JUNE 7, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


“BEFORE COMEY SENT THE LETTER TO CONGRESS, AT LEAST ONE SENIOR JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TOLD THE FBI THAT PUBLICIZING THE BOMBSHELL MOVE SO CLOSE TO AN ELECTION WOULD VIOLATE LONGSTANDING DEPARTMENT POLICY, AND IT WOULD IGNORE FEDERAL GUIDELINES PROHIBITING THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RELATED TO AN ONGOING INVESTIGATION, ABC NEWS WAS TOLD.”

OF COURSE, WE MUST REMEMBER THAT TRUMP PERSONALLY ADMITTED FIRING COMEY OVER HIS FAILURE TO OBEY TRUMP, IN HIS DISHONEST ATTEMPT TO DERAIL AN INVESTIGATION THAT ENDANGERS HIS PRESIDENCY; SO THIS SCOLDING OF COMEY IN REGARD TO THE CLINTON LETTER IS, WHILE TRUE IN MY OPINION, NOT THE REAL REASON FOR HIS ACTIONS.

WHETHER COMEY WAS UNETHICAL IN ISSUING THAT CLINTON LETTER DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION IS NOT AT AN ISSUE TO ME. HE CLEARLY SHOULD HAVE WAITED UNTIL AFTER THE POLLING WAS OVER; BUT WE MUST REMEMBER THAT REPUBLICANS, NO MATTER HOW GENEROUS AND HONEST THEY MAY APPEAR, RARELY FIT TRULY IN THOSE CATEGORIES. I DO KNOW THAT SOME ARE. I THINK THE HORRIBLY AND UNFAIRLY MALIGNED VIETNAM WAR HERO JOHN MCCAIN IS ONE OF TRUMP’S WANTON SMEAR VICTIMS. FOR THAT DISGUSTING COMMENT CONCERNING MCCAIN'S BEING ALIVE RATHER THAN DEAD, IMPLYING THAT MCCAIN WAS LET GO BECAUSE HE TOLD THINGS TO THE ENEMY. MOST IN THIS COUNTRY DO NOT BELIEVE THAT. HE WILL LOSE MORE OF THE RARE AMERICAN GOOD WILL, ESPECIALLY IF MCCAIN DOES DIE SOON.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/doj-watchdog-finds-james-comey-defied-authority-fbi-154204884--abc-news-topstories.html
DOJ watchdog finds James Comey defied authority as FBI director, sources say
MIKE LEVINE
Good Morning America June 6, 2018

photograph -- DOJ watchdog finds James Comey defied authority as FBI director, sources say

The Justice Department's internal watchdog* has concluded that James Comey defied authority at times during his tenure as FBI director, according to sources familiar with a draft report on the matter.

[Justice Department's internal watchdog* REFERS TO Inspector General Michael Horowitz]

One source told ABC News that the draft report explicitly used the word "insubordinate" to describe Comey's behavior. Another source agreed with that characterization but could not confirm the use of the term.

In the draft report, Inspector General Michael Horowitz also rebuked former Attorney General Loretta Lynch for her handling of the federal investigation into Hillary Clinton's personal email server, the sources said.

On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump complained of "numerous delays" in the release of Horowitz's final report, which is expected to run several hundred pages long and be released in the coming days. The sources who spoke to ABC News were willing or able to address only a portion of the draft report's complete findings.

"What is taking so long with the Inspector General's Report on Crooked Hillary and Slippery James Comey," Trump said on Twitter. "Hope report is not being changed and made weaker!"

There is no indication the president has seen – or will see – a draft of the report before its release. Horowitz, however, could revise the draft report now that current and former officials mentioned in it have offered their responses to the inspector general's conclusions, according to the sources.

Almost from the start, the long-awaited report was expected to chastise Comey for his handling of the Clinton-related probe. But in apparently describing Comey's defiance of authority, the draft report was criticizing a man who prided himself on his leadership style at the FBI and has since dedicated his post-government life to promoting a new generation of effective leaders.

