March 10, 2016


News Clips For The Day


INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS TODAY -- TWO ARTICLES

http://www.cbsnews.com/media/donald-trump-reaction-from-foreign-government-officials-election-2016/

What the world thinks: Foreign leaders react to Trump
TUCKER REALS CBS NEWS
March 10, 2016, 4:59 AM

Photograph -- Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks about the results of the Michigan, Mississippi and other primary elections during a news conference held at his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, March 8, 2016. REUTERS
Photograph -- Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto addresses the press, at Los Pinos presidential residence, in Mexico City, Feb. 25, 2016, during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit. GETTY
Play VIDEO -- Trudeau to U.S.: Pay more attention to the world
Play VIDEO -- Brits debate banning Trump
Photograph -- sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a press conference, Feb. 16, 2016, in Berlin, Germany. GETTY
Photograph -- Vice Chancellor and Economy and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel and German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrive for the weekly German federal Cabinet meeting on March 9, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. GETTY
Photograph -- Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa (center) speaks during May Day celebrations, May 1, 2015, in Quito. GETTY
Photograph -- From left, French Minister for Higher Education and Research Thierry Mandon, French Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, French President Francois Hollande and French Prime Minister Manuel Valls observe a minute of silence at the Sorbonne University in Paris to pay tribute to victims of the Paris terror attacks, France, Nov. 16, 2015. REUTERS
Photograph -- Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual end-of-year news conference, with a flag of Turkey seen in the foreground, in Moscow, Russia, December 17, 2015. REUTERS
Play VIDEO -- Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin express mutual admiration


A Reuters report this week cited several unnamed U.S. government officials as saying they were being peppered with questions and concerns, mainly from "working level" foreign diplomats in Washington, about Trump's meteoric rise and the general vitriol in the 2016 presidential campaign.

National security expert answers 7 questions on Trump's foreign policy
"The responses have ranged from amusement to befuddlement to curiosity," one of the officials told Reuters. "In some cases, we've heard expressions of alarm, but those have been more in response to the anti-immigrant and anti-refugee sentiment as well as the general sense of xenophobia."

While most governments have been careful to voice their concerns only behind closed doors, others, including some of America's closest allies, have been less coy.

Click the "Next" button to see a sample of foreign reactions to the billionaire reality television star's political rise.

Our neighbors to the south have been singled out by candidate Trump on multiple occasions. He accused Mexico of "sending people that have lots of problems... they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

One of the rhetorical cornerstones of Mr. Trump's campaign has been a promise to build a wall along the entire length of the U.S.-Mexican border, and to get Mexico to pay for it.

His remarks have failed to impress Mexico's leaders, and they haven't tried hard to hide it.

In an interview published by a Mexican newspaper, President Enrique Pena Nieto compared Trump's "strident expressions that seek to propose very simple solutions" to big problems to the rhetoric of the world's most notorious dictators.

"That's the way Mussolini arrived and the way Hitler arrived," Pena Nieto said.

Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu last week ripped Trump as "ignorant and racist," and called the border wall idea "absurd."

"It is impossible to think of a 2,000-mile border being walled off and trade between our two countries stopped," she said, adding that it would be "impractical, inefficient, wrong and, frankly, it is not an intelligent thing to do."

Asked about Trump's insistence that he would leverage the Mexican government into paying for the wall, both Pena Nieto and his top diplomat dismissed it as something Mexico would not even consider.

The young new Prime Minister in Canada has artfully dodged proclamations on the U.S. presidential contenders, but he has taken a couple of loosely-veiled swipes at the Republican front-runner, or his ideas, at least.

In an interview for "60 Minutes" with Lara Logan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking on the topic of accepting Syrian refugees, said, "ultimately, being open and respectful towards each other is much more powerful as a way to diffuse hatred and anger than, you know, layering on, you know, big walls and oppressive policies."

After that interview, pressed for more specific reaction to Trump by the Huffington Post, Trudeau changed the topic ... sort of.

"Cape Breton is lovely this time of year," quipped the Prime Minister, in reference to a border town which has been inundated with requests for information by Americans interested in possibly immigrating to Canada.

It's hard to imagine the "special relationship" between Britain and the U.S. going unchanged under a theoretical President Trump.

Politicians on both sides of the Parliamentary aisle have labeled the bombastic billionaire everything from "idiot" and "buffoon," to the more damning "demagogue."


There was a concerted effort to urge Home Secretary Theresa May to ban Trump from even setting foot on British soil which, while unlikely to happen, clearly showed the concern festering in the United Kingdom.

Prime Minister David Cameron, leader of Britain's Conservative Party, didn't back the move to ban Trump, but he did say the Republican front-runner's policy statements -- particularly the now-infamous suggestion that he would block Muslims from entering the U.S. "temporarily" -- were "divisive, stupid and wrong."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has presided over the Israeli government during a period of incresingly strained relations with the U.S.

Both sides insist the relationship remains cordial -- and vital -- but there have been stark differences over the now-completely-stalled peace process with the Palestinians.

While his nation continues battling Islamic extremist groups, and struggles to stem near-daily, virtual suicide attacks by Palestinians on Israeli citizens, Netanyahu also distanced himself from Trump's rhetoric on Muslims.

Trump had planned a visit to Israel to meet Netanyahu in December, but postponed the trip until "after I become President of the U.S.," following an outcry among Israeli lawmakers over his suggestion that he would ban Muslims entering the U.S.

Trump annouced the postponement a day after 37 members of the Israeli legislature sent a letter to Netanyahu calling on him to denounce Trump's stance.

