Sunday, March 22, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/03/22/394644309/isis-issues-wanted-list-of-100-u-s-military-personnel

ISIS Issues 'Wanted' List Of 100 U.S. Military Personnel
Scott Neuman
MARCH 22, 2015

The self-declared Islamic State has posted names, photos and what it says are addresses of 100 U.S. military personnel, calling on its supporters to "deal" with them.

The extremist group's so-called "hacking division," says the individuals have been part of efforts to defeat ISIS in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

It says it has decided to release the information about the U.S. service men and women so "brothers in America can deal with you."

NPR has learned that the Department of Defense is investigating the threat but that officials believe the information was gleaned from public sources and does not represent a breach of government servers.

"It appears the list is people who are active on social media or who have spoken to press," a DOD official tells NPR.

As NPR's Dina Temple-Raston notes, several months ago the FBI and Pentagon asked military personnel to take identifying material off the web in anticipation of just such a possibility.

Dina says that defense officials also say that some of the personnel on the list had nothing to do with strikes against ISIS.

The New York Times adds that one example of this is the inclusion of B-52 bomber crew members stationed in Louisiana and North Dakota. B-52s, the Times says, have never been used in the anti-ISIS campaign.

"Several women are included on the list, but their faces in the photos were blurred. One of the photos appears to be at an official meeting with President Obama," the Times says.




"It appears the list is people who are active on social media or who have spoken to press," a DOD official tells NPR. As NPR's Dina Temple-Raston notes, several months ago the FBI and Pentagon asked military personnel to take identifying material off the web in anticipation of just such a possibility. Dina says that defense officials also say that some of the personnel on the list had nothing to do with strikes against ISIS.”

ISIS is targeting individuals and that is alarming. That is exactly what the US has been doing against their leaders as much as the more traditional bombing of active war zones. It is effective eventually, but of course they can't actually weaken us by this method because we have too many fighters. If it encourages our military members to get off Facebook that is a good thing. I think people tend to speak with an unwise level of openness on such sites. There is a sense that we are “safe” there. Clearly we aren't.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghan-women-defiance-lynching-27-year-old-farkhunda/

Afghan women show defiance over lynching of 27-year-old
CBS/AP
March 22, 2015

Photograph – Independent Afghan civil society activist women carry the coffin of Farkhunda, 27, who was lynched by an angry mob in central Kabul on March 22, 2015.  WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan women's rights activists dressed head-to-toe in black broke with tradition Sunday to carry the coffin of a woman who was beaten to death by a mob in the capital Kabul over allegations she had burned a Quran.

The mob of men beat 27-year-old Farkhunda before throwing her body off a roof, running over it with a car, setting it on fire and throwing it into a river near a well-known mosque. According to an eyewitness, protesters were chanting anti-American and anti-democracy slogans while beating the woman.

The attack was apparently sparked by allegations that Farkhunda, who like many Afghans has just one name, had set fire to a Quran. But Afghanistan's most senior detective said no evidence had been found to support those claims.

Video of the assault taken with cellphones has circulated widely since the attack on Thursday. The killing has shocked many Afghans and led to renewed calls for justice and reform.

"We want justice for Farkhunda, we want justice for Afghan women. All these injustices happening to Afghan women are unacceptable," said a prominent women's rights activist who goes by the name Dr. Alima.

"In which religion or faith is it acceptable to burn a person to death? Today is a day of national mourning and we will not keep quiet."

President Ashraf Ghani, now in Washington on his first state visit to the United States since taking office in September, condemned the killing as a "heinous attack" and ordered an investigation.

Following allegations that police stood by and did nothing to stop the killing, Ghani told reporters before leaving for the U.S. that the incident revealed "a fundamental issue" - that security forces are too focused on the fight against the Taliban insurgency to concentrate on community policing.

The city's head of criminal investigation, Mohammad Farid Afzali, said the motive for the attack, which happened the previous night, was unknown.

Police had tried to disperse the crowd by shooting in the air, Afzali said, but had "reacted too late."

Many rights activists, however, said the killing cut to the core of how women are treated as second-class citizens in Afghan society.

Despite constitutional guarantees of equal rights and advances in access to health and education, for many women in Afghanistan little has changed since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ended the Taliban's harsh rule. Girls are routinely married off as children, traded as chattels and then rarely permitted to leave their homes without a male relative.

Hundreds of people gathered at a graveyard Sunday in the middle-class suburb near Farkhunda's home. With the permission of her father, the women in black carried her coffin from an ambulance to an open-air prayer ground, and then to her grave, rituals that are usually attended only by men.

