February 3, 2016


News Clips For The Day


http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/02/03/465339603/what-we-know-so-far-about-sexual-transmission-of-zika-virus

What We Know So Far About Sexual Transmission Of Zika Virus
RAE ELLEN BICHELL
Updated February 3, 201611:48 AM ET
Published February 3, 201610:07 AM ET

Photograph -- Sexual transmission of Zika virus has happened, scientists say, but it appears to be rare. Davide Doisneau/Flickr RF/Getty Images


A patient acquired Zika virus in the U.S. through sex with a person who had traveled to a place where the virus is circulating, Dallas County, Texas, health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.

This is not the first time that the virus has been sexually transmitted, and it most likely isn't the first time it's been sexually transmitted in the U.S.

In 2008, two scientists returned to Colorado after months of field work in Senegal, where they'd been bitten by Aedes aegypti, the species of mosquito that transmits Zika virus.

One of them ended up passing the virus to his wife, most likely during intercourse. The couple noticed that the husband's semen had been bloody for a few days before the wife felt sick. She later tested positive for Zika, even though she had not left the U.S. in years. The pair co-authored a paper on their case, which has been called the first documented case of sexual transmission of an insect-borne disease.

During a Zika virus outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013, the virus was isolated from the bloody semen of a man in Tahiti. This was a few weeks after he had symptoms, and while his blood no longer contained traces of the virus, his urine did, and his semen contained live virus capable of replicating. The authors speculate that the virus may have replicated in the man's genital tract.

Similarly, Japanese researchers studying boars infected with a virus in the same family as Zika isolated virus from the urine and semen of boars that was capable of infecting a female through artificial insemination.

Is sexual transmission definitely possible? "Well, it sounds like it," says Dr. Robert Tesh, a professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch who studies emerging infectious diseases. But if it is, it's probably quite rare.

"I know it's sexy, talking about sexual transmission, but it's still the mosquito that's the important vector," says Tesh, who co-authored the case report from Colorado.

The silver lining is that both the Colorado case and the Texas case happened in the winter, when it's too cold out for the species of mosquito that transmits the virus to be out and about. So Zika couldn't have spread to other people by mosquito.

Though the virus has been connected with birth defects in Brazil, in adults the symptoms, if any appear, are often mild and short-lived: rash, joint pain, conjunctivitis and slight fever. The CDC is trying to figure out if an uptick in cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder, that was reported by the Brazil Ministry of Health is connected to Zika.

Research on a 2013 outbreak in French Polynesia, the largest known, has yielded the most information on which bodily fluids Zika hangs out in, and when.

One study found signs of the virus in the saliva of patients shortly after the onset of symptoms. A small study in New Caledonia detected it in patients' urine more than 10 days after their first symptoms, and more than a week after it became undetectable in blood.

A third study found the virus in the breast milk of infected mothers, and concluded that two babies who tested positive for Zika virus within days of birth possibly acquired it from their mothers' bodily fluids during pregnancy or birth.

Tesh says it's unclear how the virus remains in bodily fluids, but hypothesizes that the virus could hide in white blood cells.



“One of them ended up passing the virus to his wife, most likely during intercourse. The couple noticed that the husband's semen had been bloody for a few days before the wife felt sick. She later tested positive for Zika, even though she had not left the U.S. in years. The pair co-authored a paper on their case, which has been called the first documented case of sexual transmission of an insect-borne disease. During a Zika virus outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013, the virus was isolated from the bloody semen of a man in Tahiti. This was a few weeks after he had symptoms, and while his blood no longer contained traces of the virus, his urine did, and his semen contained live virus capable of replicating. The authors speculate that the virus may have replicated in the man's genital tract. …. "I know it's sexy, talking about sexual transmission, but it's still the mosquito that's the important vector," says Tesh, who co-authored the case report from Colorado. The silver lining is that both the Colorado case and the Texas case happened in the winter, when it's too cold out for the species of mosquito that transmits the virus to be out and about. So Zika couldn't have spread to other people by mosquito. …. The CDC is trying to figure out if an uptick in cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder, that was reported by the Brazil Ministry of Health is connected to Zika. …. A third study found the virus in the breast milk of infected mothers, and concluded that two babies who tested positive for Zika virus within days of birth possibly acquired it from their mothers' bodily fluids during pregnancy or birth. Tesh says it's unclear how the virus remains in bodily fluids, but hypothesizes that the virus could hide in white blood cells.”


