed forces in unmarked uniforms who took control of Ukrainian military facilities in Crimea were Russian soldiers.

Putin's comments, in a documentary being shown on state TV, highlight the extent to which alarm spread in Russia in the weeks following Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster in February 2014 after months of street protests that turned increasingly violent.

The documentary came as speculation swirled about Putin's 10-day absence from public view. On Monday, he put paid to the rumors and speculation, however, meeting with the president of Kyrgyzstan in his first public event since March 5.

After Yanukovych fled Kiev, eventually surfacing in Russia, separatist sentiment soared in Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula dominated by ethnic Russians.

Russian forces took control of Ukrainian military facilities on the peninsula and a referendum on secession was hastily called. The referendum, which was widely denounced in the West as illegitimate, reportedly brought overwhelming support for secession. Russia annexed Crimea on March 19, 2014.

In the documentary, which marks a year since the referendum, Putin says of the nuclear preparedness, "We were ready to do this ... (Crimea) is our historical territory. Russian people live there. They were in danger. We cannot abandon them."

The comments were reported on the state broadcaster's website after its transmission in the Russian Far East and before it appeared on the air in Moscow.

Putin said his plans for a Crimean operation started after Yanukovych fled.

"We never thought about severing Crimea from Ukraine until the moment that these events began, the government overthrow," he said, repeating Russia's contention that Yanukovych was the victim of a coup.

He said he called for a "closed opinion poll" of sentiments among Crimeans about whether to remain in Ukraine. He didn't give details as to how this survey was conducted, but said "it became clear that 75 percent of the general population desired to join Russia."

Russia initially denied that the unmarked forces who took control in Crimea were Russian, but Putin later admitted they were. In the Sunday documentary, he said he ordered the defense ministry to deploy military intelligence special forces, marines and paratroopers "under the cover of strengthening the protection of our military facilities."

Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based in Crimea; it retained the bases after the collapse of the Soviet Union under an agreement with Ukraine.

Putin claimed in the documentary that the number of Russian forces in Crimea never exceeded the 20,000 authorized under the agreement on basing the Black Sea Fleet there.

Putin also said Russian forces helped Yanukovych escape to Russia.

After fleeing the capital Kiev, Yanukovych made one appearance in Kharkov, then disappeared for several days. Reports at the time said he and his security entourage went on a desperate journey through the eastern parts of the country and down to Crimea, looking for safety. Putin's retelling appeared to confirm those reports.

He said Russian security forces had tried to keep contact with Yanukovych as he moved through Ukraine and eventually "we brought him to Russian territory."



http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/16/us-russia-crisis-putin-idUSKBN0MC10920150316

Russia's Putin reappears after 10 day absence, laughs off 'gossip'
BY DENIS DYOMKIN
Mar 16, 2015

(Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin reappeared on Monday after 10 unexplained days out of public view, laughing off the "gossip" over his health that had erupted during his absence.

The 62-year-old leader met the president of Kyrgyzstan at a lavish Tsarist-era palace outside St Petersburg in his first appearance since Feb. 5. His absence had fueled rumors he was ill, had been overthrown by the army or had even flown abroad to attend the birth of a love child.

"It would be boring without gossip," Putin said, smiling easily before television cameras. He looked relaxed, if pale.

His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, mocked the press for its interest, referring sarcastically to the various rumors: "So you've seen the broken, paralyzed president, who has been captured by generals? He's only just flown in from Switzerland, where he attended a birth as you know."

In a choreographed double-act, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev vouched for the Russian leader's health, saying that Putin "just now drove me around the grounds; he himself sat at the wheel."

Putin's return to public view coincided with Russia's biggest military exercises since ties with the West sank to a post-Cold War low over the Ukraine crisis.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Putin had ordered nearly 40,000 troops to be at combat readiness for exercises in Russia's Arctic North and elsewhere, which appeared meant to dwarf war games in neighboring NATO-member Norway.

MACHO IMAGE

The Russian leader prides himself on his macho image. In 2008 he said he worked like a "galley slave" to run Russia. Typically, he is shown most days on state-controlled television, meeting officials in Moscow or traveling to Russia's far-flung regions.

During his absence, the Kremlin unexpectedly canceled a trip to Kazakhstan and a high profile meeting with officers of the main successor agency to the KGB. Pictures were posted on the Kremlin website of meetings Putin had with public figures, which, it later emerged, had been taken several days earlier.

The absence began a week after an opposition leader was shot dead near the Kremlin walls, adding to an ominous atmosphere in a country suffering from an economic crisis worsened by international sanctions imposed over Putin's decision to intervene in neighboring Ukraine.

Throughout his absence Russian officials had said that Putin had been working. Peskov said he had answered "10 times over" what Putin was doing during his absence. "It is impossible to say anymore," he said.

Putin remains hugely popular in Russia, which has experienced a surge of nationalist and anti-American sentiment fueled by state-run media since Putin sent troops to seize Ukraine's Crimea peninsula a year ago.

The military exercises are due to last for much of the week, during which Russia will celebrate the anniversary of its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, carried out with the help of special forces in the weeks after a pro-Moscow leader was toppled in Kiev.

Since then, a swathe of eastern Ukraine that Putin calls "New Russia" has also tried to secede, leading to war in which 6,000 people have been killed. NATO says thousands of Russian troops are fighting there on behalf of pro-Russian rebels, which Moscow denies.

Russia has repeatedly staged high-profile war games at pivotal moments during the Ukraine conflict.

Despite the economic crisis brought on by low prices for its energy exports as well as Western sanctions, Putin has promised to spend more than 21 trillion rubles ($335 billion) to revamp the military by the end of the decade.

(Story corrects date of previous appearance to March 5 from Feb 5 in paragraph 2)
(Additional reporting by Lidia Kelly, Writing by Elizabeth Piper and Thomas Grove, Editing by Peter Graff)




CBS – “Russia was ready to bring its nuclear weapons into a state of alert during last year's tensions over the Crimean Peninsula and the overthrow of Ukraine's president, President Vladimir Putin said in remarks aired on Sunday. Putin also expanded on a previous admission that the well-armed forces in unmarked uniforms who took control of Ukrainian military facilities in Crimea were Russian soldiers. Putin's comments, in a documentary being shown on state TV, highlight the extent to which alarm spread in Russia in the weeks following Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster in February 2014 after months of street protests that turned increasingly violent.... In the documentary, which marks a year since the referendum, Putin says of the nuclear preparedness, "We were ready to do this ... (Crimea) is our historical territory. Russian people live there. They were in danger. We cannot abandon them."... He said he called for a "closed opinion poll" of sentiments among Crimeans about whether to remain in Ukraine. He didn't give details as to how this survey was conducted, but said "it became clear that 75 percent of the general population desired to join Russia."... Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based in Crimea; it retained the bases after the collapse of the Soviet Union under an agreement with Ukraine. Putin claimed in the documentary that the number of Russian forces in Crimea never exceeded the 20,000 authorized under the agreement on basing the Black Sea Fleet there. Putin also said Russian forces helped Yanukovych escape to Russia.”

