November 4, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/11/04/454335755/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-research-gains-funding-and-controversy

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Gains Funding, And Controversy
MIRIAM E. TUCKER
NOVEMBER 04, 2015

Photograph -- Ronald Davis cares for his 31-year-old son, Whitney Dafoe. Dafoe is seriously ill with ME/CFS. His father, a Stanford University professor, is organizing a study of the disorder.
Courtesy of Ashley Davis
Photograph -- Before becoming ill, Dafoe was a photographer and world traveler.
Courtesy of Ashley Davis
Related articles -- Chronic fatigue syndrome has been a controversial name and a controversial diagnosis.
SHOTS - HEALTH NEWS
Panel Says Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is A Disease, And Renames It


People who suffer from the condition known as chronic fatigue syndrome are accustomed to being dismissed by health care professionals and to only occasional mentions of their condition in the media. These past few weeks have been a notable exception, but with quite different conversations going on in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Last week, the National Institutes of Health announced that it is "strengthening its efforts to advance research" on the illness, which has been known as chronic fatigue syndrome in the United States and myalgic encephalomyelitis in the UK. It's increasingly referred to as ME/CFS.

Starting early next year, the NIH will launch an in-house study of about 40 people who fell ill suddenly after a flu-like illness and never returned to normal. This is a common, though not universal, history among patients with ME/CFS. The illness is characterized by disabling fatigue, pain, flu-like symptoms, unrefreshing sleep and other symptoms, all of which tend to worsen following even mild exertion and typically require days to weeks of recovery.

The illness is believed to affect more than 1 million Americans of all ages. Its cause — or more likely, causes — are unknown. There is currently no blood or other biological test that doctors can use to diagnose it.

Patients have long criticized the NIH for what they see as extreme underfunding of research into the illness, with the annual amount hovering around $5 million or $6 million for the past several years.

That's about to change, according to Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH. "It will be substantially greater than the current five or six million a year," he said in an interview with Shots. "We are going to ramp this up."

Among the new measures, a newly invigorated trans-NIH working group comprising members from several of NIH's institutes will meet soon to determine research priorities. Then the exact budget amount will be determined.

Collins said he's ambitiously aiming for money to be disbursed in 2016. Patient advocates and researchers have been pushing NIH to start that grant process for a decade.

Within NIH, the initiative will also move ME/CFS from the auspices of the Office of Women's Health to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, perhaps to be shifted to or shared with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the future.

"Assigning responsibility for ME/CFS to NINDS is very significant," says Jennifer Spotila, a patient advocate and blogger, "because it should mean that a program officer will be responsible for building an ME/CFS research portfolio. To my knowledge, that would be a first in the history of this disease, and a meaningful prerequisite for progress."

Stanford University professor Ronald Davis, a geneticist and father of a 31-year-old son who is severely ill with ME/CFS, also hailed the announcement but also expressed caution, noting that constraints in NIH's budget sometimes result in funding that is less than needed to solve complex biomedical problems like ME/CFS.

Davis has launched his own study of severely ill ME/CFS patients, thus far funded entirely from private donations to a foundation created for the purpose. He has tried twice to apply for NIH grants, but was turned down. "There are so many researchers out there, and the budget isn't increasing," he pointed out.

Nonetheless, Davis, who worked with Collins on the Human Genome Project back in the 1990s, says, "I'm optimistic. I think Francis will do a good job. He knows what he has to do. It's just very hard to do it."

But that's not the only way that ME/CFS has made headlines recently. Just two days before the NIH announcement, a group of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom published the latest of a series of papers from a study that has caused huge controversy in the ME/CFS community since its first findings were released in 2011.

Funded by the UK government division that distributes disability benefits, the PACE trial was based on the theory that the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome are mainly due to "unhelpful interpretations of symptoms, fearful beliefs about engaging in activity, and excessive focus on symptoms" and physical deconditioning, and could therefore be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy and progressive, graded exercise. Those are the current standards of care for ME/CFS in the UK.

While the study's results have suggested benefit for both treatments, members of the patient community have long disputed that conclusion.

Indeed, just a few days prior to the release of the latest PACE paper, David Tuller, a journalist who works as an academic coordinator at the University of California, Berkeley, published a blog series detailing what he and patient advocates say are major flaws in the way the PACE trial was conducted, including that they changed various aspects of the study design along the way, used questionable methods for scoring recovery, and didn't disclose financial conflicts of interest.

The PACE investigators responded in the same blog, saying that other studies have supported their findings, and that they have previously addressed issues such as changes in the criteria for determining if a patient had recovered.

And the British press wrestled with the issue, too. The Telegraph had to retract a headline saying said CFS/ME "is not actually a chronic illness" after hundreds of commenters, including people with the illness, complained.

One important issue that has been raised about PACE and other studies but tends to be overlooked is that people diagnosed with ME/CFS are not all the same, and that variability can affect study outcomes.

The PACE trial, which began in 2005, recruited patients using one of the least specific "chronic fatigue syndrome" criteria, which essentially requires only six months of severe unexplained disabling fatigue to make the diagnosis.

In contrast, Davis' study will investigate only patients who are bedbound – believed to comprise about a quarter of all ME/CFS patients – and who have not been studied before because they're too sick to come to labs. The initial NIH intramural study is also aimed at identifying a more uniform population by focusing on those with sudden onset of illness.