If I were a man and found that my semen was bloody I would go to the emergency room, and would NOT have sex with my wife on the way over. Guillain-Barre syndrome, mentioned above, was in the news in the last 15 years or so as being possibly due to the use of aspirin, especially long term aspirin therapy, and frequently follows a bacterial or viral respiratory infection. (http://southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/influenza/vaccine.php.) That most important substance to human society, breast milk, has also been found to contain Zika and probably infects the baby. The final scary hiding place mentioned is the white blood cell, our first line of defense against infections.

I wonder if an antiviral could combat Zika. Even if the number of cases doesn’t warrant expensive research in the eyes of Big Pharma, we need a vaccine, just as we do for Ebola. Ebola outbreaks only occur periodically but they are devastating when they do. I would hate to see mosquito nets over the beds in this country, but I will buy one if I need to.

Unfortunately, Florida is one of the places where we very likely will see mosquito borne Zika, just as we now have the West Nile Virus, probably from some tropical birds brought into the area. West Nile can even infect reptiles such as crocodilians. We have a lot of those in Florida, Georgia, the Gulf Coast states and the Carolinas. (See: West Nile virus, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.) I will follow stories about Zika disease as I see them. So far the information in every story gets worse.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/scientists-fire-up-nuclear-fusion-experiment/

Scientists fire up nuclear fusion experiment
CBS/AP
February 3, 2016

Photograph -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center) and Sybille Guenter, scientific director of the Max Planck Institute of Plasma Physics (right), visit the site of the new Wendelstein 7-X nuclear fusion experiment on February 3, 2016 in Greifswald, Germany. ADAM BERRY, GETTY IMAGES
Play VIDEO -- Nuclear fusion breakthrough sparks energy optimism


GREIFSWALD, Germany -- Scientists in Germany flipped the switch Wednesday on an experiment they hope will advance the quest for nuclear fusion, considered a clean and safe form of nuclear power.

Following nine years of construction and testing, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald injected a tiny amount of hydrogen into a doughnut-shaped device - then zapped it with the equivalent of 6,000 microwave ovens.

The resulting super-hot gas, known as plasma, lasted just a fraction of a second before cooling down again, long enough for scientists to confidently declare the start of their experiment a success.

"Everything went well today," said Robert Wolf, a senior scientist involved with the project. "With a system as complex as this you have to make sure everything works perfectly and there's always a risk."

Among the difficulties is how to cool the complex arrangement of magnets required to keep the plasma floating inside the device, said Wolf. Scientists looked closely at the hiccups experienced during the start-up of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland more than five years ago to avoid similar mistakes, he said.

The experiment in Greifswald is part of a world-wide effort to harness nuclear fusion, a process in which atoms join at extremely high temperatures and release large amounts of energy.

Advocates acknowledge that nuclear fusion is probably many decades away, but argue it could replace fossil fuels and conventional nuclear fission reactors.

Construction has already begun in southern France on ITER, a huge international research reactor that uses a strong electric current to trap plasma inside a doughnut-shaped device long enough for fusion to take place. The device, known as a tokamak, was conceived by Soviet physicists in the 1950s and is considered fairly easy to build, but extremely difficult to operate.

The team in Greifswald, a port city on Germany's Baltic coast, is focused on a rival technology invented by the American physicist Lyman Spitzer in 1950. Called a stellarator, the device has the same doughnut shape as a tokamak but uses a complicated system of magnetic coils instead of a current to achieve the same result.

The Greifswald device should be able to keep plasma in place for much longer than a tokamak, said Thomas Klinger, who heads the project.

"The stellarator is much calmer," he said in a telephone interview ahead of the start. "It's far harder to build, but easier to operate."

Known as the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, or W7-X, the 400-million-euro ($435 million) device was first fired up in December using helium, which is easier to heat. Helium also has the advantage of "cleaning" any minute dirt particles left behind during the construction of the device.

David Anderson, a professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin who isn't involved in the project, said the project in Greifswald looks promising so far.

