December 15, 2017


News and Views


ZINKE DOES THE RIGHT THING – “THE DEPARTMENT ADDED THAT IT’S NOW DRAFTING A NEW HARASSMENT POLICY, WHICH WILL INCLUDE A MANDATORY REPORTING PROCESS FOR ALLEGATIONS.”

IN A SIMILAR SITUATION, ONE OF THE PROBLEMS THAT HAS EMERGED IN THE RASH OF REPORTED COP KILLINGS, IS THAT LOCAL DEPARTMENTS ARE NOT “REQUIRED” TO REPORT THEIR STATISTICS TO THE FBI, WHO HOLD THE DATABASE ON SUCH INCIDENTS. SUCH REPORTING IS VOLUNTARY. DOING GOOD THINGS VOLUNTARILY IS LESS LIKELY TO OCCUR THAN I WOULD LIKE.

A LOT OF WHITE, CONSERVATIVE AMERICANS HATE DOJ ERIC HOLDER FOR FORCING POLICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATIONS IN SEVERAL CITIES, BUT THE ATTEMPTS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY TO WORK TO PUT A STOP TO THOSE CASES HAVE INCREASED NOTICEABLY. AS LONG AS THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WASN’T SERIOUS ABOUT THE ISSUE, IT WAS EASIER TO PLACATE THE POLICE LABOR UNIONS AND THE CONSERVATIVE PARTS OF THE PUBLIC, THAN TO TAKE AN UNPOPULAR STAND.

OF WOMEN WHO DID REPORT INCIDENTS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT OR ASSAULT, “ALMOST 40 PERCENT WERE TOLD TO DROP THE ISSUE.” THIS HAPPENED ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, AS WELL, IN THE MILITARY – I CAN’T REMEMBER WHICH BRANCH, BUT IT SEEMS TO ME IT WAS THE ARMY. THERE WAS A BIG SCANDAL AT THE TIME. THERE WERE MANY INCIDENTS INVOLVED, AND WOMEN WHO COMPLAINED WERE TOO OFTEN TOLD TO KEEP QUIET ABOUT IT – COVER UP OR PROTECTION OF THE ATTACKERS? SOMETIMES THE ATTACKER WAS THEIR SUPERIOR OFFICER, SO IT’S EASY TO SEE HOW THAT WOULD GO. EITHER WAY IT IS UNACCEPTABLE AND GENERALLY TRULY DANGEROUS FOR THE WOMEN. THINGS DON’T ALWAYS END WITH SIMPLE HARASSMENT. REMEMBER THE DISGUSTING “TAILHOOK” EVENT INVOLVING BOTH THE NAVY AND MARINES? I’VE ALWAYS WONDERED HOW IT CAME TO HAVE A NAME LIKE THAT. SEE THIS LATIMES ARTICLE BELOW FOR MUCH MORE ON TAILHOOK. HTTP://ARTICLES.LATIMES.COM/1993-04-24/NEWS/MN-26672_1_TAILHOOK-CONVENTION.

AS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, SALLY JEWEL, OBAMA’S SECRETARY, DEALT WITH SUCH A CASE AT “THE GRAND CANYON RIVER DISTRICT,” INCLUDING MALE WORKERS TRYING TO TAKE INTIMATE PHOTOS OF FEMALE COLLEAGUES, GROPING AND PHYSICAL ASSAULT, AND WITHHOLDING FOOD ON RIVER TRIPS AFTER SEXUAL ADVANCES WERE REJECTED. “THE DISTRICT WAS SHUT DOWN AFTERWARD.” WELL, THAT’S GOOD TO KNOW, ANYWAY,

ACCORDING TO THIS ARTICLE, SUCH CASES HAD BEEN KNOWN TO OCCUR DOWN THROUGH THE LAST 15 YEARS – AND UNDOUBTEDLY FOR AS LONG AS WOMEN HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED BY THE DEPARTMENT. MEN WILL BE MEN, BUT WE DON’T HAVE TO LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT, AND THIS BUSINESS OF DEPARTMENT HEADS -- IN WORKPLACES OF ALL KINDS ACROSS THE COUNTRY -- TELLING THE WOMEN TO KEEP SILENT ABOUT IT OR FACE CONSEQUENCES THEMSELVES, IS JUST THAT GOOD OLD-FASHIONED SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM, “VICTIM BLAMING.”

THE MOST SHOCKING THING I SAW IN THESE ARTICLES, THOUGH, IS THAT IN SOME CASES MEN (OR IN JUST ONE CASE?) GOT REVENGE ON WOMEN WHO REFUSED THEIR ADVANCES BY WITHHOLDING THEIR FOOD ON RIVER TRIPS. THAT GOES BEYOND EVIL, IN MY VIEW. WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HUMAN CONSCIENCE? OR IS IT SIMPLY THAT UNLESS YOUNG PEOPLE ARE BROUGHT UP IN SUCH A WAY AS TO INSTILL IN THEM A CONSCIENCE AND A SENSE OF COMPASSION, THEY DON’T REALLY HAVE ONE?

