May 29, 2016


News and Views


Gorilla Killed To Save Boy At Cincinnati Zoo
MERRIT KENNEDY
May 29, 20169:47 AM ET


After a 4-year-old boy slipped into the gorilla enclosure on a crowded day at the Cincinnati Zoo, a security team killed the gorilla to save the child.

The zoo said in a statement that the boy "fell into the exhibit's moat." A male Western Lowland gorilla was in the yard with the child – and "the Zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team responded to the life-threatening situation and made the difficult decision to dispatch the gorilla (Harambe)."

Harrowing video released by the WLWT television channel shows 17-year-old Harabe handling the child and standing over him in the enclosure's moat. The boy's mother can be heard pleading for help.


WLWT YouTube
The child was rushed to a local hospital and according to the zoo, he was alert while transported. Police said the boy "was treated for serious, but non-life threatening injuries," Cincinnati.com reported.

"The Zoo security team's quick response saved the child's life. We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically-endangered gorilla," Zoo Director Thane Maynard said in the statement. "This is a huge loss for the Zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide."

"You're talking about an animal that's over 400 pounds and extremely strong. So no, the child wasn't under attack but all sorts of things could happen in a situation like that. He certainly was at risk," Maynard tells WLWT.

"All of a sudden you heard this 'Bam,' and you knew they had shot the Gorilla, and you heard the other gorillas just go crazy," Mary Freeman, a zoo visitor from Lexington, told WLWT.

Firefighters tell WLWT that the child "was in between the gorilla's legs at the time of the kill-shot." A tranquilizer shot was deemed "too dicey."

Maynard explains to Cincinnati.com: "In an agitated situation, it may take quite a while for the tranquilizer to take effect. ... At the instant he would be hit, he would have a dramatic response. You don't hit him and he falls over.

Cincinnati Zoo ‎@CincinnatiZoo
Details on sad incident at Cincinnati Zoo today: http://ow.ly/1JTg300GLiX
7:42 PM - 28 May 2016

The zoo says it will open as usual today – but the gorilla exhibit "will be closed until further notice."

This isn't the first time a child has fallen into a gorilla enclosure. But when a 3-year-old child fell into the den at Illinois' Brookfield Zoo in 1996, the story had a very different ending. The female gorilla Binti Jua gently cradled the child and eventually carried him over to paramedics – and it was caught on camera. The boy, who was never identified, reportedly made a full recovery.


I did see the video and the gorilla did drag the boy around by his arm, appearing to be “agitated” as the article said when the crowd began to scream and shout. I understand the keepers’ fear that he would end up hurting the child seriously or even killing him. This is one of those sad stories, though, because not many gorillas are left in the wild. Some zoos are part of breeding programs on many wild animals, so hopefully they are doing that with gorillas also.



https://www.yahoo.com/gma/mom-writes-message-stranger-disciplined-her-child-playground-133403266--abc-news-parenting.html

Mom Writes Message to Stranger Who Disciplined Her Child on the Playground
NICOLE PELLETIERE, Good Morning America
Fri, May 27 6:52 AM PDT

One mom’s blog post is drawing tons of Internet buzz after she thanked a stranger for disciplining her son at the playground.

“My guess is when that mom told my son to knock it off, that might not have been an easy decision to make,” Karen Alpert of Chicago told ABC News. “Most moms are biting their tongue before they tell another kid to stop it.”

She added: “I would like other parents to have that courage and I feel like if another parent does that for me, then, ‘Thank you’ – you deserve the applause for having that courage.”

Alpert, who’s mom to Zoey, 7, and Holden, 4, said it was earlier this week when she brought Holden and his buddy to play on the playground.

While Holden was swinging on the monkey bars with another child, Albert noticed he hadn’t waited his turn. A nearby mom asked him to stop, Alpert said.

“He’s a nice, sweet kid, but he really wasn’t stopping to think about this other child,” she said. “I kind of saw it going on in the corner of my eye. You walk over, and you’re so angry at them for doing that instead of thanking the other parents for helping.”

So Tuesday, Alpert took to her blog babysideburns.com, to show her gratitude for the mom who helped out that day.

The post read, in part:

“Now before I continue, I just want to say that yes, I know I should have been there when this all went down, but unfortunately I was on the other side of the playground with my son’s friend who was crying. So no, I wasn’t there, but does that give you a right to discipline my kiddo? Does that give you the right to talk to him sternly and tell him to knock it off? Does that give you the right to act like you are the person in charge when he is actually MY child?"

"Ummmm, yes. YES IT DOES.”

She added: “I didn’t get the chance to say this today, but THANK YOU.”

The letter received 317,000 Facebook “likes” and a slew of comments in three days.

"Omg! I was almost scared for the same type of blog," one person commented. "I totally agree with this! The beginning sounded like it was gonna go the complete opposite way! LOVE THIS. It takes a village to raise a child."

Another argued: "If there is something my child is doing, by all means politely come up to me and inform me. Disciplining a child without first acknowledging the issue with the parent is largely overstepping the boundary."

Alpert said she was surprised of her post’s going viral.

“I guess it’s a hot-button issue," she said. "It seems to me that most parents agree with this and they realize how difficult parenting alone is and we need to rely on each other.