Collins declined to comment on the PACE controversy directly. "The kind of study we want to focus on immediately is to try to understand at the molecular level what is actually causing the problem. We're just feeling our way in the dark until we have that information." He added: "We might get to a therapeutic trial at a later step, but I think right now we just need to understand this condition at a level that we don't."



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

Rintatolimod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rintatolimod, sold under the tradename Ampligen, is a medication intended for treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome.[1] However, there is only low-quality evidence that it can improve the people's ability to exercise.[1]

It is a immunomodulatory double stranded RNA drug synthesized in the 1970s and manufactured by Hemispherx Biopharma.[2]

Although Ampligen was cleared for use in Canada in 1997,[3] and obtained orphan drug status for treatment of CFS in the European Union in 2000,[4] it is so far without FDA approval and therefore classed as experimental in the United States. In 2007 it filed a New Drug Application (NDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market and sell rintatolimod for the treatment of CFS,[5] but this was rejected in December 2009 because the FDA concluded that the two RCTs "did not provide credible evidence of efficacy"[6][7] and "because of clinical, statistical, clinical pharmacology, nonclinical, product quality, and facilities inspection deficiencies."[8] The FDA requested Hemispherx conduct at least one additional controlled trial to demonstrate efficacy in treating CFS. In August 2012 Hemispherx submitted further analyses of the original clinical trial data, although did not submit additional trials for review. Four months later a committee of the FDA voted 8-5 against approval for rintatolimod, again citing insufficient evidence.

Mechanism of action[edit]

A primary way rintatolimod acts is by protecting and stimulating the innate immune system, also called the nonspecific immune system and the first line of defense. According to a study published in the Journal of Immunology[15] and reflected in a press release by Hemispherx,[5] Rintatolimod protects and stimulates the innate immune system by binding to Toll-like receptors 3 (TLR-3), and activating the TLR-3 receptors for broad-spectrum immune response. TLR-3 receptors are located on cell surfaces. They are part of a family of "pattern recognition" receptors that detect pathogens immediately, even those the body has not yet encountered, long before adaptive immunity can intervene against foreign invaders. These receptors are critical to the first line of immunological defense against a broad range of pathogens, including otherwise lethal viruses and various forms of cancer. When, for example, double-stranded RNA molecules from an RNA viral infection bind to TLR-3 receptors the virus in this way inactivates the innate immune system, rendering it unable to signal the rest of the body's defenses. When rintatolimod binds to TLR-3 receptors the virus cannot do so and the body is able to marshal its defenses and launch an assault on the virus.



PACE trial for chronic fatigue syndrome:

http://www.wolfson.qmul.ac.uk/current-projects/pace-trial

Pace Trial
Centre for Psychiatry
Project Lead Investigator: Peter White
July 2015 update: Analysis of mediators paper published
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(14)00069-8/abstract

Other papers recently published include:
The statistical plan for the trial:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1745-6215-14-386.pdf
Recovery as an outcome:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8988741&fileId=S0033291713000020
Pain as an outcome:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9215309&fileId=S0033291713002201
How we did the trial:
http://pb.rcpsych.org/content/39/1/24.short

Here is a paper that describes an independent Cochrane review of exercise therapy in CFS, which included the PACE trial:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD003200.pub3/epdf/standard

21 September 2012 update: Health economics paper, including cost-effectiveness comparisons, has now been published in PLOS ONE, and is available for free download at this link.

11 March 2011 update: Full PACE paper and web appendix now available to download free of charge, after registering with The Lancet





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

Chronic fatigue syndrome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex medical condition, characterized by long-term fatigue and other symptoms.[1][2] These symptoms are to such a degree that they limit a person's ability to carry out ordinary daily activities.[2] CFS may also be referred to as systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS), chronic fatigue immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS), or several other terms.[3] Quality of life of persons with CFS can be extremely compromised.[4]

Biological, genetic, infectious, and psychological mechanisms have been proposed, but the cause is not understood.[5][6] Diagnosis is based on a person's signs and symptoms.[7] The fatigue is not due to ongoing exertion, not relieved much by rest, and is not caused by other medical conditions.[8] Evidence suggests that counseling, a gradual increase in exercise, and the medication rintatolimod is useful in some people.[9] In 2012 the FDA considered that evidence for the safety or benefit of rintatolimod to be insufficient to approve its use in the United States.[10]

Estimates of the number of people with the condition vary from 7 to 3,000 per 100,000 adults.[5][11] About one million Americans and a quarter of a million people in the UK have CFS.[12][13] Fatigue is a common symptom in many illnesses, but the fatigue experienced by persons with CFS is comparatively rare.[11] CFS occurs more often in women than men,[14] and is less common among children and adolescents.[15]

There is agreement that CFS has a negative effect on health, happiness and productivity. However, various physicians' groups, researchers and patient advocates promote differing terminology, diagnostic criteria, proposed causes and treatments, resulting in controversy about many aspects of the disorder. The name "chronic fatigue syndrome" is controversial; many patients and advocacy groups, as well as some experts, believe the name trivializes the medical condition and they promote a name change.[16]




