Monday, August 10, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-growing-demand-for-fair-food/

The growing demand for "fair food"
CBS NEWS
August 9, 2015

Play VIDEO -- 1960: "Harvest of Shame"

At what cost to farm workers do we enjoy our fruits and vegetables? Are we willing to pay a little more at the checkout counter to better their lot? It's a question that's been on the national agenda for over half a century now, as Mark Strassmann reports in our Cover Story:

In 1960, CBS News broadcast "Harvest of Shame," Edward R. Murrow's groundbreaking documentary, which exposed the conditions on farms in rural Florida, North Carolina and New Jersey:

"They are the migrants, workers in the sweat shops of the soil."
Millions of Americans saw, for the first time, third-world squalor in America.

As Murrow reported, "One farmer looked at this and said, 'We used to own our slaves. Now we just rent them.'"

Americans were so horrified, Congress passed new labor laws. But little changed. America's farms kept producing harvests of shame, as Dan Rather reported from Florida in 1995.

"These are still the forgotten people. Conditions for them are still awful," he said.

There are still about a million migrant farm workers in the U.S. The population of towns like Immokalee, Fla., swells every winter when migrants and their families move here looking for work.

"There's a lot of mistreatment going on," said Gerardo Reyes. "A lot of intimidation from the bosses."

Reyes, a native of Mexico, came to Immokalee to pick crops in 1999. Farms in Florida grow 90 percent of the tomatoes we eat in the winter.

Pickers move from farm to farm and crop to crop with the seasons. But according to Reyes, tomatoes were the worst. "Tomatoes is where most of the worst conditions are happening, or were happening," he told Strassmann.

"Harvest of Shame" 50 years later ("CBS Evening News," 11/24/10)
Illegal immigration crackdown impacts harvests ("CBS Evening News," 07/01/11)
Pictures chronicle poverty "in our own backyard" ("CBS Evening News," 03/19/12)
Farm labor: Children in the fields ("60 Minutes," 05/22/11)
GOP Congressman: "Let the prisoners pick the fruits" (03/31/06)

Labor activist Greg Asbed came to Immokolee in 1993. "When we were first here, it was a very brutal community," he said. "There were wage thefts, sexual harassment, violence. I mean, you would come out here on Friday in the evening for payday. People would get their checks right outside the office. And it was not uncommon to see somebody get beaten up by a boss, and their crime would usually be because they thought they got underpaid."

Asbed co-founded the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Its mission? Force fairness and workers rights onto Florida's fields.

Migrant farm workers - long the victims of exploitation - are finding new partners in their struggle for a living wage. CBS NEWS

For seven years, the CIW tried marches and strikes. But tomato farmers refused to talk to them.

And then they changed tactics. "Yes, because you beat your head against the wall long enough and you decide that that hurts," Asbed laughed. "And you want to find another way to get around the wall. And if there is a way to get around it, you do."

In 2000, the CIW began pressuring the top of the tomato chain -- fast food and grocery chains, the buyers with clout. In 2005, Taco Bell became the first big buyer to sign on to CIW's Fair Food Program. Buyers agree to pay an extra penny per pound for tomatoes -- money that goes to workers. And buyers only do business with participating Florida farmers.

More than a dozen restaurant chains and retailers have signed on, including McDonalds, Chipotle, Trader Joes, and last year Wal-Mart, which sells 20 percent of America's tomatoes. Wal-Mart's joining was featured in the 2014 documentary, "Food Chains."

"We believe that by signing up to the Fair Foods Program, that we can have a major impact on the sustainability and the viability of the whole supply chain," said Wal-Mart Senior VP Tom Leech.

Strassmann asked, "When Wal-Mart, known as a tough labor negotiator, signed on, did that give you a whole new level of credibility and influence?"

"It helped send the message to the industry that this program is not going away, that it's only getting stronger," said Asbed.

Florida tomato growers got that message. Ninety percent of Florida's tomatoes are now grown on "fair food" farms.

Farmer Jon Esformes signed on first. "It was the right thing to do, quite frankly," he said. "I was asked when we first signed, 'Why are you doing this now?' And I said, 'Because I didn't do it 10 years ago.'"

"How long ago should it have happened?" asked Strassmann.

"It should have happened 150 years ago."

The Esformes family owns Pacific Tomato, which employs 1,500 people around Immokolee.

"There was no question in my mind that bad things were happening in agriculture and on farms, not just my own, but farms across the country -- things that I did not know about and had no mechanism to find out about," said Esformes. "This gave me the tool."

That tool is the Fair Food Standards Council, an independent group that inspects participating farmers and holds them accountable.

Along with the penny premium, growers must have zero tolerance for forced labor, child labor, and sexual harassment. Other standards, such as mandated shade and mandatory worker training, go beyond what is legally required.

"We are enforcement-obsessed," said Laura Safer Espinoza, a retired New York State Supreme Court Justice, who heads up the Fair Food Standards Council.

"We have, over four seasons, virtually eliminated the worst actors who were responsible for any kind of abuses of that type."

But challenges remain. Only a few supermarket chains have signed on to the program. For instance, Florida's largest, Publix, has not. In a statement, the company says it's not their place to get involved in the labor disputes of its suppliers:

"We expect our suppliers to follow the laws established to protect and promote a safe and healthful workplace for their employees," the company said. "We believe all parties would be better served if appropriate wages were paid by growers to their workers, and we were charged accordingly."

But the CIW hopes that socially-conscious consumers will look for the new logo (left). Some Whole Foods stores now display them, with Wal-Mart and others soon joining.

"As a consumer, whether you're a consumer that buys for his or her family or you're a consumer who buys millions of pounds of tomatoes every year, like the supermarkets, you have a choice to make," said Asbed.

So far, that choice has generated almost $20 million for workers on participating farms.

To a typical Florida tomato picker, it means an extra $60 to $80 a week. But nationally, more than half of all farm workers make less than $20,000 a year, and a quarter live below the federal poverty line.

According to Matt Rogers, a Whole Foods produce coordinator, "A relatively small impact on cost can have a really large impact on the people who are doing this work on the farms. One of the big conversations right now with the folks who started the Fair Food Program is, 'What's next?' They've done an excellent job on tomatoes in Florida, and it's a great model. It shows great potential. So now, what's next?"

The program is expanding, slowly. This summer Fair Food auditors began visiting farms in five more states, and in November they will begin visiting the fields of another big Florida export: bell peppers.

Fifty-five years after "Harvest of Shame," Gerardo Reyes sees something new growing in these fields.

