September 5, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-appears-to-be-ramping-up-its-presence-in-syria/

Is Russia ramping up its presence in Syria?
By DAVID MARTIN CBS NEWS
September 4, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Putin talks Ukraine, Syria and U.S. relations with Charlie Rose


WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is monitoring a scenario with ominous implications: the prospect of American and Russian warplanes fighting on opposite sides in the skies over Syria.

In a development that caught U.S. intelligence by surprise, Russia has set up an air traffic control tower and modular housing units for hundreds of personnel at an airfield near Syria's Mediterranean port of Latikia.

At the same time, Russia has requested the necessary over-flight rights to fly military cargo aircraft into the airfield.


Some U.S. intelligence analysts believe Russia is preparing to insert combat aircraft into Syria, presumably to conduct strikes against rebel forces threatening its longtime ally, the regime of Bashar al Assad.

One U.S. official said Russian military intervention in Syria would be a game changer, among other things raising the possibility of run-ins with U.S. warplanes conducting air strikes against ISIS in Syria.

However, other analysts caution Russia could simply be gearing up for a humanitarian relief operation for the tens of thousands of Syrian civilians forced by the fighting to flee their homes.

Appearing at an economic conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that although he continues to supply the Assad regime with arms, military intervention in Syria is "not yet on our agenda."

Given Putin's track record of denying Russia's military involvement in Ukraine, U.S. officials say they are not putting much stock in his public statements about Syria.




“The Pentagon is monitoring a scenario with ominous implications: the prospect of American and Russian warplanes fighting on opposite sides in the skies over Syria. In a development that caught U.S. intelligence by surprise, Russia has set up an air traffic control tower and modular housing units for hundreds of personnel at an airfield near Syria's Mediterranean port of Latikia. At the same time, Russia has requested the necessary over-flight rights to fly military cargo aircraft into the airfield. …. However, other analysts caution Russia could simply be gearing up for a humanitarian relief operation for the tens of thousands of Syrian civilians forced by the fighting to flee their homes. Appearing at an economic conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that although he continues to supply the Assad regime with arms, military intervention in Syria is "not yet on our agenda."

Yet is a big word. I think if the US continues to avoid going into Iraq and Syria with “boots on the ground” Russia is likely to fill that void. On the other hand, perhaps they will meet us on the battlefield, and not as friends as in WWII. They are as hungry for oil resources as we are, and like us, always try to befriend foreign governments to get a foot in the door militarily and politically. They do usually step in to support tyrannical governments over democratically based, but then so have we in many places. World domination is not for wimps, right? I hope they are going to set up a humanitarian relief operation, as the article suggests they may be, but I’m afraid they are just out for more oil rich partnerships in the area. This movement into Syria with their troops is most likely to initiate further conflicts in the area, unless they do mean to fight ISIS on the battlefield, as we apparently have no stomach for doing. I have been thinking for several years now that the Middle East could very well be the location for the beginning of the fabled World War III.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/migrants-europe-germany-austria-hungary-buses/

Thousands of migrants complete epic journey in Europe
CBS/AP
September 5, 2015

Photograph -- Photo of drowned migrant boy shocks world
Play VIDEO -- The numbers behind Europe's migration crisis
Photograph -- Migrants arrive at the Austrian train station of Nickelsdorf to board a train to Germany Sept. 5, 2015. REUTERS/HEINZ-PETER BADER
Play VIDEO -- Migrants leave Budapest for 300 mile journey on foot


BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Thousands of exhausted, elated migrants reached their dream destinations of Germany and Austria on Saturday, completing epic journeys by boat, bus, train and foot to escape war and poverty.

Before dawn, they clambered off a fleet of Hungarian buses at the Austrian border to find a warm welcome from charity workers offering beds and hot tea. Within a few more hours of rapid-fire aid, many found themselves whisked by train to the Austrian capital, Vienna, and the southern German city of Munich.

The surprise overnight effort eased immediate pressure on Hungary, which has struggled to manage the flow of thousands of migrants arriving daily from non-EU member Serbia. But officials warned that the human tide south of Hungary still was rising, and more westward-bound travelers arrived in Budapest within hours of the mass evacuation of the capital's central rail station.

About 4,000 migrants crossed into Austria from Hungary by mid-morning, according to Austrian police spokesman Helmut Marban. Vienna city official Roman Hahslinger said 2,300 had arrived in Vienna by midday, and 1,500 had boarded trains for Salzburg.

Hungary's nationalist government had spent most of the week trying to force migrants to report to government-run refugee centers, but thousands refused and demanded free passage chiefly to Germany.

Migrants arrive at the Austrian train station of Nickelsdorf to board a train to Germany Sept. 5, 2015.

After a three-day standoff with police, thousands marched west Friday from the Keleti train station along Hungary's major motorway and camped overnight in the rain by the roadside. Hundreds more broke through police lines at a train station in the western town of Bicske, where police were trying to take them to a refugee camp, and blocked the main rail line as they, too, marched west.

Ishmael, a cardiologist from Idlib, Syria, told CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata that the decision to walk was less an act of defiance but the actions of people who had run out of options.

"There is no other way," Ishmael said. "We stay in Budapest for eight days. No train, no taxi, no anything."

On the road, D'Agata found Mohammed Usman from the Syrian city of Aleppo taking a break in the shade with his wife, 20-year-old Sara. They needed food and water.

"We don't have anythings on our way," Mohammed said. "We are looking for some people to help us."

