Wednesday, March 11, 2015

News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/university-of-oklahoma-expels-two-students-over-racist-chant-video/

OU expels two students over racist chant video
CBS/AP
March 10, 2015

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma's president expelled two students Tuesday after he said they were identified as leaders of a racist chant captured on video during a fraternity event.

University President David Boren said in a statement the two students were dismissed for creating a "hostile learning environment for others."

Their names were not released but the university's student newspaper, the Oklahoma Daily,identified one of the expelled students as freshman Parker Rice, a graduate of Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas.

Mike Earsing, the president of the high school,released a statement Tuesday addressing the news.

"In the recent video regarding OU and the SAE fraternity it appears that a graduate from Jesuit Dallas is leading the racist chant," Earsing said. "I am appalled by the actions in the video and extremely hurt by the pain this has caused our community. It is unconscionable and very sad that in 2015 we still live in a society where this type of bigotry and racism takes place."

The video posted online shows several people on a bus participating in a chant that included a racial slur, referenced lynching and indicated black students would never be admitted to OU's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Boren acted swiftly after the video surfaced late Sunday, severing ties with the fraternity and ordering its house shuttered Monday and announcing the expulsions Tuesday.

"I hope that students involved in this incident will learn from this experience and realize that it is wrong to use words to hurt, threaten, and exclude other people," he said.

Boren said the university is working to identify other students involved in the chant, who may also face discipline.

I have acted today to expel two students who were leaders in the singing of a racist chant. See press release - DBo pic.twitter.com/VypOiVqXi7
— David Boren (@President_Boren) March 10, 2015

Windows at the fraternity were boarded up and moving vans were parked outside Tuesday. Members have until midnight to remove their belongings. The Greek letters have already been removed from the side of the sprawling, sand-colored brick house on a street lined with fraternity and sorority houses just west of the center of campus.

Markeshia Lyon, a junior from Oklahoma City and one of about 1,400 black students who attend the university's Norman campus, said the mostly segregated Greek culture at OU is partly to blame for creating an environment where racism can thrive.

"That's something that's passed down, and that's something that needs to change," Lyon said.

She also said the video has sparked intense interest in addressing racial tensions on campus.

Meanwhile, another video surfaced Monday night showing Beauton Gilbow, the fraternity's 78-year-old "house mother" known as "Mom B," using that same racial slur in 2013.

The university, located in the southern Oklahoma City suburb of Norman, has about 27,000 students, about 5 percent of whom are black.

A top high school football recruit de-committed from the football-crazy university after seeing the video.

North Mesquite High School football star Jean Delance, a top offensive lineman prospect, told KTVT television and KRLD-AM in Dallas-Fort Worth that he spoke Sunday night with coach Bob Stoops, but wasn't told about the incident.

"I'm very disappointed in the coaches not letting me know," Delance told KRLD. "But that was just heart-breaking right there."

The Oklahoma football team decided to protest rather than practice Monday. At the team's indoor practice facility, Stoops led the way as players, joined by athletic director Joe Castiglione, walked arm-in-arm, wearing black.

Boren attended a pre-dawn rally organized by students Monday morning and lambasted the fraternity members involved as "disgraceful" and called their behavior "reprehensible."

"This is not who we are," Boren said at a midday news conference. "I'd be glad if they left. I might even pay the bus fare for them."

National leaders of Sigma Alpha Epsilon said an investigation confirmed members took part in the chant and announced they would close the local chapter. The national group said it was "embarrassed" by the "unacceptable and racist" behavior.

The fraternity also said in a statement late Monday that the chant was not a part of fraternity tradition.

Boren said members of the fraternity were "not totally forthcoming." It's unclear who recorded the video, when it was recorded and who initially posted it online. Boren suggested it was likely taken by another student who didn't agree with what was being chanted.

OU Unheard, a black student group on campus, posted a link to the video after someone anonymously called it to the group's attention Sunday afternoon, communications director Alexis Hall said Monday.

"We immediately needed to share that with the OU student body," said Hall, a junior. "For students to say they're going to lynch an entire group of people. ... It's disgusting."

The video appears to have been taken on a charter bus, with at least one of the chanting young men wearing a tuxedo.

Telephone and email messages left Monday with several members of the fraternity seeking comment on the video were not returned. Other members declined to comment.




“The University of Oklahoma's president expelled two students Tuesday after he said they were identified as leaders of a racist chant captured on video during a fraternity event. University President David Boren said in a statement the two students were dismissed for creating a "hostile learning environment for others."..."In the recent video regarding OU and the SAE fraternity it appears that a graduate from Jesuit Dallas is leading the racist chant," Earsing said. "I am appalled by the actions in the video and extremely hurt by the pain this has caused our community. It is unconscionable and very sad that in 2015 we still live in a society where this type of bigotry and racism takes place."... Boren acted swiftly after the video surfaced late Sunday, severing ties with the fraternity and ordering its house shuttered Monday and announcing the expulsions Tuesday. "I hope that students involved in this incident will learn from this experience and realize that it is wrong to use words to hurt, threaten, and exclude other people," he said. Boren said the university is working to identify other students involved in the chant, who may also face discipline.”