"She is a sister to you all, and it is your duty to bury her," Farkhunda's brother Najibullah, standing graveside, told the crowd.

Several politicians, officials and senior police officers addressed the funeral, which was broadcast live. Men formed a chain around the women pallbearers to offer protection and support.

The attack appeared to have grown out of a dispute between Farkhunda, a veiled woman who had just finished a degree in religious studies and was preparing to take a teaching post, and men who sold amulets at Shah-Do Shamshera shrine, where the killing happened.

She regarded the amulet sellers as parasites and told women not to waste their money on them, friends and family said. Her father, Mohammed Nadir, said the men responded by making false accusations that she had torched a Quran.

"Based on their lies, people decided Farkhunda was not a Muslim and beat her to death," he said. The Interior Ministry said it was providing extra protection for the family.

The head of the ministry's criminal investigation directorate, Gen. Mohammad Zahir, said 13 people had been arrested in connection with the killing, including two men who sold amulets. The Interior Ministry said 13 policemen had been suspended pending investigation.

Zahir said authorities were "unable to find any single iota of evidence to support claims that she had burned a Quran."

"She is completely innocent," he said.




“Afghan women's rights activists dressed head-to-toe in black broke with tradition Sunday to carry the coffin of a woman who was beaten to death by a mob in the capital Kabul over allegations she had burned a Quran. The mob of men beat 27-year-old Farkhunda before throwing her body off a roof, running over it with a car, setting it on fire and throwing it into a river near a well-known mosque. According to an eyewitness, protesters were chanting anti-American and anti-democracy slogans while beating the woman.... Despite constitutional guarantees of equal rights and advances in access to health and education, for many women in Afghanistan little has changed since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion ended the Taliban's harsh rule. Girls are routinely married off as children, traded as chattels and then rarely permitted to leave their homes without a male relative.... She regarded the amulet sellers as parasites and told women not to waste their money on them, friends and family said. Her father, Mohammed Nadir, said the men responded by making false accusations that she had torched a Quran.... The head of the ministry's criminal investigation directorate, Gen. Mohammad Zahir, said 13 people had been arrested in connection with the killing, including two men who sold amulets. The Interior Ministry said 13 policemen had been suspended pending investigation.”

This is a story that illustrates how dangerous it is to be a citizen of so many countries, which are mired in folkways that are hundreds and thousands of years old. Poverty, lack of education, and superstition form such cultures, and the governments are too weak to maintain peace. In this case there are too many citizens, even in the military and police forces, who sympathize with radicals and simply refuse to enforce the law. Those police officers simply stood by and watched the mob. Religious beliefs are strong, but morality is not, even Islamic morality. At least some of those involved have been arrested or, in the case of the police officers, suspended.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/one-mans-solution-to-the-pollution/

One man's inspirational fight against pollution nets results
CBS NEWS
March 21, 2015

A recent study in the journal Science estimates that as much as 14 million tons of plastic trash wound up in the world's oceans in 2010. If nothing changes, that amount could double in 10 years in some places.

One man in California is on a mission. He's trying to clean up wetlands that are filled with plastic waste before the debris floats into the Pacific Ocean. CBS News' Omar Villafranca reports how the man is sparking a movement.

Lenny Arkinstall started a one-man-with-a-boat endeavor in a small Long Beach, California, marina that needed help.

"This place was filled with tires and TVs and sofas and styrofoam and cups and ice chests," Arkinstall said.

He skims the surface, dredges underwater and has kept cleaning the Cerritos Bahia Marina for 23 years.

It was his idea to corral the floating mess with fishermen's booms.

"We pull out the balls for the kids that lose them, and we return 'em to the schools," Arkinstall said.

His personal commitment to cleaning the surrounding 100 acres caught the eye of the county government, which sent over sanitation workers with trucks to help.

He has not always been an environmentalist.

"This is all new to me," Arkinstall said. "I became an environmentalist by doing this. Before this, I was an investment consultant in Century City, and I had no clue."

He noticed plastic trash was also killing wildlife that confused it for food.

He came to the marina after losing his job and his home.

"I'm blessed," Arkinstall said. "I thought it was nightmare. It was a nightmare part of my time. It humbled me, and as I started cleaning, I started feeling better about myself."

His volunteer work led to awards. Former Long Beach City Councilman Rob Webb was there in 2012 when Arkinstall received the city's first Aquatic Capital of America Foundation award.

"We call that award 'The Lenny' now," Webb said. "We have more snowy white egrets and birds that we didn't see when we were kids. A lot of that is because of Lenny."