"The impressive results obtained in the startup of the machine were remarkable," he said in an email. "This is usually a difficult and arduous process. The speed with which W7-X became operational is a testament to the care and quality of the fabrication of the device and makes a very positive statement about the stellarator concept itself. W7-X is a truly remarkable achievement and the worldwide fusion community looks forward to many exciting results."

While critics have said the pursuit of nuclear fusion is an expensive waste of money that could be better spent on other projects, Germany has forged ahead in funding the Greifswald project, costs for which have reached ?1.06 billion euros in the past 20 years if staff salaries are included.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who holds a doctorate in physics, personally pressed the button at Wednesday's launch.

"As an industrial nation we want to show that an affordable, safe, reliable and sustainable power supply is possible, without any loss of economic competitiveness," she said. "The advantages of fusion energy are obvious."

The United States Department of Energy, too, contributed funding for the project, giving American scientists a chance to help develop cutting-edge technology and participate in the experiment, said Edmund J. Synakowski, the DoE's associate director.

Although it's not designed to produce any energy itself, scientists hope that over the coming years W7-X will test many of the extreme conditions such devices will be subjected to if they are ever to generate power.

In 2014, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California reported a breakthrough step in achieving nuclear fusion. In experiments done at the lab's National Ignition Facility, 192 laser beams briefly fired into a half-inch-long gold cylinder containing a tiny ball and fuel, which was a mix of two kinds of hydrogen, called deuterium and tritium. The energy from the lasers kicked off a process that generated extremely high pressure and temperatures, enough to get the hydrogen atoms to fuse.

That development was "a really big breakthrough," Jeffrey Kluger, science editor at Time Magazine, told CBS News at the time. "They have crossed a threshold moment. They've achieved a fusion reaction in which you get more energy out than you put in. That's the threshold for any successful energy generating system."

But the reaction lasted only for an instant. "The energy was fleeting - it's certainly not ready to power Los Angeles. But it's a proof of principle thing," Kluger said. "We've been trying to do this for 50 years and have never been able to cross this threshold."

Unlike nuclear fission, which breaks atoms apart, nuclear fusion aims to compress hydrogen atoms under extreme heat and pressure to generate energy the same way as the sun.



“Following nine years of construction and testing, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald injected a tiny amount of hydrogen into a doughnut-shaped device - then zapped it with the equivalent of 6,000 microwave ovens. The resulting super-hot gas, known as plasma, lasted just a fraction of a second before cooling down again, long enough for scientists to confidently declare the start of their experiment a success. …. Among the difficulties is how to cool the complex arrangement of magnets required to keep the plasma floating inside the device, said Wolf. …. The experiment in Greifswald is part of a world-wide effort to harness nuclear fusion, a process in which atoms join at extremely high temperatures and release large amounts of energy. Advocates acknowledge that nuclear fusion is probably many decades away, but argue it could replace fossil fuels and conventional nuclear fission reactors. …. Although it's not designed to produce any energy itself, scientists hope that over the coming years W7-X will test many of the extreme conditions such devices will be subjected to if they are ever to generate power. …. "We've been trying to do this for 50 years and have never been able to cross this threshold."


“… an expensive waste of money that could be better spent on other projects ….” I don’t know exactly who the “critics” are, but they are probably “conservatives” who don’t want to spend an extra dollar on anything except one of their new weapons. This is how science makes progress, and the future of our earth needs ways to produce energy without releasing CO2. This is great news for a more peaceful and cleaner world. Just think! No more “mountaintop removal” to get to the coal layers. The beautiful countryside will no longer be marred by tons and tons of rocky debris, and the streams won’t be clogged with that stuff. Hip! Hip! Hooray!



POLITICS -- TWO ARTICLES


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-new-hampshire-wildcard-undeclared-voters/

The New Hampshire wildcard: Undeclared voters
By STEPHANIE CONDON CBS NEWS
February 3, 2016

Play VIDEO -- GOP candidates eye New Hampshire after Cruz takes Iowa
Related Articles: John Kasich catches a break in New Hampshire
Lindsey Graham: N.H. "reset" will help Jeb Bush


Ohio Gov. John Kasich is banking on a strong showing in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday to keep his campaign alive. Yet it's not just Republican support he's looking for -- the conservative governor may need to win over a decent number of New Hampshire's undeclared voters to keep from fading out of the race.

