Monday, February 9, 2015
Monday, February 9, 2015
News Clips For The Day
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/kurdish-peshmerga-forces-fighting-isis-in-iraq-desperate-for-military-supplies/
Kurds fighting ISIS desperate for U.S. supplies
CBS NEWS
February 9, 2015
Kurdish peshmerga forces battling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in northern Iraq say their lives depend on getting military supplies from the U.S, reports CBS News correspondent Holly Williams.
The peshmerga are foot soldiers facing off with the extremists on a 600-mile long frontline in Sinjar province. They have the best track record of defeating the militants, but they're massively out-gunned.
The Kurdish forces say they've clawed back 1,500 square miles of territory from ISIS since December, and they've done nearly all their fighting relying on small-caliber weapons.
"We have lost more than 1,000 peshmergas, and somewhere around 5,000 have been wounded," Kurdish national security adviser Masrour Barzani said.
Barzani told CBS News 70 percent of those deaths could have been prevented if the U.S. would give the peshmerga the hundreds of armored vehicles they want. So far, they've received just 25.
"Of course they all praise the peshmerga and thank us, but that is not enough, we need the equipment," Barzani said. "Let's not forget, this is a war, the enemy doesn't wait. They are not waiting for us, or for our allies to provide us with the right equipment."
The armored cars would even offer some protection against the biggest killer of the Kurdish fighters: car and roadside bombs. In a battle last month, ISIS attacked them with 14 car bombs in just one day.
"These are our heroes, and we need to protect these heroes, and I think they're the heroes of the free world, and it's the responsibility of the international community to protect them," Barzani said.
The reason the U.S. is reluctant to directly equip the peshmerga is that the Kurdish people want independence. Helping them angers the Iraqi government as well as the Turkish authorities, where there's a large Kurdish population. But that leaves the peshmerga desperately under-equipped.
“The Kurdish forces say they've clawed back 1,500 square miles of territory from ISIS since December, and they've done nearly all their fighting relying on small-caliber weapons. "We have lost more than 1,000 peshmergas, and somewhere around 5,000 have been wounded," Kurdish national security adviser Masrour Barzani said. Barzani told CBS News 70 percent of those deaths could have been prevented if the U.S. would give the peshmerga the hundreds of armored vehicles they want. So far, they've received just 25.... "These are our heroes, and we need to protect these heroes, and I think they're the heroes of the free world, and it's the responsibility of the international community to protect them," Barzani said. The reason the U.S. is reluctant to directly equip the peshmerga is that the Kurdish people want independence. Helping them angers the Iraqi government as well as the Turkish authorities, where there's a large Kurdish population. But that leaves the peshmerga desperately under-equipped.”
To the world at large: Please send the heavy weapons and armored vehicles that the Kurds need. They are doing the whole world's fighting at this point, with little help. Our air strikes are of use, but they are not enough. Even their women fight. They deserve more than credit for courage. ISIS has already attacked France, and it will be some other Western nation next time – maybe the US.
Ukraine – Western Europe – Neo-Nazis
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/putin-splits-nato-over-arming-ukraine-against-pro-russia-separatists/
Has Putin driven a Ukrainian wedge through NATO?
CBS/AP
February 9, 2015
WASHINGTON -- President Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are trying for a public display of unity despite a potential split over arming Ukrainian fighters to better battle Russian-backed separatists.
That was the unstated point of Monday's meeting at the White House, where Merkel was to brief Mr. Obama on upcoming talks aimed at reviving a peace plan for besieged Ukraine.
At issue is not only Russian President Vladimir Putin's support for the separatists but the revival of the Soviet Cold War strategy of trying to create a critical division between the United States and its NATO allies, Germany in particular.
Merkel and French President Francois Hollande met with Ukrainian leaders and Putin last week and have announced a new summit meeting for Wednesday in Minsk. French and German leaders are to sit down with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Putin in an attempt to breathe life into a much-violated September peace plan. The United States will not be at the table.
That meeting in the Belarusian capital takes place with Merkel and Hollande deeply opposed to arming Ukraine in its bid to push back the separatists that NATO and the United States insist are being armed by Russia, which also has troops fighting in the eastern Ukraine. The White House has let it be known that Mr. Obama, who had resisted calls to send arms, was now considering doing just that.
Opponents of arming Kiev believe that could open a proxy war between Washington and Moscow. Merkel and Hollande insist the only way to end the conflict is through diplomacy.
"It must be possible to find -- not through military conflict but at the negotiating table -- a balance of interests inside Ukraine that guarantees both the integrity of the state and the appropriate scale of autonomy" for the separatists, said German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen.
Secretary of State John Kerry was keen Sunday to dispel the notion of a trans-Atlantic rift, saying U.S. and its European allies are "united in our diplomacy" on Ukraine. Speaking at an international security conference in Munich, he said the U.S. supports the efforts by France and Germany.
"There is no division, there is no split," Kerry said. "I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together."
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking alongside Kerry, said he considers delivering weapons "not just highly risky but counterproductive."
But Republican Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, insisted in Munich that "we must provide defensive arms to Ukraine."
"If we help Ukrainians increase the military cost to the Russian forces that have invaded their country, how long can Putin sustain a war that he tells his people is not happening?"
Aside from the military cost, Russia has also been struggling with the economic impact of western sanctions and low global oil prices.
At the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Vice President Joe Biden stopped short of explicitly addressing possible arms deliveries. "We will continue to provide Ukraine with security assistance not to encourage war, but to allow Ukraine to defend itself," he said.
More than 5,300 people have been killed since fighting began in April, according to a U.N. tally, and the bloodshed has markedly increased over the past two weeks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-hughes/the-neo-nazi-question-in_b_4938747.html
The Neo-Nazi Question in Ukraine
Michael Hughes
Foreign Policy Analyst
Posted: 03/11/2014 12:44 am EDT
Updated: 05/11/201
The Obama administration has vehemently denied charges that Ukraine's nascent regime is stock full of neo-fascists despite clear evidence suggesting otherwise. Such categorical repudiations lend credence to the notion the U.S. facilitated the anti-Russian cabal's rise to power as part of a broader strategy to draw Ukraine into the West's sphere of influence. Even more disturbing are apologists, from the American left and right, who seem willing accomplices in this obfuscation of reality, when just a cursory glance at the profiles of Ukraine's new leaders should give pause to the most zealous of Russophobes.
In a State Department "fact sheet" released last week the U.S. accused Putin of lying about the Ukrainian government being under the sway of extremist elements. The report stated that right wing ultranationalist groups "are not represented in the Rada (Ukraine's parliament)," and that "there is no indication the government would pursue discriminatory policies."
It isn't too surprising that conservative outlets like FOX News would downplay Russian allegations but the so-called "liberal" press has also contributed to the American disinformation campaign. Celestine Bohlen from The New York Timesconsiders harsh epithets, like the word "neo-Nazi," which Putin has hurled at the demonstrators in Kiev as part of a Russian propaganda effort to tarnish Ukraine's revolutionary struggle against authoritarianism.
Yet after simply Googling the terms "Ukraine" and "Neo-Nazi," the official position of the United States government along with the stance taken by many in the American media both now seem quite dubious, if not downright ridiculous, especially considering that one would be hard-pressed to machinate the lineup that now dominates Ukraine's ministry posts.
For starters, Andriy Parubiy, the new secretary of Ukraine's security council, was a co-founder of the Neo-Nazi Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU), otherwise known as Svoboda. And his deputy, Dmytro Yarosh, is the leader of a party called the Right Sector which, according to historian Timothy Stanley, "flies the old flag of the Ukrainian Nazi collaborators at its rallies."
The highest-ranking right-wing extremist is Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Sych, also a member of Svoboda, who believes that women should "lead the kind of lifestyle to avoid the risk of rape, including refraining from drinking alcohol and being in controversial company." This is the philosophy underlying one of his "legal initiatives," according to the Kyiv Post, "to ban all abortions, even for pregnancies that occurred during rape."
The Svoboda party has tapped into Nazi symbolism including the "wolf's angel" rune, which resembles a swastika and was worn by members of the Waffen-SS, a panzer division that was declared a criminal organization at Nuremberg. A report from Tel-Aviv University describes the Svoboda party as "an extremist, right-wing, nationalist organization which emphasizes its identification with the ideology of German National Socialism."
According to this BBC news clip two Svoboda parliamentarians in recent weeks posed for photos while "brandishing well-known far right numerology," including the numbers 88 -- the eighth letter of the alphabet -- signifying "HH," as in "Heil Hitler." This all makes Hillary Clinton's recent comments comparing Putin to Hitler appear patently absurd, as Stanley adeptly points out: "After all, in the eyes of many ethnic Russians, it is the Ukrainian nationalists -- not Putin -- who are the Nazis."
Last week Per Anders Rudling from Lund University in Sweden, an expert on Ukrainian extremists, told Britain's Channel 4 News: "A neo-fascist party like Svoboda getting the deputy prime minister position is news in its own right." Well, except in the U.S.
Even more disconcerting has been the emergence of phone intercepts between high-ranking U.S. and Ukrainian officials which make it look as if the U.S. was basically, in the words of Princeton's Stephen Cohen, "plotting a coup d'état against the elected president of Ukraine." In other words, the U.S., in addition to providing moral support, may have paved the way for extremists to seize power in Kiev. Such a development would counter the American right's condemnation of Obama for not "engaging" in the world. The real problem is actually the administration's over-engagement in this case -- as in meddling in the affairs of another state and trying to rearrange its domestic political machinery to suit Washington's agenda.
This gambit has backfired in a number of ways. Not only has a neo-fascist-laden regime secured power in Kiev but it may have played the U.S. and its allies for fools by insinuating it would become part of the Western sphere when it really had no such designs. As Svoboda political council member Yury Noyevy baldly admitted: "The participation of Ukrainian nationalism and Svoboda in the process of EU [European Union] integration is a means to break our ties with Russia."
Be they radical mujahideen or neo-fascists, Washington certainly has a penchant for bolstering shadowy forces, usually labeling them with risible euphemisms like "freedom fighters," in order to satiate short-term geopolitical needs, despite said factions being inimical to America's true long-term interests.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29991777
Jews reject Russia claims of Ukraine anti-Semitism
By Masha Kondrachuk and Stephen Ennis
BBC Monitoring
11 November 2014
Photograph – Some 100 Jewish families left rebel-held Donetsk in September after a prominent businessman was murdered
Leaders of Ukraine's Jewish community have come out strongly in support of the Kiev government in its conflict with Russia, rejecting Moscow's accusations that their country is now a hotbed of anti-Semitism.
But some are uneasy about the far-right extremists fighting with Ukrainian volunteer battalions in the east, as well as incidents of "everyday anti-Semitism" in Ukraine.
Russian media and officials have been portraying Ukraine as a hotbed of far-right extremism, including anti-Semitism, ever since former President Viktor Yanukovych was removed from power at the end of February.
In his first public reaction to Mr Yanukovych's downfall, President Vladimir Putin told journalists on 4 March: "We see the rampage of reactionary forces, nationalist and anti-Semitic forces going on in certain parts of Ukraine, including Kiev."
He used similar language in his speech declaring the annexation of Crimea two weeks later, when he said that the "coup" against Mr Yanukovych was the work of "nationalists, neo-Nazis, Russophobes and anti-Semites".
The Association of Jewish Organisations and Communities (VAAD) of Ukraine responded with an open letter saying that President Putin's assertions about the rise of anti-Semitism in their country "did not match reality".
Mr Putin's advisers "might have confused Ukraine with Russia where Jewish organisations registered a rise of anti-Semitism last year", it added.
Fascists on both sides
Shmuel Kaminetsky, a rabbi in Dnipropetrovsk, home to one of the country's largest Jewish communities, also rejects the idea that Ukraine is anti-Semitic.
Russian media warn of the threat of Dmitry Yarosh's Right Sector, but the party's electoral support is not high.
Life is "easier and safer" for Jews in Ukraine than in Western countries such as Belgium and France, where radical Islam is on the rise, he said in a recent film about efforts to defend Dnipropetrovsk against the Russian-backed insurgency.
Ever since Mr Yanukovych's downfall, Russian media have played up the threat from Ukrainian far-right organisations, such as Right Sector and the Freedom party.
But neither of these parties has widespread support. In the presidential election in May their leaders obtained a combined vote of less than 2%. They also failed to breach the 5% threshold in the recent parliamentary election.
Still, concerns remain about the presence of far-right extremists in some parts of Ukrainian society, especially the new volunteer battalions, which have played a key role in the current conflict.
VAAD Ukraine director Yosyp Zisels told a news conference in October that the volunteers were fighting "bravely" for Ukraine's "sovereignty and territorial integrity". But he conceded some of them held views that are "Nazi, ultranationalist and racist".
Far-right extremists and fascists were fighting on both sides of the conflict, Zisels said.
Key figure
A key figure in organising and financing the Ukrainian volunteer battalions is Dnipropetrovsk regional governor and businessman Ihor Kolomoisky, an important member of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community and himself a frequent target of attacks in the Russian media.
Mr Kolomoisky is actively involved with the Fund for the Defence of the Country, which collects money to provide Ukrainian troops with medicines, food and equipment. It also helps to look after people displaced by the conflict.
Some local synagogues have also joined the war effort.
"We are providing comprehensive assistance to servicemen fighting against terrorists and protecting the unity and integrity of Ukraine. We are calling on Dnipropetrovsk's Jews to actively help them," the city's Golden Rose synagogue said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Jewish leaders are increasingly concerned about the fate of fellow Jews in areas controlled by the insurgents, especially after the murder of Jewish businessman Heorhiy Zilberbrod in Donetsk in August.
In September, at least 100 Jewish families fled Donetsk to the government-controlled city of Mariupol, according to Donetsk rabbi Pinkhas Vyshedsky.
Rabbi Vyshedsky himself recently moved his office to Kiev "to help Jews from his city who found refuge in the capital and other parts of the country", Jewish website Chabad.org said.
"Jews are running away from the Russian world to hide under the wing of the fascist Kiev junta? What more can one say?" news website Argument UA commented.
Everyday anti-Semitism
Nevertheless, some Jews are also concerned about their safety in Kiev.
In September, swastikas were painted on the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial in Kiev, where 34,000 Jews were murdered in the course of a week in September 1941.
Commenting on the incident, World Jewish Congress vice-president Boris Fuchsman said: "We often say that there is no anti-Semitism at the state level today, but no-one has rooted out everyday anti-Semitism."
Tzvi Arieli, a former member of the Israeli army, has set up a Jewish self-defence group in Kiev to protect the community against possible anti-Semitic attacks.
"Jews are often among the first to fall victim in conflicts even if they are not directly involved, therefore we need to be able to protect our community in co-ordination with the authorities, of course," he told Jewish newspaper Hadashot.
His group hones its combat skills together with interior ministry units, and is licensed to carry arms.
But Mr Arieli rejects the Russian media's portrayal of Ukraine as a country that is hostile to Jews.
"There can be opposing views, but don't say black is white, which is what the propaganda of the neighbouring state often does when it advances the thesis of buoyant neo-fascism in Ukraine," he said.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitterand Facebook.
