Sunday, October 26, 2014


News Clips For The Day


EBOLA – THREE ARTICLES


Asia casts a weary eye on Ebola's spread – CBS
AP October 26, 2014, 8:18 AM

SINGAPORE - The longer the Ebola outbreak rages in West Africa, the greater chance a traveler infected with the virus touches down in an Asian city.

How quickly any case is detected - and the measures taken once it is - will determine whether the virus takes hold in a region where billions live in poverty and public health systems are often very weak. Governments are ramping up response plans, stepping up surveillance at airports and considering quarantine measures. Still, health experts in the region's less developed countries fear any outbreak would be deadly and hard to contain.

"This is a non-treatable disease with a very high mortality rate. And even a country like the United States has not been able to completely prevent it," said Yatin Mehta, a critical care specialist at the Medanta Medicity hospital near New Delhi. "The government is trying. They are preparing and they are training, but our record of disaster management has been very poor in the past."

More than 10,000 people have been infected with Ebola and nearly half of them have died, according to the World Health Organization. The Ebola epidemic in West Africa is the largest ever outbreak of the disease with a rapidly rising death toll in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. There have also been cases in three other West African countries, Spain and the United States.

Early symptoms of Ebola include fever, headache, body aches, cough, stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, and patients aren't contagious until those begin. The virus requires close contact with body fluids to spread so health care workers and family members caring for loved ones are most at risk.

Asia, home to 60 percent of the world's population, scores higher than West Africa on most development indexes and includes emerging or developed countries like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. But countries like India, China, the Philippines and Indonesia have vast numbers of poor, many of whom live in crowded slums, and underfunded health systems.

The Philippine government estimates there are up to 1,700 Filipino workers in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, plus more than 100 peacekeeping troops in Liberia. The Department of Health is suggesting a 21-day quarantine period before its citizens leave those three countries, but doesn't know how it will pay for that, said spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy.

"The DOH is doing its part, but it is downstream, it is on the receiving end," said Dr. Antony Leachon, president of the Philippine College of Physicians. "What is important is that Ebola shouldn't be able to enter. Since we have 10 million migrant workers, we have problems containing that."

Indonesia has put 100 hospitals that have experience of treating patients suffering from bird flu on standby for Ebola, said Tjandra Yoga Aditama, head of the Health Ministry's research and development board.

The only way of ensuring that the virus doesn't spread into a country is enforced quarantine for people coming from countries with an outbreak or - even more effective - a total travel ban. But those measures would mean that doctors and other experts trying to beat the virus at its source in West Africa would be less willing or unable to help, making the outbreak worse.

Airports in Asia have stepped up their defenses: screening passengers who have traveled from affected countries, taking any with high temperature for observation and trying to keep contact them with for 21 days - the incubation period. Even assuming these measures are carried out effectively, people can and do lie about their travel history, and common drugs like Paracetamol are effective in reducing fever.

Authorities in China say 8,672 people have entered southern Guangdong province from Ebola-ridden areas since Aug. 23.

There are more than 160 direct flights per month from Africa to the region's capital, Guangzhou, a reflection of the booming economic ties between China and Africa. All arrivals are subject to medical observation, which, according to guidelines from the Health Ministry, involves medical staff visiting or calling them morning and evening for 21 days to ask them about their temperature. People whose temperature is above normal should be immediately quarantined for three weeks.

In Hong Kong, around 15 passengers a day arrive from the affected region, chief port health officer Dr. Edwin Tsui Lok-kin said. Prior to the Ebola outbreak, Singapore had an average of about 30 people arriving a month collectively from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the government says.

Dale Fisher, the head of the infectious diseases' division at the Singapore National University Hospital, said governments in the region should be educating health workers about the disease and the need to ask anyone presenting with a fever at a medical facility about their travel history.

"Asia is very diverse in its capacity, and there are some countries with people that travel a lot that may not have the best infrastructure and are at greater risk," said Fisher, who has twice been to Liberia to assist in the WHO's response. "If an index case arrived back in a large Asian city and they were to sit in an open ward vomiting, then you would have a pretty big job on your hands."

He said that an outbreak could be brought under control with quick isolation and effective tracing of anyone who might have been in contact with the patient, citing the example of Nigeria, African's most populous country. It was declared Ebola free after confirming 19 cases, seven of them fatal.

Asian health systems and workers have experience in countering infectious diseases, including severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which first appeared in Hong Kong in 2003, infecting more than 8,000 people and killing about 800. The region grappled a highly pathogenic strain of bird flu around the same time that killed about 800 people in 12 countries, and new strains continue to crop up.

Sujatha Rao, a former Indian health secretary, said India's health system kicked into overdrive when confronted with a health crisis, as was seen during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. "In India we're very good at crisis management, but we are hopeless at routine care," Rao said.

Asked whether the country was prepared for Ebola, she added: "We are not ready. But that said, there is only so much preparation that any country can do."




“The longer the Ebola outbreak rages in West Africa, the greater chance a traveler infected with the virus touches down in an Asian city. How quickly any case is detected - and the measures taken once it is - will determine whether the virus takes hold in a region where billions live in poverty and public health systems are often very weak. Governments are ramping up response plans, stepping up surveillance at airports and considering quarantine measures. Still, health experts in the region's less developed countries fear any outbreak would be deadly and hard to contain.... Asia, home to 60 percent of the world's population, scores higher than West Africa on most development indexes and includes emerging or developed countries like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan. But countries like India, China, the Philippines and Indonesia have vast numbers of poor, many of whom live in crowded slums, and underfunded health systems.... Even assuming these measures are carried out effectively, people can and do lie about their travel history, and common drugs like Paracetamol are effective in reducing fever.... 'Asia is very diverse in its capacity, and there are some countries with people that travel a lot that may not have the best infrastructure and are at greater risk,' said Fisher.... Sujatha Rao, a former Indian health secretary, said India's health system kicked into overdrive when confronted with a health crisis, as was seen during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. 'In India we're very good at crisis management, but we are hopeless at routine care,' Rao said. Asked whether the country was prepared for Ebola, she added: 'We are not ready. But that said, there is only so much preparation that any country can do.'”

China and India have ramped up their plans to deal with Ebola, with China having over 8,000 people arriving from West Africa since August 23. All are subject to quarantine for three weeks if their temperature is elevated, and monitoring if not. Indonesia has put 100 hospitals on notice which are well experienced with dealing with bird flu for treating Ebola victims. Many of their population are poor and living in crowded slums with a limited health care system, presenting a great risk for an epidemic if Ebola enters. The Filipino government states that 100 of its peacekeeping troops are in Liberia and 1,700 workers are in the three main African nations at the heart of the epidemic. Asia has 60% of the world's population, many of whom are poor and live in areas without a well-developed healthcare system. So far the outbreaks outside Africa have not included Asia, but that luck may be too fragile to last.






NYC doctor in "next phase" of Ebola as fiancée leaves hospital
CBS/AP October 25, 2014, 5:07 PM

NEW YORK -- New York City health officials updated Ebola patient Dr. Craig Spencer's condition Saturday night, saying he is "awake and communicating" and "entering the next phase of his illness, as anticipated with the appearance of gastrointestinal symptoms."

The emergency room doctor was admitted to Bellevue Hospital, a specialized Ebola treatment center, on Thursday and tested positive for the virus. His is the first case of the deadly virus diagnosed in the city.

Spencer is receiving antiviral medication and plasma, according to a statement issued by the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation and the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

"A large CDC team has been actively involved in advising the Bellevue staff and we are very appreciative of the additional guidance," the statement read, adding that doctors are also receiving input from Emory University Hospital and the Nebraska Medical Center, two facilities that successfully treated Ebola patients.

Dr. Craig Spencer

Morgan Dixon, Spencer's fiancée, left Bellevue Saturday night but will remain in quarantine at the Harlem apartment she shares with Spencer.

Two of the couple's friends are also being quarantine as a precaution. The quarantine for Dixon and the two others will be lifted on Nov. 14 after the maximum 21-day Ebola incubation period has passed, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday.

Spencer arrived in New York on Oct. 17 after treating Ebola patients in Guinea with the aid group Doctors Without Borders.

"The phase ahead will be a tough one. By definition, the days ahead will be tough for Dr. Spencer," de Blasio said. "His situation will become worse before it gets better," he added.

The mayor spoke after eating lunch at a Greenwich Village restaurant where Spencer ate earlier this week. Also Saturday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams bowled the first frames at the Williamsburg bowling alley Spencer, Dixon and their friends visited a day before he became ill, CBS New York reported.

In his weekly address Saturday, President Obama noted that every American who has been treated for the virus thus far has recovered.

"It's important to remember that of the seven Americans treated so far for Ebola -- the five who contracted it in West Africa, plus the two nurses from Dallas -- all seven have survived," he said.

"Sadly," a Liberian man treated for the virus in the U.S., Thomas Eric Duncan, "did not survive," the president said, "and we continue to keep his family in our prayers."

Neither the U.S. Centers for Disease Control nor Doctors Without Borders ask health care workers returning from the Ebola hot zone to quarantine themselves, but they do recommend that they self-monitor their temperature at least twice a day.

Spencer was complying with that guidance, officials have said. International aid groups have warned that such restrictions could deter health care volunteers from traveling to West Africa.

People who worked with Spencer described him as the kind of globe-trotting do-gooder who could walk into a small village in Africa and, even though he didn't know the language, win people over through hugs alone, according to people who worked with him.

Even before leaving for Guinea this, the 33-year-old had amassed an ordinary man's lifetime worth of world travel, much of which was in the service of the poor.

In the past three years alone, Spencer, an attending physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, had been to Rwanda to work on an emergency care teaching curriculum, volunteered at a health clinic in Burundi, helped investigate an infectious parasitic disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo and traveled to 32 villages in Indonesia to do a public health survey.

"He was never afraid of getting his hands dirty or his feet dirty," said Dr. Deogratias Niyizonkiza, founder of Village Health Works, the aid group that brought him to Burundi for four months in 2012.

"He went into this environment, a country that is truly off the mark, without knowing the language and he would make everyone feel so comfortable. It's really a daunting task and yet he helped the people immensely," Niyizonkiza said. "He talked to everyone, including the people working in the lab ... Their language was just to hug each other and smile."

Ebola survivor Ashoka Mukpo, who was successfully treated after contracting the virus while working in Liberia as a freelance cameraman for NBC, said Saturday that Spencer is a hero.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Mukpo took issue with those who would criticize the doctor for going out in public after returning from West Africa and said there's no evidence Spencer exposed anyone in New York to any risk.

"Dr. Spencer risked his life to treat and lend a hand to people who have very little ability to take care of this problem themselves," Mukpo said from his family's home in Rhode Island. "Before we look at what the implications of this case are, I think we need to honor what he did in West Africa and give him the respect he deserves."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has criticized Spencer, saying he should have stayed home until any danger period for the disease had passed.

"Dr. Spencer is a valued fellow and was a volunteer and did great work, but that was a voluntary quarantine situation for 21 days. He's a doctor and even he didn't follow the voluntary quarantine, let's be honest," Cuomo said.

Experts have repeatedly assured the public that there is little chance that Spencer spread the virus prior to developing symptoms, but his case prompted Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday to establish new, stricter guidelines for people returning to the area from Ebola-stricken countries.

A nurse who arrived Friday at Newark Liberty International Airport after recently treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone was quarantined at a New Jersey hospital, the first traveler isolated under the new protocols.

Kaci Hickox tested negative for Ebola in a preliminary screening, state health officials said Saturday, but she remains in isolation at University Hospital in Newark. Like Spencer, Hickox had been working with Doctors Without Borders.

In a first-person account given to the Dallas Morning News on Saturday, Hickox sharply criticized the way her case has been handled.

"This is not a situation I would wish on anyone, and I am scared for those who will follow me," Hickox wrote.

Under the new protocols for travelers, health officials in New York and New Jersey will establish a risk level by considering the countries that people have visited and their level of possible exposure to Ebola.

The patients with the highest level of possible exposure will be automatically quarantined for 21 days at a government-regulated facility. Those with a lower risk will be monitored for temperature and symptoms, Cuomo explained.

The governor of Illinois, Pat Quinn, has implemented similar guidelines. Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued an order Saturday that requires health care workers to self-monitor.



http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/10/26/new-york-doctor-with-ebola-gets-blood-transfusion-from-aid-worker-who-survived/

New York doctor with Ebola gets blood transfusion from aid worker who survived disease
Fox News
October 26, 2014

Doctors treating New York City’s first Ebola patient have given the ailing doctor a transfusion of blood plasma from an aid worker who was infected with the deadly disease in West Africa and survived.

Dr. Craig Spencer received the donated plasma Friday from Nancy Writebol, a health care worker with the Christian organization SIM. Writebol was treated in August at Emory Hospital in Georgia.

“I am praying for Dr. Spencer’s recovery and am happy to be able to donate blood,” Writebol said, according to NBC News, which said SIM confirmed the donation Saturday.

Bellevue Hospital, where Spencer is being treated, said Saturday evening that the 33-year-old physician is “entering the next phase of his illness as anticipated with the appearance of gastrointestinal symptoms.”

The public hospital said in a statement that the patient is “awake and communicating.”

His fiancée was discharged from the hospital Saturday and will remain under quarantine at their home in Harlem, the hospital said.

Blood plasma transfusions from survivors have been used to help treat Ebola patients news cameraman Ashoka Mukpo, Dr. Rick Sacra and nurse Nina Pham. All recovered from the disease.

Spencer was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan Thursday after showing Ebola symptoms. He recently returned to New York from Guinea where he treated Ebola patients as a Doctors Without Borders volunteer.

Meantime, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted Saturday that the 21-day Ebola quarantine policy for health care workers returning from West Africa could be unenforceable.

The New York Daily News reported that the Democrat acknowledged that several contingencies had not yet been worked out by officials, including what would happen if someone refused to be quarantined or even where they would spend their time during the watch period.

"Could you have a hostile person who doesn’t want to be quarantined?" Cuomo said during a campaign appearance in the New York City borough of Queens Saturday. "I suppose you could. But that hasn’t been the case yet." The governor added that officials had not determined whether those refusing to be quarantined could face arrest or prosecution, saying "It's nothing that we've discussed, no." When asked by the Daily News where the quarantined people would be held, Cuomo even seemed unclear on that point, saying "Some people could be quarantined in a hospital if they wanted to be."

On Friday, Cuomo and his New Jersey counterpart, Chris Christie, imposed a mandatory quarantine of 21 days -- the incubation period of the deadly virus -- on travelers who have had contact with Ebola patients in the countries ravaged by Ebola -- Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. A similar measure was announced in Illinois, where officials say such travelers could be quarantined at home. Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed an order Saturday giving the Florida Department of Health authority to monitor individuals returning from Ebola-stricken countries for 21 days. 

Scott said his administration asked the CDC to identify risk levels of all returning individuals from specific parts of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone but has not received information.