"The Republican Party is my vehicle, but it has never been my master," he assured a crowd in Keene over the weekend.

New Hampshire is known for its independent streak, in part because of its primary voting rules. The state's undeclared voters -- those who are not registered with either the Democratic or the Republican Party -- can choose to vote in either party's primary. As many as 44 percent of New Hampshire's voters are undeclared, which is a greater share of voters than either Democrats or Republicans can claim. On top of that, there are more of them than ever before.

The percentage of undeclared and independent voters in New Hampshire has been "steadily climbing over the course of decades, and now reached it's highest point," Steve Koczela, president of The MassINC Polling Group, told CBS News.

Because they can vote in either primary -- and a portion of them are still mulling over that choice -- "the influence they could have on either primary is an unknown going in," Koczela said.

Koczela's firm conducted a poll for WBUR late last month, showing that 38 percent of undeclared voters were sure they'd vote in the GOP primary, while 29 percent were sure they'd vote in the Democratic primary. Another 12 percent were leaning towards the GOP contest, 12 percent toward the Democratic contest, and 9 percent were completely undecided.

Anne Harris of Bow, New Hampshire is one such voter: At a Kasich event last Saturday, she told CBS that she's still "deciding between one of the [GOP] governors or Bernie Sanders."

"I'm choosing who I'm going to be able to choose in November," she said. Kasich, she added, "seems reasonable, he's been a governor of a state. If it seems like these guys won't have a chance to make it, then I may want to vote for Bernie. Yeah, Kasich seems reasonable. I gotta go through the list to see who I can make it to. It'll be a gut feeling."

Most undeclared voters in New Hampshire, like Harris, have the best impressions of Kasich and Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. The WBUR poll showed that 59 percent view Sanders favorably (just 32 percent view him unfavorably), while 40 percent view Kasich favorably (34 percent view him unfavorably). Every other 2016 candidate has a negative favorability rating.

The poll also showed the impact these voters could have on Kasich's standing: If all of the undeclared voters -- excluding the 29 percent who are certain they'll vote in the Democratic primary -- turned out for the GOP race, Donald Trump would win 20 percent of those votes, and Kasich would win 19 percent. However, if the undeclared voters turned out mostly for the Democratic primary, Kasich would suffer the most.

The last-minute decisions of some undeclared voters are unlikely to hurt Donald Trump, who has a wide lead in polls out of New Hampshire, "but in terms of shifting the other candidates around, where the independents vote can have quite a difference there," Koczela said.

Moreover, recent history shows that New Hampshire's independent voters aren't afraid to stray from their past voting history, Koczela said. While about two-thirds of those voters participated in the GOP primary in 2000 -- helping Sen. John McCain to take the state that year -- about two-thirds participated in the Democratic primary in 2008.

In 2008, undeclared voters showed a preference for then-Sen. Barack Obama, but Hillary Clinton ultimately won the state with more support from registered Democrats. A similar scenario may play out this year -- although polls currently show Sanders with a large lead over Clinton among voters overall.

Even so, Sanders on Tuesday didn't seem to be taking his support in the state -- from Democrats or undeclared voters -- for granted. At 5:30 Tuesday morning, the Vermont socialist was standing on top of a pick-up truck, addressing supporters in a cold, dark parking lot in front of a Chinese restaurant in Bow, New Hampshire.

"We just got in from Iowa, where we astounded the world," Sanders said, adding that his campaign to take on "big money" is "resonating all over America."

"I'll tell you something else... It's not just progressives, it's not just Democrats who are profoundly disgusted with a campaign finance system that allows billionaires to buy elections," he said to cheers.



“Yet it's not just Republican support he's looking for -- the conservative governor may need to win over a decent number of New Hampshire's undeclared voters to keep from fading out of the race. "The Republican Party is my vehicle, but it has never been my master," he assured a crowd in Keene over the weekend. …. As many as 44 percent of New Hampshire's voters are undeclared, which is a greater share of voters than either Democrats or Republicans can claim. On top of that, there are more of them than ever before. …. Koczela's firm conducted a poll for WBUR late last month, showing that 38 percent of undeclared voters were sure they'd vote in the GOP primary, while 29 percent were sure they'd vote in the Democratic primary. …. Anne Harris of Bow, New Hampshire is one such voter: At a Kasich event last Saturday, she told CBS that she's still "deciding between one of the [GOP] governors or Bernie Sanders." …. If it seems like these guys won't have a chance to make it, then I may want to vote for Bernie. Yeah, Kasich seems reasonable. I gotta go through the list to see who I can make it to. It'll be a gut feeling." …. The WBUR poll showed that 59 percent view Sanders favorably (just 32 percent view him unfavorably), while 40 percent view Kasich favorably (34 percent view him unfavorably). ….


