Saturday, July 18, 2015



News Clips For The Day


ALASKA DRILLING -- TWO ARTICLES


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/al-gore-obama-arctic-drilling_55a7e6cce4b04740a3df3768

Al Gore Criticizes Obama Over Arctic Drilling
Jacob Kerry
Posted: 07/16/2015

Former Vice President Al Gore offered a rare criticism of the Obama administration on Thursday for allowing Royal Dutch Shell to begin drilling for oil and natural gas in the Arctic Ocean.

In an interview with the Guardian, Gore argued that Arctic drilling "ought to be banned."

“I think Arctic drilling is insane," said Gore, a longtime proponent of intervention efforts to stop climate change. "I think that countries around the world would be very well advised to put restrictions on drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean."

While Gore complimented other efforts President Barack Obama has made to address climate change, he said more needs to be done.

“I think he is doing essentially a very good job, but on the fossil fuel side, I would certainly be happier if he was not allowing so much activity like the Arctic drilling permit and the large amounts of coal extracted from public lands,” Gore said.

Along with being met with significant backlash from environmentalists, Shell's latest effort to conduct exploratory drilling in the Arctic has also not been without problems. In June, the Department of the Interior informed Shell that federal provisions protecting walruses limit how close the company's drilling sites can be to one another. Last week, a gash was found in the hull of one of Shell's icebreaker ships.

Shell plans to begin drilling later this month.

Gore's comments come on the same day that Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is introducing a bill that would ban Arctic drilling. In June, Merkley and four other Democratic senators called on Obama to rescind Shell's drilling permit.



http://royaldutchshellplc.com/2015/07/08/icebreaker-key-to-shells-arctic-drilling-program-damaged-returns-to-port/

Icebreaker key to Shell’s Arctic drilling program damaged, returns to port
Jul 8th, 2015 by John Donovan.
Alex DeMarban: Alaska Dispatch News: July 7, 2015

In another hurdle for Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic drilling program, an ice-handling vessel playing a key role in the operation has returned to Dutch Harbor after a gash was discovered in its hull.

The Fennica, a 380-foot Finnish vessel, was damaged Friday as it headed for the drilling grounds in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest Alaska coast, with a state-certified marine harbor pilot on board handling it. The vessel is one of 29 Shell plans to send to the area this summer.

In addition to duties that include scouting for wayward chunks of sea ice and preventing them from threatening other vessels, one of the Fennica’s tasks is deploying the capping stack designed to stop an oil spill.

Its critical role in the program raises questions about whether Shell will need to adjust its drilling plans, and face a delay as it attempts to resume drilling that was suspended for three years after the grounding of the drill rig Kulluk on an island near Kodiak.

Shell said in a statement the Fennica’s crew was alerted to a leak in the ballast tank on Friday shortly after leaving Dutch Harbor. After inspection, a “small breach” in the hull was found. The cause is unknown.

“All appropriate authorities were promptly notified and repair options are being considered,” said the statement emailed by Luke Miller, a spokesperson with Shell.

“At this point we do not anticipate any impact on the season but it’s too early to know for sure. Any impact to our season will ultimately depend on the extent of the repairs,” the statement said.

Miller said the breach is about 39 inches long and about 2 inches wide.

“This is obviously an issue we take very seriously,” said the statement. “The Fennica was traveling in charted waters, significantly deeper than her draft, with a qualified harbor pilot. Whatever the cause of this breach, the marine industry in Dutch Harbor will benefit from learning how it happened.”

Unalaska Mayor Shirley Marquardt said some marine pilots in Dutch Harbor suspect the ship may have been damaged by underwater debris, possibly left over from World War II — a common threat in the rugged region that might not show up on charts until ships are gouged or massive anchors haul up waste.

Once, a concrete mixing truck was pulled up, she said. Pilots have said massive anchors abandoned on the sea floor with flukes and shanks several feet long could have caused the Fennica’s gashing, she said.

She said the crew of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessel Fairweather, a hydrographic survey ship in Dutch Harbor as part of an effort to update nautical charts in the region, has agreed to survey the area where the damage may have occurred. That work is supposed to begin Wednesday, she said.

“Pilots are going, ‘What the heck is down there?’ ” she said.

Pilots have told her the damage is a thin slice “like you were opening up a can,” she said.

“There is nothing on the charts (on the route),” Marquardt said. “It surprised everyone. They thought it was the anchor getting caught on something.”

Rick Entenmann, president of the Alaska Marine Pilots for the Western Alaska region based in Dutch Harbor, said the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating the incident.

He said seasoned pilot Rick Murphy was piloting the Fennica when it was damaged. Murphy was traveling Tuesday and not available for comment.

Entenmann said the damage occurred as the ship was transiting past the east side of Hog Island. The area is commonly traveled, but a few feet this way or that can make all the difference. He said he’s certain the pilot won’t be found at fault.

“He should have had 10 or 11 feet under his keel,” he said. “This is one of those things. It’s not on the chart.”

“Who knows what’s down there,” Entenmann said. “It could be something from some vessel back in day, but it’s got to be a pretty good-sized thing to be sticking up 9 to 11 feet above the bottom. We’re just curious as hell to see what it is.”

Marquardt said it’s unfortunate Shell might be blamed for the accident by critics who don’t support drilling in the U.S. Arctic Ocean, though the company was following proper procedures with a longtime marine pilot handling the vessel.

“So many things like this happen in the marine industry in Dutch Harbor and people just go, ‘Oh they were lucky.’ But when it’s Shell, people who have no marine experience whatsoever or have never been to Dutch Harbor say, ‘See they don’t know what they were doing.’”

After meeting numerous regulatory requirements in an effort that began a decade or so ago, Shell is awaiting two permits — authority for drilling two wells — before it begins to punch holes this summer.