And there were. Ordinary Hungarians lined part of their route, like a slow-motion marathon in the 90 degree heat.

Austria and Germany made the breakthrough possible by announcing they would take responsibility for the mass of humanity that was already on the move west or camped out in the thousands at Keleti. Hungary on Tuesday had suspended train services from that station to Austria and Germany, compounding the build-up there in a futile bid to try to make the visitors file asylum papers in Hungary.

Austrian Federal Railways said the arrivals, once they passed through hastily assembled border shelters and enjoyed refreshments, were being placed on trains to both Vienna and the western city of Salzburg and, for those who requested it, links onward to German cities.

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International welcomed the initiative to clear Hungary's humanitarian traffic jam.

"After endless examples of shameful treatment by governments of refugees and migrants in Europe, it is a relief to finally see a sliver of humanity. But this is far from over, both in Hungary and in Europe as a whole," said Gauri van Gulik, Amnesty's deputy director for Europe. "The pragmatic and humane approach finally applied here should become the rule, not the exception."

When the first 400 migrants and refugees arrived in Vienna, charity workers offered a wide choice of supplies displayed in separately labeled shopping carts containing food, water and packages of hygiene products for men and women. A mixed crowd of friends and Austrian onlookers cheered their arrival, with many shouting "Welcome!" in both German and Arabic. One Austrian woman pulled from her handbag a pair of children's rubber rain boots and handed them to a Middle Eastern woman carrying a small boy.

"Austria is very good," said Merhan Harshiri, a 23-year-old Iraqi who smiled broadly as he walked toward the supply line, where newcomers munched on fresh fruit. "We have been treated very well by Austrian police."

"I am very happy," said Firas Al Tahan, 38, a laundry worker from the Syrian capital, Damascus. Seated beside him on the train station's concrete pavement were his 33-year-old wife, Baneaa, in her lap 1-month-old daughter Dahab, and beside them four other children aged 5 to 12, all smiling beside a cart containing green and red apples.

Earlier in jubilant scenes on the border, about 100 busloads of migrants and refugees disembarked on the Hungarian side of the border and walked a short distance into Austria, where volunteers at a roadside Red Cross shelter welcomed them with tea and handshakes. Many of the travelers slumped in exhaustion on the floor, evident relief etched on their faces.

Many had been awoken by friends at Keleti around midnight with news many didn't believe after days of deadlock: Hungary was granting their demand to be allowed to reach Austria and, for many, onward travel to Germany. Many feared that the scores of buses assembling at the terminal instead would take them to Hungarian camps for asylum-seekers, as the government previously insisted must happen. At times, it took extended negotiation at the bus doors to persuade people to climb aboard.

Keleti appeared transformed Saturday as cleaners used power washers to clear what had become a squalid urban refugee camp of approximately 3,000 residents sprawled about every courtyard and tunnel leading to Budapest's subway system. Only about 10 police remained to supervise a much-thinned presence of approximately 500 campers sleeping in pup tents or on blankets and carpets.

Many travelers have spent months in Turkish refugee camps, taken long and risky journeys by boat, train and foot through Greece and the Balkans, and crawled under barbed wire on Hungary's southern frontier to a generally frosty welcome in this country with strong anti-immigrant sentiments.

Since Tuesday morning, Hungarian authorities had refused to let them board trains to the west, and the migrants balked at going to processing centers, fearing they would face deportation or indefinite detention in Hungary. Government officials said they changed course because Hungary's systems were becoming overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.

In Berlin, German officials said they felt it was necessary to take responsibility given Hungary's apparent inability to manage the challenge. But they emphasized that Hungary, as an EU member and first port of call for many migrants, needed to do more to ensure that new arrivals filed for asylum there rather than travel deeper into Europe.

"Because of the emergency situation on the Hungarian border, Austria and Germany have agreed to allow the refugees to travel onward in this case," German government spokesman Georg Streiter told The Associated Press. "It's an attempt to help solve an emergency situation. But we continue to expect Hungary to meet its European obligations."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has led calls for other EU members to shelter migrants as potential refugees, particularly those fleeing civil war in Syria, said in comments published Saturday that her country would observe no legal limit on the number of asylum seekers it might take.

Merkel told the Funke consortium of newspapers that "the right to political asylum has no limits on the number of asylum seekers."

"As a strong, economically healthy country we have the strength to do what is necessary" and ensure that every asylum seeker gets a fair hearing, she was quoted as saying.




“The surprise overnight effort eased immediate pressure on Hungary, which has struggled to manage the flow of thousands of migrants arriving daily from non-EU member Serbia. But officials warned that the human tide south of Hungary still was rising, and more westward-bound travelers arrived in Budapest within hours of the mass evacuation of the capital's central rail station. …. Austrian Federal Railways said the arrivals, once they passed through hastily assembled border shelters and enjoyed refreshments, were being placed on trains to both Vienna and the western city of Salzburg and, for those who requested it, links onward to German cities. The human rights watchdog Amnesty International welcomed the initiative to clear Hungary's humanitarian traffic jam. …. "The pragmatic and humane approach finally applied here should become the rule, not the exception." …. Earlier in jubilant scenes on the border, about 100 busloads of migrants and refugees disembarked on the Hungarian side of the border and walked a short distance into Austria, where volunteers at a roadside Red Cross shelter welcomed them with tea and handshakes. Many of the travelers slumped in exhaustion on the floor, evident relief etched on their faces. …. Many travelers have spent months in Turkish refugee camps, taken long and risky journeys by boat, train and foot through Greece and the Balkans, and crawled under barbed wire on Hungary's southern frontier to a generally frosty welcome in this country with strong anti-immigrant sentiments. …. But they emphasized that Hungary, as an EU member and first port of call for many migrants, needed to do more to ensure that new arrivals filed for asylum there rather than travel deeper into Europe. "Because of the emergency situation on the Hungarian border, Austria and Germany have agreed to allow the refugees to travel onward in this case," German government spokesman Georg Streiter told The Associated Press. "It's an attempt to help solve an emergency situation. But we continue to expect Hungary to meet its European obligations."

