Washington Post: Obama Amnesty Plan 'Indefensible' | Cyberwar Represents Existential Threat to US | Window on Eurasia: Grozny Events a ‘Last Warning’ to Putin and Russia, Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Says | Chechen militants attack Grozny, shattering peace as Putin gives speech | Kerry: Russia has "not lived up to its promises" on Ukraine - YouTube | U of Texas' Missing Brains Mystery Solved: "The University will not confirm, nor deny that one of those missing brains belonged to Vice President Joe Biden." | Putin Defends Russia's Foreign Policy - YouTube
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U of Texas' Missing Brains Mystery Solved:
"The University will not confirm, nor deny that one of those missing brains belonged to Vice President Joe Biden."
Published on Dec 4, 2014
In an annual speech ranging from economy to school tests, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday evoked religious imagery and defended the Kremlin's aggressive foreign policy as necessary for his country's sheer survival. (Dec. 4)
Published on Dec 2, 2014
NATO foreign ministers approved fresh support for Ukraine and condemned Russia on Tuesday for backing pro-Moscow rebels as the alliance signed off on its new training mission in Afghanistan. Duration: 01:13
Published on Dec 4, 2014
The Russian republic of Chechnya is situated in the North Caucasus region. In the last 20 years Moscow has fought two wars against separatist rebels in the small mountainous area, during which thousands of people died. VIDEOGRAPHIC
Chechnya by AFP news agency
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The Russian republic of Chechnya is situated in the North Caucasus region. In the last 20 years Moscow has fought two wars against separatist rebels in the small mountainous area, during which...
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BAGHDAD (AP) -- America's new Ambassador to Iraq says his government has come to an agreement with Baghdad on "privileges and immunities" for U.S. troops based in the country....
Viral Threats by Mackenzie Yang
As images of brutal beheadings and dying plague victims compete for the world’s shrinking attention span, it is instructive to compare the unexpected terrors of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (known as ISIS or ISIL) and Ebola. In October, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights pointed out that “the twin plagues of Ebola and ISIL both fomented quietly, neglected by a world that knew they existed but misread their terrible potential, before exploding into the global consciousness.” Seeking more direct connections, various press stories have cited “experts” discussing the potential for ISIS to weaponize Ebola for bioterrorist attacks on the West.
Sensationalist claims aside, questions about similarities and differences are worth considering. Both burst onto the scene this year, capturing imaginations as they spread with surprising speed and severity. About Ebola, the world knows a lot and is doing relatively little. About ISIS, we know relatively little but are doing a lot.
In the case of Ebola, the first U.S.-funded treatment unit opened on Nov. 10—more than eight months after the epidemic came to the world’s attention. The U.S. has committed more than $350 million and 3,000 troops to this challenge to date. To combat ISIS, President Obama announced on Nov. 7 that he would be sending an additional 1,500 troops to Iraq to supplement his initial deployment of 1,500. And he has asked Congress for a down payment of $5.6 billion in this chapter of the global war on terrorism declared by his predecessor 13 years ago and on which the U.S. has spent more than $4 trillion so far.
Over recent centuries, medicine has made more progress than statecraft. It can be useful therefore to examine ISIS through a public-health lens. When confronting a disease, modern medicine begins by asking: What is the pathogen? How does it spread? Who is at risk? And, informed by this understanding, how can it be treated and possibly prevented?
About Ebola, we know the answers to each. But what about ISIS?
Start with identification of the virus itself. In the case of Ebola, scientists know the genetic code of the specific virus that causes an infected human being to bleed and die. Evidence suggests that the virus is animal-borne, and bats appear to be the most likely source. Scientists have traced the current outbreak to a likely animal-to-human transfer in December 2013.
In the case of ISIS, neither the identity of the virus nor the circumstances that gave rise to it are clear. Most see ISIS as a mutation of al-Qaeda, the Osama bin Laden–led terrorist group that killed nearly 3,000 people in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon in September 2001. In response to those attacks, President George W. Bush declared the start of a global war on terrorism and sent American troops into direct conflict with the al-Qaeda core in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the years since, the White House has deployed military personnel and intelligence officers to deal with offshoots of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), Yemen (AQAP), Syria (al-Nusra) and Somalia (al-Shabab).
