Thursday, July 2, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/07/01/419245511/justice-department-investigating-airlines-for-possible-price-collusion

Justice Department Investigating Airlines For Possible Price Collusion
Brian Naylor
July 1, 2015

The Justice Department says it is investigating "possible unlawful coordination" by several major airline carriers. American, Delta, Southwest and United Airlines have all confirmed receiving letters from the Justice Department.

In a statement, American said the department "seeks documents and information from the last two years that are related to statements and decisions about airline capacity."

A United spokesman said the company is complying fully in regard to the probe.

The story was first reported by The Associated Press, which notes that the investigation "appears to focus on whether airlines illegally signaled to each other how quickly they would add new flights, routes and extra seats."

The airline industry has been steadily consolidating in recent years, with American, Delta, Southwest and United now controlling 80 percent of the U.S. market. At the same time, the AP says, the average domestic airfare rose 13 percent from 2009 to 2014 adjusted for inflation.

And while fares have been going up, so too have fees that carriers charge for things such as checked bags and reservation changes. The AP says airlines collected $3.6 billion in bag fees and $3 billion in reservation-change fees, and that U.S. airlines earned a combined $19.7 billion in the past two years.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., recently wrote to the Justice Department and urged an investigation into airline pricing. The Wall Street Journal reports that:

"Sen. Blumenthal's letter came after an international airline conference last month in Miami, where several executives of large North American airlines said they and their peers were being careful to limit service increases amid cheap fuel to protect profit margins. The letter urged the Justice Department to 'investigate this apparent anti-competitive conduct potentially reflecting a misuse of market power, and excessive consolidation in the airline industry.' "

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, "It's hard to understand, with jet fuel prices dropping by 40 percent since last year, why ticket prices haven't followed. We know that when airlines merge, there's less price competition. What we need now is a top-to-bottom review to ensure consumers aren't being hurt by industry changes."

But the airline industry contends that its members are holding the line on prices.

In a statement, the industry group Airlines For America said it is "confident that the Justice Department will find what we know to be true: our members compete vigorously every day, and the traveling public has been the beneficiary, as the DOT's own data shows that domestic fares are down in 2015."




“The story was first reported by The Associated Press, which notes that the investigation "appears to focus on whether airlines illegally signaled to each other how quickly they would add new flights, routes and extra seats." The airline industry has been steadily consolidating in recent years, with American, Delta, Southwest and United now controlling 80 percent of the U.S. market. At the same time, the AP says, the average domestic airfare rose 13 percent from 2009 to 2014 adjusted for inflation. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., recently wrote to the Justice Department and urged an investigation into airline pricing. The Wall Street Journal reports that: "Sen. Blumenthal's letter came after an international airline conference last month in Miami, where several executives of large North American airlines said they and their peers were being careful to limit service increases amid cheap fuel to protect profit margins. The letter urged the Justice Department to 'investigate this apparent anti-competitive conduct potentially reflecting a misuse of market power, and excessive consolidation in the airline industry.' "Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement, "It's hard to understand, with jet fuel prices dropping by 40 percent since last year, why ticket prices haven't followed. We know that when airlines merge, there's less price competition. What we need now is a top-to-bottom review to ensure consumers aren't being hurt by industry changes."

I don’t fly anymore, but I have been hearing stories about price increases for a number of years now. When I took Econ 101, the book said that the bigger the company the lower it could allow its prices to go due to “economies of scale.” In other words it can save on expenses thus becoming more efficient due to its size. So why aren’t they lowering prices? Also, how does the Sherman Antitrust Act fit in here? I’m glad to see Sen. Blumenthal is looking into the matter, and hopefully the Congressional committee will bring some charges. If I see more articles on this I’ll post them.






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

Federal Judge Orders Alabama Judges To Issue Marriage Licenses To Same-Sex Couples, Period.

After Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore tried to derail same-sex marriage this week, a federal judge has stepped in to ensure the Supreme Court's ruling is respected.
By DAVID BADASH
July 01, 2015

Despite Chief Justice Roy Moore's best efforts to sow confusion and fear into same-sex couples and probate judges, same-sex couples will be marrying in the state of Alabama. Federal Judge Callie Granade, who several times now has struck down that state's ban on same-sex marriage, today has issued an order to Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and all defendants mandating they issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

On Monday, Justice Moore announced that the Supreme Court's ruling was not in effect, and said that probate judges could not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Hours later, he backed down, claimed he misspoke, and said they "may," but were not legally obligated to do so, creating mass confusion and frustration – and opportunity for those who do not wish to support equality.

"It's against my religion to marry homosexuals," Geneva County Probate Judge Fred Hamic told NBC News, which adds that Hamic "said Alabama law says marriage licenses 'may be issued' by probate judges, and he has chosen to decline to do so."

Today's ruling certainly seems to fully override Moore's directives.

Before the ruling, there were at least several judges and counties who refused to issue licenses. In fact, after today's ruling, according to AL.com, "at least four counties are holding out. Probate offices in Elmore County, Tuscaloosa County, and Escambia County are not issuing the same-sex marriage licenses. And, the Randolph County probate office is not issuing any marriage licenses."

At least two others, the National Center for Lesbian Rights reports, are also not issuing licenses.

Those refusing to issue licenses are citing Justice Moore's false claim that the Supreme Court ruling is not in effect, despite his later statements.




“Federal Judge Callie Granade, who several times now has struck down that state's ban on same-sex marriage, today has issued an order to Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and all defendants mandating they issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. On Monday, Justice Moore announced that the Supreme Court's rul-ing was not in effect, and said that probate judges could not issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Hours later, he backed down, claimed he misspoke, and said they "may," but were not legally obligated to do so, creating mass confusion and frustration – and opportunity for those who do not wish to support equality. …. Those refusing to issue licenses are citing Justice Moore's false claim that the Su-preme Court ruling is not in effect, despite his later statements.”

I wonder what the penalty for the failure to follow a Supreme Court ruling is, and how punishments are meted out? I remember when Pres. Eisenhower sent in troops to counter the Arkansas National Guard over school desegregation. I hope present and future presidents will have the seriousness of purpose and the moral courage to to that again. See the following article: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0925.html.


President Sends Troops to Little Rock, Federalizes Arkansas National Guard; Tells Nation He Acted to Avoid An Anarchy

Eisenhower on Air
Says School Defiance Has Gravely Harmed Prestige of U.S.
President Warns of Anarchy Peril
By ANTHONY LEWIS

Special to The New York Times

Washington, Sept. 24--President Eisenhower sent Federal troops to Little Rock, Ark., today to open the way for the admission of nine Negro pupils to Central High School.

Earlier, the President federalized the Arkansas National Guard and authorized calling the Guard and regular Federal forces to remove obstructions to justice in Little Rock school integration.

His history-making action was based on a formal finding that his "cease and desist" proclamation, issued last night, had not been obeyed. Mobs of pro-segregationists still gathered in the vicinity of Central High School this morning.

Tonight, from the White House, President Eisenhower told the nation in a speech for radio and television that he had acted to prevent "mob rule" and "anarchy."

Historic Decision

The President's decision to send troops to Little Rock was reached at his vacation headquarters in Newport, R.I. It was one of historic importance politically, socially, constitutionally. For the first time since the Reconstruction days that followed the Civil War, the Federal Government was using its ultimate power to compel equal treatment of the Negro in the South.

He said violent defiance of Federal Court orders in Little Rock had done grave harm to "the prestige and influence, and indeed to the safety, of our nation and the world." He called on the people of Arkansas and the South to "preserve and respect the law even when they disagree with it."

Guardsmen Withdrawn

Action quickly followed the President's orders. During the day and night 1,000 members of the 101st Airborne Division were flown to Little Rock. Charles E. Wilson, Secretary of the Defense, ordered into Federal service all 10,000 members of the Arkansas National Guard.