It’s probably no accident that NH’s state motto is “Live Free Or Die,” hence the 40% undeclared voter population. I had never really understood undecided or Independent voters because I have a pretty hard set view of what I think the government should do and who does that. While I do look at the personal characteristics of a candidate, I don’t “vote for the man” as much as the party. The following statement about Sanders is what I want to see in my chosen candidate: a hard worker, a positive minded individual, a “vision” for the country, and courage. He’s clever, too. Who is out in a parking lot at 5:30 AM to hear him? Construction workers, union members and others of the group we call “the common man.” He clearly knows his audience.

“Even so, Sanders on Tuesday didn't seem to be taking his support in the state -- from Democrats or undeclared voters -- for granted. At 5:30 Tuesday morning, the Vermont socialist was standing on top of a pick-up truck, addressing supporters in a cold, dark parking lot in front of a Chinese restaurant in Bow, New Hampshire.”



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-campaign-bernie-sanders-will-fail-new-hampshire-2016/

Hillary Clinton campaign: Bernie Sanders will fail after New Hampshire
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
February 3, 2016

Photograph -- Democratic presidential candidates U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (L) and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton debate duringthe first official Democratic candidates debate of the 2016 presidential campaign in Las Vegas, Nevada October 13, 2015. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTS4CPX REUTERS
Play VIDEO -- Bernie Sanders on Iowa caucus coin tosses: "We could probably do better"


Hillary Clinton's campaign manager is trying to tamp down worries of a competitive Bernie Sanders heading into New Hampshire, the next nominating contest after Monday's kickoff Iowa caucuses.

"The reality is that Sanders needed a decisive victory in Iowa in order to have a viable path to the nomination," Robby Mook said Tuesday in a memo he penned to top fundraisers, obtained by CBS News. "His own campaign said repeatedly that Sanders needed to win in Iowa, which based on demographics and ideology, should have been one of his strongest states."

On "CBS This Morning," Sanders responded to the Clinton memo, dismissing its concerns from Monday's caucuses.

"They started off 50 points ahead, they started off as the anointed candidacy and they ended up winning by 2/10ths of one percent," he said early Wednesday, referring to Iowa's close caucus results. "They're worried about my campaign?"

Sanders, who performed well in Iowa among first-time caucus-goers and among those who were more likely to align themselves as ideologically "liberal," would not benefit from the demographics of upcoming states, according to Mook.

"It's important to remember that while the first four states receive a lot of attention, they only represent 4% of the delegates needed to win the nomination," he wrote. "The states with primaries and caucuses in March represent 56% of the delegates needed to win the nomination, with nearly half of those delegates awarded on Super Tuesday alone. Seven of the 11 Super Tuesday states have large minority populations -- including Alabama, Georgia and Texas, which are expected to see majority-minority turnouts."

Of Sanders' significant lead in New Hampshire polls, the Clinton campaign called it "not surprising."

"New Hampshire is Bernie Sanders' backyard. Vermont shares a media market with New Hampshire, and the voters of New Hampshire have a history of supporting candidates from New England," the note read.

The memo ended with an attempt to allay any fears that the Clinton campaign was taken by surprise by Sanders' strong performance.

"From day one, we've said that we expect this primary to be competitive," Mook wrote. "Running for president isn't supposed to be easy."

But, he added, "that's why we've built a national organization designed to secure the delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination. We are on a path to do just that."