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CBS on Russian Wedge – “At issue is not only Russian President Vladimir Putin's support for the separatists but the revival of the Soviet Cold War strategy of trying to create a critical division between the United States and its NATO allies, Germany in particular. Merkel and French President Francois Hollande met with Ukrainian leaders and Putin last week and have announced a new summit meeting for Wednesday in Minsk. French and German leaders are to sit down with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Putin in an attempt to breathe life into a much-violated September peace plan. The United States will not be at the table.... The White House has let it be known that Mr. Obama, who had resisted calls to send arms, was now considering doing just that. Opponents of arming Kiev believe that could open a proxy war between Washington and Moscow. Merkel and Hollande insist the only way to end the conflict is through diplomacy.... "There is no division, there is no split," Kerry said. "I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together." German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking alongside Kerry, said he considers delivering weapons "not just highly risky but counterproductive." But Republican Sen. John McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, insisted in Munich that "we must provide defensive arms to Ukraine." … "If we help Ukrainians increase the military cost to the Russian forces that have invaded their country, how long can Putin sustain a war that he tells his people is not happening?".... At the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Vice President Joe Biden stopped short of explicitly addressing possible arms deliveries. "We will continue to provide Ukraine with security assistance not to encourage war, but to allow Ukraine to defend itself," he said. More than 5,300 people have been killed since fighting began in April, according to a U.N. tally, and the bloodshed has markedly increased over the past two weeks.”
Huffington Post on Neo-Nazi Ties – The Obama administration has vehemently denied charges that Ukraine's nascent regime is stock full of neo-fascists despite clear evidence suggesting otherwise. …. The report stated that right wing ultranationalist groups "are not represented in the Rada (Ukraine's parliament)," and that "there is no indication the government would pursue discriminatory policies.".... For starters, Andriy Parubiy, the new secretary of Ukraine's security council, was a co-founder of the Neo-Nazi Social-National Party of Ukraine (SNPU), otherwise known as Svoboda. And his deputy, Dmytro Yarosh, is the leader of a party called the Right Sector which, according to historian Timothy Stanley, "flies the old flag of the Ukrainian Nazi collaborators at its rallies." The highest-ranking right-wing extremist is Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Sych, also a member of Svoboda, who believes that women should "lead the kind of lifestyle to avoid the risk of rape, including refraining from drinking alcohol and being in controversial company." This is the philosophy underlying one of his "legal initiatives," according to the Kyiv Post, "to ban all abortions, even for pregnancies that occurred during rape.".... A report from Tel-Aviv University describes the Svoboda party as "an extremist, right-wing, nationalist organization which emphasizes its identification with the ideology of German National Socialism."... It isn't too surprising that conservative outlets like FOX News would downplay Russian allegations but the so-called "liberal" press has also contributed to the American disinformation campaign. Celestine Bohlen from The New York Timesconsiders harsh epithets, like the word "neo-Nazi," which Putin has hurled at the demonstrators in Kiev as part of a Russian propaganda effort to tarnish Ukraine's revolutionary struggle against authoritarianism..... As Svoboda political council member Yury Noyevy baldly admitted: "The participation of Ukrainian nationalism and Svoboda in the process of EU [European Union] integration is a means to break our ties with Russia."
Jewish Opinion on Nazi influence in Ukraine – Leaders of Ukraine's Jewish community have come out strongly in support of the Kiev government in its conflict with Russia, rejecting Moscow's accusations that their country is now a hotbed of anti-Semitism. But some are uneasy about the far-right extremists fighting with Ukrainian volunteer battalions in the east, as well as incidents of "everyday anti-Semitism" in Ukraine.... The Association of Jewish Organisations and Communities (VAAD) of Ukraine responded with an open letter saying that President Putin's assertions about the rise of anti-Semitism in their country "did not match reality". Mr Putin's advisers "might have confused Ukraine with Russia where Jewish organisations registered a rise of anti-Semitism last year", it added. “Fascists on both sides” – Shmuel Kaminetsky, a rabbi in Dnipropetrovsk, home to one of the country's largest Jewish communities, also rejects the idea that Ukraine is anti-Semitic. Russian media warn of the threat of Dmitry Yarosh's Right Sector, but the party's electoral support is not high. Life is "easier and safer" for Jews in Ukraine than in Western countries such as Belgium and France, where radical Islam is on the rise, he said in a recent film about efforts to defend Dnipropetrovsk against the Russian-backed insurgency.... Still, concerns remain about the presence of far-right extremists in some parts of Ukrainian society, especially the new volunteer battalions, which have played a key role in the current conflict. VAAD Ukraine director Yosyp Zisels told a news conference in October that the volunteers were fighting "bravely" for Ukraine's "sovereignty and territorial integrity". But he conceded some of them held views that are "Nazi, ultranationalist and racist".... Dnipropetrovsk regional governor and businessman Ihor Kolomoisky, an important member of the Dnipropetrovsk Jewish community and himself a frequent target of attacks in the Russian media. Mr Kolomoisky is actively involved with the Fund for the Defence of the Country, which collects money to provide Ukrainian troops with medicines, food and equipment. It also helps to look after people displaced by the conflict.... Rabbi Vyshedsky himself recently moved his office to Kiev "to help Jews from his city who found refuge in the capital and other parts of the country", Jewish website Chabad.org said. "Jews are running away from the Russian world to hide under the wing of the fascist Kiev junta? What more can one say?" news website Argument UA commented.... Commenting on the incident, World Jewish Congress vice-president Boris Fuchsman said: "We often say that there is no anti Semitism at the state level today, but no-one has rooted out everyday anti Semitism."
The way it looks to me: Russia has been claiming that Neo-Nazis are in control, or are at least highly involved, in Kiev ever since the Russian-backed President fled the capital. I trust the Huffington Post in many cases, but in this issue I trust the Jewish community much more. I think they know what's happening in the Jewish world and have no reason to lie about anything, whereas Russia and perhaps some very liberal US voices do. True there are Neo-Nazis in Ukraine, but they are not, according to the Jewish community in control, and the Ukrainian Jews have fled the Russian areas for Kiev. I think if we arm Kiev it will not be a foolish or cynical move, and that if Russia is allowed to take over Ukraine they will be aimed at other countries with large Russian speaking minorities next. Putin, particularly, is not to be trusted at all.
NPR radio on their noon news broadcast yesterday said that Russia is presently trying to inflame the pro-Russian sentiments wherever Russian is being spoken. That means much of the Baltic world which we now consider “European” allies of ours more than Soviet Block communist nations. I hate to agree with John McCain, but I think we may have to fight limited wars on both fronts – the ISIS invasion and Russian adventurism. I think Germany and France are backing down because of fear of Russia in general, and of economic issues like where they will get cheap natural gas and oil if Russia continues to raise their prices.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-smarttv-getting-too-smart/
Is SmartTV getting too smart?
By ANNA WERNER CBS NEWS
February 8, 2015
Samsung's SmartTV uses voice recognition technology to enable voice commands. But recent articles about it spiked concern on social media because of something buried in Samsung's privacy policy, which says "if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be captured and transmitted to a third party."
Some experts say this shouldn't be too surprising.
"Unfortunately this type of surveillance is pervasive in homes and it gets to the main point that you should be able to watch your TV without your TV watching you," said Khaliah Barnes who studies privacy issues for the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
It's not just televisions gathering information in your home. A Federal Trade Commission report last month on "The Internet of Things" like smart locks or smart meters pointed to benefits, but also risks. It said if devices like TVs store sensitive information, 'unauthorized persons could exploit vulnerabilities to facilitate identity theft or fraud."
Shoppers who spoke to CBS News had mixed views on the technology.
"I would not want people to be able to get into my living room. To me the benefit of that service wouldn't outweigh the potential danger," said one shopper.
"I personally love them and I understand why they're collecting that data," said another. "Most of the reason for collecting the data is to improve recognition, improving what the features of the device can do."
The FTC recommended companies build security into their devices at the outset, rather than as an afterthought.
Barnes doesn't believe companies are doing that enough.
"Companies could go further by advocating for privacy enhancing techniques which would minimize or eliminate the collection of personal information," she said.
Samsung told us it takes consumer privacy very seriously and uses industry-standard security safeguards and practices, including data encryption, to secure consumers' personal information. The company says it doesn't keep that voice data, but also points out the voice recognition feature can be turned off by the TV's owner or they can disconnect the TV from the Wi-Fi network.
“Samsung's SmartTV uses voice recognition technology to enable voice commands. But recent articles about it spiked concern on social media because of something buried in Samsung's privacy policy, which says "if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be captured and transmitted to a third party."... It's not just televisions gathering information in your home. A Federal Trade Commission report last month on "The Internet of Things" like smart locks or smart meters pointed to benefits, but also risks. It said if devices like TVs store sensitive information, 'unauthorized persons could exploit vulnerabilities to facilitate identity theft or fraud."... The FTC recommended companies build security into their devices at the outset, rather than as an afterthought. Barnes doesn't believe companies are doing that enough. "Companies could go further by advocating for privacy enhancing techniques which would minimize or eliminate the collection of personal information," she said. Samsung told us it takes consumer privacy very seriously and uses industry-standard security safeguards and practices, including data encryption, to secure consumers' personal information. The company says it doesn't keep that voice data, but also points out the voice recognition feature can be turned off by the TV's owner or they can disconnect the TV from the Wi-Fi network.”
I sincerely doubt that I will ever buy a smart TV unless I win the Lotto, but if I do I will hire a personal techie to go through and disconnect all of my smart devices from the Internet and WiFi. That includes any modern computer that is set up to film me in the nude while I least expect it, or record my voice.
Not only do I not trust hackers who want to put videos of me on YouTube, I don't trust the ever present US government spy networks. Since Edward Snowden's efforts, my view of our country has changed. What I suspected before I know now. It used to be that those who believed something like this was a viable threat were derided as being paranoid rather than wise, but now the situation has changed.
That great Economic entity “The Market” is totally in control on the issue, unfortunately, and therefore we need some laws prohibiting smart devices from tracking our daily lives. We have an expectation of privacy in some places – home, office, car, etc. If the Constitution isn't supplying protection in those areas we need a new right written in the rule of law ASAP.
See the following articles I found just by googling “spy devices home US government.” Sometimes science oversteps its proper boundaries and the US citizen has to step in and file lawsuits, write and call our Legislative representatives and President, give more money to the ACLU and whatever else we can think of. I personally think this is one of those times. The Forbes article below listed our refrigerators, of all things, as having monitoring devices in them. This really is obscene.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/01/19/police-radar-see-through-walls/22007615/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/josephsteinberg/2014/01/27/these-devices-may-be-spying-on-you-even-in-your-own-home/
http://www.paralegaltraining.net/blog/ways-in-which-the-government-might-be-spying-on-you/
http://www.globalresearch.ca/new-hi-tech-police-surveillance-the-stingray-cell-phone-spying-device/5331165
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/friends-of-mockingbird-author-harper-lee-say-shes-aware-of-everything/
Friends of "Mockingbird" author say she's aware of everything
AP February 8, 2015
Photograph – Pulitzer Prize winner and "To Kill A Mockingbird" author Harper Lee smiles before receives the 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom in the East Room of the White House Nov. 5, 2007, in Washington. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
MONROEVILLE, Ala. - Retrace the suddenly tangled legal saga of Harper Lee and her legacy, "To Kill A Mockingbird," and a pivotal moment emerges.
As her longtime protector, older sister and attorney Alice Finch Lee turned 100 and stopped practicing law a couple years ago, another lawyer in Alice's small firm became the point person for the "Mockingbird" brand.
Tonja Carter had worked in Alice Lee's office before graduating from the University of Alabama law school in 2006 and becoming Alice Lee's partner. Her ascendance brought more aggressive legal tactics: A lawsuit over the rights to "Mockingbird." Another to stop the town museum from selling "Mockingbird" souvenirs. A note telling a longtime friend of Harper Lee to keep his distance.
Carter, 49, soon became known in the community where she too grew up for jealously protecting the writer from visitors and perceived threats to her business interests.
And it was Carter who was the lynchpin in the stunning Feb. 3 announcement that a sequel to "Mockingbird," titled "Go Set a Watchman" would be published, according to the arm of HarperCollins Publishers that announced it.
Carter found the unpublished novel, written in the mid-1950s but locked away since, and negotiated the deal, the publisher said.
The news baffled many. Harper Lee has been intensely private in the decades since she picked up honors for her 1961 Pulitzer Prize winner. She had told friends and relatives for years that she didn't plan to publish another book.
Speculation quickly swirled over whether the elderly writer's wishes are being honored, particularly after friends and townspeople told The Associated Press they were troubled by her condition when she appeared at her sister's funeral in November.
But others close to Carter and the Lee sisters cautioned against misreading Carter's legal maneuvering.
Connie Baggett, a former newspaper reporter and a longtime friend of Carter, said Friday that the attorney was trusted implicitly by Alice Lee and in turn by Harper, whom locals call by her first name, Nelle.
"She's not some interloper," said Baggett, who came to know Carter and the Lees during two decades of covering southwest Alabama for the Mobile Press-Register. "She's been part of the inner circle for years."
Harper Lee used to split time between New York and Alabama but has lived full-time in Monroeville, halfway between Montgomery and Mobile, since suffering a stroke in 2007. She was last seen publicly at her sister's funeral, where she talked loudly to herself about seemingly unrelated things in a manner that alarmed those present, according to several who were there but insisted on anonymity for fear of upsetting those close to the family.
But historian Wayne Flynt, another longtime friend of the sisters, said he visited Harper Lee the day before the deal was announced, and found her completely lucid, cracking jokes and discussing the works of C.S. Lewis, though she didn't mention her own new book.
"This narrative of senility, exploitation of this helpless little old lady, is just hogwash. It's just complete bunk," Flynt said, adding that he has "no reason to question Tonja Carter's integrity."
It's important to note, Flynt said, that "Alice brought her in, kept her as a partner. She let her work increasingly with Nelle."
The 88-year-old Lee is nearly blind and deaf and lives in an assisted living center in town. Relatives and others close her typically don't comment about publicly about her in deference to the publicity-shy author's wishes.
Carter hasn't responded to the AP's interview requests, but she defended her actions in a series of text messages and emails to The New York Times, the newspaper reported Sunday.
Carter wrote Saturday that Harper Lee is "extremely hurt and humiliated" at the idea that she's been taken advantage of, the newspaper reported. "She is a very strong, independent and wise woman who should be enjoying the discovery of her long lost novel ... Instead, she is having to defend her own credibility and decision making."
Lee wrote "Watchman" first, the publisher said, describing how a grown-up Scout returns from New York to confront attitudes of the 1950s in her Alabama hometown. Her editor told her to write a different book, set 20 years earlier, describing Scout's understanding of her father Atticus Finch's legal defense of a black man wrongly accused of raping a white woman.
That second book became "Mockingbird," selling millions of copies and becoming required reading in schools nationwide. "Watchman" seems destined to build on that phenomenal success when it's released in July; it's already No. 1 on Amazon, based on pre-orders.
"I'm alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions of 'Watchman,'" the author said in a statement relayed through Carter and attributed to her Thursday by the publisher.
Carter handled Alice Lee's will following her death. Then, as Harper Lee's attorney, one of their first salvos was a lawsuit in May 2013 against the son-in-law of a former literary agent, which restored control of the copyright for "Mockingbird."
Carter had signed a document in which Lee had reaffirmed her desire to give away the rights, but Carter also fought to restore those same rights to Lee, according to the complaint filed on Lee's behalf by a New York law firm.
Lee then sought a trademark for "To Kill A Mockingbird" items, like the knick-knacks sold in a town museum that includes displays about the book. The museum opposed the trademark request, and then it too was sued by Lee, accused of wrongly selling "Mockingbird" memorabilia without authorization and without paying royalties.
Baggett, whose parents were eulogized by Carter and her husband Patrick following their deaths, said the proliferation of "Mockingbird" related products was part of the reason Carter advised Lee to more aggressively protect her interests and income after her sister's retirement.
"Nelle was fiercely protective of the characters in her book while Alice was handling things," Baggett said. "As things have unfolded, Tonja took action. I can't imagine anyone looking out for the interests of the book and for Nelle who wouldn't do the same."
The lawsuits were settled, but more controversy erupted last year when author Marja Mills published her book "The Mockingbird Next Door: Life with Harper Lee." The former Chicago Tribune writer had moved next door to the sisters in 2004 and documented their quiet lives in the city that inspired Maycomb, the setting in the novel.