REUTERS – “The 62-year-old leader met the president of Kyrgyzstan at a lavish Tsarist-era palace outside St Petersburg in his first appearance since Feb. 5. His absence had fueled rumors he was ill, had been overthrown by the army or had even flown abroad to attend the birth of a love child.... Putin's return to public view coincided with Russia's biggest military exercises since ties with the West sank to a post-Cold War low over the Ukraine crisis. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Putin had ordered nearly 40,000 troops to be at combat readiness for exercises in Russia's Arctic North and elsewhere, which appeared meant to dwarf war games in neighboring NATO-member Norway.... During his absence, the Kremlin unexpectedly canceled a trip to Kazakhstan and a high profile meeting with officers of the main successor agency to the KGB. Pictures were posted on the Kremlin website of meetings Putin had with public figures, which, it later emerged, had been taken several days earlier.… The military exercises are due to last for much of the week, during which Russia will celebrate the anniversary of its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, carried out with the help of special forces in the weeks after a pro-Moscow leader was toppled in Kiev. Since then, a swathe of eastern Ukraine that Putin calls "New Russia" has also tried to secede, leading to war in which 6,000 people have been killed. NATO says thousands of Russian troops are fighting there on behalf of pro-Russian rebels, which Moscow denies.... Despite the economic crisis brought on by low prices for its energy exports as well as Western sanctions, Putin has promised to spend more than 21 trillion rubles ($335 billion) to revamp the military by the end of the decade.”

“New Russia,” nuclear weapons – Russia, or at any rate Putin, is definitely against maintaining the ties with Western Europe and the US which were established under Gorbachev. If Putin is going to “revamp the military by the end of the decade,” we should be revamping ours as well. After the end of the universal draft in the US we have been diminished in our basic capabilities. That could force us into considering the nuclear option as well. We are completely focused on lightning strikes with air and small groups of special forces. We may need to confront an enemy which is more like our WWII to Korean Conflict days if Russia is actually gearing up for invasions of one or more of it's former satellite nations, as they have done in Ukraine. My problem is I completely distrust Vladimir Putin. He lies every other sentence he utters. It's impossible to trust “the people” of a nation enough to establish a peaceful relationship if the leader is completely dishonest.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-using-chemical-weapon-chlorine-gas-in-iraq-kurds-say/

Kurds claim ISIS using chemical weapons
AP March 16, 2015

ERBIL, Iraq -- Kurdish forces in Iraq are investigating two more possible chemical weapons attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a top official said Monday, as authorities put an Iraqi offensive to retake Saddam Hussein's hometown on hold.

The two purported chemical weapon attacks resemble one already claimed by Kurdish officials who say an independent laboratory concluded the militants used chlorine gas against its peshmerga forces in a Jan. 23 truck suicide attack. However, their claims were not immediately verified by international authorities.

Iraqi officials and Kurds fighting in Syria have made similar allegations about the militants using the low-grade chemical weapons against them. ISIS, which controls a third of Syria and Iraq in its self-declared caliphate, has not commented on the claims.

Gen. Aziz Wesi, in charge of a Kurdish special forces brigade, told journalists Monday that authorities declined to immediately discuss the two previous attacks on Dec. 26 and Jan. 28 out of fears of causing a panic.

Kurdish officials have offered footage of the aftermath of the Dec. 26 attack, which shows men coughing and pouring water over their heads after another suicide truck bombing that authorities say wounded some 60 men.

"I put a wet scarf on my face because when I saw the gas, I felt it," said Capt. Mohammad Sewdin, who leads the Kurdish special forces unit targeted in the December attack. "I was afraid it might be something like (chemical weapons). So I told my men to do the same."

Sewdin told The Associated Press he was temporarily blinded for six hours after the attack and coughed up blood. He and others were hospitalized.

On Saturday, the Kurdistan Region Security Council offered video and lab results it said proved ISIS used chlorine in the Jan. 23 suicide truck bomb.

There has been no independent confirmation of any of the Kurds' claims. Peter Sawczak, a spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which has monitored Syria dismantling its chemical weapons stockpile, said Saturday that his group had not been asked to investigate the Jan. 23 attack. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday about the newly claimed attacks.

Chlorine, an industrial chemical, was first introduced as a chemical weapon at Ypres in World War I with disastrous effects as gas masks were not widely available at the time. While chlorine has many industrial and public uses, as a weapon it chokes victims to death. Most nations banned its use in war in the Geneva Protocol of 1925.

In the Syrian civil war, a chlorine gas attack on the outskirts of Damascus in 2013 killed hundreds and nearly drove the U.S. to launch airstrikes against the government of embattled President Bashar Assad. The U.S. and Western allies accused Assad's government of being responsible for that attack, while Damascus blamed rebels.

There have been several allegations that ISIS has used chlorine previously. In October, Iraqi officials claimed the militants may have used chlorine-filled cylinders during clashes in late September in the towns of Balad and Duluiya. Their disclosures came as reports from the Syrian border town of Kobani indicated that the extremist group added chlorine to an arsenal that already includes heavy weapons and tanks looted from captured military bases.

Insurgents have used chlorine gas in Iraq before. In May 2007, suicide bombers driving chlorine tankers struck three cities in Anbar province, killing two police officers and forcing about 350 Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops to seek treatment for gas exposure. Those bombers belonged to al Qaeda in Iraq, which later became ISIS.

The Kurdish claims also come on the 27th anniversary Monday of the 1988 Halabja massacre, which saw Saddam use chemical weapons on the Kurdish village, killing an estimated 5,000 people.

Meanwhile Monday, Iraqi Interior Minister Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban said the offensive to retake the ISIS-held city of Tikrit will be on hold until civilians in Saddam Hussein's hometown can flee and roadside bombs can be cleared.

Speaking to reporters from the nearby city of Samarra, he said ISIS militants booby-trapped roads and buildings leading into Tikrit, slowing the Iraqi forces, aided by Iranian advisers.

"The militants are squeezed into a small part of the city center," al-Ghabban said.

He offered no timeframe for the advance to resume, saying that is being "left to the field commanders." So far, the campaign is not being aided by U.S.-led airstrikes, which continue in elsewhere in Iraq and Syria.

Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin province, lies about 80 miles north of Baghdad. It is one of the largest cities held by ISIS militants and lies on the road connecting Baghdad to Mosul. Retaking it will help Iraqi forces have a major supply link for any future operation to retake Mosul.

U.S. military officials have that said a coordinated military mission to retake Mosul likely will begin in April or May and involve up to 25,000 Iraqi troops. But the Americans have cautioned that if the Iraqis are not ready, the offensive could be delayed.




“The two purported chemical weapon attacks resemble one already claimed by Kurdish officials who say an independent laboratory concluded the militants used chlorine gas against its peshmerga forces in a Jan. 23 truck suicide attack. However, their claims were not immediately verified by international authorities. Iraqi officials and Kurds fighting in Syria have made similar allegations about the militants using the low-grade chemical weapons against them. ISIS, which controls a third of Syria and Iraq in its self-declared caliphate, has not commented on the claims.... There has been no independent confirmation of any of the Kurds' claims. Peter Sawczak, a spokesman for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which has monitored Syria dismantling its chemical weapons stockpile, said Saturday that his group had not been asked to investigate the Jan. 23 attack. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday about the newly claimed attacks.... Insurgents have used chlorine gas in Iraq before. In May 2007, suicide bombers driving chlorine tankers struck three cities in Anbar province, killing two police officers and forcing about 350 Iraqi civilians and six U.S. troops to seek treatment for gas exposure. Those bombers belonged to al Qaeda in Iraq, which later became ISIS.”

The UN has weighed in on the matter in typical diplomatic fashion: “http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc11810.doc.htm, Adopting Resolution 2209 (2015), Security Council Condemns Use of Chlorine Gas as Weapon in Syria – “Following the latest findings by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Security Council today condemned in the strongest terms any use of chlorine as a weapon in Syria, signalling it would take “Chapter VII” action if such arms were used again in the nearly four-year-old conflict. By a vote of 14 in favour, zero against, and 1 abstention (Venezuela), the Council adopted resolution 2209 (2015), expressing deep concern that toxic chemicals had been used as a weapon in Syria, as concluded with a “high degree of confidence” by the OPCW fact-finding mission.  It decided that in the event of non-compliance with resolution 2118 (2013), it would impose measures under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.  Toxic chemicals used as a weapon would violate resolution 2118 (2013) and the Chemical Weapons Convention, it stated....  By resolution 2118 (2013), the Council endorsed the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons programme and agreed to impose Chapter VII measures in the event of non-compliance.] ….  Stressing that those responsible for use of chemical weapons — including chlorine — must be held accountable, the Council called on all parties to fully cooperate with the mission. …. He did not accept the use of sanctions under Chapter VII without attempts to confirm use of such chemicals. Yet, the Council could not sit idle in the face of violations to resolution 2118 (2013), said the representative of France.  His country stood ready to take measures under Chapter VII. Along similar lines, the representative of the United Kingdom said today’s resolution put the Syrian regime on notice that the further use of chlorine gas would prompt the Council towards additional action. Also speaking today were the representatives of China, United States and Jordan. Making further statements were the representatives of the Russian Federation and the United States.... Making a further statement, Mr. CHURKIN (Russian Federation) said that failure by the United States to take action against Syria after that country had supposedly crossed the “red line” established by President Barack Obama could be construed that the Syrian regime had not used chemical weapons.”

In reading though this I don't see any recommendation for sending UN troops into the war zones of Syria and Iraq to protect the Kurds or the local people. Also, there are no specific charges toward any government of “war crimes ” – the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are still “studying” the situation. Meanwhile the Kurds stand at their posts and continue their fight. I firmly believe the Kurds should have an independent nation of their own and a membership in the UN based on their undeniable valor. There is a place called Kurdistan, but it is a wide area that covers parts of Iraq, Syria and there are a great many Kurds in Turkey. They are feared for their constant desire for national status, as are the Palestinians. They are pulling everybody else's bacon out of the fire a this point, however, in protecting the Middle East in general against ISIS. I admire them.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chinese-company-pledged-2-million-to-clinton-foundation-in-2013/

Chinese company pledged $2 million to Clinton Foundation in 2013
By JULIANNA GOLDMAN CBS NEWS
March 16, 2015

A CBS News investigation has found that at least one foreign company with close ties to its government has been giving generously to the foundation run by Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.

Since its founding, the Clinton Foundation has invested millions each year for work in fighting AIDS and empowering women, but its recent uptick in donations from foreign governments has been raising questions about the potential influence on Hillary Clinton, as she gets ready to run for president.

The foundation has raised at least $42 million from foreign governments - and according to an analysis by CBS News - at least $170 million from foreign entities and individuals.

One donor - Rilin Enterprises- pledged $2 million in 2013 to the Clinton Foundation's endowment. The company is a privately-held Chinese construction and trade conglomerate and run by billionaire Wang Wenliang, who is also a delegate to the Chinese parliament. Public records show the firm has spent $1.4 million since 2012, lobbying Congress and the State Department. The firm owns a strategic port along the border with North Korea and was also one of the contractors that built the Chinese embassy in Washington.

That contract is a direct tie to the Chinese government, according to Jim Mann, who has written several books on China's relationship with the U.S.

With "embassy construction, one of the most important tasks is making sure that there are no bugs there," he said. "So you want to have the closest security and intelligence connections with and approval of the person or company that's going to build your embassy."

The Clinton Foundation largely stopped taking money from foreign governments when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state in 2009. It resumed the practice once she left in 2013, but never stopped taking money from foreign companies or individuals.

In a statement, the foundation said that should Hillary Clinton run for president "we will continue to ensure the Foundation's policies and practices regarding support from international partners are appropriate, just as we did when she served as Secretary of State."

But since the foundation never stopped taking money from foreign companies and individuals, even if the foundation were to return to the policies and practices in place while she was secretary, the launch of a Clinton presidential bid wouldn't preclude an individual, like Wang - with direct ties to the government - from contributing money. Further complicating Clinton's ties to her family foundation, is that when she was secretary of state, the foundation had a built-in infrastructure - in the State Department and the White House - to vet donations from foreign entities. That mechanism hasn't traditionally existed within a presidential candidate's campaign stricture.

The Rilin donation came at a time when the Clintons were aggressively raising money and when it was no secret she was readying a run for the White House. It underscores the types of questions the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign will have to answer as they reevaluate their policies.

"If the point is you are not going to take money from foreign governments, then his construction company is as close to not just the Chinese government, but its Ministry of State Security as they could possibly be," said Mann.