Doctors Without Borders executive director Sophie Delaunay complained Saturday about the "notable lack of clarity" from state officials about the quarantine policies, and an American Civil Liberties Union official in New Jersey said the state must provide more information on how it determined that mandatory quarantines were necessary.

"Coercive measures like mandatory quarantine of people exhibiting no symptoms of Ebola and when not medically necessary raise serious constitutional concerns about the state abusing its powers," said Udi Ofer, executive director of the ACLU of New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Kaci Hickox, the first traveler quarantined under Ebola watches in New Jersey and New York, wrote the first-person account for the Dallas Morning News, which was posted on the paper's website Saturday. Her preliminary tests for Ebola came back negative.

"This is not a situation I would wish on anyone, and I am scared for those who will follow me," Hickox wrote of her quarantine. "I am scared about how health care workers will be treated at airports when they declare that they have been fighting Ebola in West Africa. I am scared that, like me, they will arrive and see a frenzy of disorganization, fear and, most frightening, quarantine"

"One after another, people asked me questions," Hickox continued. "Some introduced themselves, some didn’t. One man who must have been an immigration officer because he was wearing a weapon belt that I could see protruding from his white coveralls barked questions at me as if I was a criminal ... The U.S. must treat returning health care workers with dignity and humanity."

Doctors Without Borders said Hickox has not been issued an order of quarantine specifying how long she must be isolated and is being kept in an unheated tent. It urged the "fair and reasonable treatment" of health workers fighting the Ebola outbreak.

"We are attempting to clarify the details of the protocols with each state's departments of health to gain a full understanding of their requirements and implications," Delaunay said in a statement.

Christie, campaigning Saturday in Iowa for a fellow Republican, said he sympathizes for Hickox but said he has to do what he can to ensure public health safety.

"My heart goes out to her," the governor said, while also noting that state and local health officials would make sure quarantine rules are enforced. He said the New Jersey State Police won't be involved.

The quarantine measures were announced after Spencer was diagnosed with Ebola.

A senior White House official said Saturday that how to treat health care workers returning from the affected West African countries continues to be discussed at meetings on Ebola as the administration continues to take a "careful look" at its policies.




Dr. Craig Spencer was criticized by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for going out in public while the initial symptoms of Ebola occurred, though he had no fever at that time, but news cameraman Ashoka Mukpo described him as a hero. ''Dr. Spencer risked his life to treat and lend a hand to people who have very little ability to take care of this problem themselves,' Mukpo said from his family's home in Rhode Island. 'Before we look at what the implications of this case are, I think we need to honor what he did in West Africa and give him the respect he deserves.'” Fox News today reports that Spencer has received blood plasma from Ebola survivor Nancy Writebol, a health care worker with the Christian organization SIM, so hopefully he is on the road to recovery, as blood plasma has usually saved the patients recently.

In an October 25 CBS article, a nurse who has been quarantined in NJ felt she was treated less than gently by those who questioned her at the airport, and is unhappy about being quarantined. Another nurse said she is “uncomfortable” in the isolation tent, with nothing but paper scrubs to wear and no heating. She was, however, allowed to bring her personal belongings into isolation with her. I feel sorry for her, she was apparently frightened, but the threat of Ebola is sufficiently alarming to me that I think people under mandatory quarantine should relax with the procedure as well as they can and cooperate. NY, NJ and IL have all issued “a mandatory quarantine for travelers who have had contact with Ebola-infected patients in West Africa.” I feel sure there will be more cases of that kind to come, and considering how irrational people can sometimes be when inconvenienced (hiding, lying about their travels or taking aspirin to stop their fever), I think the mandates should perhaps be declared in other states as well.

I personally feel that Dr. Spencer, despite the fact that he had no temperature yet, should have called the hospital as soon as he “felt weak,” because he is after all a doctor and should have known better than to go out on the town. When I have been fighting off a cold virus I have often felt “not quite right” or “weak” on the day before I get the full set of symptoms, including the fever. Waiting for the fever of 104 to develop is not a good idea.





'Ole Miss' Debates Campus Traditions With Confederate Roots – NPR
by SANDRA KNISPEL
October 25, 2014

University of Mississippi football is riding high these days; they're undefeated and one of the top three teams in the nation.

But as Ole Miss fans come together to root for their team, many other traditions are coming under scrutiny. The school's been engaged in a long-running effort to remove potentially divisive, and racially charged symbols, to try and make the campus more "welcoming."

At the corner of Fraternity Row, a short lane that runs past a chapel used to be called "Confederate Drive." Newly painted over, the unassuming white street post now reads "Chapel Lane."

"Obviously the name Confederate Drive can be seen as divisive by some people and could be seen as an effort by the university to embrace an ancient idea," says university spokesman Danny Blanton.

The sign change is part of the latest effort to improve the public image of Mississippi's flagship state school, and with it the ability to recruit and retain more minorities. Last year, freshmen were for the first time required to learn about Mississippi history and race relations.

Next, the school will place signs adding historical context to potentially controversial sites, like a statue of the Confederate soldier in the middle of campus. These changes come after a series of ugly race incidents; one egregious event happened in February, when a noose was hung around the neck of the statue of James Meredith, the first African American to attend the university.

"I did actually have a pretty big emotional breakdown. I came to campus and I, in all honesty, didn't want my feet to even touch the pavement," says Courtney Pearson.

Two years ago, Pearson was voted the university's first black homecoming queen. That's at a university where blacks make up 14 percent of the student population in a state where the overall black population is nearly 40 percent. Many black families remain hesitant about sending their children to the state's flagship university. Despite the noose incident, Pearson stayed.

"What I appreciate is that we didn't allow the actions of three students to take three steps back. We're still moving forward," she says.

Pearson is now a graduate assistant for the newly-created Center for Inclusion and Cross-Cultural Engagement. Still, becoming more inclusive means the university must go head-to-head with groups like the Mississippi Division Sons of Confederate Veterans, an ultraconservative history group that sued the school over the sign change.

Some students, too, are uncomfortable with the changes.

"I'm all about tradition and I think that it should remain Confederate Drive. It's just part of the history of the South," says W.T. Bailey, an accounting and finance student.

One tradition that's not changing is the university's nickname, "Ole Miss." The phrase was how slaves once addressed the mistress of the plantation. It's ubiquitous on campus, on signs, sweatshirts and in the football cheer.

"Ole Miss has been here since I can remember, it needs to stay," says Tommy Lee, a 1982 Ole Miss grad. "That is our slogan: We are Ole Miss."

University chancellor Dan Jones also defends the "Ole Miss" name against its critics, saying that the "vast majority of people associated with the university — that includes our faculty, our staff, our students, our alumni — think that the term 'Ole Miss' is a term of endearment."

And even many black students here say they like the name, and see it as just a name.

"If we are going to be in the football stadium, and the announcer says first down, the first things out of my mouth are going to be 'Ole Miss,' " says Courtney Pearson.

Pearson does admit to having reservations, but she says she supports the administration and whatever changes it deems necessary to make the university a better place.





“But as Ole Miss fans come together to root for their team, many other traditions are coming under scrutiny. The school's been engaged in a long-running effort to remove potentially divisive, and racially charged symbols, to try and make the campus more 'welcoming.' At the corner of Fraternity Row, a short lane that runs past a chapel used to be called 'Confederate Drive.' Newly painted over, the unassuming white street post now reads 'Chapel Lane.'... The sign change is part of the latest effort to improve the public image of Mississippi's flagship state school, and with it the ability to recruit and retain more minorities. Last year, freshmen were for the first time required to learn about Mississippi history and race relations.... Next, the school will place signs adding historical context to potentially controversial sites, like a statue of the Confederate soldier in the middle of campus. These changes come after a series of ugly race incidents; one egregious event happened in February, when a noose was hung around the neck of the statue of James Meredith, the first African American to attend the university.... Two years ago, Pearson was voted the university's first black homecoming queen. That's at a university where blacks make up 14 percent of the student population in a state where the overall black population is nearly 40 percent. Many black families remain hesitant about sending their children to the state's flagship university. Despite the noose incident, Pearson stayed.... Pearson is now a graduate assistant for the newly-created Center for Inclusion and Cross-Cultural Engagement. Still, becoming more inclusive means the university must go head-to-head with groups like the Mississippi Division Sons of Confederate Veterans, an ultraconservative history group that sued the school over the sign change.... One tradition that's not changing is the university's nickname, 'Ole Miss.' The phrase was how slaves once addressed the mistress of the plantation. It's ubiquitous on campus, on signs, sweatshirts and in the football cheer.”

Unless times have changed since I was in college, being elected Homecoming Queen doesn't happen out of hate, so Pearson's experience is a sign that “Ole Miss” is not only making honest efforts to improve, but is having success. It isn't surprising that the veterans organization has sued them. Those who are against “integration” as “N word loving” will not give up easily, but if the educated middle of the road population will pursue a true path to the “New South,” the USA has a chance at becoming my idea of a true democracy. This article shows a much better story than the one several days ago about a high school and their anti-black “celebration” of victory against a mainly black team. That was a high school. The good news in that article was that though the team members didn't have any remorse, their coach was summarily fired by the School Board, so the bad behavior is being punished. That's another kind of progress.






Tracing A Gin-Soaked Trail In London – NPR
by ARI SHAPIRO
October 25, 2014

In Scotland, some long-time whisky makers are switching over to gin. In Germany, people who distill traditional brandies are doing the same. The world is in the middle of a gin distillery boom, and it is coming to America.

One place to find the roots of this boom is London, where 250 distilleries once existed in the city limits alone.

For Charles Maxwell, this story is personal. "My great-great-grandfather was apprenticed in the city of London in the 1680s to learn how to make gin," Maxwell says. "And from that day to this, we've distilled gin in London."

Maxwell is the only man ever to have received the London Gin Guild's lifetime achievement award. He and his ancestors have watched the drink go in and out of fashion many times over the centuries. The high point — or really the low point — was in the mid-1700s.

"Things had got slightly out of hand in England," says Maxwell. "We'd actually got to the point where the consumption per person in England was over four cases of gin a year."
That's 48 bottles of gin each. More if you leave out children, though some kids drank it, too.

In 1751, the artist William Hogarth created his famous print, "Gin Lane," showing chaos as a drunken mother drops her baby in the gin-soaked London streets. (That print was commissioned by the beer brewers.)

London is not returning to the days of Gin Lane. For one, alcohol is now tightly regulated and can no longer be sold out of bathtubs. But we are in the midst of a worldwide gin distillery boom.

At a bar in central London called Graphic, more than 300 gin brands line the shelves. Manager Dom Balfour says the owners didn't set out to create a gin destination — "it's just something that happened over time a few years ago."

"Someone took an interest in gin and started to increase the amount of gins. Before you know it, you've got 100. Then you've got 200. Then you've got 300, and it keeps going."

On this night, an up-and-comer is trying to find a bit of space on the crowded shelves. Nick Tilt is here representing Sloane's gin, a new brand from the Netherlands. He launches into a sales pitch about the flavors of fresh citrus fruits, and vanilla from Madagascar "that creates a full creaminess to the middle of the palate and holds all the other flavors together."

His colleague pulls out little vials of angelica root and coriander seeds. He deploys spray bottles to spritz the aromas. It's quite a production.

There's a simple reason that so many new alcohol producers are making gin instead of vodka or whiskey.

"Gin has a flavor profile. But it doesn't require the lengthy aging process you get with a whiskey or a brandy," says Frank Coleman of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

So it has more personality than vodka, but it doesn't take the time to produce that brown spirits demand. With gin, you can distill today and sell tomorrow. And Coleman says the big brands are happy to see these new guys pop up on the scene.

"It's sort of like the farm team, you know? In the past, they spent millions of dollars, in some cases, to develop new brands. Now they look at the marketplace and they can just buy a brand if they want to incorporate it into their portfolio."

In the U.S., Coleman says, more than 45 states now have small new distilleries. There is no reliable data on how many of those new distilleries are gin, but Coleman believes the percentage is high, since gin is so easy and quick to produce relative to other alcohols.

One strange quirk of this boom is that people are not, overall, drinking more gin than before. Instead, people are drinking a wider range of gins and paying more for the privilege. That is, the slices of the pie are getting smaller, and each slice is becoming pricier.

On the London gin scene, the wise old man is Beefeater — for decades, the only distiller left in the city limits. Today there are eight. Desmond Payne is the master distiller, tasting the brew every day to make sure the blend is just right.

"Every drop of our 2.6 million cases comes from this distillery," he says, standing in a massive room surrounded by ancient bulbous copper stills. The air smells like juniper and orange peel.

Payne believes part of the new interest in small-batch gins comes from a broader locavore, farm-to-table trend.

"I think people are far more interested in what they eat and drink, and how it's made, and what the ingredients are and where they come from," he says.

It's easy for him to be generous about the newcomers. Small distilleries are still only a tiny fraction of the total gin market. And the big brands have watched many of them come and go over the decades, as fickle drinkers slurp up a trend, then leave it at the bar.

And now, some gin recipes straight from the source.



“For Charles Maxwell, this story is personal. 'My great-great-grandfather was apprenticed in the city of London in the 1680s to learn how to make gin,' Maxwell says. 'And from that day to this, we've distilled gin in London.'... He and his ancestors have watched the drink go in and out of fashion many times over the centuries. The high point — or really the low point — was in the mid-1700s. 'Things had got slightly out of hand in England,' says Maxwell. 'We'd actually got to the point where the consumption per person in England was over four cases of gin a year.' That's 48 bottles of gin each. More if you leave out children, though some kids drank it, too.... But we are in the midst of a worldwide gin distillery boom. At a bar in central London called Graphic, more than 300 gin brands line the shelves. Manager Dom Balfour says the owners didn't set out to create a gin destination — 'it's just something that happened over time a few years ago.'... 'Gin has a flavor profile. But it doesn't require the lengthy aging process you get with a whiskey or a brandy,' says Frank Coleman of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.... In the U.S., Coleman says, more than 45 states now have small new distilleries. There is no reliable data on how many of those new distilleries are gin, but Coleman believes the percentage is high, since gin is so easy and quick to produce relative to other alcohols.... Payne believes part of the new interest in small-batch gins comes from a broader locavore, farm-to-table trend. 'I think people are far more interested in what they eat and drink, and how it's made, and what the ingredients are and where they come from,' he says.”

I will pause to define a word that is new to me: “lo·ca·vore”, noun “a person whose diet consists only or principally of locally grown or produced food.” That is an American trend of the last ten years or so, believed to help the local community by keeping the business among its residents. Local farmers sell their produce at local farmers markets or specialty stores like “Whole Foods.” The first stores of this kind I ever saw were in Chapel Hill in the 1970's as a part of the fresh vegetable trend. What you can find in the store will mainly be seasonal and often “organic.” As a result it will be expensive, but supposedly much better for you than vegetables grown with heavy amounts of fertilizer and chemicals that kill bugs or weeds.