NPR – “Last week, the National Institutes of Health announced that it is "strengthening its efforts to advance research" on the illness, which has been known as chronic fatigue syndrome in the United States and myalgic encephalomyelitis in the UK. It's increasingly referred to as ME/CFS.Starting early next year, the NIH will launch an in-house study of about 40 people who fell ill suddenly after a flu-like illness and never returned to normal. …. Collins said he's ambitiously aiming for money to be disbursed in 2016. Patient advocates and researchers have been pushing NIH to start that grant process for a decade. Within NIH, the initiative will also move ME/CFS from the auspices of the Office of Women's Health to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, perhaps to be shifted to or shared with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the future. "Assigning responsibility for ME/CFS to NINDS is very significant," says Jennifer Spotila, a patient advocate and blogger, "because it should mean that a program officer will be responsible for building an ME/CFS research portfolio. …. Indeed, just a few days prior to the release of the latest PACE paper, David Tuller, a journalist who works as an academic coordinator at the University of California, Berkeley, published a blog series detailing what he and patient advocates say are major flaws in the way the PACE trial was conducted, including that they changed various aspects of the study design along the way, used questionable methods for scoring recovery, and didn't disclose financial conflicts of interest. …. The PACE trial, which began in 2005, recruited patients using one of the least specific "chronic fatigue syndrome" criteria, which essentially requires only six months of severe unexplained disabling fatigue to make the diagnosis. In contrast, Davis' study will investigate only patients who are bedbound – believed to comprise about a quarter of all ME/CFS patients – and who have not been studied before because they're too sick to come to labs. The initial NIH intramural study is also aimed at identifying a more uniform population by focusing on those with sudden onset of illness. …. Collins declined to comment on the PACE controversy directly. "The kind of study we want to focus on immediately is to try to understand at the molecular level what is actually causing the problem. We're just feeling our way in the dark until we have that information." He added: "We might get to a therapeutic trial at a later step, but I think right now we just need to understand this condition at a level that we don't."

Rintatolimod – “A primary way rintatolimod acts is by protecting and stimulating the innate immune system, also called the nonspecific immune system and the first line of defense. …. Rintatolimod protects and stimulates the innate immune system by binding to Toll-like receptors 3 (TLR-3), and activating the TLR-3 receptors for broad-spectrum immune response. TLR-3 receptors are located on cell surfaces. They are part of a family of "pattern recognition" receptors that detect pathogens immediately, even those the body has not yet encountered, long before adaptive immunity can intervene against foreign invaders. …. When, for example, double-stranded RNA molecules from an RNA viral infection bind to TLR-3 receptors the virus in this way inactivates the innate immune system, rendering it unable to signal the rest of the body's defenses. When rintatolimod binds to TLR-3 receptors the virus cannot do so and the body is able to marshal its defenses and launch an assault on the virus.”


“Starting early next year, the NIH will launch an in-house study of about 40 people who fell ill suddenly after a flu-like illness and never returned to normal.” This seems to me to be the way to try to catch a virus at work. Many viruses start with headache, fever and bodily pains. The flu is mostly like a common cold on steroids, but there are the Asian Flu, Swine Flu and Bird Flu, all of which can be fatal. Other viruses with the same initial symptoms proceed rapidly into much more serious symptoms – polio and rabies for a couple – and it looks as though this virus is in that class, though this article doesn’t mention paralysis or death. It does disable people for holding a job or living a full life in general, however.

A friend of mine who was convinced that she had it said that some days she couldn’t get up out of bed. The problem is that there is even now only one treatment -- gradually increased exercise, “counseling” which is probably mental health counselling, and the drug Rintatolimod. The article on this drug stated that the effectiveness of it in stopping Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is “inconclusive,” but the way the drug works is very interesting. It stimulates what is called the “innate, or non-specific immune system.” Though the conclusions in this article on treatments and causes are tentative, I am glad to see that some real money and energy will be spent in London and the US on research.

“Within NIH, the initiative will also move ME/CFS from the auspices of the Office of Women's Health to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, perhaps to be shifted to or shared with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the future.” One of the things that frustrated Carol the most was the dismissive attitude she encountered with some physicians. It’s no accident that it used to be considered a “women’s illness, i.e. hormonally caused or even neurotic in nature. Too often male doctors have disdain for women and it shows. The result is a poor grade of health care for women. This is prejudice at work purely and simply. Besides, the patient featured in the NPR article is a man, so it shouldn’t be hormonal in origin, and he was a vigorous outdoorsy kind of man until he was stricken.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/houston-lgbt-nondiscrimination-ordinance-rejected-by-voters/

Houston LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance rejected by voters
CBS/AP
November 3, 2015

Play VIDEO -- After “religious freedom” bills, what’s next for LGBT rights?
Photograph -- In this Oct. 21, 2015 file photo, a man urges people to vote against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance outside an early voting center in Houston. AP
Play VIDEO -- LGBT activist: Fight goes on after landmark marriage ruling


HOUSTON -- An ordinance that would have established nondiscrimination protections for gay and transgender people in Houston failed to win approval from voters on Tuesday.

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, known as HERO, was rejected after a nearly 18-month battle that spawned rallies, legal fights and accusations of both religious intolerance and demonization of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Supporters of the ordinance had said it would have offered increased protections for gay and transgender people, as well as protections against discrimination based on sex, race, age, religion and other categories.

Opponents of the ordinance, including a coalition of conservative pastors, said it infringed on their religious beliefs regarding homosexuality. But in the months leading up to Tuesday's vote, opponents focused their campaign on highlighting one part of the ordinance related to the use of public bathrooms by transgender men and women that opponents alleged would open the door for sexual predators to go into women's restrooms.