But aside from the damage to the Fennica, there are questions about whether Shell will be delayed in its plans to simultaneously drill two wells in the Chukchi Sea.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service letter of authorization allowing incidental take of certain marine mammals specifies that simultaneous drilling can occur only if wells are 15 miles apart.

Shell’s proposed plan calls for those first two wells to be spaced 9 miles apart, posing questions about how the company will proceed.

The statement sent by Miller said Shell “still intends to accomplish meaningful work in the weeks ahead. That includes drilling in the Chukchi Sea.”








HUFFINGTON -- “I think he is doing essentially a very good job, but on the fossil fuel side, I would certainly be happier if he was not allowing so much activity like the Arctic drilling permit and the large amounts of coal extracted from public lands,” Gore said. Along with being met with significant backlash from environmentalists, Shell's latest effort to conduct exploratory drilling in the Arctic has also not been without problems. In June, the Department of the Interior informed Shell that federal provisions protecting walruses limit how close the company's drilling sites can be to one another. Last week, a gash was found in the hull of one of Shell's icebreaker ships. …. Gore's comments come on the same day that Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) is introducing a bill that would ban Arctic drilling. In June, Merkley and four other Democratic senators called on Obama to rescind Shell's drilling permit.”

ROYAL DUTCH -- The Fennica, a 380-foot Finnish vessel, was damaged Friday as it headed for the drilling grounds in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest Alaska coast, with a state-certified marine harbor pilot on board handling it. The vessel is one of 29 Shell plans to send to the area this summer. In addition to duties that include scouting for wayward chunks of sea ice and preventing them from threatening other vessels, one of the Fennica’s tasks is deploying the capping stack designed to stop an oil spill. …. “All appropriate authorities were promptly notified and repair options are being considered,” said the statement emailed by Luke Miller, a spokesperson with Shell. “At this point we do not anticipate any impact on the season but it’s too early to know for sure. Any impact to our season will ultimately depend on the extent of the repairs,” the statement said. …. Unalaska Mayor Shirley Marquardt said some marine pilots in Dutch Harbor suspect the ship may have been damaged by underwater debris, possibly left over from World War II — a common threat in the rugged region that might not show up on charts until ships are gouged or massive anchors haul up waste. Once, a concrete mixing truck was pulled up, she said. Pilots have said massive anchors abandoned on the sea floor with flukes and shanks several feet long could have caused the Fennica’s gashing, she said.”

I personally agree with Gore and the three Democratic Senators that the ecosystem in that area is too fragile for any more oil spills. It took years after the Valdez struck a reef in Alaska. Wildlife covered in oil were found dead or barely alive for some years after that, even though Exxon spent time and money trying to clean up the results of the disaster. Obama wants to be a good president for businesses, but if unregulated banking, mining and drilling, hunting of wildlife such as wolves or whales, and other things that do severe or irredeemable damage to the Earth and us the people are involved, then I disagree with him. He needs to stand his ground and oppose the House Tea Partiers and their lackies. They certainly have no qualms about shutting down the government over a bill that most US citizens don’t even want.

See the Wikipedia article below.



Exxon Valdez oil spill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m.[1] local time and spilled 11 to 38 million US gallons (260,000 to 900,000 bbl; 42,000 to 144,000 m3) of crude oil[2][3] over the next few days. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters.[4] The Valdez spill was the largest in US waters until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in terms of volume released.[5] However, Prince William Sound's remote location, accessible only by helicopter, plane, or boat, made government and industry response efforts difficult and severely taxed existing plans for response. The region is a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals and seabirds. The oil, originally extracted at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, eventually covered 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of coastline,[6] and 11,000 square miles (28,000 km2) of ocean.[7]





TENNESSEE SHOOTER -- THREE ARTICLES


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/claims-of-domestic-violence-in-home-of-suspected-chattanooga-gunman/

Claims of domestic violence in home of Chattanooga gunman
CBS NEWS
July 17, 2015

Play VIDEO
Investigation begins into Chattanooga shooting gunman

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Court documents obtained by CBS News reveal claims of domestic violence in the family home of Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, the man identified as the gunman in the deadly Chattanooga attacks.

Four Marines and a Navy sailor were killed and a police officer was wounded. Abdulazeez was also killed.

Abdulazeez's mother filed for divorce from her husband of 28 years claiming he was abusive, according to court documents dated February 2009. Ultimately, the couple did not get divorced, but the document did reveal what life may have been like inside the home.

In the complaint, the suspect's mother, Rasmia Ibrahim Abdulazeez, said there are five children in the family and her husband, Youssuf Saed Abdulazeez, had repeatedly beaten her, at times in front of them. Rasmia said on one occasion, she was beaten so severely she fled their home and went to a crisis center. She requested a restraining order and custody of the youngest child.

In the documents, Rasmia also claimed she was sexually assaulted by her husband while the children were in the home. The documents allege that, on occasion, Youssuf had also been abusive towards the children, striking and berating them without provocation or justification.

Federal law enforcement officials say Abdulazeez was born in Kuwait and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. His father is from Nablus in the West Bank and his mother is from Kuwait. Residents in the quiet neighborhood where he is believed to have lived in Tennessee said they didn't know him or his family well.

According to the court documents, family members from Washington D.C. and Kuwait flew to Tennessee to help the Abdulazeez's parents resolve their differences, but Rasmia claimed Youssuf had become "more abusive" after that.

Rasmia reported she did not work and Youssuf had control of the money. She was only able to save a few dollars every week from the money her husband had given her for household expenses. She had wanted an Islamic divorce known as a "talaq" in addition to a court divorce.

