November 16, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/brown-university-latest-to-be-hit-with-anti-racism-protests/

Brown University latest to be hit with anti-racism protests
CBS/AP
November 16, 2015

Photograph -- Manning Chapel at Brown University in Rhode Island in an undated photo WIKIMEDIA COMMONS


PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Brown University's president is promising a full investigation and regular meetings on racial issues after a campus police officer handcuffed a student from another Ivy League school, an encounter officials called "heated and physical."

The turmoil is the latest in a string of incidents at universities nationwide that have opened a new discussion about race and academia.

President Christina Paxson apologized in an email Saturday to the campus community for the "fear and pain" caused by the incident earlier that morning.

A Dartmouth College student told the Brown Daily Herald student newspaper that a public safety officer slammed him against a wall, threw him to the ground and handcuffed him.

The student was attending the annual Latinx Ivy League Conference, where Latino students from Ivy League schools discuss race, gender and socio-economic issues.

He told the newspaper that he was waiting to enter a party at Machado House when he criticized how police were treating an intoxicated Brown student outside. He said police told him not to enter the building, but he entered through a back door and was confronted by the public safety officer.

The student said he was held until Brown students verified he was a guest. No charges were filed.

The student did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press.

Cass Cliatt, Brown's vice president for communications, told the AP that students feel the incident was racially motivated, but it is too early to make any determinations.

Cliatt said employment agreements prevent the school from releasing identifying information about the officer, who is on administrative duty pending the investigation.

Paxson said in an email that Brown is committed to funding a rescheduled conference, which was unable to continue after the police incident. She also said Brown will consider whether campus officers need additional diversity and sensitivity training, after hearing students' concerns about racial profiling in other incidents.

Last week, Brown students joined their peers at other colleges in protesting racial discrimination on their campuses and showing support for students at the University of Missouri denouncing what they call a racist environment at the school.

Also last week, hundreds of Yale students and supporters marched across campus Monday to protest what they see as racial insensitivity at the Ivy League school.

The "March of Resilience" followed several racially charged incidents at Yale, including allegations that a fraternity turned a woman away from a party because she was not white.




“Brown University's president is promising a full investigation and regular meetings on racial issues after a campus police officer handcuffed a student from another Ivy League school, an encounter officials called "heated and physical." The turmoil is the latest in a string of incidents at universities nationwide that have opened a new discussion about race and academia. …. The student was attending the annual Latinx Ivy League Conference, where Latino students from Ivy League schools discuss race, gender and socio-economic issues. He told the newspaper that he was waiting to enter a party at Machado House when he criticized how police were treating an intoxicated Brown student outside. He said police told him not to enter the building, but he entered through a back door and was confronted by the public safety officer. The student said he was held until Brown students verified he was a guest. No charges were filed. …. Paxson said in an email that Brown is committed to funding a rescheduled conference, which was unable to continue after the police incident. She also said Brown will consider whether campus officers need additional diversity and sensitivity training, after hearing students' concerns about racial profiling in other incidents. Last week, Brown students joined their peers at other colleges in protesting racial discrimination on their campuses and showing support for students at the University of Missouri denouncing what they call a racist environment at the school. …. The "March of Resilience" followed several racially charged incidents at Yale, including allegations that a fraternity turned a woman away from a party because she was not white.”


Racism is like bacteria – it’s everywhere in every unequal relationship, and no matter which skin color predominates. In the US whites predominate, and in Africa and most other areas of the world either black, olive toned or some other color. Whoever occurs in the largest numbers will be the kings of the hill. Always the predominant group will abuse the minority until society makes them stop. To the degree that they live by a benign philosophy or religion, they will do that to a lesser degree. That’s because most humans are relatively uneducated and many are relatively unintelligent. No matter how many college degrees we have, we are showing our ignorance/lack of intelligence when we behave abusively over a matter of skin color, religion, etc.

Wherever this occurs the society has to root it out and expose the abusers. Luckily this statement isn’t true of every person, because some have a greater level of human empathy than others. Those who have a fully formed conscience will stand up for the abused when the situation is made apparent. Until that time they probably won’t speak up because they are often too timid to face up to a bully. Almost always the best tactic is to bring in the news crews and focus on the situation, and then in the case of colleges they should perhaps make racial discrimination and abuse an offense punishable by expulsion.

