Friday, May 1, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/five-things-to-know-about-bernie-sanders/

Five things to know about Bernie Sanders
By JAKE MILLER, REBECCA KAPLAN, STEPHANIE CONDON CBS NEWS
April 30, 2015

Photograph – Why Bernie Sanders is running for president

Hillary Clinton has her first official competitor for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination now that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has formally declared his bid for the White House.

Sanders, 73, is the oldest declared candidate thus far this cycle, and he's trekked a long path to his announcement: Born and raised in Brooklyn, he moved to Vermont in 1964 after college. He became mayor of Burlington, Vermont's largest city in 1981, and he held that post until 1989. He won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990, and served in the lower chamber for a decade and a half. In 2006, he sought and won Vermont's open Senate seat, a perch he still occupies today.

Sanders has visited most of the early voting states in recent months, including Vermont's neighbor, New Hampshire, as well as Iowa and South Carolina.

The senator released a statement on his website early Thursday morning making his candidacy official, and he will hold a press conference Thursday unveiling his "Agenda for America."

Here are five things to know about Bernie Sanders:

He's not officially a Democrat: Sanders caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate, and he's preparing to jump into the 2016 race as a Democrat, but he's not officially a member of the Democratic Party.

Sanders identifies as a "democratic socialist," and since a 1981 bid for Burlington mayor, he has actually campaigned as an independent in his political races. He ran as an independent for the U.S. House in 1990 and won, becoming the first U.S. House member with no party affiliation since Ohio's Frazier Reams retired 40 years earlier. When he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2006, he again ran as an independent.

"I am the longest serving independent in the history of the US Congress and I'm very proud of it," Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, told CBS News Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes in an interview.

Still, it doesn't appear that Sanders' lack of formal affiliation with the Democratic Party would prevent him from seeking the party's nomination. A senior Democratic National Committee aide explained to CBS News that Vermont does not allow voters (or candidates) to register by party. Moreover, the aide added, DNC rules do not require a presidential candidate to register as a Democrat to run in the primary - they only require a candidate to demonstrate "a commitment to the goals and objectives of the Democratic Party."

"If you're good with us, we're good with you," the aide explained. "If you can demonstrate that you share our principles, then you can legitimately be a candidate as long as you meet the other requirements. It would be hard to argue that Sanders does not adhere to the principles of the Democratic Party, considering the fact that he caucuses with them in the Senate."

"The reality is that if you want to engage in debates, if you want to mobilize people, it is very hard to do it outside of the two party system," Sanders told Cordes. But he also said he has no intention of changing his affiliation in Congress to become a member of the party.

"I think it makes it clear that as an Independent I worry very much that the Republican party is now moved very, very, very far to the right, and frankly that there are too many Dems who are also succumbed to corporate pressure and big money interests," he said.

He's trying to pull Democrats to the left: Sanders is one of the most liberal members of the U.S. Senate, and he's staked out numerous positions over the years that are considerably more progressive than those embraced by more mainstream Democrats.

He was one of the founding members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He's warned colleagues against being too friendly to the interests of corporate America, criticizing the close ties between some Democrats and Wall Street. He supports Obamacare but would elect to go further and institute a single-payer healthcare system. He's proposed a $1 trillion infrastructure funding bill. He's called for a $15 dollar an hour minimum wage, far exceeding President Obama's proposal to hike the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. He's proposed expanding Social Security benefits and paying for it by raising taxes.

Recently, Sanders has been fiercely critical of the Transpacific Trade Partnership, a massive free trade agreement involving 12 nations that's currently under negotiation. He's concerned that the agreement could undermine international labor and environmental standards. In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman in January, Sanders argued that corporations who stand to gain from the agreement have been involved in its development while members of Congress, and the citizens they represent, have "little or no knowledge as to what is in it."

"The people who will suffer the consequences of this treaty have been shut out of this process," he wrote. "In my view, this is unacceptable."

Ask him if he's too far to the left to be a viable candidate, though, and he says absolutely not.

"I don't believe that," he told Cordes. "I believe the vast majority of people on issue after issue are supportive. Should we raise the minimum wage to a living wage? The American people say yes. Should we create millions of decent paying jobs in this country, rebuilding crumbling infrastructure? American people say yes. Should we overturn Citizens United and big money in politics? American people say yes. I think on all of the key issues that are out there, frankly we have a whole lot of people on our side."

He's a champion for veterans: Sanders was one of the architects of the bipartisan legislation that passed last summer to address problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Lawmakers were spurred to action last year after reports of chronic treatment delays at VA facilities had been linked to the deaths of dozens of veterans. An internal audit of the department's health care facilities determined that officials had used improper scheduling practices, including the falsification of waiting lists, designed to understate the amount of time veterans had been waiting for treatment.

At the time, Sanders was the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, and he championed the cause of giving the VA additional funding to hire more doctors, nurses, and medical staff. He proposed infusing the agency with $25 billion over three years. The compromise agreement he helped negotiate included $10 billion to allow veterans who are unable to receive a timely appointment within the VA system to seek care from outside providers as well as $5 billion for the VA to hire more doctors and nurses.

He's "not a spoiler": Sanders has been saying that if he runs for the White House, it won't be to run a "futile" campaignthat he can't actually win.

