December 22, 2015


There will be no news blog today, as I am leaving Jacksonville for the holidays.

I plan to return on January 4, 2016. I hope you all have a good holiday season.

December 21, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dozens-of-pedestrians-mowed-down-in-vegas-strip-hit-and-run/

Dozens of pedestrians mowed down in Vegas Strip hit-and-run
CBS/AP
December 21, 2015

Photograph -- stripgettyimages-502145772.jpg, Vehicle traffic on the Las Vegas Strip is closed as police investigate the area after a car crashed into a group of pedestrians on the sidewalk in front of the Paris Las Vegas and Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on December 20, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. ETHAN MILLER, GETTY IMAGES
Play VIDEO -- OSU parade crash suspect has bond set at $1 million


LAS VEGAS -- The packed sidewalks on the Las Vegas Strip became a scene of horror as a woman deliberately plowed her car into groups of partyers and tourists, killing one person and injuring dozens of others, authorities said.

The woman in her 20s, who has not been identified, struck pedestrians as she drove onto the walkway in front of the Paris and Planet Hollywood casino-hotels on Sunday evening, police said.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said Monday that 32-year-old Jessica Valenzuela of Buckeye, Arizona, died in the crash. The coroner said the suburban Phoenix woman was visiting Las Vegas with her husband.

Investigators believe the woman driving a 1996 Oldsmobile intentionally "went up and off these streets, two or possibly three times," Lt. Dan McGrath said. A 3-year-old was in the car with her but was not hurt, police said.

The driver sped away before the vehicle was found at a hotel and she was taken into custody, police said.

Capt. Brett Zimmerman said Monday that the car was fully on the sidewalk twice, including once when it traveled for 200 feet. He said that video of the incident shows that it "looks like it's very intentional."

Authorities did not give a possible motive for the crash on a busy stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard across from the dancing water fountains of the Bellagio hotel-casino where visitors crowd sidewalks as they head from one casino to another. The Miss Universe pageant was being held nearby at Planet Hollywood at the time.

The woman was having her blood drawn and was being held in jail with charges pending. She had recently moved to the area; the car she was driving was registered in Oregon, authorities said.

"This is a huge tragedy that has happened on our Strip," Lt. Peter Boffelli said.

The injured were taken to three hospitals, including the adult who died. University Medical Center was treating three people in critical condition and two others in serious condition.

One of the injured is a 1-year-old child, reports CBS Las Vegas affiliate KLAS-TV.

Of the victims, some were from Montreal and needed a French translator, while four were Oregon college students in town to compete in a wrestling tournament.

One witness told KLAS some men tried to stop the car, but couldn't.

Emergency vehicles on Las Vegas Strip after hit-and-run driver rammed into dozens of pedestrians on December 20, 2015 KLAS-TV

Justin Cochrane, a visitor from Santa Barbara, California, said he was having dinner at a sidewalk restaurant outside the Paris hotel when he saw the car smashing into pedestrians.

"It was just massacring people," he said, adding that the car appeared to be going 30 to 40 mph.

The Oldsmobile then went farther down the road and drove back into another crowd of pedestrians on the sidewalk, he said.

Cochrane said he couldn't understand why the car went into the crowd a second time.

"Why would it slow to go around and then accelerate again?" he said. "I thought, 'It's a crazy person.'"

Cochrane said he saw children and adults injured on the ground as the car drove away.

Police were reviewing video from casino surveillance cameras to get details of what occurred. The pedestrians were not in the road and were not at fault, police said.

Joel Ortega, 31, of Redlands, California, said he and his wife, Carla, were visiting for the weekend and found themselves blocked from walking on the sidewalk toward the Paris hotel. They could see police investigating about a block away from the crash.

"At first, I thought it was a movie shoot," he said. "I thought maybe we'd see someone famous."

But then they learned that it was a crash scene. Ortega said it made them remember how their neighborhood was disrupted after the Dec. 2 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, near their home.

The crash comes months after another woman was accused of driving into a crowd during Oklahoma State's homecoming parade. Four people were killed and more than 40 were hurt Oct. 24.

In September 2005, three tourists were killed and nearly a dozen injured when a car barreled through the crowd on the Las Vegas Strip and crashed into a cement barrier in front of Bally's hotel-casino.



“Investigators believe the woman driving a 1996 Oldsmobile intentionally "went up and off these streets, two or possibly three times," Lt. Dan McGrath said. A 3-year-old was in the car with her but was not hurt, police said. The driver sped away before the vehicle was found at a hotel and she was taken into custody, police said. Capt. Brett Zimmerman said Monday that the car was fully on the sidewalk twice, including once when it traveled for 200 feet. He said that video of the incident shows that it "looks like it's very intentional."


As AA members sometimes say, “Some are sicker than others,” and this woman is in that group. That doesn’t mean that she shouldn’t be tried for murder. It will be interesting if police do find an actual motive to her actions. Most of these people, when they give their “reason,” make very, very little sense. The good news is that her car was found nearby and identified. A 1996 Oldsmobile looks pretty distinctive in a group of modern cars.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/retired-policeman-detained-after-fake-bomb-found-on-air-france-flight/

Retired policeman detained after fake bomb found on Air France flight
AP December 21, 2015

Photograph -- Passengers who were onboard the AirFrance plane forced to land in Mombasa, Kenya, Sunday Dec. 20, 2015, react after they were officially informed of the bomb-scare in the plane they were traveling in. AP
Photograph -- Play VIDEO -- Plane on way to Paris makes emergency landing after bomb scare


PARIS -- A retired French police officer traveling on Air France was detained Monday after a fake bomb hidden in a lavatory forced his Paris-bound flight to make an emergency landing in Kenya, according to prosecutors.

The hoax - the fourth against Air France in recent weeks - comes amid heightened concerns about extremist violence in many countries, and aggravated passenger jitters around the holidays.

The man in custody is a former police officer who was detained upon arrival Monday at Charles de Gaulle Airport, according to an official in the prosecutor's office in the nearby Paris suburb of Bobigny. The official, who is not authorized to be publicly identified speaking about an ongoing investigation, did not release the suspect's name or information about what he is suspected of.

Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said the suspect was among six passengers questioned Sunday in Kenya. Nkaissery said Kenya alerted French authorities about the suspected involvement of this man and a traveling companion in placing the fake bomb in the bathroom. He said sniffer dogs traced the package back to their seats and the bathroom.

The arrest is part of an investigation prompted by a legal complaint filed by Air France on Monday for reckless endangerment. The lawsuit does not name a perpetrator but leaves it to investigators to determine who might be prosecuted, and allows Air France to seek damages in an eventual trial.

France has been in a state of emergency since Islamic extremist attacks Nov. 13 in Paris killed 130 people and left hundreds wounded. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for those attacks and for downing a plane Oct. 31 carrying Russian tourists out of Egypt, killing all 224 people on board.

On Sunday, Air France Flight 463 from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to Paris made an emergency landing in Mombasa, Kenya, after a bomb was reported aboard. All 459 passengers and 14 crew members on the Boeing 777 were safely evacuated down airplane emergency slides.

Authorities later discovered a fake explosive, rigged with cardboard, sheets of paper and a household timer, and declared it a hoax. Air France CEO Frederic Gagey said the homemade apparatus was apparently placed in a lavatory cabinet during the flight.

Overwhelmed with relief, the passengers arrived safely in Paris on Monday, some crying as they embraced loved ones.

"We thought we were going to die. Because of the speed of the airplane going down, we thought we would crash in the sea," said passenger Marine Gorlier of the French town of Melun after landing at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.

"I really admired the crew, because they thought it was a real bomb and they remained very serene," said Antoine Dupont of the northern city of Lille. "One of my grandchildren said: 'The slide was super!'"



“The hoax - the fourth against Air France in recent weeks - comes amid heightened concerns about extremist violence in many countries, and aggravated passenger jitters around the holidays. The man in custody is a former police officer who was detained upon arrival Monday at Charles de Gaulle Airport, according to an official in the prosecutor's office in the nearby Paris suburb of Bobigny. The official, who is not authorized to be publicly identified speaking about an ongoing investigation, did not release the suspect's name or information about what he is suspected of. …. . Nkaissery said Kenya alerted French authorities about the suspected involvement of this man and a traveling companion in placing the fake bomb in the bathroom. He said sniffer dogs traced the package back to their seats and the bathroom. The arrest is part of an investigation prompted by a legal complaint filed by Air France on Monday for reckless endangerment. …. Authorities later discovered a fake explosive, rigged with cardboard, sheets of paper and a household timer, and declared it a hoax. Air France CEO Frederic Gagey said the homemade apparatus was apparently placed in a lavatory cabinet during the flight. Overwhelmed with relief, the passengers arrived safely in Paris on Monday, some crying as they embraced loved ones. …. "I really admired the crew, because they thought it was a real bomb and they remained very serene," said Antoine Dupont of the northern city of Lille. "One of my grandchildren said: 'The slide was super!'"


This ex-policeman must have been finding civilian life boring. It's good to know that three people enjoyed the misguided and cruel trick – the hoaxers themselves and the little boy or girl who declared that “The slide was super!” I’ve seen people exiting on those chutes and they look a little dangerous to me. Besides passengers are required to leave their personal belongings behind in the plane. There are some 15 crucial items that I keep in my handbag and I avoid being separated from it. Hopefully I will never be in an air emergency like this.



http://www.npr.org/2015/12/21/460281546/watch-obama-says-trump-exploiting-anger-fear-among-blue-collar-men

WATCH: Obama Says Trump 'Exploiting' Anger, Fear Among 'Blue-Collar Men'
Jessica Taylor, Caitlin Sanders/NPR
Updated December 21, 2015

Photograph -- Steve Inskeep (left) and President Obama (right) in conversation at the White House. Nick Michael, Colin Marshall/NPR
Photograph -- At a November rally in Birmingham, Ala., Trump supporters boo the media after a heckler was removed from the event. Eric Schultz/AP
Video And Transcript: NPR's Interview With President Obama. NPR's Steve Inskeep interviews President Obama at the White House. POLITICS


Donald Trump has gained traction in the Republican primary, according to President Obama, because the boisterous billionaire has found a way to play off American anxieties, especially among "blue-collar men."