"It's a completely different world," he said. "When you think about agriculture and the way in which all of the abusive conditions happen in every crop, basically, when you see how this is working and why it is working, yeah, it gives us a lot of hope."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Food_Program

Fair Food Program
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Fair Food Program (FPP) is a legally binding agreement between the Florida Tomato Growers and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW).[1] It aims to provide Florida’s tomato workers with better wages and working conditions. The program has a list of six elements in order to ensure social responsibility and to create a strong partnership between workers, growers and buyers. The Fair Foods Standards Council (FFSC) oversees the program and ensures that standards are upheld.[2] Big companies, including Taco Bell and Walmart have pledged to pay a penny more per pound of tomatoes and buy only from growers who comply with the program.[3]

Background[edit]

In 2005, after the CIW boycotted Taco Bell for almost four years, the company agreed to pay a “penny more per pound.” Taco Bell also encouraged their partner company, Yum Brands to sign on as well. College campuses were a major impetus for this agreement; twenty-two colleges banned Taco Bell from operating.[8] The CIW then targeted McDonald’s and employed different pressuring techniques for two years, including boycotting McDonald’s and protesting their headquarters. In 2007, McDonald's signed an agreement to pay 40 to 45 cents for each 32-pound bucket.[9]

Despite this success, in 2007, the Florida Tomato Growers, which is the state’s largest tomato producer, slowed down the CIW’s progress. They threatened farms with $100,000 worth of fines if they worked with the CIW. In 2010, Pacific Tomato Growers and Lipman, two of the nation’s largest producers, signed on to the program. Soon after, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange signed onto the Fair Food Program, which began a widespread implementation of the model.[10]

In 2012, Chipotle reached an agreement with the CIW to join the Fair Food Program. This made Chipotle the 11th company to sign onto the campaign. Chipotle had been facilitating discussions with the CIW since 2009 but talks broke down because Chipotle was worried that this program would hurt the quality of their tomato supply. The company joined a few days after the CIW picketed their Denver headquarters three years later.[11]

Walmart joined the Fair Food Program on January 16, 2014 without a fight. Since Walmart has great market strength, this is a huge achievement for the program.[12] The company sells 20% of the United States’ fresh tomatoes.[13] Walmart additionally agreed to help the CIW expand outside of Florida and expand into other crops. The company wants to help improve the wages for workers in the long-term.[14]

List of Rights[edit]

The Fair Food Program has six major components.
1.Buyers must agree to pay a “penny more per pound” of tomatoes.
2.Farms will implement the “Code of Conduct” which forbids forced labor and sexual violence.
3.The CIW will run education sessions that teach workers about their rights on the farm.
4.There will be a worker-triggered complaint resolution mechanism so that farm workers can report violations, including a 24-hour hotline.
5.Farms will have health and safety committees, which will provide workers with a clear voice in the work place.
6.The Fair Food Standards Council will have ongoing audits to guarantee that famers comply with each of these elements.[19]

Success[edit]

Since November 2011, Farmer workers have brought forth 300 complaints. The FFSC have conducted 69 audits, interviewed 4,000 workers and completed 45 site visits. The CIW has run over 160 education sessions, which has educated 14,000 workers about their rights. Buyers have paid $11 million into the Fair Food Premium, which goes directly onto the paystubs of workers.[30] According to the CIW, “today, virtually all Florida tomato growers have joined the Fair Food Program, which includes a code of conduct outlawing debt bondage and requiring humane conditions of labor and more livable wage.[31]”

Pacific Tomato Growers spend $5,000 a year for shade tents and have dramatically improved their drinking-water systems for workers. Before this program, workers arrived at work at 5am but had to wait until 10am for the crops to dry, meanwhile not being compensated for their time. Now Pacific, and other producers, are considering paying workers for this time.[32]

Response[edit]
The Roosevelt Institute awarded the CIW its 2013 Freedom from Want Medal in 2013.[33]
After an investigation from PBS’s Frontline for all of 2013, they declared the FFP to be the “single most effective prevention program in the U.S. agricultural industry.[34]”
The President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships reported that the FFP was one of the “most successful and innovative programs” to prevent modern slavery.[35]
In May 2013, a delegation from the UN visited the Fair Food Program stakeholders and announced that the program had successfully created, “ market incentives for participating growers.[36]”
A Washington Post article stated that the “CIW model is one of the great human rights success stories of our day.[37] ”





“It's a question that's been on the national agenda for over half a century now, as Mark Strassmann reports in our Cover Story: In 1960, CBS News broadcast "Harvest of Shame," Edward R. Murrow's groundbreaking documentary, which exposed the conditions on farms in rural Florida, North Carolina and New Jersey: "They are the migrants, workers in the sweat shops of the soil." Millions of Americans saw, for the first time, third-world squalor in America. As Murrow reported, "One farmer looked at this and said, 'We used to own our slaves. Now we just rent them.'" Americans were so horrified, Congress passed new labor laws. But little changed. America's farms kept producing harvests of shame, as Dan Rather reported from Florida in 1995. "These are still the forgotten people. Conditions for them are still awful," he said. There are still about a million migrant farm workers in the U.S. The population of towns like Immokalee, Fla., swells every winter when migrants and their families move here looking for work. …. In 2000, the CIW began pressuring the top of the tomato chain -- fast food and grocery chains, the buyers with clout. In 2005, Taco Bell became the first big buyer to sign on to CIW's Fair Food Program. Buyers agree to pay an extra penny per pound for tomatoes -- money that goes to workers. And buyers only do business with participating Florida farmers. More than a dozen restaurant chains and retailers have signed on, including McDonalds, Chipotle, Trader Joes, and last year Wal-Mart, which sells 20 percent of America's tomatoes. Wal-Mart's joining was featured in the 2014 documentary, "Food Chains." "We believe that by signing up to the Fair Foods Program, that we can have a major impact on the sustainability and the viability of the whole supply chain," said Wal-Mart Senior VP Tom Leech. …. Farmer Jon Esformes signed on first. "It was the right thing to do, quite frankly," he said. "I was asked when we first signed, 'Why are you doing this now?' And I said, 'Because I didn't do it 10 years ago.'" "How long ago should it have happened?" asked Strassmann. "It should have happened 150 years ago." The Esformes family owns Pacific Tomato, which employs 1,500 people around Immokolee. "There was no question in my mind that bad things were happening in agriculture and on farms, not just my own, but farms across the country -- things that I did not know about and had no mechanism to find out about," said Esformes. "This gave me the tool." …. Fifty-five years after "Harvest of Shame," Gerardo Reyes sees something new growing in these fields. "It's a completely different world," he said. "When you think about agriculture and the way in which all of the abusive conditions happen in every crop, basically, when you see how this is working and why it is working, yeah, it gives us a lot of hope."