"If I run, I want to run to win," he has said. "I will not be a spoiler...There are ways to do this, but let me make it very clear. I will not be a spoiler and elect some Republican."

Sanders has also promised he wouldn't run any negative campaign ads against Hillary Clinton. "It is not my style to trash people," he said. "It is not my style to run ugly, negative ads. Never have, never will."

The senator would, however, like to have "a real serious debate" with Clinton -- "a very intelligent person who I think is interested in issues, by the way," he said.

"I think we would have a debate about how you rebuild the crumbling middle class," Sanders continued. "A debate about how you reverse climate change. A debate about the foreign policy and the wisdom of the war in Iraq, and how we deal with what we deal with. A debate about trade policy. A debate about Wall Street. And that would be I think good for the American people, to be honest with you."

He told Cordes that they differ on their approach to free-trade agreements -- Sanders also opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which Clinton championed when it passed during her husband's presidency -- and noted that he voted against the Iraq War.

"The media's got to get away from personality. The question is, what we stand for, and I think the issues that I am fighting for are in fact the issues that need to be fought for," he said.

He's still a long-shot candidate: Although he is well known in his home state of Vermont, Sanders still has a limited national footprint. In a recent CBS News poll, 68 percent of voters said they didn't know enough about him to say whether they would consider supporting him or not. Among those who had an opinion, 14 percent said they would consider voting for him and 18 percent said they would not - the second highest percentage for a potential Democratic nominee (the highest was Joe Biden, whom 26 percent of people said they would not support).

He's faring a bit better in Iowa, where just half of voters, 51 percent, say they're not sure of him. But 37 percent of voters in the state have a favorable view of him, according to a poll earlier this year by the Des Moines Register. Unfortunately, he's only the top choice of 5 percent of people who say they are likely to participate in the Democratic caucus in Iowa.




“Sanders, 73, is the oldest declared candidate thus far this cycle, and he's trekked a long path to his announcement: Born and raised in Brooklyn, he moved to Vermont in 1964 after college. He became mayor of Burlington, Vermont's largest city in 1981, and he held that post until 1989. He won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990, and served in the lower chamber for a decade and a half. In 2006, he sought and won Vermont's open Senate seat, a perch he still occupies today. …. Still, it doesn't appear that Sanders' lack of formal affiliation with the Democratic Party would prevent him from seeking the party's nomination. A senior Democratic National Committee aide explained to CBS News that Vermont does not allow voters (or candidates) to register by party. Moreover, the aide added, DNC rules do not require a presidential candidate to register as a Democrat to run in the primary - they only require a candidate to demonstrate "a commitment to the goals and objectives of the Democratic Party." …. He was one of the founding members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He's warned colleagues against being too friendly to the interests of corporate America, criticizing the close ties between some Democrats and Wall Street. He supports Obamacare but would elect to go further and institute a single-payer healthcare system. He's proposed a $1 trillion infrastructure funding bill. He's called for a $15 dollar an hour minimum wage, far exceeding President Obama's proposal to hike the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. He's proposed expanding Social Security benefits and paying for it by raising taxes. …. Recently, Sanders has been fiercely critical of the Transpacific Trade Partnership, a massive free trade agreement involving 12 nations that's currently under negotiation. He's concerned that the agreement could undermine international labor and environmental standards. …. "If I run, I want to run to win," he has said. "I will not be a spoiler...There are ways to do this, but let me make it very clear. I will not be a spoiler and elect some Republican."

"I think it makes it clear that as an Independent I worry very much that the Republican party is now moved very, very, very far to the right, and frankly that there are too many Dems who are also succumbed to corporate pressure and big money interests," he said.” It is interesting that DNC rules don't require a candidate to register as a Democrat as long as he or she agrees in principle with Democratic Party views. This article makes it clear that he is on the right side of the issues, though he is farther to the left than a number of them are. He has warned Democrats against siding with corporations. I read that a number of Democrats have taken Koch brothers money. He is really more to my tastes than those “lukewarm” or worse, timid Democrats are.

I think he is not as well-known as Hillary, but too many US voters are absolutely opposed to her. Some of it goes back to Bill Clinton's scandals and some is simply because she declared that she won't sit home and bake cookies. Hillary has never been docile. That, of course, is one of the things I like about her. I do hope he can defend the progressive movement well enough, loudly enough, and long enough to bring all the Democrats and as many as possible of the Independents along with him, because having voted for Eugene McCarthy who then turned out to be a “spoiler” in effect, though not intentionally, I felt badly burned when the disgusting Richard Nixon was reelected.




POLICE JUSTICE – POINTS OF VIEW – FOUR ARTICLES

All three of these articles are important, though much of the information has been said before. Two things are very important here. First, the Maryland city and state governments are behind the prosecution of these rogue officers, and the mayor forcefully stated “'No One Is Above The Law In Our City'”. For too long I have read about police brutality and the officers involved have tended to be coddled and “given the benefit of the doubt.” Defenders of that viewpoint say that police face such a difficult task that they have to be free to use force whenever and however they deem it necessary. They reiterate that the public should be very, very passive around policemen, and “just do what they are told” by the officers.