The president told NPR's Steve Inskeep in an interview late last week that economic and demographic changes in the country, including his own "unique demographic," have left a void that Trump is "exploiting."

"Particularly blue-collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy, where they are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck," President Obama said. NPR YouTube

Here's part of what the president had to say:

"I do think that when you combine that demographic change with all the economic stresses that people have been going through — because of the financial crisis, because of technology, because of globalization, the fact that wages and incomes have been flat-lining for some time, and that particularly blue-collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy, where they are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck — you combine those things, and it means that there is going to be potential anger, frustration, fear.

"Some of it justified, but just misdirected. I think somebody like Mr. Trump is taking advantage of that. That's what he's exploiting during the course of his campaign."

Much of that anger and frustration has been directed at this president. Pressed on whether he understands why some regular Americans blame him and believe he is changing the country for the worse, he answered this way:

YouTube --
"Well, look, if what you are asking me, Steve, is are there certain circumstances around being the first African-American president that might not have confronted a previous president, absolutely. ... "If what you are suggesting is that, you know, somebody questioning whether I was born in the United States or not, how do I think about that, I would say that that's something that is actively promoted and may gain traction because of my unique demographic. I don't think that that's a big stretch. ... The fact of the matter is that in a big country like this, there is always going to be folks who are frustrated, don't like the direction of the country, are concerned about the president.

"Some of them may not like my policies, some of them may just not like how I walk, or my big ears or, you know. So, I mean, no politician, I think, aspires to 100 percent approval ratings. If you are referring to specific strains in the Republican Party that suggest that somehow I'm different, I'm Muslim, I'm disloyal to the country, etc., which unfortunately is pretty far out there and gets some traction in certain pockets of the Republican Party, and that have been articulated by some of their elected officials, what I'd say there is that that's probably pretty specific to me and who I am and my background, and that in some ways I may represent change that worries them."

The president noted, however, that there are those who object to his policies and may have "perfectly good reasons for it," like when it comes to coal, for example.

He continued:

"I think if you are talking about the specific virulence of some of the opposition directed towards me, then, you know, that may be explained by the particulars of who I am. On the other hand, I'm not unique to that. I always try to remind people, goodness, if you look at what they said about Jefferson or Lincoln or FDR — finding reasons not to like a president, that's, you know, a well-traveled path here in this country."

Regular refrains at Trump's rallies — headlined with his campaign tagline, "Make America Great Again" — include railing against immigrants entering the U.S. illegally to take jobs, halting Syrian refugee relocation and, more recently, the candidate's call to stop any Muslims from coming into the U.S. (at least temporarily) amid terrorism fears.

Born out of those fears, many of Trump's rallies have taken on a dark tone in recent weeks. There have also been regular dust-ups between attendees and protesters, with insults flying directed at detractors and the press.

An NPR analysis earlier this year found that one reason Trump has been able to sustain his surprising momentum so long is that he has strong support among those blue-collar voters — mostly white men without a college degree.

"The groups that he's doing well with are very often the core of the Republican Party's primary electorate, which is why he's not taking much incoming attacks from his fellow competitors," Lee Miringoff, director of Marist College's polling operation, told NPR back in August.

But that success in a GOP primary may not necessarily translate to a general election, where the electorate is expected to be less white, more educated and more diverse, both demographically and socioeconomically.


“If you are referring to specific strains in the Republican Party that suggest that somehow I'm different, I'm Muslim, I'm disloyal to the country, etc., which unfortunately is pretty far out there and gets some traction in certain pockets of the Republican Party, and that have been articulated by some of their elected officials, what I'd say there is that that's probably pretty specific to me and who I am and my background, and that in some ways I may represent change that worries them." …. "I think if you are talking about the specific virulence of some of the opposition directed towards me, then, you know, that may be explained by the particulars of who I am. On the other hand, I'm not unique to that. I always try to remind people, goodness, if you look at what they said about Jefferson or Lincoln or FDR — finding reasons not to like a president, that's, you know, a well-traveled path here in this country." …. Born out of those fears, many of Trump's rallies have taken on a dark tone in recent weeks. There have also been regular dust-ups between attendees and protesters, with insults flying directed at detractors and the press. An NPR analysis earlier this year found that one reason Trump has been able to sustain his surprising momentum so long is that he has strong support among those blue-collar voters — mostly white men without a college degree. "The groups that he's doing well with are very often the core of the Republican Party's primary electorate, which is why he's not taking much incoming attacks from his fellow competitors, … "


As NPR points out, the whole electorate in a general election is not really dominated by fairly poor, uneducated white men, as Trump’s followers almost exclusively are. It is disturbing that there have been a number of physical tussles between his followers and those of more liberal candidates. We don’t usually have fights between protestors or supporters like that. Of course we may now be entering a new era in our history. If it’s a sign of what is to come it is pretty frightening. Within the last year a member of one of those “militia groups” out in the west and Midwest spoke with relish of the looming “race war.” Personally I think when people go that far, the FBI, NSA etc. should use their spy techniques on them rather than on honest citizens who happen to be liberal.

Advocating a race war is not harmless and shouldn’t be one of our “rights” as a citizen. The freedom of speech is limited by the injunction against “Crying fire in a crowded theater” for the same safety reasons that are involved in the instigation of a class or racial civil war. No normal person would want to do that, I feel, and it should be penalized in the prison system or, if insanity is proven, in a secure mental hospital. Instead they’re out on the street propagating support for the most hateful political candidates’ rants.



http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/20/460463173/60-percent-of-syrian-rebels-share-islamic-state-ideology-think-tank-finds

60 Percent Of Syrian Rebels Are Islamist Extremists, Think Tank
EYDER PERALTA, Twitter
Updated December 21, 2015

Photograph -- Syrians look at the damage following air strikes on the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus in October 2015.
Abd Doumany /AFP/Getty Images


About 60 percent of rebel fighters in Syria hold an Islamist extremist ideology, a British think-tank has found. About a third of them hold the same ideology as the Islamic State.

The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, an initiative of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, warns that's why wiping out the Islamic State would not end the threat to the West from jihadi groups.

The BBC reports:

"The report, due to be published on Monday, says the greatest danger to the international community are groups who share the IS ideology but are currently being ignored - they number about 100,000 fighters.

"Current Western efforts to define 'moderate' and 'extremist' rebels are bound to fail, because the groups themselves rarely make the distinction, the centre says.

"Some 60% of Syria's major rebel groups are Islamist extremists, and many of the groups share the same aims, the study finds.

"Fewer than a quarter of the rebels surveyed were not ideological, and many were willing to fight alongside extremists and would probably accept an Islamist political settlement to the civil war."

In concrete terms, what the think-tank is saying is that if the Islamic State is defeated there are "at least 65,000 fighters belonging to other Salafi-jihadi groups ready to take its place."

Via the Guardian, the report says: "While military efforts against ISIS are necessary, policy makers must recognize that its defeat will not end the threat of Salafi-jihadism unless it is accompanied by an intellectual and theological defeat of the pernicious ideology that drives it."

Correction:
Dec. 21, 2015
An earlier version of this post said that 60 percent of rebel fighters held the views of the Islamic State. The study actually found a third held that view and 60 percent held extreme Islamist views.



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

Salafi jihadism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Salafi jihadism or Jihadist-Salafism is a transnational religious-political ideology based on a belief in violent jihadism and the Salafi movement of returning to (what adherents believe to be) "true" Sunni Islam.[1][2]

The terms "Salafist jihadists" and "Jihadist-Salafism" were coined by scholar Gilles Kepel in 2002[3][4][5][6] to describe "a hybrid Islamist ideology" developed by international Islamist volunteers in the Afghan anti-Soviet jihad who had become isolated from their national and social class origins.[3] The concept is considered by some (Martin Kramer) to be an academic term that "will inevitably be" simplified to "jihadism" or the "jihadist movement" in popular usage.[7]

Practitioners are referred to as "Salafi jihadis" or "Salafi jihadists". They are sometimes described as a variety of Salafi,[8] and sometimes as separate from "good Salafis"[5] whose movement eschews any political and organisational allegiances as potentially divisive for the Muslim community and a distraction from the study of religion.[9]

In the 1990s, Jihadist-salafists of the Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya were active in the attacks on police, government officials and tourists in Egypt, and Armed Islamic Group of Algeria was a principal group in the Algerian Civil War.[3] Perhaps the most famous Jihadist-Salafist attack was the 2001 9/11 attacks in the United States by al-Qaeda.[10] While Salafism had next to no presence in Europe in the 1980s, by the mid-2000s, Salafist jihadists had acquired "a burgeoning presence in Europe, having attempted more than 30 terrorist attacks among E.U. countries since 2001."[5] While many see the influence and activities of Salafi jihadists as in decline after 2000 (at least in the United States),[11][12] others see the movement as growing in the wake of the Arab Spring and breakdown of state control in Libya and Syria.[13] (see also chart: "Number of Salafi-Jihadist Groups 1988–2013")

Gilles Kepel writes that the Salafis whom he encountered in Europe in the 1980s were "totally apolitical".[3][5] But by the mid-1990s he met some who felt jihad in the form of "violence and terrorism" was "justified to realize their political objectives". The combination of Salafi alienation from all things non-Muslim—including "mainstream European society"—and violent jihad created a "volatile mixture".[5] "When you're in the state of such alienation you become easy prey to the jihadi guys who will feed you more savory propaganda than the old propaganda of the Salafists who tell you to pray, fast and who are not taking action".[5]

