April 20, 2016


News and Views


http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/flint-water-crisis/3-officials-charged-over-flint-water-crisis-n559186

3 Officials Charged Over Flint Water Crisis
BREAKING NEWS FLINT WATER CRISIS
by STEPHANIE GOSK, HANNAH RAPPLEYE, TONY DOKOUPIL and TRACY CONNOR
APR 20 2016, 11:13 AM ET

Video -- Flint water crisis brings criminal charges 2:16
Related: Full coverage of the Flint water crisis
Play -- A Timeline of the Flint Water Crisis 1:46
NEXT STORY -- Flint Water Crisis: Up to Three to Face Criminal Charges — Sources
Video -- A Timeline of the Flint Water Crisis 1:46
Related: Michigan Governor Snyder: I Will Drink Flint Tap Water for 30 Days


The man who ran Flint's water treatment plant and two state environmental officials were hit with criminal charges Wednesday for allegedly misleading regulators about the lead crisis.

Warrants filed in court show Mike Glasgow was charged with tampering with evidence and willful neglect while Steven Busch and Michael Prysby are charged with misconduct, evidence tampering and violations of the Safe Water Drinking Act.


Details of the charges are expected to be announced later Wednesday by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who launched a criminal investigation after the discovery of lead in Flint's water sparked a state of emergency and a national focus on water safety.

The three officials were not in court when the charges were read earlier in the day. They were named as:

Mike Glasgow, who ran the Flint water treatment plan. According to public records, he allegedly certified that water samples taken last year were from high-risk homes with lead pipes when they were actually from mostly low-risk homes.
Stephen Busch, a district supervisor for Michigan Department of Environmental Quality who oversaw the drinking water plant in Flint. In February 2015, he assured the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the city's water was being properly treated for corrosion and regularly tested with no unusual results. The state now admits that Flint's water was not being properly treated, and Busch is on paid leave.
Mike Prysby, a former engineer for MDEQ. He allegedly did not respond to a 2014 email from Glasgow that warned Flint was not ready to switch its water source to the Flint River. Making that switch without proper water treatment proved catastrophic. This week Prysby started a new job within DEQ.

Flint's water crisis unfurled after the city stopped using Detroit's water and switched its supply to the river in April 2014, a move that exposed residents to lead-poisoning, Legionnaires' disease, E. coli bacteria and toxic chemical byproducts.

The mess unleashed a wave of lawsuits, triggered calls for Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and EPA administrator Gina McCarthy to resign, became an issue in the presidential campaign, and was the subject of Congressional hearings.

Rep. Elijah Cummings called the criminal charges "one step towards justice for the families of Flint" but said the three men named in the warrants are not the only ones to blame.

"Governor Snyder can hold all the photo ops he wants drinking filtered water now, but that doesn't help the residents of Flint who were drinking poisoned, unfiltered water for more than a year," Cummings said. "The people of Flint deserve accountability for the actions of Governor Snyder and his officials that caused this crisis."

Snyder's office said he had no immediate comment on the charges and did not know whether he would make any statement at all.

As many as three Michigan officials will face criminal charges Wednesday in connection with lead contamination in Flint's municipal water system, multiple government sources said Tuesday.

The sources told NBC News and NBC station WDIV of Detroit that state Attorney General Bill Schuette will announce criminal charges against two employees of the state Department of Environmental Quality and one who works for the City of Flint.

The attorney general's office gave no official indication Tuesday what it would discuss at Wednesday's news conference, where it said Schuette would make a "significant announcement." Among those scheduled to be at the news conference are the Genesee County prosecutor and the chief investigators for the state's Flint water task force.

The development comes the same day that a federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit filed by three Flint residents, ruling that the case is a state matter.

The plaintiffs are seeking $150 million in damages in behalf of about 31,000 Flint residents who paid their water bills and got lead-contaminated water in return. U.S. District Judge John Corbett O'Meara found that the residents had raised no federal issues, giving him no jurisdiction over their complaint.

Numerous members of Congress have called for Gov. Rick Snyder and Gina McCarthy, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to resign over the crisis, which began after Flint switched its water source from Detroit's water system to the Flint River in 2014 to save money.

That water wasn't treated properly, and lead from aging pipes leaked into Flint homes and businesses. Elevated levels of lead — which have been linked to learning disabilities — have been found in local children's blood.