Three weeks later though, the couple signed an agreement where Youssuf agreed to refrain from any personal injury against Rasmia or the kids. They also agreed to go to counseling, and if they got divorced in the future, the Youssuf agreed to give her an Islamic divorce as well.

Court records also show the suspect's sister, Diana Youssuf Abdulazeez, filed for divorce in June 2008 and sought a protective order also due to domestic violence from her husband. The court agreed that an order of protection was necessary and it was granted 10 days later.

Residents in the quiet neighborhood where Abdulazeez was believed to have lived in a two-story home said they would see him walking along the wide streets or doing yard work. One neighbor recalled Abdulazeez giving him a ride home when he became stranded in a snowstorm.

"It's kind of a general consensus from people that interacted with him that he was just your average citizen there in the neighborhood. There was no reason to suspect anything otherwise," said Ken Smith, a city councilman who met with neighbors Thursday night.

CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan reports Abdulazeez's high school yearbook shows his senior photo, with the quote, "My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?"

Kevin Emily, Abdulazeez's high school wrestling coach, thought of himself as a father figure to the teens on his team. He told Duncan he spent much of Thursday fielding phone calls from former students who heard the news.

"I was numb when I heard it because I heard it from one of my wrestler's parents," Emily said. "They're just like, 'Coach, can you believe it? Can you believe Muhammad did that?"'

"I don't have any bad words to say about him as an individual that wrestled for me and neither do they," Emily said. "So we're all in shock and we're all hurt."




Court documents obtained by CBS News reveal claims of domestic violence in the family home of Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, the man identified as the gunman in the deadly Chattanooga attacks. …. In the complaint, the suspect's mother, Rasmia Ibrahim Abdulazeez, said there are five children in the family and her husband, Youssuf Saed Abdulazeez, had repeatedly beaten her, at times in front of them. Rasmia said on one occasion, she was beaten so severely she fled their home and went to a crisis center. She requested a restraining order and custody of the youngest child. In the documents, Rasmia also claimed she was sexually assaulted by her husband while the children were in the home. The documents allege that, on occasion, Youssuf had also been abusive towards the children, striking and berating them without provocation or justification. …. …."I don't have any bad words to say about him as an individual that wrestled for me and neither do they," Emily said. "So we're all in shock and we're all hurt."

“According to the court documents, family members from Washington D.C. and Kuwait flew to Tennessee to help the Abdulazeez's parents resolve their differences, but Rasmia claimed Youssuf had become "more abusive" after that. Rasmia reported she did not work and Youssuf had control of the money. She was only able to save a few dollars every week from the money her husband had given her for household expenses. She had wanted an Islamic divorce known as a "talaq" in addition to a court divorce.”

This article shows clearly that while the neighbors considered them to be quiet and good citizens, the life inside their home was far different from that, and I don’t really like the young man’s yearbook comment, "My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?" That sounds to me as though even in high school he felt that he was not a part of American society in a full and purely positive way, and that perhaps he enjoyed that. As for the wife beating described above, American and Islamic wife beaters are all alike – they explode in anger and very frequently in jealousy and then after they hurt the wife they apologize and promise to do better. They may even shed some crocodile tears. Unfortunately several months later they are likely to do it all over again, including the apologies. Some men really suck.





http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/07/17/423903279/chattanooga-shootings-being-investigated-as-terrorism

Chattanooga Shooter Failed Background Check At Job At Nuclear Plant
Krishnadev Calamur
July 17, 2015

Chattanooga, Tenn., shooter Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez was dismissed from his job at an Ohio nuclear plant because he didn't pass a background check, a person familiar with his employment history at at the company that operates the plant tells NPR.

Abdulazeez was dismissed for "not meeting minimum requirements for employment," a spokeswoman for First Energy told NPR's Dina Temple-Raston.

He worked at the company's Perry Nuclear Plant, east of Cleveland, for 10 days from May 20 to May 30, 2013, the spokeswoman said.

But someone familiar with his employment history at First Energy tells Dina Abdulazeez was dismissed because he didn't pass a background check.

Investigators caution not to overplay this detail. It happened in 2013 and sources tell NPR the FBI does not believe agents need to go back further than a year in trying to trace Abdulazeez's possible radicalization. This employment history would fall outside that window.

Earlier today, investigators say the shootings at the two military centers, which killed four Marines as well as Abdulazeez, are being investigated as an act of terrorism. But they said it's still premature to speculate on Abdulazeez's motives.

Bill Killian, U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of Tennessee, said at a news conference Friday the investigation is being led by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is continuing to investigate it as an act of terrorism until there's proof otherwise.

But, he added, "Don't get caught up in monikers."

"If you investigate it as a criminal act, and it becomes terrorism, you may have neglected to perform some investigation," he said. "We are investigating it at the highest level of investigation."

FBI Special Agent in Charge Ed Reinhold said it's premature to speculate on Abdulazeez's motives and added that the gunman had at least two long guns and one handgun. Some of the weapons were purchased legally; some may not have been, he said.

Reinhold said investigators are looking into any foreign trips Abdulazeez, of Hixson, Tenn., may have taken and what he did during those trips. He would not say where Kuwaiti-born Abdulazeez had gone, thought NPR and others have reported that he visited Jordan. His parents are Jordanian.

Investigators did not say Thursday how Abdulazeez died, but today Reinhold said he most likely was killed by fire by Chattanooga police officers. That is still being investigated.

Abdulazeez, he said, was not wearing body armor; he had a load-carrying vest for additional magazines of ammunition.

You can read NPR's Bill Chappell's reporting on the four Marines who were killed in Thursday's shootings, and NPR's Eyder Peralta's profile of Abdulazeez.