This isn’t the first time that fraternities have been the root of the problem. I will do my part to focus national attention on the colleges where this kind of thing pops up, and as the president of the university finds himself feeling uncomfortable he will almost always make improvements at his school. Unfortunately until he finds himself in the hot seat he probably won’t, because lots of his alumni will silently agree with the abuse. After all, it’s a time-honored tradition in human society.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-on-defense-over-wall-street-ties/

Hillary Clinton on defense over Wall Street ties
By HANNAH FRASER-CHANPONG CBS NEWS
November 15, 2015

Photograph -- Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the Central Iowa Democrats Fall Barbecue in Ames, Iowa November 15, 2015. REUTERS
Related Articles -- Hillary Clinton's plan to hold Wall Street accountable
Where the 2016 candidates stand on Wall Street reform
Play VIDEO -- Does Hillary Clinton have a Wall Street problem?


AMES, Iowa -- Hillary Clinton's campaign is working to clarify the connection Clinton made between Wall Street, campaign finance and the terrorist attacks on 9/11 during Saturday's Democratic debate.

Bernie Sanders, asked about the donations that Clinton receives from Wall Street, mocked the idea that campaign contributions don't influence politicians. Clinton interrupted him to say she has "hundreds of thousands" of small-dollar donors, and then pivoted to her work as a senator.

"I represented New York and I represented New York on 9/11 when we were attacked," she said. "We were attacked in downtown Manhattan where Wall Street is. I did spend a whole lot of time and effort helping them rebuild. That was good for New York, it was good for the economy, and it was a way to rebuke the terrorists for an attack on our country."

Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director, told reporters gathered in Ames on Sunday to cover Clinton's remarks at a barbecue that Clinton doesn't need to defend herself when it comes to her donors.

"The point that she was making is as senator, she did things that were supportive of Wall Street, particularly after 9/11," Palmieri said at the event hosted by local Democrats. "But she also spoke out as senator, and now, when she thought they were going too far and pursuing reckless behavior."

Palmieri said it's "pretty clear" that donations, from Wall Street or elsewhere, don't impact her policy decisions.

In her speech, Clinton made no mention of Wall Street and emphasized that her focus is squarely on the needs of middle class families.

"I was the only one of the debate stage last night who would commit to do everything I can to raising your wages, not your taxes," she said, highlighting what Palmieri said was her most important moment during the debate.

Former President Bill Clinton, who was in Des Moines for the debate and accompanied his wife to the barbecue, called the charge that Clinton is too cozy with Wall Street is "a stretch."

"Those of us who were there know that," he said, speaking to reporters.

But Martin O'Malley, who spoke after Clinton at the barbecue, continued to needle her for trying to "mask" her ties to Wall Street with an ill-timed reference to the tragedy on 9/11.

"She doesn't have to mask it," he said. "It is what it is."

The exchange in question between Clinton and Sanders was the most talked-about moment of the debate on Facebook, and it continued to make news the morning after. Stephanie Cutter, a Democratic strategist, was asked about Clinton's comments on ABC's This Week.

"I don't think that was the finest moment of the debate and I think she's going to have to answer to that," Cutter said. "You know, getting into a position of defending Wall Street is a problem for her."

But Palmieri said she doesn't believe that what Clinton said will be a problem for her down the line.

"I don't think that this is something that caucus-goers in Iowa or voters are going to focus on," she said. "What they are really going to care about is that she's focused on raising incomes for the middle class."




“Hillary Clinton's campaign is working to clarify the connection Clinton made between Wall Street, campaign finance and the terrorist attacks on 9/11 during Saturday's Democratic debate. …. "I represented New York and I represented New York on 9/11 when we were attacked," she said. "We were attacked in downtown Manhattan where Wall Street is. I did spend a whole lot of time and effort helping them rebuild. That was good for New York, it was good for the economy, and it was a way to rebuke the terrorists for an attack on our country." …. "But she also spoke out as senator, and now, when she thought they were going too far and pursuing reckless behavior." Palmieri said it's "pretty clear" that donations, from Wall Street or elsewhere, don't impact her policy decisions. In her speech, Clinton made no mention of Wall Street and emphasized that her focus is squarely on the needs of middle class families.”