“Rep. Elijah Cummings called the criminal charges "one step towards justice for the families of Flint" but said the three men named in the warrants are not the only ones to blame.” Meanwhile the lawsuit to reimburse citizens for their water bills has been denied as not a federal matter. Unfortunately, Glasgow has received no punishment and is presumably still on the job, Busch is on paid leave (voluntarily or otherwise?), and Prysby has already taken another job. Hopefully Snyder and McCarthy will face some penalty, as the article says that congressional activity is underway. Like a typical cynical politician, Snyder has promised to “drink Flint tapwater for 30 days!” That seems to me as if he is actually making light of the situation. Finally, I wonder what, if any, progress has been made toward making the water safe. Are the authorities still buying bottled water? It seems to me that the thing to do is immediately do the proper chemical treatment that would have made the water less dangerous. I’m glad to see some are going to be tried and hopefully brought to justice, but solving the problem is what I want to see.



http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/harriet-tubman-replace-former-president-andrew-jackson-20-bill-n559251

Harriet Tubman to Replace Former President Andrew Jackson on the $20 Bill
by HALIMAH ABDULLAH
APR 20 2016, 12:46 PM ET
APR 20 2016, 4:19 PM ET

Play -- Are Andrew Jackson's Days on the $20 Bill Numbered? 0:25
Video -- Things You Should Know About Harriet Tubman 1:07
Tubman Portrait: Treasury Department ✔ ‎@USTreasury, The front of the new $20 will bear the portrait of Harriet Tubman, whose life was dedicated to fighting for liberty.
4:01 PM - 20 Apr 2016
Related: Treasury Department to Put a Woman on the $10 Bill in 2020
Video -- Get to Know Harriet Tubman: 'The Moses of Her People' 5:20
Related: Lawmakers Push Bills Campaign to Put a Woman on the Twenty


Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced Wednesday that abolitionist Harriet Tubman will replace former President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.

The long-awaited decision keeps Alexander Hamilton, one of the U.S. founding fathers, on the front of the $10 bill — though suffragists who fought to give women the right to vote will be added to the back of the bill, the Treasury Department confirmed. Suffrage leaders Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul will all be featured.

"I'm very excited by it and I think it's much bigger than just honoring one woman," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told NBC News. "This is about saying that our money is going to tell a much bigger part of our story."

Lew said the back of the $10 will tell the story of women's suffrage more generally with the movement's leaders demonstrating on the steps of the Treasury building.

The back of the $5 will depict famous events from the Lincoln Memorial — such as the historic moment when First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt invited Marian Anderson to sing on the monument's steps because the concert halls in Washington D.C. were segregated. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have Dream" speech, delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, will also be depicted.

The bills will be unveiled in 2020—the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote.

Last year, the U.S. Treasury surprised advocates who were pressing to get a woman on the $20 bill, by announcing a woman would go on the redesigned $10 bill, instead. That plan met with criticism by those who pushed for Jackson to be replaced instead.

"We did this the old fashioned way, we said we were going to listen to the American people and we did. We heard a lot of commentary that a woman should be on the $20, not the $10," Lew told NBC News.

"There was a sense that's the bill that people use the most. If we're really going put a woman on a bill that people see, as being an important statement, it should be the $20."

Hamilton, who has experienced a resurgence in popularity thanks to a hit Broadway production, helped create the Treasury. Fans have been captivated with his life story.

"Hamilton's surge in popularity has been building over time, it didn't just happen now with the Broadway show," said Kari Winter, director of the Gender Institute at the University at Buffalo. "Over the last few years there have been major biographies written about him, so this has been happening for a few years now. Hamilton is a romantic figure in so many ways. He is one of our most interesting founders."

Known as "Moses" to her people, Tubman is famous for helping lead slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. She also helped nurse ill Union troops, helped fight for the end of slavery and was a suffragist who advocated for women to have the right to vote.

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers lauded the choice.

Rep. Luis V. Gutiérrez, D-Illinois, who last year introduced legislation to push the Treasury to put a woman on the $20 bill, said in a statement that the move was a powerful symbol.

"It is crazy that women have been mostly absent from our money up until now, with only a few exceptions," Gutiérrez said in a statement. "Women and men are equal partners in our nation's success and our money should reflect that. Sure, it is only symbolic, but U.S. money is just about as powerful a symbol as there is in this world."

