October 23, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/debris-with-tracking-numbers-from-sunken-ship-el-faro-found/

Debris from sunken cargo ship El Faro floats ashore in the Bahamas
CBS NEWS
October 22, 2015

Photograph -- The tracking number on the unit, SEG9028902, matches information in Tote Maritime Puerto Rico's customer portal for a container that was on board El Faro WJAX
Play VIDEO -- Florida community mourns El Faro crew


NASSAU, Bahamas -- Possible debris from El Faro is starting to wash ashore in the Bahamas, and a refrigeration unit found on the beach there has been confirmed to be from El Faro, CBS affiliate WJAX reports.

The tracking number on the unit, SEG9028902, matches information in Tote Maritime Puerto Rico's customer portal for a container that was on board El Faro.

Action News Jax has obtained new photos of other items believed to be part of the cargo shipment on El Faro.

The ship's last known position was just off Crooked Island and the debris has been washing up on San Salvador.

Action News Jax's Phil Amato spoke with a reporter covering this story in the Bahamas.

Debris, likely part of a container, has been washing up on two islands in the Bahamas as early as Friday, according to a Nassau Guardian newspaper reporter who received pictures of other items washed ashore, including dozens of deodorant containers and body wash.

Beach-goers also found syringes and other toiletries, as well as tennis shoes, shaving cream and containers filled with a colored liquid.

Reporter Travis Cartwright-Carroll said people told him they discovered the items on San Salvador and Exuma Island.

"Now a lot of residents were reportedly going on the beach and taking whatever items that they found from what we're told," Cartwright-Carroll said on Wednesday.

Exuma Island is northwest of Crooked Island and San Salvador is northeast of Crooked Island, near where El Faro is believed to have sunk

Up until Tuesday, no one had been to the islands to verify if any of the items were from El Faro

"I reached out to Tote Maritime, which owns the El Faro, and they told me they would make some inquires. The island administrators, I asked them if they were able to reach out to anybody or if anyone contacted them about these items and they said no ... so it sounds like it's just something that people are just becoming aware of," Cartwright-Carroll said.

Another section of a container also washed ashore along with a jar of yellow capsules. More unusual items were found, as well.

"One resident in San Salvador told me that they found a freezer filled with candy bars and chocolate and stuff like that," Cartwright-Carroll said.

A spokesperson for Tote Services, sister company of Tote Maritime, sent Action News Jax a statement that said in part: "Tote Services is aware of the situation and is working with the relevant authorities to verify that the material is from the El Faro."

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter C. Knudson released the following statement: "The NTSB has not received any direct reports of debris from El Faro being recovered in the Bahamas. We would be interested in documenting any debris related to vital systems such as lifesaving equipment."

We are still awaiting word from the U.S. Navy to see if they are trying to identify the items that washed ashore at both locations.

The debris has gotten the attention Lonnie Samuels, whose brother was a crew member on the ship.

Samuels said he wants answers.

"We really need closure," Samuels said.

He said his family won't believe their loved one is gone until there is concrete evidence.

"All we can do is hope and pray right now," Samuels said.




This article leaves me deeply sad, especially since I learned last week that the captain probably went south at that time against his better judgment due to pressure from upper management. A report last week said that he had almost lost his job about a year ago for “playing it safe,” rather than keeping to an established schedule. All I could think of is this song from my younger years, “Cruel Mistress.” For a slightly too loud, but beautiful, audio record see below. http://www.last.fm/music/Flogging+Molly/Drunken+Lullabies/Cruel+Mistress.

Needless to say, many in this city are in mourning, because Jacksonville FL is the ship’s home port, and the senselessness and waste of this situation appalls me. It’s like the cases when a coal mine has failed to repair the roof structure and people are trapped below by a cave-in. I wouldn’t mind businesses making money if they would simply follow honest, ethical and intelligent operations. Making money on the backs of Middle Class to poor people offends me greatly.


http://www.metrolyrics.com/cruel-mistress-lyrics-flogging-molly.html

Cruel Mistress Lyrics
from Drunken Lullabies

Flogging Molly - lyrics Drunken Lullabies Other Album Songs

"Cruel Mistress" is track #2 on the album Drunken Lullabies. It was written by Bridget Regan;david King;dennis Casey;robert Anthony Schmidt;matthew Hensley;nathen Jeglinski;george Edward Schwindt.


