January 18, 2016


News Clips For The Day


https://gma.yahoo.com/best-lines-democratic-debate-022102199--abc-news-topstories.html

Best Lines of the Fourth Democratic Debate
By PAOLA CHAVEZ and JENNIFER HANSLER
Good Morning America
January 18, 2016


The first Democratic debate of 2016 kicked off in Charleston, South Carolina.

Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley duked it out Sunday night in a debate hosted by NBC News.

There was no shortage of heated exchanges in what is becoming an increasingly contentious campaign, particularly between Sanders and Clinton. Sanders, for example, was asked to address his comments on Bill Clinton’s sexual indiscretions during his presidency, to which he repeated he is running against Secretary Clinton.

“I'm going to debate Secretary Clinton, Governor O'Malley on the issues facing the American people, not Bill Clinton's personal behavior.”

Hillary Clinton Embraces Obama Legacy, as Bernie Sanders Aims for Democrats’ Hearts

Bernie Sanders Accuses Hillary Clinton of ‘Disingenuous’ Attacks on Gun Control Record

Hillary Clinton Accuses Bernie Sanders of Wanting to 'Tear Up' Obamacare

Here are the best lines of the debate:

On Gun Laws

BERNIE SANDERS: “Well, I think Secretary Clinton knows what she says is disingenuous. I have a D-minus voting record from the NRA.”

Democratic front-runner, HILLARY CLINTON responded: “I have made it clear, based on Senator Sanders’ own record that he has voted with the NRA, with the gun lobby numerous times,” adding, “Now, I am pleased to hear that Senator Sanders has reversed his position on immunity, and I look forward to him joining with those members of Congress who have already introduced legislation.”

MARTIN O’MALLEY: “I've never met a self-respecting deer hunter that needed an AR-15 to down a deer.”

On Race and the Criminal Justice System

HILLARY CLINTON: “One out of three African-American men may well end up going to prison. That's the statistic. I want people here to think what we would be doing if it was one out of three white men.”

BERNIE SANDERS: “We have a criminal justice system which is broken. Who in America are satisfied that we have more people in jail than any other country on Earth, including China? Disproportionately African-American and Latino. Who is satisfied that 51 percent of African-American young people are either unemployed or underemployed. Who is satisfied that millions of people have police records for possessing marijuana when the CEOs of Wall Street companies who destroyed our economy have no police record.

“If a police officer breaks the law, like any public official, that officer must be held accountable,” Sanders added.

At the end of the debate Clinton expressed her outrage at the water contamination crisis in Flint Michigan.

“We've had a city in the united States of America where the population, which is poor in many ways, and majority African American has been drinking and bathing in lead-contaminated water,” she said. "I'll tell you what if the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water and being bathed in it, there would have been action.”

On Polls

BERNIE SANDERS: “Secretary Clinton well knows, when this campaign began, she was 50 points ahead of me. We were all of 3 percentage points. Guess what? In Iowa, New Hampshire, the race is very, very close. In terms of polling, guess what, we are running ahead of Secretary Clinton in terms of taking on my good friend, Donald Trump.”

On Drug Abuse

HILLARY CLINTON: “We have to move away from treating the use of drugs a as [sic] crime and, instead, move it to where it belongs, as a health issue. And we need to divert more people from the criminal justice system into drug courts, into treatment, and recovery.”

BERNIE SANDERS: “When we talk about addiction being a disease, the secretary is right, what that means is we need a revolution in this country in terms of mental health treatment.”

On Obamacare

HILLARY CLINTON: ”Here's what I believe, the Democratic Party and the United States has worked since Harry Truman to get the Affordable Care Act passed.”

BERNIE SANDERS fired back, saying, “The truth is, that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, do you know what they believed in, they believed that health care should be available to all of our people.”

The exchange between the two didn’t end there. In response to Sanders’ recently unveiled health plan, Clinton scoffed, “I'm not sure whether we're talking about the plan you just introduced tonight or we're talking about the plan you introduced nine times in the Congress, but the fact is, we have the Affordable Care Act.”

Just two hours before the fourth Democratic debate kicked off, presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders released a proposal to create a new single-payer health care system in the United States.

Clinton continued to rebuke Sanders for the proposal, defending the Affordable Care Act as “one of the greatest accomplishments of president Obama, of the democratic party, and of our country.”

Sanders demurred, saying “no one is tearing [the Affordable Care Act] up. We're going to go forward.”

On Breaking Up the Big Banks

When asked by moderators how his plan to break up the big banks would differ from his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, Sanders’ argued, “Well, the first difference is I don't take money from big banks. I don't get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.”

HILLARY CLINTON responded by criticizing Sanders for his distance from President Obama.