So young people with some money to spend are now trying novel flavors of gin. That's better than just drinking more and more gin. Drinking for taste is the sign of a connoisseur, and hopefully will be part of a rise in a greater interest in art, classical music, etc. among the young people. At this point they too often seem to be crazy over young Hollywood people who can neither act nor even complete an educated sentence. Watching those TV shows like “Extra Extra!” make me switch to another channel or turn off the TV set very fast.

This article on Gin and London did make me think of Charles Dicken's London, though. The painting by Hogarth called “Gin Lane” which accompanied this news article showed a very graphic image of poor people who lived for their next drink of gin, one woman in the foreground accidentally dropping her baby which is shown falling to the street. Life in the 1700's and Victorian period was great for the rich, but very hard on the poor. Just as today, whole families were living on the streets then. The only refuge for the poor were the “workhouses” which Oliver Twist ended up in. That, too me, was the best of Dickens' books that I have read – he was too sentimental for me in many of them – because it was truly tragic and realistic in it's portrayal of life. Very good literature.




In Southeast Turkey, A Long History Of Bloodshed And Worship – NPR
by PETER KENYON
October 24, 2014

The site at Gobekli Tepe, or "Potbelly Hill," on the Urfa plain in southeastern Turkey is believed by some to be the world's first place of worship. This would upend the conventional thought that religion developed as a byproduct of human settlements.

The Urfa plain in southeastern Turkey — not far from where Syrian refugees watch fighters from the so-called Islamic State wage a brutal war in the name of a primitive version of their faith — is one of the most fought-over landscapes in human civilization.

But on the plain — soaked in blood since the days when Sumerian and Assyrian kings ruled Mesopotamia — there's a place that's even older, so old that its denizens hadn't mastered the arts of pottery, writing or making war.

It's called Gobekli Tepe — "Potbelly Hill" — and some archaeologists believe it contains the ruins of the first place of worship.

Thousands of Years Before Stonehenge

In the mid-1990s, a German named Klaus Schmidt began digging at the mound, with its panoramic view of the biblical plain of Harran and northern Syria.

Schmidt unearthed circular enclosures featuring Stonehenge-like limestone T-pillars — except Stonehenge wouldn't exist for another several thousand years. The Gobekli Tepe pillars, decorated with animal reliefs, have been dated as far back as 9500 B.C. Those are the early years of what archaeologists call the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period in the Fertile Crescent.

After Schmidt's death from a heart attack earlier this year, Lee Clare took over work at the site. He says there are still more questions than answers. For instance, how were these stone pillars moved up the hill from the quarry below?

"[The] big ones would've been, you know, 30, 40, 50 tons," he says. "They may have been using rollers, using wooden logs, but we honestly don't know how they were doing it."

Turning Accepted History On Its Head

Finding no evidence of human habitation, Schmidt settled on a radical hypothesis: that these enclosures — at least 20 of them are buried in the hill — were created for ritual purposes, long before organized religion arrived on the scene.

Until now, the accepted theory has been that hunter-gatherers first came together in settlements, and agriculture, domestication of animals and the precursors to organized religion followed. Clare says Gobekli Tepe poses an intriguing question: What if the rituals came first?

"People coming together, communal structures were being built, people erecting these wonderful pillars, carving them, that was a specialist job," Clare says, adding that those specialists had to be fed.

"And one way of doing that and feeding these people was actually domesticating things," he says. "Based on the evidence we have from this site, we tend to think that domestication of animals, of crops actually occurred as a byproduct of what was going on here."

Radical Theory Has Its Critics

Not everyone is convinced by this theory. A few years ago, a Canadian anthropologist argued that Gobekli Tepe could have been built by settlers, not hunter-gatherers.

Clare says he's willing to be convinced, but so far there's no sign of cooking hearths or other evidence of domestic life at the site.

One of the pleasures Clare has working on the cutting edge of archaeology is the freedom to speculate about the hunter-gatherers just before their transition to settlements — a people so focused on daily survival that there was no time, let alone a reason, to wage war. Clare says this period is notable for the lack of evidence pointing to conflict, which may seem surprising.

"But at the same time other scholars have said for the Neolithic to spread as it did, for this knowledge to spread, it would've needed people cooperating and not fighting," he says. "And I think that's a nice thought."

That's an almost utopian thought, considering the millennia of carnage that followed, including the blood still being shed in the 21st century, just across the Syrian border, a mere 20 miles away.




“The site at Gobekli Tepe, or "Potbelly Hill," on the Urfa plain in southeastern Turkey is believed by some to be the world's first place of worship. This would upend the conventional thought that religion developed as a byproduct of human settlements. … But on the plain — soaked in blood since the days when Sumerian and Assyrian kings ruled Mesopotamia — there's a place that's even older, so old that its denizens hadn't mastered the arts of pottery, writing or making war.... Schmidt unearthed circular enclosures featuring Stonehenge-like limestone T-pillars — except Stonehenge wouldn't exist for another several thousand years. The Gobekli Tepe pillars, decorated with animal reliefs, have been dated as far back as 9500 B.C. Those are the early years of what archaeologists call the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period in the Fertile Crescent.... Finding no evidence of human habitation, Schmidt settled on a radical hypothesis: that these enclosures — at least 20 of them are buried in the hill — were created for ritual purposes, long before organized religion arrived on the scene. Until now, the accepted theory has been that hunter-gatherers first came together in settlements, and agriculture, domestication of animals and the precursors to organized religion followed. Clare says Gobekli Tepe poses an intriguing question: What if the rituals came first?... 'People coming together, communal structures were being built, people erecting these wonderful pillars, carving them, that was a specialist job,' Clare says, adding that those specialists had to be fed.... One of the pleasures Clare has working on the cutting edge of archaeology is the freedom to speculate about the hunter-gatherers just before their transition to settlements — a people so focused on daily survival that there was no time, let alone a reason, to wage war.... 'But at the same time other scholars have said for the Neolithic to spread as it did, for this knowledge to spread, it would've needed people cooperating and not fighting,' he says. 'And I think that's a nice thought.'”

The story that is most convincing to me is that in order to do anything as organized as building a proto-Stonehenge, there would have had to be plenty of food to support a sizable population with a central “government” of sorts, rather than the straggling groups of tribal units that probably existed before the Neolithic. Growing grain rather than merely gathering it produced a useful surplus of grain, which could then be stored for the winter, and which amounted to wealth, as it could be traded for something else that the tribe wanted. Trade in stone arrowheads was known early on, as stones from distant locations have been found in caves. That trade undoubtedly included a trading of information as well, such as how to grow grain, thus the Neolithic idea spread widely. Some groups specialized in animals rather than grain. The ancient Jews were a sheep-herding people. To this day, a few tribes such as the Sami are still herders. When the horse was domesticated that was a miraculous discovery, because of their usefulness as beasts of burden and to plow the land, plus the ability to ride on their backs.

The moving of large stones to build something like this stone temple was undoubtedly done by using rollers, and took a large work crew and a government head who could organize the effort. That, to me, required sizable towns. The urge to build such a structure probably was religious – a stone for animal or human sacrifices, a circle in which to do their symbolic dances. The successful harvest, the freedom from diseases, the right amount of rain and sunshine were things to be prayed over, and the tribe wanted to build a beautiful structure to house their rituals. It would also draw visitors who would bring wonderful things such as amber, pearls, soapstone or gold nuggets to trade for. The settlement would become wealthy and a real city would develop. That wouldn't have to be in the immediate vicinity of the religious monument, but rather a special site on their communal territory.

This archaeologist's claim was that no signs of settlements were to be found there, but I wonder how far away from the stone monument they looked. Besides, when a time span of 9,000 years is involved, all traces of the houses which more likely were not made of something durable like stone, but of wood and thatch would be obliterated. The Celtic houses in Britain were made of wicker. All that is left of a house like that is a set of post holes and probably a dugout dirt floor.

As for the origin of religions, I think that started as early as Homo Sapiens himself, as each person speculated on things like what causes thunder and lightning, cold and warm seasons, sunrise and sunset. A South American Indian tribe on a National Geographic documentary I saw had the simple ritual of each telling his dream when they gathered together in the morning. They also had a tune, each his own, that he would hum in a somewhat meditative fashion.

A tribe sized group would have had leaders, let's say a Chief and a Shaman, like some American Indian tribes, and the inevitable Wise Woman who was a tribal elder and healer, highly respected. These people retold stories that they themselves heard as children, and a group mythology or set of beliefs developed. Some localities may have been considered magical or holy – a waterfall, a large rock that resembled a human head, the place where a fierce cave lion was killed by the tribe.

Early Homo Sapiens and even Neanderthal buried their dead, which to me implies a belief in an afterlife or a form of ancestor worship. I think the speculative part of human intelligence gravitates naturally toward meditation, which promotes higher thought, the development of spontaneous insights. This leads to new knowledge. That, to me, is also basically religious.

One thing we know primitive people did early on when they still lived in caves was to make beads or bore holes in animal teeth to be used on a string and worn. They may have been spiritually significant rather than merely a personal adornment. They could also be traded, of course.

Another thing primitive man did was create simple musical instruments and dances that told a story or imitated animals that were considered powerful. To me, that is all in its way, religious. A belief in gods and goddesses may not have started that early. When I took a survey course in anthropology we studied some types of early religion which are still believed by some isolated tribes. One is called “animism” which is the assigning of power to some object such as a tree or a rock. Whenever a theory of magic or power is involved, I consider it to be religious, though to us it may simply be superstition.

Whatever the religious beliefs of the people at Gobekli Tepe, though, I think the key to building a structure like that out of 50 ton stones, had as much to do with the wealth and organization of the civilization that built it – a symbol of their power in the area – as the power of the religious belief. Chartres Cathedral is more about the statement of wealth that it represents than the Catholic religion, for a simple chapel in the woods would do for purposes of worship. For me, such a chapel would allow me to soak up the quietness and find peace. Of course, my religion is very simple indeed.

Saturday, October 25, 2014


News Clips For The Day


EBOLA – TWO STORIES

NY officials urge calm after doctor's Ebola diagnosis
CBS/AP October 24, 2014, 6:56 AM
By Bill De Blassio

NEW YORK -- Officials tried to tamp down New Yorkers' fears Friday after a doctor was diagnosed with Ebola in a city where millions of people squeeze into crowded subways, buses and elevators every day.

"I want to repeat what I said last night: There is no cause for alarm," by the doctor's diagnosis Thursday, said Mayor Bill de Blasio, even as officials describedDr. Craig Spencer riding the subway, taking a cab and bowling since returning to New York from Guinea a week ago. "New Yorkers who have not been exposed to an infected person's bodily fluids are simply not at risk."

De Blasio on Friday tweeted a photo of himself riding the subway to reassure New Yorkers:

Health officials have repeatedly given assurances that the disease is spread only by direct contact with bodily fluids such as saliva, blood, vomit and feces, and that the virus survives on dry surfaces for only a matter of hours.

"You do have to have direct contact with body fluids and if it were spread through the air, there would be tens of millions who would have it," CBS News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook told "CBS This Morning,"

But some in the nation's most populous city, with more than 8 million people, were not taking any chances.

Friday morning, a group of teenage girls in Catholic school uniforms riding the L subway train passed around a bottle of hand sanitizer. They said they were taking extra precautions because of the Ebola case. It was one of the subway lines the doctor rode after returning home.

The governor and health officials said Spencer, a member of Doctors Without Borders, sought treatment with diarrhea and a 100.3-degree fever - not 103 as officials initially reported Thursday night. The health department blamed a transcription error for the incorrect information. He was being treated in an isolation ward at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital, a designated Ebola center.

Spencer is in stable condition, the city's health commissioner said on Friday.

De Blasio said New Yorkers should call 911 or go to an emergency room if they have possible Ebola symptoms and were in affected countries in the last 21 days. He said people in that situation should not go to a doctor's office.

De Blasio said people should not worry about their documentation status if they think they might have the disease. The mayor noted that flu and Ebola might have similar symptoms. He said it's important to get a flu shot.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said earlier Friday that the doctor "obviously felt he wasn't symptomatic" when he went out "in a limited way."

Cuomo told "CBS This Morning" that the city is prepared to handle the Ebola patient because it has been preparing for the scenario for "weeks and weeks."

"We did a training session the other day with 5,000 healthcare workers, so our healthcare workers feel trained, they feel prepared, they have the equipment, we did the drills," Cuomo said. "Everything that happened here was a textbook case of how the situation should be handled."

But one commuter called riding the subway "a scary thing."

There are "a lot of germs in New York," said Chris Thompson who was riding the L train.

Another subway rider, 41-year-old construction worker T.J. DeMaso expressed concern.

"If the outbreaks get any more common, I'll be moving out of the city," he said. "You could catch it and not even know it. You could bring it home to your kids. That's not a chance I want to take."

Subway rider Alicia Clavell said she hoped it's "an isolated incident."

Veronica Lopez, who lives in the building next to the doctor, said "people were joking about it" but when the doctor's diagnosis was announced they "went crazy." She said she heard the city was notifying residents via fliers "and my roommate was freaking out because we didn't get a flier."

But Tanya Thomas, 47, who lives in Spencer's building, was matter-a-fact about the whole thing.

"He's the one with Ebola," she said. "If I get it, I get it."

Health officials say the chances of the average New Yorker contracting Ebola are slim. Someone can't be infected just by being near someone who is sick with Ebola. Someone isn't contagious unless he is sick.

The city's health commissioner, Mary Bassett, said the probability was "close to nil" that Spencer's subway rides would pose a risk. Still, the bowling alley was closed as a precaution, and Spencer's Harlem apartment was cordoned off. The Department of Health was on site across the street from the apartment building Thursday night, giving out information to area residents.

Evageline Love also was unconcerned. "I saw the mayor and the governor. What they're saying, I believe, is true. There's no need for hysteria," she said as he rode the L train to work.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which will do a further test to confirm the initial results, has dispatched an Ebola response team to New York. President Barack Obama spoke to Cuomo and de Blasio on Thursday night and offered the federal government's support. He asked them to stay in close touch with Ron Klain, his "Ebola czar," and public health officials in Washington.

Health officials have been tracing Spencer's contacts to identify anyone who may be at risk. Bassett said Spencer's fiancee and two friends had been quarantined but showed no symptoms.

CBS New York reports that authorities on Spencer's Hamilton Heights block were trying to reassure the public, handing out cards to neighbors telling them what to do if they think they might have been in contact with Spencer.

The fact that Spencer tested positive for Ebola raised concerns about why he wasn't quarantined sooner.

"Here's a doctor who's gone to West Africa -- who's done incredible work to help people -- and he's come back into the country and nothing has been done to say, 'Let's put you aside for 21 days to make sure you don't have the virus,'" neighbor Joshua Renick told CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco.

