November 2, 2015


News Clips For The Day



http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-candidates-propose-changes-to-debate-format-ahead-of-meeting/ar-BBmHmal?li=BBgzzfc&ocid=iehp

GOP candidates propose changes to debate format ahead of meeting
The Washington Post
Michelle Ye Hee Lee
November 1, 2015

Photograph -- © Jim Wilson/The New York Times From left, John Kasich, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Donald J. Trump, Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina at the Republican debate Wednesday night at the University of…

Several GOP presidential candidates called for changes to the primary debate format, offering proposals on Sunday morning talk shows ahead of an evening meeting with the Republican National Committee over the debate process.

In the aftermath of last week's CNBC debate, GOP candidates have ramped up complaints about the way primary debates are handled. They criticized the CNBC debate as biased and poorly run and accused the moderators of asking "gotcha" questions.

On Sunday, candidates called for several format changes. Ohio Gov. John Kasich said candidates don't have enough time to explain their positions during debates. He said he preferred a format in which candidates can answer "a lot of questions over a period of time where I could actually explain myself, instead of having to go so quickly to take on complex issues in short periods of time."

"I know that Harry Truman couldn’t get elected president explaining the United States’ health-care plan in 30 seconds,” Kasich said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has said that he wants only moderators who have voted in Republican primaries to host future GOP debates. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson wants the debates off television and broadcast only on the Internet, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Carson added in an interview on ABC's "This Week" that he wants a more “professional type of debate,” with longer opening and closing statements — lasting at least one minute — and more enforcement of time limits on candidates’ answers.

[GOP campaigns vent at RNC on eve of debate summit]

The RNC suspended its partnership with NBC for a presidential debate in February, criticizing CNBC moderators for conducting the debate in "bad faith."

Presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina called the RNC's decision appropriate and said CNBC abused the debate process. Her campaign staff will not attend the RNC meeting on Sunday because of logistical reasons, she said.

"This is a debate series for Republican primary voters. And when you don't have a single conservative moderator, when the moderation earns boos from the audience — I mean I've never seen that before where an audience booed the moderation," Fiorina said on ABC's "This Week."

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has been relegated to the "undercard" debate among lower-polling candidates, said continuing with the current process will hurt the GOP's chances in 2016.

"This debate structure is not leading to the best candidate coming out of the debates. I would like [a] smaller group, all of us be heard equally, ask better questions," Graham said on "Fox News Sunday." "If we'll do that, we'll get the best nominee to win an election we can't afford to lose."

Jim Gilmore, whose polling numbers have not yet qualified him for undercard debates, also wants the debate format to change. Gilmore's main proposal: include him in the debates.

"I think they ought to be inclusive. I am a legitimate candidate," Gilmore said on CNN's "Reliable Sources" on Sunday.




"I know that Harry Truman couldn’t get elected president explaining the United States’ health-care plan in 30 seconds,” Kasich said on CNN's "State of the Union." First, I have to mention that when Harry Truman was competing for the Presidency, there was no US healthcare plan. Roosevelt brought in “welfare,” as it used to be called, but no Medicare. Medicare was made the law in the Lyndon B. Johnson administration in 1965. I remember it well, because I listened to the debate on the subject, and the debate was rancorous. Republicans and Dixiecrats were the same then as they are now.

Let’s face it, starvation and death due to illness or childbirth came in more liberal quantities to the very poor. My mother told me that her parents “never called a doctor unless they thought we might die!” It’s not that they were vicious people. They were just farmers who could grow food for the table and had a cow, but had no money crops, so there was very little cash. They grew extra so that they could can food in Mason jars for the winter. My mother, who was the second oldest, said she had to go to the store many times with a live chicken under each arm (walking as much as two or three miles) and trade the chickens for coffee, lard and flour. Chickens are a very good animal to grow because they breed all year, are tough and scrappy and usually have around 8 or 10 eggs in their nest to incubate. In other words, they populate rapidly. They eat table scraps, a little dry hard corn (which my grandfather always grew in large amounts for feed and trading) and there were plenty of grasshoppers, lizards and Junebugs for protein. That is what the true “free range chicken” is.