But while ISIS has its roots in AQI, it was excommunicated by al-Qaeda leadership in February. Moreover, over the past six months, ISIS has distinguished itself as a remarkably purpose-driven organization, achieving unprecedented success on the battlefield—as well as engaging in indiscriminate violence, mass murders, sexual slavery and apparently even attempted genocide.
Horrifying as the symptoms of both Ebola and ISIS are, from an epidemiological perspective, the mere emergence of a deadly disease is not sufficient cause for global concern. For an outbreak to become truly worrying, it must be highly contagious. So how does the ISIS virus spread?
Ebola is transmitted only through contact with infected bodily fluids. No transfer of fluids, no spread. Not so for ISIS, where online images and words can instantly appear worldwide. ISIS’s leadership has demonstrated extraordinary skill and sophistication in crafting persuasive messages for specific audiences. It has won some followers by offering a sense of community and belonging, others by intimidation and a sense of inevitable victory, and still others by claims to restore the purity of Wahhabi Islam. According to CIA estimates, ISIS’s ranks of fighters tripled from initial estimates of 10,000 to more than 31,000 by mid-September. These militants include over 15,000 foreign volunteers from around the globe, including more than 2,000 from Europe and more than 100 from the U.S.
Individuals at risk of Ebola are relatively easy to identify: all have come into direct contact with the bodily fluids of a symptomatic Ebola patient, and almost all these cases occurred in just a handful of countries in West Africa. Once symptoms begin, those with the virus soon find it difficult to move, much less travel, for very long undetected.
But who is most likely to catch the ISIS virus? The most susceptible appear to be 18- to 35-year-old male Sunni Muslims, among whom there are many Western converts, disaffected or isolated in their local environment. But militants’ individual circumstances vary greatly, with foreign fighters hailing from more than 80 countries. These terrorists’ message can also inspire “lone wolf” sympathizers to engage in deadly behavior thousands of miles from any master planner or jihadist cell.
In sum, if Ebola were judged as a serious threat to the U.S., Americans have the knowledge to stop it in its tracks. Imagine an outbreak in the U.S. or another advanced society. The infected would be immediately quarantined, limiting contact to appropriately protected medical professionals—thus breaking the chain of infection. It is no surprise that all but two of the individuals infected by the virus who have returned to the U.S. have recovered and have not infected others. Countries like Liberia, on the other hand, with no comprehensive modern public-health or medical system, face entirely different challenges. International assistance has come slowly, piecemeal and in a largely uncoordinated fashion.
Of course, if ISIS really were a disease, it would be a nightmare: a deadly, highly contagious killer whose identity, origins, transmission and risk factors are poorly understood. Facing it, we find ourselves more like the Founding Fathers of the U.S., who in the 1790s experienced seasonal outbreaks of yellow fever in Philadelphia (then the capital of the country). Imagining that it was caused by the “putrid” airs of hot summers in the city, President John Adams and his Cabinet simply left the city, not returning until later in the fall when the plague subsided. In one particularly virulent year, Adams remained at his home in Quincy, Mass., for four months.
Not until more than a century later did medical science discover that the disease was transmitted by mosquitoes and its spread could be stopped.
We cannot hope to temporarily escape the “putrid” airs of ISIS until our understanding of that scourge improves. Faced with the realities of this threat, how would the medical world suggest we respond?
First, we would begin with humility. Since 9/11, the dominant U.S. strategy to prevent the spread of Islamic extremism has been to kill its hosts. Thirteen years on, having toppled the Taliban in Kabul and Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, waged war in both Iraq and Afghanistan, decimated the al-Qaeda core in Pakistan and Afghanistan and conducted 500 drone strikes against al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Pakistan, and now launched over 1,000 air strikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, we should pause and ask: Are the numbers of those currently infected by the disease shrinking—or growing? As former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once put it: Are we creating more enemies than we are killing? With our current approach, will we be declaring war on another acronym a decade from now? As we mount a response to ISIS, we must examine honestly past failures and successes and work to improve our limited understanding of what we are facing. We should then proceed with caution, keeping in mind Hippocrates’ wise counsel “to help, or at least, to do no harm.”