Situations like this one always make me nervous, as did the tens of thousands of Latino children from Guatemala and other nations showing up on the Rio Grande. I know, of course, that there is no magic wand which will cause their home countries to become prosperous, democratic and stable so they will want to stay there. I know if we had a hot war in the streets here, I would try to go north to Canada. Germany’s Angela Merkel seems confident in their ability to handle more immigrants, so that is good. There have been problems there already with their assimilation of Islamic people, both in Germany and France over the last decade, and there is rising feeling against non-Christian groups across Europe. I hope this works out better in the future, and that ISIS will be firmly defeated by somebody on the battlefield, since our air attacks alone are not stopping them.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/clintons-paid-outside-salary-to-state-dept-staffer-for-server-upkeep/

Clintons paid outside salary to State Dept. staffer for server upkeep
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
September 5, 2015

Photograph -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at a town hall meeting Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015, in North Las Vegas, Nev. The stop was the first of three in the Las Vegas area on Tuesday. AP / JOHN LOCHER
Play VIDEO -- New Clinton email release include 150 with sensitive information


The State Department aide in charge of maintaining Hillary Clinton's private server was not being paid by the federal government to do so -- instead, the Clinton family personally paid the staffer, a campaign official told the Washington Post.

IT professional Bryan Pagliano was paid $5,000 for "computer services" by the Clintons before he joined the State Department staff, the newspaper reports. After he started working at the department in May 2009, however, Pagliano continued to receive payments from the Clinton family to maintain the server.

Pagliano listed the initial payment on financial disclosures he filed in April 2009 but did not catalog the continuing income in required filings in later years. The State Department reportedly found no evidence that Pagliano ever informed them that he was making an outside salary.

South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, who heads the House Select Committee investigating the 2012 attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, subpoenaed Pagliano last month to testify before congressional investigators about Clinton's server. But in a letter earlier this week, Pagliano informed Gowdy that would invoke the Fifth Amendment and would not appear before the committee.

Clinton's presidential campaign has said they encouraged Pagliano to testify.

"We have been confident from the beginning that Hillary Clinton's use of a personal email was allowed and that she did not send or receive anything marked classified, facts confirmed by the State Department and the Inspector General," campaign spokesperson Nick Merrill said in a statement Thursday. "She has made every effort to answer questions and be as helpful as possible, and has encouraged her aides, current and former, to do the same, including Bryan Pagliano."

Pagliano isn't the only former State Department staffer that Clinton has hired for purposes outside of government work. Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide, also served as the then-secretary's deputy chief of staff and later went on to work at the Clinton Foundation.

Pagliano himself served as the IT director for Clinton in her 2008 presidential campaign and has since worked for her political action committee.

On Friday, the Democratic presidential hopeful said she was "sorry" for how confusing the issue of her emails had become for voters.

"It was allowed, and it was fully aboveboard ... but it would have been better if I had two separate accounts to begin with," she told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell in an interview. "I am sorry that this has been confusing to people and has raised a lot of questions, but there are answers to all these questions."




“The State Department aide in charge of maintaining Hillary Clinton's private server was not being paid by the federal government to do so -- instead, the Clinton family personally paid the staffer, a campaign official told the Washington Post. IT professional Bryan Pagliano was paid $5,000 for "computer services" by the Clintons before he joined the State Department staff, the newspaper reports. After he started working at the department in May 2009, however, Pagliano continued to receive payments from the Clinton family to maintain the server. Pagliano listed the initial payment on financial disclosures he filed in April 2009 but did not catalog the continuing income in required filings in later years. The State Department reportedly found no evidence that Pagliano ever informed them that he was making an outside salary. …. But in a letter earlier this week, Pagliano informed Gowdy that would invoke the Fifth Amendment and would not appear before the committee. Clinton's presidential campaign has said they encouraged Pagliano to testify. …. Pagliano isn't the only former State Department staffer that Clinton has hired for purposes outside of government work. Huma Abedin, a longtime Clinton aide, also served as the then-secretary's deputy chief of staff and later went on to work at the Clinton Foundation. …. "It was allowed, and it was fully aboveboard ... but it would have been better if I had two separate accounts to begin with," she told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell in an interview.”