“[I’ve heard] friends complaining – that not everyone feels this way,” Alpert added. “ … But if your kid is doing something to bother my kid and there’s no parent around, I’m going to say something. Maybe one less child will get hurt physically or emotionally when another parent speaks up.”

Alpert hopes her blog encourages parents to support one another.


This is a great letter. I have wanted to stop a kid from doing naughty things several times. Parents do need to AVOID leaving them alone, though, because a young kid can hatch up and execute some very bad plans while their back is turned. When what the kid is doing is abusive or otherwise dangerous it is very important that they be stopped. Usually words will do it, without a touch.



http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/sanders-vs-the-dnc-will-convention-committee-appointments-backfire

Sanders vs. the DNC: Will convention committee appointments backfire?
By Adam Howard
05/30/16 10:05 AM

RELATED: Sanders’ supporters refuse to bend


Just when you might have thought the Democratic presidential primary race couldn’t get more into the weeds, a new turf war has emerged over who gets to sit on the party’s platform and rules committees at the convention in Philadelphia this summer.

This weekend, Sen. Bernie Sanders called for the DNC to remove to prominent Clinton supporters – Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank – from panels that help determine policy positions and procedures for the Democrats because both men have allegedly displayed “political and personal hostility” toward the Vermont lawmaker.

Malloy, whose state was rocked by the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012, has taken Sanders to task for not being a stronger advocate for gun control. Frank has been even more frank, accusing the senator’s campaign of “McCarthyite” tactics and arguing that “Bernie Sanders has been in Congress for 25 years with little to show for it.”

The DNC has rejected Sanders’ request – which may wind up prolonging an already ugly rift between Sanders and Clinton forces, which appear to be clashing more over process at this point rather than the ultimate primary result. Sanders has long been an outspoken critic of controversial DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and has endorsed her primary opponent Tim Canova.

“Clearly, I favor her opponent,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper earlier this month. “His views are much closer to mine than as to Wasserman Schultz’s. Let me also say this, in all due respect to the current chairperson: If [I am] elected president, she would not be re-appointed chairwoman of the DNC.”

Meanwhile, Clinton holds what appears to be an insurmountable lead in pledged delegates, and Sanders may be beginning to see the writing on the wall. He recently suggested that the Democratic front-runner’s VP pick will play a crucial role in winning his voters’ support and didn’t take his own name out of consideration for the second spot on a general election ticket.

Polls show that Sanders holds considerable leverage over the fate of the Clinton campaign. The former secretary of state, who is currently locked in a dead heat race against presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, would have a substantial lead outside the margin of error should Sanders exit the race and his supporters lined up behind her, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. In the past, Sanders has pledged to provide full-throated support for whoever the Democratic nominee is, in order to prevent a Republican victory in November.

In some ways, Sanders has already scored some significant concessions. He was able to get Dr. Cornel West, one of President Obama’s harshest critics on the left (he’s called him a “Rockefeller Republican in blackface), and James Zogby, a Palestinian rights activist, on the platform committee, although their selections have led to some concern about whether this will lead to a floor fight over the party’s position on Israel.

While Sanders has suggested the party’s convention will be “messy,” he is still holding out hope that he will win the Democratic nomination outright through semi-traditional means. Besides winning the major primary in California on June 7 (a race that appears to be tightening), Sanders will be forced to persuade hundreds of superdelegates (who overwhelmingly favor Clinton) to switch over to his side.

“We’re going to make the case for the superdelegates, ‘Your job is to make sure that Trump is defeated, that Bernie Sanders, in fact, for a variety of reasons, not just polling, is the strongest candidate,‘ “ he told “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd on Sunday.

And while many Democrats have been troubled by the tone of some of Sanders’ attacks on the party’s establishment, others have argued that Sanders has earned the right to play hardball.

“This is exactly what Sanders should be doing,” wrote Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum this weekend. ”He won a lot votes. He has a lot of delegates. He has a substantial following that’s willing to take cues from him. There’s no intelligent politician in the country who wouldn’t use that to push the country in a direction he deeply believes in. Hillary would do the same thing in his position.”



“This weekend, Sen. Bernie Sanders called for the DNC to remove to prominent Clinton supporters – Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank – from panels that help determine policy positions and procedures for the Democrats because both men have allegedly displayed “political and personal hostility” toward the Vermont lawmaker. …. In some ways, Sanders has already scored some significant concessions. He was able to get Dr. Cornel West, one of President Obama’s harshest critics on the left (he’s called him a “Rockefeller Republican in blackface), and James Zogby, a Palestinian rights activist, on the platform committee, although their selections have led to some concern about whether this will lead to a floor fight over the party’s position on Israel. …. “We’re going to make the case for the superdelegates, ‘Your job is to make sure that Trump is defeated, that Bernie Sanders, in fact, for a variety of reasons, not just polling, is the strongest candidate,‘ “ he told “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd on Sunday. And while many Democrats have been troubled by the tone of some of Sanders’ attacks on the party’s establishment, others have argued that Sanders has earned the right to play hardball.”


“The DNC has rejected Sanders’ request – which may wind up prolonging an already ugly rift between Sanders and Clinton forces, which appear to be clashing more over process at this point rather than the ultimate primary result.” Process is the most important thing that needs to change, from Superdelegates over directly earned delegates, and caucuses rather than primaries, to several Sanders haters being on the DNC governing body and committees. One article said that Sanders, who is only recently a Democrat, hasn’t always played nice with others and is considered stubborn about his views and not a team player. Clinton isn’t always nice either, as has been pointed out numerous times, but she is the anointed choice.