Second, we would tailor our treatments to reflect the different theaters of the disease. Health care professionals fighting Ebola in West Africa face quite different challenges of containment, treatment and prevention than do their counterparts dealing with isolated cases in the Western world. Similarly, our strategy to “defeat and ultimately destroy” ISIS in its hotbed of Iraq and Syria must be linked to, but differentiated from, our treatment for foreign fighters likely to “catch” the ISIS virus in Western nations. While continuing to focus on the center of the outbreak, the U.S. must also work to identify, track and—when necessary—isolate infected individuals within its borders.
Just as Ebola quarantines have raised ethical debates, our response to foreign fighters will need to address difficult trade-offs between individual rights and collective security. Should citizens who choose to fight for ISIS be stripped of their citizenship, imprisoned on their return, or denied entry to their home country? Such a response would certainly chill “jihadi tourism.” Should potential foreign fighters be denied passports or have their travel restricted? How closely should security agencies be allowed to monitor individuals who visit the most extremist Salafist websites or espouse ISIS-friendly views? Will punitive measures control the threat or only add fuel to radical beliefs?
Finally, we should acknowledge the fact that for the foreseeable future, there may be no permanent cure for Islamic extremism. Against Ebola, researchers are racing toward a vaccine that could decisively prevent future epidemics. But the past decade has taught us that despite our best efforts, if and when the ISIS outbreak is controlled, another strain of the virus is likely to emerge. In this sense, violent Islamic extremism may be more like the flu than Ebola: a virus for which we have no cure, but for which we can develop a coherent management strategy to minimize the number of annual infections and deaths. And recalling the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed at least 50 million people around the world, we must remain vigilant to the possibility that a new, more virulent and contagious strain of extremism could emerge with even graver consequences.n
Allison is director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
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The strange and complex story of 22-year-old Said Mazhaev, the Chechen man sentenced to two years in prison for fighting with militants in Syria, continues.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Thirteen Turkish nationalists accused of assaulting two U.S. sailors in Istanbul could face a decade in prison after being charged with causing insult and injury and violating protest laws, according to an indictment published on Thursday.
MOSCOW – In a stunning return to siege-style violence in the Russian region of Chechnya, well-armed Islamist militants seized an empty school and office building Thursday before an hours-long shootout that pushed the death toll to at least 20, authorities said.
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The University of Texas' mystery of 100 missing brains has been solved. School officials claim that the brains were not stolen as previously thought -- rather, they were destroyed over a decade about because they were in poor condition.
In a statement released on Wednesday, UT said between 40 and 60 jars of brains were destroyed by environmental workers about 12 years ago. Some of the destroyed jars contained multiple brains.
"A preliminary university investigation has revealed that UT environmental health and safety officials disposed of multiple brain specimens in approximately 2002 in accordance with protocols concerning biological waste," the statement said. "This was done in coordination with faculty members who determined that the specimens had been in poor condition when the university received them in the 1980s and were not suitable for research or teaching. Faculty members then maintained possession of other brain specimens in the collection that the university continues to own."
UT initially received the brains in 1986, according to USA Today. Most of the organs were taken from patients who had passed away at the Austin State Hospital from the 1950s through the 1970s.
After news initially broke of the missing brains, a rumor surfaced that one of them belonged to Charles Whitman, the man who killed 16 people on the UT campus in 1966. In its statement, however, UT claimed to have "no evidence" supporting this. "We have no evidence at this time that any of the brain specimens came from Charles Whitman, though we will continue to investigate those reports."
Whitman was an engineering student at the time of the school shooting. After gunning down 16 individuals, he was shot and killed by police. The 1966 incident is still considered one of the most tragic school shootings in the last 50 years.
Apparently, the killer had made a special request that his brain be used for research purposes, should he pass away.
Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.
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 Reuters |
In Kremlin economy speech, Putin rails at West, tries to avert Russia recession
Washington Post MOSCOW – With recession looming, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the West has had his nation in the cross-hairs for “centuries” and outlined measures in response aimed at bolstering Russia's self-sufficiency. In an annual ... Putin says foes hope to dismember Russia; ruble fallsReuters Russia's Putin Accuses West of Provoking Ukraine CrisisWall Street Journal Vladimir Putin: Russia Will Build Ties With Non-Western CountriesNBCNews.com The Guardian -BBC News -The Diplomat all 759 news articles » |
Window on Eurasia: Putin’s ‘Russian World’ Resolves a Key Domestic Issue, Svyatenkov Saysby paul goble (noreply@blogger.com)
Paul Goble
Staunton, December 4 – Most commentators have focused on the foreign policy implications of Vladimir Putin’s notion about the “Russian world,” but Pavel Svyatenkov argues that its domestic consequences may be at least as great because it can help overcome a fundamental contradiction in the Russian political system.