"Indirectly the Clinton Foundation has political influence, that's why people give to it," said Mann. "People give to the Clinton Foundation particularly because it is the Clintons and because they are prominent politicians in the United States."

A Rilin spokesperson said Wang "was asked to join the NPC [National People's Congress], a largely ceremonial body, as a delegate in 2013."

Wang has given tens of millions of dollars to other organizations, including New York University, where he's a member of its Board of Trustees. In a statement, the Rilin spokesperson said, "Mr. Wang has a long history of generous philanthropic giving to institutions of higher education and organizations that work on and promote global relations. The Clinton Foundation is one of the many organizations Mr. Wang has donated to."

Rilin, however, has a history of complaints since 2001 regarding its treatment of embassy construction workers. Documents obtained by CBS News show Rilin was cited in 2011 and 2013 by officials in Jersey City, New Jersey for housing workers in unsafe, crowded and unsanitary conditions. The company settled the 2011 violations for $6,066 and says all the charges related to the 2013 inspection were dismissed.

Among the Clinton Foundation foreign donors, there are also a number that have come under fire from US agencies. Barclays Capital has given at least $1 million dollars to the foundation and last year, HSBC Holdings gave the foundation at least $500,000. Both British banks are under Justice Department investigations.

Asked about donations from foreign governments last week, Hillary Clinton defended the foundation's work, saying "I think that to people who want to support the foundation, know full well what it is we stand for and what we're working on."

Campaign finance laws prohibit foreign interests from investing in U.S. elections to prevent foreigners from buying political influence at home, but those rules don't apply to the Clinton Foundation. Bill Allison, senior policy analyst at the Sunlight Foundation, a campaign finance watchdog group, says the Clinton foundation is a unique non-profit that can't be separated from the US political system.

"If there is foreign money coming into the Clinton Foundation, it will raise the question of - is the president going to be doing favors for a foreign business, a foreign government, a foreign individual? And you just cannot have that in the American system of government, where the president is supposed to represent the American people," Allison said.

Clinton officials say that many major institutions - financial, media, industrial or otherwise - have been subject to investigation at some point. They said many of these organizations are capable of significant and positive impact and the investigations alone shouldn't preclude them from contributing to improving lives.

RELATED ARTICLES:

GOP TO HILLARY CLINTON: HAND OVER YOUR EMAIL SERVER
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I don't know what laws regulate this kind of thing – the Chinese gift of money to an American political candidate – but there probably is one -- campaign financing and conflict of interest if it happened while she was Secretary Of State. Clinton may be in serious trouble now. It will certainly be a scandal. This is the second time of which I am aware when China gave mega money to a Democrat who was running for office – and that was Al Gore. As far as I can recall he didn't really get into any trouble over it, but it definitely doesn't look good at all. It's really just like the Republicans recently inviting Israel's head of state to speak to the Congress. It's unethical. I hope the story goes away soon without too great a problem.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-cuts-medicare-food-stamps-in-new-budget-blueprint/

GOP cuts Medicare, food stamps in new budget blueprint
AP  March 16, 2015

Photograph – Protestors call for an increase of taxes on the wealthy and voice opposition to cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid during a demonstration in the Federal Building Plaza on December 6, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois. SCOTT OLSON, GETTY IMAGES

WASHINGTON -- Republicans now in charge of Congress offer their budget blueprint this week with the pledge to balance the nation's budget within a decade and rein in major programs such as food stamps and Medicare.

More pressing for many Republicans, however, is easing automatic budget cuts set to slam the military.

The chairmen of the House and Senate Budget panels plan to release their budget plans this week - the House on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday. The nonbinding measure called a budget resolution sets broad parameters on taxes and spending; it requires follow-up legislation later this year to implement its balanced-budget goals, and Republicans are unlikely to take on that task as long as President Barack Obama occupies the Oval Office.

House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., plan to produce blueprints that would balance the budget within 10 years - without raising taxes.

Instead, they will propose major spending cuts to programs such as Medicare, health care subsidies, food stamps and the Medicaid program for the poor and elderly to produce a budget that's balanced. Such cuts, if actually implemented later, would likely slash spending by $5 trillion or so over the coming decade from budgets that are presently on track to spend almost $50 trillion over that timeframe.

To the dismay of defense hawks, however, they can't really use Congress' arcane budget process to repeal automatic Pentagon cuts that will strip $54 billion from core Pentagon programs based on limits set under a hard-fought 2011 budget deal. Nor can they match Obama's proposal to add $38 billion to the Pentagon's budget next year without exposing the entire budget to a parliamentary challenge by Democrats.

That has deficit and defense hawks like Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., fuming.

"If we're going to have a lower (defense) number than the president of the United States is proposing, we have no credibility on saying that we are committed to defending this nation - not when every service chief, every witness before our committee says it will devastate ... our ability to defend the nation," McCain said. "You can't do that and claim that you care about national defense."

In the House, 70 Republicans have signed a letter by Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, pledging their "unwavering support" for Obama's $561 billion defense request instead of the $523 billion amount mandated under the 2011 budget deal. That law requires automatic spending cuts for years because of the failure of Congress to produce follow-up deficit cuts.

A bipartisan Senate group, including Armed Services Committee members Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., hopes to develop a package of alternative cuts and, perhaps, new revenues to replace the forced cuts to the Pentagon and nondefense programs. They're hoping to replicate a 2013 budget pact that partially eased the automatic cuts for the 2014-15 budget years.

Defense hawks are likely to win some relief after Price adds about $13 billion in extra money above Obama's budget request for overseas military operations that would effectively provide relief to core Pentagon accounts like training and operations and maintenance.

Meanwhile, Price says his upcoming budget will borrow heavily from those produced by former Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., most notably by envisioning a controversial Medicare plan that would, for people 56 or younger today, transform the system into a voucher-like program that subsidizes purchases of health insurance on the open market.

House Republicans say this "premium support" model would ensure Medicare's viability and spur innovation. Opponents say the subsidies won't keep up with medical inflation and will force people to pay higher out-of-pocket costs and saddle them with health plans that are inferior to traditional Medicare.

Enzi will go in a different direction on Medicare, said GOP aides, forgoing the premium support approach and instead adopting Obama's goal of paring $402 billion from the program over the coming decade - though not his lengthy roster of proposals to apply the cuts to health care providers.

Price is also likely to replicate Ryan's approach to cutting Medicaid and food stamps by transforming them from federal programs into wholly state-run programs that receive lump sum funding from the government. That approach makes it easier to cut these programs without saying how many people would be dropped or how their benefits would be cut.