As for giving each one of these aggrieved Republicans who is admitted to the debate a few minutes in the beginning to state his views and plans, I thought that was being done anyway. I have seen it done in Democratic debates. It certainly should be. As for “gotcha” questions, in debates that I have seen in the past, the candidates have sometimes been given a list of the questions ahead of time so they could prepare for them, but personally that makes for a bland and predictable debate with little that is new or surprising emerging. I really don’t want to listen to one of those. I like to find out that some candidate who really is a dodo bird, is clearly not an acceptable candidate for President of the USA. Remember some of Sarah Palin’s answers? That’s what a debate is for. Palin was picked for her beauty and her patriotic rhetoric. That was a mistake.

About the issue of those with lower polling scores being left out of the debate, that’s not a good idea, except for the fact that it may have been done because there were really too many candidates in the running for them all to say more than a 5 minute speech if the debate doesn’t run at least two hours. There is such a thing as a speech or a debate that becomes mind-numbingly boring because it goes on too long. Maybe the candidates could be broken up into groups of 5 or 6, with each group then meeting at a different time and place. There could be three hour and a half debates with 6 candidates each being given a fair share of the time. That way, each person could receive some time to make “opening remarks” and rebuttals as they do in a courtroom; and his or her best answers and arguments could be made during the questioning period at a more leisurely pace. Doesn’t that sound fair? It would make them look better as candidates because they would sound more intelligent and competent, and it wouldn’t resemble a food fight!





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/first-of-6-los-angeles-officials-sentenced-in-handcuffed-jail-visitors-beating/

First LA official sentenced in handcuffed jail visitor's beating
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS NEWS
November 2, 2015

Photograph -- Jail visitor Gabriel Carrillo, beaten Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies while wearing handcuffs in 2011. CBS LOS ANGELES


LOS ANGELES -- A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's sergeant was sentenced to prison on Monday for encouraging deputies to beat a handcuffed man in jail, CBS Los Angeles reports.

According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Eric Gonzalez, 49, was ordered to spend eight years in federal prison and then another three on supervised release.

U.S. District Judge George King said Gonzalez, a 15-year-veteran of the department, "abused his authority and corrupted the very system he was sworn to uphold."

Gonzalez was taken into custody immediately after sentencing, according to the Los Angeles station.

In June, a jury found Gonzalez and deputies Sussie Ayala and Fernando Luviano guilty of beating jail visitor Gabriel Carrillo in 2011.

The attack occurred on Feb. 26, after Carrillo, violated jail regulations by bringing a cell phone into the Men's Central Jail while visiting his brother, according to the station.

Gonzalez, Ayala and Luviano then conspired to lie about the beating.

Ayala and Luviano are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 30.

Two former deputies, Neal Womack and Pantamitr Zunggeemoge, have also pleaded guilty to the assault and are awaiting sentencing.

Byron Dredd, the sixth former deputy charged in the case, was indicted on federal charges in October for his alleged involvement in falsifying the reports.




“A former Los Angeles County Sheriff's sergeant was sentenced to prison on Monday for encouraging deputies to beat a handcuffed man in jail, CBS Los Angeles reports. According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Eric Gonzalez, 49, was ordered to spend eight years in federal prison and then another three on supervised release. U.S. District Judge George King said Gonzalez, a 15-year-veteran of the department, "abused his authority and corrupted the very system he was sworn to uphold." …. beating jail visitor Gabriel Carrillo in 2011. The attack occurred on Feb. 26, after Carrillo, violated jail regulations by bringing a cell phone into the Men's Central Jail while visiting his brother, according to the station. Gonzalez, Ayala and Luviano then conspired to lie about the beating. Ayala and Luviano are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 30. …. Byron Dredd, the sixth former deputy charged in the case, was indicted on federal charges in October for his alleged involvement in falsifying the reports.”

No cell phones, because they can be used to take photos and perhaps prove abuse? That’s probably the main reason. But why beat him? Just take the cell phone away and then give it back to him when he is leaving. This was a real “gang” action – six officers were charged and apparently convicted. This is what courts need to do in order to make it clear that police brutality is assault and battery, and punishable by some time in the penitentiary.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/common-myths-about-the-brain-debunked/

Common myths about the brain debunked
By ASHLEY WELCH CBS NEWS
November 2, 2015


The brain is central to our health and sense of self, but when it comes to how it works, there is still much to be understood. Maybe you've heard that doing crossword puzzles can improve memory, that playing classical music makes babies smarter, or that drinking alcohol kills brain cells -- but are these and other common claims about the brain really true?