A tweet from the Prime Minister Netanyahu's official account said he "rejects Donald Trump's recent remarks about Muslims."

"The State of Israel respects all religions and strictly guarantees the rights of all its citizens," said a subsequent tweet.

German's Minister of Economy, Sigmar Gabriel, has lumped Donald Trump together with some of Europe's most far-right politicians, branding them all a "threat" to the world.

"Whether Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen or Geert Wilders -- all these right-wing populists are not only a threat to peace and social cohesion, but also to economic development," Gabriel told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

Marine Le Pen leads the National Front, an anti-immigration party that has seen recent election gains in France. Even Le Pen has suggested, however, that Trump's idea to temporarily ban people from entering a country based on their religion was a step too far.

"Seriously, have you ever heard me say something like that?" she asked a French television interviewer.

Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician who frequently grabs headlines in the Netherlands and across Europe with his anti-Islam stance.

Gabriel's boss, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is on the record as a fan of Hillary Clinton.

Ecuador's long-time, left-leaning President Rafael Correa recently voiced somewhat surprising optimism that Donald Trump could win the U.S. election -- but Trump isn't likely to draw much attention to the endorsement.

Correa said last week that a Trump presidency would be "positive" for Latin America, but only after he said "it would be very bad for the United States."

The Ecuadorean president suggested Latin America's leftist politicians would be invigorated, and possibly make fresh gains, as a reaction to Trump taking control of the U.S. government.

"It is so clumsy his discourse, so base, that it would spark reaction in Latin America," Correa predicted in an interview with Ecuadorean radio.

Asked about the Democratic front-runner, by comparison, Correa said that "for the benefit of the United States, for world peace, obviously a person like Hillary Clinton is far superior. I admire Hillary Clinton very much."

France has suffered tremendously at the hands of Islamic extremists in the past year, and while there is a rising tide of far-right, anti-Islam sentiment in the country, the current government is far more left-leaning.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls in December accused the Republican candidate of fanning hatred by implying that that all Muslims represent a threat to the West.

"Trump, like others, stokes hatred and conflations: our ONLY enemy is radical Islamism," tweeted Valls.

In Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump may have found his biggest international advocate.


The Russian, who forcefully annexed the Crimean Peninsula away from neighbor Ukraine and who is regularly accused of prolonging the bloody war in Syria by coming to the rescue of his other ally, Bashar Assad, has called Trump an "undoubtedly brilliant, talented person."

"He is talking about moving to a different level of relations, a closer, deeper relationship with Russia," noted Putin in December. "How can we but welcome that? Of course we welcome that."



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-welcomes-canadian-prime-minister-takes-shots-over-hockey/

Obama welcomes Canadian prime minister, takes shots over hockey
By REENA FLORES CBS NEWS
March 10, 2016, 10:58 AM

Photograph -- U.S. President Barack Obama (R) shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) during the arrival ceremony at the White House in Washington March 10, 2016. REUTERS
Play VIDEO -- Preview: Prime Minister Trudeau


Comedian-in-Chief Barack Obama sprinkled a heavy dose of humor in his White House welcome of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday morning.

Mr. Obama opened his remarks by noting that Trudeau's trip is the first official visit by a Canadian prime minister in nearly 20 years.

"It's about time, eh?" he said.

The president also gave a nod to the Canadians that Americans encounter in their everyday lives, saying jokingly "they sneak up on you."


While the two neighboring countries have had a friendly relationship over the years, according to the president, "there's some things we will probably never agree on."

He ticked them off: "Who's beer is better. Who's better at hockey."

The last statement drew some boos from the audience.

"Where's the Stanley Cup right now?" the president questioned in response. "I'm sorry, is it in my hometown with the Chicago Blackhawks?"

But Mr. Obama was not alone in poking fun at the two nations' hockey competition.

When Trudeau spoke, he got a few jabs in as well.

"Speaking of exports, we know with certainty that there's a high demand for Canadian goods down here," the prime minister said. "The few that come to mind that President Obama just rightly recognized as being extraordinary contributors to the American success story is Jonathan Toews ...Duncan Keith and Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks."

Mr. Obama and Trudeau, who is in Washington, D.C. for an official State dinner, also recommitted their two countries to expanding their climate change efforts.

The two North American leaders pledged to take a "leadership role internationally in the low-carbon global economy over the coming decades," according to a joint statement Thursday.

The White House unveiled a new effort Thursday to regulate methane emissions from oil and gas facilities, which EPA chief Gina McCarthy has said were "upwards of 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the planet."

The heads of state also promised to do more in preserving Arctic biodiversity and committed once more to agreements reached during last year's Paris climate talks.

"With this visit, I believe that the United States and Canada can do even more together," Mr. Obama said Thursday. "Even more to protect our countries and our communities -- especially in the Arctic -- from climate change, just as we acted together at Paris to reach the most ambitious agreement in history to fight climate change."


These articles are too long for me to excerpt selections as I usually do, so just read or scan them for yourself. It is enough to show that the whole world is watching this great political showdown, which is only partly between Donald Trump and most Americans, even Republicans. I don't think they hate him for his ideas, so much as the fact that he doesn't play their loyalty game. Of course, he has now actually asked his crowd of followers to put their hands in the air and PLEDGE their support to him. The whole spectacle is unnerving, and I don't like the game of "footsy" that he is playing with Putin. He really should understand that Putin will chew him up and swallow him if he gets involved in the Russian game.