Democratic Houston Mayor Annise Parker, who is gay, and other supporters of the ordinance had called this "bathroom ordinance" strategy highly misleading and a scare tactic.

"This was a campaign of fear-mongering and deliberate lies," Parker said, according to CBS affiliate KHOU. "No one's rights should be subject to a popular vote."

The ordinance was initially approved by the Houston City Council in May 2014 but a lawsuit to have residents vote on the measure eventually made it to the Texas Supreme Court, which in July ordered the city to either repeal the ordinance or put it on the ballot.

"This will have stained Houston's reputation as a tolerant, welcoming global city," Parker said. "I absolutely fear there will be a direct economic backlash."

Tuesday's referendum drew attention from around the nation, with the measure getting high-profile endorsements last week from the White House, high-tech giant Apple and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. The ordinance also had received support from other members of Houston's religious community.

Campaign for Houston, which fought the ordinance, said opponents included a diverse group of individuals, such as pastors from all denominations and local and state elected officials. Among the most outspoken opponents was former Astros player Lance Berkman who appeared in an anti-HERO ad, KHOU reported.

On Monday, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had tweeted his support for opponents, saying, "HOUSTON: Vote Texas values, not HillaryClinton values. Vote NO on City of Houston Proposition 1. No men in women's bathrooms."




“But in the months leading up to Tuesday's vote, opponents focused their campaign on highlighting one part of the ordinance related to the use of public bathrooms by transgender men and women that opponents alleged would open the door for sexual predators to go into women's restrooms. …. "This will have stained Houston's reputation as a tolerant, welcoming global city," Parker said. "I absolutely fear there will be a direct economic backlash." Tuesday's referendum drew attention from around the nation, with the measure getting high-profile endorsements last week from the White House, high-tech giant Apple and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. The ordinance also had received support from other members of Houston's religious community.”

My Unitarian Universalist Church is a group that welcomes people of all gender types, races and religions. I’m not gay/lesbian but I am in sympathy with them, because I certainly don’t consider it to be a sin and all those whom I have met are very nice people. They just don’t find people of the opposite sex to be sexually interesting. Some of them look to me as though they may have some hormonal issues and others look absolutely “normal.” A man I knew years ago was absolutely handsome, and behaved in a masculine way, but he was openly gay. All they really ask is to be accepted first as a human being and second as a particular sexual type. It is, after all, personal. All women shouldn’t have to look like Marilyn Monroe to be acceptable humans. We need to keep improving as a society in opening up more, not closing down as the religious right would have us do. As the motto goes, “Live and let live!”



CLIMATE CHANGE AGAIN?


http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/03/454242786/tropical-cyclone-chapala-batters-yemen-dumps-years-worth-of-rain

Tropical Cyclone Chapala Batters Yemen, Dumps Years' Worth Of Rain
Eyder Peralta
NOVEMBER 03, 2015

Photograph -- A satellite image showing Tropical Cyclone Chapala after it made landfall in Yemen., Joint Typhoon Warning Center


A rare tropical cyclone named Chapala has dumped years' worth of rain on Yemen in a matter of hours.

Yemen has already been ravaged by war, and now parts of it are under water.

Yemen is used to getting about 4 inches of rain per year. Getting accurate, on-the-ground rainfall amounts from Yemen is tough, but forecasters had estimated that Chapala could dump as much as 8 inches of rain.

Weather.com reports:

"In the coastal town of Mukalla, currently under al Qaeda control, thousands fled their homes, fearing rockslides and flooding, Reuters reported.

"'The wind knocked out power completely in the city and people were terrified. Some residents had to leave their homes and escape to higher areas where flooding was less; it was a difficult night but it passed off peacefully,' Mukalla resident Sabri Saleem told Reuters.

"There have been no confirmed injuries in Mukalla so far, the report added."

The BBC has bit more on the situation:

"The UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) said it had delivered trauma kits for 1,000 patients in Mukalla, which has been controlled by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula since April, and was providing fuel for hospitals and ambulances.

"The effects of the cyclone, it added, would be felt over large parts of Yemen but were likely to be more severe in Shabwa and Hadramawt.

"The provinces have a combined population of 1.8 million, including more than 100,000 internally displaced persons and 27,000 refugees and migrants."




“Yemen is used to getting about 4 inches of rain per year. Getting accurate, on-the-ground rainfall amounts from Yemen is tough, but forecasters had estimated that Chapala could dump as much as 8 inches of rain. …. "'The wind knocked out power completely in the city and people were terrified. Some residents had to leave their homes and escape to higher areas where flooding was less; it was a difficult night but it passed off peacefully,' Mukalla resident Sabri Saleem told Reuters. …. "The provinces have a combined population of 1.8 million, including more than 100,000 internally displaced persons and 27,000 refugees and migrants."

1.8 million people, 100,000 of whom are homeless is a difficult burden for Yemen. The only good news about a hurricane is that it blows through and out, usually at least, within a day’s time once it hits. The next morning is probably going to be cheerfully sunny and clear. The sky is dark and very dangerous-looking when it’s just moving in, however, and in Florida there may be tornadoes spawned by the cyclone before, after and during the storm. People have to sit in the dark with no way to keep food cold, and then there’s the howling of the wind, when it comes in. It can pull up trees, blow objects around and even blows in windows at times. The roof may be destroyed and the whole house in fact, if it’s a number 5 hurricane like Andrew, Camille and a few others.