Unfortunately that doesn't always work. Officers are too often bent on administering “street justice” which doesn't involve laws or courts. Unfortunately, it also isn't really about crimes at all, but about brown skin or sexual and gender issues. If this kind of “policing” that we've been experiencing isn't made very clearly illegal by some well-selected new laws overseeing the rights and responsibilities of policemen, I really do fear that religion and political persuasion will be the next characteristics that are punished by the police. In Nazi Germany, the police were simply another arm of the central government, whose bizarre and frightful goals are well-known today. The widespread uprising of so-called conservative thought in this country looks too much like that evil period in European and US history. I am very glad to see that some city leaders are standing up for citizens rights now. I do want to see the courts follow through with convictions and stiff sentences however. Then there will be real justice and greater peace.

Second, the articles yesterday and today about at least one new civil rights leader and community organizer named Joseph Kent, are showing some progress toward much cleaner and more fair policing as more such peaceful but courageous and persistent leaders emerge. Even when some change seems to be coming, there is an ongoing need for activist black neighborhoods and black professionals. We need more blacks on the city council, in the mayor's office and in the police or sheriff's departments, not to mention the US and state legislatures. The overall societal balance has shifted too far to the right and it needs to be corrected.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/baltimore-officers-face-secon-degree-murder-manslaughter-assault-charges-in-death-of-freddie-gray/

Prosecutor charges 6 Baltimore officers in Freddie Gray's death
CBS/AP
May 1, 2015

Video – NYPD John Miller: I've Never Heard Of Police “Rough Rides”

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's top prosecutor announced criminal charges Friday against all six officers suspended after a man suffered a fatal spinal injury in police custody, saying "no one is above the law."

State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby declared that Freddie Gray's death was a homicide, his arrest was illegal, and his treatment in custody amounted to murder and manslaughter. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said five of the six officers were in custody.

Onlookers began to cheer and then express amazement over Mosby's announcement, which few expected so quickly.

"The findings of our comprehensive, thorough and independent investigation coupled with the medical examiner's determination that Mr. Gray's death was a homicide," Mosby said, "we have probable cause to file criminal charges."

Whoops, cheers and shouts of "Justice!" erupted on the courthouse steps and in the streets of Baltimore, which has faced nearly two weeks of growing anger over Freddie Gray's death. Mosby announced the charges only hours after receiving the results of the internal police investigation and the autopsy report. As she spoke, the city was bracing for huge crowds in two more waves of protests Friday and Saturday.

"Mr. Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet and unrestrained inside of the BPD wagon," she said.

The stiffest charge -- second-degree "depraved heart" murder -- was filed against driver of the police van. The other five were charged with crimes including manslaughter, assault, false imprisonment and misconduct in office.

Fraternal Order of Police local president Gene Ryan told Mosby in a letter before the charges were announced Friday that none of the six suspended officers were responsible for Gray's death

But Mosby said Gray was illegally arrested, assaulted, falsely accused of carrying an illegal weapon, and then hoisted, handcuffed, into the metal compartment of a police van without the seatbelt that all officers are told they must put on for safety of both detainees and officers.

The officers later failed to get medical help even though Gray requested it repeatedly, she said. At some point along the way, he suffered a mysterious spinal injury and died a week later.

Mosby said the illegal switchblade - which Officer Garrett E. Miller swore in a court record under penalty of perjury that he found clipped inside Gray's pants pocket after he was detained - was in fact a legal knife, and provided no justification for Gray's arrest.

She said Gray was assaulted by Miller, Officer William G. Porter, Officer Edward M. Nero, Lt. Brian W. Rice and Sgt. Alicia D. White. Each faces up to 10 years if convicted of second-degree assault.

The van driver, Officer Caeser R. Goodson, Jr., faces up to 30 years on the murder charge, and 10 years each for involuntary manslaughter, assault and "manslaughter by vehicle." All of the officers also face a charge of misconduct in office.

John Miller, deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism for the New York City Police Department, told "CBS This Morning" that says he's not aware of law enforcement officers using "rough rides" in police vans as a practice after an arrest.

Mosby said she comes from five generations of police officers, that she respects and honors how police serve the people, and that this case should in no way damage the relationship between police and prosecutors in Baltimore.

She swiftly rejected a request from the Baltimore police officers union asking her to appoint a special independent prosecutor because of her ties to attorney Billy Murphy, who is representing Gray's family. Murphy was among Mosby's biggest campaign contributors last year, donating the maximum individual amount allowed, $4,000, in June. Murphy also served on Mosby's transition team after the election.

The state medical examiner's office said it sent Gray's autopsy report to prosecutors Friday morning. Spokesman Bruce Goldfarb says the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner will not release the report publicly while the case is under investigation.

The Gray Family still has not been notified of the autopsy results, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues, who has been told that the family is being patient and are "waiting for finality."

In front of a fire station where Gov. Larry Hogan was scheduled to visit Friday, a man leaning out of a passing truck window pumped both arms in the air and yelled, "Justice! Justice! Justice!"

At the corner of North and Pennsylvania avenues, where the worst of the rioting took place on Monday, drivers honked their horns. When buses stopped in front of the subway station, people spilled out cheering as the doors opened.