"They started off 50 points ahead, they started off as the anointed candidacy and they ended up winning by 2/10ths of one percent," he said early Wednesday, referring to Iowa's close caucus results. "They're worried about my campaign?" …. . "The states with primaries and caucuses in March represent 56% of the delegates needed to win the nomination, with nearly half of those delegates awarded on Super Tuesday alone. Seven of the 11 Super Tuesday states have large minority populations -- including Alabama, Georgia and Texas, which are expected to see majority-minority turnouts." …. "From day one, we've said that we expect this primary to be competitive," Mook wrote. "Running for president isn't supposed to be easy." But, he added, "that's why we've built a national organization designed to secure the delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination. We are on a path to do just that."


According to the Washington Post article of January 29th, he was competitive athletically as a young man, and he still is not overweight and out of shape today. See: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/29/the-untold-story-of-bernie-sanders-high-school-track-star/. Sanders is the horse that comes from the back on the outside and steadily closes the gap until he’s in a neck and neck competition. He has smarts, courage, and considerable stamina to be some 75 years old. He also has an enthusiasm that is infectious. I just looked at his Senate portrait photograph in Wikipedia and he is also, I find, a handsome man. Oh, and yes, he can fight.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-inflammatory-german-migrant-rape-story-made-up/

Report: Inflammatory German migrant rape story "made up"
CBS/AP
January 31, 2016

Photograph -- German right-wing protesters stage a demonstration in the town of Buedingen about 20 miles southwest of Frankfurt, January 30, 2016. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach REUTERS/KAI PFAFFENBACH
Play VIDEO -- Germany struggles to absorb Syrian refugees


BERLIN - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted last week that the tale of a Russian-German girl's disappearance "was hushed up for a long time for some reason" and added she didn't disappear "voluntarily."

He was responding to the story of "Lisa," a 13-year-old German-Russian girl in Berlin who had been reported missing by her parents on January 11, which happened to be right as the hysteria over a series of hundreds of sexual assaults in Cologne on New Years Eve by "Arab" men had reached its peak.

After turning up again about 30 hours later, "Lisa," whose name has not been released to protect her privacy, said "Middle Eastern" or "North African" men had sexually assaulted her.

The Guardian reports German prosecutors say trained specialists got "Lisa" to admit three days after her initial claims that she had made the whole thing up. Reuters also reports German officials saying they had debunked her story.

Despite warnings by German officials to "not instrumentalize this matter politically," both Russian officials and the German far right seized on the matter to criticize Germany's migrant policies.

Europe's largest economy is struggling under the weight of the more than one million migrants and refugees it's accepted into the country in the last year.

Germany's vice chancellor called Sunday for a nationalist party to be put under observation by the government agency that tracks extremists after its leader suggested that police should be allowed to shoot refugees trying to enter the country.

Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told Bild newspaper that "there is massive doubt that (the Alternative for Germany party) stand by the free democratic order of the republic."

Frauke Petry, the head of the party also known by its German initials AfD, told the Mannheimer Morgen daily on Saturday that a border police officer "must stop illegal border crossings, and also make use of his firearm if necessary." Pushed by the newspaper for more, she continued that "no policeman wants to fire on a refugee and I don't want that either. But the last resort includes the use of armed force."

Germany saw nearly 1.1 million asylum-seekers enter the country last year and the AfD has been gaining in support as more people question whether the government will be able to deal with the influx.

Joerg Radek, vice-chairman of the GdP police union, slammed Petry's suggestion, saying no German police officer would shoot at a refugee.

"Whoever proposes such a radical approach apparently wants to overturn the rule of law and exploit the police," he said in a statement.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, received support from an unlikely source for her handling of Germany's refugee crisis.

Baden-Wuerttemberg governor Winfried Kretschmann, a member of the Greens party that is in opposition at the federal level, told Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper the chancellor's insistence on "working step by step" on a European solution to the refugee crisis was the correct path.

"Which of her counterparts in the EU will hold Europe together if she fails?" he asked. "Far and wide there's nobody in sight. Therefore I pray every day that the chancellor remains healthy."

Europe has endured a huge influx of migrants, most of whom undertake a dangerous journey in search of a better life. On Saturday, at least 37 people drowned, including children and babies, when their boat capsized during the short trip from Turkey to Greece.