Clinton’s use of the private account was almost certainly an attempt to maintain complete privacy in her emails, but it did offer the ability for her to conduct affairs that may have been unethical. So far, the powers that be have not found much that would have been illegal or unethical, at least that has been divulged to the press. They are busily marking her emails “classified” now, though they weren’t so designated at the time that they were exchanged. For Pagliano to invoke the Fifth Amendment doesn’t look good, though, since it implies that something which was “not quite right” may have happened. For him, it might have involved deleting suspicious material that could cause Clinton to be in more trouble than just this cloud of suspicion. However, if they don’t find “a smoking gun” when they finish examining all of her emails, Congressional and Senatorial Republicans will have wasted a great deal of time and money in the hopes of knocking her out of the Presidential race in 2016. Personally I would rather see Sanders, Warren, or Biden run for the Democratic Party, but I don’t want to see her smeared in this way. That tactic is one of the “dirty tricks” that the Republicans have become known for using down through the years that I have been voting.





http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/05/437792215/japan-reopens-town-shuttered-by-fukushima-nuclear-disaster

Japan Reopens Town Shuttered By Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
Scott Neuman
SEPTEMBER 05, 2015

Photograph -- Noraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto, rear left, plants a tree with children of Naraha residents during an event in Naraha, Fukushima, northern Japan, on Saturday.


More than four years after the 7,400 residents of the Japanese town of Naraha were evacuated after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant melted down in the wake of a devastating tsunami, the government is allowing people to return.

Following several years of decontamination, Naraha is the first town in the area to allow residents to return. It was evacuated in March 2011 after the Fukushima plant was smashed by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami near Sendai, setting off the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The central government has said radiation is at safe levels.

"The clock that was stopped has now begun to tick," Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto said at a ceremony attended by about 100 people. Naraha is "at the starting line at last," he told reporters.

But, according to The Associated Press, a survey indicates that 53 percent of the evacuees from the town, about 12 miles south of the nuclear plant, "say they're either not ready to return home permanently or are undecided. Some say they've found jobs elsewhere over the past few years, while others cite radiation concerns."

The Japan Times reports: "To address lingering radiation concerns, dosimeters will be handed out and 24-hour monitoring will be conducted at a water filtration plant. Also, tap water will be tested at households worried about radioactive contamination."




“More than four years after the 7,400 residents of the Japanese town of Naraha were evacuated after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant melted down in the wake of a devastating tsunami, the government is allowing people to return. Following several years of decontamination, Naraha is the first town in the area to allow residents to return. It was evacuated in March 2011 after the Fukushima plant was smashed by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami near Sendai, setting off the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. …. But, according to The Associated Press, a survey indicates that 53 percent of the evacuees from the town, about 12 miles south of the nuclear plant, "say they're either not ready to return home permanently or are undecided. Some say they've found jobs elsewhere over the past few years, while others cite radiation concerns." The Japan Times reports: "To address lingering radiation concerns, dosimeters will be handed out and 24-hour monitoring will be conducted at a water filtration plant. Also, tap water will be tested at households worried about radioactive contamination." I am personally surprised that Japan is planning to open the town up again to residents. A comparison with the case of Chernobyl should be useful. See excerpts from the article below. The good news here is that the Chernobyl disaster was on a much larger scale than that in Japan. There may be some hope of making it safe again for human habitation there.

http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2012/04/26/chernobyl-no-chance-decontamination-will-be-resumed-no-return-will-be-allowed-for-centuries/

Chernobyl: No Chance Decontamination Will Be Resumed – No Return Will Be Allowed For Centuries
Environment, Global News, Health
2012

“From the article:

Mr. Zolotoverkh, 58, who is in charge of managing the Zone, says there is no chance that decontamination will be resumed, adding, “No one will be allowed to return, not after decades, not after centuries.”

– With clean-up around Chernobyl abandoned, what can Japan learn from 1986 disaster? (Mainichi, April 25, 2012):

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine — April 26 will mark the 26th anniversary of the worst case of nuclear contamination in history: the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Since the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in March last year, the Japanese government has shown interest in decontamination and other projects around Chernobyl as a reference point for efforts to deal with its own nuclear disaster.

However in northern Ukraine, where the radioactive husk of the former Soviet power station lies, large-scale decontamination work has been abandoned as largely ineffective, and disaster refugees are no closer to going home.

I am a little less than 10 kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear plant, in a warehouse-like building with a long, narrow trough for waste water cut into the floor. This is where workers clad in protective suits scrub down vehicles and heavy machinery that have gone into high-radiation areas. The scrubbing is done by hand, until the radiation emissions from the truck or the bulldozer drops below 0.5 microsieverts per hour.

Just after the 1986 disaster — in which one of the Chernobyl plant’s reactors exploded, blowing off the reactor housing roof and spewing radioactive material into the air — Soviet authorities swung into a full-scale decontamination effort, including burying contaminated soil, and washing and then melting down contaminated machinery. However, in the 14 years between the disaster and the year 2000 — when the last operating reactor at the plant was finally shut down — authorities apparently judged that there had been “little improvement” in soil conditions, and they decided to halt soil decontamination.

The only decontamination operations going on now are for workers doing safety work in and around the dead plant, including decommissioning the reactors and preventing forest fires. There are currently about 3,700 people who work inside the 30-kilometer radius no-go area around the plant — referred to simply as “the Zone” — and they must have their clothes decontaminated periodically. During seasons when humidity is low, vehicles are typically washed one or two times a week, and roads near the plant are also scrubbed.

More than 110,000 people once lived in the Zone, all of whom were evacuated right after the accident. The Soviet authorities apparently attempted to decontaminate the town of Prypiat — where Chernobyl plant workers and their families had lived — soon after, but with no success.

Mr. Zolotoverkh, 58, who is in charge of managing the Zone, says there is no chance that decontamination will be resumed, adding, “No one will be allowed to return, not after decades, not after centuries.”