The epidemic in West Africa has killed about 4,800 people. In the United States, the first person diagnosed with the disease was a Liberian man, who fell ill days after arriving in Dallas and later died, becoming the only fatality. None of his relatives who had contact with him got sick. Two nurses who treated him were infected and are hospitalized. The family of one nurse said doctors no longer could detect Ebola in her as of Tuesday evening.

According to a rough timeline provided by city officials, in the days before Spencer fell ill, he went on a 3-mile jog, went to the High Line park, rode the subway and, on Wednesday night, got a taxi to a Brooklyn bowling alley. He felt tired starting Tuesday, and felt worse on Thursday when he and his fiancee made a joint call to authorities to detail his symptoms and his travels. EMTs in full Ebola gear arrived and took him to Bellevue in an ambulance surrounded by police squad cars.

Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian organization, said per the guidelines it provides its staff members on their return from Ebola assignments, "the individual engaged in regular health monitoring and reported this development immediately." Travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone must report in with health officials daily and take their temperature twice a day, as Spencer did. He also limited his direct contact with people, health officials said.

Spencer, 33, works at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. He had not seen any patients or been to the hospital since his return, the hospital said in a statement, calling him a "dedicated humanitarian" who "went to an area of medical crisis to help a desperately underserved population."

Four American aid workers, including three doctors, were infected with Ebola while working in Africa and were transferred to the U.S. for treatment in recent months. All recovered. Health care workers are vulnerable because of close contact with patients when they are their sickest and most contagious.

In West Africa this year, more than 440 health workers have contracted Ebola and about half have died. But the Ebola virus is not very hardy. The CDC says bleach and other hospital disinfectants kill it.

Spencer is from Michigan and attended Wayne State University School of Medicine and Columbia's University Mailman School of Public Health.

According to his Facebook page, he left for West Africa via Brussels last month. A photo shows him in full protective gear. He returned to Brussels Oct. 16.

"Off to Guinea with Doctors Without Borders," he wrote. "Please support organizations that are sending support or personnel to West Africa, and help combat one of the worst public health and humanitarian disasters in recent history."




“He felt tired starting Tuesday, and felt worse on Thursday when he and his fiancee made a joint call to authorities to detail his symptoms and his travels. EMTs in full Ebola gear arrived and took him to Bellevue in an ambulance surrounded by police squad cars.... Travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone must report in with health officials daily and take their temperature twice a day, as Spencer did. He also limited his direct contact with people, health officials said.... In West Africa this year, more than 440 health workers have contracted Ebola and about half have died. But the Ebola virus is not very hardy. The CDC says bleach and other hospital disinfectants kill it.... The fact that Spencer tested positive for Ebola raised concerns about why he wasn't quarantined sooner. 'Here's a doctor who's gone to West Africa -- who's done incredible work to help people -- and he's come back into the country and nothing has been done to say, 'Let's put you aside for 21 days to make sure you don't have the virus,' neighbor Joshua Renick told CBS 2's Tracee Carrasco.”

One thing about this article strikes me. The CDC is saying people can go out and about until they have an elevated temperature, but this doctor didn't "feel well" for about two days before he found that he had a fever. As soon as he got the fever he called for an ambulance. It was good that the ambulance was equipped with Hazmat gear, though. In the last Dallas case the ambulance drivers were unprotected. I think the CDC should correct their instructions to read, go to an Ebola center immediately after returning from Africa if you have any Ebola symptoms at all. His walking around from a bowling alley and to several other places while "not feeling well" makes me nervous, and it certainly increased the number of contacts that he made while having nausea and other stomach upset. Still, the hospital in NYC did much better than the Dallas, TX hospital. I think having designated Ebola centers is a very good idea.

According to a CBS October 23 companion article, “as many as ten people in the Seattle area and Connecticut” are being watched for symptoms. Under Wednesday's CDC policy statement all travelers from the three nations in Africa are now to be monitored for 21 days. The West Haven PD is enforcing the 21 day quarantine on a family of six. Three Yale students are also under quarantine, though the article says it is voluntary, and that none of them had objected to it. This disease is the kind of thing that really gets people's attention, so I wouldn't expect many people to balk at the restrictions.

Finally, an NPR article dated October 24 reports the occurrence of Ebola in Mali. “Mali has become the sixth country in West Africa to confirm a case of Ebola, after a 2-year-old girl who arrived from neighboring Guinea tested positive for the hemorrhagic virus.” The WHO is sending Ebola experts into Mali in response to the situation. another report today states that the two year old in Mali has died. “According to Reuters, Chaib said Malian authorities are monitoring 43 people who were in contact with the girl, including 10 health workers.”

There is a piece of very good news about the treatment of Ebola, however. A simple remedy is helping patients survive the disease without a vaccine or innoculation. Read the following article of October 23 from NPR.



I'll (Gag) Drink To That: Oral Rehydration Key For Ebola Patients – NPR
by OFEIBEA QUIST-ARCTON
October 23, 2014

At the onset of symptoms, Dr. Adaora Ingonoh (center) and her colleagues began drinking oral rehydration solution. It doesn't taste great but they say it helped them survive Ebola. They each downed over a gallon a day for nearly a week.

Have you ever swallowed unflavored rehydration solution, or ORS? That's what they call the mixture of salt, sugar and water given to Ebola patients.

I've taken more than a mouthful, and urgh! It tastes dreadful.

But doctors who were among Nigeria's Ebola survivors all agree that they may not have recovered from the virus without having forced down the foul-tasting, but apparently life-saving fluid.

Gallons of it. The WHO recipe for the rehydration drink is six tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt and a quart of water.

The solution often comes in packages as powder made of salt and sugar along with unsavory ingredients like potassium chloride and citrate. A dose of powder is dissolved in roughly a quart of water. Every day after they began feeling unwell, the doctors would drink the ghastly mixture.

Dr. Adaora Igonoh swallowed at least 1.3 gallons every day for almost a week. She says when you're already frightened and depressed in an Ebola ward, feeling weak and battling mouth ulcers and a sore throat, getting ORS down your throat is no fun.

But she and other doctors in Nigeria agree that the rehydration solution was key to their survival. Unlike Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the virus has killed up to 70 percent of those infected, Nigeria was declared Ebola-free after eight deaths among 20 cases.

"These patients drank between four and five liters [a little more than a gallon] every day, and this made a huge difference," says Dr. Simon Mardel, a world-renowned viral hemorrhagic fever expert at the University of South Manchester in the U.K. NPR reached him when he was in Nigeria, where he was dispatched to help fight the Ebola outbreak.

ORS is a low-tech and inexpensive approach that is potentially lifesaving, he says. Ebola victims throughout West Africa often die of severe dehydration that results from diarrhea and vomiting – two common symptoms.

"We cannot have people with a fluid deficit just mounting up day after day," he says. "This disease does not allow you to tolerate the normal degree of dehydration. Dehydration and hypovolemia [when there is not enough blood volume in the body] is the final straw."

Mardel reckons that the number of Ebola deaths could be halved if health workers taught patients how to rehydrate properly with the packaged ORS mixture — and also told them to avoid taking aspirin, which can worsen bleeding.

The rehydration solution should be mixed with the prescribed amount of water and given to patients at the onset of symptoms. And it should be a daily practice.

And if you don't start right away? "You'll soon become, in a few days, too weak to drink it," he says. And if you become dehydrated, your gut won't be able to absorb the nutrients.

"They'll just come back up," he says.

Mardel acknowledges that it's not the best tasting medicine. So he recommends packets of fruit-flavored ORS.

When Dr. Adaora Igonoh began running a fever at home, she drank an orange-flavored solution, which was bearable. The unflavored version she was given in the isolation ward was not.

But she was knew that, because of her vomiting, she wouldn't survive if she didn't keep chugging.






EU Leaders Agree To Cut Emissions By At Least 40 Percent – NPR
by EYDER PERALTA
October 23, 2014

European Union leaders announced on Thursday that they had agreed to cut emissions by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council,made the announcement on Twitter, saying the agreement marked the "world's most ambitious, cost effective, fair climate energy policy."

The AP reports:

"The deal is aimed at countering climate change and setting an example for the rest of the world ahead of key international climate negotiations next year.

"A package agreed by leaders at an EU summit in the early hours of Friday after lengthy negotiations also requires climate-friendly, renewable energy to provide at least 27 percent of the bloc's needs and demands that energy efficiency increase by at least 27 percent in the next 16 years."

Reuters adds:

"... environmentalists had already complained that it could still leave the EU struggling to make the at least 80-percent cut by 2050 that its own experts say is needed to limit the rise in global average temperatures to two degrees Celsius.

"And they were further disappointed by a softening in the final agreement of goals for increasing the use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources and for improving efficiency through insulation, cleaner engines and the like."




“European Union leaders announced on Thursday that they had agreed to cut emissions by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council,made the announcement on Twitter, saying the agreement marked the 'world's most ambitious, cost effective, fair climate energy policy.'... 'A package agreed by leaders at an EU summit in the early hours of Friday after lengthy negotiations also requires climate-friendly, renewable energy to provide at least 27 percent of the bloc's needs and demands that energy efficiency increase by at least 27 percent in the next 16 years.'... '... environmentalists had already complained that it could still leave the EU struggling to make the at least 80-percent cut by 2050 that its own experts say is needed to limit the rise in global average temperatures to two degrees Celsius.... a softening in the final agreement of goals for increasing the use of solar, wind and other renewable energy sources and for improving efficiency through insulation, cleaner engines and the like.'”

Renewable energy sources have been in the news several times in the US this year, especially solar, as making a really noticeable difference in electricity output on private homes and businesses. Everyone who installs solar, especially in high sunshine areas like Florida, Arizona and California, will help in the solution to the overall problem, as will insulation, etc. and save money, too. The problem is so large that each citizen's effort is needed to reduce the use of coal and other CO2 emitters. The website www.ussolarinstitute.com/educationtraining‎ states that “Depending on the location and design of your system, the typical home installation ranges from 3 to 7 kilowatts and costs between $18,000 to $40,000 to purchase. Solar panels: About a third of the cost of a residential photovoltaic system comes from the cost of solar panels, which can cost around $4,500-$12,000.” This isn't something many Lower Middle Class citizens can afford, but the panels do begin to “pay for themselves” in radically reduced electricity bills. Besides, it's a good Progressive thing to do. (Nobody wants to admit to be a “liberal” anymore.)





Park Service Construction Damaged Native American Burial Sites – NPR
by CLAY MASTERS
October 23, 2014

Under the watch of the National Park Service, $3 million worth of illegal construction projects went on for nearly a decade at Effigy Mounds National Monument in northeast Iowa.

Imagine being able to drive an all-terrain vehicle right up next to a sacred earthen Native American burial mound.

At Effigy Mounds National Monument, you can. Three million dollars' worth of illegal construction projects went on for a decade at one of the nation's most sacred Native American burial grounds in northeast Iowa. And it happened under the watch of the National Park Service.

The park didn't do the proper archaeological studies before installing an intricate boardwalk system that now encircles ancient burial mounds that are shaped like bears and birds.

"I will not rest the rest of my days until all this junk is removed," says Tim Mason, who used to work among these ancient Native American mounds.

Ask Mason his title and this is what you get: "Tree-hugging, dirt-worshipping, hell-raiser."

Mason grew up here. He's now retired, but for 19 years he held a lot of different jobs at the monument, from laborer to park ranger. During visits to the park after retiring, he'd see these boardwalks and other structures going in. Mason filed a complaint that sparked a criminal investigation by a Park Service special agent.

"They had collaborators at every level in the regional office and the national office, and they were securing funds, they weren't doing the checks," he says. "They were violating federal and state law to build all this junk."

Nobody that was responsible for the damage is still employed at the monument. A National Park Service spokesman says it is creating a corrective plan that will make sure something like this never happens again.

Some of the boardwalks were intended to make the monument handicapped-accessible. Jim Nepstad, the monument's new superintendent, says it's important for him not to make the same mistake when trying to fix the problem.

"Let's involve the public, let's involve the state historic preservation office, let's involve our tribal partners," he says. "And make sure everyone has a voice before we go in and wholesale rip everything out."

Nepstad says it's going to take time to figure out just what to do.

And while it's not his ancestors buried in these mounds, what's happening here speaks to a more fundamental issue traced back to when Europeans first came to America, says Johnathan Buffalo, the historic preservation director at the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi.

"The feeling of ownership of our very human remains, the ownership of our artifacts, the ownership of basic knowledge of who we are, what we are, where we come from," is what this is about, he says.

Buffalo says while he thinks the right thing will ultimately be done, he isn't sure what that will be. One thing's for certain, though — everyone will be watching how a federal agency with a mission of preserving artifacts undoes its own construction that many view as desecration.




“Under the watch of the National Park Service, $3 million worth of illegal construction projects went on for nearly a decade at Effigy Mounds National Monument in northeast Iowa. Imagine being able to drive an all-terrain vehicle right up next to a sacred earthen Native American burial mound.... The park didn't do the proper archaeological studies before installing an intricate boardwalk system that now encircles ancient burial mounds that are shaped like bears and birds. 'I will not rest the rest of my days until all this junk is removed,' says Tim Mason, who used to work among these ancient Native American mounds. Ask Mason his title and this is what you get: 'Tree-hugging, dirt-worshipping, hell-raiser.'... 'They had collaborators at every level in the regional office and the national office, and they were securing funds, they weren't doing the checks,' he says. 'They were violating federal and state law to build all this junk.'... A National Park Service spokesman says it is creating a corrective plan that will make sure something like this never happens again. Some of the boardwalks were intended to make the monument handicapped-accessible. Jim Nepstad, the monument's new superintendent, says it's important for him not to make the same mistake when trying to fix the problem.... And while it's not his ancestors buried in these mounds, what's happening here speaks to a more fundamental issue traced back to when Europeans first came to America, says Johnathan Buffalo, the historic preservation director at the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi. 'The feeling of ownership of our very human remains, the ownership of our artifacts, the ownership of basic knowledge of who we are, what we are, where we come from,' is what this is about, he says.”

I had heard of the Mound Builders in Mississippi, who are thought to have had an advanced culture with ties to the Great Lakes region. See the following from Wikipedia under the term “Mound Builders.” The mounds built to resemble animals are especially interesting to me. I wish I could see them. The mounds which are in Illinois are associated with cities of some size – from 20,000 to 30,000 according to this article, c. 1150 CE.

FROM WIKIPEDIA -- “The varying cultures collectively called Mound Builders were inhabitants of North America who, during a 5,000-year period, constructed various styles of earthenmounds for religious and ceremonial, burial, and elite residential purposes. These included the Pre-Columbian cultures of the Archaic period; Woodland period(Adena and Hopewell cultures); and Mississippian period; dating from roughly 3400 BCE to the 16th century CE, and living in regions of the Great Lakes, the Ohio River valley, and the Mississippi River valley and its tributary waters.[1] Beginning with the construction of Watson Brake about 3400 BCE in present-day Louisiana, nomadic indigenous peoples started building earthwork mounds in North America nearly 1,000 years before the pyramids were constructed in Egypt.