In the course of 20 years, Lenny estimates hundreds of tons of debris have been pulled out of the water.

Research released last month found 8 million tons of plastic trash ends up in the ocean a year. Jenna Jamback of the University of Georgia led the study.

"Five bags of plastic for every foot of coastline in the world." Jamback said.

Arkinstall said it is overwhelming.

"I've known over the years not to throw in the towel. My guys that come and help me go, 'Lenny this is useless,'" he said. "I go, 'No, just keep going at it.'"

As the years went on, more volunteers joined his one-man-against-the-odds effort. So he set up the Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewards that was hired to do what private industry couldn't do.

"The city had been hiring big companies and paying them a lot of money to go in and clean the wetlands, and here is just one guy making a bigger impact than big environmental companies," Webb said.

"There's a saying, 'the solution to the pollution starts at your front door,' and if these folks really knew and saw the devastation that's happening, you know, you're not going to have this problem," Arkinstall said.

Although he gets discouraged, he said his reward at the end of the day is it's clean.




''Lenny Arkinstall started a one-man-with-a-boat endeavor in a small Long Beach, California, marina that needed help. "This place was filled with tires and TVs and sofas and styrofoam and cups and ice chests," Arkinstall said. He skims the surface, dredges underwater and has kept cleaning the Cerritos Bahia Marina for 23 years....His personal commitment to cleaning the surrounding 100 acres caught the eye of the county government, which sent over sanitation workers with trucks to help.... His volunteer work led to awards. Former Long Beach City Councilman Rob Webb was there in 2012 when Arkinstall received the city's first Aquatic Capital of America Foundation award. "We call that award 'The Lenny' now," Webb said. "We have more snowy white egrets and birds that we didn't see when we were kids. A lot of that is because of Lenny."... As the years went on, more volunteers joined his one-man-against-the-odds effort. So he set up the Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewards that was hired to do what private industry couldn't do. "The city had been hiring big companies and paying them a lot of money to go in and clean the wetlands, and here is just one guy making a bigger impact than big environmental companies," Webb said.”

I love it when one private citizen does something that's “not his job,” and society is changed for the better. This is a great story.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dogs-rescued-from-korean-dog-meat-farm-transported-to-california/

Dogs rescued from Korean dog meat farm transported to California
CBS NEWS
March 20, 2015

NOVATO, Calif. -- After lifetimes spent in small, filthy crowded cages on a South Korean dog meat farm, dozens of dogs can now spend the rest of their lives in loving homes, CBS San Francisco reports.

The dogs are part of an international rescue effort by Humane Society International (HSI) in partnership with Emergency Placement Partners East Bay SPCA, Marin Humane Society and Sacramento SPCA.

The dogs were kept in horrific conditions -- exposed to the elements. HSI is trying to eradicate the South Korean meat trade at the source by conducting raids on trucks headed for slaughter, and working with farmers to agree to stop breeding the animals.

The dogs began arriving in the Bay Area March 16. The final 15 were delivered to the SPCA's Mission Campus in San Francisco, Thursday.

After a brief quarantine, they will be evaluated, spayed and neutered, treated for any medical issues, and made available for adoption.

Marin Human Society will be carefully screening adopters. Because the dogs come from such difficult circumstances, they will require a specific type of adopter and home. It will be at least two weeks before adoptions are possible.


If you are interested in providing a home for one of these animals, go to the MHS website and fill out an application at MarinHumaneSociety.org.




“After lifetimes spent in small, filthy crowded cages on a South Korean dog meat farm, dozens of dogs can now spend the rest of their lives in loving homes, CBS San Francisco reports. The dogs are part of an international rescue effort by Humane Society International (HSI) in partnership with Emergency Placement Partners East Bay SPCA, Marin Humane Society and Sacramento SPCA. The dogs were kept in horrific conditions -- exposed to the elements. HSI is trying to eradicate the South Korean meat trade at the source by conducting raids on trucks headed for slaughter, and working with farmers to agree to stop breeding the animals.”.... Marin Human Society will be carefully screening adopters. Because the dogs come from such difficult circumstances, they will require a specific type of adopter and home. It will be at least two weeks before adoptions are possible. If you are interested in providing a home for one of these animals, go to the MHS website and fill out an application at MarinHumaneSociety.org.”