About 110 kilometers southwest of the plant is the city of Korostyshiv, which the former Soviet government labeled an “evacuation advisory area” — one of 440 residential communities given the designation. The Soviet Union established four categories for irradiated areas: forced evacuation areas, forced migration areas, evacuation advisory areas, and radiation management areas. Serious decontamination work in the advisory areas such as Korostyshiv did not begin until 1990, four years after the accident.

The municipal government, meanwhile, replaced the local top soil as well as the roof of every home and school in its jurisdiction. The city also paved over land that had been exposed to the Chernobyl fallout, including the front yard of 53-year-old housewife Ms. Valentina.

The municipal official in charge of the project emphasizes that the efforts resulted in a 50 percent drop in radiation in the 20 years after the accident. This has not, however, staunched a steady flow of people out of the city. Since 1990, Korostyshiv’s population has dropped from about 80,000 to 67,000, though the city stresses that this is beginning to turn around.

Valentina’s husband passed away from cancer in 2000 at just 48-years-old, and she says that many other members of her family have suffered damage to their health.

Regarding decontamination of homes, Ukrainian government radiation expert Mr. Tabachnyi says, “I can’t say it’s had any effect but to calm the fears of the residents,” adding, “About $1 million was thrown into reducing radiation levels in Korostyshiv to 1 sievert or less per year. It was definitely not a cost-effective effort.”

In June 1986, the Soviet government decided to allow residents back to parts of the forced migration areas that were relatively uncontaminated on a trial basis. Decontamination work was done, and the project drew up indices that would show whether the efforts could be applied to the clean-up of other areas. However, the authorities recognized that dangerous radioactive materials remained, and revoked permission for residents to return two years later.

Now, with buildings and infrastructure decaying, “there’s almost no chance that permission to return will ever be given,” says Tabachnyi, meaning the more than 10,000 Ukrainian “forced migrants” will probably never go home again.

On April 18 this year, Japan and the Ukraine finalized an agreement to share information on the countries’ respective nuclear disasters, and the Japanese government is looking to learn “the lessons of Chernobyl” as it implements policy to contain the aftermath of the Fukushima meltdowns.

The scale of the two disasters, however, is different. The Chernobyl accident is thought to have released several times the radioactive material of the Fukushima disaster. The decontamination of agricultural lands — a process that Japan has put so much faith into — has been essentially abandoned around the Chernobyl plant, and there is increasing criticism that there is “no way Chernobyl can give any insight into the Japanese situation.”






http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/09/05/437699700/why-are-23-people-running-for-president

Why Are So Many People Running For President?
SARAH MCCAMMON
SEPTEMBER 05, 2015

Photograph -- Republican presidential candidates Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal and Rick Perry participate in a pre-debate forum Aug. 6 in Cleveland. The event gave airtime to seven candidates whose polling numbers were below a top-ten cutoff Fox News set to participate in the main debate.
John Minchillo/AP
Video -- YouTube -- They're Dreaming Of A Lucky Longshot


Running for president is expensive and exhausting — but this year, some 22 people seem to think it's a good idea. There are five major candidates for the Democratic nomination and a whopping 17 on the Republican side.

But why? As it turns out, there are many reasons.

They Think They Have A Real Chance

With no incumbent president running, the race is wide open — which GOP pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson says makes a lot of people believe they have a chance.

"Running for president is a particularly unpleasant experience, and you really have to believe that you have a shot in order to subject yourself to the process," she says.

You also have to be able to sell voters on your commitment to the job. Ted Kennedy, the late senator from Massachusetts, when questioned by CBS journalist Roger Mudd in 1979, famously struggled to explain why he was considering a run for the Democratic nomination. That misstep overshadowed his campaign, and likely contributed to his loss to former President Jimmy Carter in the 1980 primary.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was the first major candidate to drop out of the race for the 2012 Republican nomination. He says some hopefuls are drawn in because they believe their message might catch fire with voters.

"There may be some candidates who are viewed as less serious, but hopeful that they might be able to replicate what Jimmy Carter did long ago, or Bill Clinton did long ago — who were people who weren't well-known at the time, but they did sort of catch lightning in a bottle," Pawlenty says.

They Have An Agenda To Push

Others may realize that their chances of winning are slim, but run to bring attention to a particular issue or ideology.

Chris Ellis, a political scientist at Bucknell University, points to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent running for the Democratic nomination on a platform attacking economic inequality. Ellis also notes the campaign of Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — like his father Ron Paul's in 2008 and 2012 — is promoting libertarian ideas.

They Crave The Spotlight

Even though it's grueling, Ellis says for some people, campaigning for president can be fun.

"I think anyone who runs for president has a little bit of Donald Trump in them," Ellis says, "in that they sort of like the attention, want to be famous, even if it's just to advance policy goals."

'Why Not Me?'

Sometimes, as the field gets bigger, more potential candidates think they might as well run, too.

Mo Elleithee, a former Democratic National Committee spokesman who now leads Georgetown University's Institute of Politics and Public Service, calls it the "Why Not Me?" reason.

"[They think], 'I can't believe that yahoo is running — if that yahoo can run, then why not me?' " Elleithee says. "It makes them believe that they can. Sometimes legitimately so, sometimes delusionally so."