This is a huge success story. An organization or government body to oversee formerly abusive industries is of great help. The terms “debt bondage,” forced labor, child labor, inhumane conditions such as no shade and water supply systems, and the apparently unavoidable evil of sexual harassment, in addition to low wages and sometimes being cheated out of those by the farmer – these things still continue to exist in the US. Unfortunately this award winning organization doesn’t cover most markets. The Fair Food Program is branching out gradually now, however, to cover bell peppers in Florida and five additional states. Several comments by farmers and large buyers like Wal-Mart show that they are willing and even glad to pay a little more in order to help alleviate the misery of the farm workers lives. The American business class is not completely heartless, apparently.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/shots-fired-at-u-s-consulate-in-istanbul/

Shots fired at U.S. Consulate in Istanbul
CBS August 10, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Turkey joins the fight against ISIS: What you need to know

TURKEY -- Two assailants opened fire at the U.S. Consulate building in Istanbul on Monday, touching off a gunfight with police before fleeing the scene, CBS News correspondent Holly Williams reports.

One of the assailants - a woman - was injured in the crossfire and captured inside a nearby building where she hid. She was later identified as 42-year-old Hatice Asik, a member of the banned leftist group Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front, or DHKP-C. No one else was injured in the attack.

Hours earlier, an overnight bombing at a police station in Istanbul injured 10 people. Unknown assailants then fired on police who were inspecting the scene of the explosion, leaving 4 officers dead.

Williams reports the attacks came two weeks after Turkey agreed to take a more active role in the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Last month, Turkey conducted air strikes against ISIS positions in Syria and agreed to let the U.S.-led coalition use its bases for its fight against ISIS.

In July, Turkey began rounding up suspected militants, detaining some 1,300 people it said may have links to terror organizations, including the PKK, ISIS and DHKP-C.

DHKP-C was behind a 2013 suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in the capital Ankara that killed a Turkish security guard and injured one other person.




Turkey hung back from aiding in the fight against ISIS, but then recently they did makes some air strikes and allow the Westerners to use their air bases. They have also detained 1300 men and women believed to have terrorist links. Perhaps as a result of that, the attacks which they feared in reprisal are coming against them within Turkey now. I hope they will hold to their agreement with us and remain strong allies. Turkey has always been less inclined to fundamentalist groups and the backward social characteristics such as maltreatment of women. See the two articles on that subject below.



Turkey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Republic of Turkey)

Turkey (Listeni/ˈtɜrki/; Turkish: Türkiye [ˈtyɾcije]), officially the Republic of Turkey (Turkish: About this sound Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help•info)), is a parliamentary republic in Eurasia, largely located in Western Asia, with the smaller portion of Eastern Thrace in Southeast Europe.

Turkey's location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes it a country of significant geostrategic importance.[6]

Turkey has been inhabited since the paleolithic age,[7] including various ancient Anatolian civilizations, Aeolian, Dorian and Ionian Greeks, Thracians, Armenians and Persians.[8][9][10] After Alexander the Great's conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process which continued under the Roman Empire and its transition into the Byzantine Empire.[9][11] The Seljuk Turks began migrating into the area in the 11th century, starting the process of Turkification, which was greatly accelerated by the Seljuk victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.[12] The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, upon which it disintegrated into several small Turkish beyliks.[13]

Starting from the late 13th century, the Ottomans united Anatolia and created an empire encompassing much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, becoming a major power in Eurasia and Africa during the early modern period. The empire reached the peak of its power between the 15th and 17th centuries, especially during the 1520–66 reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. After the second Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 and the end of the Great Turkish War in 1699, the Ottoman Empire entered a long period of decline. The Tanzimat reforms of the 19th century, which aimed to modernize the Ottoman state, proved to be inadequate in most fields, and failed to stop the dissolution of the empire.[14] The Ottoman Empire entered World War I (1914–18) on the side of the Central Powers and was ultimately defeated. During the war, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks.[15] Following WWI, the huge conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was divided into several new states.[16] The Turkish War of Independence (1919–22), initiated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues in Anatolia, resulted in the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923, with Atatürk as its first president.[17]

Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage.[18][19] The country's official language is Turkish, a Turkic language spoken natively by approximately 85 percent of the population.[20] 70–80 percent of the population are ethnic Turks; the remainder consists of legally recognized (Armenians, Greeks and Jews) and unrecognized (Kurds, Circassians, Albanians, Bosniaks, Georgians, etc.) minorities.[18][21][22][23] The vast majority of the population is Muslim.[18] Turkey is a member of the UN, NATO, OECD, OSCE, OIC and the G-20. After becoming one of the first members of the Council of Europe in 1949, Turkey became an associate member of the EEC in 1963, joined the EU Customs Union in 1995 and started full membership negotiations with the European Union in 2005.[24] Turkey's growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power.[25][26][27][28]



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_women%27s_suffrage

Timeline of women's suffrage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Turkey In Turkey women won the right to vote in municipal elections on March 20, 1930. Turkey holds first election that allows women to vote.[14] On December 5, 1934 they were granted full universal suffrage. Turkish women who participated for the parliament elections as a first time on February 8, 1935 obtained 18 seats.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ted-talks-60-minutes-charlie-rose-2/

TED Talks
The lecture series has become one of the Internet's most powerful platforms -- spreading ideas through the stories of remarkable people
CORRESPONDENT, Charlie Rose
August 9, 2015

Photograph -- Bryan Stevenson giving a TED Talk
Video -- Meet the man who created TED in 1984


Charlie Rose interviews Richard Saul Wurman, who doesn't always agree with how TED has changed since he sold it.

It has become a place where big ideas find a global audience. It is known simply as TED. And TED Talks are little presentations that anyone can watch online for free. There are TED Talks on almost every subject you can imagine: building your own nuclear reactor; stopping cyberbullies; exploring Antarctica; a better way to tie your shoes. But what sets TED Talks apart is that the big ideas are wrapped up in personal stories and they're mostly from people you have never heard of before. As we first told you in April, it is those stories that have captured the imaginations of tens of millions of viewers around the world. Giving a TED Talk can be life-changing even if some speakers don't always realize what they're getting into.

Bryan Stevenson: I'd never heard of TED and didn't know what a TED Talk was.

But Bryan Stevenson was exactly the sort of person the people at TED wanted.

He was an attorney who'd spent years trying to reform the criminal justice system. They thought he'd have a lot to say. He said yes, then remembered a serious conflict on his calendar.

Bryan Stevenson: It was scheduled two weeks before I had an argument at the U.S. Supreme Court. And I told one of my young staffers, somebody named TED wanted me to come and do a TED Talk and I told them no. And my staffer went crazy. Said, "What are you talking about? You have to do a TED Talk."