The draft of Horowitz's wide-ranging report specifically called out Comey for ignoring objections from the Justice Department when he disclosed in a letter to Congress just days before the 2016 presidential election that FBI agents had reopened the Clinton probe, according to sources. Clinton has said that letter doomed her campaign.

Before Comey sent the letter to Congress, at least one senior Justice Department official told the FBI that publicizing the bombshell move so close to an election would violate longstanding department policy, and it would ignore federal guidelines prohibiting the disclosure of information related to an ongoing investigation, ABC News was told.

In an interview in April, ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos asked Comey: "If Attorney General Lynch had ordered you not to send the letter, would you have sent it?"

"No," Comey responded. "I believe in the chain of command."

But in backing Trump's ultimate decision to fire Comey last year, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein slammed Comey's letter to Congress and said it "was wrong" for Comey "to usurp the Attorney General's authority" when he announced in July 2016 that the FBI would not be filing charges against Clinton or her aides.

"It is not the function of the Director to make such an announcement," Rosenstein said in a letter to Trump recommending Comey be fired. "At most, the Director should have said the FBI had completed its investigation and presented its findings to federal prosecutors."

Horowitz's draft report cited Comey for failing to consult with Lynch and other senior Justice Department officials before making his announcement on national TV. While saying there was no "clear evidence" that Clinton "intended to violate" the law, Comey insisted the former secretary of state was "extremely careless" in her "handling of very sensitive, highly classified information."

"I have not coordinated or reviewed this statement in any way with the Department of Justice or any other part of the government. They do not know what I am about to say," Comey said before cameras on July 5, 2016.

By then, Lynch had taken the unusual step of publicly declaring she would accept the FBI's recommendations in the case, after an impromptu meeting with former president Bill Clinton sparked questions about her impartiality.

PHOTO: Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington D.C., Sept. 22, 2016. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)
PHOTO: Attorney General Loretta Lynch speaks at a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington D.C., Sept. 22, 2016. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo)

Comey has defended his decisions as director, insisting he was trying to protect the FBI from even further criticism and "didn't see that I had a choice."

"The honest answer is I screwed up a couple of things, but ... I think given what I knew at the time, these were the decisions that were best calculated to preserve the values of the institutions," Comey told ABC News. "I still think it was the right thing to do."

More than a year ago, as lawmakers increasingly voiced concern over how the FBI and Justice Department handled matters surrounding the 2016 election, the inspector general's office announced that it had launched an investigation into an array of allegations, including an allegation "that Department or FBI policies or procedures were not followed in connection with, or in actions leading up to or related to, the FBI Director's public announcement on July 5, 2016."

A week before the announcement, while the investigation into Hillary Clinton was still underway, a political firestorm erupted in Washington after Lynch happened to run into Bill Clinton in Arizona and briefly met with him inside a plane sitting on a tarmac there. Days later, with questions swirling over whether Bill Clinton tried to improperly influence the investigation into his wife, Lynch haphazardly announced that she would not recuse herself from the matter but would "fully expect to accept" whatever recommendation the FBI made.

Comey later called it a "tortured half-out, half-in approach." And after such a "strange" announcement, "I decided I have to step away from her and show the American people the FBI's work separately," Comey told ABC News.

The inspector general's office seemed to similarly view Lynch's announcement as strange, with the draft report criticizing her for how she handled the impromptu tarmac meeting and its aftermath, according to sources familiar with the findings.

In April, when Comey was promoting his new book "A Higher Loyalty," Lynch issued a statement saying that during the Clinton email investigation she "trusted" the "non-partisan career prosecutors" handling the case "to assess the facts and make a recommendation -- one that I ultimately accepted because I thought the evidence and law warranted it."