The Russian nationalist writer says that the 1993 Constitution sets up but does not resolve the contradiction between the Russians as “a multi-national people” and the continuing existence of non-Russian republics within the borders of the country whose leaders proclaim that they are “state-forming” nations (actualcomment.ru/russkiy-mir-i-evropa.html).
Moreover, he continues, “the conception of ‘multi-nationality’ does not recognize the role of the [ethnic] Russian people in history,” denying any “legal connection between Russians and Russians. [Thus,] Russia is not a state of Russians,” and “from the legal point of view, Russians are the largest stateless people in the world.”
Russians are to be replaced “by the faceless term ‘Rossiyane, a ‘passport identity,’ according to which a Rossiyan is anyone who has Russian citizenship,” and “an [ethnic] Russian who does not have Russian citizenship is thus not considered a Rossiyan,” Svyatenkov argues.
That in turn leads, the commentator continues, to “paradoxical” situations such as when “many [ethnic] Russians who are citizens of Russia root at the Olympics for [ethnic] Russians who are citizens of Kazakhstan but not for representatives of the North Caucasus who are Rossiyane.”
All this prompts the question: Can the situation be corrected without changing Russia’s borders or imposing draconian central control? According to Svyatenkov, many thought in the 1990s that Eurasianism might be the solution, but it has become clear that “it is only a version of the ‘multi-nationality’ concept which underlies the Russian constitutional order.”
Moreover, its main propagandist, Aleksandr Dugin, now elicits only “ironic smiles” not only “among ‘liberals’ but also among Orthodox conservatives.”
At the same time, the commentator points out, “the Russian political establishment is not ready at present to arm itself with the conception of Russia as the nation state of the [ethnic]Russians,” as Russian nationalists would like, out of a fear that to do so would exacerbate relations among the country’s various nationalities.
And thus, the concept of the “Russian world” has emerged “as a compromise between that of ‘the multi-national people’ and the concept of ‘nation state.”
In contrast to “multi-nationality” and “Eurasianism,” the Russian world concept is based on “the firm link between ethnic Russians and Russia, one that is cultural, historical and religious.” Thus, all who see themselves as part of Russian culture even if they are not ethnic Russians are part of the Russian world, and all who do so because of the centrality of Orthodoxy view Russia as part of Europe rather than the descendent of the Mongol horde.
The Russian world idea is thus inclusive rather than exclusive, drawing other peoples within the borders of the Russian Federation and beyond rather than pushing them away toward the formation of separate states. And it is that quality and its domestic implications which have attracted so many people to this idea and made it into what is today almost a state ideology.”
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Paul Goble
Staunton, December 4 – The violence overnight in the Chechen capital not only underscores the fragility of peace in the North Caucasus but represents “a last warning” to Vladimir Putin that he must change course or face a future in which he will be searching for political asylum somewhere outside of Russia, according to Vladimir Ogryzko.
Ogryzko, a Kyiv commentator who earlier served as Ukraine’s foreign minister, says in “Novoye vremya” today that “the events in Grozny are the latest ‘little bell’ for Putin and his regime, which show that the Kremlin must immediately rethink the situation” and change course (nvua.net/opinion/ogryzko/sobytiya-v-groznom-poslednee-preduprezhdenie-dlya-putina-23549.html).
“A continuation of Moscow’s [current] aggressive policy will lead to only one thing: the acceleration of the disintegration of Russia into parts,” he says. Thinking people in the Russian regime must recognize this, and the longer they delay acting, “the greater the probability will be for the strengthening of centrifugal trends and the appearance of new sources of conflict.”
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov showed that he does not understand the situation by leaving his capital and going to Moscow to listen to Putin, “despite the events in Grozny.” And this in and of itself is one more indication that “both the central and regional Russian leadership is completely lacking in an adequate understanding” of what they now face.