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, was similarly excited.


Go to this website and view the video “Get to know Harriett Tubman.”



ABOUT ANDREW JACKSON AND HARRIET TUBMAN ON RACE AND SLAVERY
(This whole Quora article is interesting. Read for your pleasure.)


https://www.quora.com/Who-was-the-most-racist-U-S-president

Who was the most racist U.S. president?

Jon Pennington, U.S. history is more than the watered-down version you got in high school. Jon is a Most Viewed Writer in History of the United States:

If we're talking about antagonism to multiple races, then Andrew Jackson was the most racist. Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia is filled with racial tropes that unfortunately still influence American racist thinking today, but he had a much more favorable view of Native Americans than Jackson, who defied the Supreme Court to dispossess Native Americans of their land and implement the genocidal Trail of Tears. In addition, Jefferson tended to be apologetic about his support of slavery, whereas Andrew Jackson was probably the only U.S. president who thought of slavery as an actual positive good. Andrew Johnson's enabling of the racial violence that occurred in the Reconstruction-era South was more a sin of omission than a sin of commission the way Jackson's Trail of Tears was. Woodrow Wilson's decision to increase segregation in the federal civil service was a major step backward in white-black race relations, compared to Teddy Roosevelt or William Howard Taft, but Wilson's policies didn't have a racial body count in the way that Andrew Jackson's did.
Written Feb 21, 2015 • View Upvotes




http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/suicide-bid-leads-german-cops-daughter-locked-years-n559046

Suicide Bid Leads German Cops to Daughter Locked Up 'for Years'
by CARLO ANGERER
APR 20 2016, 9:02 AM ET

Image: Rosenheim, Police officers stand in front of the apartment block in Rosenheim, Germany. SVEN HOPPE / AFP - Getty Images



MAINZ, Germany — A mom kept her adult daughter locked up in a small room "possibly for years," according to German police.

The 26-year-old woman was found living in "shocking circumstances" in a trash-filled apartment in Rosenheim, Germany, on Tuesday.

She was only discovered when her 54-year-old mother was severely injured after plunging several stories down the building's stairwell. The older woman was about to be evicted and investigators believe she was attempting to take her own life.

Fabian Bernhardt, a police spokesman, told NBC News that officers subsequently discovered the woman behind a locked door in the rundown dwelling.

"Her physical state was shocking," Bernhardt said. "Colleagues have reported inhumane conditions inside the room and in the whole apartment ... Based on preliminary findings we assume that the daughter was in the room for a longer stretch of time, possibly for years."

The younger woman is believed to be autistic but was still being evaluated by doctors on Wednesday. It was unclear when she might be able to be questioned by police, Bernhardt added.

Investigators continued to search the premises and question neighbors Wednesday morning as they tried to determine how long the daughter had lived there.

The woman's mother potentially faces unlawful imprisonment charges.



Can’t we find some worse description and punishment for this kind of crime? “Unlawful imprisonment?” This isn’t the first story I’ve heard through my life, either. One woman actually kept her unwanted daughter in a closet. When she was found the girl was mentally disabled, possibly because of being confined in that way, or possibly by nature. Going back through literature there are stories, most memorable, “Jane Eyre” by Bronte. Before mental hospitals some families, when they had a child or wife or any family member with a mental disability, they literally locked them away to prevent their doing damage to others, or even to prevent the shame to the family that insanity brought in those days. Whatever was going on in this case, it is deeply sad.



http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/byu-student-says-school-punishing-her-reporting-rape-n558511

BYU Student Says School Is Punishing Her for Reporting Rape
by CORKY SIEMASZKO
APR 20 2016, 3:49 AM ET

Photograph -- Madi Barney for her BYU: stop punishing victims of sexual assault Care2 petition. Madi Byner / ThePetitionSite.com


A Brigham Young University sophomore claims she is being punished by her own school — for reporting to cops that she had been raped.

Madi Barney, 20, who has gone public with her allegations against the conservative Mormon-run school, told the Salt Lake Tribune that BYU is now blocking her from registering for classes and she has filed a sexual discrimination complaint with the feds.

A spokeswoman for the Provo, Utah-based university insisted that was not the case.

"While I cannot talk about an individual case, I can assure you that we would never put a hold on a student's registration because she reported her rape to the police," BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins told NBC News.