There was no large gathering at the intersection immediately after the announcement, though: Nearly 100 police in riot gear were deployed, and for the moment, they had nothing to do.

Ciara Ford of Baltimore expressed surprise at the decision to prosecute.
"I'm ecstatic," she said. "I hope this can restore some peace."

"It makes you cry," said her friend, Stephanie Owens of Columbia.

They both expressed hopes that the officers would be convicted. And both believed that the protests in the city made a difference in ensuring that authorities took the case seriously.

"If we had kept quiet, I don't think they would have prosecuted," Ford said.

Community activist Ted Sutton surveyed the joyous scene with amazement. "You don't see people chanting. What you see is people celebrating," Sutton said.

The charges, and Mosby's detailed explanation of what happened, are a first step toward transparency, he said.

"She took the time to critique the evidence," Sutton said, noting that the officers faced different charges specific to their actual alleged misconduct. "To have each person charged with what they actually did . to have it come out this quick - this is something else."

He shuddered to think what the intersection would have looked like if she had announced that no charges would be filed.

"We wouldn't want to imagine what was going to happen right here," he said.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/joseph-kent-keep-protesting-but-positively/

Joseph Kent: "Keep protesting, but positively"
CBS NEWS
May 1, 2015

Video – Baltimore protester Joseph Kent speaks for first time after arrest

Prominent Baltimore activist Joseph Kent says he wants everyone to know he's alright, despite his arrest Tuesday evening as Baltimore's curfew was going into effect.

He was released late Wednesday and gave his first media interview to CBSN Thursday morning, saying he was undeterred by the arrest and planned to return to the streets to "keep the peace."

Later on Thursday, Kent, 21, met with CBSNews.com reporter Ines Novacic at his home, and they walked the streets of his neighborhood.

"I know a lot of people want to know if I'm okay and are worried and stuff, so I'm just going to go around here and let everybody know that everything is good and keep protesting, but positively," he said.

Cameras rolled as Kent had friendly chats with police officers.

He said he has supporters within the police department and a good relationship with many officers. "At the end of the day, all police aren't bad, but all of them aren't good, either," he remarked.

Kent is a well known civil rights organizer in Baltimore who gained attention during the protests there last summer over the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Kent was widely credited with helping to keep those demonstrations peaceful.

He was trying to defuse tensions between police and people protesting the death of Freddie GrayTuesday night when an armored truck pulled up and a team of National Guard troops rushed him.

"I just disappeared," Kent said of the arrest. "It happened so quickly and professionally."

The incident was captured on live TV and sparkedoutrage on Twitter, where some people called his arrest a "kidnapping."

Kent, who works two jobs at Mondawmin Mall and McDonald's in East Baltimore, has been a prominent figure in other protests of police brutality and has been widely credited with helping to keep those protests peaceful.

He told CBSN his message will not change despite his arrest. "Don't use this (arrest) as an excuse to have another riot," he said.

Kent, who was charged with a curfew violation, said the police commissioner recognized him and expedited his release.

Kent's high-profile activism and subsequent arrest have garnered a legion of admirers. His Instagram account has hundreds - maybe even thousands - of new followers and he says his phone has been ringing off the hook.

Kent says he is able to defuse the tensions between police and protesters because many of the people expressing anger can relate to him.

"They know where I come from," he said. "They look at me as one of them."

Gray's mysterious death from a spinal injury a week after his April 12 arrest is what sparked riots Monday - the worst the city has seen since 1968.

"Police brutality is still happening and it's a pattern," Kent said.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/baltimore-riots-a-response-to-police-bullying-police-say/

Protester: Baltimore violence a response to police "bullying"
By CBS NEWS
April 30, 2015

Video – Baltimore Mayor: Pain in city about larger issues than just Freddie Gray

Baltimore has been in the national spotlight for almost two weeks following the death of Freddie Gray, who suffered a major spine injury while in the custody of Baltimore police.

Gray's death was the spark that set off widespread demonstrations, some of which devolved into rioting and looting in the predominantly African-American neighborhood of West Baltimore.

But recent events are also a result of long-simmering tension between minority communities and police in the city, something even the mayor acknowledged in an interview on "CBS This Morning."

"The pain that you saw, yes it's about Freddie Gray, but it's about so much more. If it were just about Freddie Gray ... you wouldn't have seen what you saw on Monday. It's about larger issues," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Most of the rioters were young African-American males, and according to one of them, the destruction is something the community needs to happen in order to bring about change.

"I look at our police, Baltimore city police, as bullies," Maurice Brown, 26, told CBS News. In his eyes, demonstrating peacefully will not spur the change he and his community need.

"When you pick up something and knock [your bully] upside his head, it gives him a different perspective. He says 'Oh, okay now he's fighting back. Maybe I should stop bullying him before I end up hurt,'" Brown said.

The riots were "us knocking the bully upside his head."

From Brown's perspective, police in Baltimore are trying to goad a negative reaction. Adrienne Hill, 22, agreed with Brown, and went as far as saying there are police and members of the public that are actively antagonizing and harming black citizens.

"There's a lot of people who agree with African-American brutality," Hill said.

Those views are further aggravated by the feeling of no escape from poverty and violence in the African American community.