Nevertheless, ABC News has confirmed that Horowitz's draft report went on to criticize senior FBI officials, including Comey and fired FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, for their response to the late discovery of a laptop containing evidence that may have related to the Clinton investigation.

That discovery prompted the FBI's letter to Congress announcing the reopening of the Hillary Clinton email probe. Hundreds of thousands of emails had been found on the laptop of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner, whose wife, Huma Abedin, was a top aide to the secretary of state.

It took weeks for the FBI to start analyzing the laptop's contents, and Horowitz's draft report criticized senior FBI officials for how long the laptop languished inside the bureau, sources told ABC News.

The Associated Press first reported that the draft report criticized senior FBI officials for their handling of the laptop.

McCabe was fired from the FBI in March, after Horowitz concluded in a separate report that McCabe "lacked candor" when speaking to internal investigators about his role in a disclosure to the media. The matter has since been referred to the U.S. attorney in Washington for possible prosecution, and McCabe's legal team is now seeking a grant of immunity from lawmakers who want him to testify before a Senate panel about Horowitz's findings.

Talking with ABC News about his own firing, Comey said he decided to write a book afterward because, "It occurred to me maybe I can be useful by offering a view to people, especially to young people, of what leadership should look like and how it should be centered on values."

ABC News was unable to ascertain information about another key part of the inspector general's report: whether animus toward Trump may have influenced the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails or the subsequent probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

FBI senior agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page exchanged hundreds of messages in the lead-up to the election, including messages calling Trump "an idiot" and saying the Republican Party "needs to pull their head out of their" rear-ends. The messages also included critiques of Hillary Clinton.

"There are so many horrible things to tell, the public has the right to know. Transparency!" Trump said in his Twitter message on Tuesday.

Representatives for Comey, Lynch and McCabe declined to comment for this article. A spokesman for the inspector general's office also declined to comment.


TAKE THAT, TRUMP!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maryland-gubernatorial-candidate-tells-trump-to-kiss-off-in-new-ad/
By BLAIR GUILD CBS NEWS June 7, 2018, 12:45 PM
Maryland gubernatorial candidate tells Trump to kiss off in new ad

Democratic State Senator Richard Madaleno is telling President Trump to kiss off in a new 30-second ad as part of his bid for governor of Maryland.

The spot points out the ways in which Madaleno has "already infuriate[d]" Mr. Trump, including his defense of Planned Parenthood, his help in banning assault weapons in the state, and his support for public education over school vouchers.

After touting each of these accomplishments in the Maryland General Assembly, a different voice chimes in, "Take that!" directly addressing Mr. Trump, the National Rifle Association, and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.

But in the final moments of the ad, Madaleno asks: "And what's the number one way I piss off Donald Trump and the Republicans?" before leaning in to kiss his husband Mark Hodge.


Victory Fund
✔
@VictoryFund
BREAKING: @RichMadaleno just released the first political ad in American history to feature a kiss between a candidate and a same-sex spouse. The piece aired on @foxandfriends in Maryland and Washington DC this morning. #TakeThatTrump #FirstKiss

9:30 AM - Jun 7, 2018
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128 people are talking about this
Twitter Ads info and privacy
"Take that Trump!" he says after the embrace.

The Madaleno campaign claims the ad, which debuted during Pride month, is the first-ever political ad in the U.S. to feature a kiss between a same-sex married couple.

"I'm running for governor to deliver progressive results and to stand up to Donald Trump," Madaleno says in the ad.

The ad will run in Maryland and D.C. The Victory Fund, which supports LGBTQ candidates for public office, said that the commercial aired during Fox News' "Fox and Friends" Thursday.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



HERE IS ANOTHER OF THOSE POINTLESS BEATINGS. THE ARTICLE SAYS THAT MESA HAS BEEN CRITICIZED IN THE NEWS SEVERAL PREVIOUS TIMES, ALSO.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mesa-arizona-police-release-bodycam-video-of-officers-beating-man-robert-johnson/
CBS NEWS June 7, 2018, 7:13 AM
Newly released bodycam videos show moments before Mesa officers beat unarmed man

Newly released bodycam videos show the moments leading up to a violent altercation involving Mesa, Arizona, police officers and an unarmed black man. Officers, who are part of a police department that has been under scrutiny before for excessive force, are seen punching Robert Johnson repeatedly before wrestling him to the ground.