Harper Lee released a statement through Carter saying the book wasn't authorized, prompting Alice Lee to send her own hand-written apology to Mills. In it, Alice Lee said Carter had created the statement, and had Harper Lee sign it. "Poor Nelle Lee can't see and can't hear and will sign anything put before her by anyone in whom she has confidence," her sister wrote. "Now she has no memory of the incident."
Alice Lee describes confronting Carter in the letter, provided to the AP by Mills, and said the whole episode left her "humiliated, embarrassed and upset about the suggestion of the lack of integrity at my office."
Alice Lee died at 103 on Nov. 17. It was also in the fall, according to the publisher, that Carter found an unpublished manuscript of "Go Set a Watchman" attached to an original typescript of "To Kill A Mockingbird."
Baggett, who now works for the south Alabama town of Brewton, rejected suggestions by some that Carter was trying to personally profit from legal disputes involving Harper Lee, or the new book.
"I think if there were a motive of greed, family members would have stormed in to put a stop to things," said Baggett. "I have not seen that happening."
It was Carter who filed Alice Lee's will in Monroe County Probate Court. Lee left her estate to relatives and made donations to organizations affiliated with the United Methodist Church, in which she was heavily involved.
Harper Lee was among the relatives who signed documents waiving their right to receive notice of probate proceedings about the will, witnessed by Carter and signed by Alice Lee in 2009 while she was still practicing law on a limited basis. Such waivers are common and typically signal that relatives won't contest the will.
Harper Lee has received honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 and the Alabama Academy of Honor in 2001, but even then, she wasn't much for speaking. Asked to make remarks at the state ceremony, she said simply: "Well, it's better to be silent than be a fool."
“As her longtime protector, older sister and attorney Alice Finch Lee turned 100 and stopped practicing law a couple years ago, another lawyer in Alice's small firm became the point person for the "Mockingbird" brand. Tonja Carter had worked in Alice Lee's office before graduating from the University of Alabama law school in 2006 and becoming Alice Lee's partner. Her ascendance brought more aggressive legal tactics: A lawsuit over the rights to "Mockingbird." Another to stop the town museum from selling "Mockingbird" souvenirs. A note telling a longtime friend of Harper Lee to keep his distance. Carter, 49, soon became known in the community where she too grew up for jealously protecting the writer from visitors and perceived threats to her business interests.... The news baffled many. Harper Lee has been intensely private in the decades since she picked up honors for her 1961 Pulitzer Prize winner. She had told friends and relatives for years that she didn't plan to publish another book. Speculation quickly swirled over whether the elderly writer's wishes are being honored, particularly after friends and townspeople told The Associated Press they were troubled by her condition when she appeared at her sister's funeral in November.... "She's not some interloper," said Baggett, who came to know Carter and the Lees during two decades of covering southwest Alabama for the Mobile Press-Register. "She's been part of the inner circle for years." Harper Lee used to split time between New York and Alabama but has lived full-time in Monroeville, halfway between Montgomery and Mobile, since suffering a stroke in 2007. She was last seen publicly at her sister's funeral, where she talked loudly to herself about seemingly unrelated things in a manner that alarmed those present, according to several who were there but insisted on anonymity for fear of upsetting those close to the family. But historian Wayne Flynt, another longtime friend of the sisters, said he visited Harper Lee the day before the deal was announced, and found her completely lucid, cracking jokes and discussing the works of C.S. Lewis, though she didn't mention her own new book.... Carter wrote Saturday that Harper Lee is "extremely hurt and humiliated" at the idea that she's been taken advantage of, the newspaper reported. "She is a very strong, independent and wise woman who should be enjoying the discovery of her long lost novel ... Instead, she is having to defend her own credibility and decision making.".... "I'm alive and kicking and happy as hell with the reactions of 'Watchman,'" the author said in a statement relayed through Carter and attributed to her Thursday by the publisher. Carter handled Alice Lee's will following her death. Then, as Harper Lee's attorney, one of their first salvos was a lawsuit in May 2013 against the son-in-law of a former literary agent, which restored control of the copyright for "Mockingbird."
I certainly hope Harper Lee is alert enough to be aware of the acclaim she is already receiving over her upcoming book, and that she receives all funds that are due to her. There have been stories in the past of writers and musicians who were cheated out of their royalties, and it's always sad. . To Kill A Mockingbird was an exquisitely produced work of fiction, so I can't imagine that Watchman will be anything other than creditable, too. I can't wait until it comes to my library branch here.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rome-may-add-a-red-light-district-for-prostitutes/
Rome may add a "red light" district for prostitutes
AP February 8, 2015
ROME - Rome's mayor and officials are considering a "red light" district to shield prostitutes from exploitation and families from embarrassment.
Prostitution is legal in Italy, and its practitioners are a common sight along several streets in Rome and many other Italian cities.
City officials in the EUR neighborhood, filled with ministries, office high-rises and residential buildings, want to designate certain streets for prostitutes, starting experimentally in April.
Mayor Ignazio Marino told state TV RAINews24 Sunday the aim is to "find a balance" by pinpointing places, such as parks frequented by children and families, where prostitution won't be allowed, and by designating some streets where it will.
Exploitation of prostitution is illegal, as is paying minors for sex.
EUR official Andrea Santoro says designated streets will help ensure prostitutes aren't put there by traffickers. Many women leave homes in Africa and Eastern Europe for Italy after promises of work like waitressing, but instead are forced into prostitution by trafficking rackets.
Some neighborhood groups like the proposal. Paolo Lampariello, from one such group, said there are so many prostitutes on EUR's streets that "women can't enter their homes without being mistaken for prostitutes."
The newspaper Avvenire, of the Italian bishops' conference, scathingly described the designated-streets-for-prostitutes plan as "a hypocritical (and perhaps ideological) operation for urban 'decorum.'"
The city would provide psychological support and health care to prostitutes on the designated streets. Clients of prostitutes working on non-designated streets would risk fines of 500 euros (about $550) under the plan.
Pope Francis decried the "shameful plague" of human trafficking and urged prayer and reflection about the problem.
Marino's political roots are in a centrist faction of the Italian government's main coalition party, the Democrats.
History of prostitution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The history of prostitution extends to all ancient and modern cultures.[1][2] It has been described as "the world's oldest profession".[3]
Ancient Babylon and Sumer[edit]
As early as the 18th century BCE, ancient Mesopotamia recognized the need to protect women's property rights. In theCode of Hammurabi, provisions were found that addressed inheritance rights of women, including female prostitutes.
One of the first forms of prostitution is sacred prostitution, supposedly practiced among the Sumerians. In ancient sources (Herodotus, Thucydides) there are many traces of sacred prostitution, starting perhaps with Babylon, where each woman had to reach, once in their lives, the sanctuary of Militta (Aphrodite or Nana/Anahita) and there have sex with a foreigner as a sign of hospitality for a symbolic price.[citation needed]
In the Ancient Near East along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers there were many shrines and temples or "houses of heaven" dedicated to various deities documented by the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus in The Histories[5] wheresacred prostitution was a common practice.[6] It came to an end when the emperor Constantine in the fourth century AD destroyed the goddess temples and replaced them with Christianity.[7]
Biblical information[edit]
Prostitution was common in ancient Israel, despite being tacitly forbidden by Jewish Law. Within the religion of Canaan, a significant portion of temple prostitutes were male. It was widely used in Sardinia and in some of the Phoeniciancultures, usually in honour of the goddess ‘Ashtart. Presumably under the influence of the Phoenicians,[citation needed]this practice was developed in other ports of the Mediterranean Sea, such as Erice (Sicily), Locri Epizephiri, Croton, Rossano Vaglio, and Sicca Veneria. Other hypotheses[citation needed] include Asia Minor, Lydia, Syria and the Etruscans.
The Biblical story of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38) provides a depiction of prostitution as practiced in the society of the time. The prostitute plies her trade at the side of a highway, waiting for travelers. She covers her face; which marks her as a prostitute. She gets paid in kind, asking for a kid as her fee; a rather high price in a herding society, in which only the wealthy owner of numerous herds could afford to pay for a single sexual encounter. If the traveler does not have his cattle with him, he must give some valuables as a deposit, until the kid is delivered to the woman.
Though in this story the woman was not a real prostitute but Judah's widowed daughter-in-law, who had good reasons of seeking to trick Judah and become pregnant by him, she succeeds in impersonating a prostitute and her conduct can be assumed to be the real conduct expected of a prostitute in the society of the time.
Greece
Both women and boys engaged in prostitution in ancient Greece.[10] The Greek word for prostitute is porne (Gr: πόρνη), derived from the verb pernemi (to sell), with the evident modern evolution. The English word pornography, and its corollaries in other languages, are directly derivative of the Greek word pornē(Gr: πόρνη).[11] Female prostitutes could be independent and sometimes influential women. They were required to wear distinctive dresses and had to pay taxes. Some similarities have been found between the Greek hetaera and the Japanese oiran, complex figures that are perhaps in an intermediate position between prostitution and courtisanerie. (See also the Indian tawaif.) Some prostitutes in ancient Greece, such as Lais were as famous for their company as their beauty, and some of these women charged extraordinary sums for their services.
Ancient Rome
Prostitution in ancient Rome was legal, public, and widespread. Even Roman men of the highest social status were free to engage prostitutes of either sex without incurring moral disapproval,[12] as long as they demonstrated self-control and moderation in the frequency and enjoyment of sex. Latin literaturerefers often to prostitutes. Real-world practices are documented by provisions of Roman law that regulate prostitution, and by inscriptions, especially graffiti from Pompeii. Some large brothels in the 4th century, when Rome was becoming officially Christianized, seem to have been counted as tourist attractions and were possibly even state-owned.[13] Prostitutes played a role in several Roman religious observances, mainly in the month of April, over which the love and fertility goddess Venus presided. At the same time, prostitutes were considered shameful: most were either slaves or former slaves, or if free by birth relegated to the infames, people utterly lacking in social standing and deprived of most protections accorded to citizens under Roman law.[14] Prostitution thus reflects the ambivalent attitudes of Romans toward pleasure and sexuality.[15]
Asia
According to Shia Muslims, the prophet Muhammad sanctioned fixed-term marriage – muta'a in Iraq and sigheh in Iran— which has instead been used as a legitimizing cover for sex workers, in a culture where prostitution is otherwise forbidden.[17] Sunni Muslims, who make up the majority of Muslims worldwide, believe the practice of fixed-term marriage was abrogated and ultimately forbidden by either Muhammad, or one of his successors, Umar. Like the Shia, Sunnis regard prostitution as sinful and forbidden.
In the early 17th century, there was widespread male and female prostitution throughout the cities of Kyoto, Edo, and Osaka, Japan. Oiran were courtesans inJapan during the Edo period. The oiran were considered a type of yūjo (遊女?)"woman of pleasure" or prostitute. Among the oiran, the tayū (太夫) was considered the highest rank of courtesan available only to the wealthiest and highest ranking men. To entertain their clients, oiran practiced the arts of dance, music, poetry, and calligraphy as well as sexual services, and an educated wit was considered essential for sophisticated conversation. Many became celebrities of their times outside the pleasure districts. Their art and fashions often set trends among wealthy women. The last recorded oiran was in 1761.
A tawaif was a courtesan who catered to the nobility of South Asia, particularly during the era of the Mughal Empire. These courtesans would dance, sing, recite poetry and entertain their suitors at mehfils. Like the geisha tradition in Japan, their main purpose was to professionally entertain their guests, and while sex was often incidental, it was not assured contractually. High-class or the most popular tawaifs could often pick and choose between the best of their suitors. They contributed to music, dance, theatre, film, and the Urdu literary tradition.[18]
Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, prostitution was commonly found in urban contexts. Although all forms of sexual activity outside of marriage were regarded as sinful by the Roman Catholic Church, prostitution was tolerated because it was held to prevent the greater evils of rape, sodomy, and masturbation (McCall, 1979). Augustine of Hippo held that: "If you expel prostitution from society, you will unsettle everything on account of lusts". The general tolerance of prostitution was for the most part reluctant, and many canonists urged prostitutes to reform.
After the decline of organised prostitution of the Roman empire, many prostitutes were slaves. However, religious campaigns against slavery, and the growing marketisation of the economy, turned prostitution back into a business. By the High Middle Ages it is common to find town governments ruling that prostitutes were not to ply their trade within thetown walls, but they were tolerated outside if only because these areas were beyond the jurisdiction of the authorities. In many areas of France and Germany town governments came to set aside certain streets as areas where prostitution could be tolerated. In London the brothels of Southwark were owned by the Bishop of Winchester. (MCCall) Still later it became common in the major towns and cities of Southern Europe to establish civic brothels, whilst outlawing any prostitution taking place outside these brothels. In much of Northern Europe a more laissez faire attitude tended to be found.[19] Prostitutes also found a fruitful market in the Crusades.
20th century
The leading theorists of Communism opposed prostitution. Karl Marx thought of it as "only a specific expression of the general prostitution of the laborer," and considered its abolition to be necessary to overcome capitalism. Friedrich Engels considered even marriage a form of prostitution, and Vladimir Leninfound sex work distasteful. Communist governments often took wide-ranging steps to repress prostitution immediately after obtaining power, although the practice always persisted. In the countries that remained nominally Communist after the end of the Cold War, notably China, prostitution remains illegal but is nonetheless common. In many current or former Communist countries, the economic depression brought about by the collapse of the Soviet union led to an increase in prostitution.[52]
During World War II, Japanese soldiers engaged in forced prostitution during their invasions across East Asia and Southeast Asia. The term "comfort women" became an euphemism for the estimated 200,000, mostly Korean andChinese, women who were forced into prostitution in Japanese military brothels during the war.[53]
Sex tourism emerged in the late 20th century as a controversial aspect of Western tourism and globalization. Sex tourism is typically undertaken internationally by tourists from wealthier countries. Author Nils Ringdal alleged that three out of four men between the ages of 20 and 50 who have visited Asiaor Africa have paid for sex.[54]
A new legal approach to prostitution emerged at the end of the 20th century — the prohibition of the buying, but not the selling, of sexual services, with only the client committing a crime, not the prostitute. Such laws were enacted in Sweden (1999), Norway (2009), Iceland (2009), and are also being considered in other jurisdictions.
21st century
In the 21st century, Afghans revived a method of prostituting young boys which is referred to as bacha bazi.[55]
Since the break up of the Soviet Union, thousands of eastern European women have ended up as prostitutes in China, Western Europe, Israel, and Turkey every year.[56] There are tens of thousands of women from eastern Europe and Asia working as prostitutes in Dubai. Men from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates form a large proportion of the customers.[57]
India's devadasi girls are forced by their poor families to dedicate themselves to the Hindu goddess Renuka. The BBC wrote in 2007 that devadasis are "sanctified prostitutes".[58]
United States
In the United States, prostitution was originally widely legal. Prostitution was made illegal in almost all states between 1910 and 1915 largely due to the influence of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union which was influential in the banning of drug use and was a major force in the prohibition of alcohol. In 1917 the legally defined prostitution districtStoryville in New Orleans was closed down by the Federal government over local objections. In Deadwood, SD, prostitution, while technically illegal, was tolerated by local residents and officials for decades until the last madam was brought down by state and federal authorities for tax evasion in 1980. Prostitution remained legal in Alaska until 1953 (though not yet a US state), and is still legal in some rural counties of Nevada (see Prostitution in Nevada).[60]
Beginning in the late 1980s, many states increased the penalties for prostitution in cases where the prostitute is knowingly HIV-positive. These laws, often known as felony prostitution laws, require anyone arrested for prostitution to be tested for HIV, and if the test comes back positive, the suspect is then informed that any future arrest for prostitution will be a felony instead of a misdemeanor. Penalties for felony prostitution vary in the states that have such laws, with maximum sentences of typically 10 to 15 years in prison. An episode of COPS which aired in the early 1990s detailed the impact of HIV/AIDS among prostitutes; this episode contributed to HIV/AIDS awareness.