According to Kepel, Salafist jihadism combined "respect for the sacred texts in their most literal form, ... with an absolute commitment to jihad, whose number-one target had to be America, perceived as the greatest enemy of the faith."[14]

Salafi jihadists distinguished themselves from salafis they term "sheikist", so named because—the jihadists believed—the "sheikists" had forsaken adoration of God for adoration of "the oil sheiks of the Arabian peninsula, with the Al Saud family at their head". Principal among the sheikist scholars was Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz -- "the archetypal court ulema [ulama al-balat]". These allegedly "false" salafi "had to be striven against and eliminated," but even more infuriating was the Muslim Brotherhood, who were believed by Salafi Jihadists to be excessively moderate and lacking in literal interpretation of holy texts.[14] Iyad El-Baghdadi describes Salafism as "deeply divided" into "mainstream (government-approved, or Islahi) Salafism", and Jihadi Salafism.[8]



“About 60 percent of rebel fighters in Syria hold an Islamist extremist ideology, a British think-tank has found. About a third of them hold the same ideology as the Islamic State. The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, an initiative of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, warns that's why wiping out the Islamic State would not end the threat to the West from jihadi groups. …. "The report, due to be published on Monday, says the greatest danger to the international community are groups who share the IS ideology but are currently being ignored - they number about 100,000 fighters. "Current Western efforts to define 'moderate' and 'extremist' rebels are bound to fail, because the groups themselves rarely make the distinction, the centre says. …. In concrete terms, what the think-tank is saying is that if the Islamic State is defeated there are "at least 65,000 fighters belonging to other Salafi-jihadi groups ready to take its place."


What I tend to call healthy, normal thinking patterns are under attack by these Salafi-jihadist groups of Islam and by the Fundamentalist Christian Dominionists here in the US. It’s really beginning to look like the Crusades. What will our world look like in 5 or 10 more years? I will keep going to my unabashedly rational Unitarian Universalist church, writing my blog and voting for the most liberal Democrats available, hoping that if there is a rising tide of violence it will pass us by.

December 20, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/police-shoot-dead-suspect-inside-los-angeles-emergency-room/

Police shoot dead suspect inside L.A. emergency room
CBS NEWS
December 20, 2015

Photograph -- Police officers on the scene of a fatal shooting inside the Harbor-UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles on Dec. 19, 2015. CBS LOS ANGELES


TORRANCE, Calif. - A man was shot dead by a police officer inside the Harbor-UCLA Hospital emergency room Saturday afternoon, according to officials.

The shooting happened after the suspect allegedly attacked officers around 2:30 p.m., police officials told CBS Los Angeles.

Earlier in the day, the suspect was placed under arrest for allegedly assaulting a neighbor, police said.

Around 8:30 a.m, officials said the deceased was throwing bottles at neighbors.

While being subdued by officers in that arrest, the suspect allegedly assaulted two officers. The subject was taken to the hospital and handcuffed.

Hours later when they believed he was calm, officers removed the handcuffs. They said the suspect again became combative, including throwing objects (including a metal stool) at officers.

"A witness stated that the suspect reached for one of the officer's guns and at that point, an officer-involved shooting occurred. One round was fired, striking the suspect," said LAPD Commander Phillip Tingirides.

The deceased was 26 years old. His name is withheld until his next of kin is notified.

No one else was injured during the incident, officials said.



“While being subdued by officers in that arrest, the suspect allegedly assaulted two officers. The subject was taken to the hospital and handcuffed. Hours later when they believed he was calm, officers removed the handcuffs. They said the suspect again became combative, including throwing objects (including a metal stool) at officers. "A witness stated that the suspect reached for one of the officer's guns and at that point, an officer-involved shooting occurred. One round was fired, striking the suspect," said LAPD Commander Phillip Tingirides.”


This suspect was decidedly dangerous, though perhaps if the officers had put him a psychiatric facility they could have spotted his true mental state once he became apparently quiet, and given him antipsychotics. Someone that violent should, it seems to me, be isolated and watched for days to weeks.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/muslims-talk-donald-trump-america-after-san-bernardino-shooting/

Muslims talk Trump, America after San Bernardino shooting
FACE THE NATION
December 20, 2015

CBS News contributor and Republican strategist Frank Luntz talked to a group of Muslims about their thoughts about what's going on in America following the San Bernardino terror attack and Donald Trump's call to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S. Below is a transcript of their conversation.


FEMALE VOICE: I mean, every time that there's some kind of attack in this country, every time that there's any kind of a crime, I'm literally praying -- and I'm sure that everyone else here is literally praying -- that it's not a Muslim. Before any facts start rolling through, we're literally praying that it's not a Muslim. And when it is, I know exactly what's going to happen. I mean we've seen this for decades, this isn't anything new as many of my peers have said.

MALE VOICE: No it's exactly that.

FEMALE VOICE: ...I actually did a call out to Muslim parents across the country to not watch the Republican debate in front of their children, because I know that that -- subjecting our children to hear the hateful stereotyping and the lumping of Muslims with terrorism in front of our children is actually something that psychologically impacts them. So that's how deep this is for us.

FRANK LUNTZ: But don't you want the kids to know the challenges that they face?

FEMALE VOICE: I don't want my children to be subjected to racism and the vilification of their faith. I will explain to my kids in my own way, in the way that I can speak to them. And I will not allow Donald Trump to tell my kids how they should feel about being Muslim.

FRANK LUNTZ: ... I want a word or phrase to describe Donald Trump.

FEMALE VOICE: Exploitative.

MALE VOICE: Worse than Voldemort.

FEMALE VOICE: Psychopath.

MALE VOICE: ...Bigoted.

MALE VOICE: ...A blessing in disguise for us.

FRANK LUNTZ: ...I wanna go with your response - why?

MALE VOICE: That's why we're here, Frank. I would not be sitting here right now if this wasn't happening. A lot of our voices would not be out -- out here because of him...We are now in the public spotlight. Let's use this to talk about who we really are, all right, let's use this to be like, "Hey, America, we're Americans. Don't fear us, okay. Fear your crazy politicians who are trying to buy your votes. And I think this gives us a great chance, you know.

FRANK LUNTZ: What percent of the Muslim community do you think could potentially be a physical threat to the country?

MALE VOICE: In America, maybe less than 1 percent.

FRANK LUNTZ: So you all agree.

(CROSS TALK)

MALE VOICE: But if Trump keeps doing what he's doing and if he's elected president, that number, whatever it may be, will skyrocket.

FRANK LUNTZ: So you're saying that Trump could actually --

(CROSS TALK)

FEMALE VOICE: No.

MALE VOICE: Yes.

FEMALE VOICE: No, that's not fair.

MALE VOICE: Guys, let me explain. Let me explain. Let me explain. He's being irresponsible. The American people need to understand that. The national security agencies have said that his comments might be used as a poster for ISIS. He's driving and fueling anger amongst Americans and abroad.



“What percent of the Muslim community do you think could potentially be a physical threat to the country? MALE VOICE: In America, maybe less than 1 percent. FRANK LUNTZ: So you all agree. (CROSS TALK) MALE VOICE: But if Trump keeps doing what he's doing and if he's elected president, that number, whatever it may be, will skyrocket. …. Guys, let me explain. Let me explain. Let me explain. He's being irresponsible. The American people need to understand that. The national security agencies have said that his comments might be used as a poster for ISIS.”


I don’t believe Trump can win the presidency, with the registered Democrats, the Independents and probably many moderate Republicans as well voting against him. I do understand, however, why these Islamic people are worried. The statement that Trump’s rhetoric, especially if he is elected, will drive a larger number toward groups like ISIS is undoubtedly true. Before we as a people elect such a bigot to lead our country, we had better consider what our lives here will become.



http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/12/18/460291216/kaiser-permanentes-new-medical-school-to-focus-on-teamwork

Kaiser Permanente's New Medical School Will Focus On Teamwork
JULIE ROVNER FROM Kaiser Health News
Updated December 18, 2015

Photograph -- Nurse practitioner Rachelle Quimpo begins an ear exam on Shreya Sasaki at a Kaiser Permanente health clinic inside a Target retail department store in San Diego, Calif., as Dr. Heidi Meyer watches via video. Kaiser says it will train medical students to provide good care beyond traditional medical settings. Mike Blake/Reuters/Landov


Thursday's announcement by Kaiser Permanente that it plans to open its own medical school in Southern California in 2019 has attracted a lot of attention in the health care community.

The nonprofit, national provider of managed health care says it plans to train students in its own style of integrated diagnosis and treatment — focusing on research, the use of new technologies, and teaching doctors to work as part of a collaborative caregiving team.

Kaiser is actually at the trailing edge of a medical school expansion that has been unmatched since the 1960s and 1970s, say specialists in medical education. (Kaiser Health News is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.) In the past decade alone, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, 20 new medical schools have opened or been approved.

That's no coincidence. In 2006 the AAMC called for a 30 percent increase in medical school graduates by 2015 — by admitting more students and building new schools — to meet a growing demand.

"We're on track to meet that 30 percent increase in the next three or four years," says Atul Grover, AAMC's chief public policy officer. "Enrollment is already up 25 percent since 2002."

Many of the new schools focus on producing more primary care doctors — those specializing in pediatrics, family medicine, or general internal medicine. In fact, Kaiser Permanente already has a partnership with the University of California, Davis, in a fast-track training program for primary care.

But Kaiser leaders say their new school will be about more than just primary care.

"We need to prepare physicians for the way health care is delivered in the future," says Dr. Edward Ellison, executive medical director for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Students need to learn not just medicine, he says, but about integrated systems of care and how to work in a much different medical environment.