The officers were responding to a domestic disturbance call when they encountered 33-year-old Johnson and his friend, who was accused of trying to break into his ex-girlfriend's apartment. They ordered Johnson to sit down and when he apparently fails to comply, the officers move in, reports CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas.

Three are seen punching Johnson, including several blows to the head. Surveillance video also shows an officer kneeing him in the stomach. After being handcuffed, Johnson can be heard swearing at police.

Woman punched by New Jersey officer on the beach: "I'm not a criminal"
Johnson's attorney, Benjamin Taylor, said it's a clear case of excessive force.

"He wasn't doing anything wrong. They searched him, they patted him down and they went over to the wall and they beat him up," Taylor said.

Police say they acted only after Johnson refused to cooperate. In their incident report, one officer wrote Johnson's "body language" looked like he "was preparing for a physical altercation." Still, Mesa's police chief is opening a formal investigation and changing police policy.

"There's going to be a special directive that says that we will not strike somebody in the face or in the head, unless they are showing us active aggression," said Ramon Batista, Mesa police chief.

The Mesa Police Department made national headlines in the past over excessive use of force. Officer Philip Brailsford was acquitted last year of second degree murder charges in the shooting of Daniel Shaver. Bodycam video showed unarmed Shaver crawling and begging for his life, then reaching toward his pocket before Brailsford shot him multiple times.

Batista took the job as Mesa's police chief just last year. He moved quickly to release the videos after a local pastor told him about the incident last week. Three officers and one sergeant involved have been placed on paid administrative leave.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


MORE SONIC ATTACKS – IN CHINA THIS TIME. VIDEO.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/us-state-department-evacuates-diplomats-china-mystery-illness/
VIDEO: U.S. diplomats leave China over illness 3:40



MARS NEWS THREE ARTICLES

CBS FAILED TO GIVE ME A PRINT STORY ON THIS. WHY? I’LL LOOK ELSEWHERE.

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/06/07/nasa-finds-organic-material-on-mars/
NASA Finds Ancient Organic Material On Mars, May Be Potential Life
June 7, 2018 at 2:18 pm Filed Under:Mars, NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) – New Mars discoveries are advancing the case for possible life on the red planet, past or even present.

NASA scientists reported Thursday the Mars rover Curiosity has found potential building blocks of life in an ancient lakebed.

The organic molecules preserved in 3 billion-year-old bedrock suggest conditions at Mars may have once been conducive to life. That leaves open the possibility that microorganisms once populated the red planet – and still might.

Curiosity also has confirmed seasonal increases of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Researchers say they can’t rule out a biological source.

Curiosity has been drilling since 2013. It previously found hints of methane and organic compounds, but these findings are the best evidence yet. More powerful spacecraft are needed to prove whether life ever existed on Mars.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


SO, DOES METHANE AUTOMATICALLY MEAN LIFEFORMS ARE PRODUCING IT? THE FACT THAT THE AMOUNT OF METHANE IN THE MARS ATMOSPHERE INCREASES AND DECREASES SEASONALLY DOES LOOK TO ME AS THOUGH A REPETITIVE PATTERN IS ONGOING, AND THE MOST LIKELY CASE IF IT WERE ON EARTH WOULD BE BACTERIA. CROSS YOUR FINGERS!

