December 5, 2015


News Clips For The Day


The following two accounts on San Bernardino are to some degree repetitious, but have different slants and details. You may want to scan them both.

I have collected too many stories today to look at closely, but since several of them are getting “stale” I am presenting them anyway. There are lots of important issues right now, and I will allow you all to judge them on your own.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-bernardino-shooting-isis-tashfeen-malik-pledge-allegiance/

ISIS airs statement on San Bernardino mass shooting
CBS/AP
December 5, 2015

Play VIDEO -- San Bernardino killers inspired or ordered by terrorism?
Photographs -- This undated combination of photos provided by the FBI, left, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles shows Tashfeen Malik, left, and Syed Farook. FBI, LEFT, AND CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES VIA AP
Play VIDEO -- A look inside the San Bernardino killers' home
Play VIDEO -- Donald Trump: "I don't believe" San Bernardino shooter's sister was unaware of plot
Photograph -- Yvette Velasco, 27, of Fontana, California, was one of the youngest victims of the San Bernardino shooting. COURTESY OF YVETTE VELASCO'S FAMILY
Play VIDEO -- San Bernardino couple made bombs from al Qaeda manual
Photograph -- Authorities check bags as students and staff are moved off campus at Umpqua Community College after a shooting Oct. 1, 2015. MICHAEL SULLIVAN/THE NEWS REVIEW
Play VIDEO -- San Bernardino shooting suspect's sister breaks her silence


The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's official radio station has aired a statement saying the San Bernardino mass shooting was carried out by two "supporters" of the extremist group.

While praising the attack, the group stopped short of claiming responsibility for it. The Al-Bayan report Saturday echoed a claim carried Friday by the ISIS-affiliated Aamaq news agency.

The radio report did not refer to Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik as actual members of ISIS. Militants affiliated with ISIS who carry out attacks are commonly referred to in the group's propaganda as "lions," ''fighters" or "mujahedeen."

An organization that tracks jihadi websites said Saturday that a separate English version of the ISIS statement referred to the attackers as "soldiers of the caliphate." SITE Intelligence Group said ISIS used the same language when referring to two Muslim men from Arizona who were killed in Texas after opening fire outside a gathering of people drawing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in May.

Physical depictions of Muhammad, even respectful ones, are considered blasphemous under mainstream Islamic tradition. Whether a terror group was behind the May attack was unclear.

The Pakistani woman, who joined her U.S.-born husband in killing 14 people in a commando-style assault on his co-workers, is now at the center of a massive FBI terrorism investigation, yet she remains shrouded in mystery.

The FBI acknowledges knowing little about Malik. Those who attended mosque with her husband said they know nearly nothing of her. Even Farook's mother, who lived with the couple and their 6-month-old daughter, knows little, according to attorneys for Farook's family.

The lawyers described the 27-year-old Friday as "just a housewife" who was quiet like her husband and strictly followed Muslim custom. She wore traditional clothing that covered her face so that her brothers-in-law didn't even know what she looked like, according to the lawyers who represent Farook's mother and three siblings.

Authorities say she ditched the Muslim garb for a combat-style outfit Wednesday, when she and Farook attacked the holiday party in California. A few hours after the killings, they were killed in a shootout with police.

The FBI announced Friday it is investigating the mass shooting as an act of terrorism. If proven to be terrorism, it would be the deadliest attack by Islamic extremists on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001.

A federal law enforcement source told CBS News that Malik pledged her allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in an online posting, CBS News senior investigative producer Pat Milton reports.

A law enforcement source told CBS News that Malik's posting was under a fake name, Milton reports. The posting was shortly before Wednesday's attack. The source said the pledge does not mean the attack was ordered or directed by ISIS.

FBI Director James Comey would not discuss whether anyone affiliated with ISIS communicated back, but he said there was no indication yet that the plot was directed by any other foreign terror group.

"The investigation so far has developed indications of radicalization by the killers and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations," Comey said. He cautioned that the investigation has not yet shown evidence the couple was part of a larger group.

Despite signs of the couple's radicalization, there "is a lot of evidence that doesn't quite make sense" at this early stage, he said.

The Farook family attorneys, Chesley and Mohammad Abuershaid, said none of his relatives had any indication either Farook or his wife held extremist views.

"If the most evidence there is to any affiliation is a Facebook account under another person's name ... then that's hardly anything at all," Chesley said.

He and Abuershaid said the family was shocked by the attack and mourns for the victims. They cautioned against rushing to judgment on their motivations.

David Bowdich, head of the FBI's Los Angeles office, said "a number of pieces of evidence" point to terrorism and that the agency was focused on that idea "for good reason." He would not elaborate.

Bowdich said investigators were looking carefully to determine if there is a connection to ISIS.

In Pakistan, a relative of Malik says she apparently became a more zealous follower of the Muslim faith about three years ago.

Hifza Batool told The Associated Press on Saturday that other relatives have said that Malik, who was her step-niece, used to wear Western clothes but began wearing the hijab head covering or the all-covering burqa donned by the most conservative Muslim women about three years ago.

"I recently heard it from relatives that she has become a religious person and she often tells people to live according to the teachings of Islam," said Batool, 35, a private school teacher who lives in Karor Lal Esam, about 280 miles southwest of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

A Facebook official said Malik praised ISIS in a post at 11 a.m. Wednesday, around the time the couple stormed a social service center where Farook's co-workers from San Bernardino County's health department had gathered.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed under corporate policy to be quoted by name, said the company discovered Wednesday's post the next day, removed the profile from public view and reported its contents to law enforcement.