Next time out to sea
Bring enough soul to bury me
For I don't want my final jig
In a belly of a squid

Next time out to sea
Bring enough soul to bury me
For I don't want my final jig
In a belly of a squid

Take my trousers take my shirt
Just give me that sweet dirt
For the water's cold and grim
And I never did learn to swim

No her love never set me free
So I set off for the ocean
Now in my dreams she comes to me
Whispering of peace

But I've known since the day
That we sailed for Santiago
Her dry embrace would kiss my face
No never, no more

The sea is a cruel mistress
The sea is a cruel mistress

Many moons to the day
That I threw her love away
Now every whale spouts, "Go to hell"
As the wind laughs in my face

I've grown harder on the eyes
And salty to the taste
My pride has gone with the wake
As I wait a cold wet grave

I rose to the smell
Of a wet desert hell
And I thought to myself
How'd I wind up in this jail

Till a voice called to me
From deep within the sea
Dry your eyes my dear fisherman
Your ass belongs to me

The sea is a cruel mistress
The sea is a cruel mistress

The earth will rest my bones
Lord I know, Lord I know
But I'll see you when I get home
From the cold, yeah from the cold

No her love never set me free
So I set out for the ocean
Now in my dreams she comes to me
Whispering of peace

But I've known since the day
That we sailed for Santiago
Her dry embrace would kiss my face
No never, no more

The sea is a cruel mistress
The sea is a cruel mistress

Next time out to sea
Bring enough soil to bury me
For I don't want my final jig
In the belly of a squid

Next time out to sea
Bring enough soil to bury me
For in my dreams she comes to me
Whispering of peace

Next time out to sea
Bring enough soil to bury me
For I don't want my final jig
In the belly of a squid

Songwriters
Bridget Regan;David King;Dennis Casey;Robert Anthony Schmidt;Matthew Hensley;Nathen Jeglinski;George Edward Schwindt

Published by
26F GELLERT HILL MUSIC;TWENTYSIXF MUSIC





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kiss-between-two-stars-could-lead-to-giant-explosion/

Stars locked in potentially fatal cosmic "kiss"
By BRIAN MASTROIANNI CBS NEWS
October 21, 2015

Photograph -- This artist’s impression shows VFTS 352 — the hottest and most massive double star system to date where the two components are in contact and sharing material. The two stars in this extreme system lie about 160 000 light-years from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This intriguing system could be heading for a dramatic end, either with the formation of a single giant star or as a future binary black hole. ESO/L. CALÇADA


It's a potentially dangerous "kiss."

Thanks to the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope, astronomers discovered the largest and hottest double star. Located in the Tarantula Nebula -- about 160,000 light-years from Earth -- the two astral bodies making up the VFTS 352 star system nearly touch one another, which means that they could either create one giant star or create a binary black hole.

"The VFTS 352 is the best case yet found for a hot and massive double star that may show this kind of internal mixing," said study lead author Leonardo A. Almeida, of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in a press release. "As such it's a fascinating and important discovery."

There is a distance of just about 7.4 million miles separating the centers of the stars, and their surfaces are so close that a bridge formed between them. Collectively, the stars are huge. They possess a combined mass that is about 57 times that of the sun.

This kind of binary star system plays a crucial role in the creation of galaxies and it is theorized that they are the main producers of elements like oxygen.

While the interaction between these two stars might resemble the phenomenon of "vampire stars" -- one smaller star sucks out the matter from the surface of the larger star next to it -- both parts of VFTS 352 are of identical size. The researchers hypothesize that rather than taking from one another, the stars might be sharing about 30 percent of their matter.