"There's nothing really here for us. Even the youth. There's no recreation centers, no escape, so the only thing that you really have is violence, you have the drug dealing," Brown said. "We've been living in poverty since I got here. They don't tell you that. They don't tell you that there's no jobs here."

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows a stark picture of the economic reality for African Americans in the city of Baltimore.

Median income for black households is less than half that of white households. Plus, the unemployment rate for blacks in 2013 was estimated at 18.3 percent in the city, compared with 7.4 percent of whites.

Economic issues and run-ins with police may have led some in the community to turn to violence, according to Brown and Hill.

"You have to come to a point where something has to be done. Enough is enough," Hill said.

"We're just trying to get attention. And if it takes us to burn this whole city down to get attention, we're going to do that," Brown said.




http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/05/01/403576752/baltimore-mayor-no-one-is-above-the-law-in-our-city

Baltimore Mayor: 'No One Is Above The Law In Our City'
Eyder Peralta
MAY 01, 2015

"I was sickened and heartbroken by the statement of charges that we heard today, because no one in our city is above the law. Justice must apply to all of us equally."

That's what Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said this afternoon in response to the news that the state's attorney for Baltimore City was bringing charges against six officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray.

Rawlings-Blake said she had also instructed Police Chief Anthony Batts to suspend all officers who are facing felony charges.

"In fact, warrants have been executed and five officers are in custody," Rawlings-Blake said.

She continued: "We know that the vast majority of the men and the women in the Baltimore City Police Department serve our city with pride, with courage, with honor and with distinction. But to those of you, who wish to engage in brutality, misconduct, racism and corruption, let me be clear, there is no place in the Baltimore City Police Department for you."

As she spoke, people in west Baltimore celebrated. NPR's Pam Fessler told our Newscast unit that the neighborhood where Gray was arrested had erupted in cheers.

"People are very, very happy in this neighborhood with the state attorney's decision to press charges against the six police officers. I think it's going to be a long night of partying here in Baltimore," Pam reported. "Some people, however, said this is just the first step. Obviously, they're going to have to wait and see whether or not there is going to be any convictions."






GAY ISSUES


http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/davidbadash/josh_duggar_if_christians_aren_t_allowed_to_discriminate_against_gays_they_re_victims_of_discrimination

Josh Duggar: If Christians Can't Discriminate Against Gays They're Victims Of Discrimination
by DAVID BADASH
April 29, 2015

Reality TV star and director of an anti-gay hate group, Josh Duggar shared his thoughts on the same-sex marriage case before the Supreme Court.

"19 Kids and Counting" reality TV star Josh Duggar has become something of a folk hero to the far Christian right, who see him as an anti-choice and anti-gay icon. Duggar is also the executive director of Tony Perkins' Family Research Council Action – the political action arm of the anti-gay hate group. 

On Sunday, after speaking at the National Organization For Marriage's anti-gay marriage hate rally, CNS News interviewed Duggar about this week's Supreme Court marriage case.

"Natural marriage has been clearly defined over the years," Duggar, speaking in the vernacular of the religious right, said.

"Right now in America there is an agenda to silence people of faith, those who hold a dissenting opinion," Duggar told CNS. "That’s not what America was founded on. America was founded on respect, tolerance, and really not discriminating against people based on their religious convictions."

In other words, not allowing Christians to discriminate against gay people is "discriminating against people based on their religious convictions."

Duggar also made a false comparison between Roe v. Wade and same-sex marriage. In 1973 when the Supreme Court decided on Roe, there was far less support for the right of women to choose. Today, 61 percent of Americans support marriage equality.

"I think what we have to realize is this is only the beginning of a larger discussion, and what's really at stake here is the American family,' Duggar said, promising to continue to fight against the rights of same-sex couples regardless of how the Supreme Court rules.

“I believe strongly, being the oldest of 19 kids and counting that you know marriage is central to the family and every single child deserves a mother and father,” Duggar continued. “And I'm sure grateful for my parents and I'm grateful for my wife and we have our fourth child on the way due in July, and I think it's just such a blessing when you see family and you see that you can honor each other.”

Duggar also claimed that "only one other country in the entire world has ever redefined marriage and that was Brazil when they stepped in through the court system to do that."

Raw Story's Travis Gettys was quick to set the record straight this morning.

"In fact, 18 countries worldwide legally approved same-sex marriage through legislative action or court rulings, and two others – Mexico and the United States – recognize same-sex unions in at least some regions," Gettys notes.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gay-businessman-hosting-dinner-for-ted-cruz-a-terrible-mistake/

Gay businessman: Hosting dinner for Ted Cruz a "terrible mistake"
By JAKE MILLER CBS NEWS
April 27, 2015

Photograph – WAUKEE, IA - APRIL 25: Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks to guests gathered at the Point of Grace Church for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition 2015 Spring Kickoff on April 25, 2015 in Waukee, Iowa. The Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition, a conservative Christian organization, hosted 9 potential contenders for the 2016 Republican presidential nominations at the event. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)  SCOTT OLSON, GETTY IMAGES

Facing a boycott of his gay-friendly resorts, hotelier Ian Reisner apologized Sunday for the "terrible mistake" he made in hosting Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for a dinner at his Manhattan home last week.