Since the 19th century, the prevailing scholarly consensus has been that the mounds were constructed by indigenous peoples of the Americas. Sixteenth-century Spanish explorers made contact with natives living in a number of later Mississippian cities, described their cultures, and left artifacts.[2] By the time of United States westward expansion two hundred years later, Native Americans were generally not knowledgeable about the civilizations that produced the mounds. Research and study of these cultures and peoples has been based mostly onarchaeology and anthropology.

The namesake cultural trait of the Mound Builders was the building of mounds and other earthworks. These burial and ceremonial structures were typically flat-topped pyramids or platform mounds, flat-topped or rounded cones, elongated ridges, and sometimes a variety of other forms. They were generally built as part of complex villages that arose from more dense populations, with a specialization of skills and knowledge. The early earthworks built in Louisiana c. 3400 BCE are the only ones known to be built by a hunter-gatherer culture.

The best-known flat-topped pyramidal structure, which at over 100 feet (30 m) tall is the largest pre-Columbian earthwork north of Mexico, is Monks Mound at Cahokia Indian Mounds in present-day Collinsville, Illinois. At its peak about 1150 CE, Cahokia was an urban settlement with 20,000-30,000 people; this population was not exceeded by North American European settlements until after 1800.

Some effigy mounds were constructed in the shapes or outlines of culturally significant animals. The most famous effigy mound, Serpent Mound in southern Ohio, is 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, 20 feet (6 m) wide, over 1,330 feet (405 m) long, and shaped as an undulating serpent.

Many different tribal groups and chiefdoms, involving an array of beliefs and unique cultures over thousands of years, built mounds as expressions of their cultures. The general term, "mound builder," covered their shared architectural practice of earthwork mound construction. This practice, believed to be associated with a cosmology that had a cross-cultural appeal, may indicate common cultural antecedents. The first mound building was an early marker of political and social complexity among the cultures in the Eastern United States. Watson Brake in Louisiana, constructed about 3500 BCE during the Middle Archaic period, is the oldest dated mound complex in North America. It is one of eleven mound complexes from this period found in the Lower Mississippi Valley.[3]






European Scientists Conclude That Distant Comet Smells Terrible – NPR
by GEOFF BRUMFIEL
October 24, 2014

A European spacecraft orbiting a distant comet has finally answered a question we've all been wondering: What does a comet smell like?

"It stinks," says Kathrin Altwegg, a researcher at the University of Bern in Switzerland who runs an instrument called ROSINA that picked up the odor.

The European Space Agency has posted a full rundown of the comet's BO on its website. The mix includes ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), formaldehyde (CH2O) and methanol (CH3OH).

Of course, anyone visiting the comet would be wearing a spacesuit (on top of that, the sense of smell is notoriously numb in space). Nevertheless, taking a whiff of this comet would be like sharing a horse barn with a drunk and a dozen rotten eggs.

"It's quite a smelly mixture," she says.

Why didn't we know comets smelled so bad before?

"That's mostly because we've never been that close to a comet," says Altwegg. The Rosetta mission is now just 5 miles from the comet's surface.

It's just like a person: You can't really get a good sense of a person's body odor until you're right up next to him.

These chemicals are also clues to how the comet — and maybe how our solar system — formed. And for that reason, Altwegg doesn't really mind the stench.

"It's a little smelly, but at the moment it's a lot of fun to go to work every morning," she says.

Fun for now. But that could change. The comet is currently getting closer and closer to the sun. And like anything you leave out in the sun too long, it will soon start to smell even worse.




“'It stinks,' says Kathrin Altwegg, a researcher at the University of Bern in Switzerland who runs an instrument called ROSINA that picked up the odor. The European Space Agency has posted a full rundown of the comet's BO on its website. The mix includes ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulphide (H2S), formaldehyde (CH2O) and methanol (CH3OH).... Why didn't we know comets smelled so bad before? 'That's mostly because we've never been that close to a comet,' says Altwegg. The Rosetta mission is now just 5 miles from the comet's surface.”

Not only are these chemicals stinky, and there is a machine that can “smell” them, they are organic, and may therefore have to do with the evolution of life somewhere else in the universe besides our Earth. European Space Agency, according to Wikipedia, is a 20 nation organization established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris. See the article below on another source for the chemical nature of comet dust which has also been determined to contain organic chemicals. That information comes from a radio telescope in West Virginia. Their article corresponds with the European satellite finding.



https://public.nrao.edu/news/pressreleases/comets-alma

National Radio Astronomy Observatory
ALMA Confirms Comets Forge Organic Molecules in Their Dusty Atmospheres
August 11, 2014

An international team of scientists using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has made incredible 3D images of the ghostly atmospheres surrounding comets ISON and Lemmon. These new observations provided important insights into how and where comets forge new chemicals, including intriguing organic compounds. 

Comets contain some of the oldest and most pristine materials in our Solar System. Understanding their unique chemistry could reveal much about the birth of our planet and the origin of organic compounds that are the building blocks of life. ALMA's high-resolution observations provided a tantalizing 3D perspective of the distribution of the molecules within these two cometary atmospheres, or comas. 

“We achieved truly first-of-a-kind mapping of important molecules that help us understand the nature of comets,” said team leader Martin Cordiner, a Catholic University of America astrochemist working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 

The critical 3D component of the ALMA observations was made by combining high-resolution, two-dimensional images of the comets with high-resolution spectra obtained from three important organic molecules – hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen isocyanide (HNC), and formaldehyde (H2CO). These spectra were taken at every point in each image. They identified not only the molecules present but also their velocities, which provided the third dimension, indicating the depths of the cometary atmospheres.

The new results revealed that HCN gas flows outward from the nucleus quite evenly in all directions, whereas HNC is concentrated in clumps and jets. ALMA’s exquisite resolution could clearly resolve these clumps moving into different regions of the cometary comas on a day-to-day and even hour-to-hour basis. These distinctive patterns confirm that the HNC and H2CO molecules actually form within the coma and provide new evidence that HNC may be produced by the breakdown of large molecules or organic dust.

"Understanding organic dust is important, because such materials are more resistant to destruction during atmospheric entry, and some could have been delivered intact to the early Earth, thereby fueling the emergence of life,” said Michael Mumma, director of the Goddard Center for Astrobiology and a co-author on the study. "These observations open a new window on this poorly known component of cometary organics."

“So, not only does ALMA let us identify individual molecules in the coma, it also gives us the ability to map their locations with great sensitivity,” said Anthony Remijan, an astronomer with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Charlottesville, Virginia, and a study co-author.

The observations, published today in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, were also significant because modest comets like Lemmon and ISON contain relatively low concentrations of these crucial molecules, making them difficult to probe in depth with Earth-based telescopes. The few comprehensive studies of this kind so far have been conducted on extremely bright comets, such as Hale-Bopp. The present results extend them to comets of only moderate brightness.





Canada attack raises "lone wolf" worries in U.S.
CBS NEWSn October 24, 2014, 7:10 AM

Following the attack in Canada, American law enforcement officials are most worried about potential copycats in the U.S., reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

A homegrown violent extremist, a so-called "lone wolf," may decide to strike out in the name of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or another terror group.

The threat from self-radicalized Americans is not new, but in recent weeks ISIS has cranked up a propaganda campaign urging attacks on U.S. and Western targets wherever and whenever possible.

ISIS praised the Ottawa shooting as an example of what followers can and should do.

Sources said the FBI is watching a number of Americans right now, perhaps a few dozen, who have tried to go to Syria or have already come back from there.

Those who have shown a desire to join the jihad are under varying degrees of surveillance and investigation.

Meanwhile intelligence officials continue to scour the background of the Canadian gunman.

Records show he traveled to the U.S. at least four times between 2010 and 2013, but officials attach no significance to those trips.

Sources said there is nothing in his background connecting him to any threat against the U.S. and nothing to indicate he had any strong connections to any global terror group or cell.




“The threat from self-radicalized Americans is not new, but in recent weeks ISIS has cranked up a propaganda campaign urging attacks on U.S. and Western targets wherever and whenever possible. ISIS praised the Ottawa shooting as an example of what followers can and should do. Sources said the FBI is watching a number of Americans right now, perhaps a few dozen, who have tried to go to Syria or have already come back from there. Those who have shown a desire to join the jihad are under varying degrees of surveillance and investigation.”

This Canadian attacker hasn't been tied to a jihadist movement or cell, and I personally feel that we need to be watching our own homegrown radicals who simply hate the government. That has become a political movement of its own over the last 20 years or so in the US. Many of the right wing groups are rabidly anti-government. They don't want any restraints on individual freedom to do anything at all that they might decide to do. It just isn't possible to run a civilized culture without a government that is strong enough to enforce some rules on both citizens and businesses. I'm sure the US government is watching those “militias” as well as Eastern jihadists, though. It took less than a day to catch McVeigh (a lucky chance when a sheriff pulled his car over) and then Terry Nichols and link them by forensics to the Oklahoma City bombing. The FBI can really do its job when it has to. I'm not overly worried about jihadists in this country, as the NSA monitors their every telephone call. I wonder if there is an Internet link of some kind between the recent four fence jumpers at the White House, though, because that's a pretty large number of similar incidents for sheer coincidence. If there is a website urging them on, I hope it is found and shut down.





American ISIS hostage's family get unlikely ally
CBS NEWS October 24, 2014, 7:00 AM

An urgent plea to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is getting some unusual support. The mother of hostage Peter Kassig sent a tweet to the terror group, asking how to save her son after a top al Qaeda official backed her cause, reports CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan.

Three weeks after ISIS threatened to execute Abdul Rahman Kassig, a senior fighter from the Nusra Front, Abu Omar Aqidi, allegedly took to Twitter to express his opinion on the matter.

The Nusra Front, a Syrian jihadi group aligned with al Qaeda, has been at odds with ISIS, which al Qaeda leaders have said is too brutal.

In Aqidi's tweets, he claims Kassig gave him medical help last year in the same part of Eastern Syria where Kassig was providing emergency aid before he was taken hostage.

That post got the attention of Kassig's parents and reinvigorated their online campaign featuring testimonies from aid workers.

Kassig's colleague named Marwan shared a story of how he witnessed Kassig provide aid to Syrian refugees at a medical center in Tripoli, Lebanon. He called on ISIS to release him.

But it's Aqidi's tweet that got the jihadi community's attention, creating debate about whether it's moral to execute someone who had helped them.

Whether this is about saving a life or simply competition between jihadis is unclear.

"I don't know how much pull that really has, but I'm quite sure this is a 3D game of chess and Nusra understands how to play the game, as does ISIS," said terror analyst Phillip Smyth.

But Kassig's mother Paula wants the world to know that her son is more than just a hostage.

"He's compassionate, he is smart, he has love for all who need help," she said.




“Three weeks after ISIS threatened to execute Abdul Rahman Kassig, a senior fighter from the Nusra Front, Abu Omar Aqidi, allegedly took to Twitter to express his opinion on the matter.... But it's Aqidi's tweet that got the jihadi community's attention, creating debate about whether it's moral to execute someone who had helped them. Whether this is about saving a life or simply competition between jihadis is unclear. ' don't know how much pull that really has, but I'm quite sure this is a 3D game of chess and Nusra understands how to play the game, as does ISIS,' said terror analyst Phillip Smyth.”

This is one of those stories that illustrate the very complex nature of the whole situation in Syria and Iraq. It is true that ISIS makes al-Qaeda seem rational and benign, even appearing as potential allies. I still say we should be backing the Kurds, even though they have a strong nationalistic tendency which Turkey and some other Middle Eastern nations hate. Their position in regard to ISIS is very clear-cut, however, and I believe they have earned the right to a defined territory of their own, especially if they take the battlefield and defeat ISIS so all the rest of the Middle Eastern countries don't have to do it. That's not unlike defeating Napoleon or Hitler. They definitely deserve respect.

Thursday, October 23, 2014


News Clips For The Day


http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/20/us-ukraine-crisis-poland-sikorski-idUSKCN0I92A720141020

Polish ex-minister quoted saying Putin offered to divide Ukraine with Poland
WARSAW 
Mon Oct 20, 2014

(Reuters) - Poland's parliamentary speaker, Radoslaw Sikorski, has been quoted as saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to Poland's then leader in 2008 that they divide Ukrainebetween themselves.

Sikorski, who until September served as Poland's foreign minister, was quoted telling U.S. website Politico that Putin made the proposal during Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's visit to Moscow in 2008 - although he later said some of the interview had been "overinterpreted".

"He wanted us to become participants in this partition of Ukraine... This was one of the first things that Putin said to my prime minister, Donald Tusk, when he visited Moscow," he was quoted as saying in the interview dated Oct. 19. 

"He (Putin) went on to say Ukraine is an artificial country and that Lwow is a Polish city and why don't we just sort it out together," Sikorski was quoted as saying.

Before World War Two, Poland's territory included parts of today's western Ukraine, including some major cities such as Lwow, known as Lviv in Ukraine.

Sikorski, who accompanied Tusk on his trip to Moscow, was quoted as saying Tusk did not reply to Putin's suggestion, because he knew he was being recorded, but Poland never expressed any interest in joining the Russian operation.

"We made it very, very clear to them - we wanted nothing to do with this," Sikorski was quoted as saying.

After publication of the interview, Sikorski said it was not entirely accurate.

"Some of the words have been overinterpreted," Sikorski wrote on his Twitter account late on Monday, adding that Poland does not take part in annexations.

The interview could further aggravate tension between Poland and Russia, already at odds over the Ukrainian crisis and Poland's arrest of two men suspected of spying for Moscow.

Neither Poland's Foreign Ministry nor Russian officials were immediately available to comment.

"If such a proposal was made by Putin then that's scandalous," Ewa Kopacz, who replaced Tusk as prime minister after his departure for a top job in Brussels, said late on Monday in an interview with public broadcaster TVP.

"No Polish prime minister will participate in such a disgraceful activity like partitioning another country", she said, adding she had not heard about such a proposal before.

Sikorski's account is not the first suggestion that Russia was seeking Poland's support in partitioning Ukraine.

Following the annexation of Crimea, Russian parliamentary speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky sent a letter to the governments of Poland, Romania and Hungary, proposing a joint division of the country.