“City officials in the EUR neighborhood, filled with ministries, office high-rises and residential buildings, want to designate certain streets for prostitutes, starting experimentally in April. Mayor Ignazio Marino told state TV RAINews24 Sunday the aim is to "find a balance" by pinpointing places, such as parks frequented by children and families, where prostitution won't be allowed, and by designating some streets where it will. Exploitation of prostitution is illegal, as is paying minors for sex.... Some neighborhood groups like the proposal. Paolo Lampariello, from one such group, said there are so many prostitutes on EUR's streets that "women can't enter their homes without being mistaken for prostitutes." The newspaper Avvenire, of the Italian bishops' conference, scathingly described the designated-streets-for-prostitutes plan as "a hypocritical (and perhaps ideological) operation for urban 'decorum.'" The city would provide psychological support and health care to prostitutes on the designated streets. Clients of prostitutes working on non-designated streets would risk fines of 500 euros (about $550) under the plan. Pope Francis decried the "shameful plague" of human trafficking and urged prayer and reflection about the problem.”
Legalized prostitution was discussed by some when I was in my 20s as a way of combating venereal disease, as the legalized prostitute would be required to get medical attention on a regular basis, but there are few actual cases of it in the US. The very entertaining movie “The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas” starring Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise is a light treatment of a legalized house of prostitution. There are real ones at this time in Nevada, and one interesting personal story told by one of the girls is under the website www.buzzfeed.com/careerconfidentials/my-life-as-a-legal-prostitute.
My only personal experience with seeing a real live prostitute was when my male friend of the time took me to 14th St. in DC at my request. They didn't look at all like I expected – very “trashy” looking – but rather sophisticated in their makeup and dress. The skirt was short, but not overly tight, and I've seen more “trashy” girls in business offices where I was working. Strangely, few male bosses will fire a woman for dressing like that. When I took a Mardi Gras trip to New Orleans in 1973 or so my friend and I were strolling down the street in the French Quarter looking at the scenery. The townhome dwellings there are very beautiful, but one of them did indeed have a red lightbulb over the door. That's the extent of my personal interaction with the world of vice.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2015/02/08/384332798/civil-rights-attorneys-sue-ferguson-over-debtors-prisons
Civil Rights Attorneys Sue Ferguson Over 'Debtors Prisons'
Joseph Shapiro
February 8, 2015
Photograph – Anthony Kimble, who says he couldn't afford to pay his fines, is one of 11 plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Joseph Shapiro/NPR
In a new challenge to police practices in Ferguson, Mo., a group of civil rights lawyers is suing the city over the way people are jailed when they fail to pay fines for traffic tickets and other minor offenses.
The lawsuit, filed Sunday night on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the police shooting of Michael Brown, alleges that the city violates the Constitution by jailing people without adequately considering whether they were indigent and, as a result, unable to pay.
The suit is filed on behalf of 11 plaintiffs who say they were too poor to pay but were then jailed — sometimes for two weeks or more.
NPR got an advance look at the lawsuit, filed by lawyers from Equal Justice Under Law, ArchCity Defenders and the Saint Louis University School of Law. It charges that Ferguson officials "have built a municipal scheme designed to brutalize, to punish, and to profit."
In 2013, Ferguson collected $2.6 million in court fines and fees, mainly on traffic violations and other low-level municipal offenses. That was the city's second-largest source of income, or about 21 percent of its total budget.
The lawsuit challenges the practice of jailing people when they can't afford to pay those fines. When tickets go unpaid, people are summoned to court and usually offered a new payment plan. If they fail to show up or make the new payments, the city issues an arrest warrant.
In 2013, Ferguson, a city with a population of 21,000, issued nearly 33,000 arrest warrants for unpaid traffic violations and other minor offenses. Many of those were for people who lived outside the city.
Ferguson officials did not respond to requests for comment. But the city has made some recent court reforms. In September, the City Council, in its first meeting since the Brown shooting, announced a proposal to cap revenues from tickets. And in December, the city ordered a partial "amnesty." People could pay $100 to get an arrest warrant lifted and then agree to pay their fines on a new payment plan.
Last year, NPR's investigative series Guilty and Chargedrevealed that all 50 states add long lists of fines and fees for court services, including the cost of a public defender, and room and board for jail stays. The investigation also found that when the poor struggle to pay those fees — often with penalties that push costs to hundreds or thousands of dollars — they are sent to jail for not paying the fines, even though debtors prisons were outlawed before the Civil War.
City officials say traffic fines protect public safety, and they need to punish the many people who can pay but simply refuse.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit say they were indigent and got caught up in a cycle of increased fees, debt and jailing.
Just over a year ago, Tonya DeBerry was driving her 4-year-old grandson in her daughter-in-law's car. A St. Louis County police officer saw that the license plates were expired and pulled her over. He ran a background check and saw an arrest warrant for multiple unpaid traffic tickets in Ferguson. Among those old violations were tickets for driving with a suspended license — lost for earlier unpaid tickets — and driving with no registration, insurance or proof of inspection.
DeBerry was arrested and handcuffed in front of her grandson. After someone came to pick up the boy, she was taken to jail.
"Just traffic tickets. No criminal act. Nothing," says DeBerry, 52, who doesn't work and depends on a disability check and food stamps. "If you have the money, you would never go through that type of situation. If you don't have the money, it's jail, jail."
She says the jail cell was moldy and dirty. "There was blood on the walls where people cut themselves and wiped the blood."
She spent two nights in a Ferguson jail in January 2014, until her daughter arrived with $300 borrowed from a neighbor to pay her bond. She was then transported to Jennings, Mo. — which is also being sued in a companion lawsuit — where there were more unpaid traffic tickets.
DeBerry still owes a few thousand dollars on those unpaid traffic tickets. She says she worries that she could be picked up again and go back to jail, so she's careful about where and when she drives.
DeBerry says the arrest warrants are a problem not just for her, but also for her son and daughter, who live with her.
Both Herbert Nelson, DeBerry's 26-year-old son, and Allison Nelson, her 23-year-old daughter, are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, too.
Herbert Nelson has been jailed at least four times in Ferguson over the past four years and owes the city a couple of thousand dollars for unpaid traffic tickets. He was last arrested in September and released after his mother borrowed $300 to pay for his bond.
Nelson says jailing him for unpaid tickets is disproportionate to his offense.
"We're not criminals. It's just driving. ... And we're paying these big punishments. It's not fair. It's holding us back. It's like a cycle. Once you put us in trouble for something so petty ... [it's] just digging a hole and putting us in it."
Nelson says he can't work because of the arrest warrants. He painted houses. But when he lost his driver's license, he lost his truck and now can't get to work.
His sister Allison Nelson says she's had to put on hold her dreams to join the Navy. The recruiter says she can't enlist until she clears up her outstanding warrants, which would require paying hundreds of dollars she says she doesn't have.
"This is holding so many of these young black kids back, it's ridiculous," says DeBerry. "They can't even get a job because they can't even get a background check, because they have a warrant for traffic tickets only."
Anthony Kimble, 53 and another plaintiff in the Ferguson lawsuit, says he's been jailed multiple times by Ferguson police, and in February 2013 spent nearly two weeks in jail.
He says when it was finally clear that he could not pay, and no one in his family could help, he was released. He says he was never allowed to shower, was given little food and, by the time he got out, had "lost 12 to 15 pounds."
The lawsuits allege that Ferguson and the nearby town of Jennings violate the Constitution because courts jail defendants without adequately considering whether they have the ability to pay. Also, the courts don't offer alternatives, like more affordable payment plans or the chance to pay off fines by doing community service instead.
"[Judges] routinely fail to make the inquiry into someone's ability to pay, even when it's required by law," says attorney Thomas Harvey, a co-founder of ArchCity Defenders, which provides legal services to the homeless and indigent. "At the very moment anyone says, 'I can't afford this. I'm on Section 8. I have lived in a homeless shelter,' that is raising the issue of indigency before the court, and it's required at that moment for the court to continue that inquiry and not continue to incarcerate someone if they've raised that issue of indigency."
Alec Karakatsanis, co-founder of the civil rights nonprofit Equal Justice Under Law, says the lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, ask the federal court to order judges in Ferguson and Jennings to stop "throwing people in jail solely because they're too poor" and to compensate those too poor to pay who have gone to jail.
"We've seen the rise of modern American debtors prisons, and nowhere is that phenomenon more stark than in Ferguson and Jennings municipal courts and municipal jails," he says. "We have people languishing in grotesque conditions, solely because of their poverty."
Debtors prison US, Google comment: Debtors prisons were outlawed in the United States nearly 200 years ago. And more than 30 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear: Judges cannot send people to jail just because they are too poor to pay their court fines. May 21, 2014
https://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/debtors-prisons
Debtors Prisons
“Across the country, in the face of mounting budget deficits, states are more aggressively going after poor people who have already served their criminal sentences and jailing them for failing to pay their legal debts. These modern-day debtors' prisons impose devastating human costs, waste taxpayer money and resources, undermine our criminal justice system, are racially skewed, and create a two-tiered system of justice.”
There are some half a dozen stories on this subject at the ACLU site above. Go to it and see what they say. Additional articles:
http://www.vice.com/read/whos-getting-rich-off-the-prison-industrial-complex
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Corrections_Corporation_of_America
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/03/627471/private-prisons-spend-45-million-on-lobbying-rake-in-51-billion-for-immigrant-detention-alone/
http://www.whitenations.com/archive/index.php/t-16077.html
Ferguson and Jennings – "[Judges] routinely fail to make the inquiry into someone's ability to pay, even when it's required by law," says attorney Thomas Harvey, a co-founder of ArchCity Defenders, which provides legal services to the homeless and indigent. "At the very moment anyone says, 'I can't afford this. I'm on Section 8. I have lived in a homeless shelter,' that is raising the issue of indigency before the court, and it's required at that moment for the court to continue that inquiry and not continue to incarcerate someone if they've raised that issue of indigency." Alec Karakatsanis, co-founder of the civil rights nonprofit Equal Justice Under Law, says the lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, ask the federal court to order judges in Ferguson and Jennings to stop "throwing people in jail solely because they're too poor" and to compensate those too poor to pay who have gone to jail. "We've seen the rise of modern American debtors prisons, and nowhere is that phenomenon more stark than in Ferguson and Jennings municipal courts and municipal jails," he says. "We have people languishing in grotesque conditions, solely because of their poverty."
This does remind me of the books Tom Jones, Oliver Twist, and Hunchback of Notre Dame. We really do need a massive review of two things – debtor's prison and “For Profit Prisons.”
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/08/03/627471/private-prisons-spend-45-million-on-lobbying-rake-in-51-billion-for-immigrant-detention-alone/ is one of five or six articles on For Profit Prisons and Private Prisons. I think we need to do a close reform of the whole prison system. The City of Ferguson, MO is one of the places where many poor people are being put into prison because they can't pay their parking/moving violation tickets or other court fees. In looking it up I saw a number of other instances of “debtor's prison” in modern times, even though according to Google it was outlawed by the Supreme Court some thirty years ago.
This subject makes me really angry. Not only are poor people unable to buy as many or as good quality products, can't afford to pay car insurance, etc., they are being put into prison for something that was declared no longer a crime at all in 1971. I wonder how many homeless people get picked up and jailed because they can't pay fines. We're living in an increasingly unfair and in my opinion, dark and immoral period in the matter of human rights, and this trend of thought in our country is linked with the far right politics that has taken hold. I hope to see something done about these things in the next year or two. I recently joined the ACLU, and I will set up a small monthly payment to them. They do a great deal of good.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Sunday, February 8, 2015
News Clips For The Day
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/06/1362769/-Gov-Scott-Walker-seeks-to-fund-study-on-health-impacts-of-wind-power
Gov. Scott Walker seeks to fund study on 'health impacts' of wind power
Hunter
FRI FEB 06, 2015
Photograph – I don't like annoying noises either, but we can't get him to shut up.
What are the odds that the state governor who gained instant fame from his obsequious smarm in a phone call to what he thought was a Koch brother would come out with a demand that we study the terrible health dangers posed by—wait for it, savor it a moment—wind power.
The two-year, $68 billion budget proposal Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker unveiled Tuesday includes a request for $250,000 to study the health impacts of wind turbines.
Walker, who apparently considers himself a bit of an expert on the subject because so many people have called him a "blowhard," is seizing on a county declaration that a local wind farm has been making some nearby residents sick because of the low-frequency noise the gigantic fan blades make when they spin.
Last October, health officials in Brown County declared that eight turbines located at the Shirley Wind Farm posed a health hazard to residents. The chairwoman of the local board of health cited "ear pain, ear pressure, headaches, nausea" and "sleep deprivation" as symptoms among nearby residents. Local reports suggest Brown is the first county in the country to reach such a conclusion.
You know what? Fine. While the conclusion is, let's say, an unusual one, I'd even be willing to give Brown County the benefit of the doubt in their case. Maybe don't put the enormous modern mega-turbines practically on top of other people's houses; as someone who has apparently superhero-level hearing compared to everyone else in my own house I'll stipulate that very quiet little noises that go on at all hours of the day and night might indeed drive a person fairly and verily nuts. So at best, you've got a zoning issue. If we can get to the point in this nation where our most bitter health complaints over our energy sources are things like "makes an annoying noise when you stand near them" rather than, say, "cancer-causing lung-destroying death agents mixed with stuff that is modifying the planet's atmosphere in a manner that will almost certainly put many of the world's major cities under a good bit of water in the foreseeable future, sucks to be them" I think we'd all be pretty pleased with ourselves. (It's also a bit weird to have farm country complaining about the noise generated by windmills, given their historic ubiquity, and since if you've ever stood under one of those historic-y versions it can sound like someone stuffed a cat in a clothes dryer. But I digress.)
On the other hand, we'll go out on a limb here and suggest that $250,000 is probably more than Scott Walker has ever proposed spending on researching the effects of fracking compounds or even the ingredients of fracking compounds, and is probably more than he has budgeted for researching the effects of processing tar sands, or living near coal plants, or to investigate the side effects of having a train's worth of crude oil explode on your doorstep because an employee accidentally forgot to set the parking brake while he went out for a quick coffee. So no, we're not giving him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
Chris Kunkle, the regional policy manager for the pro-wind group Wind on the Wires, said the study proposed in the budget is "just another example of Gov. Walker's targeting of an industry that is incredibly successful in largely every other state in the Midwest."
An industry Scott Walker doesn't like? Say it ain't so.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/wind-turbine-noise-not-linked-to-health-problems-health-canada-finds-1.2826206
Wind turbine noise not linked to health problems, Health Canada finds
Study involved 1,238 Ontario and P.E.I. homes near turbines
CBC News Posted: Nov 06, 2014
Photograph – During the study, researchers measured 4,000 hours of wind turbine noise in order to calculate indoor and outdoor noise levels at different homes in the study. (Reuters)
A Health Canada study has found no link between exposure to wind turbine noise and negative health effects in people.
Wind turbine noise did not have any measurable effect on illness and chronic disease, stress and sleep quality, Health Canada said.
However, the louder the wind turbine noise was, the more people reported being very or extremely annoyed, the department reported in a summary released today of the Wind Turbine Noise and Health Study.
The $2.1-million study, conducted with Statistics Canada in southern Ontario and Prince Edward Island, was launched in 2012. At that time, groups such as Wind Concerns Ontario had alleged that growing numbers of wind turbines were making people ill.