The fact remains, however, that the DNC has moved toward the right in order to gain conservative leaning voters, and Sanders, by comparison, is a Democratic Socialist causing conflict. Bill Clinton was in office when a Rightward movement among blue collar workers, especially men, was noted with alarm, as a group called “Reagan Democrats” emerged; and the party decided to compromise their principles in order to win some of them back.

Others point out that it is Koch Brothers contamination. Clinton was accused in one news article recently of CHANGING HER VOTE because of a large donation to her war chest. Whatever the primary cause of the shift is, the Dems aren’t interested in a proper economic and social balance anymore, at least to the degree that I would like. Barney Frank used to be one of the most liberal members of Congress, and now he isn’t, and Ted Kennedy is dead.

In the old days there were unions which, while hated by the business interests, did force them to moderate their influence on wages and prevented layoffs, keeping enough people “in the money” that non-professional citizens successfully bought houses and helped their kids go to college. As a result, we had a growing Middle Class rather than a diminishing one.

Sanders strongly stands up for the progressives and offers concrete aid to the poor and lower Middle Class in the form of a $15.00 an hour minimum wage, free college tuition at state supported universities and a one payer medical program. Those things are expensive but apply directly to the needs of the Middle Class and the Poor. At least if they don’t have those good jobs anymore, they won’t have to live in crippling privation. Their kids can get a college degree.

We don’t have prosperity, not because business isn’t making enough money and the “trickle” isn’t coming down, but because the few jobs that exist in the USA don’t pay enough. Our well-paying industrial jobs are being taken away by technological development, or have been sent overseas, and laws enacted in the last fifteen years or so have cramped the style of unions, which had a powerful influence on business in my day. The jobless situation has improved somewhat, but it’s still a problem. Like the business with Sanders and the DNC, it is a “process” problem. The prosperity grows upward rather than coming down.

Besides there is still hard core poverty in this country despite the “social safety net” which is continually being reduced by “conservatives” in Congress; and the relief systems don’t pay as much as the costs of daily life require. Some members of the legislature make it their daily goal to restrict certain things like Medicaid, SS, and Unemployment, which they consider to be “coddling the poor” who are basically just lazy or stupid. That’s partly because they think that “give away” programs only weaken the lower classes by robbing them of the “incentive” of starvation; and partly because the businesses “can’t afford” to pay well. (That’s why they make millions and nowadays billions of dollars a year on their businesses.)

Bernie is doing the right thing in tackling the DNC upfront, because reform takes struggle. Those in power will not give it up voluntarily in most cases, so Bernie has entered the fray. I’m proud of his courage and persistent vision for a better nation. I’m surprised at how well he has done. He’s the dark horse who comes up from the back and surprises everybody. Go, Bernie!



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hey-hey-the-monkees-are-back/

Hey, hey, The Monkees are back!
CBS NEWS
May 29, 2016, 10:52 AM

Photograph -- the-monkees-good-times-cover-rhino-244.jpg, RHINO RECORDS
Watch: An original music video of The Monkees performing "Pleasant Valley Sunday"
Photograph -- monkees-interview-620.jpg, The surviving members of the '60s TV phenoms - Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork - are back with a 50th anniversary album, featuring newly-recorded songs, and a track with the late Davy Jones. CBS NEWS
22 PHOTOS -- The Monkees


How's that for a blast from the past? Pleasant Valley Sunday by The Monkees. They first swept onto the pop music scene 50 years ago. And though time has claimed one of their number, the others are still very much with us, and talking with Anthony Mason FOR THE RECORD:

In the fall of 1966, four madcap musicians -- a mix of The Beatles and the Marx Brothers -- made their debut on American television. Over the next 58 episodes, "The Monkees" would turn pop culture upside-down.

Half a century later, Mike Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork are still monkeying around.

The Monkees would outsell The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in 1967. Their first four albums went to #1. A "made-for-TV" band, they were assembled by the show's producers, Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson, who put an ad in Variety seeking "four insane boys."

Nesmith was playing at the Troubador when a friend came in and said, "'I just saw this ad in Variety. I think you should go down and try out for it.' So I did. I got the job." He went to the audition in the same knit cap he'd wear for the show.

Dolenz didn't go to the cattle-call; as a child actor he'd had the lead in a show called "Circus Boy."

Tork, a folk singer, heard about the auditions from his friend Stephen Stills, who'd been passed over: "So Stephen had to settle for Crosby Stills Nash & Young. He's never forgiven me!"

Davy Jones, a British actor who'd already had Broadway experience, completed the cast:

Mason asked, "Did the four of you connect pretty quickly?"

"Instantly," said Dolenz. "It was scary."

"There were no duds among us -- except me!" said Tork. "But I wasn't really a dud. I played one on television."

Nesmith recalled, "Bob Rafelson said, 'Well, we coulda hired any four guys.' I said, 'Yeah, but you didn't. You hired us four.' And he said, 'Well, but any four guys could do what you're doin'. I said, 'No, they couldn't have. Because what we are, we bought the force of our character to it.'"