“So I'm going to defend Dodd Frank, and I'm going to defend President Obama for taking on Wall Street, taking on the financial industry, and getting results,” she said.

SANDERS retorted, “I have doubts when people receive huge amounts of money from Wall Street. I am very proud, I do not have a super PAC. I do not want Wall Street's money. I'll rely on the middle class and working families.”

MARTIN O’MALLEY: “Look, if a bank robber robs a bank and all you do is slap him on the wrist, he's just going to rob banks again. The same thing is true with people in suits.”

On Climate Change

SANDERS took aim at his GOP opponents: “It is beyond my comprehension how we can elect a president of the United States, somebody like Trump who believes that climate change is a hoax, invented by the Chinese.”

Back in November 2012, GOP front-runner Donald Trump took to Twitter to share his theory on global warming. “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” Trump wrote.

On Russian President Vladimir Putin

When asked the nature of her relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, HILLARY CLINTON responded, “Well my relationship with him, it's -- it's, it's interesting.”

“I think it’s one, I think of respect,” she said. “I know that he's someone that you have to continuingly stand up to because, like many bullies, he is somebody who will take as much as he possibly can unless you do.”

On Privacy vs. Security

MARTIN O’ MALLEY: “I believe whether it's a back door or front door, that the American principle of law should still hold that our federal government should have to get a warrant. Whether they want to come through the back door or your front door.”

On Bill Clinton

During the last Democratic debate, HILLARY CLINTON said she would turn to her husband "for advice and, in particular, how we're going to get the economy working again for everybody.” Tonight, she was asked to clarify whether this would be a “kitchen table role on economics” or a “real policy role.”

“Well, it'll start at the kitchen table, we'll see how it goes from there,” she quipped.

BERNIE SANDERS, meanwhile, defended his criticisms of the former president’s indiscretions.

“I was asked a question,” Sanders said, “and that question, annoys me. I cannot walk down the street, Secretary Clinton knows that, without being told how much I have to attack Secretary Clinton. To want to get me on the front page of the paper, I make a vicious attack.”

Sanders made the harsh critique while campaigning in Iowa, when he was asked whether his main opponent, Hillary Clinton, was qualified to be president.

“My question to you is: Isn’t one of the qualifications of being president some sort of moral authority?” the man asked, noting that Clinton had “a known affair in the Oval with an intern” -- a reference to his involvement with Monica Lewinsky.

“I hear what you’re saying,” Sanders interjected. “Look Hillary Clinton is not Bill Clinton. What Bill Clinton did, I think we can all acknowledge was totally, totally disgraceful and unacceptable, but I am running against Hillary Clinton. I am not running against Bill Clinton, though I understand he has been in Iowa recently.”

Sanders reiterated he is running against Hillary and not Bill Clinton tonight, “Yes, his behavior was deplorable, have a said a word? No, I have not. I'm going to debate Secretary Clinton, Governor O'Malley on the issues facing the American people, not Bill Clinton's personal behavior.”



“SANDERS took aim at his GOP opponents: “It is beyond my comprehension how we can elect a president of the United States, somebody like Trump who believes that climate change is a hoax, invented by the Chinese.” Back in November 2012, GOP front-runner Donald Trump took to Twitter to share his theory on global warming. “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” Trump wrote. …. When asked the nature of her relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, HILLARY CLINTON responded, “Well my relationship with him, it's -- it's, it's interesting.” “I think it’s one, I think of respect,” she said. “I know that he's someone that you have to continuingly stand up to because, like many bullies, he is somebody who will take as much as he possibly can unless you do.”


I usually listen to debates, but like all debates this one broke apart into barbs and innuendos rather than sticking to information. I prefer some format like a longer discussion of each subject, like the old Charlie Rose interviews. It seems to me that “there’s more there there” in those cases. I also want to see a sizable chunk of time given to all candidates. It seemed to me that O’Malley is not only less well known to begin with than the other two, but he was given short shrift in this case. However, the above two excerpts are meaty. Clinton’s assessment of Putin is “right on,” and the Trump claim that the Chinese invented the issue of Climate Change in order to “make US manufacturing non-competitive” is fascinating. I’m not sure how that would work, but “Oh, well.”



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-military-reveals-missing-items-after-sailors-iran-detention/

U.S. military reveals missing items after sailors' Iran detention
CBS/AP
January 18, 2016

Image -- This frame grab from Tuesday, January 12, 2016 video by the Iranian state-run IRIB News Agency, shows detention of American Navy sailors by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Persian Gulf, Iran. IRIB NEWS AGENCY VIA AP
Play VIDEO -- Iran releases video showing U.S. sailor admitting mistake
Play VIDEO -- Iran releases video of detained U.S. sailors
Photograph -- prisonersreleased0118.png, CBS NEWS
Play VIDEO -- VP Biden on State of the Union, Iran's release of U.S. sailors


WASHINGTON -- In its first official account of Iran's seizure and subsequent release of 10 U.S. sailors in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. military said Monday the only items found missing from their two recovered boats were SIM cards for two satellite phones.