Today's events were the climax of three weeks of skirmishing between the Federal Government and Gov. Orval E. Faubus of Arkansas. It was three weeks ago this morning that the Governor first ordered National Guard troops to Central High School to preserve order. The nine Negro students were prevented from entering the school.

The Guardsmen were gone yesterday, withdrawn by Governor Faubus as the result of a Federal Court order. But a shrieking mob compelled the nine children to withdraw from the school.

President Eisenhower yesterday cleared the way for full use of his powers with a proclamation commanding the mob in Little Rock to "disperse."

At 12:22 P.M. today in Newport the President signed a second proclamation. It said first that yesterday's command had "not been obeyed and willful obstruction of said court orders exists and threatens to continue."

The proclamation then directed Charles E. Wilson, Secretary of Defense, to take all necessary steps to enforce the court orders for admission of the Negro children, including the call of any or all Arkansas Guardsmen under Federal command and the use of the armed forces of the United States.

Later in the afternoon the President flew from Newport to Washington, arriving at the National Airport at 4:50 o'clock.

He began his broadcast speech with this explanation of the flight:

"I could have spoken from Rhode Island, but I felt that in speaking from the house of Lincoln, of Jackson and of Wilson, my words would more clearly convey both the sadness I feel in the action I was compelled to take and the firmness with which I intend to pursue this course. * * *"

It was a firm address, with some language unusually strong for President Eisenhower.

President Traces Dispute

"Under the leadership of demagogic extremists," the President said, "disorderly mobs have deliberately prevented the carrying out of proper orders from a Federal court. Local authorities have not eliminated that violent opposition."

******

"Certain misguided persons, many of them imported into Little Rock by agitators, have insisted upon defying the law and have sought to bring it into disrepute. The orders of the court have thus been frustrated."

The reference to "imported" members of the mob was seen as a sign that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had information, obtained through agents in Little Rock, on the organization of yesterday's violence.

The President tried to make it plain that he had not sought the use of Federal power in Little Rock, nor welcomed it. Rather he suggested that as Chief Executive he had no choice.

*****

At either side on the wall on either side of him as he spoke hung portraits of the four leaders whom the President had stated he regards as the greatest American heroes--Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee.

But in his thirteen-minute address tonight, General Eisenhower mentioned only Lincoln.”





http://thefreethoughtproject.com/disabled-iraq-war-veteran-facing-life-prison-1-ounce-marijuana/

Disabled Iraq War Veteran Facing Life in Prison for Less than 1 Ounce of Marijuana
By Matt Agorist on July 1, 2015


Geronimo, OK — After serving three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Kristoffer Lewandowski was medically and honorably discharged from the Marine Corps.

He is now a 100% disabled veteran because of the severity of his PTSD. Since he has gotten out, the VA had him taking up to 13 pills a day to treat his PTSD. The pharmaceutical treatment was killing him.

Early clinical research shows that medical marijuana is highly effective for treating PTSD, and it does not have the dangerous side effects of SSRIs.

After realizing that the meds were killing his liver, Lewandowski decided that it would be a good idea try marijuana as a treatment. He began growing 6 plants for his personal use.

In June of 2014, Lewandowski had a PTSD episode. His wife grabbed the kids and took them to the neighbors house where she called the police to get her husband some help.

However, as is the case in so many countless other incidents, police did anything but help.

After police showed up, they searched the Lewandowski’s home and found 6 tiny marijuana plants. Police then weighed all of the plant matter together and it did not total to a single ounce. However, because of Oklahoma’s draconian laws against growing a plant, Lewandowski was charged with felony marijuana cultivation.

Felony marijuana cultivation in Oklahoma carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

According to Whitney Lewandowski, Kristoffer’s wife, the police also pulled up their tomato plants and included them in the photo for the media.