But the boys would butt heads with the show's music producer, Don Kirshner, who used outside session musicians to make The Monkees' first records. "I thought they wanted me to play for them," Tork said. "No, I was mistaken."

"And how did you feel about that?"

"I was mortified. They were doing 'Clarksville,' and I wrote a counterpoint -- I had studied music. And I brought it to them, and they said, 'No, no, Peter, you don't understand. This is the record. It's all done. We don't need you."

Mason asked if there was truth to the story that Jones had once dumped a Coca-Cola on Kirshner's head.

"That was me!" said Dolenz.

"Great moment of life!" Nesmith said, recalling, "I'd lost it. And I think when I lost it, I think it really just made Donnie, 'Oh no, they're laughing at me!'"

"Oh, those silly Monkees!" exclaimed Dolenz.

The fictional band became such a phenomenon, fans wanted to see them live. As Nesmith reasoned, "It was like, 'Well, now what?'"

So the producers finally allowed them to play, and their third album, "Headquarters," was entirely their own.

But critics had already branded The Monkees the "Prefab Four."

"There was a kind of, 'You guys aren't real,'" Nesmith said. "Well, define your terms."

"You were a fake band that became a real band, that wasn't really real?"

"Well, yeah. See, now you're off in the weeds with me! 'Cause I don't know the answer to that question. And Mick doesn't know. And if Peter says he does, he's lying."

"So you felt like a band?"

Tork replied, "Well, you know, it's -- no. Yes. Maybe."

Dolenz offered, "It's like Leonard Nimoy really becoming a Vulcan!"

"Davy was something," said Tork, who called his death completely unexpected. "The youngest of us, to go first."

Nesmith described performing for the first time without Jones: "Micky said, 'Well, how'm I gonna sing 'Daydream Believer?' And I said, 'Well, you can't. It doesn't belong to us anymore. It belongs to them.'"

So the crowd sings "Daydream Believer."
Schlesinger reached out to other indie rock stars who love the band. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie; Britons Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher; and Weezer's Rivers Cuomo have all written songs for the new Monkees record, titled "Good Times!"

"It's a pretty impressive list," Mason said.

"It's a great list, isn't it?" said Nesmith. "And again, me, lucky!"

"You Bring The Summer," from The Monkees' new album, "Good Times!"

They also unearthed an unreleased vintage Monkees track, "Love To Love" by Neil Diamond, that features the late Davy Jones, who died of a heart attack in 2012

"Davy was something," said Tork, who called his death completely unexpected. "The youngest of us, to go first."

Nesmith described performing for the first time without Jones: "Micky said, 'Well, how'm I gonna sing 'Daydream Believer?' And I said, 'Well, you can't. It doesn't belong to us anymore. It belongs to them.'"

So the crowd sings "Daydream Believer."

Mason asked Tork, "You think this could be your last tour?"

"No. We're gonna re-tour again next year. We'll tour 'til one of us drops. Then the other will go on as The Monkee! 'Hey, hey, it's the Monkee! And people say I monkey around...'"

For more info:
monkees.com (Official site)
"Good Times!" by The Monkees (Rhino); available on CD and vinyl, and via digital download (Amazon, Google Play and iTunes)


“The Monkees would outsell The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in 1967. Their first four albums went to #1. A "made-for-TV" band, they were assembled by the show's producers, Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson, who put an ad in Variety seeking "four insane boys." …. The fictional band became such a phenomenon, fans wanted to see them live. As Nesmith reasoned, "It was like, 'Well, now what?'" So the producers finally allowed them to play, and their third album, "Headquarters," was entirely their own. But critics had already branded The Monkees the "Prefab Four." …. Mason asked, "Did the four of you connect pretty quickly?" "Instantly," said Dolenz. "It was scary." "There were no duds among us -- except me!" said Tork. "But I wasn't really a dud. I played one on television." …. "Davy was something," said Tork, who called his death completely unexpected. "The youngest of us, to go first." Nesmith described performing for the first time without Jones: "Micky said, 'Well, how'm I gonna sing 'Daydream Believer?' And I said, 'Well, you can't. It doesn't belong to us anymore. It belongs to them.'" So the crowd sings "Daydream Believer." …. "Davy was something," said Tork, who called his death completely unexpected. "The youngest of us, to go first." Nesmith described performing for the first time without Jones: "Micky said, 'Well, how'm I gonna sing 'Daydream Believer?' And I said, 'Well, you can't. It doesn't belong to us anymore. It belongs to them.'" So the crowd sings "Daydream Believer."


"Daydream Believer," unlike most Rock’ n Roll, was absolutely beautiful, and the Monkeys TV show was hysterically funny. Please do go to the website and watch the video interview with the surviving Monkeys. Put your feet up and think back!



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/alleged-sexual-assault-black-football-player-dietrich-idaho/

Alleged rape of black football player divides Idaho town
CBS/AP
May 30, 2016, 11:33 AM

Photograph -- Dietrich, Idaho High School GOOGLE MAPS
Photograph -- john-rk-howard.jpg, John Howard TARRANT COUNTY JAIL VIA CBS AFFILIATE KTVB


DIETRICH, Idaho - Teaching her children how to peacefully respond to racist comments in a tiny Idaho town was not new for the mother of 20 adopted children, many of whom are black. She often found herself echoing the virtues taught in Dietrich's only church.