But key questions, such as why the sailors had deviated from their planned route to enter Iranian territorial waters, remain unanswered in the account released by U.S. Central Command. It's calling the description a preliminary timeline of the events of Jan. 12-13.

"A Navy command investigation initiated Jan. 14 will provide a more complete accounting of events," Central Command said.

The investigation will focus on the U.S. sailors' treatment while in custody, including any interrogation by Iranian personnel, the command said.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said last week while visiting Central Command headquarters in Florida that the boat crews had "misnavigated." He did not say how that mistake happened or provide other substantial details about an episode that posed a potential complication to efforts by Washington and Tehran to establish better relations.

The boat seizure happened just hours before President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address and just days before implementation of the Iran nuclear deal with the West. The implementation triggered the end of crippling international sanctions on Iran and a U.S.-Iran prisoner exchange.

The timeline released Monday said the U.S. sailors were not mistreated during approximately 15 hours in Iranian hands. It said a post-recovery inventory of the boats found that all weapons, ammunition and communications gear was accounted for, minus two SIM cards apparently removed from two hand-held satellite phones.

The sailors were traveling in small armed vessels known as riverine command boats, headed from Kuwait to Bahrain, which is the location of the Navy's 5th Fleet.

"The planned transit path for the mission was down the middle of the Gulf and not through the territorial waters of any country other than Kuwait and Bahrain," the account said. The boats were seized by Iran and escorted at gunpoint to Farsi Island, which is in the middle of the Gulf and home to an Iranian military facility.

Along the approximately 50-mile journey they were to have refueled by linking up with a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, the Monomoy, in international waters. The timeline said that approximately 10 minutes after the scheduled refueling, Central Command's naval headquarters at Bahrain received a report that the boats were being questioned by Iranians. The account does not explain who sent this report or whether it included other details.

About 19 minutes later, the naval headquarters "was advised of degraded communications with" the two boats, the account added. After an additional 26 minutes, the naval headquarters was notified of a total loss of communications with the boats. It does not explain who advised the headquarters of this problem or its apparent cause.

A large-scale search-and-rescue mission was undertaken at that point, but it is not clear whether the Americans had by this time already been taken ashore on Farsi Island. Aircraft from the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, which was operating 45 miles southeast of Farsi Island, participated in the search, along with Air Force planes and vessels of the U.S. Coast Guard, the British Royal Navy and other U.S. Navy vessels.

Central Command's naval headquarters at Bahrain attempted to contact Iranian military units operating near Farsi Island by using marine radio to broadcast information about the search-and-rescue operation. Separately, the U.S. notified Iranian coast guard units via telephone. Some hours later, about four hours after the U.S. first heard that the sailors were being questioned by Iranians, the U.S. Navy cruiser USS Anzio received word from the Iranians that the sailors were in Iranian custody. The Iranians described the 10 as "safe and healthy," according to the U.S. account.

In the hours after the seizure of the Americans became public on Jan. 12, there were conflicting reports about what caused the sailors to stray off their intended course. Monday's official account did not explain the reason. It said only that the crews "deviated" from their planned course. It made no reference to the navigation error cited by Carter last week.

"At some point one (of the two boats) had indications of a mechanical issue in a diesel engine which caused the crews to stop. and begin troubleshooting," the account said. Because the boats were traveling together, the other boat also stopped. At this point they were in Iranian territorial waters, "although it's not clear the crew was aware of their exact location," it added.

While the boats were stopped and the crew was trying to assess the mechanical problem, Iranian boats approached. First to arrive were two small Iranian craft with armed personnel aboard. Soon after, they were joined by two more Iranian military vessels. A verbal exchange ensued between the Iranians and Americans, but there was no gunfire.

Armed Iranian military personnel then boarded the U.S. boats while other Iranian personnel aboard other armed vessels monitored the situation. At gunpoint the U.S. boats and their crews were escorted to a small port facility on Farsi Island, where the Americans went ashore and were detained, the account said.

The sailors were released the following morning aboard their boats.

"After determining that their entry into Iran's territorial waters was not intentional and their apology, the detained American sailors were released in international waters," a statement posted online by Iran's Revolutionary Guard said last week.

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking to "CBS This Morning," denied that Americans made any apology.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Biden said. "When you have a problem with the boat you apologize the boat had a problem? No, and there was no looking for any apology. This was just standard nautical practice."