Farook and Malik rented a townhome in Redlands, a few miles from the attack scene, where investigators said they found an arsenal of ammunition and homemade bombs.

On Friday morning, the property's owner allowed reporters inside. The surreal scene - reporters walking among baby items, handling family photos and looking at dirty dishes in a sink - was broadcast live.

Bowdich said the FBI had finished investigating the home. Among things authorities had found were two cellphones that had been crushed in an apparent attempt to destroy the information inside. Investigators were trying to retrieve the data.

"We hope that will take us to their motivation," Bowdich said.

Until Friday, federal and local law enforcement officials said terrorism was a possibility but that the violence could have stemmed from a workplace grudge. The Farook family attorneys said he told relatives he had been teased at work about his beard.

They described Malik as a devoted home-keeper who closely followed religious traditions. They said Farook's mother never saw any of the weapons or bombs authorities found. The FBI questioned her Wednesday night and, according to the attorneys, said they would not release her until Farook's siblings came for questioning.

The couple's orphaned daughter is in the care of child protective services and the family will try to recover her next week.

Farook had no criminal record, and neither he nor his wife was under scrutiny by local or federal law enforcement before the attack, authorities said.

Malik reportedly moved from her home country of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia and eventually came to the U.S. in 2014 on a fiancee visa. However, Saudi authorities say there is no record of her ever being a resident there.

Farook, a restaurant inspector for the county, was born in Chicago to Pakistani parents and raised in Southern California.

Farook went to the Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah of America mosque in San Bernardino every day but abruptly stopped coming three weeks ago. While many members said they knew Farook and described him as quiet and very studious, "no one knows anything about his wife," said Mahmood Nadvi, son of the mosque's founder.

Nadvi said FBI agents have questioned the mosque's leaders about the couple.

Law enforcement officials have long warned that Americans acting in sympathy with Islamic extremists - though not on direct orders - could launch an attack inside the U.S. Using slick propaganda, ISIS in particular has urged sympathizers worldwide to commit violence in their countries.

Others have done so. In May, just before he attacked the Texas gathering, a Phoenix man tweeted his hope that Allah would view him as a holy warrior.

Two weeks ago, with Americans on edge over the ISIS attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, Comey said that U.S. authorities had no specific or credible intelligence pointing to an attack on American soil.

Since March 2014, 71 people have been charged in the U.S. in connection with supporting ISIS, including 56 this year, according to a recent report from the George Washington University Program on Extremism. Though most are men, "women are taking an increasingly prominent role in the jihadist world," the report said.



Now that the initial shock of the San Bernardino attack has worn off, and the FBI/CIA have decided whether or not the attack was “terrorism,” which is clearly to me a matter of semantics, the next two articles are perhaps more important. How are our citizens and politicians going to react? Will we have draconian laws against Islam in general rather than ISIS in particular? Will our good citizens start to harass peaceful residents here in their neighborhoods? I truly hope not. I also hope we will not close our borders to all Islamic refugees as some in the Tea Party have recommended. We need a measured response which will include much more “vetting” of each refugee, but will not include the equivalent of concentration camps which occurred in the US in WWII against the Japanese Americans who had been born here.

Somehow through this time of fear we need to do unto others (Islamic people included) as we would have them do unto us. The December 5 article beginning “ISIS Airs …” states that someone at the party did “tease” Farook about his beard. Beards for men are a necessary part of their religious requirements, so we should not have one word to say about them, just as well bred people don’t talk about “nappy” hair to blacks. To me that’s not being “politically correct, but polite. See the next two articles.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-bernardino-shooting-attack-fears-us-cities/

San Bernardino attack raises fears outside big cities
CBS/AP
December 5, 2015

Play VIDEO -- San Bernardino killers inspired or ordered by terrorism?
Photograph -- Momentos adorn a shrine following the attack in San Bernardino, California, Dec. 5, 2015. REUTERS/SANDY HUFFAKER
Photograph -- Yvette Velasco, 27, of Fontana, California, was one of the youngest victims of the San Bernardino shooting. COURTESY OF YVETTE VELASCO'S FAMILY


HOOVER, Ala. -- Anita Jefferson didn't know much about San Bernardino, California, before the apparent terror attack there. The West Coast town is nearly the exact same size as her hometown of Birmingham and hardly a high-profile target like New York or Paris.

Now, she finds herself worried about the possibility of an attack at a location like the suburban shopping mall where Jefferson works at a food kiosk for the Christmas shopping season. A place that's public but, unlike stadiums and other venues, has relatively lax security.

"You'd think they'd go to a larger place, but a smaller place may be easier," said Jefferson, 62.

The FBI announced Friday that it was investigating the mass shooting that left 14 people dead at a holiday party as an act of terrorism. The couple who carried out the shooting, Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, died in a gunbattle with police.

If there could be a terror attack at a social services center in San Bernardino, why not suburban Alabama, or downtown Louisville, Kentucky? The bloody attack made it all too obvious for some Americans that big cities with marquee names aren't the only potential targets.