THE OLDER I GET THE MORE I THINK THAT THIS IS, TOO OFTEN, THE NATURE OF THE SITUATION. MANKIND IS AN ANIMAL WITH THE FULL RANGE OF POSSIBLE NEGATIVE INSTINCTS, UNLESS HE/SHE IS CONDITIONED TO BE OTHERWISE BY SOME EFFECTIVE MEANS, PREFERABLY BY GENTLENESS AND LOVE. IT’S MY OPINION THAT KINDNESS, LOVE, FAIRNESS AND SHARING HAVE TO BE TAUGHT. OFTEN THOSE OF US WHO DO HAVE EMPATHY IN THESE ABUSE SITUATIONS, WHETHER AT THE HANDS OF A GROUP OR AN INDIVIDUAL, HAVE OURSELVES EXPERIENCED SUCH THINGS AND KNOW THE HURT IT CAUSES. THAT HURT CAN VERY WELL BE ADMINISTERED BY THEIR PARENTS OR SIBLINGS, UNFORTUNATELY, WHICH MAKES THE DAMAGE WORSE. I BELIEVE OUR HUMANITY LIES IN OUR PAST HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE, ALONG WITH SOME MAMMALIAN INSTINCTS, AND THEN FROM THERE WE HAVE TO TRY ON OUR OWN TO MAKE UP THE DEFICIT.

SEE THE FOLLOWING THREE ARTICLES.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ryan-zinke-department-interior-fires-harassment_us_5a33c702e4b01d429cc7f4bc
POLITICS 12/15/2017 09:13 am ET
Ryan Zinke Fires 4 Department Of Interior Employees For Harassment
“Intimidation, harassment and discrimination is a cancer to any organization,” he said.
By Willa Frej

Photograph -- Don Neubacher, the Yosemite National Park superintendent, faced accusations of creating a hostile work environment. Credit Mark Crosse/The Fresno Bee, via Associated Press

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke fired four senior staffers at the Department of the Interior for inappropriate conduct in response to a bombshell employee survey revealing widespread harassment within the agency.

The misconduct included various forms of intimidation and discrimination including sexual harassment, department spokeswoman Heather Swift told The Associated Press.

“I’ve already removed four senior leaders that were guilty of inappropriate behavior and I will remove 400 more if necessary,” Zinke said in a video posted on the agency’s website on Thursday. “Intimidation, harassment and discrimination is a cancer to any organization. However deep it goes, we will remove it from Interior.”

BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he has removed four senior leaders from the department in response to an employee survey revealing widespread harassment.

The same day, the agency released the results of a Work Environment Survey it conducted from January to March of this year. It determined that 35 percent of its 70,000 employees had experienced harassment or discrimination in the 12 months leading up to the survey. A total of 8 percent of staffers reported sexual harassment, 20.5 percent reported age-related harassment, 16.5 percent reported gender-based harassment and 9.3 percent reported race- or ethnicity-based harassment.

Fewer than 36 percent of survey respondents who filed a complaint or report said some kind of action had been taken. Almost 40 percent were told to drop the issue.

“Under my leadership we don’t protect predators,” Zinke said in a statement. “When I say ‘zero tolerance’ I mean that these people will be held accountable for their abhorrent actions.”

The agency didn’t name any of the staffers it fired, but it points to this not being the first time it’s had to deal with the issue. Tim Lynn, a former senior law enforcement official with the department, retired in May after an investigation determined that he had sexually harassed six women he worked with.

The department added that it’s now drafting a new harassment policy, which will include a mandatory reporting process for allegations.

The survey comes on the heels of a March report that detailed the pernicious work environment for women within Yellowstone National Park. Employees of the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have long complained of sexual harassment without much hope of a culture change.



https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/us/politics/interior-department-harassment-zinke.html?_r=0
POLITICS
Thousands of Interior Dept. Employees Report Harassment and Intimidation at Work
By EMILY COCHRANE DEC. 14, 2017

Photograph -- The Interior Department has been dogged by reports of harassment and intimidation in the last decade. Credit Alex Wong/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Thousands of the Interior Department’s employees reported that they had experienced harassment or intimidation at work, a department-wide survey conducted earlier this year and released Thursday found.

Of the nearly 30,000 employees who reported on their experiences, about 35 percent said they felt some form of harassment and intimidation, often related to their age or gender. More than 85 percent of those employees said they had to continue to interact with the person responsible for the mistreatment.

“This is a breach of public trust,” said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in an interview, adding that he had personally fired four people over accusations of harassment. “Harassment — intimidation — is a cancer that can destroy even the best organizations.”

In the survey, 8 percent of employees reported sexual harassment, 20 percent reported negative treatment based on their age and 16 percent based on their sex. About 44 percent of the department’s 70,000 employees responded to the survey.