While there was no official apology issued, Iran state television showed footage showing one U.S. sailor apologizing, calling the incident a "mistake."



“Defense Secretary Ash Carter said last week while visiting Central Command headquarters in Florida that the boat crews had "misnavigated." He did not say how that mistake happened or provide other substantial details about an episode that posed a potential complication to efforts by Washington and Tehran to establish better relations. …. At this point they were in Iranian territorial waters, "although it's not clear the crew was aware of their exact location," it added. While the boats were stopped and the crew was trying to assess the mechanical problem, Iranian boats approached. …. It said a post-recovery inventory of the boats found that all weapons, ammunition and communications gear was accounted for, minus two SIM cards apparently removed from two hand-held satellite phones.”


I assume that the two Navy boats did indeed “misnavigate,” and that they were not on a spy mission. The two SIM cards, however, should surely be returned to the US authorities, assuming of course that they aren’t being retained by the Iranians as evidence of something untoward. The Iranian response seems to be one of complete satisfaction that there is no real problem involved.

As for the US, via the one statement by one of the sailors “apologizing” (shamefully, to “conservatives”) for a simple navigation error, I think to do so is common courtesy in such matters, and that no hostility on Iran’s part at all occurred in response to the incident. The Republicans are just “blowing smoke” again in order to damage the name of Obama. Ever since he was elected that has been their whole goal in life. I do get very tired of it.



MORE VIRAL OUTBREAKS

EBOLA OUTBREAK IN SIERRA LEONE: Ebola virus: New case emerges in Sierra Leone - BBC News
BBC News‎ - 21 hours ago

ZIKA VIRUS AND SEVERE BIRTH DEFECTS IN THE AMERICAS

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/15/463254599/cdc-issues-travel-warning-after-explosion-of-dangerous-zika-virus

CDC Issues Travel Warning After Explosion Of Dangerous Zika Virus
LAURA WAGNER
January 15, 2016

Photograph -- U.S. health officials are telling pregnant women to avoid travel to Latin America and Caribbean countries with outbreaks of Zika, a tropical illness linked to birth defects. James Gathany/AP
Photograph -- GOATS AND SODA, Zika Virus Confirmed In Texas: Here's A Primer On The Disease
Visual image -- Countries Where The Zika Virus Is Spreading, Map of countries w/ cases of Zika. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pan American Health Organization Credit: Alyson Hurt/NPR

Following the rapid outbreak of a malarial virus called Zika in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned pregnant women against traveling to those regions. The tropical illness has been linked to birth defects.

"Out of an abundance of caution, pregnant women advised to consider postponing travel to areas where Zika virus transmission is ongoing," the CDC said Friday.

The Aedes mosquito can spread Zika virus in addition to dengue fever and chikungunya virus. The virus was first spotted in the Americas in 2014.

Usually, the virus causes cold-like symptoms, but for pregnant women, Zika may also be causing a birth defect called microcephaly: babies being born with small heads and severe brain damage. As NPR's Jason Beaubian reported earlier this week, the disease turned up in Brazil in May 2015 and has spread quickly.

Jason says Brazil has seen cases of microcephaly skyrocket from about 200 a year to more than 3,000 last year. The CDC, citing Brazilian health authorities, says more than 3,500 microcephaly cases were reported in Brazil between October 2015 and January 2016.

The risks are so great that some Brazilian health officials have suggested that women in high Zika-transmission areas delay having a child.


“Following the rapid outbreak of a malarial virus called Zika in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned pregnant women against traveling to those regions. …. The Aedes mosquito can spread Zika virus in addition to dengue fever and chikungunya virus. The virus was first spotted in the Americas in 2014. Usually, the virus causes cold-like symptoms, but for pregnant women, Zika may also be causing a birth defect called microcephaly: babies being born with small heads and severe brain damage. As NPR's Jason Beaubian reported earlier this week, the disease turned up in Brazil in May 2015 and has spread quickly.”


I’m amazed and more than a little frightened about the speed with which this deadly and horrible virus has invaded the Americas and caused an uptick from 200 cases a year of microcephaly to 3,500 in Brazil just last year. It’s all too similar to the Ebola panic last year, though the number of cases is not as great. The mosquitoes originated in Africa. First, go to the NPR website and look at the map of the spread of this virus. It follows the same latitudes in all continents around the world in an apparent relationship with the Aedes incidence combined with “travel related” infections.

(See http://www.slideshare.net/bonniefernley/session-3-mk-v1 for a map.) The spread of the disease itself probably has to do with increased human carriers in those new areas such as South America. Such carriers who have had cold-like symptoms would likely tend to consider the disease to be minor, only to discover later that their baby has been brain damaged. See the following articles on Aedes aegypti and on the Zika virus. This is one more thing for people living here to worry about.

