Thursday, April 30, 2015


News Clips For The Day


Today I found so much information that I wanted to use on the events in Baltimore and policing issues since Ferguson that I put it all together on my occasional blog called Thoughts and Researches, at manessmorrison2.blogspot.com. I have called it The New Civil Rights Movement. I hope you check it out and find it interesting. Good day!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nigeria-rescues-nearly-300-from-boko-haram-hideout/

Nigerian army says it has rescued nearly 300 from Boko Haram hideout
AP April 28, 2015

LAGOS, Nigeria -- The Nigerian army says that it has rescued 200 girls and 93 women in the Sambisa Forest, but officials say they are not the schoolgirls kidnapped a year ago by Boko Haram extremists from Chibok.

The army announced the rescue on Twitter Tuesday and said it is now screening and profiling the girls and women.

Troops also captured and destroyed three terrorist camps in the forest, known as an operating area for the Boko Haram.

FLASH: Troops this afternoon rescued 200 girls & 93 women from#Sambisa Forest. We cannot confirm if the #ChibokGirls are in this group /1
— DEFENCE HQ NIGERIA (@DefenceInfoNG) April 28, 2015

More than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped from Chibok in northeastern Nigeria by the Islamic extremist group in April 2014. The militants took the schoolgirls in trucks into the Sambisa Forest and the girls have been missing since. The plight of the schoolgirls has garnered international attention and the #BringBackOurGirls campaign.

The Nigerian army announced two weeks ago that it is going into Sambisa Forest, which is a center for the Boko Haram fighters.

Meanwhile, hundreds of skeletons of children, women and men believed killed by Boko Haram have been found in the recaptured Nigerian border town of Damasak, indicating another atrocity by the Islamic extremists, witnesses say.




This is a victory for the Nigerian troops, but the women and girls freed are not the 200 from April last year. Boko Haram has been busy collecting hostages. If only their leadership could be captured and killed. The skeletons of hundreds more of both sexes and all ages has been found in one of the towns the army took. There must be no safe place to live there. Like ISIS, they consider themselves to be living according to their religion. There have been other bloodthirsty groups before, of course, even down into prehistory. Mass graves have been found a number of times. I just wish they wouldn't credit their religion with this carnage.





BALTIMORE ISSUES TODAY


http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/04/28/402836834/criminals-taking-advantage-of-situation-in-baltimore-obama-says

'Criminals' Taking Advantage Of Situation In Baltimore, Obama Says
Krishnadev Calamur
APRIL 28, 2015

Photograph – President Obama is condemning the unrest in Baltimore, saying a handful of "criminals" are taking advantage of the situation following the April 19 death of Freddie Gray.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP

President Obama is condemning the unrest in Baltimore, saying that a handful of "criminals" are taking advantage of the situation following the April 19 death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who suffered a serious spine injury while in police custody.

As we have been reporting, hundreds of National Guard troops have been positioned across parts of the city a day after riots left at least 15 police officers wounded and more than a dozen buildings destroyed, damaged or looted. The violence, as NPR's Jackie Northam noted, began after Gray's funeral. His death on April 19 at a hospital led to several days of mostly peaceful protests.

Speaking Tuesday alongside visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Obama said, "There's no excuse for the kind of violence that we saw yesterday."

"When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they're not protesting, they're not making a statement, they're stealing," he said. "When they burn down a building, they're committing arson. And they're destroying and undermining businesses and opportunities in their own communities that rob jobs and opportunity from people in that area."

Obama said he'd spoken to Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday about the steps they have taken to try to stop what the president called "senseless violence and destruction."

"That is not a protest, that is not a statement, it's people — a handful of people taking advantage of the situation for their own purposes, and they need to be treated as criminals," he said.

He said the violence distracted from the peaceful protests that followed Gray's death, and he noted that the often-violent interactions between police and African-Americans and the poor were part of a "slow-rolling crisis."

"This has been going on for a long time," he said. "This is not new. And we shouldn't pretend that it's new. The good news is that perhaps there's some newfound awareness because of social media and video cameras and so forth that there are ... problems and challenges when it comes to how policing and our laws are applied in certain communities, and we have to pay attention to it and respond."

He said a White House task force comprising law enforcement and community activists, created in the wake of the protests in Ferguson, Mo., "wouldn't solve every problem, but would make a concrete difference in rebuilding trust and making sure that the overwhelming majority of effective, honest and fair law enforcement officers ... [are] able to do their job better because it will weed out or retrain or put a stop to those handful who may be not doing what they're supposed to be doing."

Obama said that police departments across the country need to acknowledge that just as there are some corrupt politicians and wrongdoers on Wall Street, "there are some police who aren't doing the right thing." The president added that some communities, police departments and the entire country "have to do some soul searching."

"[I]f we really want to solve the problem, if our society really wanted to solve the problem, we could. It's just it would require everybody saying this is important, this is significant, and that we don't just pay attention to these communities when a CVS burns and we don't just pay attention when a young man gets shot or has his spine snapped," he said. "We're paying attention all the time because we consider those kids our kids and we think they're important and they shouldn't be living in poverty and violence."




"When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they're not protesting, they're not making a statement, they're stealing," he said. "When they burn down a building, they're committing arson. And they're destroying and undermining businesses and opportunities in their own communities that rob jobs and opportunity from people in that area." …. He said the violence distracted from the peaceful protests that followed Gray's death, and he noted that the often-violent interactions between police and African-Americans and the poor were part of a "slow-rolling crisis." …. "This has been going on for a long time," he said. "This is not new. And we shouldn't pretend that it's new. The good news is that perhaps there's some newfound awareness because of social media and video cameras and so forth that there are ... problems and challenges when it comes to how policing and our laws are applied in certain communities, and we have to pay attention to it and respond." …. rebuilding trust and making sure that the overwhelming majority of effective, honest and fair law enforcement officers ... [are] able to do their job better because it will weed out or retrain or put a stop to those handful who may be not doing what they're supposed to be doing." …. It's just it would require everybody saying this is important, this is significant, and that we don't just pay attention to these communities when a CVS burns and we don't just pay attention when a young man gets shot or has his spine snapped," he said. "We're paying attention all the time because we consider those kids our kids and we think they're important and they shouldn't be living in poverty and violence."

Wise words, which unfortunately were spoken couched in the phrase “if we really wanted to solve this problem.” Unfortunately, those who are well-to-do and especially if they are white, mainly want to buy a big boat, drink champagne and go to their country clubs and golf courses undisturbed. Some of them hope that the “black problem” will just go away. Well, it's not going to. Governments from federal to state to local need to turn their eyes to the everyday life of the jobless and the working poor. Those people are desperate or at the very least deprived, and partly in response to that they are fuming with rage. The too often violent police officers are hated and the result is this rioting. I certainly don't want to see race-based fighting on our city streets, but unfortunately it is a possibility. Obama is right, of course, that theft is theft and murder is murder and they must be punished. It should be in the courts, however, not at the hands of police officers. And as long as police departments fail to see the need to build bridges with the communities they serve this will continue to go on.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rift-between-police-and-community-underlies-baltimore-unrest/

Rift between police and community underlies Baltimore unrest
By JEFF PEGUES CBS NEWS
April 28, 2015

74 Photographs – Baltimore under siege

BALTIMORE -- The violence started yesterday after the funeral for Freddie Gray, who died last week of injuries he suffered while in police custody.

Six officers have been suspended. Results of a police department investigation are due to be turned over to prosecutors by Friday.

For West Baltimore residents like Melvin Towns, 16, the frustration wasn't just written on his protest sign. He says the death of Freddie Gray represents the larger problem between the police and the community.

He was asked how he feels about the police.

"I mean personally, I ain't going to lie to you, I don't like the police, just because of what they keep doing to my people -- my people. My black people," he said, explaining that people are furious. "It's beginning to become a routine with us. With the police."

Mike Ware, 34, says on the street, the routine of rounding up and arresting people is called a walkthrough. What does that mean? "The police don't want us right here on the corner, we're going to jail, we'll be home tomorrow morning," he said.

The divisions are not just along racial lines, they are economic too. In Baltimore there are about 16,000 abandoned buildings, mostly in predominantly black neighborhoods. In Sandtown, Freddie Gray's neighborhood, as of 2011 one of five adults was unemployed. And half the households made under $25,000 a year.

According to a Baltimore Sun investigation, the city has paid about 100 people more than $5 million to settle police brutality cases.

Ware called relations between the police and the community "as bad as good and evil." To him that means "as bad as black and white," he said. "It's total opposites. They don't care about us, I know about people will get their houses broken into and willnot call the police."

Valerie Pool prays the distrust and resentment doesn't destroy the city. Asked what's next for Baltimore, she answers: "You know what sir, I have no idea."

Baltimore City Police tactics have led to a consistent drop in murders, so far this year just 68. In the 90s, that was a number that routinely topped 300.




“Mike Ware, 34, says on the street, the routine of rounding up and arresting people is called a walkthrough. what does that mean? "The police don't want us right here on the corner, we're going to jail, we'll be home tomorrow morning," he said. …. “According to a Baltimore Sun investigation, the city has paid about 100 people more than $5 million to settle police brutality cases. Ware called relations between the police and the community "as bad as good and evil." To him that means "as bad as black and white," he said. "It's total opposites. They don't care about us, I know about people will get their houses broken into and will not call the police." …. Baltimore City Police tactics have led to a consistent drop in murders, so far this year just 68. In the 90s, that was a number that routinely topped 300.”