There was no immediate confirmation that Barney filed the complaint on Monday from the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

"As a policy, we don't confirm the receipt of complaints publicly," an official there said.

Barney was allegedly raped in September during a date in her off-campus apartment by 39-year-old Nasiru Seidu, who has been arrested and charged with sexual assault, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Seidu had used a fake name, lied about his age, and did not tell Barney he was married, according the paper.

Two months later, Barney was notified that BYU has launched an Honor Code investigation into her.

BYU, which is a private school run by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, bars students under its Honor Code from, among other things, having premarital sex, same-sex dating, drinking alcohol — or even being in the bedroom of someone of the opposite sex.

It later turned out that the school got wind of the alleged rape after a Utah County sheriff's deputy named Edwin Randolph had turned over the police report to BYU.

"He knew that the victim in the case could receive disciplinary action based on the information contained within the report," prosecutors said in court records obtained by the paper.

Since Barney's ordeal began, nearly 75,000 people have signed an online petition asking that BYU give students who report being raped immunity from Honor Code investigations.

"I am a survivor of rape, and now BYU has put my academic future on hold due to their allegations that I broke the Honor Code in the circumstances of my assault," Barney said in the petition. "I want victims of sexual violence at BYU to have an immunity clause from the Honor Code so that they don't feel afraid to report."

On Monday, BYU president Kevin Worthen insisted "we care deeply about the safety of our students."

"A victim of a sexual assault will never be referred to the Honor Code Office for being a victim of sexual assault," Worthen said in a statement. But, he added, "sometimes in the course of an investigation, facts come to light that a victim has engaged in prior Honor Code violations."



http://www.thepetitionsite.com/503/967/285/byu-stop-punishing-victims-of-sexual-assault/

BYU: stop punishing victims of sexual assault
BY: Madi Barney
TARGET: Brigham Young University

91,200 SUPPORTERSGOAL
95,000
overview petition

Update #2 17 hours agoFull Update ▾

Join Care2 for a demonstration in front of BYU on Wednesday at 12 PM. More info: http://bit.ly/1NxX6cu. Care2 will provide signs and teal armbands for sexual assault awareness. We will then walk up to the administration building and give the President of BYU a physical copy of this petition. So many of you live in Utah and some of you are even BYU alumni - your attendance would have a huge impact to support students like Madi. Join us to tell BYU not to punish victims of sexual assault. Thanks!

Update #1 3 days agoFull Update ▾

The prosecutor on my case has asked the Honor Code Office to hold off on investigating because it would interfere with my case, but BYU doesn't care. The only reason BYU is investigating is because my rapist's friend, who is also a police officer, gave my rape report to them to get back at me. Please share my petition with everyone you know, we can't let BYU get away with revictimizing me and interfering with my case. http://bit.ly/1VbhZ59

About This Petition

I was raped, and I waited four days to report because I was so terrified about my standing at BYU. Brigham Young University has a strict honor code that prohibits actions such as premarital sex, alcohol or drug use, and even being in the bedroom of someone of the opposite sex. I am a survivor of rape, and now BYU has put my academic future on hold due to their allegations that I broke the Honor Code in the circumstances of my assault. I want victims of sexual violence at BYU to have an immunity clause from the Honor Code so that they don’t feel afraid to report.

When I sought out resources from BYU, the Title IX coordinator told me that there wasn’t enough proof of the assault to grant me those resources. She also informed me that the Honor Code Office is putting a hold on my academic career by not allowing me to register for any future classes. But this crime is going to trial, my rapist has been charged, and my rapist has confessed in a recorded phone call. I am shocked that the person whose job it is to help victims like me are doubting me and threatening me with retribution. Dealing with this hostile environment has been upsetting, re-victimizing, and discouraging, to say the least.

It’s clear to me that BYU is not on my side. I don’t deserve punishment for choosing to report my rape to the police. But now I have to deal with a criminal trial and an honor code investigation. I don’t want anyone to have to go through what I'm experiencing now. That's why I’m insisting BYU creates a way for victims to come forward without being reported to the Honor Code Office.

My case is not unique. Women have been put on probation and even kicked out of school for circumstances of their rapes and sexual assaults.