"I can honestly say I don't feel as safe," said Tim Harrington, 50, of Jacksonville, Florida, while touring a museum in Louisville.

There is plenty of security at the suburban Birmingham mall - "and they're awesome," said Lindsay Alexander, 18, who also works there and feels safe. But her comfort level isn't what it was a few days ago.

"It could happen here," said Alexander. "They could just pick something random."

FBI Director James Comey said it appears Farook and Malik were radicalized and potentially inspired by foreign terrorist organizations, but beyond that, much remains unknown, CBS News correspondent Julianna Goldman reports.

Sources told CBS News that right before the rampage Malik, using another name, went on Facebook and pledged her allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

But the terror group isn't claiming responsibility for the attack. Comey said so far there's no sign anyone from ISIS communicated with them or provided any guidance.

Psychology professor Marjorie Sanfilippo doesn't believe people will change their behavior because of the San Bernardino shootings.

"People are very resilient tend to get back to their regular lives," said Sanfilippo, who teaches at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.

But, she cautioned, that could change if there were more "random attacks" in public places, such as coffee shops.

"That's when I think we would see fear," said Sanfilippo.

Residents in Lincoln, Nebraska - which didn't experience its first homicide of 2015 until last month - said the attacks hadn't affected their sense of security.

"If they're looking for a mass killing, they're going to go to places with more people," said Nate Jurgensmeier, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "They're not going to kill nearly as many people if they crash into a dorm building or a building in downtown Lincoln."

Matt Eckhardt, 30, of Lincoln also considers his city safe.

"If you were living in New York, I think your perspective would be a lot different than ours," Eckhardt said.

Yet in Louisville, Nautica Delacruz of Los Angeles said the attacks in her home state had shaken her sense of security.

"You kind of just want to go to work and home, or pick up your kid and go straight home," she said. "You really don't want to go anywhere. You kind of feel like you're violated in a sense of your freedom, in a way. You don't feel safe going anywhere anymore."

At the Louisville museum, Harrington said the threat of terror already is making him re-evaluate his safety. He has cut back on international travel for business, and he said he doesn't feel as safe as he once did in office buildings.

Harrington said he isn't changing domestic travel plans, and he feels secure going to NFL games in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida.

"But definitely, I think if I'm in a crowd of people outside where I don't see policemen, I'd kind of be a little bit more fearful," he said.

Standing in the middle of the Alabama mall crowded with holiday shoppers, a brightly lit carousel twirling in the food court, Jefferson said she is doing her best not to worry, but: "It's in the back of your head."




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/presidential-candidates-cant-decide-what-to-do-about-guns-terrorists/

Presidential candidates can't decide what to do about guns, terrorists
By NANCY CORDES CBS NEWS
December 4, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Marco Rubio on San Bernardino attack, gun rights
Photograph -- 1204encordespolitics3.jpg
Chris Christie is pushing for a return to the bulk phone data collection program revealed by Edward Snowden. CBSNEWS.COM
Play VIDEO -- NRA defends allowing people on no-fly lists to buy guns
Photograph -- 1204encordespolitics4.jpg, Texas Senator Ted Cruz campaigned at a gun range in Iowa on Friday, December 4, 2015, just days after the San Bernardino massacre. CBSNEWS.COM


The San Bernardino shootings have reignited debates about gun control, surveillance, immigration, and how to combat ISIS, and Republican and Democratic presidential candidates alike are weighing in.

There is a bipartisan agreement on one issue concerning the shootings.

"I'm convinced that it was a terrorist attack," said Republican presidential candidate and current governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie.

"We are dealing with an act of terrorism," said Hillary Clinton Thursday.

But everyone has their own approach to the threat.

GOP frontrunner Donald Trump wants to step up surveillance on mosques. "I have friends who are Muslims, they are very nice people, but they understand there is a problem," he said.

Christie is pushing for a return to the bulk phone data collection program revealed by Edward Snowden. "We need to do these things because if we don't do them, we're putting you and your families at risk," he said.

Republican Rand Paul led the charge to scale back the bulk data collection program. He has another approach. He said, "I think we need to put a pause on immigration from the Middle East."

Clinton pushed today for more bombings on ISIS in Syria and more gun restrictions here at home.

In one comment on how to deal with national security, she said, "I've got to tell you, if you are too dangerous to fly in America, you are too dangerous to buy a gun in America in my opinion."

The always heated gun debate got personal today when the New York Daily News called the head of the National Rifle Association a terrorist.

Republicans all insist the focus on gun control is misplaced.

Republican candidate Marco Rubio said, "We need bomb control because these people were building bombs! We need terrorist control!"

To drive the point home, Texas Senator Ted Cruz campaigned today at a gun range in Iowa. "Has anyone in this room noticed -- shooting, after shooting, after shooting happens in so called gun free zones? Look, if you're a lunatic, ain't nothing better than having a bunch of targets you know that are going to be unarmed."

Yesterday, a Democratic Senate bill to expand background checks for gun sales was defeated, along with it, a bill that would stop people on the terror watch list from buying guns.

Congress is slated to leave for the holidays next week, so even if there was consensus on what to do now, it wouldn't happen until January at the earliest.





ANOTHER VERBALLY ABUSIVE COP


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/officer-tells-black-driver-i-dont-care-about-your-people/

Officer tells black driver "I don't care about your people"
CBS/AP December 4, 2015


ATLANTA -- A Georgia police officer told a black driver "I don't care about your people" in a heated exchange at a traffic stop, and police say they've disciplined and reassigned the employee.