“According to a Baltimore Sun investigation, the city has paid about 100 people more than $5 million to settle police brutality cases.” You'd think that after this piece of information gets around, the city will get serious about mending the problems – poor training, selection and management of police officers – and ignorant human interactions between them and the citizens. $500,000,000 is a lot of money to spend without even looking toward solving the problems at their core. The statement that it is “the police tactics” that have led to a drop in the murder rate, I think is probably not true. I think when a positive change occurs it is more likely due to some constructive work by social service groups and the city government that has helped. Beside the “enforcement” of law stands its partner. the respect for law. That is an inner attitude that comes from faith in the system, and some black citizens did stand together calling for peace in the streets when these riots first began. Unfortunately this faith does not come from a lifetime full of negative experiences, which has too often been the prevailing reality. Two earlier news reports stated that most of the rioting individuals are young people and many are from out of town. I think improvement in the murder rate of Baltimore more likely than not has come about through those responsible citizens down through the years rather than the repressive actions of a militarized police force, as I noted below in the ACLU report. If the police have joined in community service tasks along with the other citizens, then that has undoubtedly helped. That's what they need to do to win the trust of the citizens. On the Internet I could find no glowing reports of improving police interactions with the poor communities, however. See the following from the ACLU.

https://www.aclu.org/news/statement-freddie-gray-and-policecommunity-conflict-baltimore

STATEMENT ON FREDDIE GRAY AND POLICE/COMMUNITY CONFLICT IN BALTIMORE

“The following can be attributed to Susan Goering, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland:

As every wisdom tradition recognizes, violence begets more violence. We as an organization stand for interrupting that cycle of violence. The tragic destruction and violence that Baltimore suffered yesterday is of a piece with the violence that people in Black communities in Baltimore have experienced daily in their interactions with police. We also know that other systemic forms of violence - in the form of discriminatory housing and education policies - have been perpetrated against the same communities in Baltimore for decades.

The first step in interrupting this cycle must be urgent reforms in how police and communities interact. We must acknowledge that the tragedy of Freddie Gray's death, and the death of others, flows from the militarization of the Baltimore Police Department, and police departments across the country. Over time, the daily injustices, the repeated instances of police brutality, the unconstitutional treatment of poor and minority people - these patterns crush people's souls.

The basis for creating a relationship of mutual respect between police and communities was evident in the thousands of people who peacefully exercised their First Amendment rights in protesting the death of Freddie Gray. It was also evident in the thousands of people who stood for calm and urged peace in the tension of the day. We know that the path to peace goes through justice. We must move forward on that path with urgency and determination.”




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-governor-calls-for-water-restrictions/

California governor calls for water restrictions
AP April 28, 2015

Houseboats float in the drought-lowered waters of Oroville Lake near Oroville, Calif.  AP / RICH PEDRONCELLI, FILE

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday called for $10,000 fines for residents and businesses that waste the most water as California cities try to meet mandatory conservation targets during the drought.

The recommendation was part of a legislative proposal Brown said he would make to expand enforcement of water restrictions.

His announcement came as his administration faces skepticism about his sweeping plan to save water and just hours before regulators were scheduled to release an updated plan assigning each community a water use reduction target.

"We've done a lot. We have a long way to go," Brown said after meeting with the mayors of 14 cities, including San Diego and Oakland. "So maybe you want to think of this as just another installment on a long enterprise to live with a changing climate and with a drought of uncertain duration."

The governor also said he is directing state agencies to speed environmental review of projects that increase local water supplies. Mayors have complained that such projects have been delayed by red tape.

Brown's action will not extend to the construction of dams and reservoirs. A legislative panel on Monday rejected a bill supported by Republicans to expedite construction of water storage projects near Fresno and north of Sacramento.

Last summer, state regulators authorized $500 fines for outdoor water waste, but few cities have levied such high amounts. Many agencies have said they would rather educate customers than penalize them.

The mayors who gathered Tuesday with Brown did not indicate they were seeking higher fines.

Brown said steep fines should still be a last resort and "only the worst offenders" that continually violated water rules would be subject to $10,000 penalties. It was unclear what kind of violations those would be.

His proposal would also provide enforcement power to water departments that currently can't fine customers.

California is in its fourth year of drought, and state officials fear it may last as long as a decade. State water officials on Tuesday toured the High Sierra by helicopter, finding snow at only one of four sites that normally would be covered, said Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys for the California Department of Water Resources.

"We'd be flying along at 10,000 feet, where there should be an abundant snowpack this time of year, and it's dry, dusty ground," he said by telephone.

Brown previously ordered a mandatory 25 percent reduction in statewide water use in cities and towns after voluntary conservation wasn't enough to meet his goals.

The state's most recent proposal, released last week, calls for water use to plummet by as much as 36 percent in some communities. Some cities say the targets are unrealistic and possibly illegal. And some Northern California communities say their longstanding legal rights to water protect them from having to make cuts to help other parched towns.

The current conservation plan is based on per-capita residential water use last summer. Some agencies have offered alternatives that reflect greater demand for water in more arid parts of the state and give credit for conservation efforts before the drought began.

"There are entities like San Diego that are doing a remarkable job on conservation," city Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in an interview after the meeting with Brown. "We're investing significant dollars in desalination and wanting to invest significant dollars into water recycling."

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin said she was pleased that the governor intended to streamline regulations for such things as her city's planned surface water treatment plant and a water recycling facility.

Earlier this month, an appeals court struck down tiered water rates designed to encourage conservation in the Orange County city of San Juan Capistrano, saying rates must be linked to the cost of service.

Brown, however, said the ruling does not eliminate using tiered water rates but added "it's not as easy as it was before the decision."

Brown did not release any specific language related to his proposed legislation, and it was unclear whether the Democratic governor had asked any lawmakers to carry it.

In a prepared statement, Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said she was reviewing the proposal but "it's clear that local governments need additional enforcement tools to help them to further increase conservation."

Claire Conlon, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, declined comment.




"We've done a lot. We have a long way to go," Brown said after meeting with the mayors of 14 cities, including San Diego and Oakland. "So maybe you want to think of this as just another installment on a long enterprise to live with a changing climate and with a drought of uncertain duration." The governor also said he is directing state agencies to speed environmental review of projects that increase local water supplies. Mayors have complained that such projects have been delayed by red tape. …. Brown said steep fines should still be a last resort and "only the worst offenders" that continually violated water rules would be subject to $10,000 penalties. It was unclear what kind of violations those would be. His proposal would also provide enforcement power to water departments that currently can't fine customers. …. "We'd be flying along at 10,000 feet, where there should be an abundant snowpack this time of year, and it's dry, dusty ground," he said by telephone. Brown previously ordered a mandatory 25 percent reduction in statewide water use in cities and towns after voluntary conservation wasn't enough to meet his goals. The state's most recent proposal, released last week, calls for water use to plummet by as much as 36 percent in some communities. Some cities say the targets are unrealistic and possibly illegal. And some Northern California communities say their longstanding legal rights to water protect them from having to make cuts to help other parched towns. …. In a prepared statement, Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, said she was reviewing the proposal but "it's clear that local governments need additional enforcement tools to help them to further increase conservation."

"There are entities like San Diego that are doing a remarkable job on conservation," city Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in an interview after the meeting with Brown. "We're investing significant dollars in desalination and wanting to invest significant dollars into water recycling." Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin said she was pleased that the governor intended to streamline regulations for such things as her city's planned surface water treatment plant and a water recycling facility.” Recycling and desalination will hopefully be the trend of the future, because droughts like this are not temporary, I don't believe. I know California has always been dry, but not this dry. It's becoming a desert. Goodbye to farms and orchards. We may have to buy our fruit and vegetables from some other source in the future, and people will have to be restrictive even in their home use of water. I am waiting for desalination plants to spring up all over both coasts in the years to come, and purifying our used waste water will probably become standard. Do any of you remember that scene in the movie Waterworld in which Kevin Costner recycles his water? Well, disgusting as that was, it is being done right now on the International Space Station by long term astronauts.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/could-the-supreme-court-restrict-the-use-of-lethal-injection/

Could the Supreme Court restrict the use of lethal injection?
By JAKE MILLER CBS NEWS
April 29, 2015

Photograph – The death chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, seen in a November 2005 file photo.  AP PHOTO/KIICHIRO SATO

The execution of Oklahoma death row inmate Clayton Lockett in April 2014 was, by all accounts, thoroughly botched. The memories of those who witnessed the lethal injection have a decidedly gruesome quality to them. One likened the scene to something you'd see in a "horror movie."

"He was conscious and blinking, licking his lips even after the process began. He then began to seize," Associated Press reporter Bailey Elise McBride tweeted shortly after the execution.

"He kicks his right leg and his head rolls to the side. He mumbles something we can't understand," reported Tulsa World reporter Ziva Branstetter. "He begins rolling his head from side to side. He again mumbles something we can't understand, except for the word 'man.' He lifts his head and shoulders off the gurney several times, as if he's trying to sit up. He appears to be in pain."

One attorney present "began crying as Clayton began to have this violent reaction," Branstetter later told NPR."This is my fourth execution to witness, but I've never seen anything like this during an execution."

Lockett, who was sentenced to death for killing a 19-year-old girl in 1999, was injected with a drug cocktail that included a sedative known as midazolam. It was 43 minutes before he ultimately passed away.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could determine whether the use of midazolam in lethal injections violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. If the court prohibits the use of the compound, it will mark the first time the justices have ruled a particular method of capital punishment unconstitutional in U.S. History.

The case was brought by a group of Oklahoma death row inmates. The plaintiff, Richard Glossip, is the next inmate scheduled to be executed in the state. The Supreme Court granted a stay of Glossip's execution on January 28, just one day before he was scheduled to be put to death. Another of the state's death row inmates, Charles Warner, was executed just two weeks before that.