I am very glad to see that we are talking issues over with Canada. On the PM's semi-jocular comment that Canada has some attractive places for Americans to come to, that doesn't surprise me. A number of comments on Google Plus and elsewhere have already voiced the serious contemplation of our simply leaving the US. I would be loath to do that. I would rather work to start an underground movement of decent citizens to overturn the bad boys who are trying to crack down on our democratic way of life.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/attorney-james-crawford-face-slammed-into-courthouse-bench-during-brawl-in-santa-ana/

Attorney speaks out after alleged courthouse brawl
CBS NEWS
March 10, 2016, 7:37 AM

Photograph -- James Crawford's eye is now black and blue and swollen shut. He alleges that the man responsible is an investigator with the Orange County District Attorney’s office. CBS LOS ANGELES
Video -- Defense Attorney James Crawford Alleges ….



SANTA ANA -- A defense attorney says he was shaken up Wednesday after an argument on the tenth floor of a courthouse in Santa Ana turned physical, CBS Los Angeles reports.

"He made some obnoxious comment about, 'Defense attorneys can't be trusted and are sleazy,'" said James Crawford, who says that that's how the incident started. He claims the incident ended with his face slammed into a courthouse bench with punches flying.

His eye is now black and blue and swollen shut. He alleges that the man responsible is an investigator with the Orange County District Attorney's office.

"You're supposed to have trust in law enforcement and here they are overreaching, going over the edge, abusing their authority," said Crawford.

Crawford went straight to his own attorney's office with a bloodied shirt after the incident played out inside the courthouse earlier in the day. A juror in an unrelated case snapped a photo of blood on the tenth floor.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department says no one has been arrested but they are still investigating.

When asked if he threw a punch, Crawford replied: "no, not at all."

Crawford has called out the D.A.'s office before.

Two weeks ago, he helped secure a new trial for a murder suspect, arguing that the D.A.'s office illegally used informants.

When asked if he thought his involvement was somehow related to the brawl, he replied: "I could only guess. I don't know what he was thinking."

The investigator accused in the incident hasn't said much, but the Orange County District Attorney's office released the following statement:

"The Orange County District Attorney's Office (ODCA) is fully cooperating with the Orange County Sheriff's Department (OCSD) as they continue to investigate the incident this morning, March 9, 2016, at the Central Justice Center between an OCDA Investigator and a court-appointed private attorney. When the investigation is complete, the matter will be referred to the California Attorney General's Office for a legal review."

Tom Dominguez, president of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriff's -- which represents district attorney investigators and supervising district attorney investigators from the O.C. DA's office -- also released a statement that said:

"There were many independent bystanders in the hallway who witnessed exactly what happened in the courthouse. Criminal defense attorney James Crawford's one-sided version is simply not true. A careful investigation will reveal the true facts. We are cooperating fully in that investigation and we look forward to the actual facts being released publicly."

But Crawford isn't waiting for criminal charges. He says he plans to sue to county.

"He should resign. He is not law enforcement," Crawford said.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oc-defense-attorney-attacked_us_56e0acbae4b0b25c9180bc8d

Defense Attorney Says He Was Savagely Beaten By An Employee Of Orange County DA's Office
Matt Ferner
National Reporter, The Huffington Post
03/09/2016 10:42 pm ET | Updated March 10, 2016
Photograph -- Matt Ferner/HuffPost


After he mentioned the ongoing jailhouse informant scandal, the DA's investigator "lost it" and started "punching his lights out," his attorney says.

James Crawford, defense attorney in Orange County, California, claims that a district attorney investigator attacked him outside of a court room.

ORANGE, Calif. -- A criminal defense attorney in Orange County, California, claims that an investigator working for Orange County's beleaguered District Attorney's Office attacked him in a courthouse hallway Wednesday morning after he referenced the county's ongoing jailhouse informant scandal.

Defense attorney James Crawford was at a courtroom at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana this morning. When Crawford approached a witness to advise them on their rights, a verbal altercation began between Crawford and the DA's investigator, Crawford's attorney told The Huffington Post.

Crawford's attorney, James Steering, says the DA's investigator continued to interfere with Crawford's attempts to advise his client. Crawford repeatedly asked the investigator to back down, and the altercation escalated, Steering said, when Crawford mentioned the allegations of misconduct stemming from the county's jailhouse informant program.

Steering said the DA's investigator "lost it," rushed Crawford and began "bashing his brains out" on a bench in the hallway and "punching his lights out."

After he delivered several blows to Crawford's head, Santa Ana Police officers finally pulled the investigator off of Crawford.

Steering says he intends to file a civil lawsuit over the attack.

On Wednesday, the DA's office would not comment on any specifics about the attack, but said that they are "fully cooperating" with the Orange County Sheriff's Department as it investigates the "incident that took place."

OCSD confirmed that an altercation took place, but told HuffPost that no one was in custody over it and that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Crawford, with blood still dripping from his nose, told HuffPost from his office in Orange that in his 22 years as an attorney, he's never heard of or experienced anything like this before.

Crawford just last month won a new trial for his client Henry Rodriguez when a judge ruled county prosecutors illegally withheld jailhouse informant evidence. Rodriguez has spent the past 15 years in state prison for the double murder of a pregnant Fullerton woman and her unborn daughter in 1998.

"Two weeks ago, I get Henry a new trial and this week the DA office's investigators are assaulting me," Crawford said.

Tom Dominguez, president of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, said in a statement that Crawford's "one-sided version" of events was false.

"A careful investigation will reveal the true facts," Dominguez said. "We are cooperating fully in that investigation and we look forward to the actual facts being released publicly."