ON THE OTHER HAND, BETTER WATCH THIS FIRST!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI4D2yH4f5U
BEHIND THE SCENES OF MARS ATTACKS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqtjHWlM4lQ
Mars Attacks! (1996) Official Trailer #1 - Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan Sci-Fi Comedy


SO, OKAY, THERE ARE OTHER SOURCES FOR METHANE.

https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/stories/6-surprising-sources-of-methane
MOTHER NATURE NETWORK
JUNE 7, 2018
From hydroelectric dams to rice fields, methane comes from some unexpected places.
JOHN PLATT
September 24, 2012, 11:12 a.m.

PHOTOGRAPH -- rice field methane
Photo: Dave A. LaSpina/Flickr

Methane is a naturally occurring organic compound, but human activity has increased the amount of this potent greenhouse gas that goes into the atmosphere. Most of the methane that humans emit comes from natural gas, landfills, coal mining and manure management, but methane is almost everywhere and it comes from some surprising sources. Here are a few that you might not expect.

Hydroelectric dams: A risk and an opportunity

The 8,000 hydroelectric dams in the U.S. generate a huge amount of sustainable electricity, but they also produce methane. How? It's all part of the process to create a dam in the first place.

When a dam is built, the area behind the dam is flooded by water that can no longer travel where it used to flow. That leaves a potentially huge amount of vegetable matter — plants and trees that use [sic] to exist in the open air — rotting beneath the surface of the water. Rotting vegetation produces methane, and in normal situations that methane would escape into the atmosphere in incremental doses. But the rotting plants behind a dam store up their methane in the mud. When the supply of water lowers behind a dam, all of that stored-up methane can suddenly be released.

The amount of methane a dam could release varies depending on where and how the dam was built. A 2005 study published in the journal Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change found that the Curuá-Una dam in Pará, Brazil, actually released three-and-a-half times more methane than an oil-based power plant generating the same amount of electricity. A study this year by a doctoral student at Washington State University found the mud behind one dam in Washington released 36 times more methane than normal when water levels were low.

But don't worry. Some scientists are already looking into this problem, suggesting the methane could be captured and turned into electricity.

The Arctic's growing methane problem

Just as methane is escaping from the mud behind dams, the gas is escaping from underneath Arctic ice and permafrost due to global warming. A study published this May in the journal Nature Geoscience found that methane gas, which had been trapped under the ice, is now escaping into the atmosphere as the Arctic region heats up. This, in turn, could speed up further warming.

The potential impact of all of this Arctic methane is still being studied, but it seems to be one of the bigger and most immediate dangers of climate change.

Ocean microbes: A new discovery in methane

As much as 4 percent of the planet's methane comes from the ocean, and a study published in August finally may have figured out how it gets there in the first place. According to scientists from the University of Illinois and Institute for Genomic Biology, the ocean-based microbe Nitrosopumilus maritimus produces methane through a complex biochemical process the researchers referred to as "weird chemistry." It was a totally unexpected discovery for two reasons. One, the researchers were actually looking for clues to create new antibiotics. And two, all other microbes known to produce methane can't tolerate oxygen, which is found in both the air and water.

Since N. maritimus happens to be one of the most abundant organisms on the planet, this could be a valuable discovery that will lead to a better understanding of the Earth's natural systems and climate change.

Composting: It has its downsides

Home or business composting is a great way to get rid of organic waste such as yard trimmings and food scraps and transform them into something useful. But it's not without its downside: The act of composting produces both carbon dioxide and methane. According to an EPA report (pdf), the amount of material composted in the U.S. from 1990 to 2010 increased 392 percent and methane emissions from composting have increased about the same percentage.

This shouldn't be a deterrent to composting, though. The amount of methane produced by composting is less than 1 percent what is produced by natural gas systems.

Oddly enough, the EPA estimates that composting levels have actually decreased by about 6 percent since 2008, so if you don't currently compost, you might want to consider starting. Compostable material you throw away will just end up emitting methane in landfills anyway, so you may as well do some good instead of sending your table scraps to the dump.

