August 1, 2016


News and Views


http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/Bernie-Sanders-opens-up-to-Bill-Maher-about-emotional-moment-during-Philly-DNC.html

News — Real Time
Bernie Sanders opens up to Bill Maher about emotional moment during Philly DNC
Updated: JULY 30, 2016 — 9:40 AM EDT
by Rob Tornoe, Staff Writer

Photograph -- Camera icon CSPAN, Bernie Sanders choked up when his brother, Larry, spoke about their parents during the roll call at the Democratic National Convention.

On Thursday night, Sanders was called out by many media outlets for looking “positively miserable” while Hillary Clinton thanked him during her speech during the Democratic National Convention.

"Bernie, your campaign inspired millions of Americans, particularly the young people who threw their hearts and souls into our primary," Clinton said as the camera cut to a stoic Sanders. "You've put economic and social justice issues front and center, where they belong."

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On HBO's ‘Real Time’ Friday night, Bill Maher brought up the incident, noting the Vermont senator “didn’t look too happy” and compared him to “a husband sitting [outside] the waiting room while the wife tries on clothes.”

Maher contrasted Sanders’ emotionless reaction to Clinton’s compliment to a moment that happened on Tuesday during the DNC. During the convention’s roll call vote, Sanders began to cry when his brother, Larry, took the microphone and offered a short but impactful message about their parents, Eli Sanders and Dorothy Glassberg Sanders.

“They did not have easy lives, and they died young,” a teary-eyed Larry Sanders said. “They loved the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt, and would be especially proud that Bernard is renewing that vision.”

“What my brother reminded me of is how my parents, who died young, might have felt at that moment,” Sanders told Bill Maher on Friday’s HBO’s ‘Real Time,’ explaining he and his brother grew up in a family that didn’t have a whole lot of money.

“My father dropped out of high school, my mother never went to college,” Sanders revealed. “I think the idea that their son might be a serious candidate for president of the United States is nothing they ever would’ve dreamed of. That’s what struck a chord in me.”

Maher also pressed the 74-year-old Sanders on the idea of running for president again, saying he disagreed with MSNBC host Chris Matthews that people in their 70s are “just dribbling down to the last few days of their life.”

“Four years from now is a long time,” Sanders replied, noting he planned on running for re-election to his Senate seat in Vermont in two years.”

“You’re not too old to run again,” Maher repeated. “Think about it.”

Watch the full interview.


“What my brother reminded me of is how my parents, who died young, might have felt at that moment,” Sanders told Bill Maher on Friday’s HBO’s ‘Real Time,’ explaining he and his brother grew up in a family that didn’t have a whole lot of money. “My father dropped out of high school, my mother never went to college,” Sanders revealed. “I think the idea that their son might be a serious candidate for president of the United States is nothing they ever would’ve dreamed of. That’s what struck a chord in me.”


Bill Maher is a good guy, but I think he could have spared Sanders the slight embarrassment that this moment probably caused him. On the other hand, maybe he accepts himself as a human being very well, enough that he didn’t seem at all defensive about it. The video is a very good one. Clearly Maher likes him very much.



HILLARY CLINTON, WARTS AND ALL – VERY GOOD READING. I READ IT YEARS AGO WHEN IT WAS FIRST PUBLISHED. HOPEFULLY IT IS NOT 100% FACTUAL. THE AUTHOR WAS OBVIOUSLY A REPUBLICAN.

https://www.amazon.com/Bill-Hillary-Marriage-Christopher-Andersen/dp/0688167551

Bill and Hillary: The Marriage (9780739405161): Christopher Andersen
https://www.amazon.com/Bill-Hillary-Marriage-Christ...
Amazon.com, Inc.
Amazon.com: Bill and Hillary: The Marriage (9780739405161): Christopher Andersen: Books. ... Bill and Hillary: The Marriage Hardcover – August 3, 1999. by ... Christopher Andersen (Author) .... American Evita: Hillary Clinton's Path to Power ... William Morrow; 1st edition (August 3, 1999); Language: English; ISBN-10: ...

August 3, 1999
by Christopher Andersen

They are, by any definition, one of history's most remarkable couples: he the irrepressible country-boy populist oozing ambition and Southern charm, she the brilliant lawyer with a taste for power and, in the end, an unshakable allegiance to the man in her life. Together, Bill and Hillary Clinton scaled the heights of power and prestige, only to have his wantonly reckless behavior bring them to the brink of personal and political ruin. Despite the billions of words that have been written about Bill and Hillary, the true nature of their relationship remains a jealously guarded secret.
Until now. In the manner of his headline-making #1 New York Times bestseller The Day Diana Died and his bestselling books about another President and First Lady, Jack and Jackie and Jackie After Jack, Christopher Andersen draws on important sources - many speaking here for the first time - to take readers on a fascinating journey inside the world's most talked-about marriage. Among the revelations:

--The stormy clash between the President and the First Lady when he finally confessed his adultery to her.

--Never-before-known details of their courtship, the real reason they stay together, and their bizarre links to Jack and Jackie Kennedy.