Given how rare it is to find this kind of star system, the researchers are unsure what the final outcome will be. Lead scientist Hugues Sana, of the University of Leuven in Belgium, said that the final merger of the stars could lead to "one of the most energetic explosions in the universe, known as a long-duration gamma-ray burst."

Lead theoretical astrophysicist Selma de Mink said another outcome is possible.

"If the stars are mixed well enough, they both remain compact and the VFTS 352 system may avoid merging," she said. "This would lead the objects down a new evolutionary path that is completely different from classic stellar evolution predictions. In the case of VFTS 352, the components would likely end their lives in supernova explosions, forming a close binary system of black holes. Such a remarkable object would be an intense source of gravitational waves."




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-benghazi-testimony-viewers-guide/

Hillary Clinton's Benghazi testimony: A viewer's guide
By REBECCA KAPLAN CBS NEWS
October 22, 2015

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Capitol Hill Thursday to testify about the 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead.

Play VIDEO -- Dickerson on Clinton's Benghazi testimony, Biden's 2016 decision
Play VIDEO -- Rep. Gowdy: GOP colleagues not on Benghazi committee should “shut up”
Play VIDEO -- Rep. Gowdy: This investigation is not all about Hillary Clinton. Gowdy has been working to undo that perception, saying on CBS' "Face the Nation" last weekend that his Republican colleagues who aren't on the committee should "shut up about things that you don't know anything about."
Play VIDEO -- Hillary Clinton: Benghazi is my “biggest regret”


This will be the second time Clinton goes to the hill to field lawmakers' questions about that night. She first appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees in 2013. Now, she's no longer secretary of state, but she is a Democratic presidential candidate who has been dogged by accusations of wrongdoing for more than two years.

Here's what to expect:

When is it happening? The committee meets at 10 a.m. Thursday.

How long will it last? The testimony could take eight hours or more. There are 12 members on the special committee created last year to investigate the attacks. There will be up to four rounds of questions in which members get 10 minutes each to ask questions. Plus, there could be opening statements, lunch breaks, brief breaks to vote and extra time for the top Republican and Democrat on the committee that could drag things out even further. Clinton has promised to stay until all questions are answered.

Who is on the committee? The chairman is Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, and he is joined by fellow Republicans Susan Brooks of Indiana, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mike Pompeo of Kansas, Marth Roby of Alabama, Peter Roskam of Illinois and Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia. The top Democrat is Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, and the others are Adam Smith of Washington, Adam Schiff of California, Linda Sanchez of California and Tammy Duckworth of Illinois.

What should you expect to hear from the Republicans? The committee has come under fire of late, accused of being created solely to discredit Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state when the attacks took place. That view was bolstered when House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, suggested in an interview that there was a political connection between the Benghazi Select Committee and Clinton's poll numbers, which began to drop after the committee was created.

He also said on "Face the Nation" that the committee recently received the emails of Christopher Stevens, the ambassador who was killed during the attacks. Gowdy has expressed particular interest in asking why Stevens' requests for more security in Libya went ignored, and why he was asked to respond to emails from Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal and help the State Department with public messaging advice.

Schiff, a Democrat on the committee, told CBS News, "I think there will be a lot of pressure on the GOP in the latter half of the meeting to produce something" that amounts to new information uncovered by the committee.

What should you expect to hear from the Democrats? Democrats have long maintained that the committee was motivated by politics and considered boycotting it entirely. They ultimately chose to participate in order to "defend the truth," as Cummings said last year.

In an appearance on "Face the Nation" over the weekend, Cummings said Clinton does bear some responsibility for the attacks. When she testifies Thursday, he said, "I want her to tell us how we can best protect our diplomatic core and our embassies. And I wanted her to tell us exactly what we can do as a Congress to address these issues also."


Play VIDEO -- Rep. Elijah Cummings on Benghazi investigation: “It’s a sad day for all of us”
But they are fully expecting Republicans to make untrue accusations against Clinton during the hearing. On Monday, the Democrats released excerpts from some of the committee's closed-door interviews that they say help exonerate her from accusations that she ordered the military to stand down on the night of the attacks, personally approved a reduction in security before the attacks, or attempt to scrub or destroy documents related to the attacks, among other things.