Some people are entranced by the clearing weather at the center of the storm and go outdoors, only to be trapped with no cover when the other side, the fiercest side, comes through. While strong weather has a beauty to it in my eyes, it is very dangerous and should be respected. If one of those is coming, follow the weather center’s advice and get your canned food, crackers and lots of water early, because if you don’t you will find the store stripped of those goods. See the following on the history of hurricanes in Yemen. This is not merely the strongest, but the very first hurricane to hit Yemen in recorded history. They have occurred at some other points in the Arabian Sea, though, so maybe this isn’t “climate change” in action.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/11/02/chapala-to-make-landfall-in-yemen-as-first-hurricane-strength-cyclone-on-record/

Chapala to make landfall in Yemen as first hurricane-strength cyclone on record
By Angela Fritz
November 2, 2015

Clip -- Satellite video from India shows tropical cyclone Chapala hit Yemen early on Nov. 3. The rare cyclone slammed into the island of Socotra before heading straight toward the city of Al Mukalla on the coast. (India Meteorological Department)


Cyclone Chapala is tracking west through the Arabian Sea, targeting Yemen as the first hurricane-strength storm to make landfall there since records began. While the storm’s winds will certainly pack a punch as the storm comes ashore in the early morning hours Tuesday, its rainfall may prove deadly — the cyclone is forecast to dump at least five years’ worth of rain over the mountains near the vulnerable port city of Al Mukalla.

Chapala has benefited from extremely warm water in the Arabian Sea, maintaining its strength as the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane, after peaking as a strong Category 4 on Friday. The storm has generated more energy than any other tropical cyclone on record in the Arabian Sea.

Honing in on the southern Arabian Peninsula, Chapala is packing winds of 120 mph, with gusts up to 150 mph. Wave heights around the storm are 30 feet.





http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/03/454192387/iraqi-politician-ahmed-chalabi-dead-of-a-heart-attack-state-tv

Iraqi Politician Ahmed Chalabi Dead Of A Heart Attack, State TV Reports
Jim Zarroli, MARIE ANDRUSEWICZ
NOVEMBER 03, 2015


Ahmed Chalabi, a former Iraqi exile who played a major role in persuading the U.S. to wage war against Saddam Hussein, has died of a heart attack in Baghdad. He was 71.

His death was reported by Iraqi state media and confirmed to NPR by Hashim al Moussawi, who works in his office, and by former parliamentarian Hassan al Alawi.

Chalabi headed the Iraqi National Congress, an opposition group based in Washington that long lobbied against Hussein. As The Washington Post noted last year, Chalabi was a wealthy, politically connected exile who for years funneled intelligence to U.S. officials:

"For that, he was dubbed 'the George Washington of Iraq.' Of course, it was later discovered that the information was false, and, after that, a new nickname was found: 'The Man Who Pushed America to War' (or, as the New York Times put it, 'Neoconner')."

NPR's Alice Fordham tells Morning Edition that under Chalabi's leadership, the Iraqi National Congress received substantial financial backing from the U.S. government:

"[The group] was very close to the United States government, funded by the United States government, to the tune of millions of dollars for things like opposition TV channels. But they're mainly known for propagating the idea that Saddam Hussein presented a threat because he had biological weapons, weapons of mass destruction.

"In later years when he was challenged about this, Chalabi was more or less unrepentant in the interviews that he gave. He seemed to imply that the important thing was that Saddam Hussein was gone."

Chalabi returned to Iraq after the war and was elected to parliament, but because of his long absence from the country, he was not fully trusted by Iraqis, Alice says.

Back in Iraq, Chalabi headed the country's de-Baathification program, which purged the government of Saddam loyalists, most of whom were Sunni Muslims.

In person, Chalabi could be an urbane and charming figure, Alice recalls:

"He was very expansive. He had a quirky fashion sense. He was very clever, especially on the financial stuff. He was very dismissive of what he saw as stupid questions, and he had an amazing ability to win people over. I've seen a room of cynical journalists who I'm sure had questions about his motivation, about what he had done, who had been working in Iraq for years, just laughing at his jokes. He was really a world champion at winning people over."




“Chalabi returned to Iraq after the war and was elected to parliament, but because of his long absence from the country, he was not fully trusted by Iraqis, Alice says. Back in Iraq, Chalabi headed the country's de-Baathification program, which purged the government of Saddam loyalists, most of whom were Sunni Muslims. …. I've seen a room of cynical journalists who I'm sure had questions about his motivation, about what he had done, who had been working in Iraq for years, just laughing at his jokes. He was really a world champion at winning people over."