--From Barbra Steisand to a Miss America to Sharon Stone and Monica, the hundred of women in Bill's life - and how Hillary has handled them.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/gold-star-families-donald-trump-letter-apology-khan/

Families of fallen veterans slam Trump as "offensive, and frankly anti-American"
CBS NEWS
August 1, 2016, 9:22 AM

Play VIDEO -- Breaking down Trump comments on Khan family
Play VIDEO -- Trump under fire for feud with fallen soldier's family, Putin ties


Donald Trump's ongoing feud with the family of a fallen veteran over their appearance at the Democratic National Convention has drawn the ire of others that have lost loved ones to war.


In an open letter, several Gold Star families, a reference to families who have had a loved one die in service to the nation, called on the Republican presidential nominee to stop his attacks on the family of U.S. Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq in 2004 and posthumously awarded a Bronze Star for his actions.

The soldier's father, Khizr Khan, gave a blistering denunciation of Donald Trump at last week's Democratic national convention. The Gold Star father said Trump new nothing about sacrifice, which the candidate then insisted he did.

Trump then questioned his wife Ghazala Khan's non-speaking role at the convention and suggested that it was because their Muslim faith prevented her from talking.

Ghazala Khan fired back, saying in a op-ed: "I cannot walk into a room with pictures of Humayun. Walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. Does [Trump] really need to wonder why I did not speak?"

The letter from Gold Star families said Trump's response to all that has been hurtful.

"Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant, and personally offensive to us," reads the letter, which was put together Karen Meredith, a Gold Star mother who serves as Military Families Coordinator for VoteVets.org. "When you question a mother's pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice."

Trump broke a political taboo by going after the Khan family, and the outcry against it has been swift in reply. However, the Trump campaign has offered a vigorous defense of the candidate's attacks on the Khans, and this is not the first time he has attacked a war veteran's character.

Last July, Trump said that Sen. John McCain was only considered a war hero because he was captured - and seemed to mock him for that fact. There was widespread condemnation of his comments, and he never fully apologized for them, yet he went on to win the GOP nomination.

The full text of the Gold Star families' letter to Trump is below.

August 1, 2016

Donald J Trump

725 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10022

Mr. Trump,

We are all Gold Star Families, who have lost those we love the most in war. Ours is a sacrifice you will never know. Ours is a sacrifice we would never want you to know.

Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant, and personally offensive to us. When you question a mother's pain, by implying that her religion, not her grief, kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice.

You are not just attacking us, you are cheapening the sacrifice made by those we lost.

You are minimizing the risk our service members make for all of us.

This goes beyond politics. It is about a sense of decency. That kind decency you mock as "political correctness."

We feel we must speak out and demand you apologize to the Khans, to all Gold Star families, and to all Americans for your offensive, and frankly anti-American, comments.

We hope you will hear us.

Sincerely,

Diane and Neil Santoriello, Mother and Father of 1LT Neil Santoriello, KIA, Iraq

Summer Lipford-Mickelson, Mother, Frederick Sirko, Father, Kirby Mickelson, Stepfather, Laura Sirko Samimy and Bridget Sirko Gentle, Sisters of PFC Steven Sirko, KIA, Iraq.

Sue and Randy Loudon, Mother and Father of 2ndLt. Christopher Loudon, KIA, Iraq

Melanie House, Widow of HM3 John Daniel House, KIA, Iraq

Derek and Lorene Davey, Mother and Father of Cpl. Seamus M. Davey, KIA, Iraq

Celeste Zappala, Mother, and Raphael Zappala, Brother of SGT. Sherwood Baker, KIA, Iraq

Sue Niederer, Mother of 2LT Seth Dvorin, KIA, Iraq

Fulvio and Gilda Carbonaro, Father and Mother of Sgt. Alessandro Carbonaro, KIA, Iraq

Karen Meredith, Mother of 1LT Ken Ballard, KIA, Iraq

Sergio Torres, Father, Lupe Torres, Mother and Beatriz Saldivar, Aunt of SGT Daniel Torres, KIA, Iraq

MG (Ret.) Paul D. Eaton, and Frank Eaton, sons of Col. Norman Eaton, KIA, Vietnam

Stephanie Fisher, mother of SSG Thomas Fogarty, KIA Afghanistan

Norma and Oscar Aviles, parents of Lcpl. Andrew J. Aviles, KIA Iraq

Cheryl Lankford, widow of CSM Jonathan"Miles"Lankford Sr., KIAIraq

Carlos and Melida Arredondo Father & Step-Mother to Lcpl. Alexander Arredondo, KIA, Iraq

Florence Sandra Penn , sister of 1 LT Charles Penn Jr , KIA Korea

Nadia McCaffrey, mother of SGT Patrick McCaffrey, KIA Iraq



Excerpt -- “Trump then questioned his wife Ghazala Khan's non-speaking role at the convention and suggested that it was because their Muslim faith prevented her from talking. Ghazala Khan fired back, saying in a op-ed: "I cannot walk into a room with pictures of Humayun. Walking onto the convention stage, with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. Does [Trump] really need to wonder why I did not speak?" …. Last July, Trump said that Sen. John McCain was only considered a war hero because he was captured - and seemed to mock him for that fact. There was widespread condemnation of his comments, and he never fully apologized for them, yet he went on to win the GOP nomination.”