“[Police] made it look like he had this huge grow [operation] going,” Whitney said in an interview with Truth in Media




“He is now a 100% disabled veteran because of the severity of his PTSD. Since he has gotten out, the VA had him taking up to 13 pills a day to treat his PTSD. The pharmaceutical treatment was killing him. Early clinical research shows that medical marijuana is highly effective for treating PTSD, and it does not have the dangerous side effects of SSRIs. …. After police showed up, they searched the Lewandowski’s home and found 6 tiny marijuana plants. Police then weighed all of the plant matter together and it did not total to a single ounce. However, because of Oklahoma’s draconian laws against growing a plant, Lewandowski was charged with felony marijuana cultivation. …. According to Whitney Lewandowski, Kristoffer’s wife, the police also pulled up their tomato plants and included them in the photo for the media. “[Police] made it look like he had this huge grow [operation] going,” Whitney said in an interview with Truth in Media. …. He is now a 100% disabled veteran because of the severity of his PTSD. Since he has gotten out, the VA had him taking up to 13 pills a day to treat his PTSD. The pharmaceutical treatment was killing him. Early clinical research shows that medical marijuana is highly effective for treating PTSD, and it does not have the dangerous side effects of SSRIs.”

I do hope the court will drop the charges or modify them at least to fit the true extent of the “grow operation.” One of my housemates in a group house, when he moved, had his belongings in the living room waiting to be loaded into the truck. Three very cute marijuana plants were there among his things. I wonder what the laws in Virginia on a “grow operation” are? This is one of those cases of overkill in the “war on drugs” that can end in extreme charges, but life in prison? Poor man. He has a legitimate need for the “herb.” PTSD is a dangerous condition, to the sufferer and to those around him. We need a uniform set of laws across the country about medical marijuana, especially since it is being legalized and prescribed by doctors in many places now. In addition to the issue about growing it at home, there is here another case of the police being called in to “help” a person who is having a psychotic issue with the result that he is arrested instead of hospitalized, or as in the case of a man a month or so ago who was shot by police. One of the problems with police nationwide is that they are poorly trained – if they are trained at all – in helping a mentally ill person. I suppose what I would do is call an ambulance instead of the police.





http://rt.com/usa/270988-google-labels-blacks-gorillas/

Google apologizes after photo software tags black people as 'gorillas'
July 01, 2015

Google has apologized after its new Photos app classified two black friends as 'gorillas’, placing their photos in a special album. The tech giant has since removed the tag from the program, saying it is "genuinely sorry” for the mistake.

The cringeworthy mishap began when New Yorker Jacky Alcine was going through his pictures. Noticing an album titled 'Gorillas,' he clicked on it. But when he opened it, he didn't find any primates. Instead, he saw images of himself and a friend.

He immediately took to Twitter, telling the tech giant: “Google Photos, y'all f****d up. My friend's not a gorilla.” He added that it was only photos with that particular friend that were ending up in the album. Alcine also asked the tech company: "What kind of sample image data you collected that would result in this son?"

Yonatan Zunger ‏@yonatanzunger Jun 28
@jackyalcine Can we have your permission to examine the data in your account in order to figure out how this happened?

diri noir avec banan ‏@jackyalcine Jun 28
Like I understand HOW this happens; the problem is moreso on the WHY.

This is how you determine someone's target market.




This is very embarrassing for Google, causing the impression that somebody at Google may have caused it to happen purposely. The comparisons often made by racists between blacks and apes leap to mind involuntarily. For a computer to make this mistake, though, is hard to explain. Was the computer set to make a visual comparison of a number of photos, and how was the heading “gorillas” inserted into the categories? I wonder if the computer program chose the heading “gorillas,” or if a malicious human with a vile sense of humor did it. Google has apologized, but they didn’t explain how it happened, or if one of their workers is implicated. I would like to see a follow-up article.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/doane-pag-asa-south-china-sea-chinese-territorial-expansion-subi-reef/

CBS News tries to explore China's secret islands
CBS NEWS
July 2, 2015

Play VIDEO -- U.S. concerned over China's new artificial islands
Play VIDEO -- Rare look at China's artificial island-building project

PAG-ASA -- CBS News correspondent Seth Doane began his journey to the South China Sea in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. There are no commercial flights to the island of Pag-Asa, where they were headed, so they hired a small plane to get there.