In the four years that Republicans have controlled the House, they have yet to try to implement their controversial cuts, which was understandable given that Democrats controlled the rest of Washington. But now that Republicans have seized the Senate there's no expectation that they will follow the example of Republicans in 1995 and try to pass real legislation to balance the budget - with the certainty that Obama would veto any such measure as Bill Clinton thwarted the 1995 Newt Gingrich-led drive for a balanced budget.

"It's going to require presidential leadership. We don't have it," said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. "We do not have a willing partner."

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“Defense hawks are likely to win some relief after Price adds about $13 billion in extra money above Obama's budget request for overseas military operations that would effectively provide relief to core Pentagon accounts like training and operations and maintenance. Meanwhile, Price says his upcoming budget will borrow heavily from those produced by former Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., most notably by envisioning a controversial Medicare plan that would, for people 56 or younger today, transform the system into a voucher-like program that subsidizes purchases of health insurance on the open market.... Opponents say the subsidies won't keep up with medical inflation and will force people to pay higher out-of-pocket costs and saddle them with health plans that are inferior to traditional Medicare. Enzi will go in a different direction on Medicare, said GOP aides, forgoing the premium support approach and instead adopting Obama's goal of paring $402 billion from the program over the coming decade - though not his lengthy roster of proposals to apply the cuts to health care providers.... In the four years that Republicans have controlled the House, they have yet to try to implement their controversial cuts, which was understandable given that Democrats controlled the rest of Washington. But now that Republicans have seized the Senate there's no expectation that they will follow the example of Republicans in 1995 and try to pass real legislation to balance the budget...”

This looks like the same old issues to me, with the possibility of another government shutdown. I would say “ho hum,” but it does unnerve me, just as it does right now that the successor for head of the DOJ has not been voted “up or down” as a result of Republican stalling.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ferguson-police-shooter-jeffrey-williams-cops-werent-target-during-protest/

Ferguson gunman says he didn't target cops
CBS NEWS
March 16, 2015

VIDEO – Eric Holder condemns "damn punk" for cop shooting in Ferguson

Missouri police are holding the man who confessed to shooting two police officers in Ferguson during a demonstration Thursday. Activists say Jeffrey William was not a regular protester and they're worried that police tying him -- and his arrest -- to their movement could complicate their mission of non-violence.

The 20-year-old faces assault charges, but says police were not his target, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.

The two officers were hit by gunfire early Thursday morning in front of the Ferguson Police Department as demonstrators gathered hours after Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson announced he would step down this month.

Williams said he pulled the trigger from inside a vehicle, but told investigators the police officers were not his targets.

"He has acknowledged his participation in firing the shots, that in fact he did fire the shots that struck the two officers," McCulloch said, adding that the weapon used was a 40 mm handgun.

Witnesses said the gunfire came from a hill overlooking the Ferguson police station.

Police said Williams, who lives about five miles from the station, was at the protest before the shooting.

"He is a demonstrator, he was out there earlier that evening, as part of the demonstration. He's been out there on other occasions," McCulloch said.

During a brief jail visit on Sunday, Williams told Bishop Derrick Robinson that he "fired into the air."

"He said a particular protester tried to rob him and that was the reason he shot," Robinson said.

Robinson told CBS News the young man wasn't actively involved in the protest.

"He protested in August but as of the six months he has not been a protester," Robinson said. "We don't want our narrative as protesters to be painted wrong. We've worked so hard to rebuild this community."

Authorities said the investigation is ongoing and there may be other suspects. Williams, who is on probation for receiving stolen property, is being held on a $300,000 cash bond.




“Activists say Jeffrey William was not a regular protester and they're worried that police tying him -- and his arrest -- to their movement could complicate their mission of non-violence. The 20-year-old faces assault charges, but says police were not his target, reports CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds.... Police said Williams, who lives about five miles from the station, was at the protest before the shooting. "He is a demonstrator, he was out there earlier that evening, as part of the demonstration. He's been out there on other occasions," McCulloch said. During a brief jail visit on Sunday, Williams told Bishop Derrick Robinson that he "fired into the air."."He said a particular protester tried to rob him and that was the reason he shot," Robinson said.” ... Authorities said the investigation is ongoing and there may be other suspects. Williams, who is on probation for receiving stolen property, is being held on a $300,000 cash bond.”

Williams is in deep trouble, even if he meant to “fire into the air.” Since this a violation of his probation he will be sentenced to prison, I expect. I wish people attending demonstrations would absolutely refrain from carrying a weapon to the site. A peaceful demonstration is a powerful social tool, but violence of any type or level simply blackens the name of those who maintain a cool head. I am glad that neither police officer was very seriously hurt.




MORE FRAT HOUSE HIJINKS


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gang-signs-nooses-and-sex-dolls-race-tainted-incidents-at-frats-nationwide/

Gang signs, nooses and sex dolls: Race-tainted incidents at frats nationwide
CBS/AP
March 16, 2015

Photograph – Some students dressed as gang members at a "Cripmas party" at Clemson University. 

WASHINGTON -- Their reputations sullied by race-tainted incidents, many colleges are clamping down on campus fraternities. Despite some swift and tough actions by schools - and in some cases, public humiliation - episodes such as the racist chants by members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter at the University of Oklahoma keep surfacing.

In recent years, numerous other fraternities have been suspended and students expelled from school for racially tinged parties or behavior, such as hanging nooses or shouting racial profanities.

"All too often the outcry has been, 'Look at those bad apples we need to root out,'" said Nolan L. Cabrera, a professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona. "When in fact the conversation we need to have is, 'Why is this occurring on such a widespread level throughout the country?'"

Many incidents come to light after the students themselves post pictures or videos online, drawing public attention; others are reported by onlookers or whistleblowers.

Either way, "it's hard to ignore a current on many, many campuses of behaviors that are just offensive and disgusting at the far end and maybe just lack common sense at the other end," said Kevin Kruger, president of NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, a professional organization.

For example, Sigma Alpha Epsilon suspended all activity at Clemson University in South Carolina in December after white students dressed as gang members at a "Cripmas" party. Clemson's Chief Diversity Officer Leon Wiles told CBS affiliate WSPA that students have told him these kinds of parties have been held under the radar since a 2007 party held over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend where white students drank malt liquor and at least one partygoer wore blackface.

Other examples:

In December, Phi Delta Theta halted its chapter at the University of Pennsylvania for issuing a holiday card with members posing with what it called a Beyonce sex doll.

Arizona State University banned Tau Kappa Epsilon last year after its Martin Luther King Jr. Day party had guests flashing gang signs and holding watermelon-shaped cups.