“Markeshia Lyon, a junior from Oklahoma City and one of about 1,400 black students who attend the university's Norman campus, said the mostly segregated Greek culture at OU is partly to blame for creating an environment where racism can thrive. "That's something that's passed down, and that's something that needs to change," Lyon said. She also said the video has sparked intense interest in addressing racial tensions on campus.” The good news is that the OU President Boren took swift and decisive action and is continuing to investigate to identify more of the students who took part. There is also an active black student organization on campus who posted a link to the video. The football team has been protesting the fraternity's action; and various other student discussion and voicing of concerns are occurring spontaneously. More young people, especially nowadays, are proactive on racist issues. When I was young there were a few actual lynchings in North Carolina, and unfortunately I see that the really vile and overt threats are not over yet. Evil can't stand the light of day, I have heard, so every time I run across one of these cases I will publicize it.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ferguson-city-manager-removed-after-justice-department-report/

Ferguson city manager loses job after scathing DOJ report
CBS/AP
March 11, 2015

FERGUSON, Mo. -- The Ferguson City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night to remove City Manager John Shaw, following a scathing Justice Department report that already has led to a Missouri appeals court judge being tapped to overhaul the local court system.

The City Council in the St. Louis suburb, beleaguered by unrest since a white police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown last summer, held its first public meeting since the U.S. Department of Justice last week accused its police force and municipal court system of racial bias.

A news release handed out at the meeting said the council had reached a "mutual separation agreement" with Shaw. A nationwide search for his replacement will begin immediately, the statement said.

The Justice Department investigation already has resulted in a shake-up: Racist emails included in the report led to the firing of the city clerk and resignation of two police officers last week.

And on Monday, Municipal Judge Ronald J. Brockmeyer resigned and was immediately replaced by the Missouri Supreme Court with a state appellate judge empowered to overhaul court policies to "restore the integrity of the system."

Since Brown's death seven months ago, Mayor James Knowles has been the public face and voice of Ferguson's city government. But it is the city manager who is its chief executive and holds the legal power to make personnel and policy changes in the police department -- not the mayor, a part-time officeholder who earns less than $5,000 annually.

While also calling his removal a "separation," Shaw denied that he was complicit in anything the Justice Department's findings highlighted.

"While I certainly respect the work that the DOJ recently performed in their investigation and report on the City of Ferguson, I must state clearly that my office has never instructed the police department to target African Americans, nor falsify charges to administer fines, nor heap abuses on the backs of the poor. Any inferences of that kind from the report are simply false," Shaw said in a statement.

Ferguson's city charter prohibits elected officials from "dictating the appointment or removal" of any city employees, including police chief Tom Jackson, whom Shaw hired in 2010. Knowles and other City Council members are also forbidden from giving "orders, directions or instructions" to city workers. They do, however, have the power to hire or fire the manager.

Shaw, 39, has been Ferguson's city manager for eight years. He had previously worked as city clerk and assistant to the city administrator in Shrewsbury, another town in St. Louis County.

Online biographies indicate that he grew up in north St. Louis County and lived in Ferguson before working for the city. He was honored in 2013 as a distinguished alumnus of a public policy administration program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, which is located near Ferguson, and was listed as an adviser for the university's student group for aspiring city managers.

Shaw has not spoken publicly about the shooting, protests, grand jury inquiry or Justice Department investigation. He stood silently beside two City Council members at Knowles' Wednesday news conference responding to the Justice Department report and declined, through a city spokesman, a subsequent Associated Press interview request.

The Justice Department report repeatedly cited Shaw's role in encouraging his police force to aggressively ticket motorists as a means to generate revenue.

In one instance, he responded to a Jackson email about a record-setting month for court revenue -- nearly $180,000 in February 2011 alone -- with the exclamation, "Wonderful!"
And when Jackson told Shaw in January 2013 that municipal court revenue had exceeded $2 million the previous year, the city manager was similarly excited.

"Awesome!" he said, according to the federal inquiry.

Tuesday's City Council meeting was the public's first chance to address city officials since the DOJ report was released.

More than a dozen residents, a mostly peaceful mix of city supporters and critics, came forward. Some called for Police Chief Jackson or Mayor Knowles to resign.

But things briefly became tense among the audience of about 150 people when Suzanne Schmidt, a white resident, expressed support for Wilson.

"A lot of people in this room owe Darren Wilson an apology," Schmidt said to loud jeers. "That Justice report you're basing your opinions on cleared him 100 percent."

That prompted a shouting match with Danielle Morrison, a black resident, who suggested that Wilson targeted Brown because "he was a big black man."

Isadore Ray, a black resident, said the time for finger-pointing is over.

"What we should do now is come together, clean the house and get it done quickly. Everybody is watching us," he said.




“The Ferguson City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night to remove City Manager John Shaw, following a scathing Justice Department report that already has led to a Missouri appeals court judge being tapped to overhaul the local court system.... A news release handed out at the meeting said the council had reached a "mutual separation agreement" with Shaw. A nationwide search for his replacement will begin immediately, the statement said. The Justice Department investigation already has resulted in a shake-up: Racist emails included in the report led to the firing of the city clerk and resignation of two police officers last week. And on Monday, Municipal Judge Ronald J. Brockmeyer resigned and was immediately replaced by the Missouri Supreme Court with a state appellate judge empowered to overhaul court policies to "restore the integrity of the system."... While also calling his removal a "separation," Shaw denied that he was complicit in anything the Justice Department's findings highlighted.... Tuesday's City Council meeting was the public's first chance to address city officials since the DOJ report was released. More than a dozen residents, a mostly peaceful mix of city supporters and critics, came forward. Some called for Police Chief Jackson or Mayor Knowles to resign. But things briefly became tense among the audience of about 150 people when Suzanne Schmidt, a white resident, expressed support for Wilson..... Isadore Ray, a black resident, said the time for finger-pointing is over. "What we should do now is come together, clean the house and get it done quickly. Everybody is watching us," he said.”