I am reminded of the 9/11 hijackers two of whom were discovered to be on record at flight schools. One of them didn't complete flight school but dropped out before he learned how to set a plane down on the ground safely. He knew he was going to crash it into a building and didn't need to study that! The reason for the overzealous USA PATRIOT Act today is that our FBI,NSA, CIA etc. failed to "connect the dots" and catch those attackers before they boarded their airplanes. We need to rein it in a bit to protect our American freedoms, but I understand the need for it. I'm sorry that Edward Snowden is now having to live in Russia as a result of his whistleblowing, because I understand his actions, too. We are living in a very dangerous time period, and I'm more than a little worried about our society and other Democratic nations as well.




http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/07/17/423881551/when-is-an-act-of-violence-an-act-of-terrorism

When Is An Act Of Violence An Act Of Terrorism?
Eyder Peralta
July 17, 2015

Photograph -- An FBI investigator at the scene of a shooting outside a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Friday.
John Bazemore/AP

Just hours after 24-year-old Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez opened fire on two military facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn., and killed four Marines, U.S. Attorney Bill Killian said authorities were treating the case as an "act of domestic terrorism."

Minutes later, authorities softened those words, saying all angles were being pursued — that they had not yet established a motive in the case.

That got us wondering: When does an act of violence become an act of terrorism? It's a conversation that emerged after the mass shooting last month in Charleston and it was debated for months after Army Maj. Nidal Hassan killed 13 people and wounded 32 others when he opened fire at Fort Hood in 2009.

The word terrorism is a tricky one, says Robin Lakoff, a linguist at the University of California, Berkeley, who has studied the language of war. That's because, she says, "terrorism itself, whatever that is" lives in a place between crime and war.

"Although acts of war, acts of crime and acts of terror can look very much alike on the surface, they have very different motives, very different reasons for being, and I think that's why people are confused," she says. "They look alike on the surface; they're different underneath."

Navin Bapat, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who studies terrorist campaigns, says that at least among political scientists there is a well-worn definition for terrorism: an attack against a "non-combatant target" for political purposes that is intended to affect an audience larger than the immediate victims.

Bapat says to look at two words in particular: "non-combatant" and "political purposes." Those two things make this definition squishy.

So, does the shooting in Chattanooga constitute terrorism?

It's complicated, Bapat says. At first blush, he says he would say no because the attack was against members of the military.

"It seems pretty clear that is less of a terrorist attack and more of a guerrilla attack. But what if it's an off-duty military personnel, then how do you classify that? Or how do you classify the attack on the Pentagon on 9/11 which was a military target but it was [perpetrated] with a civilian airliner — so is that terrorism because you used a civilian apparatus to attack the military? There is some squishiness there."

He says that if Abdulazeez had been indiscriminately trying to kill as many people as he could at the Chattanooga military centers, then it could fit the definition of terrorism.

Ultimately, Bapat said, justice officials have to make their own determination, which affects how a case is investigated and prosecuted.

What's clear is that even law enforcement can struggle with that categorization.

Law enforcement officials say they are working to determine a possible motive — which speaks to the second part of Bapat's definition of terrorism.

Killian, the U.S. attorney, said in a news conference today that they are investigating the shootings "as an act of terrorism until the proof shows us otherwise."

They are poring over Abdulazeez's Internet activity and examining his overseas travel, and so far they have found no connection to terrorist groups.

"At this time, we have no indication he was inspired by or directed by anyone but himself," FBI Special Agent in Charge Ed Reinhold said at the news conference.

NPR's Dina Temple-Raston says law enforcement officials are considering whether "something closer to home, like a breakup or something more personal, may have motivated the attack."

Abdulazeez reportedly was arrested in April on suspicion of driving under the influence and was due in court in two weeks.

"They are trying to rule out whether this was, in essence, a 'death by cop' case — i.e., that Abdulazeez wanted to die in this attack not as a martyr, but for some other reason," Dina says.

This kind of gray area bothers people, says Lakoff, the linguist.

This case ticks off boxes that Americans associate with terrorism — the main and controversial one is that it was perpetrated by a Muslim. But the fact that Abdulazeez lived what seemed to be, at least outwardly, a fairly ordinary suburban life and even the fact that he used a gun — which Lakoff says are as "American as apple pie" — rather than, say, a bomb, don't quite fit with what Americans equate with terrorism.

"What really makes people nervous, more than terrorism, is when you can't pin a word down," Lakoff says. "I think we often have it in our minds that the great majority of words have specific meanings, and if you see something, you say, 'Oh that is a case of X,' X being a particular word with a particular meaning and that this is almost always the case. And in fact, particularly for things that are very important to us and have a lot of emotional baggage behind them, very often categories merge."

So, the shootings in Chattanooga? Almost everyone will define it as a crime. But is it a terrorist act? Even Bapat and Lakoff couldn't decide.

"Having a precise definition of a word gives you a kind of power over not only the word, but over the thing itself," Lakoff says. "[People think] if we could only pin down precisely whether something is an act of terrorism or a hate crime, or just a simple crime or a war, in other cases, we would have a handle on it, we would know what to do. We would be able to feel more comfortable about what we should do and less nervous, less frightened in general."

Bapat, the political scientist, says cases like these are complex and that eventually political scientists, and prosecutors, have to make choices based on their rules.

"But practically," he says, "it really doesn't matter in a sense. Because the crime is the crime. People were killed, and each one of those is tragic whether or not we classify it as terrorism or not."