Hoping For a Consolation Prize

Even if they know they're unlikely to win, some candidates may also have their eyes on consolation prizes. At best, they could land a vice presidential slot, or like Hillary Clinton after her failed 2008 bid for the Democratic nomination, a prominent cabinet post — positions that can increase their visibility and bone fides for another run in the future.

The Book/TV Deal

Sometimes presidential hopefuls can cash in on their modest success. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who's running again this year, wound up with his own Fox News show after his unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination in 2008.

While the campaign didn't have the outcome Huckabee had hoped for, he's done much better financially since running for the White House than he had before then.

But Pawlenty says that such a career plan has its limits: "I don't think Fox News, for example, needs 17 more commentators."




This article gives a number of reasons why people decide to join in the race – like those who run in the New York City Marathon, perhaps. To get attention and economic advantage, to really win the nomination, to advance one’s own political ideas, to match themselves against other equally unknown candidates, etc. are all plausible reasons. At the very least they may be able to sell a new book about their views. It is certain that one of them will become the President of the USA, however, and many, many young men and women in this country grow up dreaming of that. Joining the race, given that fact, is not really ridiculous unless the candidate is very much an underqualified party. Personally, I do believe that Donald Trump or Sarah Palin are in that category, but THEY DON’T THINK THAT! So the excitement builds as they all come forward as contenders. It is always exciting for me to watch the news in a presidential year. Go, Democrats!





http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/04/437648259/aretha-franklin-blocks-premiere-of-concert-film-amazing-grace

Aretha Franklin Blocks Premiere Of Concert Film 'Amazing Grace'
Bill Chappell
SEPTEMBER 04, 2015

Photograph -- Singer Aretha Franklin has won a temporary injunction to stop a documentary about her live album Amazing Grace from being released. The film was to premiere Friday.
Express Newspapers/Getty Images


Hours before it was scheduled to screen at the Telluride Film Festival, the Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace has been pulled, after a federal court granted the singer an injunction. The film centers on footage shot by late director Sydney Pollack at a 1972 Franklin concert.

A trailer for Amazing Grace was released last month; the film depicts Franklin performing "Mary Don't You Weep" and other gospel songs, backed by James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir.

As a documentary about Franklin's famous performance at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church that became the Grammy-winning live album Amazing Grace, the film has long suffered from technical and legal challenges.

Many of those issues had seemed settled before Friday, and the long-awaited premiere of the film was one of the most anticipated releases of the Telluride festival. But after Franklin sought an injunction, a judge in Colorado said the singer should have the right to approve a film that presents her work and likeness.

From The Denver Post:

"Tenth-district federal court Judge John L. Kane cited copyright law and a 1968 recording contract with Warner Bros. in deciding that the screenings would harm Franklin's likeness and ability to control her image."

The Telluride festival organizers had no statement about the legal battle, saying only that the screening had been blocked. Amazing Grace is also set to be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, which begins next week.

Pollack died in 2008; over the years, explanations for the film's shelving have touched on problems syncing the video to the audio, as well as disputed rights to the musical performance and footage.

From The Los Angeles Times:

"‎Alan Elliott, a former music producer who teaches at UCLA, had reclaimed the film seven years ago in the wake of Pollack's passing, honoring a deathbed request from Pollack that Elliott finish the movie. He synced the audio quickly but was held up in legal limbo after initial studio Warner Bros. first contested Elliott's rights to the material, then relented.

"Meanwhile, Franklin has been unhappy about the film for years, contending that the footage was taken for a particular aim at the time and that no one had the right to repurpose it all these years later. The singer sued Elliott about five years ago, seeking to stop him from finishing and distributing the film. In 2011, she and Elliott‎ reached a settlement that he would not use the material without her consent. But he says that agreement became moot when WB found a personal-services contract from 1972, suggesting that Franklin did not have any claim to the use of the material."




“A trailer for Amazing Grace was released last month; the film depicts Franklin performing "Mary Don't You Weep" and other gospel songs, backed by James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir. As a documentary about Franklin's famous performance at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church that became the Grammy-winning live album Amazing Grace, the film has long suffered from technical and legal challenges. Many of those issues had seemed settled before Friday, and the long-awaited premiere of the film was one of the most anticipated releases of the Telluride festival. But after Franklin sought an injunction, a judge in Colorado said the singer should have the right to approve a film that presents her work and likeness. …. Pollack died in 2008; over the years, explanations for the film's shelving have touched on problems syncing the video to the audio, as well as disputed rights to the musical performance and footage. …. "‎Alan Elliott, a former music producer who teaches at UCLA, had reclaimed the film seven years ago in the wake of Pollack's passing, honoring a deathbed request from Pollack that Elliott finish the movie. He synced the audio quickly but was held up in legal limbo after initial studio Warner Bros. first contested Elliott's rights to the material, then relented. …. . In 2011, she and Elliott‎ reached a settlement that he would not use the material without her consent. But he says that agreement became moot when WB found a personal-services contract from 1972, suggesting that Franklin did not have any claim to the use of the material."

There have been a number of articles about artists, especially musicians and singers, being ill served by their managers or their contracts. I certainly wouldn’t want her or any singer to fail to receive the money that they are due, or the right to pass ownership down to their heirs. They often live a difficult and emotionally painful life behind the limelight of their fame. I just found a report of her death from this month, which is “a complete hoax.” See the following clips from Wikipedia on her true life history. Her voice, along with that of Judy Collins, and a number of men and women from the rock genres, guided me through the emotional transition from the small town married woman to the city dwelling feminist. At this point I have accepted all the painful things and graduated to a day to day peace which involves the AA way of thinking – living “Twenty-Four Hours A Day” as their daily meditation book is titled.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin
Aretha Franklin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Aretha Louise Franklin (born March 25, 1942) is an American singer and musician. Franklin began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin's church as a child. In 1960, at the age of 18, Franklin embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records only achieving modest success. Following her signing to Atlantic Records in 1967, Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with songs such as "Respect", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "Think". These hits and more helped her to gain the title The Queen of Soul by the end of the 1960s decade.