From the air, they started to appreciate how scattered the territorial claims are. Below, different features, including shoals, reefs and atolls, are claimed by different countries ranging from the Philippines and China, to Malaysia and Vietnam.

They landed on Pag-Asa, an island inhabited by Filipinos defiantly staking claim to the territory that China insists it owns.

Seth met Eugenio Bito-Onon Junior, the mayor of Pag-Asa. Not many mayors of 100 or so people are on the front lines of an international dispute like this.


"We are local- a municipality, but the concerns are international," Mayor Bito-Onon told CBS News.

He called living on the island an "exercise in sovereignty," and said each home, each citizen, each birth or marriage on Pag-Asa helps his country stake its claim on the land.

Pag-Asa is just 13 miles from one of the islands the Chinese have been expanding.

"Before, tension was not so heightened," said Bito-Onon, "but just lately in the past three years it has become more heightened." He said the Chinese have escalated their "bullying" and "harassment" of the islanders.

The mayor told Doane stories of Chinese warships passing not far from their shores.

The CBS News team wanted to get out onto the water to investigate for themselves, but bad weather and high seas kept them on land much longer than expected. Finally, five days later, the weather cleared.

Doane and his team hired local fishermen to ferry them out to the reef on their boat. It wasn't easy to convince the fishermen to take them toward Subi Reef -- the Chinese island. They worried about being detained by the Chinese.

Doane and his team were also worried about the sea-worthiness of the fishing boats --which generally ferry more grouper or squid than foreign journalists.

They headed out through the rough waters until they saw the Chinese island emerge on the horizon. Subi Reef has been inhabited by the Chinese since 1988, but in July 2014 it started undergoing a massive expansion.


As their boat drew closer, a warning signal appeared in the distance - beacon lights. Their captain started to get nervous as several more warning signals were flashed at them and decided it was time to get out of there. The team took what pictures they could through the haze, and turned back to safer shores.

Later, boat captain Romulo Barcoma told Doane he thought getting close to the Chinese island was dangerous. He said he was worried about his passengers' safety as well as his own, and wanted to get back to Pag-Asa.

From the shores of Pag-Asa at night, the dark horizon turns brighter, as neighboring Subi Reef grows bigger.

The islands sprouting up around him are "bigger than what God has made in this place naturally," quipped Mayor Bito-Onon.

Satellite images appear to show enough space on Subi Reef for an airstrip, and it is believed that ultimately the island will have one on it.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-navy-alarmed-at-beijings-great-wall-of-sand-in-south-china-sea/2015/04/01/dda11d76-70d7-4b69-bd87-292bd18f5918_story.html

U.S. Navy alarmed at Beijing’s ‘Great Wall of sand’ in South China Sea
By Simon Denyer
April 1, 2015

Photograph -- A 2014 photo taken by surveillance planes shows a Chinese vessel being used to expand structures and land on the Johnson Reef at the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. (Associated Press)


BEIJING — China is building a “Great Wall of sand” through an unparalleled program of land reclamation in the South China Sea, raising concerns about the possibility of military confrontation in the disputed waters, according to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

In one of the strongest and highest-level criticisms of the reclamation project to date, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. told a naval conference in Australia late Tuesday that competing territorial claims by several nations in the South China Sea continue to stoke “regional tensions and the potential for miscalculation.”

“But what’s really drawing a lot of concern in the here and now is the unprecedented land reclamation currently being conducted by China,” he added.


Satellite images show rapid construction on various coral reefs and rocks controlled by China within the disputed Spratly Islands, including harbors, piers, helipads, buildings and potentially at least one airstrip, experts say. Last month, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki expressed concerns that the program was an attempt to “militarize outposts on disputed land features.”

Harris said that China has created 1.5 square miles of artificial landmass in recent months.

“China is building artificial land by pumping sand onto live coral reefs — some of them submerged — and paving them over with concrete,” he said. In a region known for its beautiful natural islands, he said, “China is creating a Great Wall of sand with dredges and bulldozers over the course of months.”