Lethal injections in Oklahoma are administered under a protocol that requires the use of a three-drug cocktail. An anesthetic is injected first, ostensibly to dull pain, then a paralytic agent, to prevent movement, and finally the drug that stops the heart. The last time the justices considered capital punishment, in a 2008 case called Baze v. Rees, the Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's method of execution, a three-drug lethal injection which involved a sedative called sodium thiopental. For a number of reasons, though, that drug and another barbiturate used in lethal injections, pentobarbital, have become prohibitively difficult to obtain.

The drug manufacturers "have said that they don't want their life-sustaining medicines to be used in life-taking enterprises like executions. As a result, the companies have discontinued producing the medicine altogether," explained Robert Dunham, an attorney and the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-partisan group that compiles information about capital punishment in the United States.

Some states turned to European pharmaceutical companies, but the European Union considers capital punishment a violation of international human rights law, and export protocols have prevented E.U. manufacturers from selling the drug to buyers who might use it for executions. Even compounding pharmacies in the U.S., a relatively loosely regulated industry, have been restricted by the American Pharmacists Association, which moved last year to discourage its members from selling drugs that would be used in executions.

"The drug protocol the court validated in 2008 was no longer available," explained Deborah Denno, a law professor at Fordham University who specializes in capital punishment. As a result, "there's been an explosion of different kinds of protocols that aren't similar to what the court upheld in 2008."

The Glossip case is so pressing, Denno argued, because the court's decision in Baze v. Rees was "ineffective" and states are now "experimenting" with capital punishment. "I don't see how you can characterize it any other way. They're using so many drugs in the execution process that have never been used on a human being before to kill somebody," she explained. "Oklahoma was desperate to find a drug that they could use, and they took one that was not high up on the food chain of choices here."

Midazolam, unlike other sedatives used in capital punishment, is widely available -- it's manufactured by a number of different companies in a number of different countries. But it's not clear the drug possesses the same pain-numbing effects of the hard-to-obtain barbiturates.

"It's an anti-anxiety drug, so it's not used in medical procedures that could be painful or require the patient to be in a coma-like state," Dunham said. "As a result, people who have been given midazolam have regained consciousness or not lost it prior to the execution. They have experienced, in several botched executions, prolonged deaths that appeared to be very painful."

A state review of Lockett's botched execution found that an intravenous needle was improperly inserted, causing a vein to rupture before the cocktail could be fully injected. "It's hard to know how much [midazolam] he got, and how much that contributed" to the horrific results, Denno said. "Nonetheless, there have been other executions where midazolam has been a problem."

Indeed, Lockett's was one of three botched executions involving midazolam that made headlines in recent years. Arizona inmate Joseph Wood was injected with the drug in July 2014, and two hours elapsed before he died. Another death row inmate in Ohio lived for 25 minutes after the injection. In addition to Ohio, Arizona, and Oklahoma, at least five other states - Louisiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Virginia and Missouri - have either used or proposed using midazolam as part of their protocol.

The case before the court on Wednesday could effectively halt all of that. The justices "could say that midazolam, as used in Oklahoma or in an Oklahoma-type protocol, is unconstitutional," Dunham said. "They could say midazolam is not necessarily unconstitutional, but here are the circumstances in which it can be used. They could also say for procedural reasons, we're not going to hear this issue. We granted review, but we shouldn't have."

That last potential outcome, he added, is "highly unlikely," given the attention surrounding the three botched executions, and given the fact that a number of justices have already shown their interest in the case. Dunham pointed out that at least four justices must agree to hear a case before it reaches the Supreme Court, and at least five justices are needed to stay an execution, as they did in Oklahoma.

The case comes at a particularly dynamic moment in the politics of capital punishment in the U.S. The drug shortages explained earlier have forced some states to retool their own policies on executions. Utah's governor signed a bill in March permitting the use of firing squads if lethal injection drugs cannot be readily obtained. A similar bill in Tennessee greenlighted the use of the electric chair in the event of a drug shortage. Other states have halted executions while authorities seek a steadier supply of lethal injection drugs or a better understanding of the drugs' effects. In 2013, Maryland became the 18th state to outlaw capital punishment.

Public support for capital punishment, while still fairly robust, is also at a low point - 56 percent of respondents in a CBS News poll earlier this month said they support capital punishment, the lowest number ever recorded in a CBS poll.

Dunham said it's unlikely the court will use the Glossip case as an opportunity to render a more far-reaching verdict on capital punishment. "There is a broad social issue that relates to lethal injection and death penalty policies," he explained. "But the issue in front of the court is a much more narrow one."

But the justices, he added, don't make decisions in a vacuum. "Judges are human beings, and they understand issues both in the context of the case and the context of modern society. I think the court is aware that support for the death penalty is at an historic low and concern about the death penalty is rising."

"I think that would be surprising, that the court would sweep wider than it has to. That doesn't mean it won't happen," said Denno. "Irrespective of what happens tomorrow, as a factual issue, the poll numbers are dropping...an increasing number of states have found the death penalty unconstitutional. These are just facts...Since 1999 we've seen a precipitous decline in the number of people we've been executing, and the public is so much more aware of these issues."

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, concurring with the majority ruling in the 2008 Baze case, seemed to nod at the likelihood of greater judicial engagement with capital punishment in the future.

"I am now convinced that this case will generate debate not only about the constitutionality of the three-drug protocol," he wrote, "but also about the justification for the death penalty itself."




“One attorney present "began crying as Clayton began to have this violent reaction," Branstetter later told NPR."This is my fourth execution to witness, but I've never seen anything like this during an execution." …. Lethal injections in Oklahoma are administered under a protocol that requires the use of a three-drug cocktail. An anesthetic is injected first, ostensibly to dull pain, then a paralytic agent, to prevent movement, and finally the drug that stops the heart. The last time the justices considered capital punishment, in a 2008 case called Baze v. Rees, the Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's method of execution, a three-drug lethal injection which involved a sedative called sodium thiopental. For a number of reasons, though, that drug and another barbiturate used in lethal injections, pentobarbital, have become prohibitively difficult to obtain. …. "It's an anti-anxiety drug, so it's not used in medical procedures that could be painful or require the patient to be in a coma-like state," Dunham said. "As a result, people who have been given midazolam have regained consciousness or not lost it prior to the execution. They have experienced, in several botched executions, prolonged deaths that appeared to be very painful." …. "I think that would be surprising, that the court would sweep wider than it has to. That doesn't mean it won't happen," said Denno. "Irrespective of what happens tomorrow, as a factual issue, the poll numbers are dropping...an increasing number of states have found the death penalty unconstitutional. These are just facts...Since 1999 we've seen a precipitous decline in the number of people we've been executing, and the public is so much more aware of these issues."

To me, for the state to use a drug which tranquilizes and paralyzes but which doesn't kill pain is unconscionable. In the one case that took 43 minutes for death to ensue, it really was cruel. In addition to that, an alarming number of people on death row have been found to be innocent by groups such as the Innocence Project doing DNA testing. I would like to see every prisoner on death row be DNA tested on a mandatory basis, to see whether there is a match to the blood or semen or whatever is the evidence at hand – no DNA match, no death penalty! Also, it would be helpful if court cases that do not have any available DNA evidence at all from the crime scene or rape victim were to be limited to sentences of life in prison without parole rather than death. In other words, highly restrict the application of the death penalty. Better still, just outlaw the death penalty entirely, as so many other civilized countries around the world have done. With all those private prisons that were mentioned in yesterday's blog we should have enough space to house life term prisoners, after all.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/04/29/402875028/floridas-legislature-quits-early-at-impasse-over-medicaid-expansion

Florida's Legislature Quits Early, At Impasse Over Medicaid Expansion
DIANE WEBBER, KAISER HEALTH NEWS
LYNN HATTER, WFSU
APRIL 29, 2015

Photograph – Once a proponent of Medicaid's expansion under the Affordable Care Act, Florida Gov. Rick Scott is now trying to pressure Florida's Senate to abandon its support of expansion.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Republican-controlled Florida legislature — at odds over the question of whether to expand Medicaid — abruptly ended its session three days early on Tuesday, leaving hundreds of bills that are unrelated to health care unfinished.

Andy Gardiner, president of Florida's state Senate, says he's disappointed with the House's decision to stop negotiating and leave town.

"The House didn't win, the Senate didn't win and the taxpayers lost," Gardiner says. "There are a lot of issues that aren't going to make it, and it's unfortunate."

But Steve Crisafulli, speaker of the Florida House, says it was the right thing to do.

"We've made every effort we can to negotiate with the Senate on a budget," he says, "and at this time they're standing strong on Medicaid expansion."

Shortly after the adjournment, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, filed a lawsuit against the federal government over health care funding — a move that was promptly derided by the leadership of the state Senate.

"I don't think it changes anything," says the chairman of Florida's Senate appropriations committee, Tom Lee. "Once he announced he was going to file a lawsuit against the federal government, I think everyone sort of shut down and lawyered up, and all that sort of thing."

Here's a brief overview of the fight: The Republican-led state House is firmly against Medicaid expansion, while the Republican-led state Senate supports it. Scott once supported expansion but is now against it. And the federal government raised the stakes of the battle by refusing to negotiate on the renewal of a $2 billion fund called the Low Income Pool, which reimburses hospitals for unpaid bills.

"The pool money was about helping low-income people have access [to health care]," U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell told northern Florida's WFSU in January. "I think we believe an important way to extend that coverage to low-income individuals is what passed in the Affordable Care Act ... this issue of Medicaid expansion."

The governor's lawsuit over the low income pool accuses the federal government of trying to coerce the state — requiring Florida to expand Medicaid or lose $2 billion. That sort of pressure was expressly forbidden by the U.S. Supreme Court, Scott says, when it upheld the federal health law in 2012.