“It has to start from the top,” Mr. Zinke said. “But we have to remove this cancer immediately because it is distracting from our ability to successfully carry out our mission.”

Department officials are working to strengthen the policies on harassment based on the survey results, and have trained about 100 employees on how to conduct investigations into allegations.

Over the last decade, the Interior Department has primarily been dogged by reports of harassment and intimidation within the National Park Service. More than a quarter of the nearly 10,000 park employees who responded had experienced or witnessed some form of harassment, officials said in a portion of the survey released earlier this year.

The survey also demonstrated the lack of consequences when allegations of harassment or intimidation were reported to Interior Department managers. While 76 percent of the respondents said they took action if they witnessed an abuse of power, roughly 40 percent said either the person they told took no action or they felt encouraged to drop the issue.

After the survey results, David Bernhardt, the agency’s deputy secretary, said he would require department heads to develop ways to address the issues reported in each bureau before the end of January. The agency, which includes the Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management, has also revised management evaluation forms to account for a failure to address allegations of harassment among employees.

“Intimidation, harassment, and discrimination are viruses within an operation, and have no place at Interior,” Mr. Bernhardt said in a statement. “The culture across the department will change.”

Allegations of harassment have recently rocked industries across the country, including Congress, Hollywood, the news media and top-tier restaurants.

But Interior officials noted that the survey, which they say is the first of its scope across the federal departments, was conducted during the first three months of the year, ahead of the onslaught of accusations and resignations. “People know it’s there, but it’s either accepted or it’s ignored,” Mr. Zinke said. “The right things were said, but no action was taken.”

Mr. Zinke declined to comment on the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct facing President Trump, refusing to comment on what he called “media speculation and hype.” More than a dozen women have said they experienced some form of harassment from Mr. Trump before his candidacy, ranging from crude remarks to groping.

Under Sally Jewell, the Interior secretary under President Barack Obama, investigators found a 15-year-failure to address numerous reports of abuse and harassment in the Grand Canyon River District, including male workers trying to take intimate photos of female colleagues, groping and physical assault, and withholding food on river trips after sexual advances were rejected. The district was shut down afterward.

The superintendent of Yosemite National Park also announced his retirement, before Mr. Zinke’s confirmation as secretary, after a congressional oversight committee found that at least 18 employees at the park had complained of a toxic work environment rife with bullying, discrimination and harassment.


JUST TO CLEAR UP ANY IDEAS SUGGESTED BY ZINKE THAT HE INITIATED THE INQUIRY ON THIS, THE 9/30 NYT ARTICLE HERE STATES THAT THE INQUIRY BEGAN UNDER OBAMA. ZINKE SAYS THAT HE “INHERITED” THE PROBLEM FROM THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. ZINKE ADDED HIS COMMENTS AND IRE OVER IT. WHILE I APPROVE OF ZINKE’S DOING HIS JOB, OBAMA DID HIS TOO; THE REPUBLICANS JUST CAN’T HELP BLAMING THE DEMS FOR EVERYTHING, THOUGH, SO I GUESS THAT’S HUMAN NATURE AS WELL.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/us/yosemite-superintendent-steps-down-amid-complaints.html?_r=0
Yosemite Superintendent Steps Down Amid Complaints
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEPT. 29, 2016

FRESNO, Calif. — The superintendent of Yosemite National Park is retiring after employee complaints that he created a hostile workplace by allowing bullying, harassment and other misconduct, claims that have been raised at other national parks, officials said Thursday.

The park’s superintendent, Don Neubacher, announced his retirement on Wednesday, said Andrew Munoz, a spokesman for the National Park Service. It comes less than a week after a congressional oversight committee found that at least 18 Yosemite staff members had complained of a toxic work environment.

Employee descriptions of the working conditions led the park service to write in a preliminary report last month “that the environment is indeed toxic, hostile, repressive and harassing.”

The congressional hearing also revealed accusations of sexual harassment, bullying and other misconduct among employees at national parks including Yellowstone and Grand Canyon.

Mr. Neubacher, who was in charge of Yosemite for nearly seven years, was not immediately available for comment, but his emailed statement to park staff members was provided to The Associated Press.

“I regret leaving at this time but want to do what’s best for Yosemite National Park,” he said in Wednesday’s message. “It is an iconic area that is world renowned and deserves special attention.”

Mr. Neubacher did not mention the accusations in his retirement note, but he listed several accomplishments by the park in recent years under his leadership, including adding 400 acres and restoring the native Western Pond turtles.

His retirement is effective Nov. 1 and he will be on leave immediately, he said in the statement.

At the congressional hearing, Kelly Martin, Yosemite’s fire chief, testified that Mr. Neubacher had publicly humiliated her and intimidated staff members in front of others.

“In Yosemite National Park today, dozens of people, the majority of whom are women, are being bullied, belittled, disenfranchised and marginalized,” according to Chief Martin’s written testimony.