Both Bill and Hill have been described as moderate Democrats rather than on the left, as Sanders is. O’Malley is less well-known outside his state so I don’t know how liberal he is, though from what he said at the last debate he seems pretty liberal. I could happily vote for him, from what I’ve seen so far. Both Sanders and O’Malley will jump on top of Clinton with both feet, of course, because she's the leader in the polls and that’s just what political candidates do until it’s time to pull together again for the unity of the party. I personally would like to see much tighter rules made against the groups who have been continually making more and more money for the Billionaire Class, i.e. Wall Street, however, so if Sanders, Clinton or O’Malley will introduce laws that do that it will please me.




PARIS NEWS


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-attacks-probe-belgium-raids-abdelhamid-abaaoud-reported-mastermind/

Alleged Paris mastermind named as suspects arrested
CBS NEWS
November 16, 2015

37 Photos -- Belgian police stage a raid, in search of suspected muslim fundamentalists linked to the deadly attacks in Paris, in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, November 16. 2015. REUTERS/YVES HERMAN
Photograph -- This undated image taken from a militant website on Monday Nov. 16, 2015 showing Belgian Abdelhamid Abaaoud. A French official says Abdelhamid Abaaoud is the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks was also linked to thwarted train and church attacks. AP
Play VIDEO -- 60 Minutes: The Paris Attacks
Play VIDEO -- Survivor: Paris shooter was like a trained soldier


As France continues to reel from the Paris attacks that left at least 129 people dead, authorities conducted more than 150 police raids across France and also in Belgium overnight and this morning.

Belgium's federal prosecutor's office said Monday that five of the seven people who were arrested over the weekend because of possible links to the Paris attacks have been released. The office also said that a raid in Molenbeek during much of Monday did not yield any terror arrests.

CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports that security services are moving in aggressively to find the network behind Friday's attack. Meanwhile French reports say the mastermind of the operation, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, is a Belgian citizen of Moroccan descent who had gone fight in Syria, where he's believed to be now.

Earlier this year, he was named as the suspected ringleader of a plot to kill police in Belgium.

Police have issued an international arrest warrant for a suspected terrorist still on the loose.

He's Salah Abdeslam, born in Belgium. Believed to have been the logistics man, he rented one of the cars they used, which was towed away from near the Bataclan concert hall for forensic testing.

The other suspects include Sami Amimour, just identified Monday morning, who allegedly attacked the concert hall. He's French and was already known to the security services for his links to extremist criminals.

Ahmad Almohammad -- possibly not his real name -- was one of the suicide bombers. He slipped into Europe on a false passport last month. He is among the thousands of asylum seekers who have come ashore in Greece.


Finally, the brother of the logistics man -- Ibrahim Abdeslam -- is widely reported, though not officially confirmed, to have gunned down restaurant customers in central Paris, and then blown himself up.

All weekend, family members came to the edge of the police cordon around the concert hall where their beloved sons and daughters died. Shock dissolved into anguish.

Nearby, where floral tributes are piling up, a rabbi and two imams came to light candles and speak to the crowd.

"Not in our name," one said.

Now is the time, said one imam, for French Muslims to take a clear stand against any form of terrorism.

There is a plea to unite France's multicultural society, now fractured and bruised by 129 senseless deaths.




“Belgium's federal prosecutor's office said Monday that five of the seven people who were arrested over the weekend because of possible links to the Paris attacks have been released. The office also said that a raid in Molenbeek during much of Monday did not yield any terror arrests.” …. “Nearby, where floral tributes are piling up, a rabbi and two imams came to light candles and speak to the crowd. "Not in our name," one said. Now is the time, said one imam, for French Muslims to take a clear stand against any form of terrorism. There is a plea to unite France's multicultural society, now fractured and bruised by 129 senseless deaths.”


Four named conspirators are on the run while five of seven suspects arrested earlier have been turned loose. It sounds like one step forward and two steps back, but after all we don’t want innocent people to be punished. Progress is being made. The really good news in this article is that two imams are speaking out against all forms of terrorism, which is what is really needed all over the world. Cooperation is going to come out on top eventually, I think, or so I hope.