House appropriations chief Richard Corcoran recently delivered a 20-minute anti-Medicaid speech to fellow lawmakers that underscored his side's determination to block the expansion. "Here's my message to the Senate," he said. "They want us to come to the dance? We're not dancing. We're not dancing this session. We're not dancing next session. We're not dancing next summer — we're not dancing. And if you want to blow up the process because you think you have some right that doesn't exist? Have at it."

Now, the central task that state law requires of the legislature — to pass a budget— remains incomplete. Scott tried this week to pressure the legislature to the bargaining table to craft a budget. He threatened to veto Senate priorities, but the Senate remained unmoved.

Scott has said he will call the legislature back for a special session to complete the budget.

This story is part of NPR's partnership with WFSU andKaiser Health News.




"Andy Gardiner, president of Florida's state Senate, says he's disappointed with the House's decision to stop negotiating and leave town. "The House didn't win, the Senate didn't win and the taxpayers lost," Gardiner says. "There are a lot of issues that aren't going to make it, and it's unfortunate." …. Shortly after the adjournment, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, filed a lawsuit against the federal government over health care funding — a move that was promptly derided by the leadership of the state Senate. "I don't think it changes anything," says the chairman of Florida's Senate appropriations committee, Tom Lee. "Once he announced he was going to file a lawsuit against the federal government, I think everyone sort of shut down and lawyered up, and all that sort of thing." …. And the federal government raised the stakes of the battle by refusing to negotiate on the renewal of a $2 billion fund called the Low Income Pool, which reimburses hospitals for unpaid bills. "The pool money was about helping low-income people have access [to health care]," U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell told northern Florida's WFSU in January. "I think we believe an important way to extend that coverage to low-income individuals is what passed in the Affordable Care Act ... this issue of Medicaid expansion."

“House appropriations chief Richard Corcoran recently delivered a 20-minute anti-Medicaid speech to fellow lawmakers that underscored his side's determination to block the expansion. "Here's my message to the Senate," he said. "They want us to come to the dance? We're not dancing. We're not dancing this session. We're not dancing next session. We're not dancing next summer — we're not dancing.” This statement is highly reminiscent of the great work of literature “Green Eggs And Ham,” by Dr. Seuss. It shows the light-hearted, or should I say, irresponsible view on the subject of expanding medicaid which exists in the Florida Congress. Who cares if poor people get medical care? Not the Republicans.






http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/04/28/402856039/union-head-presses-candidates-clinton-on-trade

Union Head Presses Candidates, Clinton, On Trade
Don Gonyea
April 28, 2015

Photograph – AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: "Candidates can't hedge their bets any longer, and expect workers to rush to the polls in excitement."
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Don't expect labor support to get fired up for a candidate who hedges their bets. That was the message from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka for 2016 presidential candidates. Translation: Hillary Clinton.

"Candidates can't hedge their bets any longer and expect workers to rush to the polls in excitement, to run out and door knock and phone bank and leaflet only to have their candidate of choice turn a back towards the policies," Trumka said in a speech at the labor federation's headquarters in Washington.

Trumka never named Clinton, but the Democratic frontrunner has done exactly what Trumka is warning against on trade — hedge.

As secretary of state, Clinton called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is being hotly debated now in Congress, the "gold standard" of trade agreements. But, now that she's running for president, she has backed away from that.

"Any trade deal has to produce jobs and raise wages and increase prosperity and protect our security," Clinton said in Concord, N.H., last week while touring a community college that focuses on technical skills. "We have to do our part in making sure we have the capabilities and the skills to be competitive."

Clinton is the only announced Democratic presidential candidate to this point, and she is far ahead in the polls. Independent Bernie Sanders, a self-declared socialist is set to announce his candidacy Thursday, Vermont Public Radio reports. Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland, has indicated he is also likely to run and will announce his decision by the end of May.

O'Malley, who is trying to position himself to Clinton's left, didn't mince words during an event at Harvard earlier this month. He cut a web video off of what he said on trade.

"I'm for trade," he said. "And I'm for good trade deals, but I'm against bad trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership."

Trumka talked of the income inequality and noted that CEO pay has skyrocketed over the last four decades while the wages of average Americans have gone the other way.

"We want action," Trumka said. "We want big ideas, and we want structural change. We want 'Raising Wages.'"

And he said labor won't accept "half measures."

"Workers have swallowed the politics of hedged bets for almost two generations," said Trumka, who has seen labor membership decline in the past generation. "We've waited for the scraps that remain after the pollsters shape the politics. Those days are over. America doesn't need relentlessly cautious half-measures."





"Candidates can't hedge their bets any longer and expect workers to rush to the polls in excitement, to run out and door knock and phone bank and leaflet only to have their candidate of choice turn a back towards the policies," Trumka said in a speech at the labor federation's headquarters in Washington.” I, for one, am very unhappy with some Democrats these days who either take up Republican causes or just don't participate when liberal issues are up for grabs. Especially in this time of very aggressive right wing maneuvers in both Washington and the state capitals, we need for our clear-sighted and intelligent liberals to be made of greater courage than they so often show. If they come from a red state they probably fear that they will not be reelected when they vote on human issues such poverty, the environment and civil rights rather than on patriotism, religion and business related views.

Clinton has done some of that hedging, and as a result I don't care for her as I did in the 1990's. I haven't forgiven her for voting to go into Iraq because of the mythical WMDs. Interestingly Obama did vote against that, though while in his present office he is right now pushing another world trade agreement that may cause businesses to offshore their jobs as the have under NAFTA, and that is unforgivable. The bulk of the Middle Class are actually working class , blue collar people. They aren't doctors and lawyers or even candle stick makers. Not only can they not send their kids, especially if they have a house full of them, to college, but they may not be able to pay the mortgage on their house. We Dems need to THINK DEM AND STICK TOGETHER. That's what the Republicans do all the time, and unfortunately it's gaining ground for them on some issues that really scare me, such as establishing Christianity as the national religion, something which we traditionally believe is unconstitutional. Some right wing jerks are trying to argue with the wording of the Constitution and bring it into law.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/npr-history-dept/2015/04/28/402679062/nazi-summer-camps-in-1930s-america

Nazi Summer Camps In 1930s America?
Linton Weeks
April 28, 2015

Photograph – Riflery practice at a New York Nazi summer camp in the 1930s. From the National Archives video Volks-Deutsche/Jungen in USA.
National Archives

To the unsuspecting observer, the 25-minute silent, grainy black and white video from the vaults of the U.S. National Archives seems to showcase a quaint, carefree summer camp for boys in 1937.

Healthy, happy, high-energy guys — against the bucolic backdrop of the Catskill Mountains in eastern New York — pitch tents, get muddy, play checkers, shoot rifles, box and wrestle one another, raise a Nazi swastika flag …

Wait, what?

The Bund

In the 1930s, while Adolf Hitler was inciting the German people toward bellicosity and Nazis were establishing horrific concentration camps around Germany, Nazi summer camps for youngsters — like the one near Windham, N.Y., featured in the clip — popped up around this country. The pro-Hitler retreats were sponsored by German loyalists, such as the German-American Bund led by Fritz Kuhn.

The Bund, "which came to include more than 70 local chapters," according to a 2014 National Archives blog post, "was founded in 1936 to promote Germany and the Nazi party in America. The most well-known of the organization's activities was the 1939 pro-Nazi rally held at Madison Square Garden that drew a reported 20,000 attendees."

This was the same year that Hitler staged military strategy sessions with top Nazi leaders. And declared war on Poland — and decided to battle Britain and France, if necessary.

Documentary film of the Nazi summer camps in America, the Archives post continues, "complete with the official uniforms and banners of the Hitler Youth, might be the most visual and chilling example of the [Bund's] attempts to instill Nazi sympathies in German-American children."

A handful of summertime sanctuaries — for boys and girls — received campers. Camp Will And Might in Griggstown, N.J., for instance, hosted 200 German-American boys between the ages of 8 and 18 — and hoisted the Nazi flag — in the summer of 1934, the Altoona, Pa., Tribune reported on Aug. 13.

And Camp Hindenburg in Grafton, Wis. — near Milwaukee — was another site of Nazi youth and family camps. "Children dressed in Nazi uniforms and drilled military-style, with marching, inspections, and flag-raising ceremonies," Mark D. Van Ells of City University of New York posted on America in WWII. "Although the Bund denied it, children were taught Nazi ideology."

Swastika Nation

Arnie Bernstein, author of the 2014 book Swastika Nation: Fritz Kuhn and the Rise and Fall of the German American Bund, estimates the Bund membership at its zenith ranged between 5,000 and 25,000 — though the Bund claimed a much larger enrollment. "The majority of the campers were children or grandchildren of German immigrants and naturalized American citizens who were part of the Bund," Bernstein says.

On the surface, these enterprises offered standard summer-camp fare. "But their real purpose," Bernstein says, "was to indoctrinate and raise children to be good Aryans loyal to the Bund, its leader Kuhn, and of course Hitler. They would march about in their uniforms carrying American and Bund flags, singing German songs. Uniforms were modeled on Hitler Youth uniforms."

Bernstein says, "There were forced marches in the middle of the night to bonfires where the kids would sing the Nazi national anthem and shout 'Sieg Heil.' Nazi propaganda was plentiful at these camps as well."

Superficially sunny, the camps presented situations for dark behavior, Bernstein says. The attendees were exploited by the Bund, both for physical labor and for physical abuse. He says, "This all came out in congressional hearings."