Dashcam video shows the Nov. 16 incident northwest of Atlanta, in suburban Cobb County. The officer gives the man two traffic citations. He then also says, "Leave. Go away. Go to Fulton County." Atlanta is in Fulton County.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution identified the officer as Maurice Lawson. The newspaper reported that after Baker drove off, Lawson remarked to other officers at the scene: "I lose my cool, man, every time. Why do I got to deal with (stuff) like that? This is the (expletive) America we live in, ain't it?"

The officer's conduct "does not meet our high standards, has brought discredit to the department... and is not now nor will ever be tolerated," Cobb County police Capt. J.D. Adcock wrote in a Nov. 24 letter to the driver, 33-year-old Brian Baker.

An investigation found that the officer violated the department's code of conduct, according to the letter. The officer is referred to only by last name.

The comments were racial references because Baker is black, his lawyer, Kimberly Bandoh, said in an interview Friday. Bandoh said the officer should be dismissed from the force.

"If I as a lawyer would say, 'I don't like your people,' I would be terminated," Bandoh said. "My client is a school teacher, and if he told a student that, he would immediately be terminated."

Adcock wrote to Baker that Cobb County police have taken several steps including "formal discipline," but the letter does not specify what type nor does it say where the officer has been reassigned.

"I want to take this opportunity to personally apologize to you for the conduct that you experienced and want you to know that we have taken the extraordinary step of using formal discipline, enhanced training, and reassignment in an effort to prevent similar incidents," Adcock wrote.

Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce said he couldn't comment on the incident because of the investigation.



"I want to take this opportunity to personally apologize to you for the conduct that you experienced and want you to know that we have taken the extraordinary step of using formal discipline, enhanced training, and reassignment in an effort to prevent similar incidents," Adcock wrote. …. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution identified the officer as Maurice Lawson. The newspaper reported that after Baker drove off, Lawson remarked to other officers at the scene: "I lose my cool, man, every time. Why do I got to deal with (stuff) like that? This is the (expletive) America we live in, ain't it?"


While I am delighted to see that the police chief used “formal discipline, enhanced training, and reassignment,” I am sorry to see that those things are “extraordinary” at all in a case like this. They should be an everyday occurrence and then these abusive incidents would at the very least diminish in number across the country.

The only good news here is that the officer “restrained himself” from dragging the man out of his car and beating him up or shooting him as has happened in some other places. The officer’s comment shows such great forbearance, after all: “This is the (expletive) America we live in, ain't it?" It’s not enough that white folks get preferential treatment, we should be the only race or religious group living here, apparently.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/martin-shkreli-i-shouldve-raised-prices-higher/

Martin Shkreli: I should've "raised prices higher"
By KATE GIBSON MONEYWATCH
December 4, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Turing CEO will keep high Daraprim price for individuals

Martin Shkreli, the hedge fund manager and latest poster boy for Wall Street greed, now says he regrets not increasing the price of a life-saving drug by more than he already did.

Asked by an audience member at a healthcare summit hosted by Forbes on Thursday what he'd do differently if he could go back in time to before his highly criticized decision to raise the price of a 62-year-old drug, he replied: "I probably would have raised prices higher, is probably what I should have done. I could have raised it higher and made more profits for our shareholders. Which is my primary duty."

The price hike, which took a a pill of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 a piece overnight, drew a strong backlash. Daraprim was initially developed to treat toxoplasmosis, which strikes people with compromised immune systems.

The Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO went on to say, "No one wants to say it, no one's proud of it, but this is a capitalist society, capitalist system and capitalist rules, and my investors expect to me to maximize profits, not to minimize them, or go half, or go 70 percent, but to go to 100 percent of the profit curve that we're all taught in MBA class."

Last week, Turing said the list price of Daraprim would not change, but it would offer hospitals as much as 50 percent discounts.

On Tuesday, Express Scripts (ESRX) said it would partner with Imprimis Pharmaceuticals (IMMY) to within days offer a low-cost alternative to Daraprim, saying the drug had been "recently priced out of reach for people with HIV, pregnant women and others with weakened immune systems."

The goal is "to counterbalance companies like Turing and others in order to address the growing drug pricing crisis in America," Mark Baum, CEO of Imprimis, said in a statement.

A U.S. Senate committee is investigating the price increases at Turing and other drug companies, with a hearing on the issue scheduled for Dec. 9. U.S. prescription drug prices rose 13.1 percent in 2014, the largest increase since 2003, according to pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts.



“The Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO went on to say, "No one wants to say it, no one's proud of it, but this is a capitalist society, capitalist system and capitalist rules, and my investors expect to me to maximize profits, not to minimize them, or go half, or go 70 percent, but to go to 100 percent of the profit curve that we're all taught in MBA class." …. The goal is "to counterbalance companies like Turing and others in order to address the growing drug pricing crisis in America," Mark Baum, CEO of Imprimis, said in a statement. A U.S. Senate committee is investigating the price increases at Turing and other drug companies, with a hearing on the issue scheduled for Dec. 9.”