According to the Canadian Wind Energy Association, there are now enough wind turbines installed across the country to generate up to 8.5 gigawatts of energy, a 62-fold increase since 2000.
The study involved an adult in each of more 1,238 households at varying distances from wind turbines. The participants answered a questionnaire in person, and health measurements were taken, including blood pressure, heart rate, measures of sleep quality, and levels of the stress hormone cortisol in hair samples.
The researchers also measured 4,000 hours of wind turbine noise in order to calculate indoor and outdoor noise levels at different homes in the study.
No effects found on health
The study found no link between wind turbine noise and ill-effects including:
Symptoms such as dizziness and migraines.
Chronic illnesses such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Measures of stress levels, such as heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol.
Self-reported or measured quality of sleep.
"While some people reported some of the health conditions above, their existence was not found to change in relation to exposure to wind turbine noise," Health Canada said.
The study did find that as levels of wind turbine noise increased, people reported being more annoyed by various aspects of the turbines, from the noise itself and the aircraft warning lights on top of the turbines to the way they caused shadows to flicker.
Health Canada said the results of the study are considered preliminary until published in peer-reviewed scientific literature. It added that "detailed analysis and results will be shared with Canadians and the international scientific community over the next several months with updates provided on the Health Canada website."
Health Canada said the results will be used with other scientific research to:
Provide advice on health effects of wind turbine noise.
Support governments in making decisions, policies and advice related to wind power development.
The principal investigator of the study was David Michaud of Health Canada's health effects and assessment division. It also involved an expert committee that included more than two dozen government, academic and industry experts in fields ranging from acoustics to neurology and included four international advisers.
Comments
Chadd Weston
The issue is not wind turbine NOISE, rather I believe its related to wind turbine INFRASOUND emissions.
Infrasound is rapid fluctuations in our surrounding barometric pressure, with large turbines, these fluctuations happen anywhere from 0.5 to 5 times every second. The frequency of this is around 1Hz, way below the human threshold of hearing (think about the lowest key on a piano at 27Hz).
The presence of infrasound in homes near wind turbines is abnormally strong (check outhttp://www.kevi...
winoforlife
Wind turbines represent the cleanest energy form out there next to solar power but the knee-jerk reactionists - who clearly have nothing better to do - would prefer coal-fired plants (possible the worst polluters on the planet) because that is the alternative in most areas that don't have hydro power. Save the bats!
JimEliot
It is nothing more than sad to see that it took 2.1 million dollars of tax money, which could have been utilized in hundreds of better ways, to prove the near tautology that wind turbine noise is unrelated to health problems. Why do we continually throw money of such magnitude out the window just to satisfy the paranoid delusions of a minority of people?
Citizen24601
@JimEliot
It's better to err on the side of caution, I suppose.
Just because most people think something will be harmless does not necessarily mean that it will be.
Just saying that though, I think wind turbine power is a great idea.
Kidding Aside
ANY technology is presumed safe until proven otherwise after many decades.
No human endeavor exists that has no undesirable side effects.
Hotman
That doesn't mean we should start locating these things in peoples back yards!
martinrodgercy
But the OIL cartel says the Turbines are BAD for their $$$$$$$$$$$Health and harper is listening to WHO ??????????????
cdnflag
How about a study on how they affect wildlife - birds, bats, insects (eg. migration). They are not benign.
Mike_B._
@cdnflag
Says "[Wind turbines] are not benign."
No source of energy is completely benign.
However wind energy (and other renewable energy sources) typically have a much lower impact on the environment than fossil fuels.
KevinMcKinney
@cdnflag
There have been several, actually, and while they are not completely 'benign', they are more so than the alternatives. Here's a useful factsheet:http://awwi.org/resources/summary-of-wind-wildlife-interactions-2/#section-literature-cited
meurig
So yet another study shows what the scientific community already knew - that "wind turbine syndrome" does not exist, except perhaps as a psychological condition.
Now can we have some serious research into the health impacts of dirty energy? Let's have full disclosure of the contents of fracking fluid in every location where fracking is proposed, together with proper assessment of its toxicity. Let's have government funding for a detailed and fully independent study of the impact of uranium mining on workers and on people living downstream and downwind, and on their traditional food sources.
And let's have some action where studies have shown dirty energy to be poisoning people - as is the case for several First Nations impacted by bitumen mining and upgrading in northern Alberta.
“Last October, health officials in Brown County declared that eight turbines located at the Shirley Wind Farm posed a health hazard to residents. The chairwoman of the local board of health cited "ear pain, ear pressure, headaches, nausea" and "sleep deprivation" as symptoms among nearby residents. Local reports suggest Brown is the first county in the country to reach such a conclusion.... I'll stipulate that very quiet little noises that go on at all hours of the day and night might indeed drive a person fairly and verily nuts. So at best, you've got a zoning issue. … Chris Kunkle, the regional policy manager for the pro-wind group Wind on the Wires, said the study proposed in the budget is "just another example of Gov. Walker's targeting of an industry that is incredibly successful in largely every other state in the Midwest."
This smells like another Koch Brothers smear of alternative energy sources. The large Canadian study above found NO health effects, just in some cases some professed “annoyance.” The sounds of my air conditioner and my computer are mildly annoying if I focus on them, but I don't. I continue to type on my keyboard and I can't live without the air conditioner, so I don't feel that I have any problems. Enough on this subject.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/06/384383038/british-tribunal-rules-mass-surveillance-by-spy-agencies-was-illegal
British Tribunal Rules Mass Surveillance By Spy Agencies Was Illegal
Eyder Peralta
FEBRUARY 06, 2015
A tribunal in London has ruled that the United Kingdom's mass surveillance of cellphone and online communications violated human rights.
NPR's Ari Shapiro reports that the government had already tweaked the program in response to concerns.
Ari filed this report for our Newscast unit:
"The Investigatory Powers Tribunal was established in 2000 and this is the first time it has upheld a complaint about British intelligence agencies.
"For years, America's National Security Agency has intercepted communications from people around the world including in the U.K.
"British spy agencies used some of the information that the NSA intercepted from the U.K.
"The tribunal says that information sharing violated the European convention on human rights — specifically, parts of the convention relating to privacy and freedom of expression.
"The existence of this information-sharing program only came to light because of documents revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden."
The New York Times spoke to Ian Brown, a professor of information security and privacy at the University of Oxford. He told the paper this was a "landmark case," but things may not change all that much.
"This will not stop intelligence agencies from sharing information," Brown said. "But it's unlikely they will be able to conduct large-scale uncontrolled intelligence activities without more oversight."
"The Investigatory Powers Tribunal was established in 2000 and this is the first time it has upheld a complaint about British intelligence agencies. "For years, America's National Security Agency has intercepted communications from people around the world including in the U.K. "British spy agencies used some of the information that the NSA intercepted from the U.K. "The tribunal says that information sharing violated the European convention on human rights — specifically, parts of the convention relating to privacy and freedom of expression. "The existence of this information-sharing program only came to light because of documents revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden."... "This will not stop intelligence agencies from sharing information," Brown said. "But it's unlikely they will be able to conduct large-scale uncontrolled intelligence activities without more oversight."
Last week's story of the cameras, often hidden, taking shots of not only license plates and routes but people who are in the cars at first sounded like basis security activity in a time of terrorists, but when I saw that they were also keeping records of what public meetings the cars were going to I was startled. Later in the article it stated that gun shows had been monitored in this way, apparently because of gun smuggling rings. It still makes me uncomfortable, and I don't think it is needed to a degree that trumps our privacy rights. Whether I like it or not, this is not the USA that I grew up in. Of course we didn't have al-Qaeda menacing our population centers either. It's something I may have to compromise about.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dangerous-pathogens-and-mystery-microbes-ride-the-subway/
Dangerous pathogens and mystery microbes ride the subway
CBS NEWS
February 6, 2015,
Photograph – "PathoMap" created by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City highlights bacteria and other microbes detected in the subway system. WWW.PATHOMAP.ORG
New York City's subway system has never been known for its cleanliness, but even the most jaded city dweller may be shocked and disgusted to learn just what types of microorganisms are lurking on the average subway pole.
A group of researchers led by Christopher Mason of the department of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medical College swabbed surfaces and collected specimens from the subway system to develop a map of what they called an "urban microbiome." The result, seen above, is called the PathoMap and it illustrates concentrations of 637 known bacterial, viral, fungal and animal microbes detected in the study.
The vast majority of the bugs Mason and his co-authors collected were non-pathogenic and represent normal bacteria present on human skin and the human body, the study published in the journal Cell Systems found.
The findings were "generally reassuring, indicating no need to avoid the subway system or use protective gloves," Weill Cornell Medical College said in a press release. Nearly half of the samples contained DNA profiles that scientists had never seen before.
Twelve percent of the bacteria found on the subway system were associated with disease. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found in 27 percent of the samples collected. Two samples turned up DNA fragments of Bacillus anthracis, which isanthrax, and three samples turned up a plasmid associated with Yersinia pestis, or Bubonic plague, the study said.
But researchers emphasized that there is no evidence that the scary bacteria are even alive, and there is also no evidence that they are linked to any instance of disease.
"They are instead likely just the co-habitants of any shared urban infrastructure and city, but wider testing is needed to confirm this," Mason said in the release.
No case of Bubonic plague has been reported in New York City since the study began, the study emphasized.
"Despite finding traces of pathogenic microbes, their presence isn't substantial enough to pose a threat to human health," Mason said in the release. "The presence of these microbes and the lack of reported medical cases is truly a testament to our body's immune system, and our innate ability to continuously adapt to our environment."
The PathoMap breaks down every point where swabs were taken at each of the city's subway stations -- including benches, turnstiles, stairway railings, train seats, poles, trash cans, and kiosks -- and the taxonomic classification of the bacteria, viruses and fungi that were found.
Nearly half of the DNA from all the samples, 48.3 percent, did not match any known organism, "which underscores the vast wealth of unknown species that are ubiquitous in urban areas," said co-lead author Ebrahim Afshinnekoo, a senior at Macaulay Honors College-Queens, who starting working on the project as a Tri-Institutional Computational Biology and Medicine Summer Student in 2013.
The study also found significant variation across the different subway lines and parts of the city. The Bronx was found to have the most diverse range of microbe species, followed by Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Staten Island was the least diverse.
The idea for the PathoMap goes back to 2010, when Mason picked up his daughter from day care and noticed that she and all of the other children were playing with the same toys and putting them in their mouths.
"What is on those toys, and the surfaces in this environment, and all the other environments, and how much is my daughter absorbing every day?" Mason was quoted on the PathoMap website.
The resulting study in 2013 led to the creation of the PathoMap, which used the subway system as a representation of the population of New York City.
The results of the study could be used by the city for long-term disease surveillance, response to bioterrorism threats, and long-term health maintenance, the researchers suggested.
“A group of researchers led by Christopher Mason of the department of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell Medical College swabbed surfaces and collected specimens from the subway system to develop a map of what they called an "urban microbiome." The result, seen above, is called the PathoMap and it illustrates concentrations of 637 known bacterial, viral, fungal and animal microbes detected in the study.... The findings were "generally reassuring, indicating no need to avoid the subway system or use protective gloves," Weill Cornell Medical College said in a press release. Nearly half of the samples contained DNA profiles that scientists had never seen before. Twelve percent of the bacteria found on the subway system were associated with disease. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria were found in 27 percent of the samples collected. Two samples turned up DNA fragments of Bacillus anthracis, which is anthrax, and three samples turned up a plasmid associated with Yersinia pestis, or Bubonic plague, the study said.... "Despite finding traces of pathogenic microbes, their presence isn't substantial enough to pose a threat to human health," Mason said in the release. "The presence of these microbes and the lack of reported medical cases is truly a testament to our body's immune system, and our innate ability to continuously adapt to our environment.".... Nearly half of the DNA from all the samples, 48.3 percent, did not match any known organism, "which underscores the vast wealth of unknown species that are ubiquitous in urban areas," said co-lead author Ebrahim Afshinnekoo, a senior at Macaulay Honors College-Queens.... The study also found significant variation across the different subway lines and parts of the city. The Bronx was found to have the most diverse range of microbe species, followed by Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Staten Island was the least diverse.... The results of the study could be used by the city for long-term disease surveillance, response to bioterrorism threats, and long-term health maintenance, the researchers suggested.”
The good news is that these little critters were mostly not dangerous and have not been linked to disease outbreaks. The map can be used to study public health issues. Certain parts of the city gave evidence of a greater variety of microbes, especially the most thickly inhabited such as Manhattan. 48% of the DNA didn't match any known organism. I've always assumed that the process of evolution is and always has been an ongoing thing, so maybe some of those unknown bacteria are actually new species. There are, however, so many animals and plants on earth that many of them have never been classified. There are gazillions of bacteria, protozoa, small mammals, oceanic lifeforms, insects, and other uncommon things in existence, which are at the base of the food chain and therefore important to our ecology, and until the invention of the microscope were totally unknown. I personally don't fear most of them. Our immunity systems take care of the problem most of the time without having to fall back on medications. This is interesting, but not frightening to me. Science, like the daily news, does turn up so many new things that it keeps me reading happily.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/should-the-west-arm-ukraine-against-russian-backed-rebels/
Should the West arm Ukraine against Russian-backed rebels?
CBS/AP
February 8, 2015
MUNICH - The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine aim to hold a summit in Minsk this week as they try to stem fighting in eastern Ukraine, officials in Germany and France said Sunday.
The plan for a meeting Wednesday in the Belarusian capital emerged from a phone call between German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, described the call as "intensive."
The aim is to draw up a package of measures that breathes new life into a much-violated September peace plan. Seibert and the French government said preparations for the summit will take place Monday in Berlin, without elaborating.
There will also be a meeting in Minsk by Wednesday of the signatories to last September's accord, including Russia, Ukraine and representatives of separatists in eastern Ukraine, they said.
Before the summit Merkel, who met Friday night in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama in Washington Monday on a previously scheduled trip.
At an international security conference in Munich, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the U.S. and its European allies are "united in our diplomacy" on Ukraine. He said the U.S. supports efforts by France and Germany to produce a new plan to end the conflict that is now raging in east Ukraine.
Kerry denied that there is a U.S.-Europe rift over how to respond to the crisis and how to deal with Russia's role in it despite a debate over whether to arm the government in Kiev.
"There is no division, there is no split," Kerry said. "I keep hearing people trying to create one. We are united, we are working closely together."
His comments came amid reports of a deep trans-Atlantic rift over the Obama administration's consideration of providing defensive weaponry to Kiev. Germany and France oppose such a move, saying it could lead to an escalation and that they do not believe the conflict can be resolved militarily. Russia, which is accused of supporting separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, has said the introduction of U.S.-supplied weaponry will have grave consequences.
The United States and other Western countries contend Russia has supplied troops and equipment to the separatists in eastern Ukraine who have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since April. Russia denies the claims.
The top NATO commander, U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, said last week that Russia continues to supply the separatists with heavy, state-of-the-art weapons, air defenses and fighters.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking alongside Kerry, reiterated that he considers delivering weapons "not just highly risky but counterproductive."
Kerry said the United States agrees that there is no military solution to the Ukraine crisis that has now killed more than 5,300 people, according to the United Nations.
At the same time, U.S. officials say Obama is rethinking his previous opposition to sending arms to Ukraine despite fears it could lead to a proxy war between Washington and Moscow. The officials have, however, suggested that any such weaponry would be intended to help Kiev defend itself once a peace agreement is reached.
Kerry likened the U.S.-European debate over arms to previous consultations over the breadth and strength of sanctions against Russia.
"The discussion taking place today is absolutely no different - it's tactical, it is not strategic," Kerry said. "On the fundamental goal with respect to Ukraine, we are absolutely united ... we want a diplomatic solution."