Trump is another of those politicians who are more than merely free-thinkers, they have a definite case of “foot in mouth” disease. He goes a step farther over the line than most, however, because he is so full of negativity that it is making him really unpopular AND FEARED. George W Bush wasn’t vicious, and neither is Joe Biden, so their tendencies to speak off the top of their heads isn't so bad. The way things are going, I really don’t think he will be elected over Hillary, despite all of the Republican-stoked hatred that has been heaped on her shoulders. He makes more enemies every time he fails to resist the urge to say something else, and that is working against him. We will soon see how it plays out now. It's almost November.




THE FOLLOWING FIGURES SHOW HILLARY AHEAD BY MORE THAN JUST A FEW POINTS, BUT THAT ISN’T ENOUGH FOR ME. I DO WISH SHE HAD NOMINATED SANDERS AS HER VICE PRESIDENT, OR AT LEAST ELIZABETH WARREN. THE DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP NEEDS TO TAKE FULL ACCOUNT OF THE PROBLEM THAT THEY HAVE WITH MOST OF THEIR FOLLOWERS. THEY HAVE STOPPED WORKING ON THE PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS, AND HAVE GONE FOR THE EASY WAY TO GAIN VOTES, THROW BIG BUSINESS MONEY AT IT!


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/campaign-2016-did-hillary-clinton-get-a-post-convention-bump/

Did Clinton get a post-convention bump?
CBS NEWS
By Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto
August 1, 2016, 7:00 AM

Image -- screen-shot-2016-08-01-at-7-16-39-am.png, When leaners are included - voters who are undecided when initially asked their vote preference but lean toward a candidate - Clinton leads Trump by six points.
Image -- screen-shot-2016-08-01-at-7-13-00-am.png, Clinton got a four-point bounce after her party's convention, compared to a two-point bump for Trump after his convention.
Related: Trump, Muslim family trade barbs over convention address
Charles Koch: "I can't support either candidate"


Hillary Clinton has received a bump in support after the Democratic convention and has now pulled ahead of Donald Trump.

Forty-six percent of voters nationwide say they'll vote for Clinton in November, while 39 percent say they'll back Trump. The race was tied last week after the Republican convention. Clinton led by a similar margin in June.

When compared to previous Democratic presidential nominees, Clinton's bounce is similar to those President Obama got in 2012 and 2008, but short of the 13-point bounce her husband, Bill Clinton, received in 1992. In 2000, support for Al Gore rose 10 points after the Democratic convention, but he went on to lose a close race that fall.

Clinton also retains her lead when Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson is added.

Voters who back a candidate remain firm in their support. Nine in 10 Clinton and Trump voters say their minds are made up about their candidate.

In the wake of the Democratic convention, positive views of Hillary Clinton have risen five points among registered voters, from 31 percent a week ago to 36 percent today. Unfavorable views of Hillary Clinton have dropped six points: from 56 percent to 50 percent.

Over half of voters continue to hold an unfavorable opinion of Donald Trump. Although Trump received a slight bounce in his favorable rating after the Republican Convention, now just 31 percent view him favorably - similar to what was recorded before his party's convention.

After the conventions, Clinton has expanded her lead with women, but she still trails Trump by a large margin among men. Clinton continues to get the support of more than eight in 10 Democrats and has seen an uptick in support among liberals. The race among independents is even; Trump led among this group last week.

Trump maintains his advantage among whites without a college degree, while Clinton has an edge among whites with a degree.

Earlier this month, two-thirds (67 percent) of those who backed Bernie Sanders during the primaries said they would vote for Clinton in November. After the Democratic convention, and a motion by Sanders himself to have Clinton selected as the nominee, her support among Sanders voters has risen to 73 percent.

This poll was conducted by telephone July 29-31, 2016 among a random sample of 1,393 adults nationwide, including 1,131 registered voters. Data collection was conducted on behalf of CBS News by SSRS of Media, PA. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones.

The poll employed a random digit dial methodology. For the landline sample, a respondent was randomly selected from all adults in the household. For the cell sample, interviews were conducted with the person who answered the phone.

Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish using live interviewers.

The data have been weighted to reflect U.S. Census figures on demographic variables.

The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The margin of error for the sample of registered voters is three points. The error for subgroups may be higher and is available by request. The margin of error includes the effects of standard weighting procedures which enlarge sampling error slightly.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.


NEW ISIS VIDEO (DEFINITELY NOT GOOD NEWS.)