Mr. Neubacher sent an email of apology to all park employees days after the hearing, referring to “some serious staff concerns related to Yosemite’s workplace environment.”

A version of this article appears in print on September 30, 2016, on Page A13 of the New York edition with the headline: Yosemite Superintendent Retires After Complaints by Employees. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe


THIS LOOKS TO ME TO BE MORE PARTISAN ATTACKS. IF THEY REALLY THINK THEY WILL BE ABLE TO "LOCK HER UP," THEY ARE WRONG.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-senator-obtains-draft-fbi-statement-on-clinton-email-investigation/
CBS/AP December 14, 2017, 5:54 PM
GOP senator obtains draft FBI statement on Clinton email investigation

Photograph -- Former U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton speaks during her "What Happened" book tour at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University in Chicago, Ill., on Mon., Oct. 30, 2017. REUTERS

WASHINGTON - A Republican senator says edits to a draft FBI statement on the Hillary Clinton email investigation appear to have watered down the significance of the bureau's findings.

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said Thursday he had obtained from the FBI a draft statement that then-Director James Comey produced in May 2016 in anticipation of closing out the Clinton email case. The document shows line-by-line edits.

Though the FBI had not yet interviewed Clinton about her use of a private email server, officials had already determined that criminal charges were probably not warranted.

In a letter to the FBI, Johnson said edits to Comey's original remarks "appear to change the tone and substance" in ways that lessen the seriousness of the case.

Johnson highlights the changing of the wording from "grossly negligent" to "extremely careless." CBS News has reported the word change was led by Peter Strzok, the senior FBI agent who sent texts disparaging of Donald Trump.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



I WOULD NEVER, NEVER ALLOW A GIRL CHILD OF MINE TO JOIN THE MILITARY, NOT WITHOUT A FIGHT, ANYWAY, GIVEN WHAT I DO KNOW ABOUT IT. SO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE JOIN THE MILITARY (OR NOWADAYS, ISIS) BECAUSE THEY JUST DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO WITH THEIR LIVES. IF THEY HAD STUDIED HARD IN SCHOOL AND GOTTEN INTO LAW SCHOOL, OR EVEN JUST GOTTEN MARRIED -- WHICH WAS MORE COMMON IN MY GENERATION -- THEY WOULDN’T HAVE TO SEEK ADVENTURE AND IMPORTANCE IN SUCH A WAY. TWO OR THREE KIDS WILL GIVE THEM PLENTY TO DO.

HTTP://ARTICLES.LATIMES.COM/1993-04-24/NEWS/MN-26672_1_TAILHOOK-CONVENTION.
What Really Happened at Tailhook Convention : Scandal: The Pentagon report graphically describes how fraternity-style hi-jinks turned into hall of horrors.
April 24, 1993|NORMAN KEMPSTER | TIMES STAFF WRITER

WASHINGTON — It started about 9 p.m. when 200 or so Navy and Marine aviators began to mill about a third-floor corridor of the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel waiting for their prey.

By that time, Navy investigators said, most of them were so drunk that the hallway reeked of the smell of stale beer, urine and vomit but things were destined to get far uglier as the night wore on.

If a woman approached--and over the three nights of the 1991 Tailhook Assn. convention hundreds did--a scout would shout out "clear deck" and when she tried to make her way through, the walls would close in with a flurry of grabbing, pinching and groping of her breasts, buttocks and legs. Some women had part of their clothing ripped off.

In its investigative report on the Tailhook incident, the Defense Department inspector general's office provided the first comprehensive account of what actually happened over the three nights in September, 1991, when the military's cult of the "young warrior" moved beyond coarse, fraternity-style hi-jinks to public indecency and alleged assaults.

At least 83 women were assaulted during the three days of debauchery, the report said. The activities were far from unprecedented in the history of the convention, which dates to 1956.

"Similar behavior had occurred at previous conventions," the report said. "The emerging pattern of some of the activities, such as the gantlet, began to assume the aura of 'tradition.' There is even some evidence to suggest that Tailhook '91 was 'tame' in comparison to earlier conventions. . . . In fact, many of the younger officers who attended Tailhook '91 felt the excesses that occurred there were condoned by the Navy."

Acts of indecency included "streaking" through hotel suites or across the hotel patio, sometimes in groups as large as 10 and "ballwalking," or exposing one's testicles to onlookers, a practice investigators said was engaged in by 14 officers.

The report also said that "mooning," exposing one's buttocks to others, was common among male and even some female aviators. In one incident, "an unspecified number of individuals mooned the patio crowd from a window on the eighth floor of the Hilton Hotel. That apparently caused a large plate-glass window to break and crash down onto the patio area," cutting two guests badly enough to require medical treatment.

Other acts included publicly shaving the legs and occasionally pubic areas of women, exchanging "belly/navel shots," in which people of opposite sexes drank shots of liquor from each other's navels, and "butt biting," described as "individuals biting attendees on the buttocks."