This article makes it looks as though George Bush was led astray by this wily man, but it also says the US had been bankrolling his group for years. I think it was a long-term plan to break Saddam’s back and Chalabi furnished him with the excuse he wanted to invade. I remember Bush in a question and answer session actually grinning as he said that Saddam had "tried to kill" his father, and that was why he was going in. It was more likely a political decision I think, though. Saddam was a bad man, but when he was forced out, Iraq simply fell apart and hasn’t pulled itself together yet. That’s one of those “unintended consequences” that economists like to talk about, and we are so far STILL unable to pull out without even more countries going down. Even worse, if we don’t initiate a ground war against ISIS they will probably remain the greatest threat to the Western world since Hitler. So, while I’m sorry any human has died, I have no love for Chalabi.





http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/obama-bans-hiring-bias-against-ex-cons-seeking-federal-jobs-n455706

Obama Bans Hiring Bias Against Ex-Cons Seeking Federal Jobs
by ARI MELBER
NOV 2 2015

Video -- Obama Announces Plan to Ban Bias in Hiring Ex-Cons 5:05
Related article -- From Hustling Drugs to Bootcamp: Ex-cons Find a New Path
Related: -- Locked-In Profits: The U.S. Prison Industry, By the Numbers
Related: Obama to visit Newark for criminal justice push


On Monday, President Obama is announcing a new order to reduce potential discrimination against former convicts in the hiring process for federal government employees.

It is a step towards what many criminal justice reformers call "ban the box" - the effort to eliminate requirements that job applicants check a box on their applications if they have a criminal record.

President Obama is unveiling the plan on a visit to a treatment center in New Jersey, a state where Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed a ban the box bill into law last year. Hillary Clinton endorsed ban the box last week, while Republican Sen. Rand Paul also introduced similar federal legislation, with Democrat Cory Booker, to seal criminal records for non-violent offenders.

The White House says it is "encouraged" by such legislation in a new statement, but emphasizes the president's order will take immediate action, mandating that the federal government's HR department "delay inquiries into criminal history until later in the hiring process."

President Obama spoke to several federal prisoners about that very approach in July, when he was the first sitting president to visit an American prison.

"If the disclosure of a criminal record happens later in a job application process," he told them, "you're more likely to be hired." Obama described what many studies show - that when many employers see the box checked for an applicant's criminal record, they weed them out without ever looking at their qualifications.

"If they have a chance to at least meet you," the president continued, "you're able to talk to them about your life, what you've done, maybe they give you a chance."

About 60-to-75% of former inmates cannot find work within their first year out of jail, according to the Justice Department, a huge impediment to re-entering society.

Research shows the existence of a criminal record can reduce an employer's interest in applicant by about 50%, and that when white and black applicants both have records, employers are far less likely to call back a black applicant than a white one. As a 2009 re-entry study in New York city found, "the criminal record penalty suffered by white applicants (30%) is roughly half the size of the penalty for blacks with a record (60%)."

Obama's move also comes in the wake of a growing movement for criminal justice reform - from broad calls by groups like Blacks Lives Matter to a specific campaign on ban the box that ranged from half the Senate Democratic caucus to civil rights groups to artists like John Legend.

The President is announcing several other measures Monday, including public housing and money for re-entry programs, and he is speaking about prison reform in a speech and an exclusive interview with NBC Nightly News Anchor Lester Holt.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated President Obama would ban the box for federal employees and contractors. While the White House supports legislation to do so, the rule the president is announcing Monday applies only to federal employees, not contractors. This story originally appeared on MSNBC.com




“I've seen a room of cynical journalists who I'm sure had questions about his motivation, about what he had done, who had been working in Iraq for years, just laughing at his jokes. He was really a world champion at winning people over." …. President Obama is unveiling the plan on a visit to a treatment center in New Jersey, a state where Republican Gov. Chris Christie signed a ban the box bill into law last year. Hillary Clinton endorsed ban the box last week, while Republican Sen. Rand Paul also introduced similar federal legislation, with Democrat Cory Booker, to seal criminal records for non-violent offenders. …. The White House says it is "encouraged" by such legislation in a new statement, but emphasizes the president's order will take immediate action, mandating that the federal government's HR department "delay inquiries into criminal history until later in the hiring process." …. About 60-to-75% of former inmates cannot find work within their first year out of jail, according to the Justice Department, a huge impediment to re-entering society. Research shows the existence of a criminal record can reduce an employer's interest in applicant by about 50%, and that when white and black applicants both have records, employers are far less likely to call back a black applicant than a white one. …. a specific campaign on ban the box that ranged from half the Senate Democratic caucus to civil rights groups to artists like John Legend. The President is announcing several other measures Monday, including public housing and money for re-entry programs, and he is speaking about prison reform in a speech and an exclusive interview with NBC Nightly News Anchor Lester Holt.”

This is one more good move by President Obama. He focuses on issues that are important and improves them at least within the government and often the contractors as well. The Republicans hate his way of going around their attempts to block everything he wants, because there’s nothing they can do about it. They were planning to sue him or impeach him, but that hasn’t materialized. It really reminds me of the Roadrunner cartoons.





http://www.today.com/money/prince-william-duchess-kate-reportedly-take-fight-against-cyberbullying-t53901

Prince William, Duchess Kate to reportedly take on fight against cyberbullying
Scott Stump
TODAY
November 4, 2015

Photograph -- Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend an event hosted by Mind, at Harrow College to mark World Mental Health Day on October 10, 2015 in Harrow, England.
MORE: -- The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge raise awareness for World Mental Health Day
LEON NEAL / AFP - Getty Images -- Prince William and Duchess Kate are hoping to tackle the issue of cyberbullying.


As the parents of two young children growing up in the age of social media, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have reportedly been inspired to tackle the issue of cyberbullying.

Prince William and Kate Middleton have invited executives from Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies to meet with them in the coming year and brainstorm about what can be done to crack down on online harassment.