I am very glad that at least the city government is making concrete steps to root out the poison ivy from their garden. The City Manager, according to this article, is responsible for “hiring and firing,” and the new appointee needs to get busy. Stopping the highly corrupt practice of police harassment and arrests, with a primary goal of making money for the city coffers is a very important first step. Now they need to stop the egregious violence as well. There are still bad cops on the force, because only one police officer in addition to Wilson has been fired, and two resigned over the sending of racist emails including some very grotesque ones about the Obama family. The very crudeness of white racism shows clearly to me that they are not “superior,” but rather ignorant and totally lacking in true “class.” Making money doesn't give us class – being a good member of society and a person of conscience does. We still have a long way to go.





http://www.npr.org/2015/03/11/392263873/9-iraqi-interpreters-sue-u-s-government-over-visa-delays

9 Iraqi Interpreters Sue U.S. Government Over Visa Delays
Quil Lawrence
March 11, 2015

During a decade of war, U.S. troops relied on interpreters — thousands of Iraqis and Afghans — who worked and often fought alongside Americans.

Many of them were promised visas to the U.S. but they have been waiting for years with no answer. Now, nine Iraqis are suing the U.S. government to get their status resolved.

All the Iraqis in the lawsuit go by code names because of ongoing threats to their lives.

Plaintiff Alpha was in an ambush with U.S. troops and got shot in the back, but he continued to work with the U.S. military after he recovered.

Plaintiff Bravo is an Iraqi doctor who treated U.S. troops in combat.

Plaintiff Charlie helped organize resistance to al-Qaida in Iraq but has waited years without a clear yes or no about his visa to the U.S.

"Five years and still nothing yet," he says.

Plaintiff Charlie is now in a third country having left his family in Iraq after what he says were assassination attempts. He says he demonstrated his loyalty to U.S. troops many times.

"I was really in danger just like their soldiers," he says. "We fight together, we work together, and now I'm paying because 5 years I leave my country."

In 2008, Congress created the Special Immigrant Visa program (SIVs) to bring Afghan and Iraqi translators/interpreters to the U.S. But Charlie's application is stuck in bureaucratic limbo. The American troops who fought with these Iraqi plaintiffs have been their biggest advocates.

Doug Vossen went to Iraq twice with the U.S. Army, and worked with one of the plaintiffs during some of the worst violence in Baghdad.

"It's the right thing to do," Vossen says. "They were there when we needed them, and now they're in grave danger — as are their families. They're just mired down in a bureaucratic machine."

Thousands of Iraqis and Afghans have been resettled in the U.S. with the visa program, but hundreds more are stuck — their cases are on hold.

Katie Riesner with the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project says the hold is probably at the Department of Homeland Security, which vets applicants to make sure they're not a threat. Resiner says the process shouldn't take this long.

"All that the lawsuit asks is for the Department of State and Homeland Security to give these plaintiffs an answer," Riesner says.

Most of these cases are several years old, and Iraq has only gotten more dangerous as Shiite militias and Sunni fighters with the self-proclaimed Islamic state, also known as ISIS, have renewed a state of war in Iraq.





“During a decade of war, U.S. troops relied on interpreters — thousands of Iraqis and Afghans — who worked and often fought alongside Americans. Many of them were promised visas to the U.S. but they have been waiting for years with no answer. Now, nine Iraqis are suing the U.S. government to get their status resolved.... In 2008, Congress created the Special Immigrant Visa program (SIVs) to bring Afghan and Iraqi translators/interpreters to the U.S. But Charlie's application is stuck in bureaucratic limbo. The American troops who fought with these Iraqi plaintiffs have been their biggest advocates.... "It's the right thing to do," Vossen says. "They were there when we needed them, and now they're in grave danger — as are their families. They're just mired down in a bureaucratic machine."... Katie Riesner with the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project says the hold is probably at the Department of Homeland Security, which vets applicants to make sure they're not a threat. Resiner says the process shouldn't take this long. "All that the lawsuit asks is for the Department of State and Homeland Security to give these plaintiffs an answer," Riesner says.”

The Veterans Administration and Homeland Security have been bogged down in quicksand, it would seem. People who have earned their government entitlement and have applied, are simply not being processed. Maybe the VA has improved by now, but last year it was having massive problems. The sad thing in this case is that there are radical Muslims there who will kill their neighbors who committed the sin of helping American soldiers. The longer we keep them in limbo, the more dangerous their lives become.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/03/10/377566905/a-sheriff-and-a-doctor-team-up-to-map-childhood-trauma

A Sheriff And A Doctor Team Up To Map Childhood Trauma
LAURA STARECHESKI
MARCH 10, 2015

Photograph – Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell (left) and Dr. Nancy Hardt, University of Florida.
Bryan Thomas for NPR

The University of Florida's Dr. Nancy Hardt has an unusual double specialty: She's both a pathologist and an OB-GYN. For the first half of her career, she brought babies into the world. Then she switched — to doing autopsies on people after they die.

It makes perfect sense to her.

"Birth, and death. It's the life course," Hardt explains.

A few years ago, Hardt says, she learned about some research that changed her view of how exactly that life course — health or illness — unfolds.

The research shows that kids who have tough childhoods — because of poverty, abuse, neglect, or witnessing domestic violence, for instance — are actually more likely to be sick when they grow up. They're more likely to get diseases like asthma, diabetes and heart disease. And they tend to have shorter lives than people who haven't experienced those difficult events as kids.

"I want to prevent what I'm seeing on the autopsy table," Hardt says. "I've got to say, a lot of times, I'm standing there, going, 'I don't think this person had a very nice early childhood.' "

Back in 2008, Hardt was obsessing about this problem. She wanted to do something to intervene in the lives of vulnerable kids on a large scale, not just patient by patient.

So, by looking at Medicaid records, she made a map that showed exactly where Gainesville children were born into poverty. Block by block.