An interesting article below describes a new technique for eradicating the dangerous bugs genetically. I’ve heard of that kind of thing before a few years ago, and it certainly is better than a new pesticide which like DDT kills both birds and perhaps people. For a good description of that method, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedes_aegypti.”



http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/

Zika Virus

Geographic Distribution

Where has Zika virus been found?

Prior to 2015, Zika virus outbreaks had been identified in countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infections in Brazil. Currently, outbreaks are occurring in many countries in the Americas. In December 2015, Puerto Rico reported its first confirmed Zika virus case.

Locally-transmitted Zika virus has not been reported elsewhere in the United States, but cases of Zika have been reported in returning travelers. With the recent outbreaks in the Pacific Islands and South America, the number of Zika cases among travelers visiting or returning to the United States will likely increase. These imported cases may result in local spread of the virus in some areas of the United States.

“Countries that have past or current evidence of Zika virus transmission (as of January 2016) -- Go to the CDC website for this map showing incidences of Zika in most of eastern South America, all of Central America, much of Africa, India and Indonesia.


http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/21/10/pdfs/15-0847.pdf

Zika Virus Outbreak,
Bahia, Brazil

Gubio S. Campos, Antonio C. Bandeira,
Silvia I. Sardi
Authors affiliations: Federal University of Bahia, Salvador,
Bahia, Brazil (G.S. Campos, S.I. Sardi); Hospital Aliança, Salvador
(A.C. Bandeira)
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.32301/eid2110.150847

To the Editor: Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquitoborne
flavivirus related to yellow fever virus, dengue virus

(DENV), and West Nile virus (WNV). It is a single-stranded
positive RNA virus (10,794-nt genome) that is closely
related to the Spondweni virus and is transmitted by many
Aedes spp. mosquitoes, including Ae. africanus, Ae. luteocephalus,
Ae. hensilli, and Ae. aegypti. The virus was
identified in rhesus monkeys during sylvatic yellow fever
surveillance in the Zika Forest in Uganda in 1947 and was
reported in humans in 1952 (1).

In 2007, an outbreak of ZIKV was reported in Yap Island,
Federated States of Micronesia (2). ZIKV also caused
a major epidemic in the French Polynesia in 2013–2014 (3),
and New Caledonia reported imported cases from French
Polynesia in 2013 and reported an outbreak in 2014 (4).

A new challenge has arisen in Brazil with the emergence
of ZIKV and co-circulation with others arboviruses
(i.e., DENV and chikungunya virus [CHIKV]). We report
ZIKV infection in Brazil associated with a recent ongoing
outbreak in Camaçari, Bahia, Brazil, of an illness characterized
by maculopapular rash, fever, myalgias/arthralgia,
and conjunctivitis.

On March 26, 2015, serum samples were obtained
from 24 patients (Table) at Santa Helena Hospital in Cama-
çari who were given a presumptive diagnosis of an acute
viral illness by emergency department physicians. These
patients were given treatment for a dengue-like illness, and
blood samples were obtained for complete blood counts
and serologic testing by using an ELISA specific for IgG
and IgM against DENV



http://kfor.com/2016/01/11/american-diagnosed-with-zika-virus-after-traveling-to-latin-america/

American diagnosed with Zika virus after traveling to Latin America
POSTED 3:24 PM, JANUARY 11, 2016, BY KFOR-TV & K. QUERRY

HOUSTON, Texas – It is a virus the Centers for Disease Control have been watching closely for months, but now health officials say an American has been diagnosed with the Zika virus.

The Pan American Health Organization, an arm of the World Health Organization, recently issued an alert about the virus.

Initially, the virus was thought to be harmless, but now experts say it may lead to a deadly birth defect called microcephaly.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Houston’s first case of travel-acquired Zika virus.

The virus is spread through the bite of mosquitoes.

Health officials say a traveler who recently returned from Latin America developed fever, rash and join t pain, all symptoms associated with the virus.

At this point, health experts say it is only a matter of time before the virus begins circulating in the United States.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedes_aegypti
Aedes aegypti

The yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, zika fever and yellow fever viruses, and other diseases. The mosquito can be recognized by white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of the thorax. The mosquito originated in Africa[2] but is now found in tropical and subtropical regions throughout the world.[3]

To find a host, these mosquitoes are attracted to chemical compounds emitted by mammals. These compounds include ammonia, carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and octenol. Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service have studied the specific chemical structure of octenol to better understand why this chemical attracts the mosquito to its host.[4] They found the mosquito has a preference for "right-handed" (dextrorotatory) octenol molecules.