Kappa Sigma suspended its Duke University chapter in 2013 after students held an international-themed party that mocked Asians.

-Sigma Phi Epsilon shut its doors last year at the University of Mississippi after three of its members draped a Confederate banner and placed a noose around the statue of the school's first black student.

Lehigh University suspended Sigma Chi in April 2014 and expelled members after racial slurs were spray-painted and eggs thrown at a multicultural residence hall.

Sororities have had similar problems. In 2014, Chi Omega closed its Penn State chapter in connection with a photo appearing on the Internet showing members wearing sombreros and fake mustaches and holding offensive signs - one read, "Will mow lawn for weed + beer."

The University of Alabama announced in fall 2013 that more than 20 minority women were being offered membership in historically all-white sororities after accusations surfaced of black women being denied membership.

At Oklahoma, the university quickly expelled two students and banned Sigma Alpha Epsilon last week after fraternity members were filmed engaging in a racist chant that referenced lynching and indicated that black students never would be admitted to that university's chapter. Two students identified in the video have apologized publicly.

The national fraternity condemned the incident and started investigating racism allegations at universities in Louisiana and Texas after hearing that young men at two schools sang or knew of the same racist chant.

But the damage was done. The school's president, former Sen. David Boren, D-Okla., said the fraternity "won't be back - at least not as long as I'm president of the university."

Fraternities, both historically white and those mostly made up of minorities, long have been a fixture of university life. Defenders point to the system's charitable works and social and professional benefits for members.

Research by Nella Van Dyke, a professor at University of California, Merced, found that ethnic and racially biased hate crimes are more likely to be reported at predominantly white campuses and those with a large fraternity population. She said the problems are not everywhere, but they do exist.

Beyond racism, fraternities in recent years had to confront issues of sexual assault, binge drinking and hazing among their members. "I think many fraternities have a culture that makes them prone to conflict and kind of bigoted interactions, whether it's against women or against minorities," Van Dyke said.

Matthew Hughey, a sociology professor at the University of Connecticut who studies racial identity, estimated that about 3 percent or 4 percent of the members of the majority-white fraternities and sororities are nonwhite. "We shouldn't be surprised when unequal and segregated organizations say racist things. Of course they do," Hughey said.

The national fraternities are working to eliminate this kind of behavior and to train members to speak up instead of being pressured to conform, said Peter Smithhisler, president and chief executive officer of the North-American Interfraternity Conference.

"It's about the constant re-education of our membership," Smithhisler said. "And we have to be diligent in addressing our community members, sharing with them our expectations, teaching them about our values and acceptable behaviors and holding individuals accountable when they stray from that."

Fraternities have about 372,000 members among 7.7 million male undergraduate college students, according to the North-American Interfraternity Conference. They also have outsized influence on their campuses, with fraternities claiming major college donors, state lawmakers, governors, members of Congress and presidents as members. Nineteen presidents have held undergraduate or honorary fraternity membership, the conference said.

Boren's actions may become the standard among university officials, said West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee, who froze fraternities' activities last fall after the death of an 18-year-old student at a fraternity house.

"We can't blame all the ills in society, or the ills in universities, on fraternities and sororities but we can have a high level of expectation because very often these are students who are leaders on our campuses," Gee said.

Some colleges such as Bowdoin in Maine have done away with fraternities all together, while others have forced changes. In September, Wesleyan University in Connecticut announced a requirement that all residential fraternities become coed within three years. The announcement came after several highly publicized issues at fraternity houses, including allegations of sexual assault.

Others say it's unfair to pin all problems on fraternities that really need to be addressed within higher education as a whole. "It is really a mistake to make a blanket judgment," said Michael Poliakoff, the vice president of policy at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan told MSNBC that he thinks "the vast majority of fraternities and sororities and their members conduct themselves very well and contribute to their university communities, are leaders on campus, but where we have places where racism is part of the culture, we have to challenge that."





"All too often the outcry has been, 'Look at those bad apples we need to root out,'" said Nolan L. Cabrera, a professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona. "When in fact the conversation we need to have is, 'Why is this occurring on such a widespread level throughout the country?'".... Kappa Sigma suspended its Duke University chapter in 2013 after students held an international-themed party that mocked Asians.... Defenders point to the system's charitable works and social and professional benefits for members. Research by Nella Van Dyke, a professor at University of California, Merced, found that ethnic and racially biased hate crimes are more likely to be reported at predominantly white campuses and those with a large fraternity population. She said the problems are not everywhere, but they do exist.... "I think many fraternities have a culture that makes them prone to conflict and kind of bigoted interactions, whether it's against women or against minorities," Van Dyke said.... The national fraternities are working to eliminate this kind of behavior and to train members to speak up instead of being pressured to conform, said Peter Smithhisler, president and chief executive officer of the North-American Interfraternity Conference.... teaching them about our values and acceptable behaviors and holding individuals accountable when they stray from that.".... Boren's actions may become the standard among university officials, said West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee, who froze fraternities' activities last fall after the death of an 18-year-old student at a fraternity house. "We can't blame all the ills in society, or the ills in universities, on fraternities and sororities but we can have a high level of expectation because very often these are students who are leaders on our campuses," Gee said.... Some colleges such as Bowdoin in Maine have done away with fraternities all together, while others have forced changes. In September, Wesleyan University in Connecticut announced a requirement that all residential fraternities become coed within three years. The announcement came after several highly publicized issues at fraternity houses, including allegations of sexual assault.... Others say it's unfair to pin all problems on fraternities that really need to be addressed within higher education as a whole.”

There are two things that I think are pertinent and were not mentioned in this article. First, as long as universities charge such high fees that only the well-to-do students can attend without a full scholarship, and certainly try to join a fraternity, there will be a campus atmosphere that is abusive to all poor students. Those tuition fees are rising every year lately it seems. The problem is that hiring well-qualified professors and maintaining well supplied laboratories are expensive. UNC just got into trouble last year for favoring their football players academically. Alumni give more money if the football team wins games. Personally, I loved UNC, and thought much more highly of them until they gave in to this very common form of corruption. The need for higher and higher fees, however, is causing an increasing number of socially privileged students to attend our most prestigious colleges. That means, let's face it, classism and racism will be brought in with the wealthy students, just like the fleas carrying bubonic plague came into the Medieval cities on loathsome rats. The statement in the above article that fraternities are not the only cause of this problem, but the college atmosphere itself, is very much to the point.