Kindness and patience can overcome ignorance in the mostly white, rural community, she told her kids. Forgive. Turn the other cheek.

Then her black teenage son joined the football team. Within months, three of his teammates used a coat hanger to sexually assault him in a school locker room, prosecutors say. The attack came after the woman said she spent months trying to convince school officials that her and her husband's concerns about the repeated racist harassment directed at their children needed to be treated seriously.

The allegations of prolonged racist taunts and physical abuse were revealed this month when the family filed a $10 million lawsuit against the Dietrich School District. It claims the school failed to prevent the abuse even though much of it happened in front of football coaches and school officials.

Three teens have been charged in the Oct. 23 assault: two with felonies in adult court and one in juvenile court. In the lawsuit, the victim contends one of his teammates pretended to want to hug him but instead held him down so 17-year-old Tanner Ward and 18-year-old John Howard could assault him.

CBS affiliate KBOI writes: "The victim said two of the teammates gave him a "power wedgie" before practice on the day of alleged rape. The wedgie tore the victim's underwear. Then after football practice the victim said he was coaxed into hugging a teammate, but when the victim wrapped his arms around his friend, the oldest teen, shoved the hanger up the teen's rectum while the other teen kicked it several times."

Ward has pleaded not guilty, and Howard has not yet entered a plea. The juvenile court case is sealed.

The oldest teen was from Texas and sent to Idaho because of "his inability to keep out of trouble in Texas," according to the lawsuit, reports KBOI.

"Sometimes I wish I hadn't said anything," the mother said. "Then we could have lived a quiet life. But when you're right, you sometimes have to stand alone."

The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual abuse and is withholding the woman's name to avoid identifying her son.

Ward's attorney declined to comment, saying he was court-ordered not to discuss his client's case with the media. Howard's attorney did not return a request for comment.

The victim's mother, who is white, said her son was not alone in experiencing hurtful comments from fellow students. Another son was called the N-word in grade school, a daughter was called "Aunt Jemima," and another child was told by fellow students to "go back to Africa." The school district treated the taunts with indifference, she said.

School officials have repeatedly denied requests for comment from the AP and local media outlets like KBOI. However, other residents of the town that revolves largely around church and school sports say it's a safe and welcoming place. They're stunned by the allegations, but some are unhappy the family took the district to court.

It's not the first time the family has been on the wrong side of local public opinion. The teen's father, a teacher at the school, received an ethics complaint in 2013 for saying the word "vagina" during a biology class. The complaint was eventually deemed unfounded, but the incident made national headlines, and the mother said residents who treated their family with disdain a few years ago have returned with the same anger.

Melissa Towne, 37, who has spent her whole life in the town of about 330 people, says Dietrich is a good place despite the negative attention. People wave at one another as they pass on the mostly gravel roads, and Towne makes it a point to welcome the occasional new neighbor.

"We never had this kind of attention when I was in school," she said. "But I still like it here. We have good people here. I like living in a small town, and so do a lot of people who live here."

Most residents attend church in the simple Mormon building that marks the town's main entrance. Basketball is the favored sport because of a series of state championships, but the high school football program is gaining popularity thanks to a recent winning streak and new equipment donations.

"In this town, it's all about your name and how athletic you are," the victim's mother said.

She and her husband have lived in Dietrich for more than two decades, though many of their children are older and have moved away. Large families and adoptions are common in the Mormon faith.

Most families in Dietrich, about 125 miles east of Boise, tally their time there in decades, not years.

"Everyone who is from here pitches in and helps each other," said Clay Divine, who has lived in the town for more than 30 years. "Those kids were not from here. This is a nice community."

Still, Ward is practically a next-door neighbor in the rural region where the nearest Wal-Mart is 40 miles away. He hails from Richfield, a slightly larger town of about 480 just 16 miles away.

Howard, accused in the lawsuit of being the ringleader in the attack, moved to Dietrich last year from Keller, Texas, a city nestled inside the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area.

But he's related to a Dietrich celebrity - Acey Shaw, a beloved girls' basketball coach who led the team to a record five state championships. The town rallied around Shaw after he contracted a rare bovine disease that stole his ability to walk and most of his ability to talk.

The victim's lawsuit cited that family connection, arguing school officials looked the other way on Howard's behavior because of his relatives.

It also said the victim has mental disabilities, though it does not elaborate. His mother declined to discuss specifics about the boy and the case.

Divine said he felt bad for the victim and understands why the state pressed charges against his teammates. But the lawsuit has given the town another black eye, Divine said, and in the insular community, that offense can be hard to forgive.

"This lawsuit really has people divided," Divine said. "But it happened on the coaches' watch, and this is something that young man is going to have to live with his whole life."

Divine's children grew up in the Dietrich school system, where they played sports and studied hard in a safe environment. He's not sure that's the case now.

"This is a good town for my grandchildren. I just don't think I would send them to the school anymore," he said.

KBOI reports a sister of the victim was detained by police after visiting the school and not announcing her presence to administrators. The family claimed she had visited the school -- where she is an alumnus -- regularly without problems prior to the filing of the lawsuit.

Just down the road, the victim's mother was working in her front yard, waiting for a call back from a real estate agent. After 21 years in Dietrich, they're searching for someplace safer.