Rice: You're soaking in it

Rice may be one of the biggest food staples around the world, but its cultivation produced the third-highest levels of methane from all agricultural processes in 2010, according to an EPA report (pdf).

Rice is grown in flooded fields, a situation that depletes the soil of oxygen. Soils that are anaerobic (lacking oxygen) allow the bacteria that produce methane from decomposing organic matter to thrive. Some of this methane then bubbles to the surface, but most of it is diffused back into the atmosphere through the rice plants themselves.

The cultivate manner matters, according to the EPA, which found that rice plants growing in especially deep water tend to have dead roots, which blocks the methane from diffusing through the plants. In addition, nitrate and sulfate fertilizers appear to inhibit the formation of methane. In the U.S., states such as Texas and Florida practice what is known as a ratoon (or second) rice crop using regrowth from the first crop which produces higher levels of emissions.

Rice production was up in most of the eight U.S. states that grow it from 2006 to 2010, resulting in a 45 percent increase in methane emissions.

Semiconductors: You're using one right now

Guess what: the device you're using to read this article was manufactured with the help of methane. Specifically, the semiconductors in computers and mobile devices are produced using several different methane gases, including trifluoromethane, perfluoromethane and perfluoroethane. Some of this gas escapes in the waste process. According to an EPA report (pdf), the total of all of these gases released in 2010 was the equivalent of 5.4 teragrams of carbon dioxide.

There's good news, though: The semiconductor industry has made consistent improvements to reduce waste and emissions, reducing them by 26 percent between 1999 and 2010.

No matter where you go, methane is a part of life on this planet. Understanding where it comes from can help us to reduce manmade emissions in the future and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we are putting into the atmosphere.

Related story on MNN: What is methane and why should I care?
Related topics: Climate Change, Computers, Greenhouse Gases, Hydropower, Methane


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/06/07/life-mars-building-blocks-life-discovered-3-billion-year-old-organic-matter/681597002/?csp=chromepush
'Building blocks' for life discovered in 3-billion-year-old organic matter on Mars
Doyle Rice, USA TODAY Published 2:00 p.m. ET June 7, 2018

The "building blocks" for life have been discovered in 3-billion-year-old organic matter on Mars, NASA scientists announced Thursday.

Researchers cannot yet say whether their discovery stems from life or a more mundane geological process. However, “we’re in a really good position to move forward looking for signs of life," said Jennifer Eigenbrode, a NASA biogeochemist and lead author of a study published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

The findings were also remarkable, in that it showed that organic material can be preserved for billions of years on the harsh Martian surface.

The material was discovered by the Mars Curiosity rover, which has been collecting data on the Red Planet since August 2012.

For the past six years, "the Curiosity has sifted samples of soil and ground-up rock for signs of organic molecules — the complex carbon chains that on Earth form the building blocks of life, according to Science. "Past detections have been so faint that they could be just contamination," the journal said.


Now, samples taken from two different drill sites on an ancient lakebed have yielded complex organic molecules that look strikingly similar to the goopy fossilized building
blocks of oil and gas on Earth.

The rover also discovered traces of methane on Mars.

"The detection of organic molecules and methane on Mars has far-ranging implications
in light of potential past life on Mars," said Inge Loes ten Kate, a Utrecht University scientist in an accompanying article in Science. "Curiosity has shown that Gale crater (where the material was discovered) was habitable around 3.5 billion years ago, with conditions comparable to those on the early Earth, where life evolved around that time.

"The question of whether life might have originated or existed on Mars is a lot more opportune now that we know that organic molecules were present on its surface at that time," Kate said.

The nuclear-battery-powered Curiosity rover, a $2.5 billion mobile chemistry lab, launched in 2011. NASA calls the Curiosity the "largest and most capable" rover ever to make contact with Mars.

It's about the size of a car, has a seven-foot-long arm, carries 10 science instruments, 17 cameras and a laser to "vaporize" rocks.