The yellow fever mosquito can also contribute to the spread of reticulum cell sarcoma among Syrian hamsters.[5]

The CDC traveler's page on preventing dengue fever suggests using mosquito repellents that contain DEET (N, N-diethylmetatoluamide, 20% to 30% concentration, but not more). …. Research has shown that certain chemicals emanating from bacteria in water containers stimulate the female mosquitoes to lay their eggs. They are particularly motivated to lay eggs in water containers that have the correct amounts of specific fatty acids associated with bacteria involved in the degradation of leaves and other organic matter in water. The chemicals associated with the microbial stew are far more stimulating to discerning female mosquitoes than plain or filtered water in which the bacteria once lived.[8]

Mosquito control is currently the best method for disease prevention. This primarily includes source reduction, pesticide spraying or "fogging", or the use of mosquito traps like the lethal ovitrap.

Although the lifespan of an adult A. aegypti is two to four weeks depending on conditions,[9] the eggs can be viable for over a year in a dry state, which allows the mosquito to re-emerge after a cold winter or dry spell.[10]

The preference for biting humans is dependent on expression of the odorant receptor AeegOr4.[11]

Ae. aegypti has been genetically modified to suppress its own species in an approach similar to the sterile insect technique, thereby reducing the risk of disease. The mosquitoes, known as OX513A, were developed by Oxitec, a spinout of Oxford University and subsidiary of Intrexon (NYSE: XON). Field trials in the Cayman Islands, Brazil and Panama have shown that the OX513A mosquitoes reduced the target mosquito populations by more than 90%.[12][13] This mosquito suppression effect is achieved by a self-limiting gene that prevents the offspring from surviving. Male modified mosquitoes, which do not bite or spread disease, are released to mate with the pest females. Their offspring inherit the self-limiting gene and die before reaching adulthood - before they can reproduce or spread disease. The OX513A mosquitoes and their offspring also carry a fluorescent marker for simple monitoring. To produce more OX513A mosquitoes for control projects, the self-limiting gene is switched off (using the Tet-Off system) in the mosquito production facility using an antidote (the antibiotic tetracycline), allowing the mosquitoes to reproduce naturally. In the environment, the antidote is unavailable to rescue mosquito reproduction and so the pest population is suppressed.[14]

The UK House of Lords has since called on the Government to support more work on genetically modified insects in the interest of global health.[19]

This was the second mosquito species to have its genome sequenced in full (the first was Anopheles gambiae). The published data included the 1.38 billion base pairs containing the insect's estimated 15,419 protein-encoding genes. The sequence indicates the species diverged from Drosophila melanogaster (the common fruit fly) about 250 million years ago, and Anopheles gambiae and this species diverged about 150 million years ago.[21][22]



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/martin-luther-king-newly-discovered-mlk-speech-released/

Newly discovered MLK speech released
CBS NEWS
January 18, 2016

Photograph -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., holds a case containing the Nobel Peace Prize gold medal on Dec. 10, 1964, in Oslo, Norway. AP PHOTO, FILE
Play VIDEO -- Remembering the "Mississippi Burning" murders


As the nation holds events honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, a speech given by the civil rights leader in London a half century ago has come to light.

Democracy Now! reports that the speech, given by King on December 7, 1964, was recorded by a European correspondent for Pacifica Radio. The news program reports that the director for the Pacifica Radio Archives recently unearthed the audio of the address, which was delivered just days before King received the Nobel Prize in Oslo.

In the speech, King spoke passionately about the civil right struggles - and the landmark events - that had recently taken place in the United States. He took great lengths to outline significant progress -- notably more registered African-American voters, better wages and the newly signed Civil Right Act of 1964.

"We have noticed a gradual decline, and even demise, of the system of racial segregation," King declared.

But King also painted a bleak picture of oppression and intimidation that still prevailed. He referenced the recent murders of three civil rights activists who were trying to register African-Americans to vote in Mississippi.

"All of this reveals to us that we have not achieved the level of brotherhood--we have not achieved the brotherhood that we need and that we must have in our nation," King said. "We still have a long, long way to go."

King also drew parallels between the civil rights struggle in the U.S. with the anti-apartheid fight in South Africa.

"In our struggle for freedom and justice in the United States, which has also been so long and difficult, we feel a powerful sense of identification with those in the far more deadly struggle for freedom in South Africa," he said.

King concluded the speech by quoting a slave preacher: "Lord, we ain't what we want to be. We ain't what we ought to be. We ain't what we gonna be. But, thank God, we ain't what we was."

Four days later, King would give his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway - and that rare audio recording was also released by the Nobel Prize on Monday.