Citizen Unrest

As Germany's military might increased overseas, Americans became more uncomfortable with Nazism and its expression on U.S. soil. Writing in the Los Angeles Times last year, Michael Hiltzik explains how Americans' concern for the Nazi summer camp programs helped usher in the House Un-American Activities Committee and McCarthyism.

The camps "more or less died out as the Bund came to its wheezing end with Fritz Kuhn's imprisonment in 1939," Bernstein explains. "With the strong central leader in prison for forgery and embezzlement, members started leaving the Bund and taking their kids with them."

By 1940, he adds, the Bund was moribund "and with that, the camps suffered significant drops in attendance and activities." Plus, the programs came under intense government scrutiny and were raided.

"So realistically, they ended in 1940," Bernstein adds. "The Bund sputtered along into 1941, but by then was whittled down to only hard-core loyalists. The Bund itself was officially disbanded days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Germany's declaration of war against the United States."

Some of the camps were converted to different uses; others fell into ruins. Bill Maloney, who lives in Wayne, N.J., has visited — and taken photos that are posted on his website — of nearby Camp Bergwald. Asked how he felt when he saw the overgrown site, he says, "Puzzlement and discomfort that a Hitler Youth camp could be in any way acceptable in the U.S., even before the war. It is especially disturbing that it is so close to home and that the people involved would have been our neighbors. Maybe some still are. The site is only 3 miles from where I live."

As for what happened to the campers, who knows? One of the adult leaders at a New York camp, Gustav Wilhelm Kaercher, worked as a power-plant designer for a utility company in New York City. He was arrested by the FBI in 1942 — for being a German spy.

(This post has been updated.)



German American Bund
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The German American Bund, or German American Federation (German: Amerikadeutscher Bund; Amerikadeutscher Volksbund, AV), was an American Nazi organization established in 1936 to succeed Friends of New Germany (FONG), the new name being chosen to emphasise the group's American credentials after press criticism that the organisation was unpatriotic.[1] The Bund was to consist only of American citizens of German descent.[2] Its main goal was to promote a favorable view of Nazi Germany.

Friends of New Germany[edit]

In May 1933, Nazi Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess gave German immigrant and German Nazi Party member Heinz Spanknöbel authority to form an American Nazi organization.[3] Shortly thereafter, with help from the German consul in New York City, Spanknöbel created the Friends of New Germany[3] by merging two older organizations in the United States, Gau-USA and the Free Society of Teutonia, which were both small groups with only a few hundred members each. The FONG was based in New York but had a strong presence in Chicago.[3] Members wore a uniform, a white shirt and black trousers for men with a black hat festooned with a red symbol. Women members wore a white blouse and a black skirt.[4]

The organization led by Spanknöbel was openly pro-Nazi, and engaged in activities such as storming the German language New Yorker Staats-Zeitung with the demand that Nazi-sympathetic articles be published, and the infiltration of other non-political German-American organizations. One of the Friends early initiatives was to counter, with propaganda, the Jewish boycott of German goods which started in March 1933.

In an internal battle for control of the Friends, Spanknöbel was ousted as leader and subsequently deported in October 1933 because he had failed to register as a foreign agent.[3]

At the same time, Congressman Samuel Dickstein, a later Soviet spy was Chairman of the Committee on Naturalization and Immigration, where he became aware of the substantial number of foreigners legally and illegally entering and residing in the country, and the growing anti-Semitism along with vast amounts of anti-Semitic literature being distributed in the country. This led him to investigate independently the activities of Nazi and other fascist groups. This led to the formation of the Special Committee on Un-American Activities Authorized to Investigate Nazi Propaganda and Certain Other Propaganda Activities. Throughout the rest of 1934, the Committee conducted hearings, bringing before it most of the major figures in the US fascist movement.[5] Dickstein's investigation concluded that the Friends represented a branch of German dictator Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party in America.[6][7]

The organization existed into the mid-1930s, although it always remained small, with a membership of between 5,000–10,000, consisting mostly of German citizens living in America and German emigrants who only recently had become citizens.[3] In December 1935, Rudolf Hess ordered all German citizens to leave the FONG and recalled to Germany all its leaders.[3]

In March 1936, the German American Bund was established as a follow-up organization for the Friends of New Germany in Buffalo, New York.[3][8] The Bund elected a German-born American citizen Fritz Julius Kuhn as its leader (Bundesführer).[9] Kuhn was a veteran of the Bavarian infantry during World War I and an Alter Kämpfer (old fighter) of the Nazi Party, who in 1934 was granted American citizenship. Kuhn was initially effective as a leader and was able to unite the organization and expand its membership but came to be seen simply as an incompetent swindler and liar.[3]

The Bund established a number of training camps, including Camp Nordland in Sussex County, New Jersey, Camp Siegfried in Yaphank, New York, Camp Hindenburg in Grafton, Wisconsin, Deutschhorst Country Club in Sellersville, Pennsylvania,[11] Camp Bergwald in Bloomingdale, NJ[3][12][13][14][11] and Camp Highland in New York state. The Bund held rallies with Nazi insignia and procedures such as the Hitler salute and attacked the administration of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, Jewish groups, Communism, "Moscow-directed" trade unions and American boycotts of German goods.[3][15] The organization claimed to show its loyalty to America by displaying the flag of the United Statesat Bund meetings, and declared that George Washington was "the first Fascist" who did not believe democracy would work.[16]





“Healthy, happy, high-energy guys — against the bucolic backdrop of the Catskill Mountains in eastern New York — pitch tents, get muddy, play checkers, shoot rifles, box and wrestle one another, raise a Nazi swastika flag …. The pro-Hitler retreats were sponsored by German loyalists, such as the German-American Bund led by Fritz Kuhn. The Bund, "which came to include more than 70 local chapters," according to a 2014 National Archives blog post, "was founded in 1936 to promote Germany and the Nazi party in America. The most well-known of the organization's activities was the 1939 pro-Nazi rally held at Madison Square Garden that drew a reported 20,000 attendees." …. A handful of summertime sanctuaries — for boys and girls — received campers. Camp Will And Might in Griggstown, N.J., for instance, hosted 200 German-American boys between the ages of 8 and 18 — and hoisted the Nazi flag — in the summer of 1934, the Altoona, Pa., Tribune reported on Aug. 13. And Camp Hindenburg in Grafton, Wis. — near Milwaukee — was another site of Nazi youth and family camps. "Children dressed in Nazi uniforms and drilled military-style, with marching, inspections, and flag-raising ceremonies," Mark D. Van Ells of City University of New York posted on America in WWII. "Although the Bund denied it, children were taught Nazi ideology." …. Bernstein says, "There were forced marches in the middle of the night to bonfires where the kids would sing the Nazi national anthem and shout 'Sieg Heil.' Nazi propaganda was plentiful at these camps as well." Superficially sunny, the camps presented situations for dark behavior, Bernstein says. The attendees were exploited by the Bund, both for physical labor and for physical abuse. He says, "This all came out in congressional hearings." …. The camps "more or less died out as the Bund came to its wheezing end with Fritz Kuhn's imprisonment in 1939," Bernstein explains. "With the strong central leader in prison for forgery and embezzlement, members started leaving the Bund and taking their kids with them." By 1940, he adds, the Bund was moribund "and with that, the camps suffered significant drops in attendance and activities." Plus, the programs came under intense government scrutiny and were raided. …. As for what happened to the campers, who knows? One of the adult leaders at a New York camp, Gustav Wilhelm Kaercher, worked as a power-plant designer for a utility company in New York City. He was arrested by the FBI in 1942 — for being a German spy.”

Nazi thought patterns were, and unfortunately still are, simply blood chilling. They are primitive. Some people down through time have either never had a conscience, or have given it up as an expensive commodity. After all, a conscience requires courage. When I see the revivals of those viewpoints, both in the US and in Europe today, it makes me certain that I need to be prepared to fight for the country I grew up loving and trusting. Too many things nowadays are whittling away that trust – USA PATRIOT ACT, RICO provisions, NSA spying on our own citizens, and rampant racism against everyone who is not white, Christian and – increasingly – wealthy.




CORINTHIAN COLLEGE – TWO ARTICLES


http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-corinthian-shutdown-20150427-story.html#page=1

Corinthian closing its last schools; 10,000 California students displaced
By CHRIS KIRKHAM
April 26, 2015

After years of government investigations, Corinthian Colleges Inc. will shut down more than two dozen of its remaining schools, displacing more than 10,000 California students. The move ends the turmoil at what was once one of the nation's largest for-profit college chains but presents fresh challenges to students, who now must seek transfers or federal loan forgiveness.

The loans were both the lifeblood and the downfall of the troubled Orange County company. Easy access to student debt fueled high tuition and big profits — until the federal government cut off the tap last year, as investigators accused Corinthian of falsifying job placement rates.

Many students, attracted by the promise of higher-paying work, now find themselves with heavy debts for degrees of dubious worth. Many others won't graduate at all.

"A lot of us are devastated," said Dylan Low, 22, who was pursuing a criminal justice associate's degree at Everest College-Ontario and had only three more classes to finish before graduation in July.

The closure, announced Sunday, had been expected for months, but Corinthian gave students and employees almost no notice.

For many observers of the for-profit college industry, Corinthian's meteoric rise and fall offers a cautionary tale for other institutions that rely almost entirely on funding from federal student loans and grants.

Like many other large for-profit schools, Corinthian nearly doubled revenue to $1.75 billion from 2007 to 2011, as the Great Recession prompted millions of unemployed workers to seek opportunity in higher education and career training. But the company lacked the cash flow to survive after the U.S. Education Department barred its access to student loans last summer.