To put it most bluntly, Ogryzko continues, “the problems of the Russian Federation are beginning to shift from the economic area to the political one, with all the negative consequences which can in a short time cast doubt on the fact of the existence of Russia.” All of Moscow’s muscle flexing cannot solve the problem. Indeed, it may only make it worse.
Former Soviets Charged With Insurance Fraud In New Yorkby noreply@rferl.org (RFE/RL)
Ten New York residents, including five former Soviet citizens, have been charged in a $70 million scheme to defraud Medicaid and Medicare at health clinics in New York. Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced on December 3 that the suspects were arrested earlier that day. Five of the suspects: Victor Lipkin, 49; Vadim Zubkov, 46; Eduard Zavalunov, 33; Nikoloz Chochiev, 39; and Anatoly Fatakhov, 57, are from the former Soviet Union....
Invitation
Where is Russia Heading?
Following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea and Putin’s support for the separatists in Eastern Ukraine the world seemed rosy to many Russians. But Putin’s actions led to Western sanctions and combined with the dramatic fall in the oil price the Russian economy is now in serious trouble. The rouble has dropped 40% since the summer and there are growing signs of dissatisfaction about social issues, such as the parlous state of the health system. Putin has blamed the West for Russia’s problems and talked of ‘hard times’ ahead. He has also cancelled the South Stream pipeline project. Under these circumstances what are the options for Russia? Does Putin know where he wants to take the country? What are the prospects for modernising the economy? Does the urban middle class believe in change? What are the implications for EU-Russia relations? Could a deal with the Eurasia Union be a possible way forward?
To discuss these issues, including the results of a new EURC/Levada Centre survey on the Russian urban middle classes, the EU-Russia Centre invites you to a panel discussion from 1700-1830 on 16 December at the Press Club, 95 Rue Froissart, 1040 Brussels. To confirm your attendance, please send an e mail to info@eu-russiacentre.org.
Programme
1700 Welcome: Fraser Cameron, Director, EU-Russia Centre
1705 Panel Discussion
Sergey Utkin, Head of Department of Strategic Assessment, Russian Academy of Sciences
Marc Franco, Senior Fellow, EU-RC and ex-EU ambassador to Russia
Jane Amilhat, Deputy Head of Unit for Russia/CIS, DG Trade
Maria Ordzhonikidze, Secretary General, EU-Russia Centre
1745 Q and A
1830 Close
1705 Panel Discussion
Sergey Utkin, Head of Department of Strategic Assessment, Russian Academy of Sciences
Marc Franco, Senior Fellow, EU-RC and ex-EU ambassador to Russia
Jane Amilhat, Deputy Head of Unit for Russia/CIS, DG Trade
Maria Ordzhonikidze, Secretary General, EU-Russia Centre
1745 Q and A
1830 Close
Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday that Russia’s actions in Ukraine had resulted in “hundreds of Russian soldiers who fight and die in a country where they had and have no right to be.”
"И победить"! Послание Путина by Радио Свобода
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Графика Сергея Ёлкина в движении Ссылка на источник.
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From: Радио Свобода
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Wednesday at Business Roundtable quarterly meeting, President Barack Obama said that his executive action granting amnesty to upwards of 5 million illegal immigrants already living in the Untied States means "temperatures need to cool" before comprehensive immigration reform can be passed.
After answering a question on his legislative priorities the president said, "Finally on immigration I think that's something that probably comes last. I suspect that temperatures need to cool a bit in wake of my executive action."
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Wednesday, in reacting to the news that a grand jury declined to indict the New York City Police Officer involved in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, President Barack Obama said, "I want everybody to understand that this week in the wake of Ferguson we initiated a task force whose job it is to come back to me with specific recommendations about how we strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color and minority communities that feel that bias is taking place."
"[It] speaks to the larger issues that we've been talking about now for the last week, the last month, the last year, and sadly for decades," Obama said. "And that is, the concern on the part of too many minority communities that law enforcement is not working with them and dealing with them in a fair way. And there's going to be, I'm sure, additional statements by law enforcement, my tradition is not to remark on cases where there may still be an investigation. But i want everybody to understand that this week in the wake of Ferguson we initiated a task force whose job it is to come back to me with specific recommendations about how we strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and communities of color and minority communities that feel that bias is taking place."