Heavy.com, view video here, but no story.
www.rt.com below gives the story, only. http://uatoday.tv/politics/kremlin-comments-on-isis-video-threatening-russia-708001.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/live/video/eye-opener-august-1-2016/

http://heavy.com/news/2016/08/new-isis-islamic-state-daesh-amaq-news-pictures-videos-russia-russian-moscow-threat-terrorism-full-uncensored-youtube-video-mp4/

WATCH: ISIS Declares Jihad on Russia
Published 8:36 am EDT, August 1, 2016 Updated 11:04 am EDT, August 1, 2016 4 Comments By S.J. Prince 3.5

In a new video purportedly released by the Islamic State, ISIS militants emphasize their call for Islamist terrorism in Russia by threatening Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin, and Moscow. The video was shared on ISIS terrorist channels on July 31 from “Wilayat al-Furat,” or the “Euphrates province” of the so-called Islamic State. Wilayat al-Furat is north of Wilayat al-Anbar, Iraq and borders Syria.


https://www.rt.com/news/354105-russia-isis-threats-putin-terrorism/

Alleged ISIS video threatens Putin, Russia with attacks
Published time: 1 Aug, 2016 05:18

READ MORE: Putin orders start of Russian military withdrawal from Syria, says ‘objectives achieved’
Read more: © AFP10,000 ISIS fighters in Afghanistan ‘trained to expand to Central Asia, Russia’
READ MORE: Syria-like crises await in Central Asia & Caucasus – Russian defense minister
READ MORE: Russian passport found in Syria leads RT to ISIS militant’s home (EXCLUSIVE)


A newly-released video attributed to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) urges jihadists to stage attacks in Russia. The threat comes amid Russia’s repeated warnings that IS terrorism in Syria and Iraq could soon spread to other parts of the world.
While its authenticity could not be confirmed, Reuters reported that the video is thought to have come from the terrorist group’s Telegram account.

A 9-minute subtitled video shows armed militants launching attacks on vehicles and tents, as well as replenishing arms supplies somewhere in the desert. The footage ends with one of the masked militants encouraging the group’s supporters to mount attacks on Russian soil, while personally threatening President Vladimir Putin.

The alleged IS members did not elaborate on why Russia had been designated as its next “target,” however.

The danger posed by the looming return of radicalized IS recruits from Syria, where they went to fight in the jihadists’ ranks, was one of the main reasons Russia launched its airstrike campaign against the militants there.

“There are an estimated 5,000 to 7,000 fighters from Russia and other CIS member states fighting for ISIL,” Putin said last October after Russia launched its bombing campaign in Syria at the request of Syria’s president, Bashar Assad.

“We certainly cannot allow them to use the experience they are getting in Syria on home soil,” the president stressed, calling on the creation of a broad international coalition to curb the spread of terrorism.

Russia had largely achieved the stated goals of its operation in Syria by the time Putin ordered the withdrawal of the bulk of Russia’s forces in March.

Recently, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu estimated that some 2,000 fighters hailing from Russia, including 17 warlords, had been killed in the course of the five-month air campaign. Shoigu also warned that the world should brace for a more protracted crises similar to that in Syrian, given the alarming security situation in the world.

“In these circumstances, Russia will be forced to adequately respond to potential threats,” he stressed.

Afghanistan has become another breeding ground for terrorists close to Russia’s borders, posing an immense challenge to the overall security and stability of the Central Asia.

“The Afghan branch of IS is definitely specialized against Central Asia. Russian is even one of their working languages,” Zamir Kabulov, head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Asia and Middle East Department, said back in April, estimating that the number of IS fighters in Afghanistan has increased tenfold since last year.

“There are now 10,000 IS fighters in Afghanistan. A year ago there were a hundred,” stated the diplomat.

In one of the most violent attacks to rock the Afghan capital recently, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest during a mass Shiite demonstration in Kabul, killing 80 people and injuring 23 on July 23. That terrorist act was claimed by Islamic State.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/travel-advisory-issued-for-zika-transmission-area-in-florida/

Pregnant women warned to avoid travel to Zika area in Florida
By ASHLEY WELCH CBS NEWS
August 1, 2016, 2:30 PM

Photograph -- miami-zika-warning-map-square.jpg, On Aug. 1, 2016, the CDC advised pregnant women to avoid this area in Miami, Florida where Zika virus is being spread by mosquitoes. CDC


The CDC has issued an advisory urging pregnant women to avoid travel to the small area of Miami-Dade County in Florida where the Zika virus is being spread by mosquitoes.

The announcement comes after the Florida Department of Health confirmed Monday that 10 additional cases were transmitted through local mosquitoes in the one-mile radius just north of downtown Miami, bringing the total number to 14.

All of the infections are believed to have occurred in the Wynwood arts district, a trendy neighborhood of art galleries and open-air exhibits, bars, restaurants and boutiques.

In a press briefing today, CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said that in addition to pregnant women avoiding travel to the Wynwood area, pregnant women who live and work there should take every precaution possible to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes.

This includes using an insect repellent with DEET, wearing long pants and long sleeves, staying indoors with air conditioning or window screens, and eliminating all standing water in and outside of homes where mosquitoes could breed.

Zika can also be spread through sex, so men and women who visit, live or work in this area should use condoms to avoid pregnancy and prevent spreading the virus to their partners, Frieden said.

People who have visited this area since June 15th (when the first infection is believe to have occurred) or later should avoid getting pregnant for eight weeks, health officials advised. Pregnant women who have visited the area on or after this date should be screened for Zika.

Zika is usually mild in adults and often causes no symptoms at all, but it is a much bigger hazard for pregnant women because the virus can cause severe birth defects.

The travel warning covers an area of about one square mile, which health officials said was large enough to provide a buffer zone.

But some experts say people in a much wider area could be at risk. Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical medicine expert at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, said the CDC should expand the travel advisory to include all of Miami-Dade County.