It always tickles me to see rightwing thinkers come out with what they really think. "I probably would have raised prices higher, is probably what I should have done. I could have raised it higher and made more profits for our shareholders. Which is my primary duty." I hope this Senate investigation will bring about some new legislation to clamp down forcibly on pharmaceuticals when their CEOs follow the leadership of Shkreli as opposed to that of Baum. This is a prime example of why no nation’s economy can follow a strictly profiteering “capitalist” rule without government intervention. The nation’s economy as a whole will suffer, along with the ordinary citizens. That ever wise entity “The Marketplace” will not correct for such things, at least not before people start to starve to death.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-obama-fighting-climate-change-building-legacy/

Obama: "You can't build a border wall" to stop climate change
CBS NEWS
December 4, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Obama on threat of terrorism vs. climate change
Play VIDEO -- Obama on making climate change part of his legacy
Play VIDEO -- President Obama: Republicans' climate change denial is "unique"
Play VIDEO -- President Obama on toughening down on coal plants
Play VIDEO -- President Obama: Pollution is China's "biggest vulnerability"


Negotiators from around the world are now in the middle of two weeks of talks in Paris, trying to reach an agreement to limit global warming.

Last month, President Obama pledged a $3 billion U.S. contribution to an international fund for developing countries - such as India -- to cope with the effects of climate change.

He spoke to "CBS This Morning" co-host Norah O'Donnell about his effort to take historic action.

"Keep in mind, these are pledges over a number of years. And this is in our interest. Let's take a country like India that's got over a billion people. If they are to develop, using let's say, coal as their main way of generating electricity, with a billion people... you're looking at an amount of carbon that would mean South Florida's gone, because the ocean's would have risen too high," Mr. Obama said. "You can't build a border wall when it comes to carbon emissions or global temperatures or the oceans. We've got to make sure that people have incentives to work with us."

The president has pushed the issue of climate change more aggressively as he nears his last days in office. But he is receiving backlash from opponents for suggesting that climate change, not terrorism, is the world's greatest threat.

"No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change," the president said in his State of Union address.

GOP candidate Donald Trump called the president's remarks, "one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard in politics."

"What I mean by that is that-- we're going to get ISIL. They will be defeated. There will be ongoing efforts to disrupt the world order from terrorists, from rogue states... and we have to be vigilant in going after them," the president clarified. "But if you start seeing the oceans rise by five, six, seven feet, if you see major shifts in weather patterns so that what have been previously bread baskets to the world suddenly can no longer grow food, then you're seeing the kind of crisis that we can't deal with through the deployment of the Marines. We can't deal with it through pouring money at it."

The president also responded to Trump's criticism of his climate change remarks.

"Mr. Trump should run back a tape or quote on some of the stuff he's said -- 99.5 percent of scientists in the world say this is a really urgent problem," Mr. Obama said. "Political parties around the world. The only people who are still disputing it are either some Republicans in Congress or folks on the campaign trail."

Despite the backlash from opponents, the president expressed hopes that he would be able to leave behind a legacy with his climate change priorities, especially thinking about his family's future.

"I don't think any president ends the presidency saying, 'I got everything done.' You're always a little dissatisfied," Mr. Obama said. "But Malia is 17. Sasha's 14... and I do picture that if I'm lucky and I have enough years left that 20 years from now... I've got some grandkids, I want to be able to take my little grandson or granddaughter on a walk to the park and know that the planet's in pretty good shape. And I want to feel like I contributed to that."

Watch President Obama's full interview on climate change



"No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change," the president said in his State of Union address. GOP candidate Donald Trump called the president's remarks, "one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard in politics." …. There will be ongoing efforts to disrupt the world order from terrorists, from rogue states... and we have to be vigilant in going after them," the president clarified. "But if you start seeing the oceans rise by five, six, seven feet, if you see major shifts in weather patterns so that what have been previously bread baskets to the world suddenly can no longer grow food, then you're seeing the kind of crisis that we can't deal with through the deployment of the Marines. …. "Mr. Trump should run back a tape or quote on some of the stuff he's said -- 99.5 percent of scientists in the world say this is a really urgent problem," Mr. Obama said. "Political parties around the world. The only people who are still disputing it are either some Republicans in Congress or folks on the campaign trail." …. I want to be able to take my little grandson or granddaughter on a walk to the park and know that the planet's in pretty good shape. And I want to feel like I contributed to that."


I can only say “Thank you, President Obama.” I may not be alive twenty years from now, but I want those who are still here to find the beautiful world that I grew up in.





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/marijuana-breathalyzer-could-be-ready-next-year/

Marijuana breathalyzer test could be coming soon
By MARY BROPHY MARCUS CBS NEWS
December 4, 2015

Play VIDEO -- Study: U.S. pot use doubled in the last decade


A new invention may soon make it easier for police who pull over risky drivers to test them for marijuana impairment on the spot, in addition to the usual alcohol breath test.

A marijuana breathalyzer will begin clinical trials early next year, the Oakland, California-based Hound Labs Inc. announced this week.

"The idea is that law enforcement will have one device out on the road to test for both THC [a marijuana component] and alcohol," said Hound Labs CEO and founder Dr. Mike Lynn, an emergency room physician at Highland Hospital, in Oakland.

Typically, measuring the level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the psychoactive component in cannabis that gives users a "high" -- is done using urine, blood, or saliva tests. The results can show if marijuana has been used in recent days or weeks, but they are not a very accurate way to measure real-time impairment, said Lynn.