“Kindness and patience can overcome ignorance in the mostly white, rural community, she told her kids. Forgive. Turn the other cheek. Then her black teenage son joined the football team. …. The attack came after the woman said she spent months trying to convince school officials that her and her husband's concerns about the repeated racist harassment directed at their children needed to be treated seriously. …. In the lawsuit, the victim contends one of his teammates pretended to want to hug him but instead held him down so 17-year-old Tanner Ward and 18-year-old John Howard could assault him. …. Ward has pleaded not guilty, and Howard has not yet entered a plea. The juvenile court case is sealed. The oldest teen was from Texas and sent to Idaho because of "his inability to keep out of trouble in Texas," according to the lawsuit, reports KBOI. …. The victim's mother, who is white, said her son was not alone in experiencing hurtful comments from fellow students. Another son was called the N-word in grade school, a daughter was called "Aunt Jemima," and another child was told by fellow students to "go back to Africa." The school district treated the taunts with indifference, she said. School officials have repeatedly denied requests for comment from the AP and local media outlets like KBOI. However, other residents of the town that revolves largely around church and school sports say it's a safe and welcoming place. They're stunned by the allegations, but some are unhappy the family took the district to court. …. KBOI reports a sister of the victim was detained by police after visiting the school and not announcing her presence to administrators. The family claimed she had visited the school -- where she is an alumnus -- regularly without problems prior to the filing of the lawsuit.”


"Everyone who is from here pitches in and helps each other," said Clay Divine, who has lived in the town for more than 30 years. "Those kids were not from here. This is a nice community." Still, Ward is practically a next-door neighbor in the rural region where the nearest Wal-Mart is 40 miles away. He hails from Richfield, a slightly larger town of about 480 just 16 miles away.” I love the beauty of rural settings and very small towns, especially if they have old homes that were built in the early 1900s or even earlier.

It is a fact, though, that relative poverty among both blacks and whites is usually the status quo in those places unless the people inherited money, and with that comes social isolation and lack of education. There are very few job sources, after all. I will mention, too, that these people are Mormons, who can be very much closed to outsiders. The victim's mother said "In this town, it's all about your name and how athletic you are.” Whenever I see a high level of stress on athletics, I see less respect for education and a greater amount of violence, especially with football as the sport of choice. In this case both a football coach and another faculty member or two WATCHED the bizarre sexual assault and did nothing. The boys, luckily, were identified and arrested. I just hope this young man will get mental health treatment after the event. Things like that can cause PTSD, not to mention major depression.

It’s a little strange, though, that the victim’s sister was arrested for entering the school without notifying the administration, which had never been a problem before the lawsuit. Unless they thought the sister was spying on the school administration or something like that, it would appear to be simple malice. One of the residents said that some were angry that a suit had been filed because it “gave the town a black eye!” If they don’t want a black eye, they shouldn’t let such things go on without stepping in to stop it. I am glad to see that the two older boys are being tried in adult court. Seventeen and eighteen year-old kids, especially boys, are not children.



http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/05/30/479975975/wwii-veteran-who-fought-to-expose-secret-mustard-gas-experiments-dies

WORLD WAR II SECRET MUSTARD GAS TESTING

WWII Veteran, Who Fought To Expose Secret Mustard Gas Experiments, Dies
CAITLIN DICKERSON
May 30, 2016 9:45 AM ET

Photograph -- World War II veteran Charles Cavell — a test subject in the military's secret mustard gas experiments — at his home in Virginia. Ariel Zambelich/NPR
Photographs -- Charles "Lindy" Cavell could never forget what the U.S. military tried to hide. Cavell fought to bring to light the secret mustard gas testing program he had participated in during World War II and for VA compensation for the test subjects. He died at home Wednesday at 89.
Photograph -- Cavell holds his wife Hilda's hand during a visit to the VA facility in Richmond, Va., in May 2015 for a series of exams to re-evaluate whether he can qualify for disability benefits after being exposed to mustard gas testing during his time in the military. Ariel Zambelich/NPR
Related -- The VA's Broken Promise To Thousands Of Vets Exposed To Mustard Gas
Photograph -- Three test subjects enter a gas chamber, which will fill with mustard gas, as part of the military's secret chemical warfare testing in March 1945. WORLD WAR II SECRET MUSTARD GAS TESTING
Photograph -- While in the Navy, Cavell (center, No. 27), then 19, volunteered for the military's secret chemical testing program in exchange for two weeks' vacation. Ariel Zambelich/NPR. Original photo: Courtesy of Charlie Cavell
Photograph -- While in the Navy, Cavell (center, No. 27), then 19, volunteered for the military's secret chemical testing program in exchange for two weeks' vacation.
Ariel Zambelich/NPR. Original photo: Courtesy of Charlie Cavell
Photograph -- Cavell and his wife, Hilda Cavell, at their home in January 2015.
Ariel Zambelich/NPR


Cavell was featured prominently in an NPR investigation last year that found the Department of Veterans Affairs failed to notify mustard gas test subjects — who had been sworn to secrecy about the testing — of their eligibility for compensation, and routinely denied help to those who qualified for it.

During the last year of his life, Cavell was finally granted additional benefits and some back pay after a 26-year battle with the VA, according to his daughter, Linda Smith.