"If you're pregnant or think you might be pregnant, avoid travel to Miami, and possible elsewhere in South Florida," Hotez told The Associated Press. "I'm guessing most women who are pregnant are doing that. I don't think they're sitting around for the CDC to split hairs and fine-tune it to a specific area."

The narrower warning zeroing in on Wynwood is based on the assumption that the tropical mosquitoes that spread Zika can only travel about 150-200 meters. However, some research suggests that the mosquitoes are actually capable of flying -- and spreading the virus -- much farther, up to 800 meters.

"That would suggest public health department should be testing close contact and community members in a greater radius, and may currently be undercounting the number of infected people," said CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.

The CDC has sent an emergency response team to Florida to assist in the ongoing investigation.


I pretty much said all I had to say about this frightful situation yesterday, which mainly amounts to our inability to really control the environment where mosquitoes thrive, such as boggy lowlands with a great deal of standing water, and those little barely recognizable things like A BOTTLE CAP LYING ON THE GROUND! A mosquito can lay her eggs in a bottle cap. It may be a time for prayer and work in equal amounts. Male mosquitoes live on plant juices, so the weeds that are growing in a vacant lot (or your own lot...) need to be cut frequently. Heaven help us. This is as bad as the NeoNazis breeding in the backwoods of our country. May we FOCUS our intelligence on this matter and work together. Amen.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-insights-into-genes-affecting-depression-risk/

New insights into genes affecting depression risk
AP August 1, 2016, 4:08 PM

Play VIDEO -- Young adults battling anxiety, depression speak out on suicide


In a key advance for the study of depression, a comprehensive scan of human DNA has turned up the apparent hiding places of more than a dozen genes linked to the disorder.

"This is a jumping-off point" for further work to reveal the biological underpinnings of depression, which in turn can guide development of new drugs, said Ashley Winslow, an author of a paper on the work.

Experts said the result is important not only for its specific findings, but also for its demonstration that the study's approach can help uncover clues to the biology of depression, which is largely a mystery.

Such DNA scans are popular for finding genes that affect risk of diseases, but depression has proven largely resistant to this approach. In a rare and modest success reported last year, researchers turned up two places in the human DNA that appear to harbor genes affecting risk in a Han Chinese population.

But no evidence for that result appeared in people of European descent, which is the group studied in the more bountiful results announced Monday.

"What they're showing is, we're on the way" to finding many more genetic links, said Dr. Douglas Levinson of Stanford University, who didn't participate in the work. "They've shown that depression is tractable."

He called the new results the most convincing evidence so far that such gene scans can pay off for depression.

The work by Winslow and others identified 15 areas of the human DNA -- the "genome" -- that show signs of harboring genetic variations that affect risk of becoming depressed. That indicates where scientists can focus on identifying and studying the affected genes, which in turn could reveal what processes go awry to raise the risk of the disease.

Winslow was with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. when she did the work with researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and the genetics testing company 23andMe, Inc. She is now at the University of Pennsylvania. Results were released by the journal Nature Genetics.

An estimated 350 million people worldwide have depression, according to the World Health Organization.

Dr. Patrick Sullivan, an expert in depression genetics at the University of North Carolina in North Carolina, said the findings "look pretty solid." They provide an important step toward finding all the genes that affect depression, a list he said probably numbers "in the high hundreds."

"It's a markedly better step than I believe anybody has taken before," he said.

He also said the new study's results cannot be used to test people for their risk of developing depression.

Typically, genes that affect the risk of common diseases like depression have only a small individual effect. So to find signs of their location, scientists have to combine results from the genomes of many people.

The new work drew in part on data from more than 121,000 customers of 23andMe who indicated they'd been diagnosed with depression or treated for it, plus more than 338,000 other customers. They had consented to the use of their data for research.

Those results were combined with data from about 9,000 people diagnosed with the disease and 9,500 others, taken from a previous study to find risk genes.

The 15 locations that appear to harbor disease-risk genes were uncovered by a statistical analysis that compares people with depression to those without, looking for slight but suggestive differences at specific spots in their genomes. Such differences in the DNA code don't necessarily cause a heightened depression risk themselves, but they indicate that the effect is coming from somewhere nearby.



Depression is a common as grass. It is usually transitory, often in response to loss of sleep, hunger, a severe disappointment such as lost love or the loss of a job, a reaction to being physically/emotionally abused by a person who had been a beloved and trusted intimate such as a spouse, parent or sibling, a sensitivity to the lack of sunlight (SAD), and more. Nobody should be ashamed of their condition, and if anyone should treat them abusively about the matter, he is the one who should be ashamed. Too many of the "happy" extroverts are without much empathy at all (a mental health condition in itself) for those who are not so lucky. Unfortunately, many to most people do tend to abuse others over such matters, especially if they are of the personality type called "extroverted." We place a high value on being extroverted in this country, because we have built a society around not cooperating with others but competing with them. In my day it was called being "popular," or a "good personality." To be otherwise was to be "a loser"