Franklin eventually recorded a total of 112 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries and twenty number-one R&B singles, becoming the most charted female artist in the chart's history. Franklin also recorded acclaimed albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul, Young, Gifted & Black and Amazing Grace before experiencing problems with her record company by the mid-1970s.

Franklin has won a total of 18 Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling female artists of all time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide.[1] Franklin has been honored throughout her career including a 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in which she became the first female performer to be inducted. She was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In August 2012, Franklin was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame.[2] Franklin is listed in at least two all-time lists on Rolling Stone magazine, including the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, in which she placed number 9, and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time in which she placed number 1.[3][4]”





http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/04/436916900/open-your-eyes-to-the-infinite-possibility-of-the-tomato

Open Your Eyes To The Infinite Possibility Of The Tomato
Eliza Barclay
SEPTEMBER 04, 2015

Photograph -- a dessert inspired by Caprese salad.
Ryan Kellman/NPR
Photograph -- Chef Jamie Simpson and his team brainstormed a list of ideas for the tomato dinner, starting with the question, "What doesn't go with tomato?"
Ryan Kellman/NPR


It's that time of year when some gardeners and tomato-coveting shoppers face a vexing question: What on earth am I going to do with all these tomatoes I grew (or bought)?

A select few up to their elbows in tomatoes may have an additional quandary: How am I going to prepare different kinds of tomatoes to honor their unique qualities?

Chef Jamie Simpson of the Culinary Vegetable Institute faced a particularly challenging version of this last week: 100 pounds of 60 different kinds of tomatoes to transform into a seven-course, tomatocentric dinner. Fortunately, it's Simpson's job to come up with creative solutions to such problems of abundance. And as Simpson deftly reminded us, the possibility of the tomato is pretty much infinite.

Chef Jamie Simpson and his team brainstormed a list of ideas for the tomato dinner, starting with the question, "What doesn't go with tomato?"

Simpson was tasked with planning and executing the dinner at the CVI in Milan, Ohio, drawing from a gorgeous selection of tomatoes provided by the Chef's Garden, a farm down the road in Huron, Ohio, which grows specialty vegetables for chefs.

Farmer Lee Jones, who runs Chef's Garden with his brother and father, tells The Salt they planted 106 varieties of tomatoes this year. Some are in trials and won't go to market. But a whopping 60 varieties of all different shapes, sizes, flavors and ages (from centuries-old heirlooms to brand new hybrids) are being harvested right now.

Most of the tomatoes grown at Chef's Garden are shipped daily to chefs around the U.S. and other countries, but a few of them make their way over to the CVI. The Jones family helped establish the institute 13 years ago as a playground for chefs to test out new vegetables grown on the farm and as an event space for seasonal dinners and workshops for the public.

The CVI features a huge open kitchen, where Simpson spends his days tinkering on his own projects and assisting visiting chefs who come to experiment with the farm's vegetables for new dishes and menus.

Every few months, the CVI hosts a dinner focused on an ingredient in season. And then dozens and dozens of pounds of that ingredient end up on the loading dock behind the kitchen. Simpson transforms them into a multicourse meal using every cooking technique he can think of.

In August, as tomato season descended, Simpson brainstormed with his staff to figure out just how to do justice to his bounty. His first question to them: "What doesn't go with tomato?" Turns out that's a really hard question to answer. (If you, like me, thought chocolate, Simpson says you're wrong. Chocolate can go with tomato.)

Three dishes from the Tomato Showcase dinner at the Culinary Vegetable Institute: (from left) green tomatoes, pickled and fried, with tomato leaves; tomato salad; and a dessert inspired by Caprese salad.

Three dishes from the Tomato Showcase dinner at the Culinary Vegetable Institute: (from left) green tomatoes, pickled and fried, with tomato leaves; tomato salad; and For each course, Simpson says he thought hard about the "perfect tomato for the application." That's an especially daunting task with 60 tomatoes to choose from, including such exotics as the kiwi cherry berry and the pineapple tomatillo. (In the end he didn't use all 60, but rather a couple of dozen varieties.)

Rather than reinvent tomato cuisine, Simpson decided to focus on the classic ways that Americans eat the savory fruit — and then mix it up. The meal started with a Bloody Mary, except instead of tomato juice, we got tomato water, with whole, frozen cherry tomatoes instead of ice cubes to keep the drink cool.

Next, he served a single, perfectly rectangular french fry with a thin line of tomato ketchup on top. Other highlights from the meal included green tomatoes that had been pickled and then fried still on the vine, which was also edible and delightfully crunchy. They were served with dark green tomato leaves, which Simpson determined were perfectly safe to eat, despite the fact that the tomato is a member of the deadly nightshade family.

There was rigatoni and meatballs and tomato sauce, the rigatoni made, mostly, from extruded tomato. A tomato soup course came with a delicate layer of a Moroccan-style bread spread thin across the top of the bowl, with chunks of cheese baked in. The smooth tomato soup was poured through a hole in the bread.