Ever since al Qaeda hit the scene, and with local groups before that, Islam has included in its dogma that the “infidels” should be killed. That can mean almost anybody, and when these radical groups are “converting by the sword” everyone who is not a Shia (or Sunni) Muslim, they remain a basic threat to civilization. The best cure to the situation is for Muslims to stand up against them, fighting if necessary, and simply refusing to support them in many cases.

My mother said that in the country county of NC where she grew up the Baptists would generate church after church as a splinter group broke off over some issue like whether nor not to wash feet. The Muslims are very similar. The problem is that rather than just forming a new mosque they form a group of tribesmen who fight over the issue. Since all Westerners fall outside their in-group structure, we are always potentially “the Infidel.”

I welcome gratefully these two Muslim voices against terrorism and violence in general, here in the US and worldwide. That is the way a benign and enlightened religion operates.




REPORT FROM GERMANY


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/algerian-detained-germany-alleged-prior-paris-attacks-knowledge/

Algerian migrant detained in Germany over Paris attacks
CBS/AP
November 16, 2015

Photograph -- Migrants walk after arriving by train to the main railway station in Munich, Germany September 6, 2015. MICHAEL DALDER / REUTERS, REUTERS
Play VIDEO -- What intelligence community is looking for in response to Paris attacks


As French and Belgian officials expand the probe into the deadly Paris attacks last week, German authorities are investigating claims that an Algerian man warned fellow migrants last week of an imminent attack in Paris.

A spokesman for prosecutors in Arnsberg says the unidentified 39-year-old was detained at a refugee shelter in the western German town, after two Syrian men contacted police Saturday.

Werner Wolff confirmed Monday a report by public broadcaster WDR that the man had told the Syrians that Paris would be subjected to "fear and terror."

German newspaper Der Westen reports the Algerian gave the warning to the two Syrians a few days before the Paris attacks, but denied to police he knew about any specific plot. The Algerian man did however express a hatred for France, and warned police something bad would happen in Arnsberg if he were arrested.

Local officials are praising the two Syrian migrants for alerting authorities to the situation, the newspaper reports.




“As French and Belgian officials expand the probe into the deadly Paris attacks last week, German authorities are investigating claims that an Algerian man warned fellow migrants last week of an imminent attack in Paris. A spokesman for prosecutors in Arnsberg says the unidentified 39-year-old was detained at a refugee shelter in the western German town, after two Syrian men contacted police Saturday. …. German newspaper Der Westen reports the Algerian gave the warning to the two Syrians a few days before the Paris attacks, but denied to police he knew about any specific plot. The Algerian man did however express a hatred for France, and warned police something bad would happen in Arnsberg if he were arrested.”


I wonder if we have infiltrated Algeria with our spies sufficiently well to find and publish the identity of imams there who are behind this and other plots. It’s obvious that Syria and Iraq are not the only sources of the contagion. I wonder which other nations are involved. We need to work to help “the people” in those nations rather than merely a leader who may be a dictator like Assad. The people need food, water, housing, schools, computers, and other technology just as we do here, and their dictator may not be the benevolent kind.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/french-president-francois-hollande-obama-putin-unify-our-strength/

Hollande calls on Obama, Putin to "unify our strength"
CBS/AP
November 16, 2015

Photograph -- 2015-11-16t155815z289673337lr2ebbg18cs0drtrmadp3france-shooting.jpg, French President Francois Hollande arrives to deliver a speech at a special congress of the joint upper and lower houses of parliament (National Assembly and Senate) at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris, France, November 16, 2015. REUTERS/MICHEL EULER/POOL
Play VIDEO -- Obama discusses terror response with world leaders at G-20 summit
Play VIDEO -- What intelligence community is looking for in response to Paris attacks


PARIS - French President Francois Hollande said Monday he will meet with U.S. and Russian leaders to discuss pooling their efforts to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS.)

Hollande, speaking at a special joint meeting of the upper and lower houses of parliament in response to the Paris attacks in the Palace of Versailles, said he had requested meetings with Presidents Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin.

Hollande said he wanted the talks "to unify our strength and achieve a result that has been too long in coming." Hollande called for "a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition."