"It will be our job, as well as the secretary's, to try to make sure she understands the context of what she's being asked," Schiff said.

He also said the Democrats will be looking "for any area that can add value and add to understanding what happened in Benghazi," he said. "We'll also be trying to make sure it's fair. As I mentioned earlier, given the...pattern and practice of the committee I think we can expect that they will - if not misquote from documents and emails - they will selectively quote. They will read one portion of the email, but not the other part which contradicts the earlier portion."

But he said his larger concern is about making sure Congress' investigative power is not abused.

"I don't feel it's my job to defend her politically," he said.

The Democrats may also try to highlight the fact that the committee has not yet interviewed former top officials from the CIA, Defense Department or Joint Chiefs of Staff. Cummings charged that Gowdy had a plan to interview those top officials but "threw that away" in an attempt to focus on Clinton.

What should you expect to hear from Hillary Clinton?

Clinton's last testimony on the Hill focused on the security situation in Libya and who the administration blamed in the wake of the attacks. At one point, she grew so frustrated with the questions that she said, heatedly, ""We had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or because of guys out for a walk one night and decided to go kill some Americans? At this point what difference does it make, Senator?"

But this time, many of the questions are likely to be focused on her use of a private email address and server while serving as secretary of state. The biggest revelation to come out of the committee's work is the fact that Clinton did not use an official government email address. That has sparked a massive release of Clinton's emails from her tenure as well as investigations over whether she ever emailed classified information (Clinton maintains any classified material was given that designation after she emailed about it). The former secretary has said the use of a personal email address was a matter of convenience, and while she is sorry for the confusion it has caused, she insists she did not break any rules.

Democratic strategist David Axelrod said on "Face the Nation" Sunday that the stakes for Clinton have been "reduced by the kind of circus around this committee."

"I think it was going to be a very pressure-filled moment for Hillary Clinton, it probably still will be. But now, there's a lot of pressure on Chairman Gowdy to prove that this whole thing isn't merely a political escapade," he said.

What's next?

Especially in light of McCarthy's recent statements about the committee, some Democrats have said it's time to disband the whole committee.

Steny Hoyer Twitter:
Told press while #Benghazi was a tragedy, 7 Congressional investigations found no wrongdoing. Select Committee should be disbanded.
2:12 PM - 21 Oct 2015



I didn't see any of the hearings, but Hillary is on the news now and she is clearly upbeat, so I think it must have gone well. If I can find some quotations I'll report them.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/taiwanese-woman-who-gave-birth-during-china-airlines-flight-deported-from-u-s-in-legal-trouble/

Taiwanese mom who gave birth on flight to U.S. separated from baby
CBS NEWS
October 22, 2015


A Taiwanese woman who gave birth on a China Airlines flight to the United States last week has reportedly been deported and separated from her child. But new details have emerged that could land the new mom in legal trouble, reports CBS News correspondent Vinita Nair.

Taiwanese news reports say that the woman, known only by her surname Jian, concealed her pregnancy from airline officials so she could give birth in the United States - a move that may have landed her in trouble with officials in her native Taiwan.

On Oct. 8, cell phone video taken on board a China Airlines Boeing 777, shows what passengers described as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Flight crew and fellow passengers, including a Los Angeles physician, helped deliver a newborn baby, high above the Pacific Ocean.

"The flight crew was very helpful, bringing me medical equipment that I needed, helping me out," said UCLA physician Dr. Angelica Zen. "They were basically my stand-in nurses."

China Airlines Flight 8 was traveling from Taipei, Taiwan to Los Angeles when the woman went into labor. The flight was diverted to Anchorage, Alaska, but the baby arrived before the plane touched down.

But this week, several news agencies reported that the woman had been denied admission to the United States and had returned to Taiwan without her baby.

According to the Taipei Times, China Airlines is said to be seeking compensation from the woman for the costs and delay caused by her baby's birth.