China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its territorial waters, but its claims overlap with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the country was merely carrying out “necessary construction on its own islands and reefs” and that it would continue to uphold freedom of navigation in the busy shipping waters of the South China Sea, as well as resolve disputes through “direct dialogue” and consultation.

“The construction does not target or affect anyone,” he said at a news conference. “We do not accept criticism from others when we are merely building facilities in our own yard. We have every right to do things that are lawful and justified.”

State news agency Xinhua was more forthright in rejecting U.S. criticisms last month, accusing Washington of displaying a “perverted sense of insecurity” and a “pirate-style mindset.”

While China’s attention was focused elsewhere in previous decades, the other major claimants to the Spratly Islands occupied various islands and rocks throughout the archipelago, building ports, piers, bases and airstrips there. China now appears to be rushing to underline its own claims.

“This history matters a great deal, because what Washington and its friends and allies may see as punctuated, lightning-speed construction is likely viewed in China as a perfectly legitimate game of catch-up,” Mira Rapp-Hooper, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative and a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), wrote in a recent report.

“What sets China’s activities apart, however, is that Beijing has been dramatically changing the size and structure of existing physical land features, while other claimants have built upon or modified existing land masses,” she wrote in a related report.

The only major claimant without an airstrip in the archipelago, China appears to be turning the hitherto largely submerged Fiery Cross Reef into the largest island in the Spratly Islands, experts said.

Yanmei Xie, senior China analyst with the International Crisis Group in Beijing, said the island reclamation project was a deliberate strategic decision.

“Although China’s exact intention is unclear so far, they are likely mainly designed to extend China’s power projection, by expanding, for example, its surveillance, early warning and air interception capabilities further out into the sea,” she said. “With these added capabilities, China could have a de facto ‘air defense identification zone’ in the South China Sea, even though it may not rush to declare one out of concern for the political and diplomatic fallout.”

....

CBS -- “Below, different features, including shoals, reefs and atolls, are claimed by different countries ranging from the Philippines and China, to Malaysia and Vietnam. They landed on Pag-Asa, an island inhabited by Filipinos defiantly staking claim to the territory that China insists it owns. …. Pag-Asa is just 13 miles from one of the islands the Chinese have been expanding. "Before, tension was not so heightened," said Bito-Onon, "but just lately in the past three years it has become more heightened." He said the Chinese have escalated their "bullying" and "harassment" of the islanders. …. They headed out through the rough waters until they saw the Chinese island emerge on the horizon. Subi Reef has been inhabited by the Chinese since 1988, but in July 2014 it started undergoing a massive expansion.
As their boat drew closer, a warning signal appeared in the distance - beacon lights. Their captain started to get nervous as several more warning signals were flashed at them and decided it was time to get out of there. The team took what pictures they could through the haze, and turned back to safer shores.”

WASHINGTON POST -- “China is building artificial land by pumping sand onto live coral reefs — some of them submerged — and paving them over with concrete,” he said. In a region known for its beautiful natural islands, he said, “China is creating a Great Wall of sand with dredges and bulldozers over the course of months.” China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its territorial waters, but its claims overlap with those of Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the country was merely carrying out “necessary construction on its own islands and reefs” and that it would continue to uphold freedom of navigation in the busy shipping waters of the South China Sea, as well as resolve disputes through “direct dialogue” and consultation. “The construction does not target or affect anyone,” he said at a news conference. “We do not accept criticism from others when we are merely building facilities in our own yard. We have every right to do things that are lawful and justified.”