The origin of "butt biting" at Tailhook conventions is unknown, the report said, "but one Marine major reported that, in his squadron, (it) was a common activity between males and females dating back about 20 years."

The major said the stunt was "no longer widely practiced because it is now considered socially unacceptable." Although the act is usually consensual, seven women and one man told investigators they had been forcibly bitten on the buttocks.

The most serious offenses at the convention occurred near 22 "hospitality suites" clustered on the hotel's third floor. Strippers and prostitutes plied their trade there to the background of pornographic videos. Beer and liquor flowed freely.

As the report emphasized, sexual activity in the suites was almost exclusively consensual. Unwilling participants, however, were drawn into the events in the hall--in what the fliers called the "gantlet."

The inspector general said the gantlet swept up some women who seemed to enjoy the attention along with others, including female Navy officers, who were outraged and shaken by the experience.

The third-floor hallway was about six feet wide and dimly lighted. The report said the corridor was extremely crowded on Friday and Saturday evenings. According to three witnesses, a sign was posted on the floor warning: "Gantlet--enter at your own risk."

The report said the gantlet appeared well organized even though most of the participants were drunk. When a woman appeared, a scout would shout "clear deck" if he considered her attractive enough to molest or "wave off" if he thought her too unattractive. The terms are drawn from aircraft carrier flight operations.

Many women reportedly were lured unwittingly into the gantlet by officers who steered them toward it casually. The awaiting aviators appeared to arrange themselves so that women would not recognize what they were approaching, the report said.

When they emerged, one Navy enlisted man told investigators, victims looked like they had been through a pinball machine.

"Many eyewitness accounts described women who had articles of clothing ripped or removed as they went through the gantlet," the report said. "One particularly disturbing incident involved an intoxicated college freshman who was stripped from the waist down as she was passed overhead through the gantlet and then left on the hallway floor.

(Page 2 of 2)

"A female civilian victim told us that, as she walked up the hallway, at least seven men attacked her," the report said. "They pulled down her 'tube top' and grabbed at her exposed breasts while she attempted to cover herself with her arms. She fell to the ground and the assault continued. . . . After a few moments, they stopped their attack and she was allowed to get up from the floor."

The report said that a 24-year-old Navy officer related that she was groped and grabbed by five or six men while two male Navy officers whom she knew stood by and did nothing.

"One victim, a 32-year-old female, reported that she attended Tailhook '91 with her (husband), a Navy officer; her mother and two of her mother's female friends," the report said. "As the group walked through the hallway the victim, who was wearing a formal cocktail dress, was suddenly grabbed around the waist and lifted above the crowd by two men. The men lifted the skirt of her dress above her waist and pushed their hands between her legs. . . . Our investigation revealed that the victim's mother as well as one of her mother's friends were also indecently assaulted as they walked through the hallway."

More than a third of the sex-related assaults reported in private rooms at the convention occurred in suites rented by aviators associated with the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, investigators said. The study describes five "indecent assaults" that took place in one of the suites.

The centerpiece of the room was a drink-dispensing dildo affixed to a 5-by-8-foot mural of a bull rhinoceros, the squadron mascot. According to the Pentagon, men drinking in the suite forced or tried to force the five women to place the dildo in their mouths to drink "Rhino spunk"--a mixture of rum, Kahlua, milk, ice cream and ice.


THESE POLAR BEARS WOULD BE CUTE IF THE SITUATION WEREN’T SO SAD. I WONDER IF AN ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATION COULD LEAVE A DEER CARCASS EVERY SEVERAL DAYS OUT ON THE ICE, OR WHEREVER THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO LIVE. THAT WAY, THEY COULD BE FED WITHOUT LURING THEM TO THE AIRPORT. THE BEST THING, THOUGH, WOULD BE A CAPTIVE BREEDING POPULATION TO KEEP THE SPECIES ALIVE. MAYBE THERE WILL BE A MIRACLE THAT WILL TURN THIS GLOBAL WARMING THING AROUND.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hungry-polar-bears-look-for-food-at-alaska-airport/
CBS/AP December 15, 2017, 5:50 PM
Hungry polar bears look for food at Alaska airport

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Scott Babcock was wrapping up an early morning runway inspection at America's farthest north airport when he saw what he thought were a couple of wolves.

He took a closer look through his headlights Thursday and saw something bigger and badder.

Two young polar bears ran away when they saw the Alaska airport worker's truck approach. He made sure to videotape their departure.

"Well, it's just another day at the Will Rogers-Wiley Post Memorial Airport," Babcock says as the bears scamper off.

Most airports only worry about wildlife when dealing with bird strikes, but state officials at the airport in the city of Utqiagvik, formerly Barrow, have to prepare for marine mammals that wander in from the Chukchi Sea and around a fence.