Every time I think I've seen the worst something else comes along. I knew that dog was eaten in China and some other places, but I didn't know it would be sold in the markets and raised on farms. A man I know here in Jacksonville did refuse to give his daughter a cat because, he swore, his wife who was from the Philippines “would eat it.”







http://www.npr.org/2015/03/21/394278540/justice-department-weighs-in-on-assembly-line-justice-for-children

Justice Department Weighs In On Assembly-Line Justice For Children
Carrie Johnson
MARCH 21, 2015

Photograph – A 12-year-old on trial in the stabbing death of a 9-year-old talks to his lawyer in 2014 in a Michigan circuit court. The Justice Department is targeting a Georgia case in the hopes of making legal representation for juveniles there more effective, but they say the problems occur nationwide.
Chris Clark/Landov

The Justice Department for the first time is weighing in on whether some courts are depriving juveniles of their rights to a lawyer.

The department filed a statement of interest in a Georgia case that alleges that public defense in four southern counties is so underfunded that low-income juveniles are routinely denied the right to legal representation.

Civil rights attorneys say that in Georgia, most young people get "assembly-line justice" that can haunt them the rest of their lives.

The court case accuses the counties of failing to meet their constitutional obligations to provide effective representation. The lawyers provided to young people in these juvenile courts may meet them just 15 minutes before a proceeding, and sometimes spend much of that time convincing them to admit guilt.

"There are too many places in this country where both kids and adults are facing jail time without any adequate constitutional protections and right to counsel," says Vanita Gupta, acting chief of the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department.

She says the department's court filing sets out the way the system ought to work — not just in Georgia but all over the country.

"It is more than just having a lawyer by your side," she says. "It has to mean that the lawyer has the resources to investigate a case, to be able to file motions, to make sure that they are meeting a client in advance to figure out, is there a defense? Is there investigation that needs to be done?"

The Southern Center for Human Rights, an Atlanta-based group, filed the lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court in January 2014.

The group's president, Stephen Bright, says that those four Georgia counties handled about 600 juvenile cases last year, but that public defenders — already swamped with nearly 1,700 adult cases — provided representation to just a tiny fraction of those children.

The counties contracted with a private lawyer to work 30 hours per week on juvenile proceedings for a flat fee, allowing him scant time to meet with young clients and evaluate their cases, Bright says.

"The children who come before the court are overwhelmingly African-American," Bright adds. "Many of them come after being arrested for what is typical teenage behavior at school."

For instance, Bright says, one girl in foster care slapped her schoolmate for making fun of her living arrangements. Instead of being sent to the principal, he says, the girl was arrested, handcuffed and brought to face charges in juvenile court — charges that are likely to remain on her record.

Bright says he hopes the Justice Department statement will spotlight problems in Georgia and elsewhere.

"The gulf between what the Department of Justice says should be happening with regard to the way children are represented in juvenile court and what is happening in the four counties, that gulf is about as wide as the Grand Canyon, maybe a little wider," he says.

A spokeswoman for the Georgia attorney general declined to comment, but officials in the state have asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed. A decision could come later this year.

The Georgia filing builds on a series of actions by Justice Department officials to emphasize the right to zealous representation.

Civil rights authorities have filed a similar statement of interest in a Washington state case involving adult defendants. They also settled a major action to overhaul the juvenile court in Shelby County, Tenn. Their investigation of possible due-process and right-to-counsel violations in St. Louis County family courts is ongoing.




“The Justice Department for the first time is weighing in on whether some courts are depriving juveniles of their rights to a lawyer. The department filed a statement of interest in a Georgia case that alleges that public defense in four southern counties is so underfunded that low-income juveniles are routinely denied the right to legal representation.... The Southern Center for Human Rights, an Atlanta-based group, filed the lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court in January 2014. The group's president, Stephen Bright, says that those four Georgia counties handled about 600 juvenile cases last year, but that public defenders — already swamped with nearly 1,700 adult cases — provided representation to just a tiny fraction of those children.... "The children who come before the court are overwhelmingly African-American," Bright adds. "Many of them come after being arrested for what is typical teenage behavior at school." For instance, Bright says, one girl in foster care slapped her schoolmate for making fun of her living arrangements. Instead of being sent to the principal, he says, the girl was arrested, handcuffed and brought to face charges in juvenile court — charges that are likely to remain on her record.... A spokeswoman for the Georgia attorney general declined to comment, but officials in the state have asked for the lawsuit to be dismissed. A decision could come later this year. The Georgia filing builds on a series of actions by Justice Department officials to emphasize the right to zealous representation.”