Hound Labs has been collaborating with scientists at UC Berkeley to develop the technology.

"The UC Berkeley scientists are a really good group, including the chair of bioengineering and the associate dean of the college of chemistry. It's a complicated scientific challenge," Lynn told CBS News.

The handheld device will be tested for roadside use by law enforcement agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area and then Lynn hopes it will eventually be used across the country.

"We plan to do clinical studies and also work with law enforcement on testing to make sure we have the exact device that's really needed out there on street," he said.

The AP reported in July that researchers from Washington State University also have a portable marijuana breathalyzer in the works.

Under that state's Initiative 502, which voters approved to legalize recreational marijuana use in 2012, drivers are considered impaired if they test positive for at least 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood.

But Lynn, who is also a reserve deputy sheriff for Alameda County, California, said standards for marijuana impairment out there right now are sketchy. He hopes the availability of breathalyzers will shift the national dialogue from one focused on detecting if THC is in the body to a discussion about creating standards that reflect actual impairment.

Sales of Hound Labs' devices to police and consumers could begin late next year, he said, and could carry a price tag of $1,000 or less.

About 20 million Americans use marijuana, and as more states legalize it, some studies have found it's becoming more common for young people to drive stoned than drive drunk.

"From a trauma center perspective, I have seen the terrible, senseless tragedies related to impaired driving," Lynn said. He's seen it from a law enforcement perspective, too, and knows the challenges police officers face when dealing with impaired drivers.

"When I started the company, it was my intention of finding a way to measure this stuff in breath. Every single death or injury from an impaired driver is preventable and there aren't many things in life like that that are preventable," he said.



“A marijuana breathalyzer will begin clinical trials early next year, the Oakland, California-based Hound Labs Inc. announced this week. "The idea is that law enforcement will have one device out on the road to test for both THC [a marijuana component] and alcohol," said Hound Labs CEO and founder Dr. Mike Lynn, an emergency room physician at Highland Hospital, in Oakland. Typically, measuring the level of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the psychoactive component in cannabis that gives users a "high" -- is done using urine, blood, or saliva tests. The results can show if marijuana has been used in recent days or weeks, but they are not a very accurate way to measure real-time impairment, said Lynn. …. The handheld device will be tested for roadside use by law enforcement agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area and then Lynn hopes it will eventually be used across the country. "We plan to do clinical studies and also work with law enforcement on testing to make sure we have the exact device that's really needed out there on street," he said. …. The AP reported in July that researchers from Washington State University also have a portable marijuana breathalyzer in the works. Under that state's Initiative 502, which voters approved to legalize recreational marijuana use in 2012, drivers are considered impaired if they test positive for at least 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood. …. About 20 million Americans use marijuana, and as more states legalize it, some studies have found it's becoming more common for young people to drive stoned than drive drunk.”


As one who used marijuana a number of times in my twenties, I can say that it is “fun,” but not harmless. It does really change the way the brain works which, especially over a period of years or with greater frequency than in my case, it probably – almost certainly – does brain damage. That is aside from the matter of whether a driver is safe behind the wheel under its influence. I’m sure they aren’t. I’m glad to see this device which will at least keep stoned drivers off the road, or punish them with jail if they are caught. What I would prefer to see is a world without marijuana or alcohol or cocaine or any of them. They are all harmful.




THE FOLLOWING ARE THE “STALE” ARTICLES I MENTIONED, BUT THEY ARE IMPORTANT, AT LEAST TO SOME DEGREE. READ THEM IF YOU CARE TO.



http://news.yahoo.com/israel-pm-admits-forces-operating-war-hit-syria-194312782.html

Israel PM admits forces operating in war-hit Syria
AFP December 1, 2015

Photograph -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech

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Jerusalem (AFP) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted for the first time Tuesday that Israeli forces have been operating in Syria, where the Iran-backed regime is battling rebels including the jihadist Islamic State.

"We occasionally carry out operations in Syria to prevent that country from becoming a front against us," Netanyahu told reporters during a visit to northern Israel.

"We also do everything to prevent weapons, particularly lethal ones, being moved from Syria to Lebanon," he added.

Netanyahu did not provide further details and his comments were the first public recognition that Israel has been active in conflict-riddled Syria.

Several purported strikes have occurred in recent months, targeting alleged Iranian arms transfers from Syria to Lebanon and destined for Israel's arch-foe, the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.

But these strikes were not officially acknowledged by Israeli authorities.

Israel opposes the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which has been battling an armed rebellion since March 2011, but has sought to avoid being dragged into the war in neighbouring Syria.

Russia, an ally of the Assad regime along with Iran, launched an air campaign against his opponents in late September.

On Sunday, Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said a Russian warplane had recently entered Israeli-controlled airspace from Syria but the intrusion was resolved without incident.

"It was apparently an error by the pilot who was flying near the Golan," Yaalon said.

Israel seized most of the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and later annexed the territory in a move never recognised by the international community.

Yaalon said Israel and Russia had made arrangements to avoid clashes over Syria, with the agreement said to include a "hotline" and information sharing.

Netanyahu echoed his comments on Tuesday, saying the Israeli and Russian military forces "are in close coordination to avoid such incidents".

Their remarks came in the aftermath of the downing by Turkey over a Russian warplane which Ankara said had entered Turkish airspace -- a claim denied by Moscow.