I spoke up at a sexual assault awareness event at BYU last week. In response, Title IX official Sarah Westerberg defended her choice to deny me services and to initiate an Honor Code investigation against me. She recognized that the honor code has a “chilling effect” on reporting of rape and that Title IX “does not apologize for that.”. I felt like I was being treated not as the victim, but as a perpetrator. BYU has made it clear that victims will be punished if they report sexual violence. That's a huge reason why so many survivors are afraid to come forward and contributes to why BYU’s rape and sexual assault numbers are inaccurately low. Without an immunity clause, BYU will continue to be a hostile environment for rape victims, and that emboldens offenders and shames victims.

I can only imagine how many rape survivors have not gotten justice or help to heal because it might hurt their academic standing.

I demand that BYU amends their practices and create an immunity clause so that victims can come forward without fear of retribution. Sign my petition to tell BYU to put an immunity clause in place right now!



"I am a survivor of rape, and now BYU has put my academic future on hold due to their allegations that I broke the Honor Code in the circumstances of my assault," Barney said in the petition. "I want victims of sexual violence at BYU to have an immunity clause from the Honor Code so that they don't feel afraid to report." BYU, in this article, is implying she may have had “prior honor code violations,” which were not mentioned specifically in her case; but the article does say that having a person of the opposite sex present in her room could be an honor code violation.

A situation almost exactly like this was in the news a year or two ago occurring in the military, with the rape victim being encouraged -- threatened with demotion as I remember -- to keep silent about it. One reason for that was that some of the rape victims were being harassed or assaulted by their superior officers, and they were not allowed to make a complaint without that same officer’s permission! I think that was changed after the news on this came out. The primary reason for that oppression of the individuals’ rights, I believe, was that the power structure – which is still gender based -- of the military itself was in the habit of having complete control of the situation, and didn’t want to have to defend itself or make CHANGES to their policies. It’s disgusting.

When I was going through school, colleges, especially when owned by a religious organization, were very strict on how girls were to conduct themselves. In loco parentis, it was called. It’s the same old story here. I’m glad to see that this woman, first, went to the police and not to her college administration, and second, is fighting back through the news and this online petition above, which is to be presented to the BYU officials when it is completed. She is going for 95,000 signatures and has 93, 000. Go to the website and add your signature!



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-grisham-hopes-new-book-the-tumor-could-advance-medical-technology-focused-ultrasound/

John Grisham on why he's giving his new book away for free
CBS NEWS April 20, 2016, 7:04 AM

Related: Ultrasound replaces scalpel for some tumor ops
Related: Ultrasound prostate cancer treatment may reduce side effects, study shows
Play VIDEO -- John Grisham sounds off on real-life justice, Hollywood, his favorite novel character
Related: John Grisham: E-books will be half of my sales
Related: John Grisham's "Sycamore Row" revisits "A Time to Kill" character


"I don't view my books as important. I view my books as entertainment - first and foremost, it's entertainment."

That's how best-selling author John Grisham feels about his legal page-turners that have entertained millions of readers. He's sold more than 300 million copies of his books worldwide, even inspiring several blockbuster movies like "The Firm" and "The Pelican Brief."

But now, for the first time, Grisham has written a book that he calls "important" - so important in fact, he's giving it away for free, reports CBS News correspondent Chip Reid.

Grisham's books can normally be found in the mystery section, but this latest book - which he calls a "non-legal thriller" - would probably be found on the medical shelf. It explores the promise of modern healthcare and the tool that could change how we battle dozens of disease, through the story of a husband and father who is diagnosed with a brain tumor.

"'The Tumor' is the only book I've written that has the potential of advancing some technology that will have a profound impact on the lives of millions of people," Grisham said.

Just 47 pages long, the book has two endings. In the first, he's treated with radiation and lives less than a year. But in an alternative ending, he lives around five or 10 years because he's treated with something called "focused ultrasound."

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation is based at the University of Virginia. Grisham is on the board. But he decided he could have a much bigger impact by writing a non-legal thriller than by doing what board members usually do.

"I've learned a very valuable lesson -- is when I ask somebody for money, it normally doesn't take very long for them to return the favor," Grisham said.

Focused ultrasound is a non-invasive, outpatient medical treatment that targets diseased tissue with multiple beams of ultrasound energy with extreme precision. So far, it's approved by the FDA to treat prostate tumors, uterine fibroids and bone metastases, but it could eventually be approved to treat dozens of diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and a long list of cancers.