"Although acts of war, acts of crime and acts of terror can look very much alike on the surface, they have very different motives, very different reasons for being, and I think that's why people are confused," she says. "They look alike on the surface; they're different underneath." Navin Bapat, a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who studies terrorist campaigns, says that at least among political scientists there is a well-worn definition for terrorism: an attack against a "non-combatant target" for political purposes that is intended to affect an audience larger than the immediate victims. …. He says that if Abdulazeez had been indiscriminately trying to kill as many people as he could at the Chattanooga military centers, then it could fit the definition of terrorism. Ultimately, Bapat said, justice officials have to make their own determination, which affects how a case is investigated and prosecuted. What's clear is that even law enforcement can struggle with that categorization. …. They are poring over Abdulazeez's Internet activity and examining his overseas travel, and so far they have found no connection to terrorist groups. "At this time, we have no indication he was inspired by or directed by anyone but himself," FBI Special Agent in Charge Ed Reinhold said at the news conference. NPR's Dina Temple-Raston says law enforcement officials are considering whether "something closer to home, like a breakup or something more personal, may have motivated the attack." …. 'Oh that is a case of X,' X being a particular word with a particular meaning and that this is almost always the case. And in fact, particularly for things that are very important to us and have a lot of emotional baggage behind them, very often categories merge." …. "But practically," he says, "it really doesn't matter in a sense. Because the crime is the crime. People were killed, and each one of those is tragic whether or not we classify it as terrorism or not."

This is an interesting subject – how is terrorism different from mass murder and perhaps also from a hate crime. Some Tea Partiers have spoken against laws prohibiting hate crimes and punishing them more severely than mere murder. That usually comes up in a racial context or the anti-Semitism that has been a part of human culture since the Christian religion began to have political dominance. Anti-Islamic hatred is also becoming prominent as more refugees from the Middle East come into Europe and America. I fear for our future at this particular time, as we may have more and more cultural violence soon. I have no sympathy with any of those three crimes. They’re all representative of a breakdown of the human spirit, usually from the inside. We fail as individuals to “do the right thing” because that would be frightening.

Group misbehavior in general turns me off completely. I have no sympathy for any kind of bullying and I believe that the only way to be a pretty decent person – definitely not flawless, of course -- is to use our minds and think for ourselves. To follow the leader over the edge of a cliff like the lemmings or to condone viciousness against someone who is a little different from the average person are both forms of evil to me. That kind of thing tends to come out of our “group identity,” which of course has a useful purpose in society, but as with so many things – the urge to save our money for future needs for instance – merges into a type and degree of those conditions that are evil. Injustice and greed are not acceptable or desirable, and are generally a short step away from true criminality. Greed and dishonesty are evil, and so is the persecution of anyone for whatever reason. As Jesus stopped the crowd of misogynistic Jewish men from stoning a woman to death, so must we step in and speak against the egging or spray painging of a Jewish synagogue or the many worse forms of such group hatred that go back into the Spanish Inquisition and before. I know fear is not always considered to be evil, but it does often lead to it and to me it is definitely not virtue. Passivity is not decency. Sometimes we have to do something dangerous in order to produce justice in the world. Fearful people, even if they have some normal human empathy within their natures, too often will not stand up for the victim even to the degree of simply speaking out against the evil, when often that would be enough to turn the tide. Bullies are basically cowards, I have heard, and it is true that they almost never attack an individual who is not too timid to protect himself. That’s why we remain “sick with sin,” as Jesus described humans.




BLACK MUSLIMS IN THE US


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/inside-islamberg/

Muslim enclave in U.S. battles suspicion, alleged threats
By INES NOVACIC CBS NEWS
JULY 16, 2015

Photograph -- Hussein Adams, chief executive of the Muslims of America CBS NEWS
Photograph -- Islamberg's community center was one of the targets of Doggart's alleged plot. CBS NEWS
Photograph -- Two young boys walk arm in arm in Islamberg. CBS NEWS

At dusk, the murky summer rainfall made it difficult to navigate the winding rural roads that lead to the small village of Islamberg in Hancock, New York.

"Our Sheikh named it Islamberg," said Hussein Adams, chief executive of the Muslims of America, a national network dedicated to promoting an understanding of Islam.

"Even in the name 'Islamberg' - an Islamic village where Islam is practiced - we don't hide our beliefs," said Hussein, driving past the community's "Welcome to Islamberg" sign.

"This is who we are. And we're proud about it."

Holy Islamberg, as residents refer to it, is the headquarters of the Muslims of America organization, as well as home to about two dozen Muslim families, mostly African-American. Men wear prayer caps while women wear hijab, and everyone, including the children, dresses modestly. Islamberg is the picture of a traditional and tranquil Islamic community - not of immigrants, but of mostly second- or third-generation Americans hailing from cities like New York.

It was set up 32 years ago by a Pakistani Sufi cleric named El Sheikh Syed Mubarik Ali Shah Gilani. Sheikh Gilani was the man who Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was on his way to meet when he was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan in early 2002. At the time, Gilani was not listed in the United States report on terrorism. He was interrogated and subsequently released. In a 2002 interview with 60 Minutes, Gilani said that his followers are not anti-American, and that Muslims are better off in America than anywhere else.

"Daily life is very exciting. We have a lot of children; we have a lot of professionals that go out, just like any other American citizens, to and from work places," said Adams. "We are very fortunate to live our lifestyle and practice our religion freely within the United States. We have actually been protected because of the freedoms that the United States affords to Muslims."

No one in Islamberg seems to take these freedoms for granted, however, given the negative attention foisted upon the community by certain right-wing groups who have claimed over the years that the village is in fact a breeding ground for Islamic extremism and terrorism.

Captain Barnes said he has seen no "nefarious" activity in Islamberg. CBS NEWS
However, law enforcement officials in direct contact with the residents of Islamberg say that's not the case.

"I think there is a lot of misinformation that is out there, certainly on the Internet," said Capt. James Barnes from the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Barnes told CBS News that he's had a personal relationship with the community of Islamberg for 12 years.