An article in this month's issue of Popular Science seeks to separate brain facts from myths.

One of the first questions that come to mind regarding the brain is how much of it we actually use. Science fiction movies and novels often tell us we use only 10 percent of our brain, but it turns out that notion is false -- and actually not even plausible.

"If you only used 10 percent of your brain, you'd basically be brain dead," Michael Nuñez, Popular Science's technology editor, told "CBS This Morning." "Thanks to modern brain scanning technology, we actually know that we're using all of our brain at all different moments and different parts are being activated depending on the activity."

Another common claim is that the brain stops growing as we age, but research shows that is also not true. "What we've found in recent years is that the plasticity of the brain is actually pretty high, so you can continue to develop the brain long into adulthood, which is a relatively new idea in the scientific community," Nuñez said.

You've also probably heard that there are biological gender differences when it comes to the brain -- male brains are supposedly better suited for math and science, while female brains are more suited for empathy. But that's a misconception that's important to correct, Nuñez said.

"Both male and female brains have the exact same cognitive potential and although there are very small anatomical differences, for the most part, the perceived differences between males and females and science and math are because of cultural expectations," he said.

The effect of alcohol on the brain is another popular topic of conversation. Commonly accepted wisdom tells us that drinking booze kills brain cells, but scientists have studied the brains of alcoholics and non-alcoholics and have found the number of brain cells to be the exact same.

"What it [alcohol] does is that it impairs the way that neurons communicate with each other. So in the short term for moderate alcohol use, you're not actually going to be damaging brain cells," Nuñez explained. "You may be impairing things like decision making and speech, but you're not actually killing the neurons in your brain."

And what about the "Mozart effect" -- the notion that playing classical music makes babies smarter? Unfortunately, research has concluded that it isn't real.

Nuñez said he traced this myth back to a 1993 study of 36 college students -- a sample size too small to draw any definitive conclusions -- that found the participants performed better on IQ tests after listening to Mozart.

"Over time, that was extrapolated and even twisted and misconstrued by eager parents who have interpreted it as listening to Mozart makes you smarter when in fact, it's just not that easy," he said.

So what is the secret for a healthy brain? While there's no magic pill, a few healthy habits do help, including exercise, sleep, eating your greens and socializing with others. And while crossword puzzles and brain games are fun and engaging, currently there is insufficient evidence to suggest they translate to significant improvement of overall brain function.




"If you only used 10 percent of your brain, you'd basically be brain dead," Michael Nuñez, Popular Science's technology editor, told "CBS This Morning." "Thanks to modern brain scanning technology, we actually know that we're using all of our brain at all different moments and different parts are being activated depending on the activity." …. Another common claim is that the brain stops growing as we age, but research shows that is also not true. "What we've found in recent years is that the plasticity of the brain is actually pretty high, so you can continue to develop the brain long into adulthood …. male brains are supposedly better suited for math and science, while female brains are more suited for empathy. But that's a misconception that's important to correct, Nuñez said. "Both male and female brains have the exact same cognitive potential and although there are very small anatomical differences, for the most part, the perceived differences between males and females and science and math are because of cultural expectations," he said. …. So what is the secret for a healthy brain? While there's no magic pill, a few healthy habits do help, including exercise, sleep, eating your greens and socializing with others. And while crossword puzzles and brain games are fun and engaging, currently there is insufficient evidence to suggest they translate to significant improvement of overall brain function.”