"I am shaken to my bones by the e-mails, texts, postings and phone calls of the past few days," Reisner wrote in a Facebook post. "I sincerely apologize for hurting the gay community and so many of our friends, family, allies, customers and employees. I will try my best to make up for my poor judgement. Again, I am deeply sorry."

Reisner and his business partner, Mati Weiderpass, hosted a dinner for the Texas senator (and 2016 presidential candidate) on Apr. 20. The men, who are both gay, said they discussed issues on which they agree with Cruz, like the need to strongly support the state of Israel.

The New York Times reported that Cruz soft-pedaled his opposition to gay marriage at the dinner, saying only that it should be a matter left to the states. But Cruz has said he stated his opposition to same-sex marriage clearly.

News of the event lit a fuse in the gay community, thanks largely to Cruz's socially conservative stance on gay issues. The Texas senator has said that being gay is a choice, and he's sponsored legislation that would preserve statewide bans on same-sex marriage in the event of a Supreme Court decision legalizing gay nuptials nationwide.

By Monday morning, a Facebook page calling for a boycott of Reisner and Weiderpass's properties had drawn more than 8,900 "likes" on the site. The two men own OUTNYC, a gay-friendly hotel in Manhattan, and the Fire Island Pines Resort, among other holdings.

In addition, the New York City Gay Men's Chorus canceled an event scheduled for last Saturday at OUT NYC. The chorus did not explicitly blame the dust-up with Cruz for the cancellation, but its leaders explained, "We want to be 100% clear in our support for the LGBTQ community." And Broadway Cares, a non-profit dedicated to HIV/AIDS research, canceled a fundraiser scheduled for next month at a nightclub the two men own.

In his post, Reisner pleaded ignorance, saying he was "naïve and much to quick in accepting a request to co-host a dinner with Cruz at my home without taking the time to completely understand all of his positions on gay rights."

"I've spent the past 24 hours reviewing videos of Cruz' statements on gay marriage and I am shocked and angry," he said.

Cruz weighed in on the controversy during a speech on Saturday at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Summit.

"The only explanation that makes sense to reporters is that anyone who supports traditional marriage...must be somehow motivated by hatred for those who are homosexuals," Cruz said, according to Politico. "It's why this story seems so puzzling to the media."




“Facing a boycott of his gay-friendly resorts, hotelier Ian Reisner apologized Sunday for the "terrible mistake" he made in hosting Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for a dinner at his Manhattan home last week. "I am shaken to my bones by the e-mails, texts, postings and phone calls of the past few days," Reisner wrote in a Facebook post. "I sincerely apologize for hurting the gay community and so many of our friends, family, allies, customers and employees. I will try my best to make up for my poor judgement. Again, I am deeply sorry." …. News of the event lit a fuse in the gay community, thanks largely to Cruz's socially conservative stance on gay issues. The Texas senator has said that being gay is a choice, and he's sponsored legislation that would preserve statewide bans on same-sex marriage in the event of a Supreme Court decision legalizing gay nuptials nationwide. By Monday morning, a Facebook page calling for a boycott of Reisner and Weiderpass's properties had drawn more than 8,900 "likes" on the site. The two men own OUTNYC, a gay-friendly hotel in Manhattan, and the Fire Island Pines Resort, among other holdings.”

I have heard of the Log Cabin Republicans, but I have never understood them. I don't see why anybody would support a political party that is opposed to their best interests as that one seems to be. See the following article on the subject. It shows a great step forward in LGBT civil rights, though I wish the Log Cabin crew would support Democrats instead.

http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2015/03/01/after-decade-of-struggle-log-cabin-republicans-finally-win-cagop-recognition/

After decade of struggle, Log Cabin Republicans finally win CAGOP recognition
By Carla Marinucci on
March 1, 2015 

Why America is Not Normal
newamerica2020.com

These 8 facts prove the situation in America is not normal right now.


After 15 years of struggle to be allowed into the California Republican Party’s “big tent,” the LGBT group known as the Log Cabin Republicans Sunday won their battle to be chartered as an official volunteer party organization.

Republican delegates at the parthy’s statewide convention Sunday in Sacramento voted overwhelmingly — by a 861 to 293 vote — to back the charter of the 240-member California organization of gay and lesbian Republicans as an official party volunteer organization.

State Party chair Jim Brulte brushed aside a request for a secret ballot, saying that at state GOP gatherings, “people stand and are held accountable” for their views.

Incoming Log Cabin chair John Musella called granting of the charter a defining moment, arguing that it would “strengthen the Republican Party” in a state where the party holds no statewide offices and lags double digits behind Democrats in voter registration.

At the convention Sunday, state Republicans debated the resolution briefly, but the convention hall was overwhelmingly in favor of the Log Cabin’s effort.

Charles Moran, a former chair and one of the state’s most active LGBT Republicans, called the charter a long-anticipated and welcome moment for the party. “We know we’re right, and we know the party needs us more than ever,” he said.

Still, the level of passion from some conservative opponents was evident on Saturday when the resolution first came before the party’s volunteer committee, which unanimously passed it.

Moments later, Assemblywoman Shannon Grove of Bakersfield brushed aside the appeals of Musella, telling him that the state Republican Party is “a pro-family organization,” and that there was “no way” she would support the Log Cabin Republicans effort to be part of it.