"We occasionally carry out operations in Syria to prevent that country from becoming a front against us," Netanyahu told reporters during a visit to northern Israel. "We also do everything to prevent weapons, particularly lethal ones, being moved from Syria to Lebanon," he added. Netanyahu did not provide further details and his comments were the first public recognition that Israel has been active in conflict-riddled Syria. Several purported strikes have occurred in recent months, targeting alleged Iranian arms transfers from Syria to Lebanon and destined for Israel's arch-foe, the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah. …. Israel seized most of the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967 and later annexed the territory in a move never recognised by the international community. Yaalon said Israel and Russia had made arrangements to avoid clashes over Syria, with the agreement said to include a "hotline" and information sharing.”


Israel is almost uniformly hated by Islamic believers, so it’s just as well that they are not involved in the overall conflict against ISIS. Their presence might simply make things worse.





http://news.yahoo.com/erdogan-family-involved-oil-trade-russian-defence-ministry-005502600.html

Russia accuses Turkey's Erdogan over IS oil trade
AFP By Maria Panina with Colin Bertier in Nicosia
December 2, 2015

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View gallery -- Russia says its warplanes have targetted an Islamic …
Russia says its warplanes have targetted an Islamic State oil-processing facility in Syria (AFP)
View gallery -- Turkish soldiers returned the body of the slain Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov during a handover ceremony


Moscow (AFP) - Russia on Wednesday accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of involvement in illegal oil trading with Islamic State jihadists, ratcheting up the heat in a dispute over Ankara's downing of one of Moscow's warplanes.

The inflammatory allegations -- the latest in a ferocious war of words -- came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had agreed to meet his Turkish counterpart for the first high-level face-to-face talks since the incident last week.

Erdogan responded by accusing Russia of "slander".

Ties between NATO member Turkey and Russia have been strained since Ankara shot down the jet on its border with Syria on November 24, with President Vladimir Putin already accusing Ankara of downing the jet to protect the oil supply lines to Turkish territory.

But the defence ministry accusations against Erdogan are the first implicating the Turkish leader directly, as the Kremlin refuses to let the pressure drop after slapping economic sanctions on Ankara.

"The main consumer of this oil stolen from its legitimate owners Syria and Iraq is Turkey," deputy defence minister Anatoly Antonov told journalists at a packed briefing.

"According to available information, the highest level of the political leadership of the country, president Erdogan and his family, are involved in this criminal business."

Erdogan had dismissed earlier Russian claims that Ankara is involved in the illegal oil trade with jihadist groups, including IS, in Syria and Iraq, insisting he would resign if allegations were proved true.

- 'Fantastic family business' -

The briefing, which did not take any questions, broadcast satellite images of oil trucks on a huge screen but did not provide any specific data on how Erdogan is tied to the activities.

Antonov pointed the finger at the recent appointment of Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak as energy minister and alleged that the president's son runs one of the country's main energy companies.

"What a fantastic family business," he said, claiming that "terrorists" in Syria made some $2 billion (1.9 billion euros) each year out of the illegal oil trade.

But Erdogan angrily rejected the allegations.

"No one has a right to engage in slander against Turkey by saying that Turkey is buying oil from Daesh (IS)," he said on a visit to Qatar.

- Obama appeal to both leaders -

Even as Moscow released its latest salvo of allegations, Lavrov agreed to meet his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu at a conference in Belgrade later this week for the first time since the downing.

"We will not be evading this contact," Lavrov said during a visit to Cyprus.

"We will hear what Mr Cavusoglu has to say. Perhaps there will be something new after what has already been said publicly."

Putin snubbed a meeting with Erdogan at the UN climate conference in France on Monday, after Lavrov had earlier scrapped a visit to Istanbul in the immediate aftermath of the plane downing.

Erdogan has rejected Putin's demands to apologise over the incident, saying that Turkey was acting well within its rights to protect its border.

Ankara claims the plane was in its airspace and ignored repeated warnings but Moscow insists it never crossed the border from Syria.

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday met Erdogan and called on both leaders to end their dispute and focus on fighting the common enemy of the Islamic State group.

Turkey and Russia are close economic partners, with Moscow the main supplier of oil and gas to the energy-poor country.

But they are rival players in the war in Syria, with Ankara part of a US-led coalition against IS that is opposed to President Bashar al-Assad while Moscow has launched a bombing campaign at the request of the Damascus regime.

While Turkey and Russia continued to wrangle, the body of a pilot killed when the jet was blown out of the sky was buried in his hometown some 360 kilometres south of Moscow.

Local media reported that thousands of mourners flocked to bid farewell to Oleg Peshkov, who the defence ministry said was shot dead from the ground after parachuting out of the jet.

The corpse of the pilot -- who has been awarded Russia's highest honour -- was flown back from Turkey after it was taken across the border from Syria and handed over by Ankara.