"I go back to the numerous time that the state police has been invited to their lands, and again, I don't know any other place where, if something nefarious is occurring that they would willingly invite law enforcement personnel to come in and have lunch with them and interact with them on a frequent basis," said Barnes. "I would say that the amount of crime that is associated there at the land is less than it is anywhere else."

"If we were planning a terrorist attack on the United States of America don't you think law enforcement would know? Don't you think the FBI would know?" said Adams.

In a case that underscores how dangerous this atmosphere of suspicion can be, a one-time Congressional candidate from Tennessee, Robert Doggart, faces charges in connection with an alleged plot to attack Islamberg. In wire-tapped phone calls and meetings with FBI informants, Doggart allegedly said that he planned to take an assault rifle, armor-piercing ammunition and other weapons, including a machete, to destroy Islamberg. The criminal affidavit indicates that Doggart allegedly met with members of a private militia in Texas and South Carolina. He is quoted as saying: "If it gets down to the machete, we will cut them to shreds."

Doggart was arrested in April 2015 and signed an agreement under which he would enter a guilty plea to a single charge of "interstate communication of a threat," though a judge threw out the plea agreement. He still faces federal prosecution and has been subject to home confinement after posting $30,000 bail.

Doggart appeared in court in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for his arraignment on July 13. Members of the Muslims of America, including several residents of Islamberg staged a rally in front of the courthouse, demanding that he be charged with terrorism and hate crimes. Supporters joined in with chants like: "He is a terrorist! Just like ISIS! He tried to burn our school down! Just like the Taliban!" as others held signs that read "American Taliban" above Doggart's image.

Tahirah Clark, lawyer for Muslims of America, said that she hoped to stop what she called a "double standard" from unfolding.

"This particular defendant, Robert Doggart, seems to have been treated a little differently than others in this country who have been apprehended for similar acts - especially if they are African American or Muslim," said Clark. She explained how, with the help of outside organizations, Islamberg residents hope to get the attention of the American public and the American government - so that "things will change ... and the residents of Islamberg, and the children of Islamberg will receive justice."

"To hear that there is someone out there who plotted to completely annihilate our community is just unbelievable, and it's really difficult to put it into words what we have - what our community and our children have experienced," said Clark.

Several residents of Islamberg expressed frustration at the lack of national attention that Doggart's case has received relative to other domestic terror plots.

"In the midst of all of this where is Fox News? Where is CNN? Where are all these major - if sides were turned and this was a Muslim attacking a Christian village --- you know what it would be," said Adams.

On a recent evening the week before Doggart's arraignment, Adams, Smith, Clark, and Faruq Baqi, the Muslims of America spokesperson, gathered in Smith's house discussed their ideas about the true nature of Islam and their place in the U.S.

"You cannot be a Muslim without helping mankind," said Adams. "You cannot be a Muslim without helping humanity. ... To help all regardless of religion or race or where they're from, whether be Muslim or Christian or Jew, you understand, when someone is in need, we help, we support, and we're here - and our neighbors know that."

"When we go about our daily day and into the community ... there has never been anyone that frowned upon me or my community," said Smith, who has lived in Islamberg for 26 years and raised four children there. "We're American citizens, we follow the American law. I've never been arrested my family members have never been arrested."

Across the room from where they sat, a makeshift buffet-style layout of dishes boasted everything from fruit skewers and cream-cheese filled dates to hummus, crackers and fish. It was almost time for Iftar, one of the religious observances of Ramadan, when community members come together to break their fast.

"I love being American, my children are American, my grandchildren are American - and there's nowhere else for me to go," said Smith. "So the lies: "they would do this and that, and they have this plan and that plan," - where would I go? Where would my children go? We don't have a country.

"This is our country."




"This is who we are. And we're proud about it." Holy Islamberg, as residents refer to it, is the headquarters of the Muslims of America organization, as well as home to about two dozen Muslim families, mostly African-American. Men wear prayer caps while women wear hijab, and everyone, including the children, dresses modestly. Islamberg is the picture of a traditional and tranquil Islamic community - not of immigrants, but of mostly second- or third-generation Americans hailing from cities like New York. …. In a 2002 interview with 60 Minutes, Gilani said that his followers are not anti-American, and that Muslims are better off in America than anywhere else. …. No one in Islamberg seems to take these freedoms for granted, however, given the negative attention foisted upon the community by certain right-wing groups who have claimed over the years that the village is in fact a breeding ground for Islamic extremism and terrorism. …. Barnes told CBS News that he's had a personal relationship with the community of Islamberg for 12 years. "I go back to the numerous time that the state police has been invited to their lands, and again, I don't know any other place where, if something nefarious is occurring that they would willingly invite law enforcement personnel to come in and have lunch with them and interact with them on a frequent basis," said Barnes. …. In a case that underscores how dangerous this atmosphere of suspicion can be, a one-time Congressional candidate from Tennessee, Robert Doggart, faces charges in connection with an alleged plot to attack Islamberg. In wire-tapped phone calls and meetings with FBI informants, Doggart allegedly said that he planned to take an assault rifle, armor-piercing ammunition and other weapons, including a machete, to destroy Islamberg. The criminal affidavit indicates that Doggart allegedly met with members of a private militia in Texas and South Carolina. He is quoted as saying: "If it gets down to the machete, we will cut them to shreds." …. Doggart appeared in court in Chattanooga, Tennessee, for his arraignment on July 13. Members of the Muslims of America, including several residents of Islamberg staged a rally in front of the courthouse, demanding that he be charged with terrorism and hate crimes. …. Several residents of Islamberg expressed frustration at the lack of national attention that Doggart's case has received relative to other domestic terror plots. "In the midst of all of this where is Fox News? Where is CNN? Where are all these major - if sides were turned and this was a Muslim attacking a Christian village --- you know what it would be," said Adams. …. "I love being American, my children are American, my grandchildren are American - and there's nowhere else for me to go," said Smith.”