"Our advantage is we can start from scratch," he says.

Another advantage is the HMO's deep pockets.

"They've got huge resources," says Dr. George Thibault, president of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, which focuses on medical education. "This is a grand experiment, but if anybody can do it, Kaiser can."

Kaiser Permanente is far from the first health care provider to launch its own medical school — the Mayo Clinic has had one since 1972, and is about to expand that school from the organization's home base in Minnesota to its satellite campuses in Arizona and Florida.

Thibault says Kaiser and other health-provider systems are already heavily involved in the new medical schools, often as partners with degree-granting universities, "which itself is a new trend." For example, on Long Island, the North Shore-LIJ Health System co-launched a medical school with Hofstra University in 2011.

One big question is whether all these new schools will eventually produce more students than there are medical residency positions — apprenticeship years that are necessary to complete medical training. The federal government, which funds the majority of those residencies through the Medicare program, capped the number of residencies it would pay for in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act.

Nationally, there are about 27,000 residency slots available each year, which are filled by students who have earned M.D. or D.O. degrees (doctors of osteopathy) in the U.S., as well as by foreign medical school graduates and U.S. citizens who have graduated from medical schools overseas.

Between the new M.D.-granting schools and a rapid expansion of osteopathic medical schools, the demand for residency slots will soon outstrip supply, says Grover. The pool of residency positions at hospitals nationally is "growing at about 1 percent per year," he says (mostly funded by health systems themselves, since Medicare will not pay for them), "while undergraduate medical education is growing about 3 percent per year."

But Edward Salsberg of George Washington University, who has spent a career documenting health workforce trends, says any potential conflict is still a long way off.

"When you start with an excess of 7,000 slots" of residencies above the number of graduating U.S. medical students, "it takes a very long time" to consume that excess, he says. By the year 2024, he and others write in a recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, there will still be 4,500 more residency slots than graduates.

"So yes, U.S. medical students will have a slightly more limited range of specialties to choose from," Salsberg says, "but still plenty of room."

Some people question whether the doctor shortage that all these new schools aim to alleviate is actually real.

Grover, whose organization has led the call for more doctors, says the anticipated shortage of primary care physicians might not be as acute as originally thought. That's because the U.S. is producing dramatically more nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who also provide primary care.

That's probably a good thing, at least in supply terms, Thibault says. Because it turns out that many students graduating from the new medical schools that focus on primary care are opting to become specialists instead.

"The career choices in the new schools look remarkably similar to career choices of more traditional schools," Thibault says. All the graduating students, he explains, "are responding to the same set of signals and stimuli" about prestige, income and lifestyle.

This story was produced through a collaboration between NPR and Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Neither KFF nor KHN is affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.



“Thursday's announcement by Kaiser Permanente that it plans to open its own medical school in Southern California in 2019 has attracted a lot of attention in the health care community. The nonprofit, national provider of managed health care says it plans to train students in its own style of integrated diagnosis and treatment — focusing on research, the use of new technologies, and teaching doctors to work as part of a collaborative caregiving team. …. In the past decade alone, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, 20 new medical schools have opened or been approved. That's no coincidence. In 2006 the AAMC called for a 30 percent increase in medical school graduates by 2015 — by admitting more students and building new schools — to meet a growing demand. …. Some people question whether the doctor shortage that all these new schools aim to alleviate is actually real. Grover, whose organization has led the call for more doctors, says the anticipated shortage of primary care physicians might not be as acute as originally thought. That's because the U.S. is producing dramatically more nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who also provide primary care. …. All the graduating students, he explains, "are responding to the same set of signals and stimuli" about prestige, income and lifestyle.”


The image some 40 years ago of the “old country doctor” who accepted payment in vegetables has been gone a long time, and so it the idealistic practitioner whose only goal is to save people. Life is expensive now, especially in cities, and medical students graduate deep in debt in many cases, so they want the better salaries of specializations. The new Kaiser Permanente model will have the physician be a team worker rather than the undisputed boss, with NPs and PAs performing similar roles. I think that will make medical care more comprehensive, personable and effective. I wonder if the governmentally financed healthcare programs that we have today are producing a greater demand for family physicians. I wonder if they will also tend to produce a better fee schedule. I hope so.



http://www.npr.org/2015/12/18/460261739/little-florida-bank-goes-where-behemoths-fear-to-tread-cuba

Little Florida Bank Goes Where Behemoths Fear To Tread: Cuba
Greg Allen
Updated December 18, 2015

Photograph -- Stonegate Bank's Pompano Beach, Fla., location, shown here, announced it is setting up a correspondent banking relationship with a Cuban financial institution. Greg Allen/NPR
Related -- 1 Year After Improved Ties With Cuba, A Review Of Where Things Stand
Related -- With A New Trade Zone, Cuba Reaches Out To Investors


Since President Obama opened a door to Cuba, there's been progress in the past year. Americans can travel there. The two countries reopened their embassies and have agreed to re-establish commercial air travel.

But on the financial front, progress has been slow. After a year, there's just one U.S. financial institution doing business with Cuba — and it's a small bank in Pompano Beach, Fla.

Until this year, few people had heard of Stonegate Bank, outside of the 21 communities in Florida where branches are located. Stonegate was founded just 10 years ago as a commercial bank focusing on businesses.

Stonegate CEO Dave Seleski says in March, one of his customers was having lunch with the head of the State Department's Cuba desk, Mark Wells. The discussion turned to the difficulty the State Department was having finding a bank willing to handle accounts for Cuban diplomats in Washington. Larger, more established banks, Seleski says, weren't interested.

"My friend-slash-customer said why not Stonegate Bank? And so they literally handed the phone to Mark Wells. And he said, 'Would you be interested?' And I said, 'We'll take a look at it.' And then, we didn't feel there was a lot of risk with it. And we felt like this was going to move this process forward. I mean, I've always been against the embargo. We took that first step,' Seleski says.

A few months later, Stonegate took another step. It became the first — and still the only — U.S. bank to set up a correspondent relationship with Cuba's central bank. That means, theoretically, that Stonegate customers will be able to transfer funds directly between the U.S. and Cuba.

Despite the Obama administration's new policies, the U.S. trade embargo ordered by Congress remains in place. And Seleski says that means Stonegate has to go through an institution in a third country to transfer funds.

"You still have to use an intermediary bank. So the correspondent relationship is not really truly operating, functioning as an actual correspondent relationship. And that's probably one of the biggest challenges to U.S. businesses doing business in Cuba — is just getting the money back and forth," Seleski says.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker buys coffee in Old Havana as part of a trade visit this week.

With claims and sanctions still outstanding, companies that do business with Cuba have to proceed very carefully. Funds and goods that belong to Cuba can and have been seized while on U.S. soil.

Jodi Bond of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says this is one reason the large banks have been reluctant. It's risky.

"You can lose a lot of money quickly," Bond says.

In October, the Justice Department fined a French bank more than $700 million for financial transactions that violated U.S. sanctions — including unauthorized business with Cuba. This month, the two countries began negotiations to resolve 50-year-old claims by U.S. citizens and companies that had property seized by Cuba.

Bond says those claims will have to be settled to resolve the uncertainty that keeps the big banks away.

Stonegate Bank recently became the first U.S. institution to issue debit cards that can be used in Cuba. Credit cards should soon follow.

But a major challenge Stonegate and other banks face in Cuba is the currencies. There are two official currencies: the Cuban peso, used by the people who live there, and the convertible peso, the one visitors use.

Fernando Capablanca, head of the Florida International Bankers Association, says there's also an underground economy with its own dollar exchange rate.

"I like to say there are three currencies in Cuba. What kind of exchange rate are they using when someone uses a debit card or credit card in Cuba? Not to mention the fact that there are so very few merchants in Cuba who accept any kind of credit card," he said.

Cuba says it plans to eventually unify its currencies. Stonegate CEO Seleski says that will do a lot to open the island's economy. And he says there are some big players now eager to do business.

"You've got Amway, you've got Caterpillar, you've got American Airlines, you've got Morgan Stanley. You've got big companies that are really getting behind, look, it's time to normalize relations and drop the embargo."

That would require an act of Congress, which, big business or not, proceeds on its own timetable.



“But on the financial front, progress has been slow. After a year, there's just one U.S. financial institution doing business with Cuba — and it's a small bank in Pompano Beach, Fla. …. And I said, 'We'll take a look at it.' And then, we didn't feel there was a lot of risk with it. And we felt like this was going to move this process forward. I mean, I've always been against the embargo. We took that first step,' Seleski says. …. "You still have to use an intermediary bank. So the correspondent relationship is not really truly operating, functioning as an actual correspondent relationship. And that's probably one of the biggest challenges to U.S. businesses doing business in Cuba — is just getting the money back and forth," Seleski says. …. Funds and goods that belong to Cuba can and have been seized while on U.S. soil. Jodi Bond of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says this is one reason the large banks have been reluctant. It's risky. "You can lose a lot of money quickly," Bond says. …. This month, the two countries began negotiations to resolve 50-year-old claims by U.S. citizens and companies that had property seized by Cuba. Bond says those claims will have to be settled to resolve the uncertainty that keeps the big banks away. …. There are two official currencies: the Cuban peso, used by the people who live there, and the convertible peso, the one visitors use. Fernando Capablanca, head of the Florida International Bankers Association, says there's also an underground economy with its own dollar exchange rate. …. You've got big companies that are really getting behind, look, it's time to normalize relations and drop the embargo."


As far as I know Cuba is no longer flirting with Russia or other dangerous parties to put nukes on their soil. They are not attacking us or our ships. Though Fidel Castro is still alive, he is not capable of being in power there. The conflicts we had with Cuba go back to the 1960s, and in my view, it is time to make a genuine effort to lay them to rest if there is no further provocation from them now. The following article indicates that the matter of ties with Russia is not yet a closed book though. See below.


http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/16/russia-reopening-spy-base-cuba-us-relations-sour

Russia to reopen spy base in Cuba as relations with US continue to sour
Alec Luhn in Moscow
Wednesday 16 July 2014

Photograph -- The Russian radar station in Lourdes, south of Havana, was the Soviet Union's largest foreign base, and will now be reopened. Photograph: Cristobal Herrera/AP


Decision to reopen signals intelligence facility south of Havana follows Russia forgiving 90% of Cuba's unpaid Soviet-era debts

Russia has quietly reached an agreement with Cuba to reopen a Soviet-era spy base on America's doorstep, amid souring relations between Moscow and Washington.

The deal to reopen the signals intelligence facility in Lourdes, south of Havana, was agreed in principle during president Vladimir Putin's visit to the island as part of a Latin American tour last week, according to the newspaper Kommersant.

Opened in 1967, the Lourdes facility was the Soviet Union's largest foreign base, a mere 155 miles from the US coast. It employed up to 3,000 military and intelligence personnel to intercept a wide array of American telephone and radio communications, but Putin announced its closure in 2001 because it was too expensive – Russia had been paying $200m (£117m) a year in rent – and in response to US demands.

After Putin visited Cuba on Friday, the Kremlin press service said the president had forgiven 90% of Cuba's unpaid Soviet-era debts, which totalled $32bn (£18.6bn) – a concession that now appears to be tied to the agreement to reopen the base.

"Lourdes gave the Soviet Union eyes in the whole of the western hemisphere … For Russia, which is fighting for its lawful rights and place in the international community, it would be no less valuable than for the USSR," Vyacheslav Trubnikov, former head of Russia's foreign intelligence service told Kommersant.

The move appears to be part of Moscow's campaign to reassert itself as a geopolitical rival to the United States and comes as the west is set to expand sanctions against Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict. European Union leaders are expected to implement further asset freezes and stop lending to Russia at a summit on Wednesday, while the United States is reportedly considering its own unilateral sanctions against the Russian financial and defence industries. . . . .

Reopening the Lourdes base marks another low in US-Russian relations, although some experts argue the significance of the move is largely symbolic. Moscow-based defence analyst Pavel Felgenhauer called the reported re-establishment of the Lourdes base a "PR move" to show Washington the "middle finger" and said it was prompted in part by the expansion of western influence in Ukraine. Russian officials have worried that Ukraine, which recently signed an association agreement with the EU, will become the latest former Soviet republic to join Nato. . . . .

"Any country that is supporting us, whether it's Cuba, Nicaragua, or Venezuala, is welcome, and we are not as poor as in the 1990s, we are ready to pay for this," Pukhov said. "Since we have very big problems with spy satellites, which are full of Western components, and our spy ships are not in good shape and can't get close to US shores, this base is extremely important for us."

Similarly, the placement of Glonass stations in new countries is important for the commercial future of the project, which has become a "kind of fetish for Russian political establishment," Pukhov said. Notably, the United States has refused to host a Glonass station, although Russia has continued to offer. On Wednesday, Russian space systems head Gennady Raikunov suggested placing a Glonass station on the Alaskan coast in comments at the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire, Russian news agency Interfax reported.



So the US pushes Russia in Ukraine and Russia renews relations with Cuba for purposes of spying on us. This is another worrisome thought for the present day, a time when we are loath to have any military skirmishes on our borders. I don’t believe Russia will actually try to launch an attack against us, though. They don’t want that any more than we do.



http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/18/460120603/manhunt-underway-for-affluenza-teen

Manhunt Underway For 'Affluenza' Teen
LAURA WAGNER
Updated December 19, 2015

Photograph -- The U.S. Marshals Service has joined the search for Couch, who was on probation for killing four people in a 2013 drunken-driving wreck. His defense was that he suffered from "affluenza." AP

Texas teen Ethan Couch was sentenced to probation in 2013 for killing four people in a drunken-driving wreck, after his lawyers argued he had been coddled by his wealthy parents into a sense of irresponsibility. Now Couch is 18 and he's being pursued by the U.S. Marshals Service for violating the terms of his probation.

Couch missed a meeting with his probation officer on Dec. 10, a few weeks after a video was posted online showing people, apparently including Couch, playing drinking games at a party. Consuming alcohol would violate Couch's probation, and if found guilty, he could face 10 years in prison, the Associated Press reports.

Couch's mother is thought to be on the run with her son, but officials have not said whether she is facing charges as well.

"He and his mother have the means to be able to travel to wherever they may want to travel," Sam Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney's office said according to the AP.

The U.S. Marshals Service announced a reward of $5,000 for information leading to Couch's capture.

As we reported in 2013, the judge's light sentence was a point of controversy and derision.

"The sentence handed down in a Fort Worth juvenile court led Dallas Morning News editorial writer Mike Hashimoto to say that the only lesson the teen learned is that 'it's far better to come from that wealthy place where actions seldom have those nasty old consequences. That's for other folks.'"

When Couch was 16, he was drunk and speeding on a dark road in Fort Worth, Texas, when his pickup truck crashed into a disabled vehicle on the side of the road.

The Washington Post reports that "crash killed four people working on the disabled car. Two of Couch's friends were critically injured. One was paralyzed."



http://gawker.com/psychologist-behind-affluenza-defense-regrets-using-t-1482584915

Psychologist Behind 'Affluenza' Defense Regrets Using That Word
Neetzan Zimmerman
December 13, 2013

The psychologist who convinced a Texas judge that 16-year-old Ethan Couch was too rich to know right from wrong says he shouldn't have used the word "affluenza," but insists his defense of the teen was otherwise sound.

On June 15, Couch and his friends stole some beer from a Fort Worth-area Walmart and proceed to get extremely drunk. Couch then got behind the wheel of his Ford F-350, and drove down Burleson Retta Road at nearly twice the speed limit with over three times the legal limit for alcohol in his bloodstream as well as Valium. It was then that Couch slammed his pickup into four people standing next to a parked car by the side of the road — three of whom had stopped to help the fourth with a flat tire.

All four were killed, and two teens riding in the bed of Couch's vehicle were severely injured.

Psychologist G. Dick Miller defended Couch's actions, telling District Judge Jean Boyd that the teen was a victim of his parents affluence.

He called Couch's condition "affluenza."

"I wish I hadn't used that term. Everyone seems to have hooked onto it," Miller said on last night's Anderson Cooper 360. "We used to call these people spoiled brats."

Though he regrets the language he used, Miller doesn't regret the actual defense.

When Miller pointed out to Cooper that a violation of Couch's probation would mean up to 10 years in prison, Cooper pointed out to Miller that the same judge previously ordered a black teen to be locked up for 10 years for the accidental killing of one person.

"Why is that OK, for a 14-year-old poor kid, but for a 16-year-old well-off kid, they get to go off they get to go have equine therapy," Cooper wondered, referencing Couch's upcoming $500k rehab-cation, paid in full by his father.

"There actually are Black people who have money, Anderson," Miller replied. "I don’t know why you continue to make this a racial thing...if you have a lot of money, you get people with more skills...that's just the way the world works. And there’s some good things about that, some not-so-good things."

On Wednesday night, Anderson Cooper spoke with the man whose wife and daughter were two of Couch's victims.

"There are absolutely no consequences for what occurred that day," Eric Boyles told Cooper. "The primary message has to absolutely be that money and privilege can’t buy justice in this country, that it’s not okay to drink and drive and kill four people, and severely injure another, and not have any consequences. That’s not the American dream that we grew up to participate in."


NPR -- “Consuming alcohol would violate Couch's probation, and if found guilty, he could face 10 years in prison, the Associated Press reports. Couch's mother is thought to be on the run with her son, but officials have not said whether she is facing charges as well. "He and his mother have the means to be able to travel to wherever they may want to travel," Sam Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Tarrant County district attorney's office said according to the AP. …. the only lesson the teen learned is that 'it's far better to come from that wealthy place where actions seldom have those nasty old consequences. That's for other folks.'"


GAWKER -- “When Miller pointed out to Cooper that a violation of Couch's probation would mean up to 10 years in prison, Cooper pointed out to Miller that the same judge previously ordered a black teen to be locked up for 10 years for the accidental killing of one person. "Why is that OK, for a 14-year-old poor kid, but for a 16-year-old well-off kid, they get to go off they get to go have equine therapy," Cooper wondered, referencing Couch's upcoming $500k rehab-cation, paid in full by his father.” …. "The primary message has to absolutely be that money and privilege can’t buy justice in this country, that it’s not okay to drink and drive and kill four people, and severely injure another, and not have any consequences. That’s not the American dream that we grew up to participate in."


Ladendorf.com -- As expected, this sentencing has sent a shock wave through the news media, the blogosphere, and the legal community. Major criticisms are being levied against the validity of “affluenza” as a defense in our system of justice. Over at USA Today, the debate is heating up over the future of “affluenza”-type defenses. Is the “affluenza” defense merely an extension of the law’s insistence that criminal culpability requires an appreciation of the consequences of one’s actions? Or is this a product of pop psychology without empirical support that would have the odious effect of condoning differential treatment between those litigants who have hoards of money and those who do not? …. I ultimately don’t see the “affluenza” defense gaining much traction in our courts of law. For one, “affluenza” as a psychological construct has not received blessing within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association. Second, prosecutors and plaintiffs’ attorneys will likely respond to the Couch decision by challenging the admissibility of any purported expert testimony on “affluenza” generally and as applied to a particular case. Finally, our courts of law and the judges who lead them are going to take heed of the public outrage over the “Blame the Parents” implications of this decision. …. The courts will therefore reject the classism that is inherent in the “affluenza” defense to preserve their own accountability to “We the People,” and this most recent case, though intriguing, will become an outlier.”


I wonder if the families of the victims could protest this verdict and take it to a higher court. It is possible that specific laws need to be written to prohibit the use of wealth as a defense, though what has been happening for years before this “affluenza” definition was imagined into existence, is that a wealthy man appears before the court and apologizes for his son, promising to take him more firmly in hand in the future, so the boy “walks” with a similar level of punishment. In other words, no punishment. If that was par for the course in small, conservative areas around the country and probably the world. That doesn’t mean it should be condoned. See the following Ladendorf article on the likely future of this really shocking defense strategy and its’ admissibility in court. He says, "The courts will therefore reject the classism that is inherent in the “affluenza” defense to preserve their own accountability to “We the People,” and this most recent case, though intriguing, will become an outlier." I hope that will be true, but if the Supreme Court doesn't get involved, this may be just one more injustice that is now a part of the law as a precedent, based on it's unchallenged point of view. If the crash victims families will sue, perhaps this will be rectified.

I can’t think of a law that deals with wealth as a DEFENSE, but equal justice before the law is basic to our society’s philosophy and structure. Ladendorf deals with the viability of this defense as a form of insanity. When genuinely psychotic individuals are executed without regard to their condition and black people are not usually given an easy probation by judges, this is so far simply a travesty.


http://www.ladendorf.com/affluenza-legal-defense/

“Affluenza”: Legitimate Legal Defense or Junk Science?
Lichtman & Trapani
December 2013

This week’s national headlines featured a criminal case for the ages at the intersection of law and social science. It also reintroduced America to what has been described as the “All-Consuming Epidemic” for children of extremely wealthy families: “Affluenza.”

The facts of the juvenile criminal proceeding that shocked the nation are simple, though incredibly tragic. From the Los Angeles Times recap:

“According to officials, the teenager and some friends were seen on surveillance video stealing two cases of beer from a store. He had seven passengers in his Ford F-350, was speeding and had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, according to testimony during the trial. The pickup fatally struck four pedestrians: Brian Jennings, 43; Breanna Mitchell, 24; Shelby Boyles, 21; and her mother Hollie Boyles, 52.”

Texas prosecutors had sought the maximum 20 years in state custody for the boy for the death of the four pedestrians, but his defense attorneys were able to successfully argue to District Judge Jean Boyd that the ideal sentence for the offender is rehabilitation, as opposed to prison. Couch will serve 10 years of probation and is anticipated to submit to rehabilitation at a California facility at a cost in excess of $450,000.

So how was it that Couch got off with such a glaringly light sentence under the circumstances? A piece of exculpatory evidence? A remorseful plea of mercy at the sentencing hearing? Other mitigating factors? Well, sort of.

This time, what carried the day was the defense’s argument that Couch himself was a victim. The defense presented psychologist G. Dick Miller to testify that Couch was suffering from “affluenza” —that he lived such an extravagant, materialistic, consequence-free life that he was unable to understand or control his behavior. According to Christopher J. Ferguson at Time.com, this is perhaps the first time in American jurisprudence that having too easy a life has been considered a mitigating circumstance.

As expected, this sentencing has sent a shock wave through the news media, the blogosphere, and the legal community. Major criticisms are being levied against the validity of “affluenza” as a defense in our system of justice. Over at USA Today, the debate is heating up over the future of “affluenza”-type defenses. Is the “affluenza” defense merely an extension of the law’s insistence that criminal culpability requires an appreciation of the consequences of one’s actions? Or is this a product of pop psychology without empirical support that would have the odious effect of condoning differential treatment between those litigants who have hoards of money and those who do not?

Although Couch’s sentence would seem to create the sort of double standard based on wealth that the law abhors, I hesitate to be Chicken Little here. While defense attorneys in both the criminal setting and the civil arena (where the burden of proof is much lower) may try to replicate the success of Mr. Couch’s lawyers, I ultimately don’t see the “affluenza” defense gaining much traction in our courts of law. For one, “affluenza” as a psychological construct has not received blessing within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association. Second, prosecutors and plaintiffs’ attorneys will likely respond to the Couch decision by challenging the admissibility of any purported expert testimony on “affluenza” generally and as applied to a particular case. Finally, our courts of law and the judges who lead them are going to take heed of the public outrage over the “Blame the Parents” implications of this decision. Judges, particularly in those jurisdictions which select their judges through popular elections, are keenly aware of the political and professional consequences of appearing “soft on crime.” Although this criticism usually manifests itself with career offenders, there is good reason to believe that citizens will be equally outraged by a judge who over-sympathizes with a wealthy young defendant who seeks to avoid responsibility by claiming that he is the victim of his family’s wealth and the lack of boundaries that attend to that affluence. The courts will therefore reject the classism that is inherent in the “affluenza” defense to preserve their own accountability to “We the People,” and this most recent case, though intriguing, will become an outlier.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/shuffle-along-re-imagining-broadway-history/

"Shuffle Along": Re-imagining Broadway history
CBS NEWS
December 20, 2015

Folks were wild about "I'm Just Wild About Harry" back when the Paul Whiteman Orchestra recorded it in 1922. Now, a revival of the musical that launched the song is Broadway bound, and "Sunday Morning" will be following its progress every step of the way. Maurice DuBois will be our guide:

The curtain is going up on something new ... that's something old: A Broadway show celebrating what it means to make it to the top.

For months now, the cast of "Shuffle Along" has been hard at work perfecting a show that was the talk of the town nearly 100 years ago.

This new version, opening next year, is a re-imagining of one of the earliest hit musical comedies starring, written and directed by African-Americans.

"And then history stepped in and said, 'Thank you -- and maybe we'll remember you, and maybe we won't," said Tony Award-winning director George C. Wolfe.

In fact, history did NOT remember "Shuffle Along." But the legendary Josephine Baker launched her career with the 1921 show, which also featured a young baritone named Paul Robeson, and a score by the team of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle, including hits like "I'm Just Wild About Harry."

Six-time Tony-winner Audra McDonald said it was important for her to do this show. "This is a part of my history, and I didn't know it," she said. . . . .

"Musicals are hateful," he told DuBois. "Musicals are horrible, horrible things to work on because they're just hard."

Particularly hard because Wolfe is actually telling TWO stories. There's the original plot -- about a less-than-honest mayoral election in a place called Jimtown, USA -- and Wolfe is also telling the behind-the-scenes story of the real-life actors and writers whose lives changed because of the musical's success. . . . . In 1921, "Shuffle Along" proved white audiences would line up for a black show. Nearly a century later, Billy Porter says the people who created the musical have given him both a role, and then some.

"It is such an honor and such a gift to be able to actually exist inside of your dreams," he told DuBois. "This is actually the dream. I am living the dream. It's extraordinary, it really is."



Black history coming alive in art is the subject of this article. “Shuffle Along” contained stereotyping of blacks, but was produced totally by black people, and was a great hit among whites as well as blacks at the time in 1921. See the following.


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shuffle Along

Music
Eubie Blake
Lyrics
Noble Sissle
Book
F. E. Miller
Aubrey Lyles

Productions
1921 Broadway
1933 Broadway revival
1952 Broadway revival

Shuffle Along is an African-American musical revue with music and lyrics by Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake, and a connecting plot about a mayoral race, written by Flournoy Miller and Aubrey Lyles. The piece premiered on Broadway in 1921, running for 504 performances – an unusually long run during that decade. It launched the careers of Josephine Baker, Adelaide Hall and Paul Robeson, and became such a hit that it caused "curtain time traffic jams" on 63rd Street.[1]

December 19, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/peter-falk-tvs-columbo-is-dead-at-83/

Peter Falk, TV's "Columbo," is dead at 83
CBS NEWS
June 24, 2011

Photograph -- Peter Falk as Detective Columbo. UNIVERSAL/NBC
Photograph -- Peter Falk AP
Pictures -- Peter Falk 1927-2011


(CBS/AP) A family spokesman confirmed to CBS News that actor Peter Falk died at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif., Thursday night. He was 83.

The "Columbo" star won four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the cigar-chomping detective who always looked as if he'd just rolled out of bed. Falk played Columbo on television regularly from 1971 to 1978 and then sporadically from 1989 until 2003. He won his first Emmy in 1962 for outstanding single performance by an actor in a leading role for an episode of "The Dick Powell Theatre" (1961).

Falk also had starring roles in his friend John Cassavetes' films "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence" and starred with Cassavetes in Elaine May's 1976 film "Mikey and Nicky." He was nominated twice for the best supporting actor Oscar, for "Murder, Inc." and "Pocketful of Miracles."

In a court document filed in December 2008, Falk's daughter Catherine Falk said her father was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

"Columbo" began its history in 1971 as part of the NBC Sunday Mystery Movie series, appearing every third week. The show became by far the most popular of the three mysteries, the others being "McCloud" and "McMillan and Wife."

Falk was reportedly paid $250,000 a movie and could have made much more if he had accepted an offer to convert "Columbo" into a weekly series. He declined, reasoning that carrying a weekly detective series would be too great a burden.

Columbo -- he never had a first name -- presented a contrast to other TV detectives. "He looks like a flood victim," Falk once said. "You feel sorry for him. He appears to be seeing nothing, but he's seeing everything. Underneath his dishevelment, a good mind is at work."

NBC canceled the three series in 1977. In 1989 ABC offered "Columbo" in a two-hour format usually appearing once or twice a season. The movies continued into the 21st century. "Columbo" appeared in 26 foreign countries and was a particular favorite in France and Iran.

Columbo's trademark was an ancient raincoat Falk had once bought for himself. After 25 years on television, the coat became so tattered it had to be replaced.

Peter Michael Falk was born Sept. 16, 1927, in New York City and grew up in Ossining, N.Y., where his parents ran a clothing store. At 3 he had one eye removed because of cancer. "When something like that happens early," he said in a 1963 Associated Press interview, "you learn to live with it. It became the joke of the neighborhood. If the umpire ruled me out on a bad call, I'd take the fake eye out and hand it to him."

When Falk was starting as an actor in New York, an agent told him, "Of course, you won't be able to work in movies or TV because of your eye."

After serving as a cook in the merchant marine and receiving a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University, he worked as an efficiency expert for the budget bureau of the state of Connecticut. He also acted in amateur theater and was encouraged to become a professional by actress-teacher Eva La Gallienne.

An appearance in "The Iceman Cometh" off-Broadway led to other classical parts, notably as Joseph Stalin in "The Passion of Joseph D." In 1971 Falk scored a hit in Neil Simon's "The Prisoner of Second Avenue."

Falk made his film debut in 1958 with "Wind Across the Everglades" and established himself as a talented character actor with his performance as the vicious killer Abe Reles in "Murder, Inc." Among his other movies: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "Robin and the Seven Hoods," "The Great Race," "Luv," "Castle Keep," "The Cheap Detective," "The Brinks Job," "The In-Laws," "The Princess Bride."

Falk also appeared in a number of art house favorites, including the semi-improvisational films "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence," directed by his friend John Cassavetes, and Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire," in which he played himself. Falk became prominent in television movies, beginning with his first Emmy for "The Price of Tomatoes" in 1961. His four other Emmys were for "Columbo."

He was married to pianist Alyce Mayo in 1960; they had two daughters, Jackie and Catherine, and divorced in 1976. The following year he married actress Shera Danese. They filed for divorce twice and reconciled each time.

When not working, Falk spent time in the garage of his Beverly Hills home. He had converted it into a studio where he created charcoal drawings. He took up art in New York when he was in the Simon play and one day happened into the Art Students League.

He recalled: "I opened a door and there she was, a nude model, shoulders back, a light from above, buck-ass naked. The female body is awesome. Believe me, I signed up right away."

Falk is survived by his wife Shera and his two daughters.



“The "Columbo" star won four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the cigar-chomping detective who always looked as if he'd just rolled out of bed. Falk played Columbo on television regularly from 1971 to 1978 and then sporadically from 1989 until 2003. He won his first Emmy in 1962 for outstanding single performance by an actor in a leading role for an episode of "The Dick Powell Theatre" (1961). Falk also had starring roles in his friend John Cassavetes' films "Husbands" and "A Woman Under the Influence" and starred with Cassavetes in Elaine May's 1976 film "Mikey and Nicky." He was nominated twice for the best supporting actor Oscar, for "Murder, Inc." and "Pocketful of Miracles." …. NBC canceled the three series in 1977. In 1989 ABC offered "Columbo" in a two-hour format usually appearing once or twice a season. The movies continued into the 21st century. "Columbo" appeared in 26 foreign countries and was a particular favorite in France and Iran. …. After serving as a cook in the merchant marine and receiving a master's degree in public administration from Syracuse University, he worked as an efficiency expert for the budget bureau of the state of Connecticut. He also acted in amateur theater and was encouraged to become a professional by actress-teacher Eva La Gallienne. An appearance in "The Iceman Cometh" off-Broadway led to other classical parts, notably as Joseph Stalin in "The Passion of Joseph D." In 1971 Falk scored a hit in Neil Simon's "The Prisoner of Second Avenue." …. When not working, Falk spent time in the garage of his Beverly Hills home. He had converted it into a studio where he created charcoal drawings. He took up art in New York when he was in the Simon play and one day happened into the Art Students League. He recalled: "I opened a door and there she was, a nude model, shoulders back, a light from above, buck-ass naked. The female body is awesome. Believe me, I signed up right away."


Peter Falk is one of my favorite actors, though I knew him mainly from Columbo. I’m sorry to see these older actors dying. I still watch Columbo on Sunday nights on my MeTV network. I love the way his face looked, mischievous and humorous, but handsome. I never heard any negative stories about him in his personal life. May he rest in peace.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/maine-native-vincent-canfield-at-center-of-school-threat-hoax-probe/

Maine native at center of school threat hoax probe
By JEFF PEGUES CBS NEWS
December 18, 2015

Photograph -- EN_121815_Pegues, CBS NEWS, The Dallas emails detail plans of "46 jihad affiliates" for a "massacre of epic proportion," with mass shootings and napalm, propane and pressure cooker explosives "for maximum casualty."
Photograph -- EN PEGUES 121815, Vincent Canfield CBS NEWS
Play VIDEO -- Police investigating email account that sent school threat


They're turning into an epidemic -- e-mailed terror threats that are rattling the nerves of children, parents and teachers in some of America's largest school districts.

The list of school districts receiving the threatening emails includes Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas and now Clark County in Nevada. The district, which includes Las Vegas schools, received the emails yesterday and officials determined they were a hoax.

These emails differ slightly from the one received in Los Angeles which talked of 32 comrades and bombs set to "detonate via cell phone."

While investigators do not know who sent the messages, they say all of the emails were routed through a server in Germany run by Vincent Canfield. The 21-year-old native of Maine and college drop-out says he's been living in Romania as of last week.

Canfield received a subpoena from New York City police, which was followed by a call with a detective, which Canfield recorded.

"The reason you got three days to respond is because of the severity of it," the NYPD detective told him.

"I do understand the severity of it. There's some stuff I don't understand on the subpoena and I'd like to understand it before I follow through," Canfield responded.

Canfield says he can trace the source of the email and that he has complied with the New York subpoena, but has yet to respond to one he just received from Clark County. He has also consulted with a lawyer who has represented Edward Snowden.



“While investigators do not know who sent the messages, they say all of the emails were routed through a server in Germany run by Vincent Canfield. The 21-year-old native of Maine and college drop-out says he's been living in Romania as of last week. …. Canfield says he can trace the source of the email and that he has complied with the New York subpoena, but has yet to respond to one he just received from Clark County. He has also consulted with a lawyer who has represented Edward Snowden.”


Canfield sounds a bit like a wealthy ne’er do well who did one thing too many and now is in hot water. I wonder if he will use the “affluenza” defense. In old classic novels that is called “sowing wild oats.” People who do these hoaxes somehow never expect to be caught.



http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/19/460395849/u-s-bomber-s-flight-a-serious-military-provocation-china-says

U.S. Bomber's Flight A 'Serious Military Provocation,' China Says
Bill Chappell
December 19, 2015

Photograph -- Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around a reef in the disputed Spratly Islands, in a still image from video taken by a U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft in May. China says a U.S. bomber got too close to one of the islands. Reuters/Landov


Complaining that an American B-52 bomber flew near disputed islands in the South China Sea, China's defense ministry calls the flight "a serious military provocation" that put Chinese military personnel on high alert.

The plane was flying close to the contested Spratly Islands, parts of which are known as Nansha in China and Kalayaan in the Philippines. The U.S. says it's investigating the matter.

The U.S. jet was warned to leave the area, China says, with a report from state media saying the defense ministry "demanded the United States immediately adopt measures to prevent such dangerous actions."

From Beijing, NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports:

"The incident occurred on Dec. 10, near Cuarteron Reef in the Spratly Islands. The reef is claimed by both China and the Philippines, but China controls it and has reclaimed land on it.

"The Wall Street Journal quotes Pentagon spokesman Cmdr. Bill Urban as saying that the B-52 was not on a so-called freedom of navigation operation, intended to assert the plane's right to transit the area.

"The report suggested that the plane may have had to fly near the reef to avoid bad weather."



“Complaining that an American B-52 bomber flew near disputed islands in the South China Sea, China's defense ministry calls the flight "a serious military provocation" that put Chinese military personnel on high alert. The plane was flying close to the contested Spratly Islands, parts of which are known as Nansha in China and Kalayaan in the Philippines. The U.S. says it's investigating the matter. …. Bill Urban as saying that the B-52 was not on a so-called freedom of navigation operation, intended to assert the plane's right to transit the area. "The report suggested that the plane may have had to fly near the reef to avoid bad weather."


This the second article about the disputed coral reefs which are claimed by both China and the Philippines. China has been building a military base on one of them, I understand. China has challenged US planes more than once this last year. Of course, our flying too near their (disputed) island is a provocation like that of Russia when it flew over Turkey. Presumably China won’t shoot down one of our planes, though.



http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/19/460380252/brain-surgery-serenade-man-plays-saxophone-during-tumor-removal

Brain Surgery Serenade: Man Plays Saxophone During Tumor Removal
Bill Chappell
December 19, 2015

Photograph -- Carlos Aguilera recently discussed how he played the saxophone during surgery to remove a brain tumor at Regional Hospital of Malaga, in Andalusia, Spain.
Jorge Zapata/EPA /LANDOV


The team of doctors who recently operated on Spanish musician Carlos Aguilera's brain wanted to be sure they didn't affect his ability to play the saxophone – so they had him play songs during a 12-hour surgery.

A partially sedated Aguilera obliged, playing "Misty" and other songs, in addition to reading sheet music. In a video of the procedure, the mellow tones of Aguilera's saxophone blend in with the normal sounds of an operating room.


YouTube
From Madrid, Lauren Frayer reports:

"The 27-year-old was sedated, on painkillers, but remained conscious during the entire multi-hour operation.

"Doctors were removing a brain tumor, and wanted to ensure the surgery wouldn't damage Aguilera's musical ability. It was the first such surgery of its kind in Europe.

"The operation took place in October, and Aguilera recently went public to say he's been cured — and continues playing his sax with an orchestra in the southern city of Malaga."

At a news conference this week, Aguilera's father told journalists that when his son was diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier this year, he feared the worst – including the possibility that he might never play music again.

"Two months ago I was on the table, and now I have a life in front of me," Aguilera said, according to La Opinion of Malaga. "I've been reborn."

Such procedures are meant to protect musicians' primary audio cortex and other parts of the brain that can affect their ability to play. (A story on NPR's Weekend Edition today looks at The Neuroscience Of Musical Perception, Bass Guitars And Drake.)

It's the first time such a case has been reported in Spain; similar measures were taken during recent brain surgeries in the U.S. and elsewhere — including last summer, when Slovenian opera singer Ambroz Bajec-Lapajne sang portions of Franz Schubert's Gute Nacht during surgery for a brain tumor.

In August, Bajec-Lapajne posted a video of his performance in the operating theater.

"All is fine until min. 2:40 when things start to get very interesting," Bajec-Lapajne said of the video. "It's been more than a year since and I'm doing fine, continuing my professional singing career."

YouTube
Other recent cases include:

In June, guitarist Kulkamp Anthony Dias played the Beatles' "Yesterday" and other songs during a surgery to remove a tumor in Brazil.

Last year, former Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra violinist Naomi Elishuv played during a procedure in Tel Aviv to correct tremors that ended her career.

Also in 2014, American concert violinist Roger Frisch underwent a procedure similar to Elishuv's to free him from essential tremors.

In 2008, bluegrass legend Eddie Adcock played banjo during neurosurgery to correct similar involuntary tremors.



“The team of doctors who recently operated on Spanish musician Carlos Aguilera's brain wanted to be sure they didn't affect his ability to play the saxophone – so they had him play songs during a 12-hour surgery. A partially sedated Aguilera obliged, playing "Misty" and other songs, in addition to reading sheet music.”


I had heard before that doctors do often want the patient awake during brain surgery. I can’t imagine that wouldn’t hurt terribly, but this man was able to play a number of songs, including reading sheet music. I wish this article had said how his being awake helps the doctors to avoid damaging that part of his brain. That would have been really interesting.



REPUBLICANS HAVING FUN


http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/19/460400856/n-m-governor-apologizes-over-attempt-to-quash-noise-complaints-cites-snowballs


N.M. Governor Apologizes Over Attempt To Quash Noise Complaints, Cites Snowballs
Bill Chappell
December 19, 2015

Photograph -- New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, seen here speaking Monday, has apologized for her handling of complaints against her hotel room after a staff holiday party in Santa Fe.
Russell Contreras/AP


The fallout from Gov. Susana Martinez's office holiday party at a hotel in downtown Santa Fe has resulted in an apology, a week after she intervened with local police to try to quash a noise complaint made against her hotel room.

Audio recordings of Martinez speaking with police and dispatchers became public Friday; hours later, she issued an apology for her own and her staff's behavior.

"In the tapes the governor can be heard telling dispatchers there was no need to send officers," member station KUNM reports.

"There's no necessary — no necessity to your officers to be here," she says in the recording, adding, "Thank you. You can call them off."

It all began, KUNM says, in the very early hours of last Sunday, when police were called "after the hotel's front desk reported a complaint about noise and someone throwing bottles off the balcony."

From the station:

"Martinez said whoever had been making noise had been there several hours before and there was no need for police. The governor also demanded to know who made the complaint."
In the recording, Martinez asks a Santa Fe Police dispatcher to identify the person who made the complaint.

When the dispatcher tells her he can't provide the information, she responds by sharply saying, "Why can you not? It's public record. Give it to me."

As for the reports of thrown bottles, the governor and her spokesman later said someone had thrown snowballs from a balcony at the hotel, and that the behavior was unacceptable. She says that when she was in the room, some of her relatives and staff were there, eating pizza.

The recordings were obtained by NM Political Report, which says someone from the front desk of the Eldorado Hotel & Spa "called the police after midnight to have the people in the room 'escorted off the property.' "

NM Political Report says that after the police dispatcher tells Martinez that someone complained about bottles being thrown, the governor 'responds that no one is throwing bottles off the balcony "and if there were, it was about six hours ago." ' "

The recordings include a portion of a call Martinez made from the front desk, in which the police dispatcher put her on hold to consult with his supervisor. During the delay, the governor repeatedly asks a hotel employee for the room number of the people who complained. The employee refuses to divulge the information.

In an interview Friday evening, Martinez insisted that she hadn't abused her powers when she intervened.

"I just wanted to know, what was the situation, how could we resolve it," Martinez tells local news KOB-TV.

KOB adds that Martinez acknowledged having "one and a half cocktails" over four to five hours on the night in question.



“Audio recordings of Martinez speaking with police and dispatchers became public Friday; hours later, she issued an apology for her own and her staff's behavior. "In the tapes the governor can be heard telling dispatchers there was no need to send officers," member station KUNM reports. "There's no necessary — no necessity to your officers to be here," she says in the recording, adding, "Thank you. You can call them off." It all began, KUNM says, in the very early hours of last Sunday, when police were called "after the hotel's front desk reported a complaint about noise and someone throwing bottles off the balcony."


Bottles off the balcony – that sounds like a pretty lively party. The Governor apparently planned to take the matter up with whoever called in the complaint, but the dispatcher wouldn’t give her that information. Not surprisingly she backed down when the incident was reported on the news media, and she probably received some angry Internet hits. She did apologize. That’s good.



http://www.npr.org/2015/12/19/460361192/dnc-restores-sanders-campaigns-access-to-voter-files-after-data-breach

DNC Restores Sanders Campaign's Access To Voter Files After Data Breach
Jessica Taylor
Updated December 19, 2015

Photograph -- Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign sued the DNC on Friday to regain access to its voter data files. But access was restored out of court after the DNC says the campaign provided them with information about data they had breached from rival Hillary Clinton's files due to a software glitch. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP


The Democratic National Committee and the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders have reached an agreement to restore the campaign's access to the DNC's massive voter file.

The decision, announced just after midnight Saturday, capped off a chaotic day in which the DNC blocked the Sanders campaign from accessing the national database, which plays a critical role in campaigns' strategies and daily operations.

The party took that step after it discovered that staffers for the Vermont senator had accessed and saved data collected by rival Hillary Clinton's campaign, made briefly accessible due to a software glitch.

In response to the harsh rebuke, the Sanders campaign charged Friday morning that the DNC was "actively attempting to undermine our campaign" in favor of Clinton. The campaign filed a lawsuit in federal court that evening to stop the DNC from blocking access to the data, saying they stood to lose $600,000 in donations per day without access to the data, which is critical to identifying and contacting voters.

According to Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver, the agreement was reached before a hearing on the emergency injunction.

"We are extremely pleased that the DNC has reversed its outrageous decision to take Sen. Sanders' data. The information we provided tonight is essentially the same information we already sent them by email on Thursday," Weaver said in a statement.

"Clearly, they were very concerned about their prospects in court. Now what we need to restore confidence in the DNC's ability to secure data is an independent audit that encompasses the DNC's record this entire campaign. Transparency at the DNC is essential. We trust they have nothing to hide," he continued.

But a DNC statement told a different side of the story, saying that the committee restored access only after the Sanders campaign provided more information to them about the breach.

"The Sanders campaign has now complied with the DNC's request to provide the information that we have requested of them. Based on this information, we are restoring the Sanders campaign's access to the voter file, but will continue to investigate to ensure that the data that was inappropriately accessed has been deleted and is no longer in possession of the Sanders campaign," DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement.

"The Sanders campaign has agreed to fully cooperate with the continuing DNC investigation of this breach. The fact that data was accessed inappropriately is completely unacceptable, and the DNC expects each campaign to operate with integrity going forward with respect to the voter file," she continued.

According to the Sanders campaign, access to the voter information should be restored by Saturday morning. The massive database is one that all candidates, from the federal down to the local level, have access to in order to build contact lists, voter models and more. Candidates then add their own information about voters, but that proprietary information is supposed to be blocked from other candidates.

The Clinton campaign issued a stinging response Friday evening in response to the news that the Sanders campaign had accessed their data. In a conference call with reporters, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said their rival's actions were "totally unacceptable."

"This was a very egregious breach and our data was stolen," Mook said. "We need to be sure that the Sanders campaign no longer has access to our data."

The Clinton campaign said in a statement after the DNC's decision early Saturday they were "pleased" that the Sanders campaign was cooperating with the DNC.

"We are pleased that the Sanders campaign has agreed to submit to an independent audit to determine the full extent of the intrusion its staff carried out earlier this week, and also to ensure that Sanders' voter file no longer contains any of the proprietary data that was taken from us," Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon said. "We believe this audit should proceed immediately, and, pending its findings, we expect further disciplinary action to be taken as appropriate."

The Sanders campaign had originally said that one staffer accessed the data and that he had since been let go. But according to audit documents obtained and reviewed by NPR, at least four people accessed the data 24 times during the window it was unprotected and saved it to their own folders. Data breached included information on specific voters in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The feud between the DNC, the Sanders and the Clinton campaigns occurred a day before the third presidential debate is set to take place Saturday evening in New Hampshire. And while the Sanders campaign's access has been restored for now, expect the clash to resurface during the prime-time debate — which Sanders supporters already believed was being buried on a Saturday evening right before Christmas to help Clinton.



“But according to audit documents obtained and reviewed by NPR, at least four people accessed the data 24 times during the window it was unprotected and saved it to their own folders. Data breached included information on specific voters in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. The feud between the DNC, the Sanders and the Clinton campaigns occurred a day before the third presidential debate is set to take place Saturday evening in New Hampshire.”


I notice the DNC did not comment on the fact that the firewall was temporarily removed by the company that the DNC hired, so that someone could go into the Clinton file in the first place. Sanders said that the company should be fired and a new one put in its’ place. That was one of the subjects of yesterday’s article. Another thing in today’s report which I didn’t see in an article before yesterday, is that the DNC is apparently behaving in a way that seems biased toward Clinton. They really should not do that. They should serve all Democratic candidates equally.