“Russia on Wednesday accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family of involvement in illegal oil trading with Islamic State jihadists, ratcheting up the heat in a dispute over Ankara's downing of one of Moscow's warplanes. The inflammatory allegations -- the latest in a ferocious war of words -- came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had agreed to meet his Turkish counterpart for the first high-level face-to-face talks since the incident last week.” …. "The main consumer of this oil stolen from its legitimate owners Syria and Iraq is Turkey," deputy defence minister Anatoly Antonov told journalists at a packed briefing. "According to available information, the highest level of the political leadership of the country, president Erdogan and his family, are involved in this criminal business." Erdogan had dismissed earlier Russian claims that Ankara is involved in the illegal oil trade with jihadist groups, including IS, in Syria and Iraq, insisting he would resign if allegations were proved true. …. Antonov pointed the finger at the recent appointment of Erdogan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak as energy minister and alleged that the president's son runs one of the country's main energy companies. "What a fantastic family business," he said, claiming that "terrorists" in Syria made some $2 billion (1.9 billion euros) each year out of the illegal oil trade. But Erdogan angrily rejected the allegations. …. US President Barack Obama on Tuesday met Erdogan and called on both leaders to end their dispute and focus on fighting the common enemy of the Islamic State group. Turkey and Russia are close economic partners, with Moscow the main supplier of oil and gas to the energy-poor country. But they are rival players in the war in Syria ….”


Until the last few weeks Turkey has failed to send any bombers into the war against Syrian ISIS groups. Could this dependence on their cheap illegal oil be the reason? Fascinating that they and Russia are “close economic partners,” but enemies on the battlefield. All this just makes the whole situation even more complicated and difficult to solve – a true “Gordian knot.”





http://news.yahoo.com/iraqi-shiite-militias-pledge-fight-u-forces-deployed-191053767.html

Iraqi Shi'ite militias pledge to fight U.S. forces if deployed
Reuters December 1, 2015

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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Powerful Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim armed groups on Tuesday pledged to fight any U.S. forces deployed in the country after the United States said it was sending an elite special unit to help combat Islamic State.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter offered few details on the new "expeditionary" group, but said it would be larger than the roughly 50 U.S. special operations troops being sent to Syria to fight the ultra-hardline Sunni militants there.

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new force will be based in Iraq.

"We will chase and fight any American force deployed in Iraq," said Jafaar Hussaini, a spokesman for one of the Shi'ite armed groups, Kata'ib Hezbollah. "Any such American force will become a primary target for our group. We fought them before and we are ready to resume fighting."

Spokesmen for the Iranian-backed Badr Organisation and Asaib Ahl al-Haq made similar statements to Reuters, expressing their distrust of American forces since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and the subsequent occupation.

The militias, grouped with volunteer fighters under a government-run umbrella, are seen as a bulwark in Iraq's battle against Islamic State, the biggest security threat to the oil-exporting country since Saddam's fall.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who came to power more than a year ago with the backing of the United States and Iran, said on Tuesday that Iraq had no need for foreign ground troops and praised the role of his country's special forces and counter-terrorism apparatus in battling Islamic State.

"The Iraqi government stresses that any military operation or the deployment of any foreign forces - special or not - in any place in Iraq cannot happen without its approval and coordination and full respect of Iraqi sovereignty," Abadi said in a statement.

Russia's larger military role in neighboring Syria, and its participation in a security coordination cell in Baghdad that includes Iran and Syria, may be deepening U.S. fears that it is losing more strategic ground to rivals in one of the world's most critical regions.

On Sunday, two senior U.S. Republican senators called for Washington to nearly triple military force levels in Iraq to 10,000.

About 3,500 U.S. troops are currently advising and assisting Iraqi forces. In October, a U.S. special operations force member was killed during an operation with Kurdish peshmerga fighters to rescue hostages held by Islamic State in the northern town of Hawija.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Stephen Kalin; Editing by Tom Heneghan)



“Powerful Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim armed groups on Tuesday pledged to fight any U.S. forces deployed in the country after the United States said it was sending an elite special unit to help combat Islamic State. Defense Secretary Ash Carter offered few details on the new "expeditionary" group, but said it would be larger than the roughly 50 U.S. special operations troops being sent to Syria to fight the ultra-hardline Sunni militants there. A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new force will be based in Iraq. …. Spokesmen for the Iranian-backed Badr Organisation and Asaib Ahl al-Haq made similar statements to Reuters, expressing their distrust of American forces since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and the subsequent occupation. The militias, grouped with volunteer fighters under a government-run umbrella, are seen as a bulwark in Iraq's battle against Islamic State, the biggest security threat to the oil-exporting country since Saddam's fall. …. "The Iraqi government stresses that any military operation or the deployment of any foreign forces - special or not - in any place in Iraq cannot happen without its approval and coordination and full respect of Iraqi sovereignty," Abadi said in a statement. Russia's larger military role in neighboring Syria, and its participation in a security coordination cell in Baghdad that includes Iran and Syria, may be deepening U.S. fears that it is losing more strategic ground to rivals in one of the world's most critical regions. On Sunday, two senior U.S. Republican senators called for Washington to nearly triple military force levels in Iraq to 10,000. About 3,500 U.S. troops are currently advising and assisting Iraqi forces.”


I do heartily wish that we had never set foot in Iraq. Going into Afghanistan as the home of bin Laden made sense, but this never did. We have always had trouble from time to time in both countries with individual members of police and military forces suddenly and without apparent provocation shooting our trainers and soldiers, so there have been groups whose goal was to fight Americans all along. This isn’t really new, but if they are forming large military units to fight us it will be much worse, I feel sure. Conquerors are rarely popular with the civilian population in such a country of highly warlike and proud people.