"They might just be keeping the child until her doctor determines that it is okay," said J Craig Fong, a California-based immigration lawyer. He says that even though the mother was denied entry into the U.S., the baby could still have the right to remain in the country if it was born within a 12-mile radius of the United States.

"If for some reason people at customs and border protection decided she shouldn't be in the United States, they would then send her back on the next plane and then the child, who is an American, can stay here until the child is able to be repatriated back to Taiwan," said Fong.

CBS News reached out to the Alaska Office of Children's Services and U.S. immigration officials regarding the whereabouts of the baby, but they said they would not discuss individual cases.

It is still unknown when and if mother and child will be reunited.



Here is another sad story, though I don't like this trend of people (often from China rather than Mexico) breaking the rules to get into this country and have their kids here. It doesn't seem fair to me for a baby born here to be unable to stay and be a citizen, but it is also the main cause of our immigration issues. Still, to be separated from her baby with no knowledge of the future must be terribly hard on her. The following article about abuse of immigrants causes me shame. The Obama administration is being blamed, which I hate to see. I think he has tried to be a good steward in his job, and has for the most part succeeded. I hope this ICE situation doesn't become a major scandal and hurt the party.




http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/21/450663568/immigrant-advocates-report-abuses-at-ice-facilities-call-the-agency-complicit

Immigrant Advocates Report Abuses At ICE Facilities, Call The Agency 'Complicit'
Richard Gonzales
OCTOBER 21, 2015

A new report on conditions in immigrant detention centers around the country finds a systematic and ongoing failure by the Obama administration to adequately inspect facilities run by public and private contractors. The report alleges a pattern of basic human rights violations leading to deaths, suicides, violence and sexual assaults in facilities that were given a clean bill of health by federal inspectors.

Those are among the conclusions drawn by the National Immigration Justice Center and Detention Watch Network based on a review of government inspection documents for 105 detention facilities. The documents were made public only after three years of litigation under the Freedom of Information Act. The report is called Lives in Peril: How Ineffective Inspections Make ICE Complicit in Immigration Detention Abuse.

One of the primary problems is a lack of transparency in the inspection process by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., whose district hosts a privately run ICE facility in Tacoma.

"Unlike federal prisons, there are no federal standards for conditions in these detention facilities. The conditions are set by ICE. So they determine what the conditions should be and then they audit whether or not they are meeting their own standards, which obviously is a conflict of interest," said Smith.

Why do ICE inspections matter? Take the case of the Eloy Federal Contract Facility in Arizona.

According to the report, Eloy "has the highest number of known deaths of any detention facility, including at least six suicides since 2003." A 2012 ICE inspection report found that the suicide watch room contains "structures of smaller objects that could be used in a suicide attempt." The report alleges frequent sexual assaults and deficient medical care. Also, the report says Eloy has not failed a government inspection since 2006 and ICE did not provide its 2010 inspection report.

Another example: medical care at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. That facility "had only one doctor and seven nurses to provide medical care for over 1,500 detained men." ICE inspections found the medical staffing to be adequate, "even with five vacant positions in 2011 and 2012." SDC outsourced medical care for more than 775 detainees in 2012.

The report alleges that the ICE inspection process is a sham prompted by a "checklist culture" designed to help facilities pass inspections without identifying or addressing violations. What the report calls "perfunctory" reviews allow local counties and private prison corporations to maintain lucrative government contracts to operate the facilities.

A spokeswoman for ICE said the agency will review the report, adding "ICE remains committed to ensuring that all individuals in our custody are held and treated in a safe, secure and humane manner, and that they have access to legal counsel, visitation, recreation, and quality medical, mental health and dental care."




http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/22/450801081/vatican-says-rumors-about-pope-s-health-are-attempt-to-undermine-him

Vatican Says Rumors About Pope's Health Are Attempt To Undermine Him
Bill Chappell, Reporter, Producer
OCTOBER 22, 2015

Photograph -- Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi (right) is denying claims in Italian newspapers that Pope Francis has a benign brain tumor. The rumors are part of an attempt to undermine the pope, the Vatican says.
Andrew Medichini/AP


After repeatedly denying reports that Pope Francis has a benign brain tumor Wednesday, the Vatican is going a step further, calling the rumor "false information" that's meant to destabilize the papacy. The doctor named in the reports also says they're untrue.