Multiple murder cases have already been derailed by revelations out of Orange County's formerly secret jailhouse informant network, some accused murderers have even walked free, and Rodriguez's case is just the latest to be caught in the fallout.

But Rodriguez likely won't be the last. While it remains unclear how many cases may be affected by tainted informant evidence, Deputy Public Defender Scott Sanders has argued that any murder case in the county from the last 30 years in which an informant was used deserves to be re-examined. Sanders first unearthed the alleged violations within the county's secret jailhouse informant program, as well as internal records from the program that may have been improperly concealed for decades.

With regard to informant evidence, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has maintained that no one in his office intentionally behaved inappropriately.

This story has been updated to include comment from the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs.



CBS -- "He made some obnoxious comment about, 'Defense attorneys can't be trusted and are sleazy,'" said James Crawford, who says that that's how the incident started. He claims the incident ended with his face slammed into a courthouse bench with punches flying. His eye is now black and blue and swollen shut. He alleges that the man responsible is an investigator with the Orange County District Attorney's office. "You're supposed to have trust in law enforcement and here they are overreaching, going over the edge, abusing their authority," said Crawford. …. When asked if he threw a punch, Crawford replied: "no, not at all." Crawford has called out the D.A.'s office before. Two weeks ago, he helped secure a new trial for a murder suspect, arguing that the D.A.'s office illegally used informants. …. Tom Dominguez, president of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriff's -- which represents district attorney investigators and supervising district attorney investigators from the O.C. …. Criminal defense attorney James Crawford's one-sided version is simply not true. A careful investigation will reveal the true facts. We are cooperating fully in that investigation and we look forward to the actual facts being released publicly." But Crawford isn't waiting for criminal charges. He says he plans to sue to county. "He should resign. He is not law enforcement," Crawford said. …. When the investigation is complete, the matter will be referred to the California Attorney General's Office for a legal review."


Huffington Post -- “Crawford's attorney, James Steering, says the DA's investigator continued to interfere with Crawford's attempts to advise his client. Crawford repeatedly asked the investigator to back down, and the altercation escalated, Steering said, when Crawford mentioned the allegations of misconduct stemming from the county's jailhouse informant program. …. OCSD confirmed that an altercation took place, but told HuffPost that no one was in custody over it and that an investigation into the incident is ongoing. Crawford, with blood still dripping from his nose, told HuffPost from his office in Orange that in his 22 years as an attorney, he's never heard of or experienced anything like this before. Crawford just last month won a new trial for his client Henry Rodriguez when a judge ruled county prosecutors illegally withheld jailhouse informant evidence. …. Multiple murder cases have already been derailed by revelations out of Orange County's formerly secret jailhouse informant network, some accused murderers have even walked free, and Rodriguez's case is just the latest to be caught in the fallout.”


This is an ugly and surprising breakdown in the usual collegial courtroom relationships. If the DA’s office did in fact behave illegally, there should be more in the news, such as some criminal charges or the promised law suit by Crawford. I always believe in the right to competent counsel for the defendant no matter what the offense, and it is just pointlessly offensive for the DA investigator to hurl insults at Crawford. Either they are both seeing the same woman or the DA’s office is holding a grudge big time.

The issue, it turns out from the Huff Post article, is a serious breach in justice by Orange County, in the form of a long term pattern on the part of the Da’s Office to use jailhouse “snitches” who have received deals for their testimony with the result that their evidence may not be truthful, and sometimes,as now, the DA is found to have withheld that evidence from the defense. I know from watching Perry Mason that’s a big NoNo because it deprives the defense attorney of information which by law he is supposed to have in order to complete his defense case. That isn’t unheard of, unfortunately, but maybe this time it will cause some changes in court practices, at least in Orange County, especially if it becomes eventually a Supreme Court case. It has directly to do with civil rights, and should be stopped!


SOME GOOD NEWS


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/teacher-creates-gentlemans-club-to-help-young-boys-with-life-lessons/

Teacher creates "Gentleman's Club" to teach life lessons to boys
CBS NEWS
March 9, 2016, 4:52 PM

Photograph -- Students apart of the "Gentleman's Club" pose with Raymond Nelson (upper left) at a South Carolina elementary school. CBS AFFILIATE WCSC
Video -- Live5News.com | Charleston, SC | News, Weather, Sports


CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A teacher in South Carolina is going above and beyond to help young boys in his community become young gentlemen, reports CBS affiliate WCSC.

Every Wednesday nearly 60 students at Memminger Elementary School dress for success and meet for the "Gentleman's Club."

Raymond Nelson is the student support specialist at Memminger Elementary in Downtown Charleston, South Carolina. He works with at-risk children and over winter break thought of an idea to teach his students life lessons.

"I was thinking maybe if I have the boys dress for success," Nelson said to WCSC. "When was the last time you saw someone fighting in a tuxedo?"

Nelson started The Gentleman's Club. Their motto is: "Look good, feel good, do good."

Every Wednesday, dozens of first through fifth graders walk into class in their Sunday's best.

"I know a lot of them struggle because a lot of them don't have men at home, so I just want them to grow up and think of the things that I teach them," Nelson said. "They like the reaction of walking up to classrooms and say, 'Oh, you look so nice and handsome,' they just love it."

Nelson even keeps a stash of donated jackets, vests and ties at school for kids who don't have their own.

"A lot of my students perform well when they know someone cares about them," Nelson said.

Each week they discuss a new topic like how to shake hands, make eye contact, open doors and address their elders.