"I think he felt like he had finally accomplished something, and he was relieved that other service members were being recognized" as a result of the stories he was featured in, Smith said.

Cavell was a 19-year-old Navy recruit fresh out of boot camp in 1945 when a commanding officer offered the chance to participate in a "special program." The officer gave few details, but said volunteers would get two weeks' vacation and an award in exchange for participating.

"We were just a bunch of young kids. We didn't know any better," Cavell told NPR last year.

More than 60,000 Army and Navy troops raised their hands for the experiments, which ranged in severity from a few beads of toxic gas dropped onto the undersides of their wrists, to full-body inundation.

Cavell said when officers ordered him and 11 other test subjects into a heated gas chamber at the Naval Research Laboratories in Washington, D.C., it was too late to back out.

"We had ceased to be volunteers," Cavell told NPR last year.

Officers locked the chamber door from the outside and piped in mustard agent.

The military kept the tests off of the troops' personnel records — and swore the troops to secrecy under threat of dishonorable discharge or court-martial.

Half a century later, in 1990, Cavell and a few other test subjects went public with their stories, pressuring the Pentagon into declassifying the experiments and releasing test subjects from their oaths of secrecy. But even after the secret was out, and despite assurances from the Pentagon and VA, trying to obtain compensation proved futile for many.

The first heart attack hit Cavell at age 40 — and was followed by decades of chronic vascular and respiratory ailments requiring more than 20 operations at the VA hospital near his home in Midlothian, Va. He also developed congestive heart failure and kidney disease.

For decades, the VA refused to cover his medical expenses, saying Cavell hadn't proved his participation in the tests — even though he had more proof than most: From the Navy, he'd obtained copies of the laboratory notebooks from the experiments. They described the tests in great detail, including the temperature and humidity levels inside the gas chamber. Down the left side of the page, the names of test subjects are listed, with Cavell's name written in neat handwriting. But that wasn't enough for the VA.

"They say, 'We need more information,' " Cavell told NPR last year. "It doesn't make sense."

Cavell and his wife, Hilda Cavell, at their home in January 2015.
Ariel Zambelich/NPR

Cavell waged a steady fight for benefits while he worked long hours at the TV repair shop he owned, to support his wife Hilda and four daughters.

"He never wanted us to be involved in any of that. But behind the scenes he was working on paperwork," according to his daughter Linda Smith.

Her father loved people, Smith told NPR, but he was a quiet presence at home. During retirement, he often spent time in the garage, sitting at an old metal desk under fluorescent tube lights, fixing household appliances.

"He didn't share a whole lot. I think the tinkering and working on computers kept the mind away," Smith said.

But sometimes the memories of being inside a gas chamber overcame him.

As part of NPR's reporting on mustard gas experiments during World War II, we put together a searchable database with more than 3,900 test subjects who had "full body exposure" to the gas. Were you or someone you know exposed?

Courtesy of the families

"There was no handle on the door. You couldn't get out," he told NPR last year. "And that's what I have problems with today. If I go to a locked door, I panic sometimes to try to get out."

Cavell's health declined rapidly in the final years of his life, according to his family.

Earlier this month, he chose to go off of dialysis because of the pain.

Five days before he died of kidney failure, he took his final project out to the garage — a white Sunbeam toaster that wouldn't engage — but never got to finish it.

He is survived by his wife, Hilda Cavell, and three daughters — Linda, Mary and Joan. His daughter Margaret died in 2010.

A warm sun blanketed his family at his funeral in Richmond, Va., on Saturday. Two Navy officers folded an American flag and presented it to his wife while a third played taps.

In his obituary, Cavell's daughter Smith wrote that her father "went on a new journey to a place where there are no more wars to fight mentally or physically."

Charles "Lindy" Cavell could never forget what the U.S. military tried to hide. Cavell fought to bring to light the secret mustard gas testing program he had participated in during World War II and for VA compensation for the test subjects. He died at home Wednesday at 89.

Cavell was featured prominently in an NPR investigation last year that found the Department of Veterans Affairs failed to notify mustard gas test subjects — who had been sworn to secrecy about the testing — of their eligibility for compensation, and routinely denied help to those who qualified for it.

During the last year of his life, Cavell was finally granted additional benefits and some back pay after a 26-year battle with the VA, according to his daughter, Linda Smith.

"I think he felt like he had finally accomplished something, and he was relieved that other service members were being recognized" as a result of the stories he was featured in, Smith said.

The VA's Broken Promise To Thousands Of Vets Exposed To Mustard Gas

Cavell was a 19-year-old Navy recruit fresh out of boot camp in 1945 when a commanding officer offered the chance to participate in a "special program." The officer gave few details, but said volunteers would get two weeks' vacation and an award in exchange for participating.

"We were just a bunch of young kids. We didn't know any better," Cavell told NPR last year.

More than 60,000 Army and Navy troops raised their hands for the experiments, which ranged in severity from a few beads of toxic gas dropped onto the undersides of their wrists, to full-body inundation.

Cavell said when officers ordered him and 11 other test subjects into a heated gas chamber at the Naval Research Laboratories in Washington, D.C., it was too late to back out.

"We had ceased to be volunteers," Cavell told NPR last year.

Officers locked the chamber door from the outside and piped in mustard agent.