A bearded seal estimated to weigh 450 pounds plunked itself down on a runway in October after a storm. The state Department of Transportation warned pilots of "low sealings."

But polar bears are another story. They come with claws, teeth and sometimes lethal attitudes. And at this time of year, when the sun is down all day for the next few months, polar bears can be hard to see.

"Those bears could be 40 yards away from you and you wouldn't know it," said Babcock, an equipment operator foreman.

If someone walked out of building and was trapped between a polar bear and a fence, "things could get real ugly real fast," he said.

Complicating Babcock's job is that polar bears are protected marine mammals. Airport workers are not authorized to chase or harass them. If bears linger, they call in the wildlife management department of the North Slope Borough, Alaska's version of counties.

The bears got themselves out of harm's way Thursday. They entered the airport before scheduled flights, and 30 mph winds had grounded some local traffic.

When the bears saw Babcock's headlights, they ran to an infield area and eventually a snow dump. The bears hung out for a few hours, disappeared and showed up again Thursday night.

An animal control officer may have chased them off, Babcock said. He figures they were hungry.

"They're looking for food. They're looking for whatever they can find, like any bear," Babcock said. "If they can find some scrap lying around, it's easier to pick a scrap up than it is to kill a seal."

Calls to the North Slope Borough and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages American polar bears, were not immediately returned.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


I DO THINK THAT TRUMP’S COMMENTS ON THE VERY UGLY AUDIOTAPE SHOULD BE BROUGHT OUT AS AN ISSUE AGAINST HIM, AND THAT HE SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN PERMISSION TO DO WHAT SO MANY OTHERS NOW ARE RUNNING INTO PUNISHMENT ABOUT. BESIDES, IT ISN’T JUST A WHIM ON THE PART OF WOMEN. IT’S AN ASSAULT. THERE’S NOTHING FRIENDLY OR LOVING IN IT.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rep-pramila-jayapal-calls-for-house-hearing-on-trump-sexual-misconduct-allegations/
By KATIANA KRAWCHENKO CBS NEWS December 15, 2017, 6:00 AM
Rep. Pramila Jayapal calls for hearing on Trump sexual misconduct allegations

Freshman Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, is calling on the House to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against President Trump.

"We suggested that the Judiciary Committee should have a hearing on this, and we should bring forward those women who have put forward these allegations," she said on the latest episode of "The Takeout" podcast, with CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Major Garrett and Political Director Steve Chaggaris. "We should have a real hearing on that," she insists.

Listen to this episode on Stitcher

Since the 2016 presidential campaign, least 13 women -- including three women who renewed their accusations against President Trump at a press conference Monday -- are hoping the #MeToo movement will revive interest in their allegations against Mr. Trump of sexual misconduct spanning decades.

Jayapal, who was one of the first members of the House to call on colleague, fellow Democrat, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) to resign after sexual misconduct accusations were also leveled at him, believes it's time to take a hard look at the allegations against the occupant of the highest office in the land.

The argument against this, put forward by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, who has been asked about this by reporters on several occasions, is essentially that the accusations against Mr. Trump came out while the campaign was in full swing, and voters did have the opportunity to pass judgment -- they voted to elect him president.

To that, Jayapal counters, "I don't think it is a standard that should be looked at in elections. I really don't."

"The reason this is roiling every industry – not just Congress but the media, Hollywood, everywhere, business, is because I think women see what the president is doing - see what Republicans have allowed him to do, see what Democrats have allowed to have happen in the past," she argued. "This is not a Republican, Democratic issue."

Jayapal said she has been working with Republican women on the issue, and respects UN Ambassador Nikki Haley's assertion that all women accusing President Trump of allegations should be heard.

"We're just tired of it," Jayapal said. "It is not acceptable, and we should not be trying to sort of parse this kind of groping is okay, but that kind of pedophilia is not," which is the argument that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has also been making. "It needs to stop, and we need a different standard."

For more from Major and Steve's conversation with Rep. Pramila Jayapal, including her reaction to Roy Moore's loss in Alabama, and What she did when a fellow congressman once called publicly called her "young lady" and said she "doesn't know a damn thing" about what she's talking about..., download "The Takeout" podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, or Spotify. New episodes are available every Friday morning.

Also, you can watch "The Takeout" on CBSN Friday and Saturday nights at 9pm ET/PT. For a full archive of "The Takeout" episodes, visit www.takeoutpodcast.com.