The stringent denials came after the Quotidiano Nazionale and other Italian newspapers reported that in recent months, Francis had been visited by a Japanese doctor to diagnose a tumor.

The reports emerged as Francis, 78, has been attending a large gathering of bishops, where three weeks of meetings have been marked by disagreements over how the church approaches marriage, sex and homosexuality.

From Rome, NPR'S Sylvia Poggioli reports:

"The suggestion that the tumor report was part of a plot against Pope Francis was put forth by the official Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano. It wrote, "the timing of the claim reveals there was an intent to manipulate and cause a dust storm of confusion."

"Cardinal Walter Kasper said it was part of an effort to undermine the bishops' assembly. And Buenos Aires Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernandez said spreading false information to discredit a person in power is as old as antiquity. It's an attempt to make Francis appear weak, he added, and in need to be replaced.

"Several Vatican analysts say the tumor claim in an Italian right-leaning daily insinuated the pope's mental condition is responsible for alleged chaos in the church."

The doctor named in the Italian reports is Takanori Fukushima, a neurosurgeon who lives in North Carolina and works at the Duke University Medical Center and the Carolina Neuroscience Institute.

"I have never medically examined the pope," Fukushima said in a statement released by Duke last night and relayed by the AP. "These stories are completely false."

As the Raleigh News & Observer reports, Fukushima has met Pope Francis at least twice – once last September and again in January, according to photos and blog entries posted by the brain surgeon. The newspaper says that in those cases, Fukushima visited the Holy See during trips to perform surgeries in Europe.



Poor Pope Francis. He has tried to bring the Catholic Church closer to a gentler supervision of his flock, and there are "conservatives" who really don't agree with that. I believe he is a very strong person, however, so I think he will soldier on as he sees fit. I also do hope that he is in good health, as he probably is.



http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/facebook-makes-public-posts-searchable/ar-BBmmo4e?li=BBieTUX&ocid=iehp

Facebook makes public posts searchable
BBC News
October 23, 2015


Facebook has indexed almost two trillion posts put on the site by its members to make it easier to find them.

The change means that many older posts will now be added to results when people search for news or information.

The move is being seen as part of Facebook's attempts to keep people on the site rather than go elsewhere to keep up to date with events.

It said options were available for people that did not want their older posts to be more widely accessible.

Bigger audience

Tom Stocky, Facebook's head of search, said in a blog post that many people already turned to Facebook when trying to find out how friends and family were reacting to world events. About 1.5 billion searches are carried out on Facebook every day, he said.

The changes that Facebook has introduced will mean members of the social network will now also see posts by strangers alongside those from news organisations and people closest to them.

"Search results are organised to help you cut through the noise and quickly understand what the world is saying about a topic in the moment," said Mr Stocky.

The post also detailed what Facebook users can do to limit who sees the older posts they shared.

Currently the expanded search results are only available to Facebook members in the US.

The move puts Facebook into direct competition with Twitter which recently introduced a similar system called Moments, said Caitlin McGarry on PC World.

"Facebook has a much wider audience than Twitter," said Ms McGarry. "so Facebook's potential reach for its search tools is exponentially larger."




It is my belief at this time that the feds are not yet sufficiently controlled by the far right to be tracking me for sedition, and I’m going to be actively working for the Dems for as long possible to prevent that, so this doesn’t worry me much. There is a possible risk, of course. In fact, however, I want Homeland Security, the FBI, etc. to be able to keep watch on ISIS et al. Many of those organizations are using Facebook to lure in wild-eyed young men to go fight in Syria or even in the US. It’s the drawback to the wonderful communication system that Facebook is. I’ll try to watch my Ps and Qs.