Second, as long as right wing politics is raging almost unchecked in this country, these problems will be prevalent in our US society as a whole. Classism is a social disease. That pretty much sums up my comment on the ongoing stories recently of Classism of all kinds in fraternity and sorority houses. Campus organizations that enforce a class structure, whether it's against blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, Islamic people and Hindus, the relatively uneducated, the mentally disabled, or merely the poor – they are all equally corrupt and guilty. The practice of “black balling” should be black balled! To the degree that Universities themselves engage in these things, they too are to blame when it pops up into the open air on the national news media. How embarrassing!! Those biases also show up in government, business, and even churches. Our whole society is tainted to one degree or another despite our wonderful Constitutional guarantees of fairness, and kids don't come to college without being infected with this disease in their homes and neighborhoods, even in their early life. They “learn” racism/classism instead of fair play, and if it is not rooted out, it grows and spreads. It's like a bad case of mold after a house is flooded. The fraternity and sorority systems tend to foster the problem.

My only experience with a sorority was at a small Methodist woman's college, and there were only two – the Emersons and the Irvings. The Emersons were the more liberal of the two, which I joined, but both were benign groups and never did any activities that abused anyone. Nobody was “black balled” to my knowledge. In a number of ways I didn't care for that college – we did have to attend chapel every Sunday and no drinking was allowed – but it did have good points. The “Greek” system at other colleges is less dependable for creating a healthy environment for young college students to join for some community service and conviviality. I would like to see all Greek organizations be free of racism, etc., on the level of their national organization, and misbehaving members expelled from membership in all of their branches. The only punishments I remember at that school are when a girl was expelled for stealing from a dorm room down the hall, and later two of the more “friendly” students were likewise put out for drinking at an off campus party. That's against the Methodist Church's doctrines and the Honor Code. As Jesus said when one of his followers asked him about other religious groups, prophets and teachers, “Ye shall know them by their fruit,” and campus organizations should be judged in that manner.






ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE – TWO ARTICLES


http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/natures-5-smartest-animal-species/5/
Nature's 5 smartest animal species

What Koko did for apes, Flipper did for dolphins. The hit 1960s television series brought home to millions of Americans the sight of a dolphin displaying eerily acute intelligence. Turns out that like the other animal species in this gallery, dolphins possess large brains relative to their body size with a neocortex that is more convoluted than a human's. Experts say that this puts dolphins just behind the human brain when it comes to cognitive capacity. At the same time, the dolphin's brain cortex feature the same convoluted folds that are associated with human intelligence.

After listening to marine animal researchers present this evidence at a conference in 2010, Thomas White, a professor of ethics at Loyola Marymount University was moved to declarethat dolphins should be considered "non-human persons" who qualify for "moral standing as individuals."
CREDIT: Getty Images

When word spread about Koko, a gorilla taught to use sign language and understand spoken English, she captured the popular imagination. But Koko wasn't a one-off. Great apes are among the most intelligent species on the planet and there are myriad examples where they have learned to communicate with humans through the use of new sentences involving complex structures, While there remains disagreement among experts, a number of scientists argue that great apes possesssymbolic cognitive abilities, allowing them to demonstrate abilities commonly associated with "being human."
CREDIT: Getty Images

Elephant possess brains that are bigger than any other land animal. What's more, the cortex of an elephant brain has as many neurons as a human brain. Like humans, elephants must learn about their environment and their ability to learn behavior is formidable. They also also display remarkable self awareness - to the point where they can recognize themselves in mirrors.
The latest surprise about elephants came just this week, when scientists discovered that elephants successfully performed during an experiment commonly used with primates to test their understanding of cooperation. In this particular test, the elephants had to coordinate their efforts so that each could get a bucket of corn. They passed with flying colors.

"In the wild, elephants are known for remarkable displays of helping, empathy and compassion," Joshua Plotnik, a comparative psychologist at the University of Cambridge in England and head of elephant research for the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation in Chiang Saen, Thailand, said. "They are a very social animal, so this demonstration of complex cooperation fits well with what we know about their natural lives."
CREDIT: Getty Images

The headline on this 2007 New York Timesstory about chimpanzees summed it up: " Almost Human, and Sometimes Smarter." To be sure, scientific understanding of chimp culture has advanced markedly over the last half century - thanks to the work of primatologists and researchers such as Jane Goodall.

Like elephants, chimps recognize themselves and have also been observed showing a range of emotions associated with human behavior, such as caring or mourning. Chimpanzes have been documented fashioning sticks into "spears" to hunt smaller primates. They've also been observed altering long twigs to fish for termite or using rocks to crack nuts. What's more, they have been found to cooperate with each other in coming up with sophisticated hunting strategies to kill prey.
Perhaps not entirely surprising given that chimpanzees happen to be the closest living relatives to humans in the animal kingdom.
CREDIT: Getty Images

Most people might not know it but crows are legendary for their smarts. A 2004 study in the journal Science found that for their size, crows possess unusually big brains, which are proportionate to the chimpanzee brain. A few years earlier, New Caledonian crows werediscovered to be on the same level as nonhuman primates when it came to tool-related cognitive capabilities.

In a celebrated case a few years ago, an Israeli man was targeted by a local crow in an apparent revenge attack. The bird's chick fell out of its nest and the man carried it outside of his backyard. It wasn't long before the crow had him in its eye sights, forcing the man to wear a helmet and carry a parasol for self protection. That kind of intelligence wasn't a fluke. Take a look at this 2008 talk at the Ted Conference given by Joshua Klein, who showed off an amazing video displaying how crows quickly adapt to their surroundings.
CREDIT: Getty Images


http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/08/koko_kanzi_and_ape_language_research_criticism_of_working_conditions_and.html

What Do Talking Apes Really Tell Us?
The strange, disturbing world of Koko the gorilla and Kanzi the bonobo.

By Jane C. Hu
August 20, 2014

Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh instructs the bonobo Kanzi to make a fire on Nov. 11, Photograph – 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa.

Last week, people around the world mourned the death of beloved actor and comedian Robin Williams. According to the Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, California, we were not the only primates mourning. A press release from the foundation announced that Koko the gorilla—the main subject of its research on ape language ability, capable in sign language and a celebrity in her own right—“was quiet and looked very thoughtful” when she heard about Williams’ death, and later became “somber” as the news sank in. Williams, described in the press release as one of Koko’s “closest friends,” spent an afternoon with the gorilla in 2001. The foundation released a video showing the two laughing and tickling one another. At one point, Koko lifts up Williams’ shirt to touch his bare chest. In another scene, Koko steals Williams’ glasses and wears them around her trailer.