He didn't specify if he'd meet Mr. Obama and Putin together or separately.

Presidents Obama and Putin were in Turkey on Monday at a meeting of world leaders.

Every one of the world's richest economies who attended the G-20 summit vowed Monday to boost intelligence-sharing, cut off terrorist funding and strengthen border security in Europe, as they sought to show resolve and unity following as the investigation into the deadly terror attacks in Paris unfolds.

"We agreed that the challenge can't just be tackled with military mean, but only a multitude of measures," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also announced plans to host a donor conference early next year to raise "significant new funding" to tackle the flood of refugees spilling out of Syria.

"None of this is a substitute for the next urgent need of all: to find a political solution that brings peace to Syria and enables the millions of refugees to return home," Cameron said.

The leaders of the Group of 20 rich and developing nations were wrapping up their two-day summit in Turkey against the backdrop of heavy French bombardment of ISIS' stronghold in Syria. The U.S. was expanding its intelligence sharing with the French and helping them identify targets, according to American officials.

President Obama was to huddle with European leaders from France, Britain, Germany and Italy. French President Francois Hollande skipped the summit to stay home and deal with the aftermath of the attacks, but Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius planned to attend the meeting with the U.S. president.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key player in ending the conflict in Syria that created a vacuum for the Islamic State, met separately with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Presidents Obama and Putin had a private chat on Sunday on the sidelines of the summit.

Putin and Cameron both emphasized the need for joint action against terrorism in the wake of Paris terror attack.

"The latest tragic events in Paris show that we have to unite our efforts in fighting this evil, something we should have done long time ago," Putin said.

Putin launched an air campaign in Syria a month-and-half ago with ISIS as the top declared target. The U.S. and its allies, however, have accused Moscow of focusing on other rebel groups in a bid to shore up Syria's leader Bashar Assad, whom the West sees as the main cause of the Syrian conflict and the chief obstacle to peace.

Nearly five years of clashes between Assad's forces and opposition groups have left more than 250,000 people dead, created a vacuum for ISIS and other extremists groups to thrive, and spurred a massive refugee crisis in Europe.

Ahead of the G-20, foreign ministers met in Vienna to discuss a new diplomatic plan to end the Syrian war. The plan appears to be based largely on a Russian proposal that envisions negotiations between Assad's government and opposition groups starting by Jan. 1.

Still, sharp differences over Assad's future and disagreements about what militant groups in Syria should be considered terrorists have dampened hopes for a breakthrough.




“Hollande said he wanted the talks "to unify our strength and achieve a result that has been too long in coming." Hollande called for "a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition." He didn't specify if he'd meet Mr. Obama and Putin together or separately. Presidents Obama and Putin were in Turkey on Monday at a meeting of world leaders. …. "We agreed that the challenge can't just be tackled with military mean, but only a multitude of measures," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said. British Prime Minister David Cameron also announced plans to host a donor conference early next year to raise "significant new funding" to tackle the flood of refugees spilling out of Syria. "None of this is a substitute for the next urgent need of all: to find a political solution that brings peace to Syria and enables the millions of refugees to return home," Cameron said. …. Ahead of the G-20, foreign ministers met in Vienna to discuss a new diplomatic plan to end the Syrian war. The plan appears to be based largely on a Russian proposal that envisions negotiations between Assad's government and opposition groups starting by Jan. 1.”


As long as nothing is done about the war between Assad and the rebels there, the growth of ISIS will continue to be fueled by discontent, I’m afraid. The US is busy fishing in the same pond as we support “freedom fighters” there. Russia wants to stop the war there by clamping down hard on the “freedom fighters.” An article in the last year or so said that one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter. I do believe in freedom, though I think our USA tendency is to topple first one and then another despotic ruler, and that this pattern just leads to an ever increasing number of war zones. I noticed in reading Shakespeare that England was portrayed in the same way back in those days, and when I read the Old Testament of the Bible the same kind of story appears there time after time. I’ve stopped really expecting any better. The only real solution is for all people everywhere to stop fighting. Even if people were willing to do that, the timing would never be perfect. After every peace agreement another bozo will strike another blow for war and it will all start up again. I think I can see why the Higher Power gave humans such a short life span. If we lived much over a century we would become so disheartened that we would be in complete misery.