The birth of Prince George, 2, and 6-month-old Princess Charlotte has spurred the couple to want to get involved in the issue. Duchess Kate has spoken about being bullied herself while growing up, and the issue also has been raised to them by children during their charity visits.

"She thinks that young people are increasingly becoming vulnerable to these sorts of attacks, and it's one thing, playground bullying, which is what Kate experienced,'' NBC royal expert Camilla Tominey said on TODAY Wednesday. "This is online and more pernicious."

The couple is hoping constructive dialogue with the social media companies can help reduced statistics like 33 percent of teenagers reporting they have been victims of cyberbullying, one million children being cyberbullied on Facebook last year, and 67 percent of young people saying being harassed or threatened online is a problem.

"Their role as parents is definitely shaping their perceptions on the issues," a royal aide told The Sunday Times of London. "As parents themselves they want to speak out and see what more can be done for young people who are victims of cyberbullying and all forms of bullying."





http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/04/politics/guantanamo-bay-executive-action/index.html

WH: Executive action possible on closing Gitmo
By Jim Acosta and Kevin Liptak, CNN
Wed November 4, 2015

Photography -- Why Guantanamo Bay is still open 02:17
Story Highlights -- The White House on Wednesday refused to rule out executive action to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay
The White House is finalizing a Guantanamo closure plan that's expected to be delivered to Congress in the coming days


Washington (CNN)The White House on Wednesday refused to rule out executive action to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, saying past refusal from Congress to take steps to shutter the facility have led to little optimism that a legislative solution is possible.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, asked about the possibility that President Barack Obama could take unilateral moves to transfer detainees to the United States, said all options remain in play.

"At this point, I would not take anything off the table in terms of the President doing everything that he can to achieve this critically important national security objective," Earnest said.

The White House is finalizing a Guantanamo closure plan that's expected to be delivered to Congress in the coming days. The plan will recommend speeding detainee transfers to other nations, and allowing for some prisoners to be relocated to facilities in the United States.

Defense officials have been surveying sites in South Carolina, Kansas and Colorado as potential locations to house Guantanamo detainees who the U.S. government has determined cannot be transferred to their home countries.

That would require Congress to change a law banning any Guantanamo transfers to the U.S. Opponents of moving detainees to the United States cite the potential security concerns of keeping accused terrorists on U.S. soil.

On Wednesday, Earnest said there was little confidence Congress would give the administration's upcoming proposal due consideration.

"There is an open question about whether or not Congress does want to fairly consider this proposal," he said. "I guess we'll find out."

Obama vowed during his first campaign for president he would close the Guantanamo Bay prison, saying it serves as a recruiting tool for terrorists. And as more individuals are transferred out, the cost-per-detainee has increased to millions of dollars per year.




“The White House is finalizing a Guantanamo closure plan that's expected to be delivered to Congress in the coming days. The plan will recommend speeding detainee transfers to other nations, and allowing for some prisoners to be relocated to facilities in the United States. Defense officials have been surveying sites in South Carolina, Kansas and Colorado as potential locations to house Guantanamo detainees who the U.S. government has determined cannot be transferred to their home countries.”

Like many Democrats I really hate everything about GITMO, and I don’t see the point to it. If they are fighting against the governments of Iraq or Syria, simply kill them on the battlefield. Maybe that’s against International Law. In fact now that I listen to myself, it sounds like what ISIS is doing, except they are doing it to civilians. Is it possible the those people in Guantanamo are not actually al-Qaeda at all, but just some poor schmoes who were picked up by US soldiers in the battle area? Or maybe they were put there for the express purpose of continuing the torture ad infinitum. Whatever, it’s a human cesspool from what I’ve seen and should be closed. And of course it undoubtedly acts as a magnet for anti-American feeling around the world, and therefore for further radicalization in the Islamic world. Torturing people makes us the bad guys too, after all.





http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/health/robin-williams-widow-susan-williams/index.html

Robin Williams' widow speaks: Depression didn't kill my husband
By Stephanie Gallman, CNN
Wed November 4, 2015

Video Source: CNN
14 photos: I met Robin Williams
28 photos: Remembering Robin Williams
Video -- Robin Williams' best impressions 02:03


(CNN) Comedian Robin Williams' widow, Susan Williams, said she and her husband "were living a nightmare" in the months leading up to his death.

"My best friend was sinking," an emotional Williams told ABC's Amy Robach in an interview that aired Tuesday, her first since Robin Williams killed himself in August 2014.

Williams said she's spent the last year trying to get to the bottom of what led him to take his own life. Contrary to what most people think, she said, it wasn't depression, nor was it a re-emergence of his longtime struggles with alcohol and drug addiction.

Robin Williams had no alcohol or illegal drugs in his system; he'd been sober for eight years, his wife said.

What drove her husband to suicide, "was what was going on in his brain," Williams said.

"The chemical warfare that no one knew about."

'Chemical warfare'

That "chemical warfare" that doctors conducting Robin Williams' autopsy discovered was Lewy body dementia.

Though not nearly as well known (or talked about) as Alzheimer's disease, which accounts for more than half of dementia diagnoses in the United States, Lewy body dementia, or LBD, is the second most common type of progressive dementia.

Nearly 1.4 million Americans are known to have the disease, but because it's a relatively "young disorder," Angela Taylor, director of programming for the Lewy Body Dementia Association said, that number is likely much higher.