“At the same time, U.S. officials say Obama is rethinking his previous opposition to sending arms to Ukraine despite fears it could lead to a proxy war between Washington and Moscow. The officials have, however, suggested that any such weaponry would be intended to help Kiev defend itself once a peace agreement is reached. Kerry likened the U.S.-European debate over arms to previous consultations over the breadth and strength of sanctions against Russia. "The discussion taking place today is absolutely no different - it's tactical, it is not strategic," Kerry said. "On the fundamental goal with respect to Ukraine, we are absolutely united ... we want a diplomatic solution."
How can there be a diplomatic solution when there can't even be a real ceasefire? Just give them the weapons, and do it before Russia takes over all of Ukraine. Does anyone really doubt what their goals are?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/republican-lawmaker-childbirth-resulting-from-rape-is-beautiful/
Republican lawmaker: Childbirth resulting from rape is "beautiful"
CBS NEWS
February 7, 2015
A Republican state legislator from West Virginia said Thursday that women should not be allowed to abort pregnancies resulting from rape because the child that could result from it is "beautiful."
"For somebody to take advantage of somebody else in such a horrible and terrifying and brutal way is absolutely disgusting," said West Virginia Del. Brian Kurcaba during a hearing on proposed new abortion restrictions, CBS Charleston affiliate WOWK-TV reports. "But what is beautiful is the child that could come as a production of this."
Kurcaba later said in a statement that his comments didn't fully represent his views, WOWK-TV reports.
"I apologize to anyone who took my comments about the sanctity of human life to mean anything other than that all children are precious regardless of circumstances," he said in the statement.
The bill under consideration would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. On Thursday, the state legislature's health committee voted down a proposal that would have made exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, and the bill is now headed for a up or down vote in the full House.
Kurcaba, a financial adviser and resident of Morgantown, West Virginia, was first elected to the statehouse last November. According to his campaign website, he was endorsed by West Virginians for Life, an anti-abortion group, during his primary and general election campaigns.
He becomes the latest Republican lawmaker to offer some eyebrow-raising comments on the subject of rape and abortion. In October 2012, then-Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock argued during a debate, "I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."
And perhaps the most infamous rape-related comments during that year came from then-Rep. Todd Akin, R-Missouri, who was running for a Senate seat as well. Akin said that women who were the victims of "legitimate rape" wouldn't become pregnant because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/science-house-abortion-ban-fetal-pain
Fetuses Feel Pain at 20 Weeks, and 4 Other Anti-Abortion Myths
A look at some of the bad science routinely trotted out by anti-abortion advocates.
—By Kate Sheppard
| Thu Jun. 20, 2013
The House of Representatives passed a law on Tuesday banning abortions after 20 weeks across the country, based on the scientifically dubious claim that a fetus can feel pain at that point. The federal "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act" draws from a model bill promoted by the National Right to Life and mirrors laws that have passed in a dozen states in the last three years.
Where does this premise for a 20-week abortion ban come from? In the debate on Tuesday, House members repeatedly cited the research of Dr. Kanwaljeet "Sunny" Anand, a University of Tennessee professor of pediatrics, anesthesiology, and neurobiology who has promoted the idea that 20 weeks post-conception is the point when a fetus begins to feel pain. His work, which has been the go-to resource for anti-abortion groups, was mentioned at least four times on the House floor. Citing Anand's findings, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) argued that "the baby responds the same way you and I respond to pain, by recoiling." She went on to claim that the pain of a fetus at 20 weeks is "possibly more intense than that felt by older newborns."
But Anand is an outlier. A 2005 paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association surveyed the medical literature and found little evidence to support his conclusions. There is an established body of evidence that finds that fetuses start developing the biological pathways related to pain sensation at this stage of gestation, but there is not enough evidence to suggest that they can actually experience pain as we do. The majority of the scientific literature on the subject finds that the brain connections required to feel pain are not formed until at least 24 weeks.
This is, of course, not the first time fishy scientific arguments have been used to support anti-abortion policies. Last August, Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin ignited a controversy when he stated that victims of "legitimate rape" couldn't get pregnant because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." The sponsor of the House 20-week ban, Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), was also criticized last week for arguing in a hearing that the number of pregnancies resulting from rape is "very low."
Here's a brief run-down of the bad science that has been used to support anti-abortion policies:
Claim: Virtually no rape victims conceive.
Source: Dr. John Willke, former National Right to Life president
Why it's bunk: In a 1999 article, Willke, an "expert in human sexuality," used some really fuzzy math to argue that fewer than 400 victims of sexual assault get pregnant annually. (The reason? Hormones and stuff.) This idea, also found in medieval texts, has been repeated by lawmakers who don't believe abortion bans should make exceptions for rape.
"For somebody to take advantage of somebody else in such a horrible and terrifying and brutal way is absolutely disgusting," said West Virginia Del. Brian Kurcaba during a hearing on proposed new abortion restrictions, CBS Charleston affiliate WOWK-TV reports. "But what is beautiful is the child that could come as a production of this." Kurcaba later said in a statement that his comments didn't fully represent his views, WOWK-TV reports. "I apologize to anyone who took my comments about the sanctity of human life to mean anything other than that all children are precious regardless of circumstances," he said in the statement.... He becomes the latest Republican lawmaker to offer some eyebrow-raising comments on the subject of rape and abortion. In October 2012, then-Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock argued during a debate, "I think that even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen." And perhaps the most infamous rape-related comments during that year came from then-Rep. Todd Akin, R-Missouri, who was running for a Senate seat as well. Akin said that women who were the victims of "legitimate rape" wouldn't become pregnant because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
Ignorance abounds in this country. You can bet that if a prominent Republican's daughter was raped and became pregnant she would get a timely abortion. Theories like women who are “legitimately raped” don't get pregnant can only hurt women's rights. Of course for years defense attorneys have been blaming rape victims to get their client off in the courts. This is part of the same thing – women are second class citizens.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2015/02/07/384107183/after-years-in-lockdown-rosa-parks-papers-head-to-library-of-congress
After Years In Lockdown, Rosa Parks' Papers Head To Library Of Congress
Audie Cornish
FEBRUARY 07, 2015
Photograph – Rosa Parks, shown in Seattle in 1956, saved postcards from Martin Luther King Jr. and notes about carpooling during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. They're now being cataloged by the Library of Congress.
Archivists at the Library of Congress are hard at work cataloging the papers of Rosa Parks, received on loan recently after a legal battle kept them under lock and key for the past decade.
Among the collection are a receipt for a voting booth's poll tax, postcards from Martin Luther King Jr., a datebook with the names of volunteer carpool drivers who would help blacks get to work during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and thousands of other historic documents.
Meg McAleer, a senior archives specialist working on Rosa Parks' papers, spoke with NPR's Audie Cornish about the documents. Excerpts are below — but to get Parks' full recipe for feather-light pancakes, you'll have to listen to the audio above.
Interview Highlights
On Rosa Parks' husband, Raymond
Actually, photographs of Raymond Parks are really rare. This is a photograph of Raymond Parks when he's in his 40s. He's, you know, a strikingly handsome man. Very very pale complexion, and at first Rosa Parks didn't like that when they were dating. She said that he was the first activist she ever knew in person. He was involved in the Montgomery branch of the NAACP, and at the time of their marriage he was very involved in organizing on behalf of the Scottsboro Boys, and in fact were holding meetings in their new home together, which is quite a dangerous thing to do.
An excerpt from a letter Parks wrote about Raymond's reaction to her arrest
"He was a madman, furious. His fury was directed at himself for being a financial failure — not having provided the material comforts necessary for a well-appointed home. He was angry with the driver for causing my arrest. He mentioned so often the fact that colored people were sitting on the same seat, the same day, and all of the other days, where I was arrested for not getting up. He also was very angry with me for refusing to give up the seat, and at least not getting off the bus. So many times he said he would have gotten off the bus. He said I had a goat head."
On how Rosa and Raymond Parks struggled following her arrest
Rosa Parks — because of her arrest, because of her activism — loses her job at the Montgomery Fair department store, where she was an assistant tailor. She wasn't fired, they just let her go. And Raymond Parks also loses his job as well. And neither one of them is able to find sustainable employment in Montgomery after that — because of their activism, absolutely. They are basically boycotted. …
This is a 1955 tax return, and of course her arrest is in December of that year, and their combined income is $3,749. So they're, you know, the working poor, but they're holding their head above water. And here is their tax return in 1959 when they're living in Detroit. Their combined income is $661. They have descended into deep, deep poverty.
On how the archives alter the perception of Rosa Parks
You know, we think of her as the quiet seamstress, and her writing just absolutely blew me away — the strength of it, the power of it, the courage of it. I mean, she's writing things down about the way things are in the South in ways that could get her killed, and she's unflinching in how she does it. …
It really kind of lets us hear her voice in a way that I don't think we've truly heard before. ... We know her actions, you know, we know the fact she refused to give up her seat, we know about her arrest, we know the whats. But this brings us into the psychological impact of that. We see her in a much more animated way — we know the events she attended, you know, who she was supporting, and so I think that this really shows her to be a very skilled, experienced civil rights worker.
“Photograph – Rosa Parks, shown in Seattle in 1956, saved postcards from Martin Luther King Jr. and notes about carpooling during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. They're now being cataloged by the Library of Congress. Archivists at the Library of Congress are hard at work cataloging the papers of Rosa Parks, received on loan recently after a legal battle kept them under lock and key for the past decade. Among the collection are a receipt for a voting booth's poll tax, postcards from Martin Luther King Jr., a datebook with the names of volunteer carpool drivers who would help blacks get to work during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and thousands of other historic documents. Meg McAleer, a senior archives specialist working on Rosa Parks' papers, spoke with NPR's Audie Cornish about the documents. Excerpts are below.”
Hopefully someone will publish her papers so the public can read them, or better still write a biography. She and her husband had a very painful life. Both lost their jobs and were never able to get another. I'd really like to know more personal detail about her.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Saturday, February 7, 2015
News Clips For The Day
www.salon.com/2015/02/06/wingnuts_latest_meltdown_conservatives_go_nuts_over_obamas_remarks_on_christianity_and_islam/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
Wingnuts’ latest meltdown: Conservatives go nuts over Obama’s remarks on Christianity and Islam
Obama reminds fellow Christians that their religion has been far from perfect. Cue conservative freak-out
Luke Brinker
February 6, 2015
Speaking before the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, President Obama denounced those “who hijack religion for their own murderous ends,” citing, for instance, the Islamic State militant group, “a brutal, vicious death cult that, in the name of religion, carries out unspeakable acts of barbarism.” Given the group’s gruesome executions of its hostages and its utterly horrific execution of children, including the mentally disabled, one could hardly dispute the president’s characterization of its fundamentalist adherents.
Nevertheless, the president’s speech rankled conservative critics. Obama, you see, committed the grievous error of pointing out that brutality and violence have hardly been the province of any one religion.
“[L]est we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ,” Obama noted. ”In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ,” he added, referring to segregationists’ fondness for Biblical injunctions against interracial mingling.
The right-wing reaction was swift — and, at times, nothing short of hyperbolic.
“The president’s comments this morning at the prayer breakfast are the most offensive I’ve ever heard a president make in my lifetime,” proclaimed former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, 65, who lived through the presidency of Richard Milhous Nixon, whose bigoted utterances would make even Steve Scalise blush. Gilmore, for what it’s worth, is one of approximately 7,000 Republicans floating a 2016 presidential bid, despite the fact that he lost his last election, a 2008 U.S. Senate race, by 31 percentage points.
Bill Donohue, the perpetually red-faced leader of the Catholic League — a “league” that appears to consist primarily of Bill Donohue — charged that the president’s remarks were designed to “deflect guilt from Muslim madmen,” castigating the president’s comparisons as “pernicious.”
Donohue’s comments come one month after he responded to the terror attack on the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo by saying that the paper had “provoked” the attack by lampooning Islam and other faiths.
Fox News commentator Todd Starnes, meanwhile, cast the president’s remarks aside by writing that the Crusades “ended some 700 years ago” — an argument that may have proven more persuasive if not for the far more recent use of Christianity to justify atrocities from segregation to the slaughters, rapes, and kidnappings perpetrated by Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, which seeks to take over and rule Uganda based on the Ten Commandments.
For his part, Starnes’ Fox colleague Erick Erickson wasn’t even sure the president’s remarks merited a response. “I’d be more inclined to listen to the President talk about faith if he showed he had faith in anything other than himself,” the meathead pundit tweeted. Still, Erickson took to his RedState.com blog to express his wish that Obama “would stop professing himself to be a Christian.”
Erickson, it bears mentioning, has raised funds for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing Christianist legal group that works internationally to defend draconian laws that prescribe prison sentences for gay people. But don’t let the president dare say that Christian extremism has ever existed.
“Erickson, it bears mentioning, has raised funds for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing Christianist legal group that works internationally to defend draconian laws that prescribe prison sentences for gay people. But don’t let the president dare say that Christian extremism has ever existed.”
I'm sure Obama isn't surprised by this white backlash to his forthright statements that are verified by history. Fundamentalism is illogical, uneducated and based in group hostility. Liberal Christianity is not like that – United Methodists, Quakers, Episcopalians, Unitarians, for instance – and neither are Islamic people who are not politically based and trying to establish dominance over other culture's lands. Liberal Christians base their faith on Jesus' commandments to his apostles to feed the hungry and clothe the poor. They never start wars or promulgate enmity against other groups and beliefs. They don't threaten abortion clinics and doctors, nor protest and picket at soldiers' burials. It isn't Islam and Christianity that are at fault, but the dogmatic and narrow minded viewpoints of the Fundamentalists of all religions. I'm sure Obama is used to being treated badly by now. It is, after all, a race war that is occurring.
ISIS NEWS
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/6-people-charged-in-u-s-with-supporting-isis/
6 people charged in U.S. with supporting ISIS
CBS NEWS
February 6, 2015
WASHINGTON -- Six Bosnian immigrants have been charged in the U.S. for allegedly supporting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Department of Justice said Friday.
The suspects, five of whom were arrested in the U.S., are all charged with providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists, the DOJ said in a statement.
They were identified as Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 40, his wife Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 35, and Armin Harcevic, 37, who live in St. Louis County, Missouri; Nihad Rosic, 26, of Utica, New York; Mediha Medy Salkicevic, 34 of Schiller Park, Illinois; and Jasminka Ramic, 42, of Rockford, Illinois.
The suspects immigrated from Bosnia, the Justice Department said. Three of them became naturalized U.S. citizens and the others have legal resident of refugee status.
According to an indictment unsealed Friday, the defendants sent weapons, U.S. military uniforms and tactical equipment to a man named Abdullah Ramo Pazara, a Bosnian who traveled from St. Louis to Syria in 2013 to join ISIS. They also used Western Union and PayPal to transfer money to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, where third parties sent it to Syria and Iraq. Some of the equipment was also transferred through intermediaries.
Pazara was not charged because it is believed that he was killed last year. He communicated with the defendants through social media, according to the FBI and DOJ, and bragged online about killing and kidnapping several people.
Ramiz Zijad Hodzic and Rosic face the additional charge of conspiring to kill and main persons in a foreign country.
Hodzic allegedly provided tactical advice to Pazara and other foreign fighters, the indictment said, and sent rifle scopes and range finders to Pazara, intending that they be used on sniper rifles. Rosic attempted to travel to Syria, according to the indictment.
"Today's charges and arrests underscore our resolve to identify, thwart, and hold accountable individuals within the United States who seek to provide material support to terrorists and terrorist organizations operating in Syria and Iraq," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin said in a statement. "Preventing the provision of supplies, money, and personnel to foreign terrorist organizations like ISIL remains a top priority of the National Security Division and our partners in the law enforcement and intelligence communities."