INCREASED SECURITY STATESIDE


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-attacks-how-encrypted-apps-help-terrorists-stay-below-the-radar/

HOW ENCRYPTED APPS HELP TERRORISTS STAY BELOW THE RADAR
Apparent lack of chatter before Paris attacks may indicate a dangerous change in the way extremist groups are communicating with each other
Nov 14, 2015

48 HOURS SEGMENT EXTRAS -- FBI steps up surveillance against potential ISIS sympathizers
48 HOURS SEGMENT EXTRAS -- Is it time for a new strategy to fight terror?


NEW YORK --The apparent lack of chatter before terrorists carried out a string of deadly attacks across Paris may indicate a dangerous change in the way extremist groups are communicating with each other.

"I think what you're seeing here is what FBI Director Jim Comey calls 'going dark,'" NYPD deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism John Miller told CBS News's Norah O'Donnell.

"In the time following the Snowden debate about privacy and government overreaching and all of those allegations, a series of apps have come out that are encrypted, that have messages that self-destruct, set to a timer, that can hold group chats that are completely protected from surveillance for up to 200 people," he said.

According to Miller, terrorists are exploiting those apps.

"You can walk in with a court order from a federal judge, hand it over to the company and say, 'We need to see what's inside here' -- just like we did in Mumbai, just like we did after 9/11 -- and they'll tell you, 'We can't see what's inside. We designed it to be uncrackable,'" Miller said. "That's a real challenge."

As far as whether the U.S. could be hit by a similar series of attacks, Miller said, "It certainly could."

He pointed to several ISIS-inspired plots in the U.S. between April and June of this year that were ultimately foiled, but raised red flags about the terror group's influence in America.

"It's not a wake-up call, it's been happening here," Miller said.

Miller said previous attacks, including January's Charlie Hebdo and Jewish supermarket attacks in Paris and the Mumbai bombings, prompted the NYPD to upgrade its patrols.

"We've spent the last two years redeveloping, redesigning the field piece of our counterterrorism program to address just this," Miller said. "So now we have basically 1,500 police officers in uniform, in cars, with long, semi-automatic rifles and heavy vests, that are on patrol all the time," Miller said. "I don't think any other city in the world has a tactical capability on that level."




"We've spent the last two years redeveloping, redesigning the field piece of our counterterrorism program to address just this," Miller said. "So now we have basically 1,500 police officers in uniform, in cars, with long, semi-automatic rifles and heavy vests, that are on patrol all the time," Miller said. "I don't think any other city in the world has a tactical capability on that level." …. "I think what you're seeing here is what FBI Director Jim Comey calls 'going dark,'" NYPD deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism John Miller told CBS News's Norah O'Donnell. "In the time following the Snowden debate about privacy and government overreaching and all of those allegations, a series of apps have come out that are encrypted, that have messages that self-destruct, set to a timer, that can hold group chats that are completely protected from surveillance for up to 200 people," he said. …. He pointed to several ISIS-inspired plots in the U.S. between April and June of this year that were ultimately foiled, but raised red flags about the terror group's influence in America. "It's not a wake-up call, it's been happening here," Miller said.”


If the use of increased control over encryption apps and more military equipment and techniques in US cities has a good side it is in this situation. I still don’t want to see more of those methods used to quell peaceful demonstrations of citizens speaking out against police brutality, however. Somehow we have to maintain a societal balance that allows civilization and democracy to flourish while keeping wild eyed radicals of all stamp from disrupting the peace in increasingly violent ways.





https://search.yahoo.com/search?cs=bz&p=Debbie+Reynolds&fr=fp-tts-321&woeid=2428344&fp=1&fr2=p:fp,m:tn,ct:all,pg:1,stl:crsl,b:321

Debbie Reynolds to miss Governors Awards
Associated Press
November 13, 2015

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Debbie Reynolds is not able to attend the motion picture academy's seventh annual Governors Awards ceremony, where she's being honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said in a statement Friday that Reynolds will miss the Saturday night gala because of "an unexpectedly long recovery from a recent surgery." There were no further details on the nature of the surgery. Reynolds's granddaughter will accept the award, the academy said.