THE NEWEST DEADLY VIRUS. THE GOOD NEWS, IS THAT IT DOESN’T SPREAD EASILY. SEE THE THREE ARTICLES BELOW.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2171089-nipah-the-unknown-virus-that-could-be-the-next-pandemic-threat/?cmpid=ILC|NSNS|2018_webpush&utm_medium=ILC&utm_source=NSNS&utm_campaign=webpush-Roost-Nipah
ANALYSIS 7 June 2018
Nipah: the unknown virus that could be the next pandemic threat
By Debora MacKenzie

Nipah virus has killed 17 people in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It’s a relatively small toll, from a virus few have heard of – and after starting in May, the outbreak now seems under control.

But there has been a collective, worldwide shudder among disease experts. Many consider Nipah the scariest of the “emerging” viruses causing increased concern since the disastrous Ebola epidemic of 2014. It is one of the World Health Organization’s eight priority viruses for developing a …

photograph -- Nipah does not yet spread easily, but often kills those it infects
Reuters/PA Images


http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/undaunted-doctor-performs-last-rites-for-nipah-victims/article24098653.ece
KERALA
Undaunted, doctor performs last rites for Nipah victims
STAFF REPORTER KOZHIKODE, JUNE 06, 2018 23:59 IST
UPDATED: JUNE 07, 2018 11:13 IST

He gets frantic calls from home almost every day, a worried wife asking him to be careful about his health. But R.S. Gopakumar, health officer attached to the Kozhikode Corporation, seems fearless in the face of the unexpected outbreak of Nipah virus infection, even going to the extent of carrying the coffins and lighting the pyre of some of those who died of the rare disease.

When 25-year-old Rasin succumbed to the infection on May 31, there was no one to perform his last rites. His father had passed away and his mother was in the isolation ward of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, with suspected symptoms.

ALSO READ
“The Kerala government’s extraordinary response is no solace for Mohammed Salih’s family who have lost four members in three weeks to the Nipah virus.” The relatives of V. Moosa, Salih’s father, offer prayers at his burial in Kozhikode.
Nipah virus: Anatomy of an outbreak


“I asked Rasin’s mother if I could perform the final rites as per Hindu religious beliefs. She said yes. I carried the pall to the crematorium and lit the pyre and performed the rituals,” he said. The staff of the Ivor Madhom crematorium on the banks of the Bharathappuzha in Thrissur district helped him. A day before, he had to help the relatives of Abin, 26, who too lost his life to the virus, to perform the last rites.

The protocol laid down by an expert team from the National Centre for Disease Control was followed during the cremation and burial as exposure to the virus can be fatal.

ALSO READ
Nurse Lini Puthussery.
WHO pays tribute to Kerala nurse who died of Nipah virus infection


Reema Sahay, scientist from the National Institute of Virology, was present at the Kannamparambu burial ground when the body of V. Moosa, whose two sons too died of the infection, was taken for last rites. The directions from Dr. Sahay, an expert in handling Ebola victims, came in handy, Dr. Gopakumar pointed out. Those handling the body are supposed to wear personal protective equipment.

Some staff of a corporation crematorium even refused to perform the last rites of Rajan, one of the earlier victims. The body was kept in an ambulance for hours before Ivor Madhom staff were called in to do the rituals.

Dr. Gopakumar also helped some others who died of suspected infection. Sabeerath did not have any relatives except her husband. With his permission, Dr. Gopakumar carried the coffin to the burial ground. When the body of Raghu, 53, was taken to the crematorium, his relatives refused to wear the PPE and perform the rituals.

“After my efforts to convince them about the need to wear the equipment failed, I carried the coffin myself with the help of some social activists and lit the pyre,” he added.