The Washington Post article goes on for a number of paragraphs to explain the concern in Washington that China is trying to extend its military capabilities for attack or surveillance, and the other local nations distrust China’s respect of their sovereignty. China has not been in the news for actually attacking one of its neighbors but there was hostile competition between it and South Korea earlier this year, and a Pag-Asa official accused it of “bullying and harassment.” China, on the other hand claims it is just minding its own business. Hopefully no actual acts of war will erupt over these newly built islands. Environmentalists are probably concerned over the whole practice of dumping miles of sand on top of a good living coral reef, as they are one of the centers of wildlife in the sea, comparable to rain forests on land. I do hate to see any natural structure such as these ruined as an active, living part of the ecology, thus limiting the life forms that serve as food for larger fish. Humans should remember that we are dependent on the ocean for food, too, so the healthier we can keep it, the better for us all.





http://www.npr.org/2015/07/02/419162376/georgia-leads-a-push-to-help-ex-prisoners-get-jobs

Georgia Leads A Push To Help Ex-Prisoners Get Jobs
SUSANNA CAPELOUTO
JULY 02, 2015


In the 1990s, states went on a prison-building binge. Today, millions who spent time in those prisons are back in society — and many are struggling to find work.

Jay Neal is in charge of Georgia's new office of re-entry. Its purpose is clear: "Helping Georgia's returning citizens find training, assisting Georgia's returning citizens find jobs," he reads off the website.

Returning citizens is America's new term for ex-prisoners, ex-cons and former inmates.

Six-hundred thousand of these citizens return to society each year, including 20,000 in Georgia, which has the country's fifth-largest prison system.

"We think it's important that we change the conversation," Neal says. "We're committed to using that dialogue throughout."

Last year, Georgia spent $17 million and got $6 million in federal grants to help reduce the rate of recidivism. The state has three years to show results. Already, there's skills training in prison, more caseworkers in six counties and more help once a prisoner is released.

Last week, the White House announced another $59 million in grants to support job training for ex-offenders.

We've gotta be able to provide meaningful employment for them. That doesn't happen without businesses that are willing to give them jobs.

It's a complex undertaking, Neal says, and government can't do it all.

About 20 men with prison records and a willingness to work are gearing up for a character class at Georgia Works. It's a nonprofit in downtown Atlanta where they live for at least six months to become employable.

Harold Ball has been here since December after spending two years locked up for possession of cocaine. Now he has a part-time job at a recycling plant and is happy about it.

"It works," he says. "I need the structure, I need the job. Where I'm at now ... I said, 'Look, I want a permanent job.' " His boss told him that if he worked for two months, he could get the job.

Chris Watkins, a hiring manager for a landscaping company, has made it a mission to treat ex-prisoners the same as anyone else during job interviews — except that he asks about their record.

"I really don't judge on the crime," he says. "I want to see a level of accountability, personal accountability, because I know that if they're accountable for their actions in the past, that I can count on that when they come to the workforce — honesty, people with the ability to look me in the eye."

Watkins says those he hires are very loyal. But he is not willing to name his company because of a stigma that persists against ex-felons, he says.

There are many companies like his that quietly hire ex-prisoners, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. And there are employers like Johns Hopkins University and Butterball Farms that are very public about hiring people with a criminal record.

U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez says businesses are moving in the right direction, but there are barriers.

"I've spoken with employers who've said, 'Well, I'm willing to take a risk, but this person had a conviction for theft. What happens if something doesn't work out?' Well, guess what? We have a tool in our toolbox for that. It's called a surety bond," Perez says.

He is referring to the free insurance on an ex-inmate they hire. Companies can also get a $2,400 federal tax credit.

In Georgia, Jay Neal thinks it won't be hard to persuade more businesses to take some risk, because here, one in 13 adults is under some kind of state supervision.

"Just about everybody knows somebody who's been in the prison system and knows enough about them to know that they're not a real threat — that they need help more than they need to be locked away," he says.

And that they're no longer ex-offenders, but returning citizens.