(Reporting by Wiktor Szary; Editing by Alison Williams)




“Poland's parliamentary speaker, Radoslaw Sikorski, has been quoted as saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to Poland's then leader in 2008 that they divide Ukrainebetween themselves. Sikorski, who until September served as Poland's foreign minister, was quoted telling U.S. website Politico that Putin made the proposal during Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's visit to Moscow in 2008 - although he later said some of the interview had been 'overinterpreted'.... 'He (Putin) went on to say Ukraine is an artificial country and that Lwow is a Polish city and why don't we just sort it out together,' Sikorski was quoted as saying. Before World War Two, Poland's territory included parts of today's western Ukraine, including some major cities such as Lwow, known as Lviv in Ukraine.... 'We made it very, very clear to them - we wanted nothing to do with this,' Sikorski was quoted as saying. After publication of the interview, Sikorski said it was not entirely accurate.... The interview could further aggravate tension between Poland and Russia, already at odds over the Ukrainian crisis and Poland's arrest of two men suspected of spying for Moscow. Neither Poland's Foreign Ministry nor Russian officials were immediately available to comment.... Following the annexation of Crimea, Russian parliamentary speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky sent a letter to the governments of Poland, Romania and Hungary, proposing a joint division of the country.”

I hope the CIA and all of our societal guardians are paying close attention to this situation. Putin didn't make a public statement of his intention to obliterate the nation of Ukraine in this fashion, he did it undercover to the leaders of three former Soviet nations, hoping that they would join him. As far as I know, however, though they may have a large Russian population living within their borders, none of these nations is sympathetic with Russia and desiring to live under the old Soviet thumb again.

On the subject of Romania's relations with Russia, Wikipedia says “Historical relations have oscillated between grudging cooperation, neutrality and open hatred and hostility.” Of Hungary Wikipedia made a similar comment, and Poland has since joined NATO and the EU, so I don't see them moving back toward Russian influence. I think Mr. Putin is attempting a failing goal – the reconstruction of the old Soviet Union. He is trying to make a permanent mark on history, and I think Western forces will engage him in a real war if he destabilizes the balance of power in the world too much.





http://www.ibtimes.com/ebola-cure-canada-ship-800-vials-experimental-vsv-bov-vaccine-who-1707388#.VETO_0qliE4.google_plusone_share

International Business Times
Ebola Cure: Canada To Ship 800 Vials Of Experimental VSV-BOV Vaccine To WHO
By Charles Poladian 
October 18 2014

Canada will ship 800 vials of its experimental Ebola virus disease vaccine, VSV-EBOV, to the World Health Organization, Ottawa announcedSaturday. The Ebola vaccine will be sent in three shipments. Human clinical trials of VSV-EBOV began Monday after previously being shown effective in other primates.

“This vaccine, the product of many years of scientific research and innovation, could be an important tool in curbing the outbreak. We will continue to work closely with the WHO to address some of the ethical and logistical issues around using this experimental vaccine in the fight against Ebola,” Gregory Taylor, Canada’s chief public health officer, said in a statement.
Each shipment of VSV-EBOV will be packed in a special container with dry ice, at a temperature of -80 degrees Celsius, or -112 degrees Fahrenheit. The vaccine was developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Canada. The government has licensed the NewLink Genetics Corp. to produce VSV-EBOV in an attempt to help stop the spread of Ebola in West Africa.
The vaccine is a combination of a weakened version of the vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV, found in animals including cattle and horses, and protein from the Ebola virus. VSV is zoonotic, meaning it can be transferred from animals to humans. Infected humans develop flulike symptoms, according to the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. The VSV-EBOV vaccine triggers an immune system response that produces antibodies against the Ebola protein, similar to the way a flu shot works.

Clinical trials are under way at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, headquartered in Silver Spring, Md. Results will not be available until December. Canada has been at the forefront of Ebola drug development, with TKM-EBOLA and ZMapp also being developed in Canada with the help of U.S. funding and partnerships. The latter was recently used on the Spanish nurse Teresa Romero, who contracted the virus Oct. 6. Meanwhile, a second vaccine is also in the works in Canada.

“Canada views this experimental Ebola vaccine as a global resource, and, in the interest of global public health, we are sharing it with our international partners to help address the Ebola outbreak in West Africa,” Canadian Health Minister Rona Ambrose said in a statement.
The first shipment of the VSV-EBOV vaccine to WHO in Geneva will be made Monday.




“The Ebola vaccine will be sent in three shipments. Human clinical trials of VSV-EBOV began Monday after previously being shown effective in other primates.... Each shipment of VSV-EBOV will be packed in a special container with dry ice, at a temperature of -80 degrees Celsius, or -112 degrees Fahrenheit. The vaccine was developed at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Canada. The government has licensed the NewLink Genetics Corp. to produce VSV-EBOV in an attempt to help stop the spread of Ebola in West Africa.... The vaccine is a combination of a weakened version of the vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV, found in animals including cattle and horses, and protein from the Ebola virus. VSV is zoonotic, meaning it can be transferred from animals to humans. Infected humans develop flulike symptoms, according to the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. The VSV-EBOV vaccine triggers an immune system response that produces antibodies against the Ebola protein, similar to the way a flu shot works.... The first shipment of the VSV-EBOV vaccine to WHO in Geneva will be made Monday.”

Eight hundred doses isn't enough to make a real difference in the epidemic, but if it prevents the spread of the disease it will help; or perhaps the doctors can use it as a treatment in those who are already showing symptoms, to give their bodies a boost for fighting it off. Zmapp was given to those who had symptoms already and it helped. For other new vaccine experiments, see the next article.




Ebola Vaccine Could Start Testing In Africa By January – NPR
by RICHARD HARRIS
October 21, 2014

The World Health Organization says that efforts are on track to distribute an experimental Ebola vaccine in West Africa in January.

Two potential vaccines are now being tested for safety in people, and Russia is developing another one. While quantities will be limited, scientists say even a relatively small supply of vaccine can help bring the epidemic under control.

There's no guarantee that any vaccine will be effective, so it's good that several are in the pipeline. That includes an Ebola vaccine being developed by GlaxoSmithKline, which has already been tested in a small number of volunteers in the U.S., Europe and Africa.

Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general for health systems and innovation at the World Health Organization, says a Canadian vaccine licensed to NewLink Genetics in Ames, Iowa, is now being tested in people as well, at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health, near Washington, D.C.

Next month, those trials will be expanded to include several hundred volunteers in Europe. Those tests will involve 250 doses of each of these two front-running vaccine candidates, "and these data are absolutely crucial to allow decision-making on what dose level should go into the testing in Africa," Kieny says.

That's a critical question at the moment, because nobody now knows whether a tiny dose or a large dose would be required to protect someone from the Ebola virus. The largest dose in these tests will be nearly 1,000 times larger than the smallest dose.

"Everybody would like to have the lowest dose because, of course, you could have so much more vaccine than if it's the highest dose," Kieny says.

Health officials are hoping to have tens of thousands of doses available starting in January. But that could present a major manufacturing challenge, especially if each shot needed to contain a huge dose of the vaccine.

And while these two potential vaccines are the farthest along, they aren't alone. Three others are in earlier development stages at U.S. companies, and "some vaccines are also in development in Russia," Kieny told a WHO news conference in Geneva on Tuesday. "So we are in contact with Russians to see when they could be available for testing in Africa, and what type of doses, in terms of quantity, could be available in the months to come."

She says it's not clear whether the Russian scientists have already started safety testing in people.

Until quite recently, public health officials figured that a vaccine would come along too late to be of any use in controlling the current Ebola outbreak. But that attitude is changing.

"We could use a strategy similar to the ring vaccination strategy that was used in the smallpox eradication program," says Stephen Morse, an epidemiologist at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

The concept of ring vaccination is that you wouldn't need to immunize the many millions of residents in the affected West African countries. Instead, if health officials can see where the disease is heading next, they can focus on immunizing people who will soon be in harm's way.

That of course includes health care workers, who are at highest risk right now.

"That would not require large amounts of vaccine," Morse says, "but it probably would limit the spread of the epidemic considerably."

Using this strategy, the vaccine wouldn't have to be perfectly effective, and you wouldn't even need to vaccinate all people who are at risk in order to put brakes on the epidemic.

Drugs to treat Ebola would help as well.

Kieny says the French government plans to test a Japanese antiviral drug called Favipiravir in Guinea. And there's an international partnership coordinated by England's Oxford University to bring a half-dozen other potential drugs into the region as well.

She says the partnership is now visiting sites in the three African countries to identify which treatment centers would be adequate and would also be willing to participate in the testing of drugs.

Of course, public health officials responsible for stopping Ebola are still relying most heavily on the tried-and-true method: finding people who are sick and isolating them so the disease stops spreading.




“Two potential vaccines are now being tested for safety in people, and Russia is developing another one. …. That includes an Ebola vaccine being developed by GlaxoSmithKline, which has already been tested in a small number of volunteers in the U.S., Europe and Africa.... Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general for health systems and innovation at the World Health Organization, says a Canadian vaccine licensed to NewLink Genetics in Ames, Iowa, is now being tested in people as well.... 'We could use a strategy similar to the ring vaccination strategy that was used in the smallpox eradication program,' says Stephen Morse, an epidemiologist at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. The concept of ring vaccination is that you wouldn't need to immunize the many millions of residents in the affected West African countries. Instead, if health officials can see where the disease is heading next, they can focus on immunizing people who will soon be in harm's way.... Kieny says the French government plans to test a Japanese antiviral drug called Favipiravir in Guinea. And there's an international partnership coordinated by England's Oxford University to bring a half-dozen other potential drugs into the region as well.”

Russia, Japan, Canada, the US are all working on drugs, and an interesting comment in the article is that using the “ring vaccination strategy” the amount of vaccine wouldn't have to stretch to all people in the three countries to “limit” the epidemic. The good news is that a sizable amount of vaccine may be available in January. See the following article on an effective antiviral drug that could be used for more than just one virus type. Another online report specifies that this is true. “ the experimental broad-range antiviral favipiravir, currently being trialled for influenza and Ebola viruses, effectively reduced - and in some cases eliminated - norovirus in mice. See “http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/284316.php” for that article. I think there will soon be several effective ways to fight Ebola if all these studies pan out. I feel greatly relieved.



http://elifesciences.org/content/3/e03679

Favipiravir elicits antiviral mutagenesis during virus replication in vivo - See more at: http://elifesciences.org/content/3/e03679#sthash.VFNQ5OIa.dpuf
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Published October 21, 2014

Lethal mutagenesis has emerged as a novel potential therapeutic approach to treat viral infections. Several studies have demonstrated that increases in the high mutation rates inherent to RNA viruses lead to viral extinction in cell culture, but evidence during infections in vivo is limited. In this study, we show that the broad-range antiviral nucleoside favipiravir reduces viral load in vivo by exerting antiviral mutagenesis in a mouse model for norovirus infection. - See more at: http://elifesciences.org/content/3/e03679#sthash.VFNQ5OIa.dpuf
Increased mutation frequencies were observed in samples from treated mice and were accompanied with lower or in some cases undetectable levels of infectious virus in faeces and tissues. Viral RNA isolated from treated animals showed reduced infectivity, a feature of populations approaching extinction during antiviral mutagenesis. These results suggest that favipiravir can induce norovirus mutagenesis in vivo, which in some cases leads to virus extinction, providing a proof-of-principle for the use of favipiravir derivatives or mutagenic nucleosides in the clinical treatment of noroviruses. - See more at: http://elifesciences.org/content/3/e03679#sthash.VFNQ5OIa.dpuf





http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/21/1338197/-White-SC-High-School-Football-Team-Celebrates-Win-by-Making-Monkey-Sounds-and-Smashing-Watermelons?detail=email

Daily Kos

Coby DuBose on Criminal Injustice, Race, and Poverty
White SC High School Football Team Celebrates Win by Making Monkey Sounds and Smashing Watermelons
By Grizzard
TUE OCT 21, 2014

Meet the football team at Academic Magnet High School, a public school near Charleston, South Carolina. As you can see here, they're almost entirely white, with the exception of a single teammate. Recently, they've played a number of games against teams that look like this:

On the left, you see the Raptors of Academic Magnet. On the right, North Charleston High School, a team that's made up almost entirely of black players.

During a recent winning streak, Academic Magnet has developed what you might call an odd tradition. They smash watermelons on the ground, then eat them. This alone might be offensive after defeating a mostly black team, but the fine folks at Academic Magnet have added something extra to their little celebratory routine - making "monkey noises."

A parent of an opposing team took issue with this practice and complained to the local school board. After investigating, the school took action against the coach, firing him, despite what many people claim is a prolonged run of success.

As you might suspect, some people have really taken issue with the "sensitive" and "overly PC" response to this incident. Just to provide some picture of what we're dealing with:

On local radio this morning, broadcaster Emerson Phillips, who has been honored by the SC Broadcasters' Association with awards, went on a prolonged rant in which he bemoaned the fact that "some people" - namely, black people and Jewish people - "see racism or anti-Antisemitism in everything.” According to him, those people "let racism effect everything they do."

These are typical refrains from racists and those who look to cover for racists in all parts of the country, but especially in the Deep South. This event has been met with incredulity on the part of many white people, who seemingly cannot understand how something as innocuous as a watermelon and "monkey noises" could ever be viewed as racist. These people, of course, are either extremely disingenuous or have been living in a cave.

It's in this light that a "Dear White People" lesson is needed.

As white people, we do not get to tell black people what they can and cannot be offended by. Offense is the province of the offended, especially when such offense is objectively reasonable.

More than that, we inherit - and in fact, occupy - the actual world, complete with its full history. We do not occupy a world where watermelons are neutral fruits in the context of a white person speaking to a black person. Likewise, we don't occupy a space in which one group making monkey noises toward the other constitutes a signal of mutual appreciation for the local zoo.

Rather, we occupy a world in which white people have used symbols - be they the confederate flag, watermelons, fried chicken, nooses, or anything else - to intimidate, de-humanize, and otherwise demean black people. And black people cannot be blamed for learning and understanding that history. When black people understand that in the early 1900s, white people dressed in blackface in order to highlight the "simplicity" of the black man by showing that black man content with just having his fill of watermelon, then we have a duty to moderate our use of those symbols.

When black people understand that even today, the president of the United States is depicted as a simpleton after a juicy watermelon treat, we must understand that the context in which they view, and receive, messages about things like watermelon are through the context of that distant and not-so-distant history. For centuries, watermelons have been used to demonstrate that the black man is so stupid that he would be content with his lot in life - that of the oppressed, the enslaved, and the downtrodden - if a white man would only give him some watermelon. Understanding that, it becomes very easy to understand why a black person today would take great offense at a nearly all white football team celebrating a win over a nearly all black football team by smashing watermelon and ripping a few primate noises.

I don't buy that the Academic Magnet team engaged in its little ritual without nefarious intent. There are few contexts in which young, white boys would use monkey sounds and eat watermelon on the same field as young, black boys that do not suggest the intention of racial subjugation. But even if one gives these boys a benefit of the doubt they have not earned, it is still the responsibility of white folks to understand history and to avoid those symbols which will rightly be offensive to black people or any other ethnic group.
And when those people speak up about the offense, it is incumbent upon us not to tell them that they are wrong - another form of racism in which we elevate our judgment over theirs - but rather, to listen to what they have to say, to study the history behind it, and to understand how, given the hundreds-years context, black people would be angered at the suggestion of their simplicity.