I love the South. It is home to me, but it is a societal backwater in many ways. It reminds me too much of the article above on the Afghan woman who was beaten to death while police officers watched.




http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/03/20/394311141/scientists-urge-temporary-moratorium-on-human-genome-edits

Scientists Urge Temporary Moratorium On Human Genome Edits
Rob Stein
MARCH 20, 2015

Photograph – Microbiologist Jennifer Doudna at the University of California, Berkeley. She's co-inventor of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology — a tool that's recently made the snipping and splicing of genes much easier.
Cailey Cotner/UC Berkeley

A new technology called CRISPR could allow scientists to alter the human genetic code for generations. That's causing some leading biologists and bioethicists to sound an alarm. They're calling for a worldwide moratorium on any attempts to alter the code, at least until there's been time for far more research and discussion.

It's not new that scientists can manipulate human DNA — genetic engineering, or gene editing, has been around for decades. But it's been hard, slow and very expensive. And only highly skilled geneticists could do it.

Recently that's changed. Scientists have developed new techniques that have sped up the process and, at the same time, made it a lot cheaper to make very precise changes in DNA.

There are a couple of different techniques, but the one most often talked about is CRISPR, which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. My colleague Joe Palca described the technique for Shots readers last June.

Why scientists are nervous

On the one hand, scientists are excited about these techniques because they may let them do good things, such as discovering important principles about biology. It might even lead to cures for diseases.

The big worry is that CRISPR and other techniques will be used to perform germline genetic modification.

Basically, that means making genetic changes in a human egg, sperm or embryo.

Those kinds of changes would be passed down for generations. And that's something that's always been considered taboo in science.

One major reason that it's considered off limits, ethically, is that the technology is still so new that scientists really don't know how well it works.

The fear is that mistakes could be made, causing some new disease by accident. That disease could then be passed down for generations.

Another concern is that this could open the door to what people call designer babies.

If you let someone manipulate the genes in an egg or embryo to prevent a disease, where would you draw the line?

People could use this, possibly, to make babies that are smarter, taller or better athletes. Hair and eye color could be manipulated. IQs could be boosted or lowered.

It raises all kind of Brave New World issues about genetically engineering the human race.

Moratorium gains momentum

In the last week or so, there's been a flurry of statements from several groups of scientists warning about all this. MIT's Technology Review had an in-depth report on the whole issue a couple of weeks back, if you want to learn more.

This week, groups that include the University of California'sJennifer Doudna, one of the researchers who developed CRISPR, essentially called for a moratorium on any attempt to do modification of the human germline using these techniques — at least until there's been more time for public discussion and more research to understand how well it works and how safe it is.

In interviews, several of the scientists and bioethicists issuing these statements said they are concerned things are moving too fast.

Last week, another group that includes some of the researchers who developed another gene editing technique, went even further and called for moratorium on doing any research in the laboratory that could lay the groundwork for attempting germline modification.

Not all scientists support this movement. Some say this powerful new technology is needed to advance science. It could produce important knowledge about stem cells, infertility — all sorts of things, they point out.

Still, there are concerns that rogue scientists could take information being published about such techniques and use the recipe in ways many people would find unethical — and dangerous.




“A new technology called CRISPR could allow scientists to alter the human genetic code for generations. That's causing some leading biologists and bioethicists to sound an alarm. They're calling for a worldwide moratorium on any attempts to alter the code, at least until there's been time for far more research and discussion....There are a couple of different techniques, but the one most often talked about is CRISPR, which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. My colleague Joe Palca described the technique for Shots readers last June. … germline genetic modification. Basically, that means making genetic changes in a human egg, sperm or embryo. Those kinds of changes would be passed down for generations. And that's something that's always been considered taboo in science. One major reason that it's considered off limits, ethically, is that the technology is still so new that scientists really don't know how well it works.... If you let someone manipulate the genes in an egg or embryo to prevent a disease, where would you draw the line? People could use this, possibly, to make babies that are smarter, taller or better athletes. Hair and eye color could be manipulated. IQs could be boosted or lowered. It raises all kind of Brave New World issues about genetically engineering the human race.... Some say this powerful new technology is needed to advance science. It could produce important knowledge about stem cells, infertility — all sorts of things, they point out. Still, there are concerns that rogue scientists could take information being published about such techniques and use the recipe in ways many people would find unethical — and dangerous.

“University of California'sJennifer Doudna, one of the researchers who developed CRISPR” has spoken out against using it for germline changes that are inherited by future generations. To me the science of DNA is still in its developmental stages and the number of genes involved is so large that it's much too complex for “tweaking” one characteristic or another safely and surely. We simply don't know enough for this to be allowed, and we really don't need blue eyed babies. It's very much like what the Nazi scientists were trying to do, and the issue of being more Germanic is not important. Improving human society is more a matter of encouraging and gently guiding our kids so that they will be kind, as well educated as possible, and good honest people than a matter of “superior” genetics.