“Jay Neal is in charge of Georgia's new office of re-entry. Its purpose is clear: "Helping Georgia's returning citizens find training, assisting Georgia's returning citizens find jobs," he reads off the website. Returning citizens is America's new term for ex-prisoners, ex-cons and former inmates. …. Last year, Georgia spent $17 million and got $6 million in federal grants to help reduce the rate of recidivism. The state has three years to show results. Already, there's skills training in prison, more caseworkers in six counties and more help once a prisoner is released. Last week, the White House announced another $59 million in grants to support job training for ex-offenders. We've gotta be able to provide meaningful employment for them. That doesn't happen without businesses that are willing to give them jobs. It's a complex undertaking, Neal says, and government can't do it all.…. "I really don't judge on the crime," he says. "I want to see a level of accountability, personal accountability, because I know that if they're accountable for their actions in the past, that I can count on that when they come to the workforce — honesty, people with the ability to look me in the eye." Watkins says those he hires are very loyal. But he is not willing to name his company because of a stigma that persists against ex-felons, he says. …. "I've spoken with employers who've said, 'Well, I'm willing to take a risk, but this person had a conviction for theft. What happens if something doesn't work out?' Well, guess what? We have a tool in our toolbox for that. It's called a surety bond," Perez says. He is referring to the free insurance on an ex-inmate they hire. Companies can also get a $2,400 federal tax credit.”

“In Georgia, Jay Neal thinks it won't be hard to persuade more businesses to take some risk, because here, one in 13 adults is under some kind of state supervision.” Does this really mean that one in 13 Georgia adults are ex-offenders? That really sounds like a lot. See the website below for more GA statistics on Georgia’s criminal justice reform plan. Georgia has an impressive plan to improve their criminal justice system, it seems to me. I looked to find out Neal’s political persuasion and he is a Republican. He was formerly a GA Representative and was appointed by the governor to head the Office of Transition, Support and Re-entry. I don’t know if FL even has such an office. I do know that the state of FL does not allow felons to vote until they not only serve all their time but write a letter to the state specifically requesting to be reinstated as a voter.

Read the following article below on the program to return prisoners to GA society. It isn’t very long, and it relates closely with the successes against recidivism in the above news article. One of the most interesting things to me is the statement “Criminal law should be reserved for conduct that is either blameworthy or threatens public safety, not wielded to grow government and undermine economic freedom.1”

You may remember that the Ferguson MO police and courts were accused by residents in one of the news articles of arresting or heavily fining (poor, black) people for minor offenses, a practice which does actually cause a very poor person real financial hardship, and the purpose of that practice is to bring in funds to the city government coffers. Also within the last year, a town named Waldo in FL recently had its police department actually disbanded for purposely trapping speeders and others to make money for the town. There was a quota system there – every officer was required to bring in a certain number of tickets a day, so it isn’t surprising that for no good reason at all, citizens and those traveling through Waldo were receiving tickets. That is so corrupt and heartless that it shocks me, though the deep South is known for corrupt police departments.

http://georgiapolicy.org/ftp_files/GTI/Criminal%20Justice%20Reform.pdf. --

“As with any government program, the criminal justice system must be transparent and include performance measures that hold it accountable for its results in protecting the public, lowering crime rates, reducing re-offending, collecting victim restitution and conserving taxpayers’ money. • An ideal criminal justice system works to reform amenable offenders who will return to society through harnessing the power of families, charities, faith-based groups, and communities. • Criminal law should be reserved for conduct that is either blameworthy or threatens public safety, not wielded to grow government and undermine economic freedom.1
….Findings from Georgia's 2011 Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform:
• One in every 13 adults under criminal justice supervision, the highest rate in the country.
• One in every 70 adults under incarceration, the fourth highest percentage in the country. …. 24 percent of incarcerated youths in 2011 were sentenced for status offenses or misdemeanors.
(Status offenders are youths who commit actions that would not be crimes if they were adults, for
instance, school truancy.)
• Many areas of the state have limited or no community-based program services for youths.
• Risk and needs assessment tools were not being used effectively to inform decision-making.
• A complex patchwork of juvenile courts in 159 counties made uniform data collection impossible

Recommendations:
• Reconsider professional licensing barriers to allow any qualified former offender to compete for a
career on an equal but not more preferential footing than any other candidate.
• Provide better legal protections to employers who hire paroled former offenders, as in Texas and
as suggested by the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform.
• Expand digital learning opportunities to more juvenile offenders.”