Charlie Rose: And what did they say, though, to convince you?

Bryan Stevenson: This is really a big deal. It's an incredible platform. You should absolutely do it. Everybody watches TED Talks.

[Bryan Stevenson: --being here at TED and seeing the stimulation...]

In March of 2012, Bryan Stevenson took the stage at the annual TED conference in Long Beach, California. He was one of more than 60 speakers that week.

WHO IS NO. 1 ON TED'S WISH LIST FOR SPEAKERS?
[Bryan Stevenson: We have a system of justice in this country that treats you much better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.]

He made the case for changing the criminal justice system, with the same mixture of passion and logic that he uses to persuade judges and juries. He introduced his equal justice initiative in a disarmingly personal way.

[Bryan Stevenson: I had the great privilege when I was a young lawyer of meeting Rosa Parks and Ms. Parks turned to me and she said, "Now Bryan, tell me what the Equal Justice Initiative is. Tell me what you're trying to do." And I began giving her my rap. I said, "Well we're trying to challenge injustice. We're trying to help people who have been wrongly convicted. We're trying to confront bias and discrimination in the administration of criminal justice. We're trying to end life without parole sentences for children. We're trying to do something about the death penalty. We're trying to reduce the prison population. We're trying to end mass incarceration." I gave her my whole rap, and when I finished she looked at me and she said, "Mmm mmm mmm." She said, "That's going to make you tired, tired, tired." (laughter)]

And with that, he had them.

[Bryan Stevenson: I've simply come to tell you, keep your eyes on the prize, hold on. Thank you very much...]

Charlie Rose: When you ended it did you think you'd done a good job?

Bryan Stevenson: People were very enthusiastic and responded in a really wonderful way.

Charlie Rose: That's what we call a standing ovation.

Bryan Stevenson: Yes, yes.

The crowd also offered financial support, which was unprecedented, since TED Talks are not about raising money.

Bryan Stevenson: Some people came up to me and they said, "You know, we think that what you're doing is really quite extraordinary. There are a lot of people in this room who want to support you." And I had to leave.

Charlie Rose: You had another engagement in Seattle?

Bryan Stevenson: I did. And so I said, "Well, I can't stay." And much to my amazement, we raised a million dollars.

Charlie Rose: A million dollars?

Bryan Stevenson: A million dollars.

Charlie Rose: And this is happening without you there.

Bryan Stevenson: Without me there, yeah, exactly

Charlie Rose: And what difference did raising a million dollars at an event that you knew nothing about make for the cause that you devoted your life to?

Bryan Stevenson: Hundreds and hundreds of people were now going to have a chance to get fairer sentences.

Charlie Rose: And it didn't end at the speech, because you have this thing called the Internet?

Bryan Stevenson: Yes, that's exactly right. Even now, I get lots and lots of people who are responding to the TED Talk.

[Chris Anderson: You're an inspiring person...]

The person who put Bryan Stevenson on the stage was Chris Anderson --the man who runs TED. He chooses the speakers; he hosts TED conferences; and he decides which talks go online.

Chris Anderson: There are numerous brilliant people out there and they've come up with something really important. And so part of the way we see our role is to help them make their knowledge accessible.

Charlie Rose: It's a campfire in part, isn't it?

Chris Anderson: It is a campfire. Someone stands up, everyone's eyes are upon them, they tell a story.
CRITICISM OF TED -- IS IT INFOTAINMENT?
The story of TED began with a small conference in the 1980s where bold new ideas were presented about technology, entertainment and design -TED for short. Anderson was a successful magazine publisher. He attended his first TED conference in 1998 and fell in love with what he heard there and so he bought TED -- and turned it into a nonprofit organization.

In 2006, as something of an experiment, he put a handful of conference talks online. The reaction was almost immediate.

Chris Anderson: We started to get emails that said things like, "I'm sitting at my computer screen crying."

Charlie Rose: An emotional connection.

Chris Anderson: And a passionate connection. Like, these talks had got inside people's heads and changed them.

[Jill Bolte Taylor: So, this is a real human brain...]

One of the earliest TED Talks posted was literally about what was going on inside the head of neurobiologist Jill Bolte Taylor.

[Jill Bolte Taylor Then I realized, "Oh my gosh! I'm having a stroke! I'm having a stroke" And the next thing my brain says to me is, "Wow! This is so cool! This is so cool! How many brain scientists have the opportunity to study their own brain from the inside out?" (laughter)]

Taylor's talk went viral and soon, Internet users couldn't get enough of Ted Talks.

A million views turned into a billion and now it is an Internet phenomenon. There are all sorts of TED conferences being held around the world daily.TED started its own website, TED.com. It has 2,000 talks on just about every subject imaginable.

[Speaker: I can tell you with great confidence, I've been to the future...]

[Speaker: I am 17 years old and I am a nuclear physicist.]

It's something of an intellectual variety show and it is free.

It was front page news when Monica Lewinsky recently gave a TED Talk on cyberbullying.

Charlie Rose: How does Chris Anderson decide who gets the opportunity?

Chris Anderson: There's no formula or algorithm that says what is right. It's basically a judgment call as to what is interesting and what is interesting now.

[Auditions: Countless men around the world...]

Anderson and his team spend much of their time auditioning.

[Auditions: It's become a common complaint.]

[Auditions: Damn!!!!...]

And looking for the next great story.

[Auditions: For the past two years, I've spent thousands of hours working with invasive breast cancer cells in the lab.]

A great TED Talk demands careful planning. Most speakers get months of preparation and coaching.

[Speaker: Changing slightly that core question may make the rest of the talk land a bit more clearly.]

There are a few rules - there is no selling of a product or a book from the stage; no pseudo-science is allowed; and there is an 18-minute time limit.

Charlie Rose: Why 18 minutes?

Chris Anderson: It's a natural human attention span. It's an extended coffee break. You can listen to something serious that long without getting bored or exhausted.

The goal is to make it to a TED conference and then get your talk posted online. Speakers do not get paid. Yet people line up for the chance to make a TED Talk. They hope to be the next Amy Cuddy.

cuddy.jpg
Amy Cuddy CBS NEWS
[Amy Cuddy: We're really fascinated with body language.]
She was a largely unknown psychology professor at Harvard, until she took the TED stage in 2012.

[Amy Cuddy: So what is your body language communicating to me, what's mine communicating to you?]

Cuddy's talk was about her research into non-verbal communication, but it was her personal story that captured the imagination of the audience.

[Amy Cuddy: When I was 19, I was in a really bad car accident. I was thrown out of a car and I woke up in a head injury rehab ward, and I learned that my IQ had dropped by two standard deviations.]

She agonized about revealing she had suffered a traumatic brain injury in that car accident.