Nelson told WCSC because some of the younger boys are still at the age where they consider girls to have "cooties," he bases his lessons and examples off how they would treat sisters, mothers and their teachers.

At his mother's request, Nelson said he joined a similar group as a child.

"It helped me to be a better man and I could spread the knowledge to the young boys," he said.

The Gentleman's Club has been so successful at Memminger that Charleston County School District officials say they want other local schools to begin Gentleman's programs in their schools.



“Every Wednesday nearly 60 students at Memminger Elementary School dress for success and meet for the "Gentleman's Club." Raymond Nelson is the student support specialist at Memminger Elementary in Downtown Charleston, South Carolina. He works with at-risk children and over winter break thought of an idea to teach his students life lessons. …. Nelson started The Gentleman's Club. Their motto is: "Look good, feel good, do good." Every Wednesday, dozens of first through fifth graders walk into class in their Sunday's best. …. Nelson even keeps a stash of donated jackets, vests and ties at school for kids who don't have their own. "A lot of my students perform well when they know someone cares about them," Nelson said. Each week they discuss a new topic like how to shake hands, make eye contact, open doors and address their elders. …. At his mother's request, Nelson said he joined a similar group as a child. "It helped me to be a better man and I could spread the knowledge to the young boys," he said. The Gentleman's Club has been so successful at Memminger that Charleston County School District officials say they want other local schools to begin Gentleman's programs in their schools.”


This is something that has been needed for years. When I was young most girls took “Home Economics,” and many kids of both sexes joined clubs like Future Teachers and Debating, working for the school newspaper and of course there were the Band and Glee Club. Many things like that have been eliminated as “unnecessary expenses,” as the availability of education funding has progressively diminished. In those days the schools considered it their rightful place to teach good citizenship, and that didn’t mean a set of right wing “conservative” views. That view was available to the students, but it wasn’t mandatory, nor was any religious training.

That’s because, more and more, Republicans have been cutting off funds from both the federal and the state levels. We feel the loss in the quality of our society; some things are worth the money, after all. I would like to see something similar to this club for the girls as well. Kids, especially as they become sexually mature, become more emotionally excitable, more assertive, and more self-confident if they are mentally healthy. If they aren’t taught good manners, human decency, empathy and a healthy mental outlook as well, the result will be very negative.

Schools unfortunately have ended up simply applying harsher “discipline” and even police guards in the schools. That is not only a sad turn of events, but the wrong direction for educators to go. When I was young teachers and community leaders always used to talk about sports participation as “building teamwork and character.” It may build teamwork, but it often doesn’t build character, and not all forms of teamwork are good ones. It takes a gentler approach to build character, and unfortunately at that age, kids have to be taught kindness and respect or they will devolve into the kind of gangs that we tend to have today. Do any of you remember The Lord of the Flies?




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/california-mountain-lion-mauled-koala-los-angeles-zoo/

Mountain lion eyed in koala mauling at Los Angeles Zoo
CBS NEWS
March 10, 2016, 10:53 AM

14 Photos -- The mountain lion known as P-22 is seen in Los Angeles' Griffith Park in this November 2014 picture provided by the National Park Service. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Video -- Mountain Lions of LA
Play VIDEO -- Mountain Lions of L.A.


LOS ANGELES -- A koala living at the Los Angeles Zoo has been mauled to death by a predator, CBS Los Angeles reports.

According to the zoo, the endangered animal was found dead outside of its pen Thursday morning. The koala's age was unclear.

Officials believe the koala may have been mauled to death by an infamous 7-year-old, 130-pound mountain lion known as P-22, who has become the mascot of the city's Griffith Park.

It is possible that P-22 crept into the zoo, dragged one of the koalas out of the exhibit and left it for dead.

"Unfortunately, these types of incidents happen when we have a zoo in such close proximity to one of the largest urban parks in the country," Deputy Mayor Barbara Romero said in a statement. "... The koalas have been removed from their public habitats for now and other animals are being moved to their night quarters when the zoo closes."

A city councilman said the mountain lion may need to be relocated.

"Regardless of what predator killed the koala, this tragedy just emphasizes the need to comtemplate [sic] relocating P-22 to a safer, more remote wild area where he has adequate space to roam without the possibility of human interaction," City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell said in a statement.

"P-22 is maturing, will continue to wander and runs the risk of a fatal freeway crossing as he searches for a mate," O'Farrell said. "As much as we love P-22 at Griffith Park, we know the park is not ultimately suitable for him. We should consider resettling him in the environment he needs."

The investigation is ongoing.



“According to the zoo, the endangered animal was found dead outside of its pen Thursday morning. The koala's age was unclear. Officials believe the koala may have been mauled to death by an infamous 7-year-old, 130-pound mountain lion known as P-22, who has become the mascot of the city's Griffith Park. …. The koalas have been removed from their public habitats for now and other animals are being moved to their night quarters when the zoo closes. …. "P-22 is maturing, will continue to wander and runs the risk of a fatal freeway crossing as he searches for a mate," O'Farrell said. "As much as we love P-22 at Griffith Park, we know the park is not ultimately suitable for him. We should consider resettling him in the environment he needs."