One of the main reasons for introversion is a long backlog of unexamined and untreated seeds of unhappiness. Most parents when I was young thought that if they persistently or even severely punished their children that they would easily adapt to life after that personally insulting and damaging treatment. We must remain aware that when we bring up children we need to preserve their sense of themselves as being "good" and "desirable" people. If we have too many of those corrosive seeds in our life, we may as a result be "clinically depressed," "Bipolar," or in some other ways mentally ill, which don't often appear to be an illness at all. Kids are often expected to be "moody" in their teenage years, but there should be a limit to the degree of that, and parents should step in and help in a warm and understanding way. If the care of a Professionally trained therapist (not your minister) is needed, then by all means get the child into treatment. Waiting around hoping the kid will "grow out of it," is a tragic thing to do. The young teen who unexpectedly commits suicide will be mourned, but no more understood in most cases than when they were alive. The kid who takes a gun to school and starts shooting will be described later as "quiet," or "bullied." In the old days they were considered just "BAD." In all cases, they are severely mentally ill.

Depression is one of those traits that may be part of many different sets of "mentally ill" syndromes. Illnesses like schizophrenia usually look more like "insanity," but they may also include depression as the most obvious symptom. The problem with all of those conditions is that society tends to ignore them, mischaracterize them, despise them as a shame on the family honor, etc., etc., etc. In other words, most severe conditions could be ameliorated with good early care, but it just doesn't happen. Parents are not usually abusive because they want to be, but because they have too little understanding of themselves, and therefore considerable mental illness on their own part. To make it worse, largely due to the predominance of Fundamentalist thinking of all kinds, the term that is usually applied is "sin," and that means that the kid needs a whipping. And so on down the road to a sicker and sicker society we go.

Pinpointing genes may help, but until our society becomes more enlightened, I don't see an end to our mental health problems. I do believe that effective and non-addictive medicines have revolutionized the situation in this country. I have two uncles who were hospitalized most of their life for mental problems, and another who became suicidal. He and his daughter were treated for depression, though they lived at home. The family tended to be good at "book learning" but emotionally fragile. I think we probably did inherit some mental health issues. The fact is, however, that no matter where the conditions came from, they have to be treated and ACCEPTED as a part of the human condition and not as a "shameful" condition.

I am Bipolar, and have been suicidal not once or twice, but scores of times. The good thing about being Bipolar is that we have an UP side to the personality also. That up side, however, if it is extreme, could land the patient in jail repeatedly, and is often present in those who become drug addicts or alcoholics. I did both, and when I had finally come to the realization that I could not actually keep myself from using my drug of choice without help, I joined AA. I relapsed once, but after that I was fully convinced that I had to live within the program of daily recovery. It was a perfect fit for me and put me on the track of "the examined life" and within a personally supportive community of my peers. After a few years, when my depressive episodes continued to happen, I sought mental health treatment. Life has been on the way up, though not by any means perfect, since that time and I am happy enough to suit me at all times now. Grief is always painful, but a totally incapacitated condition is not impossible to avoid.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-miss-teen-usa-karlie-hays-racist-tweets-draw-fire/

New Miss Teen USA's racist tweets draw fire
AP August 1, 2016, 4:13 AM

Photograph -- Miss Texas Teen USA 2016 Karlie Hay, left, as she is crowned Miss Teen USA 2016 by Miss Teen USA 2015, Katherine Haik, during 2016 Miss Teen USA Competition at The Venetian Las Vegas on July 30, 2016 ETHAN MILLER, GETTY IMAGES


LAS VEGAS -- The new Miss Teen USA will get to keep her crown despite an outcry over tweets she once wrote using racist language.

The Miss Universe Organization, which owns the Miss Teen USA pageant, issued a statement Sunday chastising Karlie Hay's words but also "supporting her continued growth."

After she was crowned Saturday night in Las Vegas, social media users found tweets containing the N-word linked to an account with Hay's name.

A screenshot of the four tweets from 2013 and 2014 has been making the rounds online.

Pageant officials, referencing an apology Hay posted to Twitter and Instagram, say the 18-year-old was going through personal struggles and regrets her words.

Hay, of Tomball, Texas, says she will use her platform to advocate for those affected by drug and alcohol abuse.



We’re teaching Fundamentalist Christianity to our kids, but not good human relations. I say that, because the news is full of young people misbehaving racially. The Trump-backed Miss Universe Pageant did not issue a criticism of the young woman, focusing instead on "supporting her continued growth" and the fact that she was “going through personal struggles,” which does sound a lot like “White Privilege” to me. It also sounds like Republican politics.



FAKE NEWS SITES

The Daily Dot
Trust no one.
How to tell if a story is from a fake news site
Miles Klee — Oct 31, 2014 at 9:30AM | Last updated Dec 11 at 12:38PM

You may have been shocked to learn last week that the anonymous artist known as Banksy was arrested by an anti-graffiti task force in London and revealed to be Paul Horner, a 35-year-old man from Liverpool. None of that is remotely true—but why couldn’t it be?

That's the philosophy behind the National Report, the fake news site that reported the story, complete with “confirmations” from the BBC as well as Banksy’s PR rep and handling service. (Those links led to homepages on which no such corroboration appeared.) It’s one of dozens of vaguely titled sites that traffick in phony articles, including the News Nerd, MediaMass, Empire News, and the Daily Currant. And while many of these outlets’ reports defy anyone to take them seriously—“Deadly Heebola Virus Discovered In Israel,” anyone?—others verge on dangerous plausibility, designed to court panicked clicks from the overly credulous.