Amy Cuddy: I felt deep ambivalence and also what have I done?

Charlie Rose: Ambivalence?

Amy Cuddy: Yes, have I changed my life in a way that I'll regret? Will people be judging me? Will my colleagues think I'm stupid? The head injury story was really, really personal and it was something that I had mostly kept locked away.

Charlie Rose: This is the most watched TED Talk in the last two years.

Amy Cuddy: That's what Chris tells me, yes.

According to Chris Anderson, she's had almost 26 million views. It has turned Amy Cuddy into a star in this new TED-created universe. She's hot on the lecture circuit and has a new book coming out. Chris Anderson and TED can make someone's career.

Charlie Rose: Do you like the power that it gives you?

Chris Anderson: I don't think in terms of power usually--

Charlie Rose: It does give you power. You can sit there and change somebody's life by putting-- making them a TED speaker. If you make those choices, then you have power.

Chris Anderson: Well, I would phrase it more as responsibility, but a joyful one. I do love the fact that someone can give a talk, and a few months later can be known by millions of people around the world--

But for Maysoon Zayid, the fame she received was not the fame she was looking for...

zayid.jpg
Maysoon Zayid CBS NEWS
[Maysoon Zayid: I got 99 problems, and palsy is just one. ]
She's a comedian and when she appeared on the TED stage a year and a half ago, she had a punchline...

[Maysoon Zayid: I'm Palestinian, Muslim, I'm female, I'm disabled, and I live in New Jersey.]

And she had a serious point.

[Maysoon Zayid, People with disabilities are the largest minority in the world, and we are the most underrepresented in entertainment.]

She also had an agenda.

Maysoon Zayid: I actually thought that once the talk was done, my career would skyrocket. I want to be on TV. And I thought that the TED Talk would open the door for more real-life opportunities with me.

Charlie Rose: And that's what TED did not do?

Maysoon Zayid: And that's what TED didn't do. But what it did do is it amplified my voice worldwide.

With almost seven million views of her talk -- which was translated into several languages, she believes she's succeeded in a different way.

Maysoon Zayid: I didn't expect to hear from so many people that felt the talk was about them.

Charlie Rose: How did you change the lives of people who are disabled?

Maysoon Zayid: I think the change occurs mostly on an individual basis. What I think I've done is help people go out there and say, "I have a disability. I shake all the time. It's totally fine. You need to treat me as an equal, even if physically, I'm different than you." And I think what I've done is really empower people to be proud of who they are.

[Maysoon Zayid: A lot of people with CP don't walk...].

Critics of TED - and there are some -- believe that this emphasis on the personal stories has turned TED Talks into infotainment, offering easy answers to serious problems. But don't count Bryan Stevenson among the skeptics. He traces part of the current public debate about reforming the criminal justice system back to the TED Talk he gave in 2012. And while he's grateful for the money that TED raised, he's even more appreciative of the platform.

Charlie Rose: Did your experience at TED change you in any way?

Bryan Stevenson: Well, it did. It made me more hopeful about what can be achieved if you change the narrative.

Charlie Rose: Is there something about TED you wanna change?

Bryan Stevenson: I think the challenge is getting people who consume all of this wonderful stuff that TED provides to not just be consumers, but to take what they learn and know and hear and turn it into some kind of action that may be a little uncomfortable, that may be a little inconvenient, but will absolutely be transformative to making these great ideas really ideas that not only spread but create a greater world.



http://support.ted.com/customer/portal/articles/206144-what-is-ted-

What is TED?
Last updated: Jun 11, 2014

TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.

You can also read more about TED's mission and history.


Our organization

TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.

Our Mission: Spread ideas

TED is a global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world. We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. On TED.com, we're building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world's most inspired thinkers — and a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other, both online and at TED and TEDx events around the world, all year long.

In fact, everything we do — from our TED Talks videos to the projects sparked by the TED Prize, from the global TEDx community to the TED-Ed lesson series — is driven by this goal: How can we best spread great ideas?

TED is owned by a nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation. Our agenda is to make great ideas accessible and spark conversation.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chautauqua

Chautauqua
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chautauqua (/ʃəˈtɔːkwə/ shə-TAW-kwə) describes an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Named after Chautauqua Lake where the first was held, Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. A Chautauqua Assembly brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, preachers and specialists of the day.[1] Former US President Theodore Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American thing in America".[2]

Historic buildings associated with the movement include Chautauqua Amphitheater (Chautauqua, NY), Chautauqua Auditorium (Shelbyville, Illinois), Chautauqua Auditorium (Boulder, Colorado), and Chautauqua Hall of Brotherhood in DeFuniak Springs, Florida.

History[edit]

Postage stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first Chautauqua
The Mother Chautauqua[edit]

The first Chautauqua, the New York Chautauqua Assembly, was organized in 1874 by Methodist minister John Heyl Vincent and businessman Lewis Miller at a campsite on the shores of Chautauqua Lake in New York State. Two years earlier, Vincent, editor of the Sunday School Journal, had begun to train Sunday school teachers in an outdoor summer school format. The gatherings grew in popularity. The organization founded by Vincent and Miller later became known as the Chautauqua Institution. It was called the Mother Chautauqua, because many independent, or "daughter" Chautauquas were developed under the same fashion.[3]

The educational summer camp format proved to be a popular choice for families and was widely copied by the "daughter" Chautauquas. Within a decade Chautauqua assemblies (or simply Chautauquas), named for the original location in New York State, sprang up in various locations across North America. The Chautauqua movement may be regarded as a successor to the Lyceum movement earlier in the nineteenth century. As the Chautauqua assemblies began to compete for the best performers and lecturers, lyceum bureaus assisted with bookings. The original site in Chautauqua, New York, near Jamestown, has hosted such diverse speakers and performers as Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys.

Today it is much larger than a camp site. There is a main gate leading to paved streets that are named after religious and secular dignitaries; a summer school program focused on the arts with some classes available for university credit; a fire hall and movie theater; a world-renowned amphitheater; and familiar summer amenities like ice cream pavilions, tourist shops, craft fairs and beaches.