Updated: To add this nugget from News 4 Charleston:

"Further, the students also drew a face on each watermelon and named them, according to McGinley. She said the investigation revealed the students also named the watermelons Junior and Bonds Wilson.

Bonds Wilson is the name of the formerly predominantly-black school in North Charleston where Academic Magnet now sits."

The above image was uncovered in the investigation. It's a sketch that administrators believe the students used to draw faces on the watermelons. It doesn't take a history scholar to see that that picture is a really poor high school artist's rendering of some of the old sambo "art" that was produced in the early 1900s. The overdone smiles. The red eyes. The overdone nose. I know that racists will deny it, but I've seen enough of those types of illustrations to know what these students intended.

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO COBY DUBOSE ON CRIMINAL INJUSTICE, RACE, AND POVERTY ON TUE OCT 21, 2014 AT 01:18 PM PDT.
ALSO REPUBLISHED BY COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT.




“Meet the football team at Academic Magnet High School, a public school near Charleston, South Carolina. As you can see here, they're almost entirely white, with the exception of a single teammate. Recently, they've played a number of games against teams that look like this: On the left, you see the Raptors of Academic Magnet. On the right, North Charleston High School, a team that's made up almost entirely of black players.... During a recent winning streak, Academic Magnet has developed what you might call an odd tradition. They smash watermelons on the ground, then eat them. This alone might be offensive after defeating a mostly black team, but the fine folks at Academic Magnet have added something extra to their little celebratory routine - making 'monkey noises.' A parent of an opposing team took issue with this practice and complained to the local school board. After investigating, the school took action against the coach, firing him, despite what many people claim is a prolonged run of success.... On local radio this morning, broadcaster Emerson Phillips, who has been honored by the SC Broadcasters' Association with awards, went on a prolonged rant in which he bemoaned the fact that 'some people' - namely, black people and Jewish people - 'see racism or anti-Antisemitism in everything.' According to him, those people 'let racism effect everything they do.'... More than that, we inherit - and in fact, occupy - the actual world, complete with its full history. We do not occupy a world where watermelons are neutral fruits in the context of a white person speaking to a black person. Likewise, we don't occupy a space in which one group making monkey noises toward the other constitutes a signal of mutual appreciation for the local zoo....When black people understand that even today, the president of the United States is depicted as a simpleton after a juicy watermelon treat, we must understand that the context in which they view, and receive, messages about things like watermelon are through the context of that distant and not-so-distant history.... And when those people speak up about the offense, it is incumbent upon us not to tell them that they are wrong - another form of racism in which we elevate our judgment over theirs - but rather, to listen to what they have to say, to study the history behind it, and to understand how, given the hundreds-years context, black people would be angered at the suggestion of their simplicity.”

When I hear a story like this one I am ashamed of the deeply racist culture that still exists in the South, and I must say, in the North and West as well. Hispanic people and American Indians have also been treated as badly in too many cases. Texas Sheriff Arpaio is just one case in point. We shouldn't forget that the Indians were forced off their lands across the country into reservations, mainly in the West, and those was the survivors whom the US Army and white settlers didn't kill.

About anti-black humor, I grew up hearing racist comments and jokes. I was too young and inexperienced to complain about it, and I didn't consider myself to be a part of the problem because I didn't make the ugly comment. I was too young to even understand it to be a problem. My father and mother had their share of racist views, but I must say I never heard either of them refer to black people as an animal or even rant against them. Most Southerners were to some degree tainted in their attitudes by those things, though again, most wouldn't have joined a KKK rally. The KKK started in the reconstruction days and continued up to the 1970's when a wave of liberal thought invaded even the South. There has been an upsurge, though mainly sotto voce now, of KKK activity in places like even Northern suburbs, along with the “white backlash” to the Civil Rights movement which is now fueling the Tea Party and various other radicals who make the news every few months. This behavior by the high school football players probably is an echo of what their parents have to say at home.

I am delighted to see, however, that the School Board, when informed of this issue, did fire the team's coach immediately, though they incurred backlash from locals who say the decision is too “PC.” I've always hated that term, because it is the outgrowth of bullying and abuse becoming an accepted thing. There are still schools where bullying and race baiting go unpunished, especially if it comes from members of the football team or kids whose parents are wealthy, and therefore they are “popular.” “Politically Correct” is not an accurate description of polite and respectful conduct, and fear of punishment is not the only cause of kind and decent behavior. Good people do it because it is the right thing to do. Minds have to be changed to improve this situation. The racists and other abusive people need to listen closely to the words Jesus said rather than just “believe” the miracle aspects of the Christian religion. Most of these young kids who caused this scandal are undoubtedly Christians and will probably say that they are “saved.” To me being saved probably has something to do with what we actually do and say, not just a faith. It will surprise some people, I suspect, when they reach the Pearly Gates and find that they aren't allowed in.





http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/21/1338210/-Forty-Thousand-Mostly-Minority-Voter-Registration-Forms-Lost-And-Now-Found-In-Georgia?detail=email

Daily Kos

40K (Mostly Minority) Voter Registration Forms Lost And Now Found In Georgia; SOS Denies Any Problem
By librarisingnsf
TUE OCT 21, 2014

We've all heard the stories of the voter registrations forms that seemed to disappear in the state of Georgia. Well, guess what? They have now reappeared! Well, at least 40, 000 of them Imagine that?!

It should be mentioned, however, that the number that went missing is actually about 56,000. So …

From Generation Progress:

Upwards of 40,000 new voter registrations went on the lamb in Georgia for a brief period a few weeks ago, as voting rights groups scrambled to find out where more than half of the newly registered voters’ records had gone. Amidst the confusion, some groups came to the conclusion that Secretary of State Brian Kemp was somehow connected to the disappearance of the predominantly black and Hispanic voter registrations. However, following the filing of a lawsuit on October 10 against Secretary Kemp, as well as county officials, the missing registrations were finally accounted for.

The controversy over voter registration began with the New Georgia Project (NGP), an organization seeking to register new and critical voting populations in the state. The NGP outlines on its website that it seeks to target specific populations in its voter registration efforts.

“Over the past decade, the population of Georgia increased 18%. The Rising American Electorate (RAE) – people of color, those 18 to 29 years of age, and unmarried women – is a significant part of that growth,” the NGP said.

The group hoped to mobilize that population in Georgia to get out and vote.

Update 1:

I found this news report about the issue. It seems that the two sides are in court this week. SOS Kemp denies any wrong-doing or that any voter registration forms were lost.

http://www.11alive.com/...
Here is another article about the dispute:
http://www.tiftongazette.com/...
From commenter whl below, here is another site with info:
http://nymag.com/...

ORIGINALLY POSTED TO LIBRARISINGNSF ON TUE OCT 21, 2014 AT 01:59 PM PDT.
ALSO REPUBLISHED BY KOS GEORGIA.
TAGS



http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/10/22/357998924/concern-over-new-voter-registration-in-georgia-ahead-of-election

Concern Over New-Voter Registration In Georgia Ahead Of Election – NPR
by HANSI LO WANG
October 22, 2014

This election season is proving to be tough for Democrats, but many believe they can turn the red state of Georgia blue with the help of new voters.

One voter registration campaign led by the New Georgia Project, a "nonpartisan effort" according to its website, has targeted black, Latino and Asian-American residents.

The organization's parent group, Third Sector Development, is currently engaged in a legal battle with election officials over more than 40,000 voter registration applications that, the group says, are missing from Georgia's voter logs. This month, that organization, along with the NAACP and other civil rights groups, filed a lawsuit against five counties and Georgia's Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who oversees elections in the state.

"These are voters who deserve to have their voices heard," says Stacey Abrams, founder of the New Georgia Project. "This is a critical election — an election that will not only speak to what happens in the state of Georgia this cycle but ... speaks to the future of the Georgia that we want to have."

The issue has been resolved in Georgia's DeKalb County, located outside Atlanta. But four other counties, including Fulton, Chatham, Muscogee and Clayton, still face the lawsuit.

A Call For Transparency

Abrams, a Democrat who serves as Georgia's House minority leader, says it's unclear whether the 40,000 applications in question have been processed, based on the state's public lists of registered voters.

"The reality may be that the voters are in the process, and they will appear on the rolls. But we don't know," she says. "This is about information. It's about transparency."

The Georgia secretary of state's office did not respond to requests for comment by deadline, but during a press conference on Oct. 16, Kemp said the lawsuit is "totally without merit."

"The claim that there are over 40,000 unprocessed voter registration applications is absolutely false," he said. "The counties have processed all the voter registration applications that they have received for the general election."

In September, Kemp launched an investigation into the New Georgia Project's voter registration campaign after forged and other invalid applications were submitted to county offices. The New Georgia Project says it is legally required to submit all voter registration applications it collects — even invalid ones.

Resolution In DeKalb County

Earlier this week, DeKalb County was released from the lawsuit after confirming that the county had processed all of its applications. Maxine Daniels, director of voter registration and elections in DeKalb County, says she was upset by the lawsuit's allegations.

"We understand that what we do is the very basis for our democracy, and so we take it very seriously," she explains. "For someone to say that we're not doing it, it's just very disconcerting."

Daniels says the lawsuit may come down to failures in communication between the New Georgia Project and county election offices. She says she wishes the group had reached out to her office about missing applications earlier in the process. But Daniels still supports outreach to new voters.

"Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water," she says. "We have to keep in mind that there still were some 7,000 voters that as a result of their project got registered [in DeKalb County]. And so we applaud that effort."

NPR contacted the four other counties named in the lawsuit. All asserted that they currently have no unprocessed applications. A hearing about the case is set to take place in Atlanta on Friday.




FROM DAILY KOS – “We've all heard the stories of the voter registrations forms that seemed to disappear in the state of Georgia. Well, guess what? They have now reappeared! Well, at least 40, 000 of them Imagine that?! It should be mentioned, however, that the number that went missing is actually about 56,000. So … Upwards of 40,000 new voter registrations went on the lamb in Georgia for a brief period a few weeks ago, as voting rights groups scrambled to find out where more than half of the newly registered voters’ records had gone. Amidst the confusion, some groups came to the conclusion that Secretary of State Brian Kemp was somehow connected to the disappearance of the predominantly black and Hispanic voter registrations. However, following the filing of a lawsuit on October 10 against Secretary Kemp, as well as county officials, the missing registrations were finally accounted for.... 'Over the past decade, the population of Georgia increased 18%. The Rising American Electorate (RAE) – people of color, those 18 to 29 years of age, and unmarried women – is a significant part of that growth,' the NGP said. The group hoped to mobilize that population in Georgia to get out and vote.... It seems that the two sides are in court this week. SOS Kemp denies any wrong-doing or that any voter registration forms were lost.”

FROM NPR – “The organization's parent group, Third Sector Development, is currently engaged in a legal battle with election officials over more than 40,000 voter registration applications that, the group says, are missing from Georgia's voter logs. This month, that organization, along with the NAACP and other civil rights groups, filed a lawsuit against five counties and Georgia's Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who oversees elections in the state.... The issue has been resolved in Georgia's DeKalb County, located outside Atlanta. But four other counties, including Fulton, Chatham, Muscogee and Clayton, still face the lawsuit.... Abrams, a Democrat who serves as Georgia's House minority leader, says it's unclear whether the 40,000 applications in question have been processed, based on the state's public lists of registered voters.... 'The reality may be that the voters are in the process, and they will appear on the rolls. But we don't know,' she says. 'This is about information. It's about transparency.'... 'The claim that there are over 40,000 unprocessed voter registration applications is absolutely false,' he said. 'The counties have processed all the voter registration applications that they have received for the general election.'... NPR contacted the four other counties named in the lawsuit. All asserted that they currently have no unprocessed applications. A hearing about the case is set to take place in Atlanta on Friday.”

The deadline for registrations must be soon. Abrams, Georgia's Minority Leader said, “'The reality may be that the voters are in the process, and they will appear on the rolls. But we don't know,'” All four Georgia counties spoke to NPR and stated that they have processed all the voter registrations that they received, though Dekalb County's Maxine Daniels acknowledges receiving only 7,000 new registrations. At present the situation remains murky, definitely not “transparent.”

There is an apparent pattern at every election in the South: whenever Democrats successfully mobilize new voters the Republicans cry fraud. The Republicans just hate a free election. Unsuppressed Democratic votes are un-American. Right? This time, however, they didn't only allege fraud, they tried to eliminate the new registrations completely. They backed down though when they were sued and produced them, according to the Daily Kos article, but the NGP has been unable to verify that the names have been added to the voter rolls. The following article from Newsweek gives some background information on the alleged voter fraud situation and the New Georgia Project.


http://www.newsweek.com/mass-vote-registration-georgia-brings-accusations-voter-fraud-272358

Mass Vote Registration in Georgia Brings Accusations of Voter Fraud
By Pema Levy
Filed: 9/23/14

There’s something fishy going on in Georgia. On the eve of the midterm elections—with high profile Senate and gubernatorial races on the line—a group undertaking a historic effort to register tens of thousands of minority voters is all of a sudden under investigation by Georgia’s Republican secretary of state’s office. And the crime doesn’t quite match the punishment.

Georgia Democrats’ chance to win this year hinges on registering and turning out new voters on Election Day. Namely, Democrats need to draw from the Peach State’s swelling black, Hispanic and Asian populations, communities that largely support Democrats and are slowly turning Georgia from a red state to a purple one.

These new voters will be critical if Democrat Michelle Nunn (daughter of former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn) is to stand a chance at winning this year’s Senate contest against Republican candidate David Perdue (cousin of former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue), and the only hope of state Senator Jason Carter (grandson of former President Jimmy Carter) to unseat the Republican governor, Nathan Deal.

Enter the New Georgia Project, a group spearheaded by the minority leader in the Georgia state House, Representative Stacey Abrams, a rising star in the Democratic Party. So far, her group has collected 85,000 voter registration applications. Together with around 20,000 registration forms collected by smaller partner groups, Democrats are close to registering 120,000 new voters—mostly black, Hispanic, Asian and young people—before the November elections.

But on September 9, the group received a broad subpoena from the office of the Georgia secretary of state, Republican Brian Kemp, as part of an investigation into the group stemming from evidence of fraudulent registration applications. Kemp’s office also sent a letter to county election officials in Georgia’s 159 counties warning that a  “preliminary investigation has revealed significant illegal activities.” At an emergency meeting of the State Board of Elections last Wednesday, the deadline for the subpoena was extended to Friday.

Abrams is quick to point out, however, that her group is required by law to turn in every application they collect, even if it contains errors. “If the form says Mickey Mouse registered in Anaheim, California, we have to turn that form in,” Abrams said in an interview with Newsweek last week.