Our local Florida panthers are an endangered species. Just as in California, they sometimes come into a city or suburban area. I’m of mixed minds about that kind of thing. I am afraid that any wild animal – though they don’t usually do so – may attack a human. The fact that they are incredibly beautiful, though, wins me over to their side. Go to the website and watch the video mentioned above. I’m glad that wildlife experts are going to such trouble to preserve the environment of species that otherwise would simply cease to be. Thank goodness for American liberal thinking.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/student-who-tricked-teen-into-sending-sexual-pics-gets-jail/

Student who tricked teen into sending sexual pics gets jail
AP March 10, 2016, 1:38 PM


SALEM, Mass. -- A Saudi Arabian man who befriended a Massachusetts teen online by posing as a teen girl himself has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in jail for tricking her into sending him explicit photos that he later gave to her family.

The Salem News reports that a judge at Wednesday's sentencing of 21-year-old Abdulrahim Altalhi said he will likely be deported. Altalhi was a student at the University of Evansville in Indiana. He will also have to register as a sex offender.

Altalhi's lawyer blamed his client's actions on a "cultural divide."

Altalhi pleaded guilty to attempted extortion and child enticement, among other charges.

Prosecutors say Altalhi demanded explicit photos from the 15-year-old Danvers girl and sent an image to her family when she refused to meet more of his demands.


“A Saudi Arabian man who befriended a Massachusetts teen online by posing as a teen girl himself has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in jail for tricking her into sending him explicit photos that he later gave to her family. The Salem News reports that a judge at Wednesday's sentencing of 21-year-old Abdulrahim Altalhi said he will likely be deported. Altalhi was a student at the University of Evansville in Indiana. He will also have to register as a sex offender. …. Prosecutors say Altalhi demanded explicit photos from the 15-year-old Danvers girl and sent an image to her family when she refused to meet more of his demands.”


I’m sure there is no “cultural divide here,” just the same old male urges that unfortunately sometimes are directed against underage kids of both sexes. I’m so glad to see that he was caught, will probably be deported and will have to register as a sex offender. We need prosecutions every time on this kind of crime. If I had a kid I would install one of those devices that prevents him/her from logging on to anything other than acceptable sites, or better still, monitor his keystrokes. It’s impossible to watch every single thing they do online without such a measure. A lot of parents nowadays “respect” their child’s wishes by trusting them fully, but from what I know of teens and preteens, I wouldn’t do it. The dangers in outer society are far greater now than when I grew up in our small, quiet industrial city. The times have changed to such an extent that I’m continually shocked by what I see in the news. Parents, beware!



http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/03/10/468717169/female-farmers-find-fame-and-fortune-on-reality-tv-show

Female Farmers Find Fame And Fortune On Reality TV Show
Malaka Gharib
Updated March 10, 20162:11 PM ET
Published March 10, 20169:37 AM ET

Photograph -- Monica Maigari, a Female Food Heroes contestant from Nigeria, is visiting Washington, D.C., for the first time on a trip sponsored by Oxfam. She says NPR's rooftop garden, where she is pictured, is "great for carrots and tomatoes." Matailong Du/NPR
YouTube -- Carolina Chelele is a contestant on a popular reality TV show. It's not about dating, housewives or survival. It's about ... farming. Specifically, farming by females.


She and her competitors have each been given a bag of mortar and a single seed. The cameras are rolling. Thousands of dollars in prizes are on the line. The producers ask them: How do you plant it?

Ready? Set? Go!

Some farmers planted the seed directly in the mortar (in case you're not sure what mortar is, it's a mix of sand and cement). Others mixed the mortar with soil or mud. But Chelele, 49, sat back. She didn't touch the stuff.

"This challenge is impossible," she said.

She was correct, of course — you can't plant a seed in mortar. Water would just make it harden and set around the seed, which would have no room to grow.

Chelele's agricultural smarts (and common sense) helped her beat 14 other female farmers and win season 5 of Tanzania's Female Food Heroes last August.

The show, sponsored by the international charity Oxfam, was created to show Africans just how valuable hard-working, experienced female farmers like Chelele are — even though they're not reaching their full potential.

Women make up 53 percent of Tanzania's small crop producers, but produce, on average, 14 percent fewer crops per acre than plots managed by men, which means they earn less money. This is because they lack access to credit, labor and fertilizer, factors essential to productivity, according to a report from the One Campaign and the World Bank.

Despite the serious subtext, Female Food Heroes takes a lighthearted approach. The farmers compete in all kinds of tasks over a 21-day period: selling goods on the side of the road, repairing mud walls and vaccinating goats. Viewers help determine the winner by voting for their favorite contestants.

Since the TV version of the program, Mama Shujaa wa Chakula, began airing in Tanzania in 2011, the show, in partnership with East Africa TV, has reached about 37 million viewers throughout the region, says Oxfam. And each season, nearly 3,000 female farmers vie for one of the 18 to 20 spots on the TV show.

The idea for the initiative came about after campaigners at a regional Oxfam meeting in Africa decided they needed to change how people were talking about female farmers. "A lot of what we were doing for smallholder women farmers wasn't having an impact," says Eluka Kibona, who manages Oxfam's involvement with the show.

They wanted less of a "pity party" and more of a "celebration that would give them the status they deserve," she adds.

And that's exactly what the program is doing: transforming female African farmers into advocates for agriculture issues.

Chelele, who won Season 5 of Female Food Heroes in Tanzania, has become a community leader. In addition to the grand prize, which included about $10,000, 7 acres of land, and farming and fishing tools, she says in an email to NPR that she has "generated a small amount of fame, which is wonderful."

Now that she's a winner, the mother of four and the sole provider for her household educates family members and other people in her village about different farming methods. A few times a month, she goes on the local radio station. People call in and ask her about her experiences as a farmer and a women's rights advocate. She answers questions like "How do I learn to make manure?" "How did I modernize my farming technique?" and of course, "How do I get on the show?"