"I'm heartbroken that I'm unable to be there in person to receive this extraordinary honor you have given me — so you could see how unbelievably happy you have made me," Reynolds said in the statement.

Honorary Oscars will also be presented Saturday to Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands, both for career achievement.





"I'm heartbroken that I'm unable to be there in person to receive this extraordinary honor you have given me — so you could see how unbelievably happy you have made me," Reynolds said in the statement.“ I can still remember how we all felt when the beautiful but wicked Elizabeth Taylor stole the adorable Eddie Fisher from Debbie. We were all so young back then!! I do hope she recovers and lives another few years at least.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-photo-ark-preserving-species-before-they-disappear/

The Photo Ark: Preserving species before they disappear
CBS NEWS
November 15, 2015

To view 37 photographs of endangered animals, with commentary, go to this website.


Many animal species are at risk of vanishing. It's a calamity photographer and "Sunday Morning" Contributor Joel Sartore is trying hard to prevent. Our Cover Story is reported now by Martha Teichner:

They haunt you, these eyes -- as intended.

Eye to eye, you're supposed to regard the greatest, the tiniest, and the lowliest equally.

"If we can get down and look these species in the eye, really get down low and really look 'em in the eye, and you see how lovely they are and how much intelligence there is there," said Joel Sartore, "they're telling us something. I mean, they're shouting it to me."

For ten years now, the National Geographic photographer has made it his life's mission to be their messenger and, he hopes, their protector -- their Noah building a photographic ark.

His "Photo Ark" currently houses images of more than 5,000 species, rolling past the viewer. "It would take two hours to see them all," he said. "It's supposed to just overwhelm people with what life looks like on Earth."

And what might soon be extinct.

He showed Teichner a photo of the Rabb's fringe-limbed treefrog, the very last of his kind. "His name's Toughie, because he's outlived the projection. He's like nine years old, at least, and so when he's gone, that's it. They will be extinct."

Sartore's Photo Ark will be at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., until April.

Included is a northern white rhino that he photographed this summer at the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic. "There were five at the time. This is a very old female named Babire, and she died one week to the day after we photographed her.

"Now, there are four."

Also pictured is a Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit, which has gone extinct. "She was very near the end of her life," Sartore said. "It's intentional that you can see her from the other end of the exhibit. We wanted people to see her and have the experience of, well, this is what we're talking about. This is the consequence if we ignore the world around us. We lose thousands of species to extinction per day on this planet."

"Scientists, over the past half-billion years, have seen five mass extinctions -- think of things like volcanoes and asteroids hitting the Earth," said anthropologist Catherine Workman, Senior Director of National Geographic's Protecting Wildlife Initiative. "Scientists currently describe the loss of plants and animals now as the sixth mass extinction.

"We're losing animals at a rate 1000 times that of rates of extinction of the past, which is unparalleled. It's an extinction we haven't seen since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. We have habitat loss, we have hunting, we have climate change, and the combination of all these threats on a planet that's shortly going to have 7.5 billion people is really hammering the planet's biodiversity."

Joel Sartore didn't set out to create a Photo Ark. It began as an act of desperation, when his wife, Kathy, was diagnosed with breast cancer, and he needed to stay home in Lincoln, Nebraska.

"I just thought, I need to shoot something. Kathy's gonna be sick for a long time, and on the days when she felt better through the chemo cycles, I just needed something to shoot."

So this world traveler, who's shot 35 stories for National Geographic (including six covers), drove to the Lincoln Children's Zoo, a mile from his house, and asked if he could photograph the animals.

"They let me take a naked mole rat and put it on a white background," Sartore said. "That's how we started it. And then I did a couple of blue and black poison dart frogs, I think. And that was 5,400 species ago."

Sartore is not quite half-way through photographing all 12,000 animal species in captivity, endangered or not. He figures it will take him the rest of his life to finish.

He's taken pictures at more than 200 zoos in the U.S. alone, including a porcupine at the St. Louis Zoo, and wrangled flamingos (not quite like getting your ducks in a row).

Success is not always guaranteed. And there can be hazards, as when these birds get angry. "This bird is the nastiest, most bad-ass bird I've ever had to do."