The article above does not identify these people as Black Muslims, but merely as Muslims. They are, however, at least those who were in the photograph. Black Muslims popped up in the US as a subset of black culture, and became associated at the time with a threat to our lily white country in some cases, and simply as a unified and potentially forceful element of black society. Black Muslims were hired (or invited in?) to a black city housing unit that had become infiltrated by a violent drug group, to “clean out” the neighborhood. Many if not most whites feared them, and so did many ordinary blacks. They didn’t’ condone the drug culture or mugging and robbery as a way of making a living. They were squeaky clean in their morality. The famous boxer Cassius Clay joined their group and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. That was while I was in college at UNC.

Here they have emerged as being feared not for racial hatred as in the ‘70s, but for religious differences. This group of Muslims are receiving threats and hostility from the whites in their area, especially a white political candidate, who came to the attention of the FBI and is in home detention awaiting trial. I am familiar with Black Muslims, and they aren’t of the belief system of ISIS and al-Qaeda, who are trying simply to conquer the West and destroy what I call liberal thinking. Western thinking would free women to live as they will and all religions to exist – at least ideally. We have a radical right group in our country, of course, but otherwise we are a better place for people of any religion or race to live than is the Middle East and much of Africa and Asia. A friend of mine from India spoke of Muslim behavior as “conversion by the sword.” That’s how places like Pakistan came to be Muslim.

Of course the Christian Church did the same thing when whites conquered the Indians in the Western Hemisphere. There’s really nothing about war and cultural abuse that I condone. President Obama and the Pope have been criticized by right-leaning people for apologizing for the actions of the White Supremacists and the murder/near extermination of the American Indian populations. In my opinion those apologies are very much in order, and I wish there were more that we could do to make restitution. Then, of course, the next step would be to welcome the blacks, Asians and Indians into our white society with love and peace. Then we could be proud of ourselves!





http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/07/16/420837531/testing-revolt-in-washington-state-brings-feds-into-uncharted-waters

Testing Revolt In Washington State Brings Feds Into Uncharted Waters
KYLE STOKES
JULY 16, 2015

Photograph -- New Mexico: Dolores Ramos (right), 16, joins dozens of Highland High School students in Albuquerque, N.M., during a walkout to protest a new standardized test.
Russell Contreras/AP

Seattle 11th-grader Elijah Falk added it all up and decided: It made no sense to take the tests.

The Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced exams, Elijah was told, were grueling — but Washington state didn't require this year's juniors to pass them to graduate from high school. In fact, the only thing compelling Elijah to take the tests this past spring was No Child Left Behind, the federal law. And, by federal standards, Elijah's school was all but certain to be labeled "failing" whether he passed the tests or not.

"If there's something you might risk failing but, regardless, you'll learn something or you'll be stronger because of it ... that's great," Elijah said in April as he organized a boycott of the tests at his school. "But if there's not a real benefit to passing or failing, then it's not worth it."

When testing day finally arrived in high schools across Washington, Elijah was one of more than 42,000 11th-graders — roughly half of the state's junior class — who did not show up for their exams. At least 22,000 of them formally refused to test. Many of the rest were AWOL.

Uncharted Territory

Washington, D.C.: Education Secretary Arne Duncan answers questions after speaking about the administration's priorities for education at Seaton Elementary in Washington. Duncan said that testing U.S. schoolchildren annually in math and reading is critical for measuring their educational progress.

Whether it's simply a response to a quirk in the state's graduation requirements or the broader political environment, the dramatic flare-up of anti-testing sentiment has education leaders in the Evergreen State nervous about the possible consequences.

On top of the mandate that schools and districts test their students, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires states to ensure 95 percent of students take the tests. In Washington, so many juniors skipped that the state's overall K-12 testing rate dipped below that threshold, to around 90 percent.

This is likely the first time a state has fallen short, making it hard to know how the feds will respond. But state officials fear the U.S. Department of Education will penalize Washington, perhaps even cutting some of the $1 billion in federal education funding the state receives annually.

And all of this is happening as lawmakers in Congress debate a reauthorization of NCLB. The versions passed by the House and now being finalized in the Senate would remove the law's top-down accountability formula, granting more flexibility to states, but lawmakers want to keep the old testing mandate.

No Empty Threats?

Colorado: Teacher Jen Shafer of Colorado Springs, Colo., waves a placard during a rally against what protesters called "excessive" standardized testing in Colorado schools on the west steps of the Capitol in Denver.

Whatever course Washington chooses, other states will likely be watching. In New York, for instance, anti-testing activists estimate that parents opted at least 193,000 students out of that state's English exams this spring. Districts from New Jersey to Illinois also saw significant numbers of test refusals. Oregon's governor signed a new law making it easier for parents to opt their children out of state exams.

New York: A school bus passes a sign encouraging parents to refuse to let their children take state tests in Rotterdam, N.Y.

All of this action has prompted the U.S. Department of Education to take a tough public stance on the issue. The Oregonian newspaper reported that a federal official warned state lawmakers against passing that opt-out bill, saying it increased "the likelihood that Oregon will not meet its obligations under the law and incur enforcement action." And in April, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told a gathering of education reporters that the feds have "an obligation to step in" when states play fast and loose with the 95 percent participation rule.

Critics of standardized testing have said these are empty threats, uttered to discourage parents from civil disobedience. Still others say there are pragmatic benefits to the federal government adopting a softer stance.

Pennsylvania: Feltonville School of Arts and Sciences teachers, parents and students pose for a portrait in Philadelphia. Nearly 20 percent of students at a Philadelphia middle school won't be taking the state's annual standardized tests after teachers informed parents of the right to opt out of the assessments.