Right away she noticed something that surprised her: In the previous few years, in a 1-square-mile area in southwest Gainesville, as many as 450 babies were born to parents living below the poverty line.

It just didn't make sense to her — that was an area she thought was all fancy developments and mansions.

So Hardt took her map of Gainesville, with the poverty "hotspot" marked in deep blue, and started showing it to people. She'd ask them, "What is this place? What's going on over there?"

Eventually she brought the map to the CEO of her hospital, who told her she just had to show it to Alachua County's sheriff, Sadie Darnell.

So Hardt did.

And, to Hardt's surprise, Sheriff Darnell had a very interesting map of her own.

Darnell had a thermal map of high crime incidence. It showed that the highest concentration of crime in Gainesville was in a square-mile area that exactly overlaid Hardt's poverty map.

"It was an amazing, 'Aha' moment," says Darnell.

"We kind of blinked at each other," Hardt says. "And — simultaneously — we said, 'We've got to do something.' "

The hotspot is dotted with isolated, crowded apartment complexes with names like Majestic Oaks and Holly Heights. The first time she visited, on a ride-along with Sheriff Darnell's deputies, Hardt tallied up all things that make it hard for kids here to grow up healthy.

There's a lot of poorly maintained subsidized housing. Tarps cover leaky roofs. Mold and mildew spread across stucco walls. Sherry French, a sergeant from the sheriff's office, says lots of families here have trouble getting enough to eat.

Hardt added hunger to her list and substandard housing. And she noticed something else: almost a total lack of services, including medical care.

She mapped it out and determined that the closest place to get routine medical care if you're uninsured — which many people here are — is the county health department. It's almost a two-hour trip away by bus. Each way.

This was a problem a doctor like Hardt could tackle. She would bring medical care to the hotspot, by rustling up a very large donation: a converted Bluebird school bus, with two exam rooms inside.

Hardt organized a massive crew of volunteer doctors and medical students from the University of Florida, where she teaches, and raised the money to hire a driver and a full-time nurse.

The "clinic on wheels" first made it out to the hotspot in 2010, parking right inside one apartment complex there. Patients could walk in without an appointment and get treatment free of charge, approximating the experience of a house call. Today, the mobile clinic gets an average of 5,000 visits from patients per year, in under-served areas all over Gainesville.

But the clinic is really just one piece of the puzzle.

Because after the day that Hardt and the sheriff matched up their maps, they kept digging into the data. And, a few years later, Hardt made some new maps. They showed that the crime in the hotspot included the highest concentration of domestic violence, child abuse and neglect in Gainesville.

That revelation brought Dr. Hardt back to her original mission — to head off bad health outcomes in the most vulnerable kids. So she teamed up with Sheriff Darnell and other local groups and grass-roots organizers from the neighborhood. They collaborated to create theSWAG (Southwest Advocacy Group) Family Resource Center, right in the Linton Oaks apartment complex.

The SWAG Center opened in 2012. Kids can come play all day long. There's a food pantry, free meals, a computer room, AA meetings. A permanent health clinic is slated to open up across the street next week.

All the resources here are designed to decrease the likelihood of abuse and neglect by strengthening families.

"I think we knew it intuitively — that health issues are associated with crime, [and] crime is associated with health issues and poverty," Darnell says. "But seeing that direct connection literally on a map ... it helped to break down a lot of walls."

Child abuse and domestic violence are still serious problems, but there has been a small drop in the numbers of such calls over the past few years, according to the data.

Hardt says that investing in families and health now can help kids grow up healthy — and save money in the future.

"Conservatives or liberals, everybody gets that," she says. "That we have limited resources and we need to really spend them wisely. I think the maps — the hotspot maps — just tell us policywise, where we need to be going and what we need to be doing."

Hardt's next goal is to make more people aware of the links between health and early education. Last summer, the county got a new superintendent of schools. Hardt has been to visit him three times already — maps in hand.

This story is part of the NPR series, What Shapes Health?The series explores social and environmental factors that affect health throughout life. It is inspired, in part, by findings in a poll released this month by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.




"Birth, and death. It's the life course," Hardt explains. A few years ago, Hardt says, she learned about some research that changed her view of how exactly that life course — health or illness — unfolds.... Block by block. Right away she noticed something that surprised her: In the previous few years, in a 1-square-mile area in southwest Gainesville, as many as 450 babies were born to parents living below the poverty line.... Darnell had a thermal map of high crime incidence. It showed that the highest concentration of crime in Gainesville was in a square-mile area that exactly overlaid Hardt's poverty map.... There's a lot of poorly maintained subsidized housing. Tarps cover leaky roofs. Mold and mildew spread across stucco walls. Sherry French, a sergeant from the sheriff's office, says lots of families here have trouble getting enough to eat. Hardt added hunger to her list and substandard housing. And she noticed something else: almost a total lack of services, including medical care. ... The "clinic on wheels" first made it out to the hotspot in 2010, parking right inside one apartment complex there. Patients could walk in without an appointment and get treatment free of charge, approximating the experience of a house call. Today, the mobile clinic gets an average of 5,000 visits from patients per year, in under-served areas all over Gainesville.”

“The SWAG Center opened in 2012. Kids can come play all day long. There's a food pantry, free meals, a computer room, AA meetings. A permanent health clinic is slated to open up across the street next week.” I think it's really well known, at least intuitively, that crime, poverty, hunger and poor health do tend to go together, but this country has been slow to focus on the central problem – poverty, and especially among children. That's because they become more and more fixed in their habits and personality as they age. A twenty year old is harder to reform than a child. There has been a “philosophy,” especially in conservative areas, to trust the parents to do the right thing with their children.