MADDOW NEWS

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/18
New Cambridge Analytica revelations connect Trump Russia dots
Rachel Maddow reports on how new revelations about an executive from Cambridge Analytica, the data firm hired by the Donald Trump campaign, meeting with Julian Assange, and the firm's use of data from a Russia-sponsored academic. Duration: 14:51


Embed
HELP THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/18
Ivanka eyed by investigators for referring Russian to Cohen
Rachel Maddow shares a report from Buzzfeed news that Ivanka Trump referred a Russian promising a meeting with Vladimir to Michael Cohen as Cohen pursued plans for a Trump tower in Moscow. Duration: 2:40


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/18
Two EPA staffers leave as Scott Pruitt scandal worsens
Rachel Maddow reports on two EPA staffers leaving the agency as the scandal of Scott Pruitt trying to use the influence of his public office to get his wife a Chick-fil-A franchise reaches a new level of corruption even for Pruitt. Duration: 5:06


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/18
Democrats in good shape for 2018 after California primaries
Steve Kornacki talks wit Rachel Maddow about the outcome of important California primary races and how the Democrats are set up to flip some seats in the 2018 midterms. Duration: 8:17


HELP THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/6/18
New Orleans is the 'City of Yes'
Rachel Maddow looks back at when The Rachel Maddow Show offered to help New Orleans move away from branding itself "the city of n.o." and celebrates a new initiative by the city's new mayor to make "City of Yes" a more appropriate identity. Duration: 2:52


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/5/18
Man with White House access arrested on attempted murder warrant
Rachel Maddow reports what is known so far about breaking news of a man arrested outside the White House on an attempted murder warrant. The man was a contractor with a White House pass working for the National Security Council. Duration: 4:12


HELP THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/5/18
Infamous Donald Trump White House press aide loses job
Rachel Maddow reports that Kelly Sadler, the Donald Trump White House press aide who gained notoriety for her tasteless crack about John McCain's mortality, has lost her job. Duration: 2:08


HELP THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/5/18
Trump, GOP keep Scott Pruitt on despite flagrant abuse of office
Rachel Maddow shares reporting that Donald Trump EPA administrator Scott Pruitt tried to use his office as leverage to get his wife a Chick-fil-A franchise. There does not appear to be any dispute of the evidence that he did this. Duration: 13:16


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/5/18
Trump keeping immigrant kids in cages, military bases may be next
Rachel Maddow explains why military bases are now among the considerations for handling the overflow of immigrant children seized from their families by the Trump administration. Duration: 4:29


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/5/18
'Printing error' leaves almost 200,000 voters off L.A. rosters
Rachel Maddow reports on 118,522 voters' names being left off of Los Angeles County polling rolls as the result of what is being described as an accidental printing error. Duration: 0:59


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/4/18
Trump pardon strategy would have to include Russians to end probe
Rachel Maddow explains why if Donald Trump wanted to pardon his way out of the Mueller investigation by pardoning all of his family, friends, and colleagues, the Russian indictments would still keep everyone on the hook, so Trump would have to pardon the Russians too. Duration: 23:22


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/4/18
Mueller accuses Manafort of attempting to tamper with witnesses
Rachel Maddow shares breaking news that Robert Mueller's prosecutors have accused Paul Manafort of attempting to tamper with witnesses, and are asking the judge in his case to adjust or remove his release ahead of trial. Duration: 3:06


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/4/18
Sen. Merkley denied access to detention center for immigrant kids
Rachel Maddow reports on an effort of the weekend by Senator Jeff Merkley to see inside a former Walmart where he says 1,000 children are being held after being forcibly removed from parents seeking refuge in the United States. Duration: 3:48


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/4/18
US inflicting lifelong trauma on immigrant children seeking help
Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, talks with Rachel Maddow about the trauma inflicted on young children of families torn apart by ICE, and the effort to reunite them with their parents. Duration: 4:05



http://www.evadeaza.ro/video-blog/a-little-girl-gives-coins-to-a-street-musician-and-gets-the-best?shared=1
A little girl gives coins to a street musician and gets the best surprise in return
Check out what happens when a little girl gives money to a street artist.