The Banksy piece, according to Allen Montgomery, the National Report’s publisher, is the site’s greatest success to date. Aside from the hundreds of lively comments from people taking it at face value, it’s attracted more than 6 million pageviews and been shared a staggering 3.25 million times on social media—suggesting that more than half of the people who read it passed it along to their friends. Can the Internet really be so dumb?

“At NR we almost always have a tell of some sort that should throw red flags for those being critical of the content they are consuming,” Montgomery told the Daily Dot in an email, brushing of the question of transparency. “[W]hen reading a news story, secondary sourcing is important as is the credibility of the source itself. If you are reading news on a site that you have never heard of, or from a site that is known to be partisan, it is always a good idea to run a quick Google search to find other (reliable) sources reporting the same information.”

Montgomery is National Report’s sole staffer; he manages 15-20 unpaid, scattered contributors at any given time. They're largely allowed to pursue their own ideas and “have their own followings” online, but the organization is barely concerned with competition. “This is a large market and there is plenty of pie to go around,” Montgomery said. There’s also, he acknowledges, an artistic divide between the National Report and something like the Onion, which has also been known to confuse gullible readers. National Reports actively produces viral “misinformation,” whereas the Onion is more directly satirical. Montogomery added:

"While [the approaches] are different, the overlap between the two is considerable enough to blur the lines. While sites like the Onion have made it difficult to be considered satirical without knee-slapping, in-your-face type humor, satire in a historical sense simply is a vehicle for making readers think and hoaxes often fit this category. Confirmation bias is strong with readers, so oftentimes a hoax is also satirical in that it can spark conversation, change opinions, etc."

This Swiftian line certainly explains why a good percentage of National Report stories contain nary a joke. “Humor in itself is not required to be a successful writer at NR,” Montgomery said. “We like to keep a balance of funny/slapstick, hoaxes and misinformation. If a reader is misled by something they read, it should only take a trip to the home page to confirm whether or not a story is true.”

But with most people digesting news right in their Facebook newsfeed, that’s suddenly asking a lot. Could the social network’s new satire-labeling policy change things?

“[W]e haven’t been negatively impacted,” Montgomery said. “[I]t will be interesting to see what exactly their criteria is for labelling fake news as such while allowing ‘real’ networks/personalities (FOX, Alex Jones, Glenn Beck, etc.) to publish lies/misinformation without the label.” The comparison isn’t baseless: National Report likes to target“conspiracy types” with material about “RFID chips, Chemtrails, 9/11 Truthers,” and the like. “[A]nd of course anything that is negative of President Obama gets the fringe all lathered up," he said. "Stories that bring out racists, bigots, haters ... often lead to comments that are laugh-out-loud funny.”

Even so, we wonder if there might come a tipping point when everyone would realize, on sight, that a National Review story isn’t true, though this assumes anyone who posts them is ever corrected. “I suppose it is possible, but we are certainly far from being a household name with regards to fake news,” Montgomery said. “Readers are still fooled by pieces from the Onion, so we aren’t too concerned about it, but we do have a contingency plan in place for if/when that happens.” Start publishing real journalism? That’s as far-fetched as the fake stuff.

For now, the ad money is rolling in (some writers “have their own advertising accounts and several are able to make a really decent living as contributors,” Montgomery said), and the general public has shown no interest in discerning between patently false news and the real thing. So be on your guard, and remember: If a website you’ve never heard of scoops the biggest story of the week, it’s probably a pack of lies—but those have a way of thriving online.

Photo via Lena Vasiljeva (CC BY 2.0) | Remix by Jason Reed



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Report

National Report
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

National Report is a website which posts fictional articles related to world events.[2][3] It is described by Snopes.com as a fake news site,[4] by FactCheck.org as a satirical site[5] and by Caitlin Dewey of the Washington Post as part of a fake-news industry, making profits from "duping gullible Internet users with deceptively newsy headlines."[6] The National Report describes itself as a "news and political satire web publication" and provides a disclaimer that "all news articles contained within National Report are fiction".[7] The disclaimer, however, is not printed on the main page, which instead claims that the website is "America's #1 Independent News Source."[8]

Stories from the National Report have been taken seriously by third parties such as Fox News Channel, and the site drew criticism in October 2014 for running a series of fake stories about Ebola outbreaks in the United States,[9] including the false report that the town of Purdon, Texas, has been quarantined after an outbreak.[10][11] The story led to a traffic spike of two million unique visitors, and although the story was debunked by other websites, the original National Report story received six times as many "shares" on social media sites as the debunking stories did.[9]

The National Report carries a disclaimer identifying its content as satire and fake news,[7] but there was no prominent link to this page until late December 2014.[12][13] Numerous articles referring to National Report stories stated that National Report's disclaimer had been removed.[10][14]

History[edit]
In February 2013, National Report was registered as a site.[15]

In 2014, a Facebook interface experiment included the site on a list of those whose stories were flagged as "satire" when appearing on the social network.[16] Craig Silverman of emergent.info sees National Report as one of several websites which are "not driven by trying to do comedy or satire, but by what kind of fake stuff can we spin up to get shares that earn us money".[10]

List of serious interpretations[edit]
Several hoax National Report stories have been mistakenly reported as fact by media outlets.