It is assumed, for instance, that adults will “naturally” love their children and “know” how to take care of them. Obviously that is only true if they are mentally healthy and mature. Those parents who over-discipline or under-discipline, or who simply fail for whatever reason to spend “quality time” with their kids are causing the children to grow up warped. Such kids are emotionally starved. How kids grow up directly influences how they turn out as adults.

Some kids who go bad do come from wealthy homes, of course, but there is usually a pattern of neglect and abuse behind it. Many wealthy parents are not, unfortunately, wise and loving parents. A father or mother who is an active alcoholic or is mentally disturbed can't make a very good parent -- firm but nurturing, attentive but not a “helicopter parent.”

This SWAG Center seems to me to be a very helpful thing. It's community based, combining many services, including even Alcoholics Anonymous. It's a wonderful idea hatched up by two women who deal with community issues from their own separate angles, neither being a specialist in community relations or a psychologist, but when they put their heads together and collaborate some magic occurs. People of good will are capable of a great deal. This is a very encouraging story. Maybe other cities will start similar projects, since this story has been reported in the news. I hope so, anyway.





LETTERGATE – FOUR ARTICLES


http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/bernie-sanders-iran-letter-war-115934.html

Bernie Sanders: GOP 'itching' for war with Iran
By JONATHAN TOPAZ
3/10/15

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday slammed Senate Republicans for their open letter to Iranian leaders, accusing them of seeking out a war with the country.

Speaking with a group of reporters following his speech at the International Association of Fire Fighters presidential forum in Washington, the Vermont senator said the 47 Republican senators warning Iran of a deal on its nuclear program are trying to “sabotage” a agreement.
“[M]y Republican friends seem to be itching for that war,” said Sanders, an independent who is openly considering a presidential bid as a Democrat. “When you sabotage the effort to reach a peace agreement by the leader of the United States of America — the man who is charged with dealing with foreign policy — that, to me, is really unspeakable.”

Sanders, one of the Senate’s leading liberal voices and former chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, detailed what he called the significant cost in lives and dollars of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Apparently, some of my Republican colleagues do not believe that two wars are enough,” he said, later adding: “I think that is a very, very tragic position to hold.”

The senator offered praise for President Barack Obama and international negotiators that have long been pursuing a deal to freeze Iran’s nuclear program, calling the negotiations “the right thing to do.”

A group of 47 GOP senators, led by Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, sent an open letter on Monday to the leaders of Iran, cautioning them against reaching an agreement with the U.S. on its nuclear program. The senators wrote that an agreement without congressional approval would be “a mere executive agreement” and noted that the next president could overturn a deal when Obama leaves office.

Four potential 2016 GOP hopefuls — Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — all signed the letter.

The White House and several congressional Republicans and Democrats have criticized the letter as an attempt to politicize the issue and purposefully derail the president’s foreign policy goals.

Asked whether he would urge his Democratic colleagues to continue to support the president on a potential deal if negotiators fail to agree by the March 24 deadline, Sanders said: “The devil is in the details. We’ll have to see what happens. But I think what the American people want, what I certainly want, is to do everything that we can to reach a peaceful agreement with Iran.”

Sanders hailed the importance of trade unions in his speech on Tuesday morning and also took a shot at Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a potential GOP presidential candidate, for signing right-to-work legislation in his state.

“The goal is that if you can disempower working families, it is easier to continue to push them down, it is easier to prevent them from organizing politically, and that is what’s going on,” Sanders said, aligning the legislation with corporate America. “That is an intrinsic part of the war against working families today, is to break unions, and that’s what Gov. Walker and his friends are about.”

The senator’s address — the first on a day that will include speeches from other potential Democratic presidential candidates former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and former Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland — struck familiar tones for Sanders, as he railed against “the billionaire class” and called for a grassroots coalition for a working-class agenda.

“Maybe, just maybe, it’s time for corporate America and the wealthiest people in this country to start paying their fair share of taxes,” he said in one of his loudest applause lines.

Sanders has visited early nominating states New Hampshire and Iowa several times in recent months, most recently a three-day, nine-event visit to the Hawkeye State last month.

The senator, who has recently expressed frustration with repeated questions about his potential 2016 rival, likely frontrunner Hillary Clinton, declined twice to comment on her email scandal.

“I really don’t want to talk about Hillary Clinton,” he said, when asked about her upcoming press conference Tuesday where she is expected to discuss her use of a private email account used to conduct business while she headed the State Department.

At a speech and Q&A at Washington’s National Press Club on Monday, Sanders said he had received no constituent phone calls about the emails and that it’s “not one of the big issues” he’s focused on.

A Sanders adviser said Monday that the Vermonter is likely to make a preliminary decision on a 2016 run this month.




“Apparently, some of my Republican colleagues do not believe that two wars are enough,” he said, later adding: “I think that is a very, very tragic position to hold.” The senator offered praise for President Barack Obama and international negotiators that have long been pursuing a deal to freeze Iran’s nuclear program, calling the negotiations “the right thing to do.”... The White House and several congressional Republicans and Democrats have criticized the letter as an attempt to politicize the issue and purposefully derail the president’s foreign policy goals. Asked whether he would urge his Democratic colleagues to continue to support the president on a potential deal if negotiators fail to agree by the March 24 deadline, Sanders said: “The devil is in the details. We’ll have to see what happens. But I think what the American people want, what I certainly want, is to do everything that we can to reach a peaceful agreement with Iran.”.... took a shot at Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a potential GOP presidential candidate, for signing right-to-work legislation in his state. “The goal is that if you can disempower working families, it is easier to continue to push them down, it is easier to prevent them from organizing politically, and that is what’s going on,” Sanders said, aligning the legislation with corporate America. “That is an intrinsic part of the war against working families today, is to break unions, and that’s what Gov. Walker and his friends are about.”... struck familiar tones for Sanders, as he railed against “the billionaire class” and called for a grassroots coalition for a working-class agenda. “Maybe, just maybe, it’s time for corporate America and the wealthiest people in this country to start paying their fair share of taxes,” he said in one of his loudest applause lines.”