Producers: Arden Farhi and Katiana Krawchenko

Show email: TakeoutPodcast@cbsnews.com

Twitter: @TakeoutPodcast
Instagram: @TakeoutPodcast
Facebook: Facebook.com/TakeoutPodcast

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



THIS IS A PLAN TO MODIFY THE MARS ATMOSPHERE TO SOMETHING MUCH CLOSER TO THAT ON EARTH. THE TIMETABLE ISN’T IN HERE, NOR WHETHER OR NOT CONGRESS WILL BACK IT WITH MONEY. STILL, THIS GIVES ME A PLEASANT THOUGHT TO KEEP WITH ME IF I DIE IN THE NEXT TEN TO FIFTEEN YEARS. IF WE DO TOTALLY RUIN THIS EARTH OF OURS BY GLOBAL WARMING, ACIDIFYING THE OCEANS, KILLING 90% OF THE LIFE FORMS OTHER THAN HUMANS AND OUR COMPANION ANIMALS, AT LEAST THERE MIGHT BE A PLACE TO GO. AMEN.

https://futurism.com/nasa-wants-to-build-a-magnetic-shield-around-mars/
Off World
NASA Wants to Build a Magnetic Shield Around Mars
by Universe Today
on March 14, 2017 19022
Matt Williams
Kevin Gill/Flickr

Shielding the Red Planet

This week, NASA’s Planetary Science Division (PSD) hosted a community workshop at their headquarters in Washington, DC. Known as the “Planetary Science Vision 2050 Workshop“, this event ran from February 27th to March 1st, and saw scientists and researchers from all over the world descend on the capitol to attend panel discussions, presentations, and talks about the future of space exploration.

One of the more intriguing presentations took place on Wednesday, March 1st, where the exploration of Mars by human astronauts was discussed. In the course of the talk, which was titled “A Future Mars Environment for Science and Exploration“, Director Jim Green discussed how deploying a magnetic shield could enhance Mars’ atmosphere and facilitate crewed missions there in the future.

The current scientific consensus is that, like Earth, Mars once had a magnetic field that protected its atmosphere. Roughly 4.2 billion years ago, this planet’s magnetic field suddenly disappeared, which caused Mars’ atmosphere to slowly be lost to space. Over the course of the next 500 million years, Mars went from being a warmer, wetter environment to the cold, uninhabitable place we know today.

Artist’s rendering of a solar storm hitting Mars and stripping ions from the planet’s upper atmosphere. Credits: NASA/GSFC

This theory has been confirmed in recent years by orbiters like the ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission (MAVEN), which have been studying the Martian atmosphere since 2004 and 2014, respectively. In addition to determining that solar wind was responsible for depleting Mars’ atmosphere, these probes have also been measuring the rate at which it is still being lost today.

Without this atmosphere, Mars will continue to be a cold, dry place where life cannot flourish. In addition to that, future crewed mission – which NASA hopes to mount by the 2030s – will also have to deal with some severe hazards. Foremost among these will be exposure to radiation and the danger of asphyxiation, which will pose an even greater danger to colonists (should any attempts at colonization be made).

In answer to this challenge, Dr. Jim Green – the Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division – and a panel of researchers presented an ambitious idea. In essence, they suggested that by positioning a magnetic dipole shield at the Mars L1 Lagrange Point, an artificial magnetosphere could be formed that would encompass the entire planet, thus shielding it from solar wind and radiation.

Naturally, Green and his colleagues acknowledged that the idea might sounds a bit “fanciful”. However, they were quick to emphasize how new research into miniature magnetospheres (for the sake of protecting crews and spacecraft) supports this concept:

“This new research is coming about due to the application of full plasma physics codes and laboratory experiments. In the future it is quite possible that an inflatable structure(s) can generate a magnetic dipole field at a level of perhaps 1 or 2 Tesla (or 10,000 to 20,000 Gauss) as an active shield against the solar wind.”

GRAPHIC ART -- The proposed method for creating an artificial magnetic dipole at Mars’ L1 Lagrange Point. Credit: NASA/J.Green

In addition, the positioning of this magnetic shield would ensure that the two regions where most of Mars’ atmosphere is lost would be shielded. In the course of the presentation, Green and the panel indicated that these the major escape channels are located, “over the northern polar cap involving higher energy ionospheric material, and 2) in the equatorial zone involving a seasonal low energy component with as much as 0.1 kg/s escape of oxygen ions.”

To test this idea, the research team – which included scientists from Ames Research Center, the Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of Colorado, Princeton University, and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory – conducted a series of simulations using their proposed artificial magnetosphere. These were run at the Coordinated Community Modeling Center (CCMC), which specializes in space weather research, to see what the net effect would be.

New Opportunities for Exploration

What they found was that a dipole field positioned at Mars L1 Lagrange Point would be able to counteract solar wind, such that Mars’ atmosphere would achieve a new balance. At present, atmospheric loss on Mars is balanced to some degree by volcanic outpassing from Mars interior and crust. This contributes to a surface atmosphere that is about 6 mbar in air pressure (less than 1% that at sea level on Earth).

As a result, Mars atmosphere would naturally thicken over time, which lead to many new possibilities for human exploration and colonization. According to Green and his colleagues, these would include an average increase of about 4 °C (~7 °F), which would be enough to melt the carbon dioxide ice in the northern polar ice cap. This would trigger a greenhouse effect, warming the atmosphere further and causing the water ice in the polar caps to melt.