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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On Wednesday’s “Special Report” on the Fox News Channel, Washington Post columnist Charles Krauthammer reacted to the New York City grand jury’s decision not to indict a NYC police officer for the chokehold death of Eric Garner.
“The timing is unfortunate,” he said. “This has no connection with what happened in Ferguson. From looking at the video, the grand jury's decision here is totally incomprehensible. It looks as if at least they might have indicted him on something like involuntary manslaughter, at the very least. The guy actually said, ‘I can't breathe,’ which ought to be a signal that the guy was unarmed, and the crime was as petty as they come … He was selling loose cigarettes, which is in and of itself almost absurd that someone has to die over that. But here’s the problem – you have the feeling as I do that anybody who looks at the video would think, that this was the wrong judgment. The problem is in our system you don't have double jeopardy. If a grand jury makes a mistake, that's the way it is.”“However, because of our history, there's a way to get around that, and that's a federal investigation,” Krauthammer continued. “And again because of our history, that has to be a violation of civil rights, which implies that this was a racial incident. So in order to get the second examination on this, without having double jeopardy, they have to squeeze this case into one of deliberate racism and I don't know if there's any evidence for that. But when the president says another case of inequality in treatment, the implication it was whereas you could easily explain it as one cop out of tens of thousands in the country who might have acted improperly, the use of excessive force or whatever. But the idea that it was a racial incident is required if you're going to have a second investigation. And that I think is a problem, but that derives from our history and it forces this into the category of racism.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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On Wednesday, a New York grand jury refused to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of 43-year-old Eric Garner. Pantaleo is white; Garner is black. That one fact meant that the President of the United States and the Mayor of New York City took to the microphones to denounce American racism. President Obama talked about the “concern on the part of too many minority communities that law enforcement is not working with them and dealing with them in a fair way.” De Blasio went further, of course, calling for “action” and suggesting that the incident represented the culmination of “centuries of racism.”
Unlike the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, Missouri, there is excellent cause for concern here. But that concern does not mean that facts of the case ought to become irrelevant.
The Case. The incident was caught on tape by a friend of Garner’s, and shows Garner, who weighed some 400 lbs., being confronted by police over distributing unlicensed cigarettes (colloquially called “loosies”). The video shows Garner resisting arrest, although not violently so – he shouts at officers, “Every time you see me you want to arrest me, I’m tired of this, this stops today…I didn’t do nothing…I’m minding my business, officer…” while waving his arms animatedly -- before Pantaleo comes up behind him and places his left arm around Garner’s neck, bringing his right arm up below Garner’s right arm. Garner raises his hands, falling backwards, at which point three other officers physically grab Garner. He falls to the ground, Pantaleo hanging onto his back with his arm still around Garner’s neck. The officers tell Garner to put his hands behind his head, and Garner complains that he cannot breathe. Pantaleo forces Garner’s head to the cement. It is clear that witnesses do not believe Garner has been put in mortal danger.
Garner died a few minutes later.
The autopsy from the medical examiner attributed his death to homicide – meaning death at the hands of another party, not murder, in medical parlance – and stated that he died thanks to “Compression of neck (choke hold), compression of chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police.” But the autopsy further noted that Garner died thanks to acute and chronic bronchial asthma, obesity, and heart disease.
The Charges. First off, it is vital to note that nobody knows exactly the charges filed with the grand jury against Pantaleo. According to ABC News, the charges could have included “second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, felony assault, reckless endangerment.” The charges matter, since each individual charge carries with it requirements for different elements. As Professor Eugene O’Donnell of the John Jay Criminal College of Criminal Justice wrote in The New York Daily News:
As a practical matter — on the basis of past cases — the grand jury would likely indict only if it found malice or some intention to hurt Mr. Garner or that a gross disregard for Mr. Garner’s well-being is what created the tragic ending during this routine arrest. Finding that the officer was careless or that the arrest was bungled will not rise to the level of a crime.
The Arrest. It is vital to separate out the actions of the police from the rationale for their action. That’s because by virtually any logic, it is the height of irresponsibility and depravity for a man to end up dead for selling loose cigarettes. The law that led to this confrontation was pressed forward by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; Garner had been arrested some eight times for selling “loosies.” As Lawrence McQuillan reported in The Washington Times:
In January 2014, tough new penalties for selling untaxed cigarettes took effect in New York City. In July, emboldened by the new law, the city’s highest-ranking uniformed cop, Philip Banks, issued an order to crack down on loosie sales days before Garner died.