LBD is caused when normal proteins in the brain begin to aggregate, forming clumps called Lewy bodies that, as they spread, "muck up the ability for the brain to transmit signals," said Cleveland Clinic neurologist Dr. James Leverenz.

Robin Williams: Full of demons, full of heart

Like Alzheimer's disease, symptoms of LBD include cognitive problems like confusion, reduced attention span, and memory loss, Taylor said.

But LBD also affects a patient's movements, as well as their mood, making it a "triple threat," Taylor said.

"It's not just memory, it's not just movement, and it's not just behavior. It's a combination of all three, which makes it difficult to diagnose and difficult to treat," Leverenz said.

'Endless parade of symptoms'

Susan Williams recalls thinking her husband was a hypochondriac, when, starting in November 2013, every month he seemed to complain about a different ailment.

Click through to see moments from the beloved actor’s remarkable life.

Like a game of "whack-a-mole," Robin Williams was wrought with a severe pain in his gut, sleeplessness and constipation, she said.

After months of heightened anxiety and paranoia about his health, Susan Williams said, Robin Williams felt a small "sense of relief" when he was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease in May 2014.

While Parkinson's disease, which like Alzheimer's has no cure, is hardly good news, Susan Williams said it was nice to have a possible answer for her husband's seemingly "endless parade of symptoms."

Parkinson's, a nervous system disorder that affects movement, could be blamed for the tremor in Robin Williams' left hand, but Susan Williams said it didn't explain everything.

'I miscalculated'

Susan Williams breaks down as she remembers what she witnessed on July 24, 2014, just months after Robin Williams was diagnosed with Parkinson's.

She was in the shower when she noticed her husband lingering by the sink. She opened the door to find him holding a bloodied towel, a severe gash on his head.

"Robin, what happened?" she screamed.

She said he motioned toward the door, and said just two words, "I miscalculated."

Though she didn't know it then, Susan Williams said LBD had affected his vision and his ability to recognize and identify objects, like the door.

Susan Williams said despite his diagnosis, her husband of three years was happy.

"Lewy body dementia killed Robin," she told Robach.

Changing capacity to do things

As Lewy bodies form and take over different parts of the brain affecting body movement, mind and mood, patients suffering from LBD experience symptoms of a person with both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, conditions that alone are devastating.

Because Robin Williams was a very active and very successful person, it's understandable that he would have grown depressed about his "changing capacity to do things he used to do," Leverenz said.

Susan Williams said she believes her husband was losing his mind, and "he was aware of it."

I met Robin Williams

His decision to use a belt to hang himself from his bedroom door was, in Susan Williams' opinion, his way of taking his power back, a painful choice for which she immediately forgave him.

After emergency responders realized they couldn't revive him, Susan Williams got to see him.

"And I got to tell him, 'I forgive you 50 billion percent, with all my heart. You're the bravest man I've ever known.'"

Sarah Michelle Gellar sums up Williams' legacy in one Instagram




“Like Alzheimer's disease, symptoms of LBD include cognitive problems like confusion, reduced attention span, and memory loss, Taylor said. But LBD also affects a patient's movements, as well as their mood, making it a "triple threat," Taylor said. "It's not just memory, it's not just movement, and it's not just behavior. It's a combination of all three, which makes it difficult to diagnose and difficult to treat," Leverenz said. …. Comedian Robin Williams' widow, Susan Williams, said she and her husband "were living a nightmare" in the months leading up to his death. …. Robin Williams had no alcohol or illegal drugs in his system; he'd been sober for eight years, his wife said. …. Lewy body dementia, or LBD, is the second most common type of progressive dementia. LBD is caused when normal proteins in the brain begin to aggregate, forming clumps called Lewy bodies that, as they spread, "muck up the ability for the brain to transmit signals," …. After months of heightened anxiety and paranoia about his health, Susan Williams said, Robin Williams felt a small "sense of relief" when he was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease in May 2014. While Parkinson's disease, which like Alzheimer's has no cure, is hardly good news, Susan Williams said it was nice to have a possible answer for her husband's seemingly "endless parade of symptoms." …. She was in the shower when she noticed her husband lingering by the sink. She opened the door to find him holding a bloodied towel, a severe gash on his head. "Robin, what happened?" she screamed. She said he motioned toward the door, and said just two words, "I miscalculated." Though she didn't know it then, Susan Williams said LBD had affected his vision and his ability to recognize and identify objects, like the door.”

“Because Robin Williams was a very active and very successful person, it's understandable that he would have grown depressed about his "changing capacity to do things he used to do," Leverenz said. Susan Williams said she believes her husband was losing his mind, and "he was aware of it." A woman friend of mine killed herself about 20 years ago because her Huntington’s Disease had reached the point that she was afraid she would become so deranged that she couldn’t prevent being permanently hospitalized as her mother had been. She didn’t usually appear profoundly depressed to me, but of course people do successfully cover that up as Robin Williams may have done.

I just got a phone call from her husband one day saying that she shot herself with the pistol which he kept hidden in the top of the closet. Unfortunately, like some children, she had apparently seen him go there for it and decided that a slow, bedridden death was not necessary if she simply took control of the situation. That’s really why many people kill themselves. Williams, like Wendy, knew exactly what he was in for and chose to forestall the progress of a horrible disease. It’s actually a positive act rather than a negative one.