“The goal is that if you can disempower working families … it is easier to prevent them from organizing politically.” Times were I would have said that's a paranoid statement, but with things like this ridiculous war between the GOP and the first black President, I tend to agree with him now. Religion plays a similar role with enforced poverty in keeping people down, only in that case it is a psychological war instead of physical. I have been watching Bernie Sanders in the news and on my Google “G+” account. He is a member in my circle, and submits a daily comment or graphic image on a liberal subject of concern. I almost always agree with him, but some of the right-wing commentators do jump in most days with the liberals, and a fairly rough fray sometimes occurs. It really is enlivening to read what people think, especially when opinions are inflamed by the daily news stories. Bernie Sanders can speak sharply and gives no quarter on his opinions. He has the right view on things, in my opinion, and is not at a loss for words in expressing himself. I would be interested in seeing him run for President in 2016. I was thinking that he looked a bit old to run, but I Googled him and found that he is only a few years older than I am – 73 and going strong. I will seriously consider voting for him if he runs.





http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/tom-cotton-joe-biden-iran-letter-defense-115925.html?ml=ri

Tom Cotton fires back at Biden over Iran letter
By KENDALL BREITMAN
3/10/15

Sen. Tom Cotton is firing back at Vice President Joe Biden’s criticism of his letter to Iran, saying: What does he know about foreign policy?

“Joe Biden, as [President] Barack Obama’s own secretary of defense has said, has been wrong about nearly every foreign policy and national security decision in the last 40 years,” Cotton said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” in a reference to former Pentagon chief Robert Gates, who ripped Biden in a tell-all memoir after leaving office.

“Moreover, if Joe Biden respects the dignity of the institution of the Senate he should be insisting that the president submit any deal to approval of the Senate, which is exactly what he did on numerous deals during his time in Senate,” Cotton said.
On Monday, the freshman senator from Arkansas, along with 46 other Republican senators, signed a letter to top Iranian leaders informing them that any nuclear deal they reach with President Obama would be “nothing more than an executive agreement” that would likely be tossed out when a new president takes office.

Biden released a strongly worded statement on Monday night, saying that the letter “is beneath the dignity of an institution I revere.”

“In 36 years in the United States Senate,” Biden said,“I cannot recall another instance in which senators wrote directly to advise another country — much less a longtime foreign adversary — that the president does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them.”

Cotton responded to Biden on Tuesday, saying that he and the other senators who signed the letter are “simply speaking for the American people.”

“The point we’re making to Iran’s leaders — who, if you talk to many of the Iran experts, will say don’t understand our Constitution — is that if Congress doesn’t approve a deal, Congress won’t accept a deal. Now or in the future,” Cotton said.

When asked what an acceptable deal would look like to him, Cotton answered “complete nuclear disarmament by Iran.”

“They can simply disarm their nuclear weapons program and allow complete intrusive inspections,” Cotton said.
MSNBC’s hosts pressed Cotton on the idea of complete disarmament, arguing that Iran would never agree to those terms.

“I think we have to have a credible threat of military force on the table but the real alternative … to a bad deal is a better deal,” Cotton said. “With more sanctions, with confronting Iran, with only giving them the choice that would completely disarm their nuclear weapons.”

Cotton said that a “credible threat of force on the table… would only enhance the ability” of the U.S. to disarm Iran.




“Biden released a strongly worded statement on Monday night, saying that the letter “is beneath the dignity of an institution I revere.” “In 36 years in the United States Senate,” Biden said,“I cannot recall another instance in which senators wrote directly to advise another country — much less a longtime foreign adversary — that the president does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them.”...

“Cotton responded to Biden on Tuesday, saying that he and the other senators who signed the letter are “simply speaking for the American people.” Republicans are very fond of asserting that they “speak for the American people.” The American population is more divided than that and into three groups of similar sizes. The number of moderates is almost as high in the US as that of conservatives, and if liberals and moderates are grouped together as usually happens, “our team” is likely to win the election over the “big bruiser” conservatives. Lately they have been showing more confidence that they are going to win the next election than I have seen in years. Maybe they know something about the American grassroots that I don't, but I think that if they make many booboos like this letter to Iran, they will alienate many or even most of the moderates and lose the election after all.

The following is from http://www.gallup.com/poll/180452/liberals-record-trail-conservatives.aspx?version=print, “U.S. Liberals at Record 24%, but Still Trail Conservatives,” by Lydia Saad, January 9, 2015. – “Conservatives continued to outnumber moderates and liberals in the U.S. population in 2014, as they have since 2009. However, their 14-percentage-point edge over liberals last year, 38% vs. 24%, is the smallest in Gallup's trends since 1992. The percentage of U.S. adults identifying themselves as politically conservative in 2014 was unchanged from 2013, as was the percentage of moderates, at 34%, while the percentage considering themselves liberal rose a percentage point for the third straight year.”