The military kept the tests off of the troops' personnel records — and swore the troops to secrecy under threat of dishonorable discharge or court-martial.

Half a century later, in 1990, Cavell and a few other test subjects went public with their stories, pressuring the Pentagon into declassifying the experiments and releasing test subjects from their oaths of secrecy. But even after the secret was out, and despite assurances from the Pentagon and VA, trying to obtain compensation proved futile for many.

The first heart attack hit Cavell at age 40 — and was followed by decades of chronic vascular and respiratory ailments requiring more than 20 operations at the VA hospital near his home in Midlothian, Va. He also developed congestive heart failure and kidney disease.

For decades, the VA refused to cover his medical expenses, saying Cavell hadn't proved his participation in the tests — even though he had more proof than most: From the Navy, he'd obtained copies of the laboratory notebooks from the experiments. They described the tests in great detail, including the temperature and humidity levels inside the gas chamber. Down the left side of the page, the names of test subjects are listed, with Cavell's name written in neat handwriting. But that wasn't enough for the VA.

"They say, 'We need more information,' " Cavell told NPR last year. "It doesn't make sense."

Cavell waged a steady fight for benefits while he worked long hours at the TV repair shop he owned, to support his wife Hilda and four daughters.

"He never wanted us to be involved in any of that. But behind the scenes he was working on paperwork," according to his daughter Linda Smith.

Her father loved people, Smith told NPR, but he was a quiet presence at home. During retirement, he often spent time in the garage, sitting at an old metal desk under fluorescent tube lights, fixing household appliances.

"He didn't share a whole lot. I think the tinkering and working on computers kept the mind away," Smith said.

But sometimes the memories of being inside a gas chamber overcame him.

As part of NPR's reporting on mustard gas experiments during World War II, we put together a searchable database with more than 3,900 test subjects who had "full body exposure" to the gas. Were you or someone you know exposed?

Courtesy of the families

"There was no handle on the door. You couldn't get out," he told NPR last year. "And that's what I have problems with today. If I go to a locked door, I panic sometimes to try to get out."

Cavell's health declined rapidly in the final years of his life, according to his family.

Earlier this month, he chose to go off of dialysis because of the pain.

Five days before he died of kidney failure, he took his final project out to the garage — a white Sunbeam toaster that wouldn't engage — but never got to finish it.

He is survived by his wife, Hilda Cavell, and three daughters — Linda, Mary and Joan. His daughter Margaret died in 2010.

A warm sun blanketed his family at his funeral in Richmond, Va., on Saturday. Two Navy officers folded an American flag and presented it to his wife while a third played taps.

In his obituary, Cavell's daughter Smith wrote that her father "went on a new journey to a place where there are no more wars to fight mentally or physically."

Cavell holds his wife Hilda's hand during a visit to the VA facility in Richmond, Va., in May 2015 for a series of exams to re-evaluate whether he can qualify for disability benefits after being exposed to mustard gas testing during his time in the military.
Ariel Zambelich/NPR


“More than 60,000 Army and Navy troops raised their hands for the experiments, which ranged in severity from a few beads of toxic gas dropped onto the undersides of their wrists, to full-body inundation. Cavell said when officers ordered him and 11 other test subjects into a heated gas chamber at the Naval Research Laboratories in Washington, D.C., it was too late to back out. "We had ceased to be volunteers," Cavell told NPR last year. Officers locked the chamber door from the outside and piped in mustard agent. …. Half a century later, in 1990, Cavell and a few other test subjects went public with their stories, pressuring the Pentagon into declassifying the experiments and releasing test subjects from their oaths of secrecy. But even after the secret was out, and despite assurances from the Pentagon and VA, trying to obtain compensation proved futile for many. …. For decades, the VA refused to cover his medical expenses, saying Cavell hadn't proved his participation in the tests — even though he had more proof than most: From the Navy, he'd obtained copies of the laboratory notebooks from the experiments. They described the tests in great detail, including the temperature and humidity levels inside the gas chamber. Down the left side of the page, the names of test subjects are listed, with Cavell's name written in neat handwriting. But that wasn't enough for the VA.”


This really looks like war crimes to me, and then to “accidentally on purpose” fail to notify these men that they were eligible for compensation is simply despicable. “Winning is the only thing” cannot be derived from the Christian religion, yet most Americans who believe in these things claim to be Christians. One flaw in the Christian religion as it being practiced since the 1950s is that it stresses a blind “acceptance” of Jesus’ virgin birth and rising from the dead, while allowing people to do just any kind of crime and then “repent” of it and confess. After that they will be “saved,” unless of course they have doubted the basic truth of the myth!

This shocking news story sounds a great deal like the Tuskegee experiment in which black men were purposely given syphilis, but not TREATED in order to watch, scientifically, the progress of the disease. Another case is the 1970s CIA experiments to test LSD as a truth serum. That story came out when a test subject, unaware he had been drugged and driven mad by his hallucinations, jumped out of a city building, NYC I think, to his death. All these things were not events that happened in Nazi Germany, but the work of the US government. I can see why some people hate and distrust such an opaque and (hopefully occasionally) brutal power structure. The good news is that these things are not the ordinary course of events.

For the LSD story, see the New Yorker article on this website -- http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/high-anxiety-lsd-in-the-cold-war.