These clips resonated with people. In the days after Williams’ death, the video amassed more than 3 million views. Many viewers were charmed and touched to learn that a gorilla forged a bond with a celebrity in just an afternoon and, 13 years later, not only remembered him and understood the finality of his death, but grieved. The foundation hailed the relationship as a triumph over “interspecies boundaries,” and the story was covered in outlets from BuzzFeed to the New York Post to Slate.

The story is a prime example of selective interpretation, a critique that has plagued ape language research since its first experiments. Was Koko really mourning Robin Williams? How much are we projecting ourselves onto her and what are we reading into her behaviors? Animals perceive the emotions of the humans around them, and the anecdotes in the release could easily be evidence that Koko was responding to the sadness she sensed in her human caregivers. But conceding that the scientific jury is still out on whether gorillas are capable of sophisticated emotions doesn’t make headlines, and admitting the ambiguity inherent in interpreting a gorilla’s sign language doesn’t bring in millions of dollars in donations. So we get a story about Koko mourning Robin Williams: a nice, straightforward tale that warms the heart but leaves scientists and skeptics wondering how a gorilla’s emotions can be deduced so easily. ….



Go to the website above to see this whole story, which is very long, about animal intelligence studies in general. What we now know – except for classist and religious skeptics – is that a rather high level of intelligence has developed in a number of animal groups to one degree or another. It has a very strong “survival value,” after all. They cooperate in hunts and even “wars” against intruders on their territory and communicate on some level with others of their species. There is no doubt that they have emotions, so when a poor dog is beaten harshly as a punishment, his whining and cowering are signs of grief – psychic pain. As decent and civilized human beings we should never beat a dog or cat or horse or elephant, or other animal. The days when psychologists were not convinced that animals “feel pain as we do” is over.

I think the writer of this article, Hu, must be infected with the “fear” that humans will no longer retain their “dominion” over animals if their true intelligence is exposed to view. I am referring to her phrase “The strange, disturbing world” of animal intelligence. Why are some people so “disturbed” by that rather than being fascinated and encouraged with it instead? Is it our inescapable group guilt at the animal abuse which occurs at every hand, or is it our deeply seated insecurity? Why do we have to be so boastful in order to feel confident at all?

The science on animal intelligence isn't new. Psychologists have been tape recording animal vocalizations for analysis of their pattern and meaning for decades. An African monkey group – I can't remember what kind they were – was studied to see whether they had any level of “language” in their vocalizations and bodily postures, and it was decided that they had a “word” for eagles and another one for snakes, along with a general “danger” call. If one member of the group voiced those sounds, all the other monkeys would run quickly and scramble up into the trees.

I freely admit that we humans are “more” intelligent than the animals we have studied, but things like empathy, love/attachment, grief and cooperation in activities are found in many species, even horses and elephants. Problem solving has been found in all primates and, strangely, crows. The term “birdbrain” doesn't properly to all species. A very interesting “horse whisperer” gave a lengthy explanation of what he had learned of their bodily language and vocalizations on one of my NPR television tapes. It was very interesting.

Subjects included in this Slate article are specific test subjects such as the individual chimpanzees named Gua, Washoe, and Kanzi. Various viewpoints espoused by the scientists Noam Chomsky, the Gorilla Foundation, and other researchers, especially about specific primates such as Koko, are mentioned in the above article. It is lengthy, but informational and very interesting. In the end result, we all use our own experiences with animals –- from pet dogs to Clever Hans –- to decide how valid animal intelligence studies are. For my self, I have been around lots of animals in my life, and I see them all as being intelligent enough that I shouldn't be eating them for dinner, and yet I do it. I see it as a truly guilty activity, but I'm not sure that a vegan diet is really healthy, and I would miss meat a great deal if I were to stop the practice. One woman I knew 20 or so years ago was on an all vegetable diet and her hair started falling out. She was also skinny as a rail. We can feel sufficiently full at mealtimes on a plant based diet, but it takes specific combinations of plants eaten in the same meal to get “complete protein,” which we need to live and prosper. Animals have “complete” protein, while plants have only the specific amino acids that they have inherited. Of course all the milk products are an animal product and give “complete protein,” and so does that staple of human societies around the world, beans eaten in combination with a whole grain. Anywhere we travel to we will probably find that one staple in their diet is beans and rice, or in the New World, corn.

In addition to the diet issue, I am reminded of an anthropology professor who went to great lengths to demonstrate to us why humans are superior to the great apes, such as “the opposable thumb” and differences in human and ape larynx structures. Those things explain why apes haven't developed great civilizations and can't voice words in the same way we do, but they don't rule out the ape's ability to think (figure problems out) and develop language of some other sort. The same part of ape brains has even been identified by brain scans as we humans use, when they listen to humans speak and perform responses. We mustn't forget that a few of those anthropologists have gone to great lengths to prove the basic inferiority of black people as well. Until recently the brains of Neanderthals were thought to have shown a lack of physical development in the speech areas, and their vocal cords not correctly developed for speech. Since DNA based studies have now shown that a small but persistent part of modern human DNA comes from Neanderthals and from another ancient group called denisovans. Those bones were found in a cave in Siberia and tested for DNA. I think the hard-set viewpoint that those human forms were so inferior to us that we surely would never have had a sexual involvement with them, is an unscientific intellectual bias and DNA studies should continue.

What these psychologists such as Penny Patterson, Desmond Morris and Sue Savage-Rumbaugh have shown pretty effectively is that Kanzi the chimp and Koko the gorilla can understand and respond to human speech even without sign language. Kanzi points at images to show what word he wants to use. Koko when Penny was going to get her a mate from another zoo what shown pictures on the computer of three candidates and used the touch screen to pick her preference. Koko was in the news then some three years ago for “telling” her handler/mom Penny Patterson that she had a tooth ache. When Penny asked her how much it hurt she indicated that it was a severe pain, and she was taken to a human dentist to have it out. Needless to say the doctor had to put her to sleep to get into her mouth safely. While she was out cold they gave her a full physical exam. After that they issued a press release.

It's all fascinating stuff to me, and not “pseudoscience” as some critics have claimed. I tend to agree that psychology, medicine, archaeology and biology are not “hard” sciences like physics and chemistry are considered to be, but in my less than humble opinion all those theories about the way, way back origins of the universe and subjects like “dark matter” or “string theory” are not as accessible to a final proof as are biology and modern laboratory psychology. The politically conservative viewpoint that hovers around all things that question the Biblical view of nature will not go away any time soon, I don't think, and they strongly affect public opinion. The most hostile reaction I have seen to human studies with apes came from a woman who was a very conservative Catholic. Personally, I'll just keep voting my Democratic ticket in all elections and writing Congressmen and women to improve the “liberal” standing on interesting issues that I come across in the news.