The truth is that I am mainly liberal, but on some issues am moderate. I am more likely to consider war as an option than an extreme liberal, and I do not consider the most radical forms of Islam, nor Christianity, to be a good thing. I fear them both equally. Both tend to gang up together to fight the other or someone else – such as the Jews or the agnostics– rather than ennobling mankind with empathy, intelligent contemplation and ethical fairness. I do want to see Islamic people in this country, but not in huge numbers so that they take over whole neighborhoods and try to change our government to one based on Sharia law, so I'm on the fence on that issue. Maybe I'm a moderate, after all.







http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/10/1369844/--47traitors-trends-in-response-to-Republican-open-letter-to-Iran?detail=facebook_sf

#47traitors trends in response to Republican open letter to Iran
TUE MAR 10, 2015

Photograph – Cartoon published on the front page of the New York Daily News, a conservative newspaper. Go to the website NyDailyNews.com to see this.

It's not just the president, the vice president, and fellow Senate Republicans appalled at the open letter to Iran organized by Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and signed by 46 other Republican senators. The New York Daily News, for instance, endorsed Mitt Romney in 2012, but ran the cover you can see above. The Wall Street Journal is ... the Wall Street Journal, but it editorialized that "The problem with the GOP letter is that it’s a distraction from what should be the main political goal of persuading the American people."

It's not just media elites talking about—and condemning—the letter, either:
Ouch. But it's worth remembering that, for Tom Cotton at least, this letter wasn't the first step off the deep end on Iran. IN 2013, COTTON OFFERED AN AMENDMENT THAT WOULD HAVE HARSHLY PUNISHED PEOPLE VIOLATING SANCTIONS ON IRAN. ACTUALLY, COTTON WOULDN'T HAVE STOPPED AT HARSHLY PUNISHING THE VIOLATORS THEMSELVES:

COTTON ALSO SEEKS TO PUNISH ANY FAMILY MEMBER OF THOSE PEOPLE, "TO INCLUDE A SPOUSE AND ANY RELATIVE TO THE THIRD DEGREE," INCLUDING, "PARENTS, CHILDREN, AUNTS, UNCLES, NEPHEWS, NIECES, GRANDPARENTS, GREAT GRANDPARENTS, GRANDKIDS, GREAT GRANDKIDS," COTTON SAID.

Yes, Cotton thinks that the great grandchildren of people who violate Iran sanctions should be imprisoned. Which, by the way, is completely unconstitutional. But this is someone who got the vast majority of his Republican colleagues in the Senate, including leadership, to sign onto a letter to Iran trying to torpedo American diplomacy. Congressional Republicans listen to this man. That's terrifying—but if this open letter has helped discredit him publicly, it may be one good outcome of the whole mess.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO LAURA CLAWSON ON TUE MAR 10, 2015 AT 07:57 AM PDT.
ALSO REPUBLISHED BY DAILY KOS.



https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1VASI_enUS513US564&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=grandfather%20clause%20voting&es_th=1

grandfather clause voting –
“grandfather clause, statutory or constitutional device enacted by seven Southern states between 1895 and 1910 to deny suffrage to American blacks; it provided that those who had enjoyed the right to vote prior to 1866 or 1867, or their lineal descendants, would be exempt from educational, property, or tax requirements ...Jun 23, 2014”




This Cotton quotation about punishing the family members on into the future is not only scandalous, it's frightening. It sounds too similar to the infamous “grandfather clause” that prohibited blacks in some states from voting until those laws were struck down. The problem with some of these Republicans and Tea Partiers is that they have not the slightest respect for human fairness. I respect them for being hard fighters, but not for being dirty fighters. I don't trust Republicans due to their overall lack of ethics and empathy, and in too many cases, good reasoning ability. Many of the very "conservative" people in this country are also very uneducated, and not given to thinking for themselves -- they're too timid. They want to be a part of a team and follow the rules of the team. They consider themselves to be good people if they follow rigid rules. They, of course, consider me to be inferior to them because I'm not rich and never have been. I came from poor farmers in the red clay area of North Carolina, who then moved to town and got work there. As a result I believe in helping the poor. I also tend to fight fairly blindly for the underdog, unless said underdog is involved in some kind of truly criminal behavior. I'm willing to forgive social awkwardness or the lack of expensive clothing or other status symbols. I want openness and honesty in the people I associate with, and not a smooth exterior manner.



Place tongue in cheek –
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/iran-offers-to-mediate-talks-between-republicans-and-obama?mbid=social_facebook

Iran Offers to Mediate Talks Between Republicans and Obama
BY ANDY BOROWITZ
TODAY March 10, 2015  10:15 AM

TEHRAN (The Borowitz Report)—Stating that “their continuing hostilities are a threat to world peace,” Iran has offered to mediate talks between congressional Republicans and President Obama.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, made the offer one day after Iran received what he called a “worrisome letter” from Republican leaders, which suggested to him that “the relationship between Republicans and Obama has deteriorated dangerously.”

“Tensions between these two historic enemies have been high in recent years, but we believe they are now at a boiling point,” Khamenei said. “As a result, Iran feels it must offer itself as a peacemaker.”

He said that his nation was the “logical choice” to jumpstart negotiations between Obama and the Republicans because “it has become clear that both sides currently talk more to Iran than to each other.”

He invited Obama and the Republicans to meet in Tehran to hash out their differences and called on world powers to force the two bitter foes to the bargaining table, adding, “It is time to stop the madness.”

Hours after Iran made its offer, President Obama said that he was willing to meet with his congressional adversaries under the auspices of Tehran, but questioned whether “any deal reached with Republicans is worth the paper it’s written on.”

For their part, the Republicans said they would only agree to talks if there were no preconditions, such as recognizing President Obama’s existence.

(Get news satire from The Borowitz Report delivered to your inbox.)