“After turning up again about 30 hours later, "Lisa," whose name has not been released to protect her privacy, said "Middle Eastern" or "North African" men had sexually assaulted her. The Guardian reports German prosecutors say trained specialists got "Lisa" to admit three days after her initial claims that she had made the whole thing up. .… Despite warnings by German officials to "not instrumentalize this matter politically," both Russian officials and the German far right seized on the matter to criticize Germany's migrant policies. …. Germany's vice chancellor called Sunday for a nationalist party to be put under observation by the government agency that tracks extremists after its leader suggested that police should be allowed to shoot refugees trying to enter the country. …. Frauke Petry, the head of the party also known by its German initials AfD, told the Mannheimer Morgen daily on Saturday that a border police officer "must stop illegal border crossings, and also make use of his firearm if necessary." Pushed by the newspaper for more, she continued that "no policeman wants to fire on a refugee and I don't want that either. But the last resort includes the use of armed force." .... Joerg Radek, vice-chairman of the GdP police union, slammed Petry's suggestion, saying no German police officer would shoot at a refugee. "Whoever proposes such a radical approach apparently wants to overturn the rule of law and exploit the police," he said in a statement.”


Clearly there are rightists in Germany, but moderate and humane individuals in positions of importance as well. "Whoever proposes such a radical approach apparently wants to overturn the rule of law and exploit the police," he said in a statement.” Radek of the police union speaks for the honorable role that police should play in a democratic nation. Police in our country, unfortunately, in a number of cases have shown the very rightist views that Petry voiced, though in this country it’s Hispanic immigrants and blacks more than Islamic groups. It’s still the same hateful, heartless view of life, however, which threatens us today. I have hopes that if Sanders can be elected president and make some economic improvements here, the disgruntled blue collar population will become less angry and dangerous. I think they need to be more financially secure so that they will feel less fearful in general, however. Fear is at the root of most group hatred.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghanistan-boy-fought-taliban-killed-on-way-to-school-in-uruzgan/

Afghan boy who fought Taliban killed on way to school
AP February 3, 2016

Photograph -- Afghan former Taliban fighters hold weapons before they hand them over as part of a government peace and reconciliation process at a ceremony in Jalalabad, Feb. 8, 2015. GETTY
Related stories -- Afghan police refuse to face Taliban
Taliban sieze first city U.S. led invasion
Taliban killing each other for power


KABUL, Afghanistan-- A 10-year-old Afghan boy who was declared a hero after fighting the Taliban has been shot dead by insurgents while on his way to school, officials said on Wednesday.

The deputy police chief of the province, Rahimullah Khan, said the boy, Wasil Ahmad, was killed in Tirin Kot, the capital of the southern Uruzgan province.

The boy had fought Taliban alongside his uncle on many occasions, Khan said. Photographs on social media showed ten-year-old Ahmad holding an automatic weapon and wearing uniform and a helmet.

Khan said that unknown gunmen he referred to only as insurgents had killed the boy near his home.

Ahmad's uncle was formerly a Taliban commander who changed allegiance to the government and was appointed local police commander in Khas Uruzgan district, Khan said.

The use of child soldiers is illegal in Afghanistan, but the charity Child Soldiers International says both government forces and insurgents have been recruiting minors for years.

In a report presented to the U.N. Security Council's working group on children and armed conflict, the London-based group said children were recruited by the Afghan National Police and the Afghan Local Police for reasons that included a sense of fulfilling filial duty, patriotism and honor.

But the main reason was poverty, it said in the June 2015 report.

It said that in May last year it found that half of ANP check posts in Tirin Kot "were staffed with visibly younger officers" who all admitted they were under 18 years old.

"They had been performing all responsibilities of a police officer, which included securing check points and engaging in combat for the last few years," the report said.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission laid blame for the boy's death with his family, the government and the Taliban, who have been waging war for 15 years.

Spokesman Rafiullah Baidar said that local police had hailed the boy as a hero after he battled a Taliban siege following the death of his father in fighting.

"Possibly he took up arms to take revenge for his father's death, but it was illegal for the police to declare him a hero and reveal his identity, especially to the insurgents," Baidar said.