"This has really exposed the shortcomings of federal and state oversight, and the accreditation system," said Pauline Abernathy, vice president of the Institute for College Access & Success, an Oakland advocacy group that focuses on student debt issues. "The fact that a school could be allowed to get so big and so reliant on taxpayer funding — and to harm so many students without action being taken sooner — really exposes the need to reform the system at all levels."

This month, the Education Department levied a $30-million fine against Corinthian's Heald College system, which operates primarily in California. The agency alleged that the company boosted official placement rates by paying temporary employment agencies to hire students for brief stints after graduation. Corinthian denied the allegations.

The higher placement rates, in addition to drawing new students, helped the college chain appease investors and retain eligibility for federal student aid.

Higher education experts acknowledged that Corinthian's demise was imminent, but they questioned why federal education officials continued to allow many schools to enroll students until just before the final collapse.

"Once it became clear they had no future, they should have been making efforts to transfer students elsewhere," said Ben Miller, a former policy advisor in the Education Department who is a senior policy analyst at the New America Foundation in Washington.

Ted Mitchell, the U.S. undersecretary of education, said the department would work with Congress to "improve accountability and transparency in the career college industry."

By last fall, amid federal pressure, Corinthian had sold the majority of its schools to a nonprofit student loan servicer. But ongoing litigation with California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris and an investigation by the Education Department prevented the company from selling more than two dozen campuses in California and other Western states. The schools operated under the brands Everest, WyoTech and Heald.

Corinthian said in a news release Sunday that it failed to sell the remaining campuses because federal and state authorities were "seeking to impose financial penalties and conditions" that would affect potential buyers. California regulators this month also ordered Corinthian to stop enrolling new students because the company couldn't produce required financial documents.

The company said it had "ceased substantially all operations" in the release, but the company has not formally filed for bankruptcy.

The schools will close effective Monday. They include 13 Everest College and WyoTech campuses in California, along with 12 Heald College campuses in California, Hawaii and Oregon. Corinthian will also close Everest colleges in Phoenix and Rochester, N.Y., along with an online division in Tempe, Ariz.

Going forward, students face a choice: Try to transfer credits elsewhere — a difficult process — or get a discharge of federal student loans and start over at a new institution.

When a school shuts down suddenly, students are eligible for a full discharge of federal loan debt. Students at Corinthian schools that were sold last fall, however, do not have the same options, though a group of former Corinthian students and nine state attorneys general are pressuring the Education Department to offer loan forgiveness to all those affected.

For students such as Low, just a few months from graduation, the closure presented a frustrating predicament: Either start over from scratch, or go through the time-consuming process of transferring credits that may never be recognized by other institutions. The disgrace of the Corinthian chain won't help his cause.

One of Low's classmates at Everest College-Ontario, Rena Rivas, 25, is also just a few months away from graduating. She gave birth to a daughter in March and had to stop classes a few months earlier on orders from her doctor. Despite those complications, she said she was firmly committed to finishing her criminal justice degree this year.

Even if she gets her loans forgiven, she said she wouldn't be satisfied.

"The last two and a half years I spent going to that school — the trouble, the time, the money I spent on gas — I feel like it was a waste of time," said Nemer, who lives in Victorville, about 50 miles from the Ontario campus. "I'm pretty much at a complete loss right now. I'm not even sure what the next step is."

On Tuesday and Wednesday, staff from California's Department of Consumer Affairs will be holding sessions at some of the California campuses affected by the closure. Staff will be available at 13 Everest and WyoTech schools across the state, but not at Heald College campuses, which have different accreditation and aren't supervised by the agency.

Russ Heimerich, an agency spokesman, said staff would help students get proper paperwork to apply for loan discharges or to seek transfers.

Everest and WyoTech campuses have a nontraditional accreditation that applies mostly to career colleges, meaning it can be very difficult to transfer credits to community colleges or four-year institutions.

"Transferring credits from one private postsecondary school to another is almost always problematic," Heimerich said, "and it almost always doesn't happen."





http://www.consumerfinance.gov/newsroom/cfpb-sues-for-profit-corinthian-colleges-for-predatory-lending-scheme/

CFPB Sues For-Profit Corinthian Colleges for Predatory Lending Scheme
Bureau Seeks More than $500 Million In Relief For Borrowers of Corinthian’s Private Student Loans
SEP 16 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued for-profit college chain Corinthian Colleges, Inc. for its illegal predatory lending scheme. The Bureau alleges that Corinthian lured tens of thousands of students to take out private loans to cover expensive tuition costs by advertising bogus job prospects and career services. Corinthian then used illegal debt collection tactics to strong-arm students into paying back those loans while still in school. To protect current and past students of the Corinthian schools, the Bureau is seeking to halt these practices and is requesting the court to grant relief to the students who collectively have taken out more than $500 million in private student loans.

“For too many students, Corinthian has turned the American dream of higher education into an ongoing nightmare of debt and despair,” said CFPB Director Richard Corday. “We believe Corinthian lured consumers into predatory loans by lying about their future job prospects, and then used illegal debt collection tactics to strong-arm students at school. We want to put an end to these predatory practices and get relief for the students who are bearing the weight of more than half a billion dollars in Corinthian’s private student loans.”

The complaint against Corinthian can be found at: http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201409_cfpb_complaint_corinthian.pdf

Corinthian Colleges, Inc. is one of the largest for-profit, post-secondary education companies in the United States. The publicly traded company has more than 100 school campuses across the country. The company operates schools under the names Everest, Heald, and WyoTech. As of last March, the company had approximately 74,000 students.

In June, the U.S. Department of Education delayed Corinthian’s access to federal student aid dollars because of reports of malfeasance. Since then, Corinthian has been scaling down its operations as part of an agreement with the Department of Education. However, Corinthian continues to enroll new students.

Today’s CFPB lawsuit alleges a pervasive culture across the Everest, Heald, and WyoTech schools that allowed employees to routinely deceive and illegally harass private student loan borrowers. Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the CFPB has the authority to take action against institutions engaging in unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices. Based on its investigation, the CFPB alleges that the schools made deceptive representations about career opportunities that induced prospective students to take out private student loans, and then used illegal tactics to collect on those loans. Today’s lawsuit covers the period from July 21, 2011 to the present.

….


This article is too long for me to include on one day's blog, but it is fascinating, if shocking reading. The complaints against these “colleges” show major areas of fraud. I see Internet mentions of online schools frequently and they are never well-known, mainstream names. I suggest to anybody, no matter how little money they have or how low their high school grades or test results are, to apply only to brick and mortar secular state schools. Paying good money for a degree that's not worth two cents is really a shame. Religious colleges are still privately owned, and tend to be more expensive than state colleges. Even at those colleges they often have an online program that is available if a student just doesn't want to attend regular classes, but tackle one course at a time in the comfort and privacy of their own home. They always have loan and work based tuition programs and students will have access to legitimate professors and textbooks.

In Jacksonville, for students who want to stay at home and study or who can only go part time, we have a good junior college system with numerous city locations. It in the past gave only two-year degrees, but has recently been taken into the Florida state system and offers four year degrees. A two year degree in a subject like medical, computer or legal specialties can be a path to a job. Becoming a Dental Assistant or a paralegal can bring a satisfying and fairly lucrative position, and if a student then wants to go for four years they can do that later. I am glad to see that some local high schools have tech training programs such as computer science that can help also. That is not a college-prep path, of course, but I am not of the opinion that everybody needs a BA or BS degree. State run four year programs, while not as prestigious as Duke University, are usually fully accredited, respected by businesses and don't cost as much as private colleges for in state students.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015


News Clips For The Day


BALTIMORE UPDATE – TWO ARTICLES


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/baltimore-unrest-naacp-president-cornell-williams-brooks-one-in-a-series-of-tragedies/

NAACP president: Baltimore "one in a series of tragedies"
CBS NEWS
April 28, 2015


Video – How the Baltimore protests escalated into violence

The minority community in Baltimore setting fire to cars and buildings and attacking cops is about more than just the death of a man in police custody, the NAACP president said Tuesday.

Freddie Gray's death merely let loose the frustration of the whole African-American community, and is just one "in a series of tragedies," Cornell William Brooks said Tuesday.

Brooks said on "CBS This Morning" that his organization has "to make this clear that this individual tragedy is part of a larger narrative in terms of police accountability that stretches from Staten Island to Cleveland to Ferguson - all across the length and breadth of this country."

The NAACP president said that this should draw renewed attention to the problem of police unfairly targeting minorities across the U.S.

Brooks defended Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, saying that second guessing her decision to wait to call for the National Guard, "doesn't do anything to restore these buildings or to console a grieving family or to bring about healing to a broken and bruised community. There is much to be done going forward."

At a press conference in Baltimore on Tuesday, Brooks laid out three things his organization wants to see happen: First, they want a national "end racial profiling" act, so that there is a federal means to protect citizens from police excesses; second, they want body cameras on all cops, to both protect the public and the officers themselves from unfair claims and excesses; and finally, they want to change the way police view the communities they work in to something less adversarial and more cooperative.

Above all, Brooks and other community leaders said the violence of Monday evening must not continue.

"This problem won't be solved with Molotov cocktails," Brooks said. "Burning businesses and homes and buildings in your own community is like putting a gun to your own head."




"Freddie Gray's death merely let loose the frustration of the whole African-American community, and is just one "in a series of tragedies," Cornell William Brooks said Tuesday. Brooks said on "CBS This Morning" that his organization has "to make this clear that this individual tragedy is part of a larger narrative in terms of police accountability that stretches from Staten Island to Cleveland to Ferguson - all across the length and breadth of this country." The NAACP president said that this should draw renewed attention to the problem of police unfairly targeting minorities across the U.S. …. At a press conference in Baltimore on Tuesday, Brooks laid out three things his organization wants to see happen: First, they want a national "end racial profiling" act, so that there is a federal means to protect citizens from police excesses; second, they want body cameras on all cops, to both protect the public and the officers themselves from unfair claims and excesses; and finally, they want to change the way police view the communities they work in to something less adversarial and more cooperative. …. "This problem won't be solved with Molotov cocktails," Brooks said. "Burning businesses and homes and buildings in your own community is like putting a gun to your own head."