Lastly, Simpson proved that tomatoes can make for a charming dessert: upside-down cornmeal tomato cake, served with mozzarella ice cream and basil jus — a nod to the Caprese salad.




“It's that time of year when some gardeners and tomato-coveting shoppers face a vexing question: What on earth am I going to do with all these tomatoes I grew (or bought)? A select few up to their elbows in tomatoes may have an additional quandary: How am I going to prepare different kinds of tomatoes to honor their unique qualities? …. Chef Jamie Simpson of the Culinary Vegetable Institute faced a particularly challenging version of this last week: 100 pounds of 60 different kinds of tomatoes to transform into a seven-course, tomatocentric dinner. Fortunately, it's Simpson's job to come up with creative solutions to such problems of abundance. And as Simpson deftly reminded us, the possibility of the tomato is pretty much infinite. …. Every few months, the CVI hosts a dinner focused on an ingredient in season. And then dozens and dozens of pounds of that ingredient end up on the loading dock behind the kitchen. Simpson transforms them into a multicourse meal using every cooking technique he can think of. …. Simpson was tasked with planning and executing the dinner at the CVI in Milan, Ohio, drawing from a gorgeous selection of tomatoes provided by the Chef's Garden, a farm down the road in Huron, Ohio, which grows specialty vegetables for chefs. Farmer Lee Jones, who runs Chef's Garden with his brother and father, tells The Salt they planted 106 varieties of tomatoes this year. Some are in trials and won't go to market. But a whopping 60 varieties of all different shapes, sizes, flavors and ages (from centuries-old heirlooms to brand new hybrids) are being harvested right now. …. They were served with dark green tomato leaves, which Simpson determined were perfectly safe to eat, despite the fact that the tomato is a member of the deadly nightshade family.”

Four members of the toxic Nightshade family, the tomato, the tomatillo, the Irish potato, and the pepper make up a large proportion of the vegetables we eat today. The tomatillo appears mainly in Mexican food, but I grew it in my garden a few years ago and it is delicious either lightly stewed or raw. It is also called the Ground Cherry. It shares the flavors of the tomato and the pepper, without the spicy “hot” taste. It is a cultivated version of a wild plant, also called Ground Cherry, that my father used to pick in the woods in Piedmont North Carolina and eat as he walked along. It’s no more filling than a wild strawberry, but equally tasty. It is exceptionally pretty, with a delicate lantern-shaped husk over the yellow berry that grows inside.

The Irish potato, like the tomato group, are highly prolific. A small family could plant several rows of potatoes and get a cellar full of tubers to be used all winter. They should be stored in the dark, because if their skin turns green (from photosynthesis) they will develop a powerful toxin -- belladonna. The flavorful starchy tuber will go a long way toward feeding a hungry family.

The pepper family are cultivated all over Latin America and used heavily in food. The North American branch of the nightshade family is, indeed, a native here in the US, and not an import from Europe. It is called Solanum americanum. The American Indians developed peppers from that plant, and gave them to us. The ground cherry is in the same group. The other familiar family member, also cultivated and traded by the Indians, is tobacco. It’s fun to smoke, but if you swallow much at all it, too, will kill you. That’s why tobacco chewers have to spit frequently. Gross!!

The plant mentioned below by the horticulturist called Angel’s Trumpet is exotically beautiful, but stinks. It was used by the American Indians also for medicinal purposes. It produces sedation, euphoria and hallucinations. It is abused by drug users for its recreational value, but I wouldn’t use it because it can be deadly. See: http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-840-ANGEL'S%20TRUMPET.aspx?activeIngredientId=840&activeIngredientName=ANGEL'S%20TRUMPET.

As for whether or not tomato leaves are actually edible, I found a raging argument between Internet posts on the subject. Personally I am going to go with my personal logic and never, never eat a tomato or potato leaf. See the following from Yahoo Answers:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130711100554AASIf31:

Are tomato plant leaves edible? If so how do you cook them or can I pickle them like grape leaves???

Answers –

Best Answer: OH HEAVENS NO ! The Tomato, all peppers and the potato are all members of the deadly nightshade family along with tobacco and a plant called Angel's trumpet. Never eat any part of these except tomatoes, peppers and potatoes.

Source(s):
I'm an organic horticulturist, and I have copd because I smoked tobacco for 40 years before I quit, so now I'm on oxygen.
Walter • 2 years ago


TheThinker

Walter, and most of the rest of you...do your research before spreading the same incorrect, "old wives' tales". As Jenny said, not only are tomato leaves edible, the tomatine they contain could be a cancer-fighting substance. "In the know" chefs, like California's Paul Bertoli, add the leaves to tomato sauce to enhance the fresh tomato flavor. Just because a distant plant relative is poisonous does not mean a whole family of plants are. On the other hand, potato leaves and potatoes that are green from exposure to the sun are not edible. To confuse things further...sweet potato leaves, an entirely different plant than white or "baking" potatoes are edible!. The point is that, just because something is "common knowledge" does not mean it is correct!


DJ Osiris • 1 year ago

Comment

tomato plants and pepper leaves are edible. Asian been eating these plants down to the roots as long as i can remember. But potato plants are NOT edible.


Vanessa • 1 year ago

no they are not edible at all. tomato plants are poisonous and the only thing edible are the tomatoes. They contain solanine.

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanine