December 11, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://news.yahoo.com/paris-attacker-french-army-reject-144206398.html

Paris attacker was French army reject
Reuters
By Gilbert Reilhac
December 11, 2015

Photograph -- The apartment block where Foued Mohamed-Aggad lived before he went to Syria in late 2013, is seen in Wissembourg, Eastern France, December 10, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler


WISSEMBOURG, France (Reuters) - Foued Mohamed-Aggad, one of three young men who shot dead 90 people at a Paris concert hall a month ago, was turned down by the French army and possibly also by the police before Islamic State took him on to fight for them.

Army recruiters in the eastern city of Strasbourg decided after conducting physical and psychological tests that he was not a suitable candidate to bear arms as a French soldier.

Mohamed-Aggad's identity was only established this week because of a text message his mother Fatima received.

The text came from his wife, Hadjira, in Syria. It told the mother of four that her younger son had died "with his brothers" on Nov. 13, the night of the attacks.

Fearing the worst, and with her elder son already in prison on suspicion of having terrorism links, the Moroccan-born woman went to the family's lawyer.

DNA matching followed, and the profile of yet another radicalized young man, from yet another part of France, emerged this week, joining other home-grown French and Belgian jihadis already identified as the killers of 130 victims at the Bataclan concert hall and elsewhere in Paris.

Mohamed-Aggad had set off for Syria in 2013, and while his departure was no secret in his small home town of Wissembourg in northeastern France, some who knew him were shocked to learn of his role in the Paris killings.

"I can't believe it was him," said Yazar Mesut, a 46-year-old neighbor told Reuters in one of the town's bars. "He was intelligent and polite, knew what respect was about and didn't act like a big shot."

According to another neighbor, who gave his name as Youssef, the young man failed the police entrance exam by just a few marks, and was also turned down by the army.

"That's the only time I saw him disappointed. He was complaining. He reckoned it was because of his foreign origins," said Youssef.

NOT SUITABLE

An official from Strasbourg's army recruitment office confirmed that Mohamed-Aggad had tried and failed to join up in 2010.

"We have filters. We look at personality and do physical and psychological tests. The candidate has to be healthy and viable for the army," said army recruitment spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Sophie Caussel.

"In this case we identified him as not suitable as a soldier and to bear arms. We decided not to go any further with him."

Most would-be soldiers in France are in fact disappointed. Only 15,000 people will be recruited to the French army this year out of 160,000 applicants so far, according to official figures, which recorded a big jump in applications after the Nov. 13 attacks.

Police recruitment authorities would neither confirm nor deny any application. An official cited the confidentiality requirements of the inquiry into the Nov. 13 killings as the reason for the secrecy.

Either way, Mohamed-Aggad, who was 23 when he died, had left his military and police ambitions far behind him.

According to the judicial source he was also being investigated for links to Mourad Fares, a Franco-Moroccan man suspected of being a key jihadist recruiter for Syria in Toulouse and Strasbourg, and who is already in jail in France after being arrested in Turkey last year.

PRAYED ON HIS OWN

Christian Mahler shared a floor in the small residential building near Wissembourg station where Mohamed-Aggad's family lived for a time, and where they stood out among most residents who were of European descent.

Mohamed-Aggad began frequenting the Mosque more often around 2012, according to other people in the bar.

During that period, according to Mahler, Mohamed-Aggad's mother often found herself apologizing to neighbors for the noise made by her children, who used to bang on the walls of their apartment.

Can Yakup, president of a Turkish cultural center that he said Mohamed-Aggad visited "once or twice", thinks he was a witness to a change in the young man's behavior.

"The last time I sent him away because he wanted to pray on his own," Yakup told Reuters at the center which sits behind a railway line and next to a Lidl supermarket. "It was like for him the rest of us weren't good enough Muslims."

DEPARTURE

According to police sources and locals, Mohamed-Aggad and his brother Karim, 25, set off for Syria towards the end of 2013.

Two friends from the Wissembourg and five more young people from Meinau, a suburb of nearby Strasbourg, went with them.

One of the Wissembourg contingent did not get far, intercepted at Frankfurt airport by his parents.

Others came back a few months later in 2014, saying they had been on a humanitarian mission. In May that year, seven were arrested, including Karim. They are still in custody.

Judicial sources say Paris prosecutors asked on Oct. 9 this year for a case to be brought against them on terrorism-related charges that could carry jail sentences of 10 years. They could appear in court in 2016.

ATTACKERS

Officials have yet to name all the dead gunmen and suicide bombers directly involved in last month's attacks, for which Islamic State claimed responsibility. It remains unclear when and how Mohamed-Aggad returned to France.

The other two attackers at the concert hall have been named as Samy Amimour, 28, a former bus driver from Drancy, north east of Paris, and Ismail Omar Mostefai, 29, a Frenchman of Algerian descent who lived for a time in Chartres, south west of Paris.

Amimour also spent time in Syria, as did the presumed ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, 28, a Belgian of Moroccan origin who died in a police raid the following week.

Brahim Abdeslam, 31, who blew himself up after taking part in the cafe and restaurant killings, was a French citizen too although born and raised in Brussels.

Bilal Hadfi, 20, one of three suicide bombers who died near the Stade de France, dropped out of school in 2014 to travel to Syria. Another of the attackers, Salah Abdeslam, 26, also a Frenchman although born in Brussels, is still on the run.

(Additional reporting by Chine Labbe and Marine Pennetier; Writing by Andrew Callus; Editing by Giles Elgood)




“Foued Mohamed-Aggad, one of three young men who shot dead 90 people at a Paris concert hall a month ago, was turned down by the French army and possibly also by the police before Islamic State took him on to fight for them. …. "I can't believe it was him," said Yazar Mesut, a 46-year-old neighbor told Reuters in one of the town's bars. "He was intelligent and polite, knew what respect was about and didn't act like a big shot." According to another neighbor, who gave his name as Youssef, the young man failed the police entrance exam by just a few marks, and was also turned down by the army. "That's the only time I saw him disappointed. He was complaining. He reckoned it was because of his foreign origins," said Youssef. …. Most would-be soldiers in France are in fact disappointed. Only 15,000 people will be recruited to the French army this year out of 160,000 applicants so far, according to official figures, which recorded a big jump in applications after the Nov. 13 attacks. …. "The last time I sent him away because he wanted to pray on his own," Yakup told Reuters at the center which sits behind a railway line and next to a Lidl supermarket. "It was like for him the rest of us weren't good enough Muslims." …. One of the Wissembourg contingent did not get far, intercepted at Frankfurt airport by his parents. Others came back a few months later in 2014, saying they had been on a humanitarian mission. In May that year, seven were arrested, including Karim. They are still in custody. Judicial sources say Paris prosecutors asked on Oct. 9 this year for a case to be brought against them on terrorism-related charges that could carry jail sentences of 10 years. They could appear in court in 2016.”


So, this young man was possibly either intellectually deficient or had other mental health issues. That would fit my theory about the type of people who join such groups. It’s interesting that the French army only selects 15,000 from 160,000 a year, however. I wonder if our army and/or police forces are that rigorous? I don’t think so. I think a disturbing number of US police officers and even our soldiers have an unhealthy turn of mind, or there wouldn’t be so many unnecessary killings. I'm thinking of the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam so many years ago. There certainly are lots of them who return home with PTSD. War is hard on even the healthiest people.



http://news.yahoo.com/obama-executive-actions-could-open-door-successors-213906749--election.html

Associated Press
KATHLEEN HENNESSEY
December 11, 2015

View photos -- President Barack Obama speaks in Washington Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015, in Washington. While the White House condemns Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslim immigrants, President Barack Obama


WASHINGTON (AP) — While the White House has condemned Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslim immigrants as "disqualifying" and "toxic," President Barack Obama may have only himself to blame if a President Trump ever succeeds in putting his plan, or some version of it, into action.

In his efforts to work around Congress, Obama has made the aggressive use of executive power, particularly on immigration, an increasingly effective and politically accepted presidential tool. While legal scholars are divided on whether Obama has accelerated or merely continued a drift of power toward the executive branch, there's little debate that he's paved a path for his successor.

Depending on who that is, many Obama backers could rue the day they cheered his "pen-and-phone" campaign to get past Republican opposition in Congress. The unilateral steps he took to raise environmental standards, tighten gun control measures and ease the threat of deportation for millions of immigrants in the U.S. illegally, may serve as precedent for moves they won't cheer.

"Unfortunately I think the bill will come due for many Democrats," said Jonathon Turley, a George Washington University law professor. "In a future administration, they will hear the same arguments played back to them as they watch a different president go after a different set of priorities."

Candidates from both parties have shown they see the political advantage to promising fast, executive action. Hillary Clinton has vowed to go further than Obama — without a vote in Congress — on making changes to gun control, immigration and corporate tax regulations. Trump has promised to "unsign" many of Obama's moves.

"You know the great thing about executive orders __ I don't have to go back to Congress," Trump said recently at rally in Manassas, Va.

"We're going to be unsigning a lot of executive orders, especially his order that basically lets anybody they want just pour into our country," Trump said. "That's going to end."

To be sure, the verdict is still out on how much Obama's presidency may have tipped the scales in the balance of powers between the courts, the executive and Congress. Some court challenges are undecided, most notably one contesting his second major immigration action granting temporary reprieve to millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. Meanwhile, the White House has yet to decide whether to go ahead on two significant executive actions prompted by opposition in Congress — one that would expand background checks on gun sales and another that would close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and move detainees to U.S. soil.

How such actions, particularly the latter, would play out in the courts and court of public opinion would be important factors in how Obama's record is judged by history and his successor.

Experts view Obama's influence as considerable when it comes to war powers, particularly his case for killing American suspects of terrorism on foreign soil. But a paradox is evident on immigration issues — where he has very publicly seized the broad authority given to the executive and where the gap between his policies and his potential Republican successors is wide.

In 2012 and 2014, after long maintaining he did not have such authority, Obama ordered federal immigration authorities not to deport certain groups of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally. The administration asked immigrants to apply for a temporary new legal status. The White House said it was using its prosecutorial discretion — the power to determine how limited resources should be used to enforce the law.

That power has been used by all presidents on a broad range of issues, but rarely has a president called a news conference to announce it or created a formal system to use it, said Hiroshi Motomura, a University of California at Los Angeles professor and expert in immigration law.

"Every president has different priorities, but Obama has actually changed things by being more systematized and transparent and that's what led to critics and the legal challenge," Motomura said.

A future president might take the same principle into another arena, Turley argued, choosing not to enforce pollution regulation against some businesses or temporarily granting some taxpayers a reprieve.

If not a full ban on Muslim visitors, as Trump proposed, prosecutorial discretion might be used to argue for prioritizing deportation of Muslim immigrants. A president might place visitors from Muslim countries under special screening or ask them to register, moves that would have some recent precedent.

Whether such executive moves would survive a lawsuit is far from clear. In the wake of Trump's proposed ban, many legal scholars lambasted the idea but didn't label it impossible.

Congress already has granted broad authority for the president to bar "any class of aliens" entry into the United States if he determines it would be "detrimental to the interests of the United States." While some argue barring entry based on religion would be discriminatory, precisely how constitutional and legal protections against discrimination apply to a foreign national is unclear.

These murky legal questions don't always rule the day in presidential politics, noted Eric Posner, a University of Chicago law professor.

"The Supreme Court very rarely issues rulings on presidential power. It tends to try to duck cases where somebody tries to say the president doesn't have the power to do something," said Posner, who has written on the rise of executive power in "The Executive Unbound."




“In his efforts to work around Congress, Obama has made the aggressive use of executive power, particularly on immigration, an increasingly effective and politically accepted presidential tool. While legal scholars are divided on whether Obama has accelerated or merely continued a drift of power toward the executive branch, there's little debate that he's paved a path for his successor.” This article pretends that Obama has been a dictator by his frequent use of executive orders to achieve Democratic goals. The Republican Congress has blocked every move he made, so he got tired of it and began to use his Constitutional power. The supposedly new trend was discussed extensively about George W. Bush and the NeoCons before him, however, and there is a theory of constitutional law that the president cannot be stopped from taking action unilaterally either by the courts or by the legislature. Congress’ recent move to sue Obama for doing too many executive decisions is probably based on this discussion. Funny how when it was Bush and not Obama, he was not criticized in such a manner.


See the following articles on the “Unitary Executive.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory, This is long and informational. Check it out.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/06/constitutional-myth-3-the-unitary-executive-is-a-dictator-in-war-and-peace/239627/

Constitutional Myth #3: The 'Unitary Executive' is a Dictator in War and Peace
GARRETT EPPS
JUN 9, 2011

The idea that the President's powers aren't limited by Congress is a radical--and dangerous--trend

Few parts of our Constitution generate more mythology than Article Two, which creates the office of the President.

The Constitution grants the president the following exclusive powers: (1) he is commander in chief of the armed forces; (2) he can require "heads of departments" to give him their opinions in writing; (3) he receives ambassadors, and; (4) he grants pardons for federal offenses. In addition, he shares with the Senate the treaty power and the appointment authority ("advise and consent"), and can make "recess appointments" if Congress is not in session. He can veto a bill, subject to override by 2/3 of both Houses. He can convene Congress on "extraordinary occasions," but ordinarily may not force it to adjourn. He is required to send a state of the union message "from time to time," and he shall "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."

It's not an overwhelming list. But on this vague framework, executive theorists have constructed a view of the office that is sometimes little short of dictatorship. That constitutional myth affects presidents of both parties and their supporters.

Consider that, in the days after 9/11, Congress authorized President Bush to "use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons." That may be the broadest such resolution ever passed.

“The current theory is far more radical, and it is dangerous, no matter which party holds the White House. In any crisis, it allows power to flow to the President; as crisis recedes, future Presidents tend not to give it back.”

Yet immediately after passage, Bush's in-house lawyer, John Yoo, wrote the president an official memo stating that Bush didn't need the authorization. "The historical record demonstrates that the power to initiate military hostilities, particularly in response to the threat of an armed attack, rests exclusively with the President." Yoo argued, "Congress's support for the President's power suggests no limits on the Executive's judgment whether to use military force in response to the national emergency."


Yoo was deploying a theory of executive power best summed up by his phrase: "no limits on the Executive's judgment." George W. Bush was later to rely on that theory to justify warrantless eavesdropping on American citizens' phone calls and emails, despite a statute banning the practice, and to override the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, with its absolute prohibition on "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment" " of prisoners.

Executive hubris is not limited by party. Bill Clinton (Kosovo 1998) and Barack Obama (Libya 2011) have also asserted presidential power to use armed force without congressional consent. Boston College professor Kent Greenfield recently laid out the astonishing facts of the Obama administration's decision to ignore the War Powers Resolution.

The authoritarian theory of the presidency draws its justification from the opening words of Article II: "The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America." Executive hawks argue that the phrase "the executive power" and "a President of the United States of America" lodge extensive, exclusive power in the president alone.

During America's first major foreign policy crisis, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton argued that the phrase "the executive power" meant that all the power of any chief of state was lodged in the president, "subject only to the exceptions the exceptions and qualifications which are expressed" in the Constitution.

In other words, unless the Constitution says the president can't do something, the president can do it. That argument underwent a fundamental shift after 1980. Reagan and his attorney general, Ed Meese, regarded the Democratic-majority Congress as the enemy. They needed a theory that would let them act at home and abroad without congressional authorization, withhold information from Congress at their pleasure, and resist any attempt by Congress to find out what was going on or limit their freedom of maneuver. To Hamilton's already radical view of the executive power, they added the "unitary executive" idea.

That idea says that because "the" executive power is vested in "a president," any attempt to limit the president's control over the executive branch is unconstitutional. It supposedly follows from the "the" and the "a" that members of the executive branch are solely accountable to the president alone, and the president, in turn, may order anyone who works in the executive branch to exercise his or her discretion in fulfilling any official function however the president personally thinks best.

Peter M. Shane of Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, a former Office of Legal Counsel official, and now a paramount scholar of presidential authority, points to a 1988 dispute with Congress over AIDS as sewing the seeds of the hard-line "unitary executive" theory. Congress passed a statute requiring the Centers for Disease Control to publish a pamphlet setting out the facts about the disease and ways of preventing it. Ronald Reagan really didn't think AIDS was such a big deal and preferred it not be mentioned at all; the Reagan White House refused to clear the pamphlet. In frustration, Congress by statute instructed the head of CDC--chosen, as White House aides are not, for expertise in public health-- to publish the pamphlet without clearance.

The Reagan Justice Department issued an opinion that the law was flatly unconstitutional. "Any attempt by Congress to constrain the president's authority to supervise and direct his subordinates in this respect," OLC's opinion said, "violates the Constitution."

This is hardly an obvious reading. The text of Article II is silent. (Indeed, the Constitution doesn't even explicitly give the President the power to fire federal officials.) And the Constitution does say that Congress has the authority to enact laws "necessary and proper" for executing not just its own authorities, but all powers that the Constitution vests in "any department or officer" of "the government of the United States." This certainly suggests Congress has a share of the power to direct those "departments and officers."

As such, the present administration's conduct puzzles Shane. "The Obama Administration has commendably stayed away from George W. Bush's aggressive claims of executive power, but, perhaps because Congress is itself so dysfunctional these days, the Administration seems to be underplaying the opportunity to reset the terms of presidential authority," Shane said. It's doubly puzzling, he adds, because, as a senator, Joe Biden unsuccessfully introduced "the most thoughtful war powers legislation since 1973. I don't know why the Administration does not resurrect it."

(By the way, in earlier columns I imagined an Obama decision to ignore the debt limit. I wasn't urging Obama to do that; my point was that the scenario fits into "unitary executive" theory. )


There's another way to read Article II. The Framers didn't talk much about a "unitary executive"; to the extend they did, they may have meant simply that the Constitution does not feature an Executive Council of the kind set up in many revolutionary-era state constitutions. And "the executive power" could mean simply those actions that aren't legislative or judicial, to be carried out in harmony with the authority of both other branches over national policy and constitutional interpretation.

The current theory is far more radical, and it is dangerous, no matter which party holds the White House. In any crisis, it allows power to flow to the president; as crisis recedes, future presidents tend not to give it back.

If you doubt that, look no further than President Obama, who as Senator and candidate was harshly critical of George W. Bush's high-handed ways. As military action in Libya passes the 75-day mark, he now is pushing the executive envelope even further.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons



Garrett Epps's Full Constitutional Myth Series:

Myth #1: The Right Is 'Originalist,' Everyone Else Is 'Idiotic'
Myth #2: The 'Purpose' of the Constitution Is to Limit Congress
Myth #3: The 'Unitary Executive' is a Dictator in War and Peace
Myth #4: The Constitution Doesn't Separate Church and State
Myth #5: Corporations Have the Same Free-Speech Rights as Individuals
Myth #6: The Second Amendment Allows Citizens to Threaten Government
Myth #7: The 10th Amendment Protects 'States' Rights'





CLIMATE -- TWO ARTICLES


http://news.yahoo.com/global-climate-deal-expected-saturday-french-hosts-060956147.html

UN climate-saving deal 'sure', but pitfalls ahead
AFP
Karl MALAKUNAS, Catherine HOURS
December 11, 2015

Photograph -- Envoys tasked with staving off catastrophic climate change are on track to seal a historic accord, the French hosts say (AFP Photo/Glyn Kirk)


Sleep-starved envoys tasked with staving off catastrophic climate change are on track to seal a historic accord, the French hosts of UN talks said Friday although the biggest pitfalls were yet to be cleared.

The 195-nation conference in Paris had been scheduled to wrap up on Friday, but was extended another day after ministers failed to bridge deep divides during a second consecutive all-night round of negotiations.

Still, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is presiding over the talks, voiced confidence the event would culminate with a much-awaited pact.

"We are almost at the end of the road and I am optimistic," said Fabius, whose hopes were echoed by many negotiators and observers despite potential deal-breakers still up in the air.

Fabius said he would submit the deal at 9am (0800 GMT) and was "sure" it would be approved. "It will be a big step forward for humanity as a whole," he said.

World leaders have billed the Paris talks as the last chance to avert disastrous climate change: increasingly severe drought, floods and storms, as well as rising seas that would engulf islands and populated coasts.

The outcome of a laborious two-decade-long process, the post-2020 accord would commit all nations to curb greenhouse gases that trap solar heat, warming Earth's surface and disrupting its delicate climate system.

Highlighting the urgency of the moment, US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, spoke by phone on Friday about the Paris negotiations, according to China's foreign ministry.

Xi said the world powers "must strengthen coordination with all parties" and "make joint efforts to ensure the Paris climate summit reaches an accord", according to a statement on the ministry's website.

The planned accord would seek to revolutionise the world's energy system by cutting back or potentially eliminating the burning of coal, oil and gas, whose carbon dioxide is the big warming culprit.

- Battle lines -

UN efforts from the 1990s have been hamstrung by rows between developed and developing nations over sharing the emissions-curbing burden, aiding climate-vulnerable poor countries and funding the shift to cleaner renewables.

Developing nations have insisted established economic powerhouses must shoulder the lion's share of responsibility as they have emitted most of the greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution.

But the United States and other rich nations say emerging giants must also do more.

They point out that developing countries now account for most of today's emissions and thus will be largely responsible for future warming.

The financing issues remained the biggest potential deal-breakers in Paris, highlighted in a draft text presented by Fabius on Thursday that was debated through the night.

Rich countries promised six years ago in Copenhagen to muster $100 billion (92 billion euros) a year from 2020 to help developing nations make the energy shift and cope with the impact of global warming.

But how the pledged funds will be raised remains unclear -- and developing countries are determined to secure a commitment for increasing amounts of money after 2020.

The latest text refers to the $100 billion as a floor, potentially triggering a last-minute backlash from the United States and other developed nations fearful of being forced to sign a blank cheque.

Another remaining flashpoint issue is how to compensate developing nations that will be worst hit by climate change but are least to blame for it.

The developing nations are demanding "loss and damage" provisions, which Washington is particularly wary of as it fears they could make US companies vulnerable to legal challenges for compensation.

- Call for compromise -

As he released the draft of the pact, Fabius said a deal was "extremely close" but appealed for compromise from all sides.

Most nations submitted to the UN before the conference their voluntary plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions from 2020, a process that was widely hailed as an important platform for success.

But scientists say that, even if the cuts were fulfilled, they would still put Earth on track for warming of at least 2.7C.

Negotiators remain divided over when and how often to review national plans so that they can be "scaled up" with pledges for deeper emissions cuts.

The draft text sought to end some other key rows, by removing options and giving just one clear proposal on each of the disputes.

One of the most striking was over the temperature limit target to enshrine in the accord.

Nations most vulnerable to climate change had lobbied hard to limit warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.5 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

However several big polluters, such as China and India as well as oil producing-giant Saudi Arabia, prefer a ceiling of 2C, which would allow them to burn fossil fuels for longer.

The latest draft offers a compromise that states the purpose of the agreement is to hold temperatures to well below 2C, but aim for 1.5C.

"With this, I would be able to go home and tell my people that our chance for survival is not lost," said Tony de Brum, foreign minister of the Marshall Islands, one of the archipelagic nations that could be wiped out by rising sea levels.



http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/11/459353994/paris-climate-change-negotiations-to-enter-an-extra-day

Paris Climate Change Negotiators Need More Time
Camila Domonoske
Updated December 11, 2015

Photograph -- Environmental activists form a human chain near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on the sideline of the COP21 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Michel Euler/AP


With a historic, planetwide pact on the line, hundreds of diplomats in Paris are preparing to extend the U.N. climate change conference into Saturday.

The deadline to reach consensus on a climate deal was supposed to be midnight Friday. But conference leader Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, said there wouldn't be a finished text — let alone full approval — until Saturday morning.

The goal is for all of the nearly 200 countries involved — wealthy, developing and in between — to collectively lower greenhouse gas emissions, limit the extent of climate change and cope with the climate shifts that can't be avoided.

After two weeks of negotiation, the latest climate-accord draft, released Thursday, suggests agreement on a number of issues, such as:

Global temperature rise should be held below 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

By midcentury, man-made climate change emissions should reach "neutrality," with a net zero amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being released.

Developed countries will offer money to poorer countries to help them grow their economies while also cutting emissions.

There's $100 billion on the table, NPR's Chris Joyce said on Morning Edition, promised by 2020 — which developing countries say is a start.

A view of the opening of COP21 on climate change Monday in Paris. More than 150 world leaders are meeting for the 21st Session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

HEATING UP

But sticking points remain. For one thing, developed countries want to verify how that money is spent, which has been "a tough negotiating issue," Chris says.

Delegates are also clashing over whether some emerging economies — such as China and India — should be contributing money along with wealthier nations, The Associated Press reports, and the latest draft doesn't discuss whether vulnerable countries will be compensated for damage caused by unavoidable climate change.

And as NPR's Ari Shapiro reported this week, small island states have been pushing for the agreement to set a bolder target: holding an increase in global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But the latest draft commits to "well below 2 degrees," and "to pursue efforts" to hold the increase to 1.5 degrees.

But the move toward consensus is visible in the various drafts the conference has released. Many disputed sections, marked in brackets, have been resolved — sometimes by dropping numbers or timelines in favor of broader statements. For example, one section of a draft six days ago read:

"... [Rapid reductions thereafter [in accordance with best available science] to at least a X [-Y- per cent reduction in global (greenhouse gas emissions][CO2][e]] compared to 20XX levels by 2050]] ... [A long-term low emissions transformation] [toward [ climate neutrality] [decarbonization] [over the course of this century] [as soon as possible over mid-century] ..."

By Thursday night, when the latest draft was released, that had become:

"... rapid reductions thereafter towards reaching greenhouse gas emissions neutrality in the second half of the century ..."

Overall, the newest draft (which you can read below) has only 50 brackets remaining.

The delay of an extra day hasn't alarmed activists and analysts, according to the AP.

"We would rather they take their time and were patient with the right deal than rush it and get a breakdown," Sam Barratt of advocacy group Avaaz told the wire service. "Getting 200 countries to agree on anything is tough."

An up or down vote is expected Saturday, according to the AP. And Chris Joyce says a deal seems close.

"I really don't think that the developing world, for one, is going to walk away from the huge amount of money that could be transferred here from the wealthy countries to the less developed countries," Chris says.

"And as far as the developed world is concerned, they would look pretty mean-spirited if they walked away from this at this point."




YAHOO -- “Still, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is presiding over the talks, voiced confidence the event would culminate with a much-awaited pact. "We are almost at the end of the road and I am optimistic," said Fabius, whose hopes were echoed by many negotiators and observers despite potential deal-breakers still up in the air. …. Highlighting the urgency of the moment, US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, spoke by phone on Friday about the Paris negotiations, according to China's foreign ministry. Xi said the world powers "must strengthen coordination with all parties" and "make joint efforts to ensure the Paris climate summit reaches an accord", according to a statement on the ministry's website. The planned accord would seek to revolutionise the world's energy system by cutting back or potentially eliminating the burning of coal, oil and gas, whose carbon dioxide is the big warming culprit. …. Developing nations have insisted established economic powerhouses must shoulder the lion's share of responsibility as they have emitted most of the greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. But the United States and other rich nations say emerging giants must also do more. They point out that developing countries now account for most of today's emissions and thus will be largely responsible for future warming. …. Another remaining flashpoint issue is how to compensate developing nations that will be worst hit by climate change but are least to blame for it. The developing nations are demanding "loss and damage" provisions, which Washington is particularly wary of as it fears they could make US companies vulnerable to legal challenges for compensation. …. The latest draft offers a compromise that states the purpose of the agreement is to hold temperatures to well below 2C, but aim for 1.5C.

NPR -- “The deadline to reach consensus on a climate deal was supposed to be midnight Friday. But conference leader Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, said there wouldn't be a finished text — let alone full approval — until Saturday morning. …. "We would rather they take their time and were patient with the right deal than rush it and get a breakdown," Sam Barratt of advocacy group Avaaz told the wire service. "Getting 200 countries to agree on anything is tough." An up or down vote is expected Saturday, according to the AP. And Chris Joyce says a deal seems close.”


I pray this agreement is strong enough to really make a difference in the climate crisis, and will be approved by all. Then there’s the problem of actually changing our ways of doing things, which some people just hate to do on general principles. For every discovery there are dozens of “Luddites.” That’s what “conservative” means, pretty much. Even if we all agree that change is necessary, science is going to have to step forward to develop methods.

There was an article yesterday or the day before on a theory that putting lots of sulfur particles by means of “an artificial and constant man-made volcano with material released by aircraft or cannons.” The hope behind that article is that the CORRECT amount of sulfur can be put up which will slow down the global warming trend without totally cutting us off from the necessary warming without which we won’t survive.

In other words, this like any other experiments can have “unintended consequences,” or simply fail to work at all. Efforts to seed the clouds with silver iodide crystals to produce more rain in hurricanes, thus weakening their winds, and also in times of drought to put more rain clouds into localized areas, were much discussed when I was young, but I think it didn’t produce the results that were desired. Still scientists need to focus on this problem and see what they can learn. Then they will have to somehow make it economical or the Republicans will veto it. It is possible. Just a few decades of working with solar panels and wind farms have produced results to reduce our carbon footprint. The number of scientific breakthroughs that have come in the last 70 years – my lifetime – are mind boggling. This gives me hope for our future.





http://finance.yahoo.com/news/dog-whistle-talk-jeb-bush-121948056.html

'This is all dog-whistle talk': Jeb Bush unloads on Donald Trump after Trump canceled his Israel trip
Business Insider By Brett LoGiurato
December 11, 2015

Photograph -- Jeb Bush, AP
Photograph -- (Graham Flanagan/Business Insider) -- Business Insider interviews Jeb Bush.

More From Business Insider --
Jeb Bush's super PAC launches ad assault on Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz
'Unhinged': Republicans are slamming Donald Trump's 'outrageous' proposal to stop Muslims from entering the US
Jeb Bush is spitting fire at Obama for touting climate-change efforts after Paris attacks


Milford, New Hampshire — Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida chided his Republican presidential rival Donald Trump on Thursday after the real-estate mogul abruptly canceled a hastily scheduled trip to Israel that was planned for later this month.
Trump on Thursday morning postponed the trip, which had been scheduled to include a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The cancellation came just a day after Trump originally said he had planned to visit the nation.

In an interview with Business Insider later Thursday, Bush didn't seem surprised at the quick change of plans.

"Of course it was canceled," Bush said after speaking at a town-hall event here. "Who would want to see him after he created a real problem by a blanket statement that wasn't serious?"

Bush was referring to Trump's call to temporarily bar Muslims from entering the US in the aftermath of last week's shooting in San Bernardino, California, in which both suspects were thought to be inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group.

Netanyahu had said he planned to speak with any US presidential candidate who requested a meeting, so as not to appear favorable toward any particular candidate. But news of Trump's potential visit caused an uproar and prompted calls from within Israel's Parliament for Netanyahu to cancel the meeting.

"Look — the guy's not serious. He's not a serious person," Bush said. "He can't be commander-in-chief. He doesn't have plans. This is all dog-whistle talk. This is to provoke anger. This is to — with all due respect to the media — this is to generate massive attention to him. It's not about a serious plan. Is that a serious plan in all reality? Of course not."

Bush called Trump "unhinged" in a fierce statement minutes after learning of Trump's proposal early this week. Several of Trump's other rivals in the Republican presidential race also condemned his proposal.

And in a statement on Wednesday, Netanyahu also made clear that he rejected Trump's comments, as his office issued a statement that said Israel "respects all religions and strictly guarantees the rights of all of its citizens."

Though Trump was the one to publicly cancel his meeting with Netanyahu, Bush said it was clear why Netanyahu wouldn't want to meet with a US presidential candidate who was "endorsing a view that would be against his national-security interests."

"If you view it as a serious proposal, which it isn't, what he's proposing is weakening our position in the world," Bush said, "making it harder for us to be protected. Not stronger. He's weakening the United States' posture in the world, and he's keeping our country less safe."

Business Insider asked if that was the case already. Bush said Trump's statement alone was detrimental to the US' foreign-policy interests.

"By his statement!" Bush said. "If that statement was to be a policy and was implemented, it would make it harder for us to take out ISIS. Near impossible. It would make it harder for us to engage in the world. No one would take us seriously. This is ludicrous. This is not even worth talking about."

Trump also faced backlash last week after he spoke before a gathering of Republican Jewish donors, after which he was accused of promoting "offensive stereotypes" toward Jews.

For his part, Trump told Fox News on Thursday that he postponed the visit until "after I become president" because he didn't want to put Netanyahu under any pressure.

"You know, he said, 'We have a meeting.' And he looks forward to the meeting and all of that," Trump said when asked about the cancellation. "But I didn't want to put him under pressure, number one. I also did it because I'm in the midst of a very powerful campaign that's going very well, and it was not that easy to do. So I would say lots of different reasons."

Bush and Trump have feuded prominently on the campaign trail this year, as Trump has surged in the GOP race largely at the expense of Bush. The former Florida governor has sought to expose Trump's inexperience and supposed lack of seriousness as a potential commander-in-chief in recent weeks.

At the town-hall event, Bush joked that he had told his staff earlier in the day that he had "almost promised not to use his name today." But he couldn't resist. When one New Hampshire voter asked him his plan on immigration, he contrasted his view with Trump's stated goal of deporting the approximately 11 million people living in the country unlawfully.

"That's not a serious proposal. He's not a serious man," Bush said.

He added: "Pass that along, by the way. Because that'll get him upset."

NOW WATCH: The internet went crazy with a photo of Jeb Bush in front of a green screen



“Netanyahu had said he planned to speak with any US presidential candidate who requested a meeting, so as not to appear favorable toward any particular candidate. But news of Trump's potential visit caused an uproar and prompted calls from within Israel's Parliament for Netanyahu to cancel the meeting.”


"Look — the guy's not serious. He's not a serious person," Bush said. "He can't be commander-in-chief. He doesn't have plans. This is all dog-whistle talk. This is to provoke anger. This is to — with all due respect to the media — this is to generate massive attention to him. It's not about a serious plan. Is that a serious plan in all reality? Of course not." I have seldom agreed totally with anything a Bush said, but I do think that this description of Trump is spot on. He is conceited, frivolous, intelligent but foolish and ignorant, and so often insulting without really meaning to be that he won’t be a good representative of our country under any situation. He has to retract and explain away every other thing he says to the press and a couple of the things he said have been toilet humor. I think his true intentions are to: provoke anger and get attention. He’s a delinquent teenager who never grew up. I don’t believe he really has a chance of getting elected president.




ISIS IN THE USA


https://gma.yahoo.com/feds-arrest-emir-isis-related-recruitment-effort-minnesota-163407998--abc-news-topstories.html

Feds Arrest 'Emir' of an ISIS-Related Recruitment Effort in Minnesota
ABC News By MIKE LEVINE
December 11, 2015

Related articles:
Minneapolis Man in Syria Has Been Recruiting Friends Back Home to ISIS, Feds Say
View galleryFeds Arrest 'Emir' of an ISIS-Related Recruitment …
Feds Arrest 'Emir' of an ISIS-Related Recruitment Effort in Minnesota (ABC News)
Few Arrests of Americans Who Fought In Syria or Iraq, as Feds Focus on Small Group Back Inside U.S.


Federal authorities have arrested a Minnesota man for allegedly leading an effort inside the United States to send others to join ISIS in Syria.

Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame,20, was arrested Wednesday night and charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization.

He is among at least 10 youth from Minnesota who allegedly began planning to join ISIS more than a year ago. Nine have now been arrested, and one -- 18-year-old Abdi Nir -- made it to Syria, where since May 2014 he has been recruiting and assisting others inside the United States to join ISIS, authorities said.

Warsame’s arrest comes several months after a round of arrests in the case.

According to charging documents, Warsame and others began watching propaganda videos together in the spring of 2014, when they also began talking about how to get to Syria.

At one point, when one of the leaders of the group was planning to leave for Syria imminently, Warsame was appointed “emir” of the effort, and he subsequently began encouraging and helping others plan to join ISIS, according to charging documents.

In fact, Warsame and Nur considered robbing people to pay for travel to Syria, but Nur rejected the idea and said they should steal from the government instead, prosecutors allege.

Warsame called Nur “a genius,” charging documents say.

In addition, the documents say Nur described risks involved in the entire effort this way to Warsame: “It’s like playing a game of chess, bro. One thing you move you can be in danger, or you could win.”

Warsame is one of nearly 90 people from inside the United States identified by U.S. authorities as having been inspired to take some sort of action on behalf of ISIS.




“Abdirizak Mohamed Warsame,20, was arrested Wednesday night and charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to a terrorist organization. He is among at least 10 youth from Minnesota who allegedly began planning to join ISIS more than a year ago. Nine have now been arrested, and one -- 18-year-old Abdi Nir -- made it to Syria, where since May 2014 he has been recruiting and assisting others inside the United States to join ISIS, authorities said. …. At one point, when one of the leaders of the group was planning to leave for Syria imminently, Warsame was appointed “emir” of the effort, and he subsequently began encouraging and helping others plan to join ISIS, according to charging documents. …. Warsame is one of nearly 90 people from inside the United States identified by U.S. authorities as having been inspired to take some sort of action on behalf of ISIS.”


Catching these people before they take any violent action is what I love to see, because once they show up for the shooting or bombing, it is almost impossible to stop them. Our society is not used to having to be constantly on guard against an attack. In other words we have been complaisant until now. The adage: “See something, say something,” is what we need to follow. Americans are used to keeping our heads down and pretty much ignoring what goes on around us. “Don’t get involved” is so often the watchword. We have to start paying attention.

In sleepy little towns where there is a nosy little old lady like Miss Marple on every other block, very little escapes their notice. Likewise, an active Neighborhood Watch which is focused on genuinely suspicious activity – rather than on black kids walking home after dark with a bag of Skittles from the store – would be of great help. I prefer that plan over the idea of everybody carrying a gun to “shoot terrorists”. That method gets innocent people killed as often as the guilty.



http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ex-oklahoma-cops-rape-conviction-symbol-of-national-problem/ar-AAggTBo?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=iehp

Ex-Oklahoma cop's rape conviction symbol of national problem
By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press
December 11, 2015


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The teenager's mother clapped her hands and screamed with joy as she watched an Oklahoma City jury convict a former police officer of raping her daughter and sexually assaulting seven other women.

Minutes after 29-year-old Daniel Holtzclaw was found guilty, the mother of his youngest accuser said she hoped the case would show that the problem of police sexual misconduct wasn't limited to one officer or one department.

"It's a problem for the nation," she told The Associated Press.

Holtzclaw was convicted Thursday night of preying on the teenager and other women he met on his police beat in a minority, low-income neighborhood. He could spend the rest of his life in prison based on the jury's recommendation that he serve a total of 263 years, including a 30-year sentence on each of four first-degree rape convictions.

In total, the jury convicted Holtzclaw of 18 counts connected to eight of the 13 women, all of whom were black, who testified against him. Jurors acquitted him on 18 other counts. He sobbed as the verdict was read aloud.

His case brought new attention to the problem of sexual misconduct committed by law enforcement officers, something police chiefs have studied for years.

Holtzclaw's case was among those examined in an Associated Press investigation of sexual misconduct by law enforcement. The AP's yearlong probe revealed about 1,000 officers had lost their licenses for sex crimes or other sexual misconduct over a six-year period.

The AP's finding is undoubtedly an undercount of the problem. Not every state has a process for banning problem officers from re-entering law enforcement. And of those states that do, great variations exist in whether officers are prosecuted or reported to their state licensing boards.

A common thread among cases of police sexual misconduct was they involved victims who were among society's most vulnerable: juveniles, drug addicts, and women in custody or with a criminal history.

That's exactly who authorities accused Holtzclaw of targeting.

After receiving a report from a grandmother who said Holtzclaw forced her to perform oral sex during a traffic stop, police identified a dozen other women who said Holtzclaw had victimized them.

Daniel Holtzclaw, Robert Gray, Scott Adams: Daniel Holtzclaw, center, cries as he stands in front of the judge after the verdicts were read in his trial in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Holtzclaw, a former Oklahoma City police officer, was facing dozens of charges alleging he sexually assaulted 13 women while on duty.

Holtzclaw was found guilty on a number of counts. With Holtzclaw are defense attorneys Robert Gray, left, and Scott Adams, right.Robert Gray, Daniel Holtzclaw: Defense attorney Robert Gray, left, puts his hand on the shoulder of defendant Daniel Holtzclaw, right, as they wait for the verdicts in his trial in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015.

Holtzclaw, a former Oklahoma City police officer, was facing dozens of charges alleging he sexually assaulted 13 women while on duty. Holtzclaw was found guilty on a number of counts.Timothy Henderson: Judge Timothy Henderson talks to the jury as the verdict is returned in the trial of Daniel Holtzclaw in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015.

The girl recalled Holtzclaw pulling up in his police car as she walked home one night in June 2014. Holtzclaw drove her to her family's home and walked her to the porch, where he told her he had to search her. She said he grabbed her breasts, then pulled down her pink shorts and raped her.

She testified that he asked if it was the first time she had ever had sex with a cop. Her DNA was found on his uniform trousers.

Adams asked the girl during the trial about perceived inconsistencies in her testimony as well as her use of drugs. She pushed back at one point, telling him, "I'm really getting upset by the way you're coming after me."

The jury convicted Holtzclaw of first-degree rape, second-degree rape and sexual battery in the girl's case.

Her mother said her daughter didn't want to talk about the case anymore, but that she was relieved about the conclusion of a "long journey to justice."

"I feel like justice has been served today," she said. "It is a comfort to us all."

The AP generally does not identify victims of sex crimes and is not using the mother's name so as not to identify her daughter.

Several of Holtzclaw's accusers had been arrested or convicted of crimes, and his attorney made those issues a cornerstone of his defense strategy. Adams questioned several women at length about whether they were high when they allegedly encountered Holtzclaw. He also pointed out that most did not come forward until police identified them as possible victims after launching their investigation.

Ultimately, that approach did not sway the jury to dismiss all the women's stories.

Holtzclaw was convicted of one of two charges related to a woman who testified he gave her a ride home, then followed her into her bedroom where he forced himself on her and raped her, telling her, "This is better than county jail."

That woman testified in orange scrubs and handcuffs because she had been jailed on drug charges hours before appearing in court. But the jury still convicted Holtzclaw of forcible oral sodomy in her case.

Adams declined to comment after the verdict was read.

Holtzclaw, who turned 29 on Thursday, was a former college football star who joined law enforcement after a brief attempt at pursuing an NFL career. He was fired before the trial began.

His father — a police officer in Enid, about 100 miles northwest of Oklahoma City — his mother and sister were in the courtroom as the verdict was read. At least one accuser was present, as well as several black community leaders.

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said after the verdict that Holtzclaw's attorneys were responsible for ensuring there was an all-white jury considering the case. Some supporters of the women questioned whether the jury would fairly judge their allegations. Holtzclaw is half-white, half-Japanese.

Prater said he wanted a jury that was a "good cross-section of our community," but defense attorneys eliminated every potential black juror during the selection process.

He added that he hoped the case showed that his office and local law enforcement will stand up for any one, no matter their race or background.

"I don't care what they look like, where they go to church, what god they worship, or how much money they make," he said. "We stand up for people in this community."



“His case brought new attention to the problem of sexual misconduct committed by law enforcement officers, something police chiefs have studied for years. Holtzclaw's case was among those examined in an Associated Press investigation of sexual misconduct by law enforcement. The AP's yearlong probe revealed about 1,000 officers had lost their licenses for sex crimes or other sexual misconduct over a six-year period. The AP's finding is undoubtedly an undercount of the problem. Not every state has a process for banning problem officers from re-entering law enforcement. And of those states that do, great variations exist in whether officers are prosecuted or reported to their state licensing boards. A common thread among cases of police sexual misconduct was they involved victims who were among society's most vulnerable: juveniles, drug addicts, and women in custody or with a criminal history. …. Her mother said her daughter didn't want to talk about the case anymore, but that she was relieved about the conclusion of a "long journey to justice." "I feel like justice has been served today," she said. "It is a comfort to us all." The AP generally does not identify victims of sex crimes and is not using the mother's name so as not to identify her daughter. …. Holtzclaw, who turned 29 on Thursday, was a former college football star who joined law enforcement after a brief attempt at pursuing an NFL career. He was fired before the trial began. His father — a police officer in Enid, about 100 miles northwest of Oklahoma City — his mother and sister were in the courtroom as the verdict was read. At least one accuser was present, as well as several black community leaders. …. Some supporters of the women questioned whether the jury would fairly judge their allegations. Holtzclaw is half-white, half-Japanese. Prater said he wanted a jury that was a "good cross-section of our community," but defense attorneys eliminated every potential black juror during the selection process.”


An all-white jury isn’t a new thing, but courts still allow it. Maybe there is a need to limit even further the right to peremptory challenges. See the article on Peremptory Challenge: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Peremptory+Challenge. The following is from that article which supposedly prevents challenge on the basis of race and gender, but it appears that deselecting jurors by race was done in this case. This white jury did not let the white and Japanese police officer off, however. Would they have if he had been all white? If the 263 years in prison are served without possibility of parole, he will die there. It was startling to read above that some 1000 officers around the country have been convicted of sexual abuse while on duty, and even worse, that the victims are usually least able to defend themselves. I have seen very few of these articles over the last year that I have been doing this blog. There was one in which a Haitian man was sodomized with something bizarre like a broom handle while in a police station. Those officers were fired and charged with rape, and of course it became a huge scandal. Sexual crimes really are heartless and disgusting.

Peremptory challenge is: “The right to challenge a juror without assigning, or being required to assign, a reason for the challenge. During the selection of a jury, both parties to the proceeding may challenge prospective jurors for a lack of impartiality, known as a challenge for cause. A party may challenge an unlimited number of prospective jurors for cause. Parties also may exercise a limited number of peremptory challenges. These challenges permit a party to remove a prospective juror without giving a reason for the removal. “

“Peremptory challenges provide a more impartial and better qualified jury. Peremptory challenges allow an attorney to reject a potential juror for real or imagined partiality that would be difficult to demonstrate under the challenge for cause category. These challenges, however, have become more difficult to exercise because the U.S. Supreme Court has forbidden peremptory strikes based on race or gender. Peremptory challenges came under legal attack in the 1980s. Critics claimed that white prosecutors used their peremptory challenges to remove African Americans from the jury when the criminal defendant was also African American because the prosecutors thought that the potential jurors would be sympathetic to a member of their own race. This constituted racial discrimination and a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause.”





NOT NEW, BUT FASCINATING --


http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article8920145.html

Borrow a sewing machine? Sacramento Public Library to start loaning more than books
EDUCATION
BY ELLEN GARRISON, egarrison@sacbee.com
FEBRUARY 1, 2015

Sacramento Public Library patrons will soon be able to check out a variety of tools, technology and home appliances through a “Library of Things” program.

Photograph -- Sacramento Public Library employee Lori Easterwood shows one of six new sewing machines that will be available for loan through a new “Library of Things” program. Ellen Garrison egarrison@sacbee.com

Have you ever had the urge to play around with a music synthesizer or take a GoPro camera on an adventure, but didn’t want to own one?

It may soon be possible, once the Sacramento Public Library launches its new “Library of Things” program later this month. Library patrons will be able to check out a variety of tools, technology and home appliances the same way they currently borrow books.

Now through Feb. 10, the public can vote online for which “arts and innovation” items they want the library to make available for borrowing. The first round of online voting last fall focused on technology items and the second round on tools.

Sacramento Public Library spokesman Malcolm Maclachlan said the idea is that a lot of library patrons live in urban settings and don’t have the money or storage space for items they don’t use often.

“If you need to use a tool once, you don’t necessarily need to own it,” Maclachlan said.

Lori Easterwood, who’s managing the Library of Things project, said the library itself owns a laminator that employees rarely use, and many people have similar items sitting unused in their home or garage. Such items may be better candidates for borrowing than purchasing, she said, noting that 94 people voted for adding a laminator to the Library of Things.

“That’s the whole idea,” she said.

The library has already purchased six sewing machines, which got the most responses in the first round, according to Easterwood. The library expects to begin offering them for checkout in mid-February. The library is also purchasing a bike-repair station as a result of the second round.

All of the Library of Things items will be offered at the Central Library’s Arcade branch at 2443 Marconi Ave. That branch already has a “Design Spot,” which features five 3-D printers and computers equipped with design software.

Stephanie Bucknam, a volunteer with the library’s “Design Spot,” offered to teach a sewing machine class as soon as she heard about the library’s checkout program.

“It could get people interested in sewing and crafting who maybe can’t afford it,” she said. “I thought since I already volunteer, I should volunteer time for this.”

Bucknam, 30, said working at the “Design Spot” allowed her access to a type of technology she wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to use, which is the concept behind the Library of Things.

“I had been interested in 3-D printers, but they’re cost-prohibitive, ” Bucknam said. “Volunteering was an opportunity to learn how they work and give back to the library.”

The Library of Things project is funded by a federal grant received through the Library Services and Technology Act. The Sacramento Public Library plans to spend about $10,000 to stock its Library of Things.

“It’s rare that a government agency with a very clear mandate – books – gets the chance to experiment with something like this,” Easterwood said.

The Library of Things is part of an ongoing push by the Sacramento Public Library system and libraries around the country to expand and diversify their role beyond book borrowing.

“We’re doing this under a plan to be a resource for more than just books,” Maclachlan said. “And we’re building off the wider movement of DIY,” or do-it-yourself.

While there’s a popular perception that libraries are losing their client base, Maclachlan and Easterwood said they see library usage rising through attendance at classes and events, as well as more borrowing of e-books.

At the downtown branch on Sunday, library patron Nancy Gallerani, 39, said the Library of Things is a good way for the library to stay relevant.

“Unfortunately, because of technology, I think books are going to become obsolete,” Gallerani said. But by offering other unique services, she said, “probably that’s what will bring people in.”

The library already offers a variety of services beyond book-lending: a loan program for high school prom dresses, a seed library at the Colonial Heights branch and a self-publishing center for aspiring writers called the I Street Press, which features a printing press that produces retail-quality paperbacks.

Easterwood hopes the Library of Things will remind people that the Sacramento Public Library has many components beyond books.

“It’s when you create a project that gets people’s attention that you remind them about the other things the library has to offer,” Easterwood said.

The concept of a library or lending shop – particularly for tools – is growing in popularity. The Berkeley Public Library has a tool lending library that offers more than 200 different tools for checkout.

Matt Read, an organizer with the Sacramento Urban Agriculture Coalition, has been pushing the Sacramento library system to start a tool lending library for two years. He also often steers the community gardeners he works with to the Colonial Heights seed library.

While Read, 28, is particularly interested in tools, he sees the appeal of loaning other items, such as kitchen equipment.

“Things like a food dehydrator: Do you really need to own one? This way you could check it out, use it for a few days, clean it and return it.”

Read says the Library of Things can expand the library’s customer base.

“It’s a way to get people in the door who might not think there’s much for them at the library,” he said.

Editor’s note (Feb. 2): This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Lori Easterwood, who is managing the Library of Things.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article8920145.html#storylink=cpy