“It has become a place where big ideas find a global audience. It is known simply as TED. And TED Talks are little presentations that anyone can watch online for free. There are TED Talks on almost every subject you can imagine: building your own nuclear reactor; stopping cyberbullies; exploring Antarctica; a better way to tie your shoes. But what sets TED Talks apart is that the big ideas are wrapped up in personal stories and they're mostly from people you have never heard of before. As we first told you in April, it is those stories that have captured the imaginations of tens of millions of viewers around the world. …. Bryan Stevenson: It was scheduled two weeks before I had an argument at the U.S. Supreme Court. And I told one of my young staffers, somebody named TED wanted me to come and do a TED Talk and I told them no. And my staffer went crazy. Said, "What are you talking about? You have to do a TED Talk." Charlie Rose: And what did they say, though, to convince you? Bryan Stevenson: This is really a big deal. It's an incredible platform. You should absolutely do it. Everybody watches TED Talks. …. In March of 2012, Bryan Stevenson took the stage at the annual TED conference in Long Beach, California. He was one of more than 60 speakers that week. WHO IS NO. 1 ON TED'S WISH LIST FOR SPEAKERS? Bryan Stevenson: We have a system of justice in this country that treats you much better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.] He made the case for changing the criminal justice system, with the same mixture of passion and logic that he uses to persuade judges and juries. He introduced his equal justice initiative in a disarmingly personal way. [Bryan Stevenson: I had the great privilege when I was a young lawyer of meeting Rosa Parks and Ms. Parks turned to me and she said, "Now Bryan, tell me what the Equal Justice Initiative is. Tell me what you're trying to do." And I began giving her my rap. I said, "Well we're trying to challenge injustice. We're trying to help people who have been wrongly convicted. We're trying to confront bias and discrimination in the administration of criminal justice. We're trying to end life without parole sentences for children. We're trying to do something about the death penalty. We're trying to reduce the prison population. We're trying to end mass incarceration." I gave her my whole rap, and when I finished she looked at me and she said, "Mmm mmm mmm." She said, "That's going to make you tired, tired, tired." (laughter)] …. Critics of TED - and there are some -- believe that this emphasis on the personal stories has turned TED Talks into infotainment, offering easy answers to serious problems. But don't count Bryan Stevenson among the skeptics. He traces part of the current public debate about reforming the criminal justice system back to the TED Talk he gave in 2012. And while he's grateful for the money that TED raised, he's even more appreciative of the platform. Charlie Rose: Did your experience at TED change you in any way? Bryan Stevenson: Well, it did. It made me more hopeful about what can be achieved if you change the narrative.’

Ted -- TED is a global community, welcoming people from every discipline and culture who seek a deeper understanding of the world. We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world. On TED.com, we're building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world's most inspired thinkers — and a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other, both online and at TED and TEDx events around the world, all year long.

TED is one of a few organizations, similar to Chatauqua, dedicated to a type of free and informal public education, which ordinary people attend (or view on the Internet now) for the sheer pleasure of learning something. That to me should be one of the goals of adult life, which as it becomes more popular can help to transform such things as racism, xenophobia, the mundane greed of so many in the Conservative parties, and undemocratic ideas in general. It works by raising the overall educational level of the people who espouse it. Going to a university and getting a degree isn’t the only way to learn, after all, nor the only achievement that is worth having. Education is not merely for the purpose of getting a higher income in the business world, but to ennoble our souls. I know that sounds like something out of a Victorian novel, but it is to me the truest type of religion; it also brings about the best form of “class structure,” if it is allowed by the students to open up their very hearts and minds to gentler thoughts.

If there were less ignorance and crass thinking in our society, things like the worship of wealth, social position, dogma over enlightenment, racial competition, etc. would gradually recede so that our citizens would willingly help those who need it and organize our society more intelligently. There wouldn’t be a huge struggle over whether or not to solve scientific problems like the dangerous rate of greenhouse gas emissions, and businesses would agree to share the cost of their operations to the society at large. My economics book spoke of the “true cost” of things like using strictly coal in power plants, which includes the cost to the environment. Likewise an oil company when it spills oil across the Gulf of Mexico will by rights pay their share of the cleanup. Utopia, USA, would be attainable.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/one-bank-ceo-says-industry-can-afford-15-minimum-pay/

One bank says industry can afford $15 minimum wage
By KATE GIBSON, MONEYWATCH
August 10, 2015

Amalgamated Bank CEO Keith Mestrich has a message for the nation's top banking executives: Workers need a raise.

Amalgamated has became the first bank in the country to hike its workers pay -- including interns, mail room clerks and tellers -- to a minimum of $15 an hour. And Mestrich is calling on other bank CEOs to make the same move, saying if his bank can afford it, others can too.

"We are a profitable institution -- not as profitable as many, we didn't make $5 billion last quarter like Bank of America did. But we are a profitable industry, and most banks are doing well. If there is any industry that can join this call, it's the banking industry," Mestrich told CBS MoneyWatch.

Asked if he'd received any feedback from other bank heads, Mestrich quipped: "Nobody has called me to congratulate me on my courage."

Of the nearly half a million bank tellers nationwide, three in four earn less than $15 an hour, with the median hourly wage $12.44, according to a report released earlier this month by the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group that focuses on labor issues.

Of course is [sic] there is any bank in the U.S. that would join the Fight for $15 campaign, Amalgamated would make sense. The New York City-based bank, with 420 employees, was founded 93 years ago by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Today it is the nation's largest union-owned lender, with a majority stake owned by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.

"We continue to work with unions and offer strike loans to help unions afford the option of going on strike," Amalgamated states on its website.

An avowedly progressive institution, the company also describes itself as a "leading voice for the unbanked and under-banked" and a "proponent of responsible corporate practices."

Investors Wilbur Ross and Ron Burkle hold a minority stake in Amalgamated, after helping rescue it in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The bank has assets of $3.8 billion and operates a total of 17 branches in California, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.




“Amalgamated Bank CEO Keith Mestrich has a message for the nation's top banking executives: Workers need a raise. Amalgamated has became the first bank in the country to hike its workers pay -- including interns, mail room clerks and tellers -- to a minimum of $15 an hour. And Mestrich is calling on other bank CEOs to make the same move, saying if his bank can afford it, others can too. …. The New York City-based bank, with 420 employees, was founded 93 years ago by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Today it is the nation's largest union-owned lender, with a majority stake owned by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. "We continue to work with unions and offer strike loans to help unions afford the option of going on strike," Amalgamated states on its website. An avowedly progressive institution, the company also describes itself as a "leading voice for the unbanked and under-banked" and a "proponent of responsible corporate practices."

The National Bank of Washington is also a union owned and operated bank. I worked there many years ago as a file clerk. That union is the UMWA, and we were all automatically members of the union. It was a very equitable and fairly well-paid workplace with a friendly group of employees. I wonder if they will follow Amalgamated’s lead and raise everyone to $15.00. Even though Congress isn’t willing to raise the federal minimum wage to $15.00 a number of businesses now and states as well have done it. Many people are realizing that if all workers make a living wage they will be able to buy all those goods and services that businesses want to sell. Hopefully this trend will grow and our economy will become healthier as a result.