That’s why she’s calling the investigation a witch hunt. ”There was no way to win. And that’s what this really resembles,” Abrams said. “We were being told if you follow the law, you were wrong. And if you didn’t follow the law, you’re wrong.”  
At the the State Elections Board meeting, Kemp’s office stated that there were 25 forms that are not valid and another 26 that are suspect. Kemp’s chief investigator, Chris Harvey, acknowledged that the New Georgia Project has been helpful in identifying the problematic forms.

“Essentially, there could be 51 out of 85,000 forms that were turned in by law that could be invalid. That’s the story,” Abrams said. “Our reaction has been fairly aggressive because to suggest as he did in that letter that we were engaged in something that was nefarious was not only wrong on its face, it had the very real effect of trying to stymie registration through our organization.”
That’s what has Georgia Democrats up in arms. They feel a few inevitable errors are being used as a pretext to attack an organization that is registering large numbers of Democratic voters.

“The irregularities that they have found have actually been a fraction of a percent of the overall number of voter registration forms that the New Georgia Project put in,” said Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. “It would seem as though the tenor of the investigation so far doesn’t necessarily match the scope of the problem.”

Gillespie, an expert in African-American voter participation, says she fears the “chilling effect” an investigation might have on voter registration groups. “The attitude that one can infer from this is that if somebody makes one mistake, or if somebody makes a few mistakes, then all of a sudden you get labeled as potential scammers,” she said. “And that might be the type of thing that would actually deter people from registering folks to vote. And that would actually be very, very unfortunate.”

Abrams made the same argument: “If we were to allow ourselves to be bullied in the way that the subpoena initially sought to do, we would be setting a precedent for any other group in the state,” she said. The New Georgia Project says it is currently negotiating the scope of the subpoena with the secretary of state’s office.
In response to requests for comment, Kemp’s spokesman Jared Thomas pointed Newsweek to a fact sheet the office put together about the investigation. “The confirmation of 25 forged voter registration applications warranted an expansive investigation and that is why a subpoena was issued to the New Georgia Project,” it reads. “The claim that the New Georgia Project has submitted 85,000 voter registration applications has no bearing on this investigation. Each instance of forgery can result in multiple felonies and the Office of the Secretary of State has a constitutional obligation to pursue every illegal act to the full extent of the law.”

In a state where party politics often break down along racial lines, the fact that a group that aims to register minority voters is being targeted by Republicans two months before a big election raises red flags. Just two weeks ago, a Republican Georgia state senator lambasted a local official on Facebook for deciding to hold Sunday voting in an Atlanta suburb with a large black population. The lawmaker, Fran Millar, defended his comments saying, “This is politics. It’s not about race.” Racist or not, it is in Republicans’ political interest to make it harder for black citizens to vote.

Abrams and Warnock have attacked Kemp, claiming that 51,000 new voter registration forms have not yet been processed. If they don’t go through by the October 6 deadline, then tens of thousands of voters could be disenfranchised. Kemp has pushed back by stressing that his office is on schedule and the backlog is taking place at the county level. The New Georgia Project says that as the top official in charge of elections in the state, the buck stops with Kemp.






http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/21/1338275/-Paul-LePage-s-New-Idea-Indentured-Servants?detail=email

Daily Kos
Paul LePage's New Idea: Indentured Servants
Cross-posted from
The Last Days of Paul LePage
By Bruce Bourgoine
TUE OCT 21, 2014

One drawback in Maine to having a Governor whose entire background is in business and who repeatedly promises to bring business sense to government is that outlook is not always in the best interests of all people. Government does not exist to make a profit or outsource for profitbut it is supposed to undertake the non-profitable work to help prevent or mitigate that which may costs lives and decent livelihoods. It has a responsibility to serve the "general welfare."

Paul LePage's first instinct is always about costs and profits in a business sense only. Recently he has been talking about selling student loans to workers' employers in part because "I think we can make it sort of a very profitable operation."

Setting aside the creepy overtones of indentured servitude, this first instinct of Paul LePage is a bad one because this is clearly an area that a "very profitable operation" has no place in either serving those receiving the service or the greater common good. Maine people will profit in the non-financial sense of the word by replacing him with Mike Michaud.



Paul LePage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Richard LePage (born October 9, 1948) is an American businessman and Republican Party politician who serves as the 74thGovernor of Maine. He was the mayor of Waterville from 2003 to 2011, and was a city councilor prior to that. He worked as general manager of the 14-store discount chain Marden's Surplus and Salvage from 1996 until 2011.

Early life and education[edit]

LePage was born in Lewiston, the eldest son of eighteen children of Theresa (née Gagnon) and Gerard LePage, both of French-Canadian descent.[3] He grew up speaking French in an impoverished home with an abusive father who was a mill worker.[4] His father drank heavily and terrorized the children; and his mother was too intimidated to stop him.[5] At age eleven, after his father beat him and broke his nose, he ran away from home and lived on the streets of Lewiston, seeking shelter wherever he could find it, including in horse stables and at a "strip joint".[4][6] After spending roughly two years homeless, he began to earn a living shining shoes, washing dishes at a café, and hauling boxes for a truck driver. He later worked at a rubber company, a meat-packing plant, and was a short order cook, and bartender.[7]

LePage applied to Husson College in Bangor, but was rejected due to a poor verbal score on the SAT, a result ofEnglish being his second language. He has said that Peter Snowe – the first husband of former U.S. Senator from Maine Olympia Snowe – persuaded Husson to give LePage a written exam in French, which allowed LePage to show his comprehension and be admitted.[7][8] At Husson, LePage improved his English skills and became editor of the college newspaper.[7] He graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration in Finance and Accounting, and later earned an MBA from the University of Maine.[7]

Business career[edit]

LePage worked for a lumber company in New Brunswick, Canada that was owned by his first wife's family from 1972 to 1979, and later for Scott Paper in Winslow, Maine.[9] He later founded his own business consulting firm, LePage & Kasevich Inc., which specialized in aiding floundering companies.[10] In 1996, LePage became general manager of Marden's Surplus and Salvage, a Maine-based discount store chain.[8][11]

Local politics[edit]

LePage served two terms as a Waterville city councilor before becoming mayor in 2003, retaining that post until resigning in January 2011. During his time as mayor, LePage reorganized city hall, lowered taxes, and increased the city's rainy day fund balance from $1 million to $10 million.[12]

Governor of Maine[edit]

2010 election[edit]

On September 22, 2009, LePage announced that he would be seeking the 2010 Republican nomination for Governor of Maine.[13] He won 38% of the vote in a seven-way primary election, despite being outspent ten-to-one by his closest challenger.[14] John Morris, LePage's campaign chief-of-staff, credited LePage's win with a campaign strategy (devised by chief strategist Brent Littlefield) that he referred to as the "three onlys" theme before the June primary election. This theme focused on particular aspects of LePage's biography that supposedly set him apart from the other candidates. These were, according to Morris, LePage being: the "only" candidate with a compelling life story; the "only" candidate with successful experience as a chief executive officer of a government entity; and, the "only" candidate who was the executive of a prosperous Maine business.[15]

In the general election, LePage was backed by local Tea Party activists and faced Democratic state Senator Libby Mitchell, and three independents -- Eliot Cutler, Shawn Moody, and Kevin Scott.[16] During the campaign, he told an audience that when he became governor, they could expect to see newspaper headlines stating, "LePage TellsObama To Go to Hell". He was subsequently criticized by Libby Mitchell's campaign as being disrespectful towards the Office of the President.[17]

With 94% of precincts reporting on the day after the election, the Bangor Daily News declared LePage the winner, carrying 38.1% of the votes.[21] independent Cutler was in second place with 36.7% of the votes (fewer than 7,500 votes behind LePage), while Democrat Mitchell was a distant third with 19%. Moody and Scott had 5% and 1%, respectively. LePage is the first popularly elected, Franco-American governor of Maine and the first Republican sinceJohn R. McKernan, Jr.'s re-election in 1990. In his victory speech, LePage promised he would shrink government, lower taxes, decrease business regulation, and put "Maine people ahead of politics." [4]

LePage was the first Maine Governor to use social media to promote the annual State of the State Address, when he used Twitter to send several Tweets previewing his February 5, 2013 speech.[27]

LePage has vetoed 182 bills as Governor, which broke the record of 118 set by Gov. James B. Longley. Most of LePage's vetoes have come since 2013 when Democrats regained the Legislature from the Republicans. Democrats got the votes to override 20 of the vetoes. Five, including an override of the 2013–2014 state budget, came in the 2013 session of the Legislature, while 15 came in the 2014 session.[28][29][30]



This Wikipedia article is fascinating reading all the way through, so I suggest you look it up and read it. LePage has made many truly outrageous statements, sometimes very crudely, and is becoming very unpopular. His political ideas are as wild as his language. He is not only a radical rightist, he has no idea of what would be constitutional if enacted. As outrageous as his endentured servitude idea is, it will not come into being, I'm sure. I think it is important to highlight LePage, as one of the more crack-brained people who have come into political power under the umbrella of the Tea Party, because he may later make his way into the US Congress, though I pray not. He did have a very hard time as a child and young man growing up, and clawed his way up to the governorship, so I give him credit for strength and perseverance.





15-year-old ISIS fighter describes atrocities
By HOLLY WILLIAMS CBS NEWS October 21, 2014, 6:53 PM

SYRIA - In the basement of a prison in northern Syria, men accused of being ISIS terrorists were led in one by one.

The guards holding them are part of a Kurdish group fighting against the Islamic extremists and don't want to be identified.

One of the prisoners was clearly terrified. He was asked why he was so frightened.

"Because I thought I was about to be beaten," said Suleiman Mohammed, who's accused of plotting to detonate a car bomb.

He denies it and so does Jaber Sabah Habash, his alleged accomplice.

But 15-year-old Kareem Mufleh freely admits that he fought with ISIS.

"They captured my village and gave me a choice," he said. "Either join ISIS, or be beheaded."

ISIS has embarked on a reign of fear. Mufleh told us he was a witness to massacres when ISIS seized villages in Syria.

"I even saw them kill a woman because her wedding dress showed her neck and bare arms," Mufleh said.

He claims that ISIS gave him the anti-anxiety drug Zolam before he went in to battle.

"That drug makes you lose your mind," he said. "If they give you a suicide belt and tell you to blow yourself up, you'll do it."

He showed us his wounds -- caused, he said, by three bullets to his stomach.

The group now holding Mufleh captured him during a firefight nine months ago -- and also saved his life.

The public face of ISIS is the masked gunmen who slaughter those that don't agree with their violent interpretation of Islam.

But behind that façade, is a frightened 15-year-old who says he was drugged, and forced to witness atrocities.




“But 15-year-old Kareem Mufleh freely admits that he fought with ISIS. 'They captured my village and gave me a choice,' he said. 'Either join ISIS, or be beheaded.'... He claims that ISIS gave him the anti-anxiety drug Zolam before he went in to battle. 'That drug makes you lose your mind,' he said. 'If they give you a suicide belt and tell you to blow yourself up, you'll do it.'.”

I wonder how many times ISIS fighters have been drugged to enable them to perform atrocities and face the enemy unafraid. Our American and European youths who are going to join ISIS have no idea what they are going to have to deal with. Young people are sometimes drawn to “causes” and, let's face it, to fighting and killing. I think those people are mentally unbalanced to a man, however. I don't believe an intelligent, emotionally well-balanced, mentally healthy person will drop their reasonably comfortable life in the West to join an army that is known for mass murder and enslavement or rape of women as a basic tactic of war. Mental illness does often start in the teens and early twenties, and the hysteria inducing influence of an emotional crowd of religious extremists or a charismatic leader in a radical mosque can give young people who don't have a sense of acceptance and fulfillment at home “something to live for.” It can cause them to convert to any number of way out groups. I can't be convinced that a suicide bombing will be carried out by a healthy and normal person. This article gives a better picture of the ISIS organization than I had seen before.





Wastebook 2014: Government's questionable spending
CBS NEWS October 22, 2014, 7:05 AM

Washington is often accused of doing nothing, and the current Congress is on track to be one of the least productive in history.

However, as CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes reports, there is one area where Congress has stayed busy -- spending money.

One government program spent $190,000 to study compost digested by worms. Another $856,000 went to train mountain lions to walk on treadmills, $10,000 for an Oregon children's theater production of "Zombie in Love" and $46,000 for a snowmobile competition in Michigan. Also, $414,000 was spent to update an Army video game meant to spur recruitment, a project already more than $25 million over budget.

All this, plus rabbit massages at Ohio State University, butterfly farms on Oklahoma tribal lands and an Iron Man suit under development at the Department of Defense.

These expenses all feature in Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn's annual "Wastebook," a ranking of 2014's top 100 worst examples of government waste, including out-of-this-world spending on research projects designed by grade school students to be sent to the International Space Station.

"Laughing classes -- we're paying people to understand -- to teach people how to laugh, there's a lot of serious problems in this country, well maybe the reason people aren't laughing is because the government's so inept," Coburn said.

Coburn, who's retiring, has been producing the Wastebook for five years. He said it's making a difference.

"We should be ashamed that we're wasting money the way that we are," Coburn said. "So if we're watching and we're holding people accountable, we'll get better value for the taxes that we pay and we won't risk the future of our kids."




“One government program spent $190,000 to study compost digested by worms. Another $856,000 went to train mountain lions to walk on treadmills, $10,000 for an Oregon children's theater production of "Zombie in Love" and $46,000 for a snowmobile competition in Michigan. Also, $414,000 was spent to update an Army video game meant to spur recruitment, a project already more than $25 million over budget. All this, plus rabbit massages at Ohio State University, butterfly farms on Oklahoma tribal lands and an Iron Man suit under development at the Department of Defense.... a ranking of 2014's top 100 worst examples of government waste, including out-of-this-world spending on research projects designed by grade school students to be sent to the International Space Station. 'Laughing classes -- we're paying people to understand -- to teach people how to laugh, there's a lot of serious problems in this country, well maybe the reason people aren't laughing is because the government's so inept,' Coburn said.”

Coburn is a Republican, but this list of scientific projects don't sound very useful or likely to produce new knowledge to me, so I would agree with him that we shouldn't be paying for them. I would have to judge each research project one by one, however, so the Wastebook would probably be good reading. I would like to see the butterfly farms continued, as we are on the verge of losing most of our butterflies to extinction, and they are one of the first things I remember from my childhood, along with fireflies in the summer evenings and cicadas shrilly calling to their love.

Laughing classes have been in the news in the past 10 years or so led by a medical doctor, whose name I don't remember, but laughter supposedly improves the health. I would like to say, however, that the cruel laughter teenagers engage in when a mentally impaired schoolmate is abused will only make the laugher more negative and cruel, so that isn't good for anyone. Teach the gentle art of laughing with rather than laughing at, which has no “butt of the joke,” but an introduction to joyous and surprising new thoughts or lighthearted tomfoolery. Study the comedy of Robin Williams for that type of humor. Even so, I don't know that I would want to pay for government research on the subject. We need Ebola research instead.