“A 10-year-old Afghan boy who was declared a hero after fighting the Taliban has been shot dead by insurgents while on his way to school, officials said on Wednesday. …. The boy had fought Taliban alongside his uncle on many occasions, Khan said. Photographs on social media showed ten-year-old Ahmad holding an automatic weapon and wearing uniform and a helmet. …. Ahmad's uncle was formerly a Taliban commander who changed allegiance to the government and was appointed local police commander in Khas Uruzgan district, Khan said. The use of child soldiers is illegal in Afghanistan, but the charity Child Soldiers International says both government forces and insurgents have been recruiting minors for years. …. the London-based group said children were recruited by the Afghan National Police and the Afghan Local Police for reasons that included a sense of fulfilling filial duty, patriotism and honor. But the main reason was poverty, it said in the June 2015 report. …. "They had been performing all responsibilities of a police officer, which included securing check points and engaging in combat for the last few years," the report said. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission laid blame for the boy's death with his family, the government and the Taliban, who have been waging war for 15 years.”


This is a terrible life for a boy to have to live. It strips the humanity out of people to be brutal on a persistent day to day basis. Unfortunately, there are teenage gangs in this country who do similar things, and needless to say, they end up as felons.

Those people who follow fanatical forms of Islam are no different from fanatical Christians, except that the Christian religion – if you actually try to follow what Jesus himself said – does teach against such hatred and killing. Peaceful Islam believers also do. The news article yesterday about the family whose meal at Olive Garden was paid by an anonymous American showed the kind of attitude that is promoted by benign religious thinkers. There are dangerous and hostile people in all groups, but there are gentle and caring individuals also. That keeps my hope and faith in the human being going.



ON THE LIGHT SIDE


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/beezow-doo-doo-zopittybop-bop-bop-arrested-in-wash-officers-assaults/

Beezow Doo Doo Zopittybop-bop-bop arrested in Wash. officers' assaults
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS NEWS
February 3, 2016

Photograph -- Beezow Doo-Doo Zopittybop-Bop-Bop, formerly known as Jeffrey Drew Wilschke / Dane County Sheriff's Office


OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A man whose legal name has made headlines in recent years is accused of assaulting a college officer and a deputy, according to CBS affiliate KIRO.

Beezow Doo-doo Zopittybop-bop-bop was arrested on Sunday. Citing court documents, The Olympian reported that the Wisconsin man was seen tearing down fliers at the Evergreen State College and a confrontation ensued with a campus officer.

During the struggle, he allegedly grabbed the officer's gun, but then bit the officer's ring finger several times. He also attempted to stab the officer with a pen, according to the newspaper.

The newspaper also reported that after punches were thrown, Zopittybop-bop-bop allegedly fled on foot. A Thurston County deputy saw the suspect and chased him into a wooded area, where he allegedly threw rocks and a brick at the deputy. Afterwards, another deputy joined the pursuit and used a Taser on the suspect.

Zopittybop-bop-bop was then tackled, handcuffed and arrested, according to the court documents.

In court on Monday, a prosecutor reportedly deferred to the suspect's original name, Jeffrey Drew Wilschke, adding the he was unable to verify the name change.

Zopitty-bop-bop had reportedly legally changed his name in 2011.

The suspect's bail was set at $50,000 with an arraignment set for Feb. 16, according to The Olympian.

This is not the man's first brush with law enforcement. Zopittybop-Bop-Bop was first arrested in 2012 on a concealed weapon charge and drug charges in Wisconsin, with his name gaining national attention.

He was also arrested on drug charges a year later in Iowa.



“In court on Monday, a prosecutor reportedly deferred to the suspect's original name, Jeffrey Drew Wilschke, adding the he was unable to verify the name change. Zopitty-bop-bop had reportedly legally changed his name in 2011. The suspect's bail was set at $50,000 with an arraignment set for Feb. 16, according to The Olympian.”

I must say the imagination he showed in selecting his name is fascinating. Like many who are insane, he has some intelligence. Unfortunately, he’s a lost cause I’m afraid. Maybe if he goes to prison for the rest of his life he will be protected from having to deal with real life and make a living. There are prisoners who become habituated to the relative security of prison life and keep doing the same things over and over that first got them arrested, perhaps on purpose and perhaps because they literally have no self-control. I do think Zopitty is in that category. Perhaps he could be rehabilitated in a mental hospital with therapy and drugs, though. I do hate to see people in such a pitiable condition on the outside and, usually, sleeping on the streets. I am glad to see that the police who arrested him didn’t find it necessary to shoot or injure him badly. Good cops were on the job in that situation.