Members of Grove’s entourage later tried to physically block reporters from asking the legislator about her stance, and she herself refused to answer media questions.

On Sunday, Grove again protested before the floor that the party’s bylaws prohibit “special interest” groups to be chartered, and asked for the charter application to be pulled from consideration.

Celeste Greig, a longtime GOP conservative activist, also called the Log Cabin efforts to be chartered “a real travesty.”

“They are promoting a lifestyle, which is against our bylaws,” said Greig, who insisted that party rules mandate that “no group should be chartered if you have a personal agenda.”

And Karen England, executive director of the Capitol Resources Institute, said the group’s charter would mean the party’s platform would be “watered down in terms of family values.”

But overwhelmingly, California Republicans in the convention hall said they believed that the Log Cabin group both promoted GOP principles, supported its causes, and would be an asset to the party’s efforts to outreach to move voters.

And, many said, their inclusion was long overdue. “We’re Republicans,” said Brandon Gesicki, a longtime GOP strategist. “We’re not East Germany.”

“Get out of the back of the bus,” said Scott Wilk, Republican Assembly Caucus chair to the Log Cabin group at the close of the debate. “You deserve a seat.”





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sea-lion-attacks-san-diego-man-posing-for-photo-yanks-him-overboard/

Fisherman thought he was "going to die" after sea lion yanked him overboard
CBS/AP
April 30, 2015

Photograph – MUST SEE – This Sunday, April 5, 2015 photo by Trish Carlin shows Dan Carlin holding a recently-caught yellowtail at the moment a sea lion leaped up to grab the fish - and him - at Mission Bay in San Diego.  TRISH CARLIN VIA AP

SAN DIEGO -- Dan Carlin's wife told him to smile for a picture on their 29-foot boat as he held up one of the yellowtail fish they had caught that day. Then a sea lion leaped 7 feet out of the water, bit into his hand and yanked him overboard.

The animal, weighing hundreds of pounds, smashed the 62-year-old San Diego accountant against the boat's side and sent his legs flying into the air like a rag doll's before it dragged him some 20 feet underwater, Carlin said Wednesday, more than three weeks into his recovery after the April 5 incident.

Underwater, the sea lion whipped Carlin side to side.

"After 15 seconds, I thought I was going to die," Carlin said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I continued to struggle, but thought this is the way I was going to die. It was unbelievable to me."

Then, as quickly as the attack happened, Carlin was released. He swam toward the surface as the sea lion bit his foot, puncturing a bone.

He managed to make his way back to his boat that was in a bay off San Diego. He and his wife moved it closer to land while his hand gushed blood and he struggled to breathe because of his battered chest. At one point, Carlin said, he lost his vision.

Carlin spent two days in the hospital. The gash on his hand required 20 stitches.

Lt. John Sandmeyer told San Diego 6 News that this kind of attack is very rare.

"Obviously [he's] a little bit in shock and this was a tough incident, very unusual, where we don't have this kind of thing happen," Sandmeyer told the station.

Carlin hopes his hand will have healed enough so he can go back out fishing next week. An experienced surfer, scuba diver and fisherman, Carlin said he and his wife, Trish Carlin, always took precautions to properly dispose of any guts or carcasses to ensure they did not go in the water.

Still, his experience shows just how dangerous sea lions can be, despite the fact that people often do not fear them, Carlin said.

"So many times, you see videos of cute seals, sea lions, but I'm sharing what happened to me because I want parents to realize these are wild aggressive animals that can take you down," he said. "They should be given a wide berth. At least a small child should do that, but also just about anybody should."




A persistent and vicious attack is one of the symptoms of rabies. We don't often hear of water animals coming into contact with a rabid animal, but they can. A friend of mine knows an elderly but still feisty woman who disobeyed a sign at a beaver pond that said clearly No Swimming. She went in anyway, when to her shock, a beaver swam up to her and bit her. The beaver was captured and tested for rabies, and the result was positive, so she had to take the shots, which are very expensive.

Certain animals that do frequently carry rabies such as foxes, coyotes and the ever so cute raccoon can come into contact with something like an otter or beaver. Raccoons are frequently at the water's edge “washing” their food. We have rabies attacks in Jacksonville every year, and it is usually a raccoon, fox or cat rather than a dog. That is probably because very few feral dogs are running around the area, and most pet dogs have been vaccinated. Unfortunately some idiotic people don't vaccinate nor spay their cats, and we have hundreds of feral cats in the Jacksonville neighborhoods.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sixth-grade-interviewer-moves-obama-along/

Sixth-grade moderator moves Obama along
By ARDEN FARHI, ELLEN UCHIMIYA CBS NEWS
April 30, 2015

Photograph – U.S. President Barack Obama (R), with student moderator Osman Yaya (L), responds to a question during a "Virtual Field Trip" with middle school students from around the country at Anacostia Library April 30, 2015 in Washington, DC.
 POOL, GETTY IMAGES

Most moderators can be a little hesitant to interrupt the president of the United States, even if he has gone on a little long. Not Osman Yahya, the sixth grader from Salisbury, Maryland, who interviewed President Obama Thursday.