The suspects face up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count if convicted. Hodzic and Rosic could be sentenced to life in prison if they are convicted on the additional conspiracy charge.
“The suspects immigrated from Bosnia, the Justice Department said. Three of them became naturalized U.S. citizens and the others have legal resident of refugee status. According to an indictment unsealed Friday, the defendants sent weapons, U.S. military uniforms and tactical equipment to a man named Abdullah Ramo Pazara, a Bosnian who traveled from St. Louis to Syria in 2013 to join ISIS. They also used Western Union and PayPal to transfer money to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, where third parties sent it to Syria and Iraq. Some of the equipment was also transferred through intermediaries.... The suspects face up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count if convicted. Hodzic and Rosic could be sentenced to life in prison if they are convicted on the additional conspiracy charge.”
There are two Bosnian brothers who work at my apartment buildings here. They are both very nice men, but they do have distinctly Mediterranean coloring, and one of them is very shy. He is also having a problem with English. They may not be assimilated very well in this country, and therefore be vulnerable to a religious or cultural group composed of their own faith. I wouldn't suspect either of these two of any jihadi activities, though. Of course having a steady job probably helps. In France where there are so many Islamic refugees living, they are having trouble with native Frenchmen being less than welcoming, and they are having a problem with joblessness. I think it is a matter of individual refugees assimilating either better or more poorly. It's hard to be very different from ones neighbors and too poor to live without working. Anyone who is caught aiding a national enemy is going to have to pay the penalty, however, so these six are probably doomed unless lawyers can disprove the case against them.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jihadi-preacher-abu-mohammed-al-maqdesi-blasts-isis-methods-jordan-pilot-burned/
Jihadi preacher latest to condemn ISIS' methods
AP
February 6, 2015
AMMAN, Jordan -- A prominent jihadi preacher lashed out Friday against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants for burning to death a Jordanian pilot, saying this is "not acceptable in any religion."
Abu Mohammed al-Maqdesi, considered a spiritual mentor for many al Qaeda militants, spoke a day after being released from more than three months in detention in Jordan.
His release and harsh criticism of ISIS comes at a time when the Jordanian government is trying to win broad popular backing for intensified airstrikes against the militants in response to the killing of the pilot.
Earlier this week, ISIS militants released a video showing the pilot, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh, being burned to death in a cage.
In an interview with the Jordanian TV station Roya, al-Maqdesi said that such an act "is not acceptable by any religion and by anyone."
The cleric indicated that he had been involved in back-channel talks to arrange a possible prisoner swap to win the release of the pilot, who was captured after his plane crashed over Syria in December. Jordan offered last week to swap an al Qaeda prisoner for the pilot, but said after the release of the video that it became clear that the pilot had already been killed in early January.
Al-Maqdesi said he believed the militants were never serious about arranging a swap.
"During my communication, they lied and they were evasive," he said. "They acted like they were interested (in a swap), but in fact they were not interested."
He also criticized ISIS for declaring a caliphate last year in the areas under its control in Syria and Iraq. Al-Maqdesi said a caliphate, or state run according to Islamic law, is meant to bring Muslims together, but that the militants have been a divisive force.
A decade ago, Al-Maqdesi was considered a mentor of the al Qaeda branch in Iraq, a precursor to ISIS. However, the cleric fell out with his protégés over their methods, including attacks on fellow Muslims, and has since repeatedly spoken out in videos and written diatribes against ISIS.
Jordan arrested the cleric in October, after he criticized Jordan's participation in a U.S.-led military coalition against ISIS. Jordan, which borders Syria and Iraq, joined the coalition in September.
In the wake of the killing of the pilot, Jordan said it would intensify its attacks. On Thursday, dozens of fighter jets struck ISIS weapons depots and training areas, the military said.
“A prominent jihadi preacher lashed out Friday against Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants for burning to death a Jordanian pilot, saying this is "not acceptable in any religion." Abu Mohammed al-Maqdesi, considered a spiritual mentor for many al Qaeda militants, spoke a day after being released from more than three months in detention in Jordan. His release and harsh criticism of ISIS comes at a time when the Jordanian government is trying to win broad popular backing for intensified airstrikes against the militants in response to the killing of the pilot.... A decade ago, Al-Maqdesi was considered a mentor of the al Qaeda branch in Iraq, a precursor to ISIS. However, the cleric fell out with his protégés over their methods, including attacks on fellow Muslims, and has since repeatedly spoken out in videos and written diatribes against ISIS. Jordan arrested the cleric in October, after he criticized Jordan's participation in a U.S.-led military coalition against ISIS. Jordan, which borders Syria and Iraq, joined the coalition in September. In the wake of the killing of the pilot, Jordan said it would intensify its attacks. On Thursday, dozens of fighter jets struck ISIS weapons depots and training areas, the military said.”
We need more Islamic preachers speaking out against all fundamentalists, not just ISIS. Still, this is a start. Peaceful Islam as a whole has the ultimate control over radical groups within their umbrella. Saudi Arabia and Iran are moving against ISIS, and the ever dependable Kurds. It would be much better if the fighters against this (so far) regional group of Islamists would do most of the fighting to protect what is, after all, their own lands.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/no-power-or-water-in-ukrainian-villages-only-despair/
No power or water in Ukrainian village, only despair
By ELIZABETH PALMER CBS NEWS
February 6, 2015
CBS News' Elizabeth Palmer has been reporting from Ukraine for the last week. This is part of a series of reports from the front lines of eastern Ukraine where Ukrainian troops and civilians are struggling to fend off attacks from pro-Russian separatists.
Photograph – A convoy of buses escorts stranded Ukrainian villagers out of a battle zone
CBS NEWS
DEBALTSEVE, Ukraine -- With the shelling on temporary hold, convoys of buses were sent in by both sides to rescue anyone desperate to leave. Thousands have been trapped for three weeks - on the receiving end of constant shelling.
Russian-backed separatists have been pounding the area around Debaltseve with grad rockets, trying to force the Ukrainian army out and leaving exhausted residents without power or water.
On Friday they lined up for badly needed aid that had just arrived, amid the sounds of explosions and the evidence of weeks of war - ruined buildings and a puddle of blood.
By day's end the Ukrainian government said its buses had evacuated 600 people. But just ten miles up the road Ukrainian troops were on the move, regrouping for the next battle. And in a village nearby - that had also been under fire - there were no buses, just despair.
"Where are we supposed to go?" yelled one woman. "Why are they bombing us? Why can't they stop this war?"
The women we spoke to told us they don't care who wins this fight. They say they just want to live in peace, in a normal country.
But they - like the families who made their escape by bus today - know what they're probably facing is life shattered by more war.
As for the peace talks that took place in Moscow Friday, there was no breakthrough. However, they are due to resume on Sunday as a four-way conversation with the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.
“With the shelling on temporary hold, convoys of buses were sent in by both sides to rescue anyone desperate to leave. Thousands have been trapped for three weeks - on the receiving end of constant shelling.... By day's end the Ukrainian government said its buses had evacuated 600 people. But just ten miles up the road Ukrainian troops were on the move, regrouping for the next battle. And in a village nearby - that had also been under fire - there were no buses, just despair. "Where are we supposed to go?" yelled one woman. "Why are they bombing us? Why can't they stop this war?".... As for the peace talks that took place in Moscow Friday, there was no breakthrough. However, they are due to resume on Sunday as a four-way conversation with the leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.”
The article shows a line of buses covering a mile or more driving down the road, and a round-faced, grandmotherly, very Slavic woman holding back tears. She is one of the real citizens of the Ukrainian East. It happens to be a territory that the Russians want back – after all they used to control thousands of miles in the Baltic region, so they have a right to interfere with their modern day government and take over the land, right? Not to the Western leaning Kiev faction, who want democracy at any cost. Besides, they aren't originally Russian, but Ukrainian, an ancient language and ethnic group. This is something that is true all over Europe. There are nationalistic groups with diverging cultural backgrounds that go back 2,000 years. The same is true in the Middle East. It's hard to couple such groups together under one government sometimes. Maybe they should just split the groups up into smaller countries with their own languages and religions. Of course there will still be the problem that exists in Israel and Palestine – they have both legitimate claims to the territory and neither is willing to compromise. It makes me feel tired to think too much about it.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/war-memorial-separating-dead-by-white-and-colored-divides-greenwood-south-carolina/
War memorial separating dead by race divides S.C. city
AP February 6, 2015
GREENWOOD, S.C. -- Along Main Street in a small South Carolina city, there is war memorial honoring fallen World War I and II soldiers, dividing them into two categories: "white" and "colored."
Welborn Adams, Greenwood's white Democratic-leaning mayor, believes the bronze plaques are relics of the South's scarred past and should be changed in the spirit of equality, replaced like the "colored" water fountains or back entrances to the movie theater that blacks were once forced to use.
Yet the mayor's attempt to put up new plaques was blocked by a state law that brought the Confederate flag down from the Statehouse dome in 2000. The law forbids altering historical monuments in any way without approval from legislators.
Historians, black and white, have reservations about replacing the plaques, saying they should serve as a reminder of the once-segregated U.S. Military.
"Segregation was the accepted social order of that time," said Eric Williams, who spent 32 years as a historian with the U.S. Park Service. "If we alter the monument, we alter its historical integrity."
The memorial is owned by the American Legion post in Greenwood and is on city property. On two of its sides, it lists soldiers who died in World War I and World War II that were from Greenwood County. A third side lists Korean and Vietnam War dead from the county without any racial distinction because the military was integrated by that time.
Adams said he asked other South Carolina mayors and doesn't know of any other similar memorials in the state. Several historians also said they haven't heard of a monument where fallen soldiers are separated by race.
About a year ago, American Legion post members asked the mayor if he thought he could raise $15,000 privately to change the monument. He was so sure he could, he took out a loan to pay for the new plaques so they could be dedicated onMartin Luther King Jr. Day.
Forty-three donors, almost all white, came through with the money. Adams wrote a $1,000 check himself.
But there was opposition, in part because of a quote from the mayor in a December story in The Index-Journal of Greenwood. "I think if history offends people, it needs to be rewritten if possible," Adams said.
The mayor acknowledged he didn't choose his words carefully. He later said he meant that while history doesn't change, the way a community presents itself does.
Days before the King Day ceremony, opponents threatened to try to have Adams arrested - perhaps on a misconduct in office charge - if he went forward with the new plaque. The mayor said he cried in his office when the city's lawyer told him that opponents were right about the law.
"I wonder if some of the opposition is racism hiding behind history," said Adams, who was elected mayor in 2008 in this city of 23,000, where about 45 percent of the population is black.
The Confederate flag law says no historical monument, erected by the state or by a local government, may be relocated, removed, disturbed, or altered without a two-thirds vote from state lawmakers. The law lists 10 wars, including the "War Between the States," - the genteel, Southern name for the Civil War.
The purpose of this part of the law was to appease people who worried 15 years ago that Confederate memorials and street and park names in honor of generals would be torn down in wake of the flag being removed from the Statehouse dome and being put in front of the South Carolina Capitol alongside a Confederate soldier monument. The flag is still a sore point for the NAACP and other black leaders.
A bill has been filed to change the Greenwood memorial and half of the members of the state Senate are listed as sponsors, but some legislators who helped craft the Confederate flag law are leery to bring the divisive issue up again.
"I'll look at the bill," said Sen. John Courson, a Republican from Columbia who has been in the Senate since 1985. "But I don't want to reopen the whole debate. That was last century's battle."
Williams, the former Park Service historian, has been one of the most vocal critics. Williams, who is white, wants to see a small display nearby saying the military was segregated back then and that's why the names are listed the way they are.
Activist Joseph McGill, who spends the night in old slave cabins to get attention to preserve them, agrees. He says talk about switching plaques reminds him of schools that don't want students reading "Huckleberry Finn" because of racially offensive language from the 1800s is in the book.
"That could just spread the perception that segregation did not exist or wasn't that bad," McGill said.
Chad Williams of Brandeis University in Boston has extensively studied black soldiers in World War I. He said he understands the desire to correct a historical injustice, but another sign explaining why the soldiers were separated by race is much more powerful and historically accurate.
"I think it is important to acknowledge the specific context in how African-American soldiers had to serve in the military," Williams said.
Will Moredock, a freelance journalist trying to get South Carolina to remove the statue of segregationist Gov. Ben Tillman from the Statehouse grounds, said that is shortsighted. Americans are given the power to change laws and even the framework of its government with amendments to the Constitution. So why should historical monuments be any different?
"Every generation has the right to choose the people and the causes it wishes to enshrine in its public places," Moredock said.
The mayor planned to put the old plaques in the county museum. For now, they remain on the monument and the new ones sit in City Hall storage, waiting for the Legislature to act.
"I am fully aware this is much tougher than I ever expected," Adams said. "But it's the right thing to do."
“Welborn Adams, Greenwood's white Democratic-leaning mayor, believes the bronze plaques are relics of the South's scarred past and should be changed in the spirit of equality, replaced like the "colored" water fountains or back entrances to the movie theater that blacks were once forced to use.... About a year ago, American Legion post members asked the mayor if he thought he could raise $15,000 privately to change the monument. He was so sure he could, he took out a loan to pay for the new plaques so they could be dedicated onMartin Luther King Jr. Day. Forty-three donors, almost all white, came through with the money. Adams wrote a $1,000 check himself. But there was opposition, in part because of a quote from the mayor in a December story in The Index-Journal of Greenwood. "I think if history offends people, it needs to be rewritten if possible," Adams said.... Days before the King Day ceremony, opponents threatened to try to have Adams arrested - perhaps on a misconduct in office charge - if he went forward with the new plaque. The mayor said he cried in his office when the city's lawyer told him that opponents were right about the law.... "I'll look at the bill," said Sen. John Courson, a Republican from Columbia who has been in the Senate since 1985. "But I don't want to reopen the whole debate. That was last century's battle."... “Activist Joseph McGill, who spends the night in old slave cabins to get attention to preserve them, agrees. He says talk about switching plaques reminds him of schools that don't want students reading "Huckleberry Finn" because of racially offensive language from the 1800s is in the book. "That could just spread the perception that segregation did not exist or wasn't that bad," McGill said. Chad Williams of Brandeis University in Boston has extensively studied black soldiers in World War I. He said he understands the desire to correct a historical injustice, but another sign explaining why the soldiers were separated by race is much more powerful and historically accurate.”
Fine. Put up an explanatory sign and forget it. It isn't worth threatening to arrest the mayor over or bringing him to tears of frustration. It's the old Aesop story my father was fond of telling about “The man, the boy and the donkey.” In Daddy's words it ends with “I tried to please everybody, I couldn't please anybody, and besides I lost my ass.” We kids loved it when Daddy talked a little dirty, and even my very conservative mother would grin a little.
My home town in NC, as far as I know, has no historical markers of that kind at all, black or white. I do remember “colored” and white bathrooms in Belk's Department Store and another one at the bus station, but no colored water fountain; however, there were absolutely no black people fed at tables in the one and only restaurant downtown. They could order food, but they had to stand up and wait for it to be prepared and then leave with it. Sambo's and Denny's within the last 15 years did get in the news for denying service to black people, but they backed down quickly and I now see black people wherever I eat. Good. That's real progress.
NO TOLERANCE ON VACCINATIONS
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/02/06/384322665/to-get-parents-to-vaccinate-their-kids-dont-ask-just-tell
To Get Parents To Vaccinate Their Kids, Don't Ask. Just Tell
Patti Neighmond
FEBRUARY 07, 2015
As California's measles outbreak continues to spread beyond state borders, many doctors nationwide are grappling with how best to convince parents to have their children vaccinated. Inviting a collaborative conversation doesn't work all that well, many are finding. Recent research suggests that being more matter-of-fact can work a lot better.