WORSE THAN POISON IVY


Dangerous giant hogweed found in Michigan
CBS/AP
Roberta Jasina
August 4, 2015

Photograph -- Roberta Jasina @Robertanews
Giant hogweed found in Michigan. Its sap can cause blindness and permanent scarring if you come into close contact.


PENNFIELD TWP., Michigan - Health officials in Calhoun County, Michigan, are advising caution after the dangerous giant hogweed plant was spotted in the county.

The Calhoun County Public Health Department said Monday that the plant was found in Pennfield Township and was removed from the site, CBS Detroit reports.

Sap on the plant's leaves, roots, flower heads, seeds and stem hairs can cause permanent blindness if it gets in a person's eyes. The sap can also cause blistering and scarring if it gets on bare skin.

Health officials say to wash skin if it comes in contact with the plant, immediately flush eyes with water, and promptly seek medical attention.

The plant can grow up to 18 feet tall, has a green stem with bristles and dark red or purple spots, and has a white flower.

It is most commonly found in New England, the Mid-Atlantic region and the Northwest, often growing along streams and rivers and in fields, forests, yards and roadsides, experts say.


Roberta Jasina
@Robertanews
Radio news reporter and news anchor. Wife and mother. Loves WWJ, computers, art history, the Lions, the Tigers, reading, gardening, & movies. Hates housework.




“The Calhoun County Public Health Department said Monday that the plant was found in Pennfield Township and was removed from the site, CBS Detroit reports. …. Sap on the plant's leaves, roots, flower heads, seeds and stem hairs can cause permanent blindness if it gets in a person's eyes. The sap can also cause blistering and scarring if it gets on bare skin. Health officials say to wash skin if it comes in contact with the plant, immediately flush eyes with water, and promptly seek medical attention. …. It is most commonly found in New England, the Mid-Atlantic region and the Northwest, often growing along streams and rivers and in fields, forests, yards and roadsides, experts say. See the following CBS article with many photographs and facts about the plant. That article says that it was here “by the early 20th century,” but I think it must have come across from Russia much earlier in order for it to spread to some dozen states and three widely separated parts of the US. I have never seen it, so maybe NC is too warm for it. If you live in the northwest, Midwest, and northeast you may want to look at the photographs in order to avoid it. “How can I get rid of giant hogweed?
If you live near giant hogweed you can mow or weed-whack the plant before you touch it to prevent future exposure, right? Think again. That will just send up new growth and potentially expose you to toxic sap. Call a professional or local authorities who can properly destroy the plant and its seeds.” Good luck to you.



http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/giant-hogweed-8-facts-you-must-know-about-the-toxic-plant/

Giant hogweed: 8 facts you must know about the toxic plant (below)


Giant hogweed - a dangerous, invasive weed - recently began spreading across New York, sparking fear and warnings from the state's Department of Environmental Conservation. They say the plant can burn, scar, and even blind you - but what exactly is it and how can you avoid it? Keep clicking to get the scoop on this toxic plant. CREDIT: geograph.ie

What does giant hogweed look like?
Giant hogweed, or Heracleum mantegazzianum is considered a noxious weed by the federal government. It's part of the carrot family, but it can grow up to 14 feet tall. For a toxic plant, giant hogweed is surprisingly pretty, with thick leaves stretching five feet wide and large clusters of white flowers gracing the top of the plant in an umbrella pattern. Its stems (pictured at top left) are green with purple blotches and white hairs. CREDIT: Flickr/Joost Bakker

Where did giant hogweed come from?
Giant hogweed originates from the Caucasus Mountains between the Black and Caspian seas by Russia - but it made its way to the U.S. by the early 20th century. How? Birds and waterways can carry seeds, which can grow up to 10 years once they're dropped off. CREDIT: geograph.ie

Where does giant hogweed grow?
According to the DEC, the toxic plant grows in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Oregon, Washington, Michigan, Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. CREDIT: Flickr/Gordon Joly

How does giant hogweed hurt humans?
Giant hogweed sap contains toxic chemicals known as photosensitizing furanocoumarins. When these chemicals come into contact with the human skin, it can cause a skin reaction that's extremely sensitive to light. CREDIT: Flickr/Bex Ross

What are the symptoms from giant hogweed exposure?
The light-sensitive skin reaction causes dark painful blisters that form within 48 hours, and result in scars that can last anywhere from a few months to six years. Touching giant hogweed can also cause long-term sunlight sensitivity, and blindness if sap gets into a person's eye. CREDIT: New York Department of Environmental Conservation

What if I accidentally touch giant hogweed?
The N.Y. Department of Health recommends that you wash it off with cold water immediately and get out of the sun. A toxic reaction can begin as soon as 15 minutes after contact. Apply sunscreen to the affected areas since this can prevent further reactions if you're stuck outside. Compresses soaked in an aluminum acetate mixture - available at pharmacies - can provide relief for skin irritations. If hogweed sap gets into the eye, rinse them with water immediately and put on sunglasses. Call a doctor if you're experiencing a severe reaction. CREDIT: istockphoto

How can I get rid of giant hogweed?
If you live near giant hogweed you can mow or weed-whack the plant before you touch it to prevent future exposure, right? Think again. That will just send up new growth and potentially expose you to toxic sap. Call a professional or local authorities who can properly destroy the plant and its seeds. CREDIT: New York Department of Environmental Conservation





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/another-downside-of-recession-career-criminals/

Another downside of recession: Career criminals
By MARK THOMA
MONEYWATCH
August 10, 2015

How costly are recessions? To answer that question, analysts often calculate the lost GDP due to the higher levels of unemployment and idle capital during economic slumps. For example, during the Great Recession, the Dallas Fed estimates the loss was between $6 trillion and $14 trillion, or $50,000 to $120,000 for every person in the U.S.

However, the economic costs of recessions encompass far more than simply the goods and services that could have been produced, but weren't. They also include the psychological costs of being unable to provide for one's family, health costs due to increased stress, drug problems, higher suicide rates, family conflict and so on.

Evidence also shows that new entrants into the labor market during recessions have a lower lifetime earnings trajectory than those who enter during better times.

That may explain new research results showing that young people who leave school during recessions have a much higher chance of becoming career criminals. Why does this happen? Of course, one reason is the higher unemployment rates and diminished job prospects that occur during recessions.

But "feedback effects" can also reinforce the choice to engage in crime. First, as the researchers Brian Bell, Anna Bindler and Stephen Machin noted, involvement in crime may lead to an increase in "criminal knowhow" that raises the "expected net benefit of crime" -- the difference between the expected gain and the chance of getting caught. This makes it more likely that an individual will choose to commit a crime.

Second, those who do get caught may have difficulty finding a job because of their criminal record.