So why zoo animals?

"Zoos often have the only populations of these animals -- they're gone in the wild," said Sartore. "And if it weren't for zoos, a lot of these species I shoot would be extinct by now, hands down."

Sartore accepts that people fall in love with fuzzy, cute animals, like the Fennec fox. But he wants us to appreciate the importance of the un-cuddly ones, the ones we've never heard of.

His portraits' all-black or all-white backgrounds, he said, "bring them to life and give them a voice. And this is often the only voice they'll ever have before they go away. This is their only chance to sing, in a way."

His animals have been projected on the Empire State Building and at the U.N. Soon they'll be shown on the Vatican. Anywhere he can, as often as he can, Joel Sartore pleads for their lives.

This, he says, is the best time ever to be alive to save species.

He told an audience of students, "Did you know that you, young lady, have the power to change the world? You totally do! Any of you guys could. There are so many species that are on the ropes now, so many species in need of protection -- tiny species, large species -- that all of us have a great opportunity."

He hopes his photographs will get people to help -- and he likes to hook them young.

Sartore showed some students examples of animals in his exhibit that have been saved. "I do take comfort in the fact that all is not lost by any means. In this country whooping crane, black-footed ferret, California condor, Mexican gray wolf, all those animals got down to fewer than two dozen, and they're all stable now -- not in the best shape, but stable -- and that just speaks volumes to the fact that people do care.

"But we have to let them know these animals exist and that they 're in trouble and what the need is."

The Photo Ark is Joel Sartore's invitation to look them in the eye ... to look hard.

For more info: joelsartore.com | The Photo Ark project
Photo Ark exhibit at the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. (through April 11, 2016)




“For ten years now, the National Geographic photographer has made it his life's mission to be their messenger and, he hopes, their protector -- their Noah building a photographic ark. His "Photo Ark" currently houses images of more than 5,000 species, rolling past the viewer. "It would take two hours to see them all," he said. "It's supposed to just overwhelm people with what life looks like on Earth." And what might soon be extinct. …. So this world traveler, who's shot 35 stories for National Geographic (including six covers), drove to the Lincoln Children's Zoo, a mile from his house, and asked if he could photograph the animals. "They let me take a naked mole rat and put it on a white background," Sartore said. "That's how we started it. And then I did a couple of blue and black poison dart frogs, I think. And that was 5,400 species ago." …. He's taken pictures at more than 200 zoos in the U.S. alone, including a porcupine at the St. Louis Zoo, and wrangled flamingos (not quite like getting your ducks in a row). Success is not always guaranteed. And there can be hazards, as when these birds get angry. "This bird is the nastiest, most bad-ass bird I've ever had to do." …. Sartore accepts that people fall in love with fuzzy, cute animals, like the Fennec fox. But he wants us to appreciate the importance of the un-cuddly ones, the ones we've never heard of. His portraits' all-black or all-white backgrounds, he said, "bring them to life and give them a voice. And this is often the only voice they'll ever have before they go away. This is their only chance to sing, in a way."


My mind goes back to the black and white photo of the last Tasmanian tiger remaining on earth. The shot of the last thylacine was taken in 1936 in an Australian zoo. It was so thin that it looked as if it was being underfed, but perhaps they were simply very lean animals. Now on the endangered list are our favorite creatures from elephants and rhinoceros to some whales. I’m not personally attached to all the animals on the earth, indeed some of them make me go “Eeeee!!” I do respect the whole ecosystem, however, and every animal that exists fits into that structure in some way. All animals are also profoundly interesting to me, as each has its’ own survival techniques, mating style, and except for a very few, a unique beauty. I’m so glad I was born and lived out my years while many of them were still alive so that I could add them to my mental list of marvels. This photographer Sartore is doing an excellent, though simple, thing. He is photographing them each against a black or white background to show up its’ individual characteristics and colors. That kind of collection will be invaluable to the biologists of the next 50 years or later, when the animals are unfortunately extinct.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/speaker-of-the-house-paul-ryan-60-minutes/

Like all 60 Minutes articles this is too long for me to deal with, but I suggest you read it. It’s a good article. Paul Ryan sounds as though he is not the run of the mill Tea Party radical that so many of the younger Republicans are.