Pediatrician Eric Ball, who practices in southern California, says, in his experience, the families skeptical of vaccines can be divided into two types.
"There are people who believe in grand conspiracies — that the whole medical community is trying to make money at the expense of their child," he says. "They don't really believe in science. They don't believe in data, and no amount of discussion is going to really convince them."
Ball says he sees other skeptical parents who are on the fence, and he works really hard, using a collaborative approach, to convince these parents that vaccines are safe and effective.
"We try to assess what their fears are," he says, "why they're not vaccinating — what they've read, what they've heard. And then we try to dispel myths."
But some surprising research by Dr. Doug Opel, a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital and a researcher at the University of Washington, suggests Ball might want to try a less collaborative approach.
In the study Opel and colleagues described in the December issue of Pediatrics, they enrolled 111 parents, some hesitant about vaccines and some not.
He videotaped the parents talking with their doctor about vaccines during a routine well-child visit. The doctors, he noticed, handled the conversation in one of two ways.
The first, Opel calls "presumptive."
"The doctor," he noticed, "just simply presumed that the parent was going to be fine with the vaccines that the doctor was going to recommend," saying something like " 'So, Johnnie's due for DTaP and Hib today' – period. Move on."
Some other doctors, Opel observed, invited parents to discuss their feelings about vaccines — "sort of invoking a shared decision-making approach, inviting the parent to be part of this conversation." These doctors, he says, were more likely to ask, " 'So, Mom: What do you want to do about vaccines today?' "
The study's surprising results: When doctors assumed parents would be OK with vaccines, they were. More than 70 percent had their child vaccinated.
On the other hand, when physicians were more flexible and allowed for discussion, most of the parents — 83 percent — decided against vaccination.
"It was quite a difference," Opel says, "just based on how the doctor began the conversation."
When it comes to public health, he says, "shared decision making" doesn't make sense."There's an incredible amount of robust evidence that is behind the recommended immunization schedule."
“Pediatrician Eric Ball, who practices in southern California, says, in his experience, the families skeptical of vaccines can be divided into two types. "There are people who believe in grand conspiracies — that the whole medical community is trying to make money at the expense of their child," he says. "They don't really believe in science. They don't believe in data, and no amount of discussion is going to really convince them." Ball says he sees other skeptical parents who are on the fence, and he works really hard, using a collaborative approach, to convince these parents that vaccines are safe and effective. "We try to assess what their fears are," he says, "why they're not vaccinating — what they've read, what they've heard. And then we try to dispel myths."... The study's surprising results: When doctors assumed parents would be OK with vaccines, they were. More than 70 percent had their child vaccinated. On the other hand, when physicians were more flexible and allowed for discussion, most of the parents — 83 percent — decided against vaccination. "It was quite a difference," Opel says, "just based on how the doctor began the conversation." When it comes to public health, he says, "shared decision making" doesn't make sense."There's an incredible amount of robust evidence that is behind the recommended immunization schedule."
When the whole world was delighted with the news that our astronauts had been to the moon and back and newspapers told all about their experience, I was in a small corner store in Thomasville buying some milk. I asked the sour-faced middle aged woman behind the counter what she thought of it and she said that she didn't “believe” they really went to the moon because God didn't mean for humans to leave the earth. I left the store without speaking any more to her. A year or so later there was a movie about a vast conspiracy and hoax perpetrated by our government to fake the whole moon shot. There, supposedly, was a place in the desert, barren and empty, where the “astronauts” moving around “on the moon's surface” were being filmed by NASA for the public's news feed. People will believe or disbelieve anything.
Public health requires at times that people be forced if necessary to take shots or pills. I know one man who never goes to doctors, and a woman who will go to a chiropractor or a homeopathic practitioner, but not a regular doctor. She “believes” in the manipulation of the spine and the magical influence of very small doses of medications. I don't know what the man's reasons are, but the woman was treated, she felt, rudely by a doctor when she kept going to him for minor symptoms. In other words, she is a hypochondriac. I don't understand the substitution of “faith” for knowledge. I leave such people alone and keep my mind open to new information which comes from good sources and makes sense.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/06/384399550/university-of-california-system-will-require-measles-vaccine-for-new-students
University Of California System Will Require Measles Vaccine For New Students
EYDER PERALTA
FEBRUARY 06, 2015
The University of California system, with an enrollment of about 233,000, will require incoming students to be vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, meningococcus, tetanus and whooping cough beginning in 2017.
Currently, the university requires only that students be vaccinated against hepatitis B.
In a statement, the university said that this new plan has been in the works for a year, but the current measles vaccine has made it more "pressing."
The Los Angeles Times reports:
"The move comes amid growing calls for more action to stop the spread of the disease and get more people immunized.
"On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown appeared open to legislation that would eliminate all but medical waivers.
"The governor's new flexibility highlighted a growing momentum toward limiting vaccination exemptions partly blamed for the state's worst outbreak of measles since 2000 and flare-ups of whooping cough and other preventable illnesses."
So far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has counted 102 cases of measles. Most of those stem from an outbreak at Disneyland that began in December.
“The University of California system, with an enrollment of about 233,000, will require incoming students to be vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, meningococcus, tetanus and whooping cough beginning in 2017.
Currently, the university requires only that students be vaccinated against hepatitis B. In a statement, the university said that this new plan has been in the works for a year, but the current measles vaccine has made it more "pressing."... "On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown appeared open to legislation that would eliminate all but medical waivers. "The governor's new flexibility highlighted a growing momentum toward limiting vaccination exemptions partly blamed for the state's worst outbreak of measles since 2000 and flare-ups of whooping cough and other preventable illnesses."
An article last week or so said that measles can be caught by simply being in the same room with someone who has it like the flu. It's highly contagious and spreads by the air. A few cases at Disneyland in December is the source of this nationwide outbreak over half the states and over miles apart. I'm glad to see firm steps being taken to stop the spread of it. True, it's not ebola, but it has killed vulnerable people and will again.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/02/06/384103870/outrage-over-governments-animal-experiments-leads-to-usda-review
Outrage Over Government's Animal Experiments Leads To USDA Review
Allison Aubrey
FEBRUARY 06, 2015
Revelations about animal suffering at a federal animal research facility have sure gotten the attention of lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
They've also prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the facility through its Agricultural Research Service, to name its first ever animal welfare ombudsman — as well as review and update its animal welfare strategy.
If you read Michael Moss' investigation in The New York Times about research practices at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Nebraska, you might recall some of these details:
An experiment where pigs died after being locked in steam chambers. The goal of this taxpayer-funded study was to evaluate how varying temperatures influenced the pigs' appetites.
A study that left lambs abandoned by their mothers in pastures to die of exposure or starvation.
An account of the fetuses of 119 pigs being "gently crushed" during an experiment. According to the Times, "the aim was to see if empty space in the uterus affected the intervals between pregnancies. But trial results, published in 2011, were inconclusive."
Animal rights activists were outraged by these and other activities at the center over the past few decades. "An American Horror Story" is how Matthew Bershadker, president and CEO of the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), dubbed it.
Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat from New York, expressed alarm as well. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Slaughter wrote: "Such heinous examples of egregious cruelty, which would violate the minimum standards of any approved research protocol ... should not occur anywhere for any reason."
As the Times report points out, farm animals used in agricultural research are exempt from protections spelled out in the Animal Welfare Act. Many institutions, including universities and companies, that conduct research on animals abide by independent animal-welfare protocols. But the federal law has big loopholes, according to animal welfare advocates.
Slaughter is hoping to change the law. This week, Slaughter, along with a bipartisan group of co-sponsors, introduced a bill known as the Animal Welfare in Agricultural Research Endeavors (AWARE) Act. It aims to end exemptions from protections under the Animal Welfare Act for farm animals used in agricultural experiments at federal facilities.
One of the co-sponsors of the legislation, Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, said in a statement: "As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we felt a responsibility to present a legislative fix that holds the USDA to the same humane standards that countless research facilities across the country are held to."
The USDA issued a statement this week saying it is "taking action to ensure animals are respected and treated humanely."
Catherine Woteki, undersecretary for research, education and economics at USDA, added in a statement that "two of the research projects featured in the Times article had already been terminated," and "some of the specific incidents described were from many years or decades ago."
The statement went on to say that Vilsack has ordered a review of research practices at the Nebraska center and other USDA research facilities. The agency says reviewers will provide recommendations to strengthen the procedures for humane handling of animals.
Perhaps the strongest sign of growing accountability over animal welfare at the agency is the appointment of the agency's first animal welfare ombudsman. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, the administrator of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, informally named Eileen Thacker — an ARS veterinarian — to the post. She announced the appointment in an email to ARS staff.
In the email to her staff, Jacobs-Young wrote, "Please remember we all own the responsibility for animal welfare; if you see something that disturbs you, please report it."
The email also announced the development of an updated animal welfare strategy within 60 days.
http://www.navs.org/legal/animal-welfare-act
ABOUT NAVS
History
Founded in 1929, the National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) is an educational organization whose ultimate goal is the elimination of animal use in product testing, education and biomedical research. For more than 80 years, we have sought to identify the cruelty and waste of vivisection and to convince the general public to work actively for its ultimate abolition. We strive to educate researchers, physicians, manufacturers, teachers and government leaders in the discovery of new, humane methods that will save millions of animals each year and still give our children a safer, healthier and happier future.
Driven by our mission statement, our efforts are focused in the following areas:
Public Awareness
Student/Teacher Outreach
Legal/Legislative Issues
Science Programs
Special Initiatives/Cooperative Efforts
What is Vivisection?
Vivisection is the practice of cutting into or using invasive techniques on live animals or dissecting the bodies of animals. Anti-vivisectionists are people who oppose these practices for ethical and scientific reasons.
What Do We Believe?
Anti-vivisectionists oppose animal experimentation for many reasons. First, we believe that it is inhumane to confine animals in an artificial environment, which deprives them of experiencing the ecological niche nature intended for them. These animals may be subjected to extreme pain, deprivation and distress, and their lives of agony often end in a premature and horrible death. Equally important, however, is the undeniable fact that as a scientific methodology, animal experimentation is often invalid and misleading.
“An experiment where pigs died after being locked in steam chambers. The goal of this taxpayer-funded study was to evaluate how varying temperatures influenced the pigs' appetites. A study that left lambs abandoned by their mothers in pastures to die of exposure or starvation. An account of the fetuses of 119 pigs being "gently crushed" during an experiment. According to the Times, "the aim was to see if empty space in the uterus affected the intervals between pregnancies. But trial results, published in 2011, were inconclusive.".... "An American Horror Story" is how Matthew Bershadker, president and CEO of the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), dubbed it. Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Democrat from New York, expressed alarm as well. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Slaughter wrote: "Such heinous examples of egregious cruelty, which would violate the minimum standards of any approved research protocol ... should not occur anywhere for any reason.".... But the federal law has big loopholes, according to animal welfare advocates. Slaughter is hoping to change the law. This week, Slaughter, along with a bipartisan group of co-sponsors, introduced a bill known as the Animal Welfare in Agricultural Research Endeavors (AWARE) Act. It aims to end exemptions from protections under the Animal Welfare Act for farm animals used in agricultural experiments at federal facilities. One of the co-sponsors of the legislation, Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, said in a statement: "As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we felt a responsibility to present a legislative fix that holds the USDA to the same humane standards that countless research facilities across the country are held to."... The USDA issued a statement this week saying it is "taking action to ensure animals are respected and treated humanely." Catherine Woteki, undersecretary for research, education and economics at USDA, added in a statement that "two of the research projects featured in the Times article had already been terminated," and "some of the specific incidents described were from many years or decades ago."
“Perhaps the strongest sign of growing accountability over animal welfare at the agency is the appointment of the agency's first animal welfare ombudsman. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, the administrator of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, informally named Eileen Thacker — an ARS veterinarian — to the post. She announced the appointment in an email to ARS staff. In the email to her staff, Jacobs-Young wrote, "Please remember we all own the responsibility for animal welfare; if you see something that disturbs you, please report it." This is a terrible story with a good ending. I think real progress will be made now. I'm glad to see a Republican behind this new law. Sometimes they seem heartless, either toward humans or animals, but in this case they are stepping forward to stop the practices which are still going on. Some of them happened “decades ago.” The current appointing of an Ombudsman – a person who is directly responsible for attending to reports of animal abuse will really help. Large governmental bodies are too often faceless and therefore there is nobody who is really going to do anything about the problem. I will keep my eyes open for any more news on this topic. A similar story came out last year about two large animal farms that were using highly inhumane killing procedures. I don't know what happened on those. The Rolling Stone article here is on that topic: http://www.rollingstone.com/feature/belly-beast-meat-factory-farms-animal-activists. This is about a group of radical animal rights activists who infiltrate one of the huge “factory farms” and observe what goes on, attempting to stop it.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/06/384256123/jordan-strikes-at-isis-obama-said-to-be-preparing-to-request-war-powers
Jordan Strikes At ISIS; Obama Said To Be Preparing To Request War Powers
Bill Chappell
FEBRUARY 06, 2015
Repeated air strikes on the self-described Islamic State are "the beginning of our retaliation" for the extremist group's brutal killing of a captured pilot, Jordan's foreign minister says.
Nasser Judeh made the remark on CNN, adding that Jordan will continue to target ISIS fighters and facilities in both Iraq and Syria.
"We are upping the ante. We're going after them wherever they are, with everything that we have," Judeh said.
The fight against ISIS is also a hot topic in Washington, where President Obama reportedly plans to ask Congress to authorize the use of military force against the extremist group. The Associated Press notes that the president has been relying on Sept. 11-era authorizations, and that the process of getting new legislation won't be simple.
"His actions are going to be an important part of trying for us to get the votes to actually pass an authorization," House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday. "This is not going to be an easy lift."
There's no word yet on the timing of the request, which the AP says would cover three years.
In the meantime, the U.S. military is putting search and rescue crews closer to the fighting in northern Iraq.
From Amman, Jordan's capital, NPR's Peter Kenyon reports:
"After Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh was captured by the so-called Islamic State when his plane crashed in December, the United Arab Emirates withdrew its aircraft from anti-ISIS coalition airstrikes.
"A retired Jordanian air force general tells NPR that the UAE move was understandable, because search and rescue capabilities need to be improved.
"So news that U.S. search and rescue crews are moving to northern Iraq to be closer to the battle space has been greeted warmly here. Al-Kaseasbeh's brutal killing has many Jordanians backing their country's role in the fight against ISIS, and the king says Jordan's response will be harsh and ongoing."
As the Two-Way reported Thursday, a U.N. report issued this week gave more details about ISIS' brutal tactics, noting "several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive."
“The fight against ISIS is also a hot topic in Washington, where President Obama reportedly plans to ask Congress to authorize the use of military force against the extremist group. The Associated Press notes that the president has been relying on Sept. 11-era authorizations, and that the process of getting new legislation won't be simple. "His actions are going to be an important part of trying for us to get the votes to actually pass an authorization," House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday. "This is not going to be an easy lift." There's no word yet on the timing of the request, which the AP says would cover three years. In the meantime, the U.S. military is putting search and rescue crews closer to the fighting in northern Iraq.... "So news that U.S. search and rescue crews are moving to northern Iraq to be closer to the battle space has been greeted warmly here. Al-Kaseasbeh's brutal killing has many Jordanians backing their country's role in the fight against ISIS, and the king says Jordan's response will be harsh and ongoing." As the Two-Way reported Thursday, a U.N. report issued this week gave more details about ISIS' brutal tactics, noting "several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive."
These latest abuses against children are intolerable. If Obama means “boots on the ground” by his statement, I personally think it's high time for that. ISIS has threatened to attack the West on our own territory, and has already hit France. The air strikes alone are not enough.
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