"If these parents are protesting a policy that they feel like they have no control over, set by faraway people on the other coast, coming down like a ton of bricks might not be the best response," said Mike Petrilli, president of the Fordham Institute, a right-leaning education think tank. "I think saying, 'Look, you get a freebie on this one, and we expect everyone to take these tests next year,' is, I think, the best way to go."

But officials in Washington state's education agency say they can't assume the federal government is bluffing. They see potential federal action not as a "threat," said deputy state superintendent Gil Mendoza, but "as a matter of fact, and a matter of federal law."

'Through The Cracks'

Georgia: A Fulton County sheriff's deputy handcuffs former Atlanta Public Schools school research team director Sharon Davis Williams after a jury found her guilty in the Atlanta Public Schools test-cheating trial.

Mendoza says the state has an obligation to prepare districts for the possible financial consequences of opting out. He also warns that the federal government could rescind some flexibility under NCLB's current school improvement procedures — flexibility schools may have been counting on as Washington state transitions to the new, tougher Smarter Balanced exams this year.

Tests are a linchpin in NCLB's scheme for holding schools accountable for student performance. The participation rule itself was baked into the original law to ensure school districts didn't game their test scores by encouraging struggling students to sit out the exams, Petrilli said.

California: Students leave class after taking part in new Common Core-aligned standardized tests at Cuyama Valley High School. While the Common Core education standards provoked political backlash and testing boycotts around the country this year, California, the state that educates more public school children than any other, was conspicuously absent from the debate.

And, ironically, as the NCLB reauthorization push moves through Congress, one of the strongest voices for keeping that linchpin in place has come from Washington state — from U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. While she has called for reducing "redundant and unnecessary" testing, she also has called for continuing to require states to test every student every year.

"If we don't have ways to measure students' progress, and if we don't hold states accountable, the victims will invariably be the kids from poor neighborhoods, children of color and students with disabilities," Murray said in a speech on the Senate floor in January.

"These are the students who, too often, fall through the cracks."




When I first heard about the testing of school kids to achieve a better educational system, it sounded like a good idea, but the business of failing to pass a child who scores in a marginal way on the tests, or to withhold certification from the school systems whose kids don’t score well enough their certification to continue, seems to me to be extreme. Individual students in general down through the years haven’t all passed their grades and have often had to repeat them. I don’t think a whole school should be “failed” though. When the teachers are considered to be teaching badly, they should be dealt with individually, and the kids should be given tutoring as needed or other special attention to improve their grasp of language, math, science and history. Meanwhile, no school board should be allowed to adopt a non-scientific view of biology or an unjust approach to history just to satisfy the “conservatives” of the area. Texas in particular comes to my mind.

This revolt by students comes about because of the fact that the test was believed to be “grueling.” Failing the test would go down on their records, of course, which isn’t good, but it would not cause them to be retained in the 11th grade, so 40 some thousand students simply opted out. “Duncan said that testing U.S. schoolchildren annually in math and reading is critical for measuring their educational progress. Whether it's simply a response to a quirk in the state's graduation requirements or the broader political environment, the dramatic flare-up of anti-testing sentiment has education leaders in the Evergreen State nervous about the possible consequences.”

Personally, I am not sorry to see this rebellion, and I hope that the No Child Left Behind law will be abolished or MODIFIED to make it more reasonable and HELPFUL rather than so challenging that students give up and end up doing worse rather than better. When I was going through I remember taking three or maybe four such tests from grammar school up to the senior high school. We weren’t tested every year, we didn’t study to pass the test, and it was used rather to indicate whether we should take college prep courses or practical ones – business, for instance. We did not fail for the year or fail to graduate from high school, and there was no talk of our school “failing” or being closed as a result of any test. Of course there was a rumor that a certain hulking football player was known to be unable to say is ABCs!! His parents were rich, though, and he graduated on time.

As for students falling through the cracks, there is a great range of basic intelligence among people and particularly in the area of specific skills. Boys used to be thought generally less able to use language skills, while girls were less able to do well in math.

The truth is that individuals vary. So much depends on the home life of a kid. If Mom and Dad praise a girl for helping in the kitchen and exempt her brother from doing the same thing that tends to push her in the direction of a “feminine” turn of mind and she may do more poorly in math. On the other hand in modern times she may totally rebel and go into engineering or law. When I was going through high school very, very few girls would have done that. There was strong societal pressure against it – “Boys don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses.” And as for the lack of academic abilities, lots of boys took a course called “shop” and girls took “home economics.” Most of my graduating class did not go to college right out of high school, partly due to money problems, but they found jobs instead in offices, working as a mechanic, sales of different kinds, and factories. It is a basic problem in our society that there very few factory jobs left now. Above all there was less in the way of the stigma found in my day when kids didn’t do well enough to graduate from High School or get some kind of certificate in a community college to prepare for a job.

The failure of American youths to do as well on standardized tests as those in most other countries, even places like Malaysia, has become a cause for worry. The main reason other than national pride that this is truly a problem is that we don’t have good union backed jobs anymore and people, black, Hispanic and white will endure financial privation. Too many American kids will go through life with food insecurity and living in a home where the parents and grandparents all failed to pass their basic schooling, and as a result simply are not literate. A child coming from a home where there is a very low level of vocabulary and logic is at a disadvantage by the time they get to school. That makes them poor thinkers, poor voters and poor citizens in too many cases, and wears down their basic self-esteem, which can lead to mental illness in many cases. Robbery and selling drugs will become an acceptable way to live, fighting and physical abuse at home will become more common and things like racial/religious violence and hatred will be rampant. I fear that we will lose our democracy as a result and we will all be following somebody’s orders in every phase of life if we aren’t vigilant. Think of China, for instance.