King, the youngest person to ever receive the prize, ended his Nobel lecture with a verse borrowed from a spiritual that he made famous on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial the previous year: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"



It's good to have an additional piece of the King contribution to America, even though the position of blacks in our country are not what they should be. I hope for more to come, and no loss of the ground we have gained. “"Lord, we ain't what we want to be. We ain't what we ought to be. We ain't what we gonna be. But, thank God, we ain't what we was."




http://www.npr.org/2016/01/18/462027861/republicans-white-working-class-trap-a-growing-reliance

Republicans' White, Working-Class Trap: A Growing Reliance
ASMA KHALID
Published January 18, 2016

Photograph -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (foreground), greets supporters after a rally last week in Iowa. Jae C. Hong/AP


Plenty of politicos and pundits have rationalized Donald Trump's political ascent as the result of his enormous popularity among white, working-class voters.

No doubt, Trump is well liked by many college-educated Republicans, but, his real strength is among those without a bachelor's degree. In that demographic, most polls show the business-mogul-turned-GOP-presidential-candidate is trouncing his Republican rivals.

In fact, the main reason Trump is leading national polls is because he dominates the white, non-college world.

So, that got us thinking — how powerful are white, non-college voters? And, what role do they play in the GOP of today versus the GOP of yesterday?

Reliably Republican — And Shrinking


In 1980, whites without a college degree made up almost two-thirds of the electorate (65 percent). Back then, both Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter relied heavily on white, working-class voters — 60 percent of Carter voters were whites without a college degree, compared to 70 percent of Reagan voters. Keep in mind, Reagan won that election in a landslide.

Jump ahead a few decades, dig through exit polls, and you'll find a very different political landscape.

"The electorate as a whole has gotten both more highly educated and also more diverse," explained Jocelyn Kiley, a researcher who focuses on U.S. politics at the Pew Research Center, who helped us dig through the data.

In the 2012 generational election, half of Mitt Romney's supporters were whites without a college degree, compared to about a quarter of Obama voters. And, yet, Romney still lost the presidency — and by an Electoral College landslide.

That's because white, blue-collar voters are a shrinking share of the voting pool.

At the same time, as their population shrinks, they've also become more faithfully Republican.

"My contention is that what Reagan did was he brought a new group of people into the Republican Party, and that has grown and has become more significant," explained Democratic pollster Peter Hart. "It is less establishment; it is more what I call downscale, blue-collar non-establishment."

Another way to think about this is that while white, working-class voters are now only about a third of the overall electorate, they're about half of the Republican electorate.

"They remain an important part of the GOP base," Kiley said. "And, it's a large part of why there's been so much attention to them in the Republican primary."

Working-class voters are still a bedrock of the GOP in two states candidates really want to win — Iowa and New Hampshire. They made up nearly half of Republicans in the 2012 Iowa caucus and 45 percent of voters in the 2012 New Hampshire primary.

And, so while mathematically, a candidate can no longer win a general election with their support alone, it's also nearly impossible for a Republican presidential candidate to win a GOP primary without them. The road to the GOP nomination travels through many white-working class neighborhoods. And that's one reason it's been difficult for the party to expand its base.

New Factor — The Hyper-Educated And The Educational Divide

White voters without college degrees are an important component of the GOP coalition, but an overreliance on them can also be a crutch when hyper-educated and nonwhite populations are growing — and becoming increasingly Democratic.

In general, whites tend to vote Republican more than people of color across educational backgrounds. In 2012, just over half of Obama voters were white, while 89 percent of Romney voters were. So, even among white college graduates, Republicans do better than Democrats, with one caveat — people with post-graduate degrees.

"Post-graduates today are overwhelmingly Democratic or lean Democratic in their partisan identification, to much a greater extent than they were 20 years ago," said Kiley, who traced data back to 1988.

In recent years, the correlation between party ID and educational attainment has grown. Essentially, the education gap has morphed into an education gulf. White women with advanced degrees are now one of the most faithful Democratic subgroups. According to data from the Pew Research Center, 62 percent are Democratic or lean Democratic.

In the 2012 election, there was a 30-point margin between how whites with a post-grad degree voted compared to whites with no college degrees.

But, a GOP voter today is more likely to be white and working class than a Democratic voter — and they still hold more political power than hyper-educated white voters. So the candidate who can connect with them has an edge in the GOP primary — even though it might hurt them in a general election.



"The electorate as a whole has gotten both more highly educated and also more diverse," explained Jocelyn Kiley, a researcher who focuses on U.S. politics at the Pew Research Center, who helped us dig through the data. In the 2012 generational election, half of Mitt Romney's supporters were whites without a college degree, compared to about a quarter of Obama voters. And, yet, Romney still lost the presidency — and by an Electoral College landslide. That's because white, blue-collar voters are a shrinking share of the voting pool. …. In general, whites tend to vote Republican more than people of color across educational backgrounds. In 2012, just over half of Obama voters were white, while 89 percent of Romney voters were. So, even among white college graduates, Republicans do better than Democrats, with one caveat — people with post-graduate degrees. "Post-graduates today are overwhelmingly Democratic or lean Democratic in their partisan identification, to much a greater extent than they were 20 years ago," said Kiley, who traced data back to 1988. …. In recent years, the correlation between party ID and educational attainment has grown. Essentially, the education gap has morphed into an education gulf. White women with advanced degrees are now one of the most faithful Democratic subgroups. According to data from the Pew Research Center, 62 percent are Democratic or lean Democratic.”