I want to see respected and well-organized peaceful minority organizations like the NAACP become more active in city neighborhoods around the country to see that police are made to pay legally if they kill or injure someone when they are not really endangered. Many times now the policeman in question has claimed that he or she “feared for his life.” If every officer wears a body cam which he is required to turn on every time he interacts with the public, receives training in respectful ways to talk to people even if he thinks they are criminals or “thugs,” is punished strongly for unnecessary violence and verbal abuse, patrols with a partner rather than alone, is prosecuted for planting evidence, refrains from escalating a minor traffic stop for something like a broken taillight into a dangerous car chase or a violent take down. Several of these deadly incidents started with an aggressive interaction at a traffic stop.

In addition to reforming police interactions, there is a great need for full voter registration in all minority communities and setting up neighborhood based activities to work with the young people to pry them out of the clutches of violent street gangs. Black neighborhoods also should have their own Neighborhood Watch organizations to report drug activity, home break-ins in progress, aggressive confrontations by anyone whether white or black to innocent people going out and about their personal business, prostitution, clean up neighborhood eyesores such as abandoned buildings and broken street lights, and of course police activity wherever it is occurring. There is an ongoing need for public surveillance of the police, unfortunately. When violence from police is no longer occurring then the people can relax more. Finally, minorities need to get proof of what they have seen and call the PD when they are needed. Much of the crime is black on black crime. If police don't know about crime and the culprits, they can do nothing to actually protect the citizens.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/right-after-freddie-gray-funeral-protests-turn-violent-in-baltimore-again/

State of emergency declared in Baltimore as violence ensues
CBS/AP April 27, 2015

Photograph – A police car was set on fire as protests in violence gave way to violence.
 CBS NEWS

BALTIMORE -- Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency in Baltimore and activated the state's National Guard Monday after demonstrations over the death of Freddy Gray gave way to violent crowds damaging several businesses, burning cars and injuring several police officers.

The action took place several hours after the funeral for Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old who died from unexplained spinal injuries suffered during police custody.

Gray's family had appealed for peace after demonstrations against police brutality and Gray's death turned violent Saturday evening. They asked protesters to hold off on demonstrating until Gray could be laid to rest.

But demonstrations soon gave way to a volatile crowd of apparently mostly high school age youths, as helicopters began capturing footage of groups of varying size hurling bricks and bottles at lines of heavily armored officers in multiple locations.

A flier circulated on social media called for a protest Monday afternoon to begin among high schoolers at the Mondawmin Mall and move downtown toward City Hall. It was intended to be peaceful but turned to violence before long, CBS Baltimore reported.

An official with the Baltimore Police Department said Monday afternoon that seven officers have been severely injured so far, including one who was rendered unconscious.

"We have been able to get our injured officers out of the area and they are now receiving medical treatment," according to a Twitter post from the Baltimore PD.

Hogan released a statement saying he was in close touch with Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and was continuing to monitor the situation.

"I strongly condemn the actions of the offenders who are engaged in direct attacks against innocent civilians, businesses and law enforcement officers."

The group in the area of Gwynns Falls & Liberty Heights has become very aggressive and violent. We are continuing to deploy resources.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) April 27, 2015

Despite having rocks, bricks, and other items thrown at us - officers are using fire extinguishers to put out small fires in the area.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) April 27, 2015

A large group has surrounded a police car at North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue. The group is destroying the police car
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) April 27, 2015

Numerous police officers in riot gear responded to a mall in northwest Baltimore, which was closed.

CBS Baltimore reports that a line of officers with helmets and face shields blocking off the mall's parking lot. Some people were throwing objects at officers and a police armored vehicle.

The violence eventually led to looting in at least one spot as a crowd broke into a CVS store and began taking items, CBS Baltimore said. The company said it would be closing other nearby stores as a precaution.

Nearby, a police car was set on fire. Motorists were advised to avoid several areas where groups have become aggressive toward police.

A group also looted a check-cashing business and other stores in Baltimore, busting through the windows and climbing inside to take items.

As people arrived home from work, some yelled at the youths to stop causing trouble.

"I never thought I'd see something like this happen in my neighborhood," said Ted Bushrod, 32, who's lived in the area all his life.

Bushrod, who said his father died in an officer-involved shooting involving the Baltimore Police Department, criticized the violence.

"It's disappointing. I understand the kids' frustration. We go through this every day," he added, referring to black people being targeted for their race in Baltimore.

Other businesses closed early to let employees avoid any violence, and as a precaution the Baltimore Orioles tweeted that they had postponed their evening game against the Chicago White Sox.

After consultation with Baltimore City Police Department, tonight’s game between the Orioles & White Sox at Oriole Park has been postponed.
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) April 27, 2015

The University of Maryland campus in downtown Baltimore shut down its campus at 2 p.m., saying it was warned by the Baltimore Police Department that "activities" in the area may turn violent.

In an alert to students and staff, the university says "the safety of our students and employees is of paramount importance. Please vacate the campus as soon as possible."

School spokesman Alex Likowski said he didn't know what type of activity might be passing through campus or what prompted the warning from police.

The university's main campus is in College Park, about 30 miles south of Baltimore.

Late Monday afternoon, police tweeted openly to parents to find their children and take them off the streets and out of danger.

Several juveniles are part of these aggressive groups. WE ARE ASKING ALL PARENTS TO LOCATE THEIR CHILDREN AND BRING THEM HOME.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) April 27, 2015




“Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency in Baltimore and activated the state's National Guard Monday …. But demonstrations soon gave way to a volatile crowd of apparently mostly high school age youths, as helicopters began capturing footage of groups of varying size hurling bricks and bottles at lines of heavily armored officers in multiple locations. A flier circulated on social media called for a protest Monday afternoon to begin among high schoolers at the Mondawmin Mall and move downtown toward City Hall. It was intended to be peaceful but turned to violence before long, CBS Baltimore reported. An official with the Baltimore Police Department said Monday afternoon that seven officers have been severely injured so far, including one who was rendered unconscious. …. As people arrived home from work, some yelled at the youths to stop causing trouble. "I never thought I'd see something like this happen in my neighborhood," said Ted Bushrod, 32, who's lived in the area all his life. …. Other businesses closed early to let employees avoid any violence, and as a precaution the Baltimore Orioles tweeted that they had postponed their evening game against the Chicago White Sox. …. Late Monday afternoon, police tweeted openly to parents to find their children and take them off the streets and out of danger. Several juveniles are part of these aggressive groups. WE ARE ASKING ALL PARENTS TO LOCATE THEIR CHILDREN AND BRING THEM HOME.
— Baltimore Police (@BaltimorePolice) April 27, 2015”

One interesting news clip yesterday was of a black mother slapping and hitting her son as he tried to get away from her. He was one of the rioters and she was trying to get him off the street. The trouble with being young and male is that their idea of something to do when they are angry is to become violent. That's true of white boys too, of course, and to some degree true of girls. It takes years for some kids to become thoughtful and controlled rather than reactive. Also the stresses of poverty puts the whole community on edge, and if gross disrespect and harrassnment from police is going on, there will be hatred and violence against them. All US city governments from the top down, need to look to the poverty situation and develop a peaceful and helpful relationship with the citizens rather than assuming they are “thugs” and treating them as such. When I was young the word “thug” had no racial meaning, but was rather a description of an abusive and violent person – a bully. It now is being used by too many whites to refer specifically to black people. It's a new racial slur that is popping up all over the Internet and in literature. An abusive white person is no less a thug, after all, and they should be arrested for their aggression as well as blacks.





STATE LAWS MADE TO LIMIT PUBLIC ACCESS TO BODY CAMERAS – FLORIDA – TWO ARTICLES


http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/senate-bill-revision-limits-reasons-to-hide-body-camera-video/2225507?fb_action_ids=1608565829385117&fb_action_types=og.shares

Senate bill revision limits reasons to hide body camera video
Michael Austen, Times Staff WRiter
April 14, 2015

Photograph – SKIP O’ROURKE | Times
A revised Senate bill to hide the video taken by law enforcement body cameras now allows recordings of medical emergencies, including incidents of police brutality, to be available to the public.

A plan to shield the release of video taken from police body cameras is moving through the Senate. But it's been scaled back amid some criticism.

SB 248 would still shield videos taken in private places from disclosure under open records laws. Sponsor Sen.Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, said this is necessary to protect people's privacy, especially in their own homes.

However, after being amended by the Senate on Tuesday, it no longer applies to all medical emergencies, including incidents of police brutality that have endeared body cameras to reformers.

"That would have been overly broad because technically a lot of circumstances that you need to see a video sometimes involves injury," Smith said Tuesday.

Barbara Petersen of the First Amendment Foundation said Monday that the exemptions would be too broad and prevent journalists or members of the public from accessing video evidence in cases of police use of force, such as the shooting in North Charleston, S.C., last week.

Despite these changes, Petersen said Tuesday that the foundation remains opposed to the bill.

"If privacy is a concern," she wrote in an email, "the bill should be amended to protect any information that would identify a person in the video by obscuring faces, house numbers, etc."

Adam C. Smith and the News Service of Florida contributed.



http://floridafaf.org/florida-could-limit-access-to-police-camera-videos-cbs-12-news/

Florida Could Limit Access To Police Camera Videos – CBS 12 News
By florida
24 April, 2015

Florida could place limits on who can access police officer body camera videos under a bill passed by the Florida Senate.