Since the television show began in Tanzania, Female Food Heroes competitions and award ceremonies — which Oxfam describes as kind of like a "beauty pageant" — have been held in Ethiopia and Nigeria. But the program, which started in 2012, has its own set of winners, judges and contestants. Unfortunately, it's not aired on TV.

The contestants don't seem to mind — they're just glad they have a chance to win. Monica Maigari, an energetic 59-year-old farmer, was the first-runner-up in Nigeria's 2014 Female Food Heroes challenge.

On top of winning $1,000, which she used to buy land, there are other perks. She's currently in Washington, D.C., helping Oxfam lobby Congress on U.S. legislation to improve global humanitarian response and give local groups the tools and resources they need to act when disaster strikes — an idea that Maigari can stand behind.

And now that she's become a leader in her village — where "even the men" respect her, she says — she will use her power to help female farmers. She wants them to learn how to read and write, learn how to use the machines that will pack their food in containers for supermarkets, and get their foodstuffs registered and vetted in Nigeria's version of the FDA.

Don't even get her started on mangoes. "They drop down and we cannot preserve them; they just go to waste," she says. "It's a serious problem. They rot and we cannot sell them at the market."

Maigari, who visited NPR this week, noticed our building's rooftop garden, looking pretty dead thanks to winter, and happily gave us some good advice.

She likes that our box garden is "well-manured," and says it would be great for carrots, tomatoes and spinach. But no more than four kinds of crops, she says — that way NPR can "grow enough to sell at the market."



“The show, sponsored by the international charity Oxfam, was created to show Africans just how valuable hard-working, experienced female farmers like Chelele are — even though they're not reaching their full potential. Women make up 53 percent of Tanzania's small crop producers, but produce, on average, 14 percent fewer crops per acre than plots managed by men, which means they earn less money. This is because they lack access to credit, labor and fertilizer…. The idea for the initiative came about after campaigners at a regional Oxfam meeting in Africa decided they needed to change how people were talking about female farmers. "A lot of what we were doing for smallholder women farmers wasn't having an impact," says Eluka Kibona, who manages Oxfam's involvement with the show. They wanted less of a "pity party" and more of a "celebration that would give them the status they deserve," she adds. …. And now that she's become a leader in her village — where "even the men" respect her, she says — she will use her power to help female farmers. She wants them to learn how to read and write, learn how to use the machines that will pack their food in containers for supermarkets, and get their foodstuffs registered and vetted in Nigeria's version of the FDA.”


“Maigari, who visited NPR this week, noticed our building's rooftop garden, looking pretty dead thanks to winter, and happily gave us some good advice. She likes that our box garden is "well-manured," and says it would be great for carrots, tomatoes and spinach. But no more than four kinds of crops, she says — that way NPR can "grow enough to sell at the market."

What a great story! Not only are people across the nation of Tanzania being educated on the subject of how to farm, and how women can get respect from their family and neighbors, but this is a thoroughly happy story. I do wish “reality TV” in this country would be so genuinely realistic and useful, not to mention 100% more interesting. We need ways in this country for the average person to have some means of making money. Karl Marx said that the workers should “own the means of production.”

It would be interesting if poor people here would set about making a product and selling it at the farmer’s markets that do exist in most American cities. Some of our fairly widespread poor mental hygiene would improve, and so would cooperation and human kindness. I think our trend toward racial hatred and other negative emotions would diminish if our self-esteem were to rise. When a group of people feel discouraged they often look for a scapegoat. It must be somebody else’s fault!



http://www.redstate.com/leon_h_wolf/2016/03/09/donald-trump-says-hes-presidential-candidate-since-abraham-lincoln/

Donald Trump says he’s the most Presidential Candidate since Abraham Lincoln -- Delusional narcissism
By: Leon H. Wolf (Diary)
March 9th, 2016 at 12:18 PM

Video -- Trump speech at Jupiter, FL Trump Headquarters


It’s hard to know where to even start with the delusionally narcissistic things Donald Trump says. The latest hit came last night when he was giving his post-results press conference. He was asked about the ad that shows him using repeated profanity during the course of his rallies and questioned his ability to be presidential. Here’s how Trump responded:

“Trump: I think it’s better than any ad I’ve ever taken for myself. I do. You know why? Let me just tell you why. No, I really mean it. I really mean it. I heard about the ad, then I said, oh, I’m not going to like this. But, when I looked at it… and I could be – by the way, I could be more Presidential than anybody. I can be more Presidential, if I want to be, I can be more Presidential than anybody. You know, when I have sixteen people coming at me from sixteen angles, you don’t want to be so Presidential. You have to win, you have to beat them back, right? And, but, I would say more Presidential, and I’ve said this a couple of times, more Presidential than anybody other than the great Abe Lincoln. He was very Presidential, right?”

Donald Trump has been on the campaign trail since, what, last June? That’s been about nine months now. And he is still telling us things that he can do if he wants to, without ever doing it. He can know more about foreign policy if he wants to. He can know about what judges he’ll appoint, if he wants to. He can be more Presidential, if he wants to. Bottom line is, though, that you have to pass the Donald to find out what’s in the Donald.

Moreover, where does this whiny little boy get off acting like he’s the first front runner to ever be attacked by a crowded field? Literally every Republican front runner in history has been attacked by a bunch of different people and none of them felt like they had to respond by habitually using words that would cause parents of small children to turn off their televisions and radios.