A report that Arizona governor Jan Brewer intended to introduce mandatory gay-to-straight conversion courses into the state's public school system. A spokesman for the governor called the fake article 'vile' and said 'its authors should be ashamed.' Brewer has been a target of gay rights activists because of her efforts to strip same-sex partners of government benefits, and for her stance on making it harder for gay couples to adopt children.[17][18][19]

One article fooled researchers at Fox News Channel into reporting that the President had announced his intention to spend his own money to keep a Muslim museum open during a government shutdown.[14] The mistake was featured in a comedy sketch on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.[20]

A report published on November 2, 2013 claiming a fictitious Assam Rape Festival created a furor in Indian national and local media. Several newspapers and blogs reported the same.[21][22][23] A police probe in India showed the story originated from Uganda.[24]

Paul Horner[edit]
Paul Horner was the publication's lead writer;[25] his employment began shortly after National Report went online.[26]

See also[edit]
List of satirical magazines
List of satirical news websites
List of satirical television news programs




MY FAVORITE OF ALL SUCH STORIES IS THE FOLLOWING. IT DID SOUND SO VERY OUT OF CHARACTER TO ME THAT I GOOGLED IT BEFORE POSTING IT.



Las Vegas Guardian Express – “Jackass”
Alsu Salakhudtinov///Andy Borowitz
“Jackass” Joke about Vladimir Putin Went Viral
Added by Alsu Salakhutdinov on September 7, 2013.
Saved under Alsu Salakhutdinov, Politics, Russia, Satire, Stasia Bliss, World

Collective unconsciousness spoke through President Obama’s voice calling Russian President, Vladimir Putin, a “Jackass.” And though the actual name-calling never happened, it could not change the fact: the joke looked very real, and people bought it.

The whole story was introduced to the public by a satiric columnist of New Yorker magazine, Andy Borowitz, and depicted his wildest dreams about what should have happened at the end of G20. He played so well with the unconscious mind that everybody believed it. No, really, can you imagine Obama calling David Cameron a “Jackass?” No way. But Mr.Putin – easy.

Talking about the collective mind of the world, according to the survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, among 39 nations, a favorable view of Russia has slipped compared to 2007 and now is expressed by just 36% of respondents versus 39% who view Russia unfavorably. And who is representing Russia most for all these respondents on the international arena? Mr.Putin of course, the Russian President.

The line has been crossed many times before, but this time it may have been overdone.
If President Putin can publicly call his opponents on the Syrian issue “utter nonsense” -if you translate it in a polite diplomatic way, or “absolute stupidity” in actual Russian (“dur’ nesusvetnaya”), then after all, why can’t others do the same and call him names?

Putin openly and wrongly called the USA Secretary of State John Kerry, a liar over his Congress testimony just few days before the G20 summit. Kerry, who met with Mr.Putin a few times before, on his last meeting was kept waiting for the Russian President for three hours. He had decided not to attend the G20 summit, offended by the accusations.

Speaker of the House, John Boehner, also declined a proposal to meet the Russian lawmakers in Washington because of the situation in Syria.

Senator McCain blamed President Obama for underestimating Putin’s true intentions and on his own accord called the Russian President a thief, asking to give back the Super Bowl Ring taken from rightful owner Robert Kraft.

The story of the ring went viral just this year; although, Mr. Kraft lost his Super Bowl Ring during a meeting with Vladimir Putin in 2005. As he describes the scene, after he proudly showed the ring to the Russian President the admirer simply put it in his pocket pretending it was a present. Mr.Kraft was too shocked to contradict.

The “thief” accusations, though very strong and questionable, was not completely out of the Russian President’s league. He is well known in his country for his sharp criminal-like slang. He wanted it to be “done in the urinal” to Chechen rebels whom he a priori called terrorists. He once offered to circumcise a French journalist who was asking questions about eradicating civilians in Chechnya; and Putin publicly praised the sexual prowess of an Israeli president Moshe Katsav, accused of rape.

French journalist: … Don’t you think that by trying to eradicate terrorism in Chechnya you are going to eradicate the civilian population of Chechnya?

Vladimir Putin: If you want to become an Islamic fundamentalist and be circumcised, come to Moscow. We are multiconfessional. We have very good specialists. I can recommend one for the operation. He’ll make sure nothing grows back.

Once asked, Vladimir Putin explained his colorful language, saying that when he was young he preferred drinking beer to studying. He also admitted being involved in street gang activities in his childhood years.

If his rebel past still haunts him, than “Jackass” might have actually worked. It would have been a compete diplomatic disaster for President Obama if true, but paradoxically it might have been the indication of the only language President Putin is able to understand – the language of rude dominance.

Even if the word was not said, many silently thought the same. Like “If you think I’m the only one who feels this way, you’re kidding yourself” as Andy Borowitz put it. His joke might really be the talk of the week because it sounded very real. And if you ask me, President Putin asked for it.

By Alsu Salakhutdinov