The Senate voted 36-2 for the bill that would keep confidential police videos that are shot inside a house, a health care facility or any place that a “reasonable person would expect to be private.”

Supporters of the measure contend it would encourage police agencies to have their police officers use body cameras. They also said it would guarantee the privacy rights of those caught on video.

The First Amendment Foundation, which advocates for open records, is opposed to the bill (SB 248).

Florida is one of several states considering limits on access to body camera videos at the same time there is a push to require police to have the cameras.




“A plan to shield the release of video taken from police body cameras is moving through the Senate. But it's been scaled back amid some criticism. SB 248 would still shield videos taken in private places from disclosure under open records laws. Sponsor Sen.Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, said this is necessary to protect people's privacy, especially in their own homes. However, after being amended by the Senate on Tuesday, it no longer applies to all medical emergencies, including incidents of police brutality that have endeared body cameras to reformers.”

Yes, “conservatives” are trying to limit public awareness of legitimate concerns over police violence. Florida isn't the only state doing this. I was pleased to see, however, that “criticism” of the bill caused Congress to amend it so that it no longer shields violent police officers. It appears that there enough benign and fair-minded citizens in Florida that some of these flagrant abuses of our democracy will not be voted in. Of course, Florida is not like Texas, Arizona and Mississippi. We have a black Democratic mayor here in Jacksonville who is liked so well that he has lead the vote last month against Republican Lenny Curry, despite heavy support from the national party and smear ads against Alvin Brown. It was close enough to force a runoff, so in May we will vote again. I'll have to be sure to go early and vote.





http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/04/28/402585105/on-their-own-the-afghan-army-takes-the-fight-to-the-taliban

On Its Own, The Afghan Army Takes The Fight To The Taliban
Tom Bowman
April 28, 2015

Photograph – An artillery gun fires a round at Taliban fighters in the hills of Nangahar Province.
David Gilkey/NPR

The call comes into the Afghan battalion headquarters, a small concrete building that once housed American Green Berets. The Taliban are attacking a police checkpoint under construction in the foothills of Nangahar Province in eastern Afghanistan, a short distance from the border with Pakistan.

The Afghan soldiers gather in a line, lifting their palms and praying for a safe mission. They hop in their trucks and head up a winding dirt road. The unfinished checkpoint can be seen in the hazy distance.

It's not long before they hear gunfire. The Taliban are attacking from two sides. Earlier on this day, the Afghan troops said the Taliban were closer and ready to overtake this checkpoint that's under construction.

The U.S. wrapped up combat operations in Afghanistan last year. About 10,000 U.S. military personnel remain in the country, but they have pulled back to their large bases and are advising the Afghans at the headquarters level. None are present as the Afghan army wages this fight on its eastern frontier.

An Afghan army front end loader digs into the hillside and fills large sandbags for the checkpoint. The Taliban have been pushed back, but they continue their harassing fire.

That's what concerns Zakirullah, the head of the local police. Like many Afghans, he goes by one name. He's a short, squat man with a heavy beard, clutching a radio. His village is spread out in the valley below, a patchwork of green fields and mud brick compounds. Zakirullah doubts the Afghan army can help his village.

"When the Americans were here, this area was very secure, it was safe. After they left, Taliban replaced them," he says.

Now the few signs of America include the Ford Ranger pickups the Afghan soldiers drive and the M-4 assault rifles they carry. American-made armored Humvees drive toward the Taliban on the sloping hill, firing their machine guns.

Back in the trucks, Maj. Aqa of the Afghan army says he doesn't trust the local police chief, claiming the chief used to be part of the Taliban.

This shows the shifting loyalties here and the difficulty in fighting a stubborn Taliban foe. Many insurgent fighters slip over the mountains from Pakistan. That's why this checkpoint is being set up.

The Afghan soldiers stop a small pickup truck coming from the direction of Pakistan with five men and two small children. They make everyone get out of the car so they can search it. Inside, they find a loaded AK-47.

One man from the car insists he's a policeman, and therefore is allowed to travel with the gun. As he argues with the army soldiers, his brother stands by the car with a small boy, just 5 years old with wide eyes.

The child is sick, the man says, so they're traveling to town to see a doctor. The soldiers finally let the car pass.

Afghan officers say the Taliban not only cross the border, they hide in the villages, dropping their weapons and picking up a shovels when the soldiers appear.

Maj. Aqa leaves the soldiers and heads back down the dirt road to the battalion headquarters.

The major and the other army officers are convinced they can handle the security now that the Americans have taken a back seat. And the man in charge of the battalion here is Afghan army Lt. Col. Ghani Khel.

Back at headquarters, he sits behind a large wooden desk. Aides scurry in and out. The colonel says they've been successful in pushing back the Taliban on their recent missions.

But there are complaints among some soldiers that they lack the aircraft and surveillance drones the Americans used to overwhelm the Taliban. Khel agrees that if they don't get more forces and air support, their gains may be lost.

"If we had the air support, Taliban could not take away their heavy weapons from the villages," he says.

Still, the Afghan military is much more active in the fight compared to a couple of years ago, when troops hung back on patrols and let the Americans lead.

Khel hears that his men need help up on the mountain, so he heads out of the building and orders his soldiers to fire artillery rounds into the Taliban positions, dug in on a hillside.

The soldiers work out the coordinates on a wooden table, set in a large vacant lot surrounded by sandbags.

They fire a shell from the old Soviet-era artillery piece.
The soldiers on the mountain road radio back. The round fell nearly a mile short, so they work the coordinates again ... and fire.

Khel climbs atop a massive generator to get a better view. A cellphone is pressed to his ear. He reports that the second round landed square on a Taliban truck with a mounted rocket launcher. It was destroyed, and several insurgents were killed.

The Afghan army has only one casualty, he says, a soldier shot in the foot.

The lieutenant colonel hops off the generator. The remaining Taliban just melt back into the hills.




“About 10,000 U.S. military personnel remain in the country, but they have pulled back to their large bases and are advising the Afghans at the headquarters level. None are present as the Afghan army wages this fight on its eastern frontier. …. Back in the trucks, Maj. Aqa of the Afghan army says he doesn't trust the local police chief, claiming the chief used to be part of the Taliban. This shows the shifting loyalties here and the difficulty in fighting a stubborn Taliban foe. Many insurgent fighters slip over the mountains from Pakistan. That's why this checkpoint is being set up. …. "If we had the air support, Taliban could not take away their heavy weapons from the villages," he says. Still, the Afghan military is much more active in the fight compared to a couple of years ago, when troops hung back on patrols and let the Americans lead.”

I am glad to see that the Afghan army units are more successful nowadays. For years they were basically ineffective. The same thing is true of the Iraqi army, though more recent news reports claim that they are improving against ISIS, too. I don't understand why the citizens in either country would just sit back and allow their lands to be overrun by such groups. Passivity has never impressed me, though aggressiveness doesn't either. Of course in a country where the central government is weak the common people are unable to protect themselves.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cannibuster-device-could-test-motorists-for-marijuana/

"Cannibuster" device could test motorists for marijuana
CBS/AP 
April 27, 2015

Photograph – There is currently no way for police to test drivers for marijuana on the spot, but a new device invented by grad students at the University of Akron could make instant saliva testing possible.  WILLIAM BURLINGHAM

AKRON, Ohio -- Two Ohio graduate students have invented a device that could allow law enforcement officers to determine whether motorists have used marijuana.

The Plain Dealer reports that two biomedical engineering graduate students at the University of Akron, Mariam Crow and Kathleen Stitzlein, developed a saliva test to determine the concentration of pot's active chemical, THC, in the bloodstream.

The students say that while states have set legal limits for levels of THC in drivers (less than 5 nanograms), they have not had the technology to accurately measure levels of the chemical during roadside police stops.

"Today if a driver is suspected of impaired driving due to marijuana, law enforcement officers must call an Emergency Medical Squad to the scene or take the driver to a local hospital for blood work," Stitzlein explained in a university press release. "Lab results can take up to six weeks to come back, which is clearly not ideal."

The two women dubbed their invention "the Cannibuster." They received a $10,000 inventors' award and are hoping to market the testing device to states where marijuana use has been legalized.

Federal safety officials say driving under the influence of marijuana is a a growing problem. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration survey, conducted in 2013 and 2014, found that the number of drivers with marijuana in their systemsrose from 8.6 percent in 2007 to 12.6 percent in 2014 -- an increase of nearly 50 percent.

The report cited "evidence that marijuana use impairs psychomotor skills, divided attention, lane tracking, and cognitive functions" -- all essential skills for safe driving.





I'm glad to see this article. We need tools to spot marijuana users, because though it isn't as dangerous as cocaine or opiate drugs, Mary Jane as it used to be affectionately called, has a psychotrophic effect that is very much like an hallucination. Supporters say it isn't a “gateway” drug and should be decriminalized. I agree that it shouldn't carry the same penalties as LSD or other very strong drugs, and certainly not for the simple possession of a small amount, especially as young lives are being ruined by a stiff prison sentence for an offense that isn't really too very harmful. I do not consider a drug that changes the thought and perceptual patterns in the brain to be harmless, however, and driving under the influence is just as dangerous as driving with alcohol in the system. What I would really like to see is a change in the laws which mandates mental health counseling for a sufficiently long time period for the person to undergo a change in their viewpoints and attitudes. I am very unhappy with the craze among so many states nowadays, that are often conservative in their citizenry, to legalize it for recreational use. I want to see people be alert, healthy and active mentally, not sitting veged out on the couch watching TV and doing nothing useful. We are too passive already in this country. Such people are easily duped and ruled.