I do hope that the blue collar white old men will begin to see that, despite his claims to the contrary, Trump is so UNpresidential that they will stop rallying around the idiot. More presidential than anyone since Abraham Lincoln?? Think again, Donny!



http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/10/469831485/americas-high-school-graduates-look-like-other-countries-high-school-dropouts

America's High School Graduates Look Like Other Countries' High School Dropouts
GABRIELLE EMANUEL
Updated March 10, 20165:18 PM ET
Published March 10, 201610:45 AM ET


A new study confirms what many Americans already knew deep in their hearts: We're not good at math.

Not only that, but when it comes to technology skills, we're dead last compared with other developed countries.

The PIAAC study — the Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies — looks at the skills adults need to do everyday tasks, whether it's at work or in their social lives.

"Clearly, we have some work to do in this country," says Peggy Carr, the acting commissioner of the government's National Center for Education Statistics. The study compared countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Japan and Finland led the group in literacy, math and technology skills, while the United States' performance was average or well below average in each category.

Literacy

Overall, Americans' everyday literacy skills were average. But if you zoom in and focus on just the young adults, a more complex picture emerges.

Americans who went to college and graduate school did well. They scored above their peers with similar degrees in other developed countries.

For young adults with a high school diploma or less, things did not look so good. These Americans performed significantly worse than those in other countries with the same education level.

"Postsecondary institutions should be happy," says Carr. "But on the other end of the continuum, we have young people coming out of high school — or not graduating from high school — that are struggling with everyday competencies."

Math

Carr says this pattern is even more obvious if you look at the math skills of young adults. This study found that Americans with a high school diploma performed about the same as high school dropouts in other countries.

"We need to think seriously about how to get them functioning better," says Carr.

She offers a sample math problem from the test: You go to the store and there's a sale. Buy one, get the second half off. So if you buy two, how much do you pay?

"High school-credentialed adults, they can't do this task — on average," says Carr.

Technology

When it comes to technology skills, the story gets worse. The U.S. came in last place — right below Poland.

The study looked at basic technology tasks: things like using email, buying and returning items online, using a drop-down menu, naming a file on a computer or sending a text message.

Across the board, Americans performed poorly on these tasks. However, there was a significant racial difference, with nonwhites scoring below whites.

"I don't think we were particularly shocked by that finding," says Carr. She points out that these racial differences are similar to what other national and international studies have found.

She says these findings should be concerning to everyone, especially leaders in the business community and in the K-12 school systems.



“When it comes to technology skills, the story gets worse. The U.S. came in last place — right below Poland. …. "I don't think we were particularly shocked by that finding," says Carr. She points out that these racial differences are similar to what other national and international studies have found.She says these findings should be concerning to everyone, especially leaders in the business community and in the K-12 school systems.” Most white homes have a sufficiently high income to afford at least a refurbished computer, and I’ll bet most impoverished black/Hispanic homes don’t. Kids that have a computer at home can do those things. That really doesn’t matter, though, because those basic computer skills can be taught in an hour with a decent teacher.

As for the lack of literacy, that is a shame, and it’s caused by a number of things. Some that I can bring to mind are: depression related to poverty; a high level of interpersonal abuse that goes along with low societal position; lack of a sufficiently high academic atmosphere in the home and too often in the school itself, as teachers follow the views of the radical right: black people can’t learn. To use the words of Cliven Bundy, black people “might be better off picking cotton.”

In other words, I do not blame low performance on black kids’ IQ – as long as they don’t opt out of studying just because it is “acting white” – but on the sometimes hopeless and/or uncreative teachers, the boring and insufficiently challenging study materials, the ever shrinking school budget, the high number of kids that one teacher has to deal with at a time, the elimination of group activities that increase the self-esteem of kids, the very high level of verbal and physical abuse that goes on between kids, unfortunately even hunger, the lack of firm and gentle parenting, and more. It has been said, even by me, that when a parent and family don’t provide a good learning environment the child has a less promising future in their skills. Unfortunately, it’s true, because if they learn a higher vocal vocabulary level at home they will be able to read better when it’s time for them to learn that. They need to hear words being pronounced with good diction and used correctly. I hear people screaming at me after that comment, but if the parent says, “Ain't you done what I told you yet? Get your damned ass in here and clean the toilet!” rather than, “It’s time to do your chores. you can play the video game later.” It is going to make a real difference in the way a child turns out.

Even without an ever so refined and well-educated upbringing, however, if the parents will simply stress good study practices, and enforce them as necessary without violence, the kids will be able to catch up in their skills by concentrated work. Not even highly intelligent people can learn all they need to know without working at it. Even Einstein had to read to follow his field of physics.

In short, if we are to come from the international bottom in our educational attainments, we will need to rework our whole society, or almost anyway. We could start with groups in every school for the kids like the Gentleman's Club at Charleston, SC in the article above. When a kid shows signs of dropping out or becoming incorrigible, we need to intervene to get him to a mental health professional for individual or group therapy and a mentor program to keep him on the right track.

The parents should be required to participate in this. Yes, I’m saying that we need to force many parents to give the right kind of attention their children. All the kid gets at home is yelling and physical punishment, too often, and no real encouragement or help. We need to go back to nourishing the whole human being rather than merely his intellectual/technical skills in order to pass some test or other. Trust me, they will perform better on our oh so important tests, if we approach it that way. When a kid ENJOYS the act of learning, he will become a good student, because he will voluntarily put in reading time or math practice, etc. We should get rid of No Child Left Behind and perform a more common sense kind of school reform, one that allows room for a human soul to grow and gives special help in class when needed.