Grisham met Dr. Neal Kassell, a retired brain surgeon, 15 years ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, where they both live. Kassell, who runs the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, asked Grisham to join the board.

"One of the key impediments to the development and adoption of the technology is the lack of awarenes," Kassell said. "Well, it turns out that we have a celebrity on our board who's got a brand, who can tell a story, and who has a following."

Still, Kassell admits the technology is in its infancy and ongoing clinical trials need years of more data to prove the procedure's effectiveness.

"It may not work. It needs to be demonstrated. But for malignant brain tumors, it's only going to be able to improve longevity," Kassell said. "For benign tumors, it'll be an alternative to surgery and radiation therapy and forms of chemotherapy. It may have no value, compared to traditional forms of treatment. It has to be proven."

Grisham is well aware of the hurdles ahead, but the potential to improve the lives of millions keeps him going.

"After 37 books or 38 books, I can look back and say, 'yeah that was a good one. I'm proud of that book,'" Grisham said. "Others I can look back and say 'well I'm not sure about that one.' I'll never do that with 'The Tumor'... because it is what it is. If it finds a much bigger market, if it finds people to push our research to get us there, that's the purpose of the book."

One downside of the promising technology is that it is not cheap. Grisham puts the price at $75,000 in his book, and it is currently not covered by insurance.

Grisham and Kassell hope that will change as its use becomes more common.


One of my most favorite books is Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone, the non-fiction story that was so well researched and dramatically written that it was almost a horror story. Perhaps this story The Tumor will be similar. At any rate, it should be a fiction book that contains real information on science, which always appeals to me. And is this book actually free? Well, the Amazon Kindle version is, and the description says that it can be played on any device. It may be time for me to buy the least expensive e-reader that I can find.



http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/elephant-gets-hoisted-crane-after-falling-over-zurich-zoo-n559016

Elephant Gets Hoisted by Crane After Falling Over at Zurich Zoo
by ANDY ECKARDT
APR 20 2016, 8:18 AM ET

Image: Druk is lifted by a crane; A crane was used to lift Druk after she fell at Zurich's zoo on Tuesday. Robert Zingg / Zoo Zuerich
Image: Druk after being helped up by members of the fire department, Druk gets back on her feet. Robert Zingg / Zoo Zuerich
Image: Members of Zurich City Fire Department attempt to help Druk up; Firefighters tried to help Druk up. Robert Zingg / Zoo Zuerich


MAINZ, Germany — A 49-year-old elephant needed a crane to get back up on her feet after falling over while "goofing around" at a Swiss zoo on Tuesday.

Druk weighs more than 3 tons and is the oldest mammal at Zurich's zoo. "Druk tripped over ... because her eyesight is not so good anymore," senior zoo curator Robert Zingg told NBC News.

She was playing with much younger members of her herd when she took a tumble and was too weak to stand up on her own.

The elephant cow has never given birth but "has for many years been playing an important role as a leader and social aunt in the herd," according to zoo officials.

"She was eating well this morning and we very much hope that she will be able to recover," Zingg added.

Druk arrived at the zoo in 1968, just a year after she was born in the kingdom of Bhutan. Elephants typically live 45 to 50 years in captivity.

Zingg said the zoo could not rule out euthanizing the pachyderm, if "we detect any signs that she is suffering."



I think of elephants as being too big and ungainly to “play,” though I did see on one of my nonfiction videos a baby elephant cavorting around and squealing like any puppy or kitten. Apparently, like human adults, wild animals do have a sense of fun and humor that comes out from time to time. One of my other videos has a horse joyously pursuing and bumping a large rubber ball around in his paddock. The truth is that animals, mammals anyway, have a wider range of mental activity than we normally see. One of the most important discoveries of the modern laboratory psychologists who explore animal intelligence and activities is that it is clear to me how much alike mammals are. Even birds have more intelligence than people thought when I was young. The cold-blooded animals, not so much, of course. That's why I don't want a snake as a pet. One of my favorite Youtube videos is of a black bear in someone’s back yard lying on his back with his legs up, obviously lounging in the family’s hammock. He relaxed like that for at least several minutes before he decided to get out and go on about his business. He had some more garbage cans to raid, I guess. I can only think he must have seen the owner of the hammock use it, because I can't imagine he would be bright enough to figure that out for himself.