Although it would be very foolish to declare a Democratic victory before the election, I believe that even considering the strong Tea Party tinge to the present day Republican consensus, those of us who believe in a liberal society rather than a conservative one will be able to pull off a Democratic victory this year. That’s not a promise and I’m not making a bet on it, but I believe Hillary Clinton is most likely to be our president come 2017.

I’m afraid that many of the Democratic voters will not vote for a man who is an avowed “Democratic Socialist,” but I’m not going to vote against Sanders in the primaries, because I want his much more firmly left leaning views. I’m afraid that she is too fully in the grip of Wall Street and the Koch Brothers, etc., who control from behind the stage like a puppet master with the purse strings, but I will vote for Hillary in the national election if she is nominated. It isn’t just the competitiveness of one ball team toward another, but of a slow, quiet war. After 9/11 politics ceased to be a game at all.

We need an economic and cultural change that will be far-reaching, effective, and long-lasting; and I do hope the Congress and Senate will pick up liberals, so that the president will not have to govern by Executive Order the way Obama has done. I am sorry that he has had to put up with all the bilge water that he has, and I have no doubt that it is because he is black.




http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/16/463319454/obama-declares-state-of-emergency-over-flints-contaminated-water

Obama Declares State Of Emergency Over Flint's Contaminated Water
CAMILA DOMONOSKE
Updated January 17, 2016

Photograph -- Flint water tower

Water contamination in Flint, Mich, — where the city switched water sources, causing pipe corrosion and ultimately filling the city's water supply with high levels of lead — has prompted President Obama to declare a state of emergency.

The move, which was requested by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, means FEMA is authorized to provide equipment and resources to the people affected. Federal funding will help cover the cost of providing water, water filters and other items.

A state of emergency has been declared by Flint's own mayor since mid-December.

Pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, who called attention to the elevated lead levels in Flint's children, explained to NPR's Michel Martin last month how the city's water came to be contaminated:

"The city of Flint under state-appointed emergency management, almost bankrupt ... switched their water source from Detroit, which was fresh Great Lakes water source, which we've been using for over 50 years, to the local Flint River to save money.

"And that local Flint River was innately more corrosive than the Great Lakes water source. And the critical corrosion inhibitor, which is mandatory for all drinking water systems to use ... was not added to that water.

"So you had a more corrosive water source without the corrosion control added to it, going into an aging infrastructure with a lot of lead plumbing. That was a perfect storm for that lead to leach out of the pipes into the drinking water and into the bodies of children."

The switch began nearly two years ago, and Flint has since switched back to Detroit's water supply. But the damage to the pipes has already been done, and the leaching of lead into tap water continues.

The question of who knew about the danger — and when — has led to a political crisis in Flint, with protesters calling for the governor's resignation. Concerns over Flint's water were raised months before the state called a state of emergency or provided bottled water.

"Critics say the state's response — in particular, the governor's handling of the crisis — has been inadequate at best, criminal at worst," Michigan Radio's Steve Carmody reported for NPR earlier this week.

"Flint's mayor estimates the cost of fixing the city's water infrastructure at more than a billion dollars. There's no estimate on the cost of the long-term health effects on Flint residents who drank lead-tainted water for more than a year."



“The move, which was requested by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, means FEMA is authorized to provide equipment and resources to the people affected. Federal funding will help cover the cost of providing water, water filters and other items. A state of emergency has been declared by Flint's own mayor since mid-December. …. "And that local Flint River was innately more corrosive than the Great Lakes water source. And the critical corrosion inhibitor, which is mandatory for all drinking water systems to use ... was not added to that water. "So you had a more corrosive water source without the corrosion control added to it, going into an aging infrastructure with a lot of lead plumbing. That was a perfect storm for that lead to leach out of the pipes into the drinking water and into the bodies of children." …. But the damage to the pipes has already been done, and the leaching of lead into tap water continues. The question of who knew about the danger — and when — has led to a political crisis in Flint, with protesters calling for the governor's resignation.”


Ignoring science in this situation has produced a worse than usual disaster. Drinking lead-laden water causes brain damage and lowers the IQ, especially in children. Surely when the city decided to switch to the river water they would have tested the water? Well, maybe not.