The first Borowitz Report I saw was the one featuring an outrageous verbal battle between Putin and Obama. It was written in such a plausible manner that I was shocked, but I quickly looked it up on the Net to see if such a thing had actually happened. It didn't, of course. Borowitz is very imaginative and has a wild sense of humor. I really love him.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/number-of-households-with-guns-on-the-decline-study-shows/

Number of households with guns on the decline, study shows
CBS NEWS
March 10, 2015

WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans who live in a household with at least one gun is lower than it's ever been, according to a major American trend survey that finds the decline in gun ownership is paralleled by a reduction in the number of Americans who hunt.

According to the latest General Social Survey, 32 percent of Americans either own a firearm themselves or live with someone who does, which ties a record low set in 2010. That's a significant decline since the late 1970s and early 1980s, when about half of Americans told researchers there was a gun in their household.

The General Social Survey is conducted by NORC, an independent research organization based at the University of Chicago, with money from the National Science Foundation. Because of its long-running and comprehensive set of questions about the demographics, behaviors and attitudes of the American public, it is a highly regarded source of data about social trends.

Data from the 2014 survey was released last week, and an analysis of its findings on gun ownership and attitudes toward gun permits was conducted by General Social Survey staff.

The drop in the number of Americans who own a gun or live in a household with one is probably linked to a decline in the popularity of hunting, from 32 percent who said they lived in a household with at least one hunter in 1977 to less than half that number saying so now.

That the number of households with at least one gun is declining doesn't necessarily mean that the number being purchased is on the decline. Data from the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check system shows that in recent years there's actually been an increase in the number of background checks being run, suggesting the total number of firearms being purchased is going up.

But those are concentrated in fewer hands than they were in the 1980s, the General Social Survey finds. The 2014 poll finds that 22 percent of Americans own a firearm, down from a high of 31 percent who said so in 1985.

Number of households with guns on the decline, study shows
Gun control group takes aim at grocery chain

The survey also finds a shrinking gender gap in personal firearm ownership as a result of a decline in the percentage of men who own one, from 50 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2014.

Fewer women than men own guns, but the percentage among women has held fairly steady since 1980, with 12 percent now saying they personally own a gun.

Only 14 percent of adults under age 35, but 31 percent of those over age 65, say they personally own a gun. That gap has increased over time - in 1980, younger adults were only slightly less likely than older ones to report that they owned a gun.

The poll finds half of Republicans live in households with at least one gun, which is twice as high as ownership among Democrats or independents.

People in higher-income households are significantly more likely than those in lower-income households to own a gun, the survey finds. Gun ownership rates also vary by race, with 4 in 10 white Americans living in households with a gun compared with less than 2 in 10 blacks and Hispanics.

Blacks and Hispanics are also more likely than whites to support requiring a permit to own a gun, although large majorities among all three groups support requiring a permit.

Support for requiring a gun permit climbed to a peak of 82 percent in the late 1990's, but has fallen since then. The 72 percent who support requiring a permit now is at its lowest level since 1987.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Social_Survey

General Social Survey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“The General Social Survey (GSS) is a sociological survey used to collectdata on demographic characteristics and attitudes of residents of the United States. The survey is conducted face-to-face with an in-person interview by the National Opinion Research Centerat the University of Chicago, of adults (18+) in randomly selected households. The survey was conducted every year from 1972 to 1994 (except in 1979, 1981, and 1992). Since 1994, it has been conducted every other year. The survey takes about 90 minutes to administer. As of 2010 28 national samples with 55,087 respondents and 5,417 variables had been collected.

The data collected about this survey  includes both demographic information and respondents' opinions on matters ranging from government spending to the state of race relations to the existence and nature of God. Because of the wide range of topics covered, and the comprehensive gathering of demographic information, survey results allow social scientists to correlate demographic factors like age, race, gender, and urban/rural upbringing with beliefs, and thereby determine whether, for example, an average middle-aged black male respondent would be more or less likely to move to a different U.S. state for economic reasons than a similarly situated white female respondent; or whether a highly educated person with a rural upbringing is more likely to believe in a transcendent God than a person with an urban upbringing and only a high-school education.”


“The number of Americans who live in a household with at least one gun is lower than it's ever been, according to a major American trend survey that finds the decline in gun ownership is paralleled by a reduction in the number of Americans who hunt. According to the latest General Social Survey, 32 percent of Americans either own a firearm themselves or live with someone who does, which ties a record low set in 2010. That's a significant decline since the late 1970s and early 1980s, when about half of Americans told researchers there was a gun in their household.... The 2014 poll finds that 22 percent of Americans own a firearm, down from a high of 31 percent who said so in 1985.... The survey also finds a shrinking gender gap in personal firearm ownership as a result of a decline in the percentage of men who own one, from 50 percent in 1980 to 35 percent in 2014. Fewer women than men own guns, but the percentage among women has held fairly steady since 1980, with 12 percent now saying they personally own a gun. Only 14 percent of adults under age 35, but 31 percent of those over age 65, say they personally own a gun.... The poll finds half of Republicans live in households with at least one gun, which is twice as high as ownership among Democrats or independents.”




These figures don't surprise me. The people who have the most valuable things in their houses are more afraid of intruders, and tend to buy guns, presumably for self-protection. Also the stats show that the number of guns bought now is up, while the number of households with a gun is down, especially among blacks and Hispanics. Many wealthy people may be collectors. Guns are an expensive hobby. Interestingly, most people in all groups are in favor of requiring a permit to buy a gun. Also, most guns are in the hands of people over 65 years old. They are also more likely to be Republicans, according to the article. It is interesting that the number of men owning guns has gone down, but that may be because more of the young men under 35 are Democrats or Independents now, rather than Republican. I wonder if that is the case? Maybe the stereotypical angry white man is an OLD angry white man. Personally, I have never wanted to have to take care of a gun, go to a firing range, clean it and take it apart, etc. Those are things that men like to do – play with their toys!