How large are these effects? The researchers "find that the average arrest rate for a cohort entering the labor market during a recession is 10.2% higher than for an otherwise similar cohort entering a more buoyant labor market." In addition, "entering the labor market during a recession increases the probability of being incarcerated at some point over the next two decades by 5.5%." Thus, the effects are relatively large.

This research highlights the need to do all we can to ensure that job opportunities for young people don't dry up when the economy takes a turn for the worst. In addition to the diminished lifetime prospects that recessions lead to for those who do find jobs, those who can't are much more likely to turn to a life of crime.

Investments in youth may help reduce these costs. And if this research is correct, the benefit of such investments may be higher than expected.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiscal_policy

Fiscal policy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government revenue collection (mainly taxes) and expenditure (spending) to influence the economy.[1] According to Keynesian economics, when the government changes the levels of taxation and government spending, it influences aggregate demand and the level of economic activity. Fiscal policy can be used to stabilize the economy over the course of the business cycle.[2]

The two main instruments of fiscal policy are changes in the level and composition of taxation and government spending in various sectors. These changes can affect the following macroeconomic variables, amongst others, in an economy:
Aggregate demand and the level of economic activity;
Savings and Investment in the economy
The distribution of income

Fiscal policy can be distinguished from monetary policy, in that fiscal policy deals with taxation and government spending and is often administered by an executive under laws of a legislature, whereas monetary policy deals with the money supply, lending rates and interest rates and is often administered by a central bank.




“How costly are recessions? To answer that question, analysts often calculate the lost GDP due to the higher levels of unemployment and idle capital during economic slumps. …. They also include the psychological costs of being unable to provide for one's family, health costs due to increased stress, drug problems, higher suicide rates, family conflict and so on. …. That may explain new research results showing that young people who leave school during recessions have a much higher chance of becoming career criminals. …. This research highlights the need to do all we can to ensure that job opportunities for young people don't dry up when the economy takes a turn for the worst. In addition to the diminished lifetime prospects that recessions lead to for those who do find jobs, those who can't are much more likely to turn to a life of crime. Investments in youth may help reduce these costs. And if this research is correct, the benefit of such investments may be higher than expected.”

“Just say no,” right? Not so. Less work, less educational attainment, less hope and mental health, less companionship with “good kids” rather than street gangs, less high ideals, etc. can all be linked to the type of lifelong poverty that is then conducive to crime. Simply put, people have to have food, clothing, shelter, medications, etc., and they will steal or cheat to get them unless there is a really good “social safety net.” Most people will prefer to get a good job if they can rather than “becoming dependent” on social services help. Most of the time it is not “lack of incentive” that makes people become dependent on Food Stamps, etc., but lack of hope in the face of endless failures and often a poor education or ill health. Depression and other types of poor mental health are common among poverty stricken populations, and they make an individual unable to perform satisfactorily at a job. Then too, at times like this, there just aren’t enough positions available for all the job seekers. Many would-be workers give up and drop out of the market, and that’s not because they aren’t poor enough to be “incentivized,” as the Right is fond of saying.

The economic system that is most popular with Republicans is that of “lower taxation” and “lower government spending.” It was my father’s opinion that when they get into power they always “tighten up on the dollar” and as a result bring about recessions, and then recessions increase poverty by eliminating jobs and lowering wages. The above Wikipedia article on the term “Fiscal Policy” says much the same things. I think that is what is going on now with the Tea Party running things, and we are having predictable social problems such as angry crowds marching outside the police station over racial conflicts. If they made more money, enough to own a modest sized house and pay their debts, buy plenty of food and clothing they would be less angry. They would also be more likely to fight back against Congress like the Middle Class do, with letters to the editor, more voting in elections, hiring a lawyer and filing suit, boycotts, etc. As it is they are marching and shouting and unfortunately throwing bottles at the police. To Republicans, that is “crime.” To me it is desperation.





http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/08/430709628/frances-kelsey-fda-officer-who-blocked-thalidomide-dies-at-101

Frances Kelsey, FDA Officer Who Blocked Thalidomide, Dies At 101
Scott Neuman
August 8, 2015

Photograph -- Dr. Frances O. Kelsey of the U.S. FDA, who is credited with keeping the birth-deforming drug, Thalidomide, off the U.S. market, is shown in an Aug. 1962 photo. Kelsey died on Friday at age 101. AP

Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey, whose tireless efforts uncovered a link between the drug thalidomide and severe birth defects, has died at age 101.

In 1960, Kelsey was the new medical officer at the Food and Drug Administration when an application for FDA approval of the sedative Kevadon, the trade name of thalidomide, manufactured by drug company William S. Merrell Company of Cincinnati.

Thalidomide had already been sold to pregnant women in Europe and elsewhere as an anti-nausea drug to treat morning sickness, and Merrell wanted a license to do the same in the U.S.

As The New York Times reports, Kelsey asked for more information.

"Thus began a fateful test of wills. Merrell responded. Dr. Kelsey wanted more. Merrell complained to Dr. Kelsey's bosses, calling her a petty bureaucrat. She persisted. On it went. But by late 1961, the terrible evidence was pouring in." Thalidomide "was causing thousands of babies in Europe, Britain, Canada and the Middle East to be born with flipperlike arms and legs and other defects."

As The Washington Post adds, "[the] tragedy was largely averted in the United States, with much credit due to Kelsey. ... For a critical 19-month period, she fastidiously blocked its approval while drug company officials maligned her as a bureaucratic nitpicker."

The Post, in a front-page article published in 1962 described Kelsey as a "heroine" whose "skepticism and stubbornness ... prevented what could have been an appalling American tragedy."

Kelsey, a physician and pharmacologist, died on Aug. 7. Her daughter confirmed her death to The Washington Post, but did not cite a cause.




“As The New York Times reports, Kelsey asked for more information. "Thus began a fateful test of wills. Merrell responded. Dr. Kelsey wanted more. Merrell complained to Dr. Kelsey's bosses, calling her a petty bureaucrat.” I had a class in middle school with one of the “Thalidomide babies,” as they began to be called. Luckily there was nothing wrong with her mentally. Other than having no arms she was smart and pretty. I can remember that while I wasn’t mean to her, I also wasn’t friendly either. I had a fright reaction toward physical and mental disabilities. I did outgrow that, but such children have a very hard time with other kids and probably a considerable number of adults as well. According to this article the US didn’t release it for sale here, but it was available widely outside the US. Maybe that girl’s mother got it from a European source or was a part of a US drug test group. However that was, I consider this Dr. Kelsey to be a true heroine with great insight and courage. She stubbornly refused to pass it as being safe, and finally the reports from other places came in. It was too late for my classmate, of course. I don’t think she stayed very long in the school, because I don’t remember graduating with her.