"What it [alcohol] does is that it impairs the way that neurons communicate with each other. So in the short term for moderate alcohol use, you're not actually going to be damaging brain cells," Nuñez explained.” This statement by Nunez is very carefully qualified. It is not a clear statement that “alcohol doesn’t destroy brain cells.” What he did say that is significant to me is that the NUMBER of cells, presumably at the end of life since the brain would have to be physically examined to determine this, is the same between alcoholics and non-alcoholics. Let’s face it, there is so much binge drinking in this society that heavy drinkers of all kinds should all be examined, and it should be done after the 40 years or more of binge drinking had passed. Old alcoholics, who have NOT stopped drinking 20 or 30 years earlier through Alcoholics Anonymous, should have their brains examined. Perhaps they will have lost brain cells or damaged them to the point that they aren’t fully functional. Or perhaps the loss of thinking ability, from whatever cause, that they do often show would be a form that is accelerated by drinking. On recent article stated that Dementia is believed to be accelerated by heavy drinking. This article should not claim that 30 years of binge drinking is not going to harm the brain in a significant way. Maybe somebody will do some fact-checking on this article on that one matter, because I’m not convinced that it draws a correct conclusion.

As for men being more logical than women, I never bought into that. For one thing, both men and women differ so much from each other within their particular groups that I always assumed it was impossible to really prove such a claim; and the societal prejudices based on race, gender, wealth and social class are so strong that I don’t believe for a minute that those claims – blacks are less intelligent, poor people are less intelligent, and socially untrained people are also – is anything but a lazy, pompous and unexamined assumption on the part of men, the 1%, the whites, and the prep school/charm school graduates. Go, Bernie!





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bus-driver-behind-bars-after-alleged-assault-of-special-needs-student/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:%20cbsnews/NokX%20(Breaking%20News:%20CBS%20News)

Bus driver jailed after allegedly assaulting special needs teen
CBS NEWS
October 30, 2015


An Iowa school bus driver accused of assaulting a special needs student is behind bars.

Other students with cellphones recorded the violent confrontation Thursday in the back of the crowded bus, reports Elaine Quijano of CBS News' digital network, CBSN.

According to kids on the bus, the 15-year-old special needs student was not following the instructions of the driver. When the student said something inflammatory to the driver and allegedly threw something at him, the driver stopped the bus.

Gracie Foster grabbed her cellphone and started recording the violent confrontation after driver Robert Scarbrough stopped the bus.

"The bus driver threw him down on the ground and yelled at him," said Foster. "I was shaking and everyone was crying."

You can see on the video as the student throws an object at Scarbrough. He then walks towards the student and, according to police, grabbed the special needs student by his jacket, pulled him out of his seat and struck him in the face.

"He hit him in the head and he has a disability in his head so he's supposed to be watching us, not hurting us," said Ady Serdarevic, who was sitting next to the student.

Students on the video can be heard crying and screaming at the driver to stop.

The driver returned to his seat and drove to the next stop. Students saw a police car parked nearby and ran off the bus to alert the officer.

According to the Johnson Police Department, Scarbrough, 61, was arrested at the scene and taken to jail on charges of "assault causing injury and child endangerment."

The Johnson Community School District posted a statement on their website, saying in part: "It appears as though the driver made a series of poor choices regarding how to handle the student's behavior."

Scarbrough has been placed on administrative leave.




“You can see on the video as the student throws an object at Scarbrough. He then walks towards the student and, according to police, grabbed the special needs student by his jacket, pulled him out of his seat and struck him in the face. "He hit him in the head and he has a disability in his head so he's supposed to be watching us, not hurting us," said Ady Serdarevic, who was sitting next to the student. …. The driver returned to his seat and drove to the next stop. Students saw a police car parked nearby and ran off the bus to alert the officer. According to the Johnson Police Department, Scarbrough, 61, was arrested at the scene and taken to jail on charges of "assault causing injury and child endangerment."

I don’t know if this boy was autistic or had some other problem. I’ve seen videos of autistic kids really throwing some loud and aggressive fits. STILL, a bus driver has to constrain himself from slugging the kid. If special needs children are to be mainstreamed with the healthier ones, our teachers, school resource officers, bus drivers and anyone else who is responsible for their care need to be trained well in ways that are not violent. This student threw something and the driver got angry. At that point he was unable to control his behavior. That’s what happens in many of the police brutality cases. People in such positions need to be carefully screened before they are hired, and supervised actively afterwards. Likewise these teachers who have sexual relationships with 15 year olds. We have to prevent ourselves from doing stupid and abusive things.