At one time, Mars had a magnetic field similar to Earth, which prevented its atmosphere from being stripped away. Credit: NASA

By their calculations, Green and his colleagues estimated that this could lead to 1/7th of Mars’ oceans – the ones that covered it billions of years ago – to be restored. If this is beginning to sound a bit like a lecture on how to terraform Mars, it is probably because these same ideas have been raised by people who advocating that very thing. But in the meantime, these changes would facilitate human exploration between now and mid-century.

“A greatly enhanced Martian atmosphere, in both pressure and temperature, that would be enough to allow significant surface liquid water would also have a number of benefits for science and human exploration in the 2040s and beyond,” said Green. “Much like Earth, an enhanced atmosphere would: allow larger landed mass of equipment to the surface, shield against most cosmic and solar particle radiation, extend the ability for oxygen extraction, and provide “open air” greenhouses to exist for plant production, just to name a few.”

These conditions, said Green and his colleagues, would also allow for human explorers to study the planet in much greater detail. It would also help them to determine the habitability of the planet, since many of the signs that pointed towards it being habitable in the past (i.e. liquid water) would slowly seep back into the landscape. And if this could be achieved within the space of few decades, it would certainly help pave the way for colonization.

In the meantime, Green and his colleagues plan to review the results of these simulations so they can produce a more accurate assessment of how long these projected changes would take. It also might not hurt to conduct some cost-assessments of this magnetic shield. While it might seem like something out of science fiction, it doesn’t hurt to crunch the numbers!



WHEN I LOOKED AT THE PHOTO WITH THIS METV ARTICLE, I THOUGHT IT WAS RON HOWARD, BUT NO. IT IS HIS FATHER RANCE HOWARD, AN ACTOR OF A GOOD DEAL OF SUCCESS AS WELL. SEE HIS BIOGRAPHY BELOW.

https://www.metv.com/stories/rip-rance-howard-television-actor-and-father-of-ron-howard
R.I.P. Rance Howard, actor and father of Ron Howard
"Clint & I have been blessed to be Rance Howard's sons," Ron Howard said.
By: MeTV Staff
November 27, 2017, 10:27AM

https://twitter.com/RealRonHoward/status/935132062683619328/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.metv.com%2Fstories%2Frip-rance-howard-television-actor-and-father-of-ron-howard

Born Harold Rance Beckenholdt, Rance Howard began his acting career after making the move from Oklahoma to New York City in the late 1940s. He got his start on the stage, landing a role alongside Peter Fonda in the touring company of the popular World War II play Mister Roberts.

In 1954, Howard nabbed his first film role — and so did his two-year-old son, Ron. The pair appeared in Frontier Woman, a tale of Davy Crockett's daughter. A few years later, the Howard family moved to Hollywood, renting a house that sat just a block away from Desilu Studios. Not long after, Rance and his wife Jean had their second son, Clint.

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The Howards would soon find regular work on the nearby Desilu lot. Ron Howard, of course, was a precocious talent, winning a regular gig as Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show. Young Clint frequently appeared on the sitcom, too, as Leon, the little cowboy who frequently offered Mayberry residents a bite of his sandwich. Rance popped up on The Andy Griffith Show a handful of times, as well, notably as the governor's chauffeur in "Barney and the Governor." You can also spot Rance in "Cousin Virgin" (as a bus driver), "A Black Day for Mayberry" and "The Rumor."

Rance scored a more regular role alongside his son Clint on Gentle Ben, appearing in about half of the episodes of the family adventure series Gentle Ben. From there, he turned up often on the small screen, in guest spots on shows such as Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Waltons, Battlestar Galactica and Mork & Mindy. He teamed up with his eldest son again in three episodes of Happy Days.

On the big screen, Rance Howard could be seen in bit parts in classic films, from Cool Hand Luke to Chinatown. It should come as no surprise that Ron also cast his father in his own pictures, such as Splash, Apollo 13 and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

On Saturday, November 25, Rance Howard passed away at the age of 89. He was still a busy actor, having recently wrapped a movie with Clint called Apple Seed.

Ron Howard expressed his feelings on Twitter, and continued to share the kind thought that poured in for this beloved professional, an actor with 60-plus years of credits to his name. He will be missed, and his Hollywood legacy will live on through his two sons and grandchildren.


Ron Howard
✔
@RealRonHoward
Clint & I have been blessed to be Rance Howard’s sons. Today he passed at 89. He stood especially tall 4 his ability to balance ambition w/great personal integrity. A depression-era farm boy, his passion for acting changed the course of our family history. We love & miss U Dad.

5:10 PM - Nov 25, 2017
10,091 10,091 Replies 11,106 11,106 Retweets 142,234 142,234 likes
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Ron Howard
✔
@RealRonHoward
A great picture a friend shared with us. Brother Clint, me and our Dad Rance Howard on the set of #TheAndyGriffithShow

8:03 AM - Nov 27, 2017

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