While the president was answering a question about writing, Yayha gently prodded him, "I think you've sort of covered everything about that question."

"Osman thinks I've been talking too long," the president acknowledged to the 40 middle schoolers in the room.

President Obama visited Anacostia Library and answered questions during a town hall meeting about reading, education and technology from students in the room, as well as from around the country.

At the event, the president announced that some of the country's biggest book publishers would be donating $250 million worth of ebooks to children from low-income families.

The president told the students that he still likes to read Dr. Seuss (especially "Horton Hears a Who"). As a kid, he read the Hardy Boys series, Treasure Island, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And he kept reading children's books as a parent - his daughter Malia listened to him read the entire Harry Potter series to her when she was a child.

Although the event was about ebooks, Mr. Obama admitted he still prefers books printed on paper. He acknowledged that carrying around a stack of e-books is far easier than carrying a stack of paper books.

And as the writer of a few books himself, he advised any budding authors in the audience that the best way to overcome writer's block is to "scratch out ideas and write down anything that comes to your mind," take a break, and go back and revise your first draft.

He was reminded again how much things have changed since he was a child when he was asked what technology he had access to when he was in school. The president answered, "Pencils." And typewriters. Mr. Obama then explained to an audience that was too young ever to have been exposed to the computer's precursor how typed mistakes were corrected.

He told them, "You'd have to get this thing called white-out which was this little liquid . . . you'd have to wait 'til it dries, then blow on it . . . you'd have to figure out like where the margins were at the bottom. The whole thing was a hassle. Sometimes it took you longer to type the paper than write the paper."




This is a funny article. I'm glad to see that the President gets some fun time. His description of the technology of his young days is very similar to mine. I, too, used to hate correcting errors on a typewriter. The word processor came in and then the PC, and life was immediately more pleasant and easy. I agree with him that I prefer a book of the old fashioned “dead tree” variety to an e-book. I like to lie on my back and hold a “good read” up on my stomach, relaxing luxuriously. As my eyes get tired from the reading I then become drowsy and I can fall asleep. Obviously, I do most of my reading at bedtime. My current book is The Real Elizabeth, by Andrew Marr, about Queen Elizabeth. It's very detailed and is giving me lots of historical information. She grew up during WWII and by 1953 had been crowned as Queen. Her father died in his fifties from cancer.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-images-show-planet-mercury-in-amazing-technicolor/

Images show planet Mercury in amazing technicolor
By MICHAEL CASEY CBS NEWS
April 29, 2015

Photographs – MUST SEE – This is image taking aboard NASA's Messenger spacecraft, which is set to end its orbital exploration of Mercury Thursday.
 NASA/JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY/CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON

Check out Mercury in all its psychedelic glory.

This colorful image comes courtesy of the Mercury Atmosphere and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS) instrument aboard NASA's Messenger spacecraft. Designed to study both the exosphere and surface of the planet, the Visual and Infrared Spectrometer (VIRS) portion of MASCS has been collecting single tracks of spectral surface measurements since Messenger entered Mercury's orbit on March 17, 2011.

To play up the geological context of these spectral measurements, the MASCS data have been overlain on the monochrome mosaic from the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), an instrument with wide- and narrow-angle cameras to map the rugged landforms and spectral variations on Mercury's surface.

Come Thursday, there will likely be another crater in the planet's pocked surface. That's when Messenger's four-year mission is set to end, and the craft will come out of its orbit and slam into Mercury. The 10-foot-wide spacecraft, according to The Associated Press, will be traveling 8,750 mph (14,081 kph) when it hits, fast enough to carve out a crater 52 feet (16 meters) wide.

The $450 million Messenger mission, whose name is short for MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging, launched in August 2004. After taking a circuitous route through the inner solar system, Messenger in March 2011 became the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury.

A few weeks ago, Messenger ran out of fuel. NASA was able to extend its life by conducting a series of engine burns designed to lift the probe's orbit. It managed to keep it going through Thursday when it will be left up to solar gravity to end the mission.

In Messenger's more than four years of orbital operations, it has acquired over 250,000 images and other extensive data sets. The mission has also fascinated star-gazers, including 3,600 who took part in a competition coordinated by the Carnegie Institution for Science to name five craters on the planet.

The names had to be from an artist, composer, or writer who was famous for more than 50 years and has been dead for more than three years. The winning names announced Wednesday go back several centuries, with the most famous name being the Mexican painter Diego Rivera.

Other winning names were Turlough O'Carolan (Carolan) an Irish composer during the 16th and 17th centuries; Enheduanna, an Akkadian princess and poet who lived in the Sumerian city of Ur in ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and Kuwait); Yousuf Karsh, an Armenian-Canadian and one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century and Umm Kulthum, an Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress active between the 1920s and 1970s.




Science, apparently, can be art. I tried to find out how the colors in the images arose, and the closest explanation was on the Wikipedia site of Mercury Atmosphere and Surface Composition Spectrometer (MASCS). It involves mapping surface features and chemicals which produce colored overlays on the original monochromatic image from the Mercury Dual Imaging System. The science is impressive, in that the knowledge about Mercury has been advanced, but the beauty of the images is indescribable. Go to the website given at the head of the article and look at the photographs. Unfortunately my Blogger program won't record or show images.