So in terms of police cracking down on Garner, the real responsibility lies with Bloomberg and NYPD Chief Bill Bratton. Idiot laws lead to meaningless deaths.
The “Chokehold.” At issue in this case is the so-called “chokehold” used by Pantaleo. Chokeholds have been banned by the NYPD entirely since 1993; chokeholds are typically defined as holds that prevent people from breathing. Thanks to the video showing Garner stating that he cannot breathe, many pundits have wrongly suggested that Pantaleo was “choking” Garner by depriving him of air from his windpipe. Bratton himself suggested that Pantaleo used a “chokehold,” which is defined by the NYPD as “any pressure to the throat or windpipe, which may prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air.”
That does not appear to have been the case. Garner did not die of asphyxiation, as the head of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association noted at the time. The preliminary autopsy showed no damage to Garner’s windpipe or neck bones.
So what was Pantaleo doing? He was applying a submission hold, which is not barred by the NYPD, and is designed to deprive the brain of oxygen by stopping blood flow through the arteries. So say the experts on submission holds.
It appears that the so-called chokehold was instrumental in triggering Garner’s pre-existing health problems and causing his death, but Garner was not choked to death, as the media seems to maintain. According to Garner’s friends, he “had several health issues: diabetes, sleep apnea, and asthma so severe that he had to quit his job as a horticulturist for the city’s parks department. He wheezed when he talked and could not walk a block without resting, they said.”
Excessive Force. There is no clear and concise guideline available on excessive force. According to Mark Henriquez, project manager for the National Police Use of Force Database Project at the International Association of Chiefs of Police, only .44 percent of all force complaints were considered excessive from 1994-1998.
So, in deciding whether a grand jury should have indicted Garner, we should assess the following questions:
- Was there any intent by the officers to kill Garner? That would certainly be an uphill case to make, as the grand jury likely found.
- Did the “chokehold” kill Garner, or did his pre-existing health conditions kill him? If Garner had otherwise been healthy, would he have died from use of the “chokehold”?
- If not, would use of the “chokehold” have been reckless?
- Was the use of the “chokehold” reasonable use of force rather than excessive use of force? Was the “chokehold” necessary to subdue him?
Unfortunately, in situations like the Garner case, our gut tends to overwhelm our assessment of the facts. We are sickened, as we should be, by the idea that a man died over sale of loose cigarettes – which is an indictment of the law, rather than of the police. We are sickened by the fact that a man died while warning officers he could not breathe – but we must assess whether that death was caused by the officers, or intervening medical conditions.
When people’s lives are at stake, it is worthwhile to actually examine those facts, rather than pre-conceived narratives constructed for political gain. And it is worthwhile noting that even if the police did use excessive force against Garner – which, of course, is quite possible – that still does not establish that they did so for racial reasons.
Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the new book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.
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University of Austin researchers had lost their minds (brains), but then realized that dozens of human brains they reported missing were actually disposed of 12 years ago.
The university released a statement wednesday saying environmental workers disposed of between 40 and 60 jars, some of which contained multiple brains, after faculty members said the specimens weren't suitable for research or teaching purposes.-Fox
The university says it came to the conclusion after a preliminary investigation. It also says there's no evidence to support claims that one of the missing preserved brains belonged to Charles Whitman, who fatally shot 16 people from the university's clock tower in 1966.
The Austin State Hospital transferred the jars to the university about 28 years ago.
The University will not confirm, nor deny that one of those missing brains belonged to Vice President Joe Biden.
Nineteenth century military genius Carl von Clausewitz coined the phrase: “War is a mere continuation of politics by other means." In his day, the number of wars was limited by the time and expense to organize large armies and then march across borders to inflict pain.
War was much more expensive in the twentieth century, but the number of conflicts expanded because planes and missiles cut the time it took to inflict pain. Proliferating technologies make it now possible for any nation to acquire cyber tools at minimal cost to instantly inflict pain on any other nation. Clausewitz would expect the number of cyberwars to grow exponentially in the twenty-first century.
The advent of cyberwar represents a new “high bar risk” as the U.S. faces-off against a deadly trifecta of cutting-edge digital technologies, advanced military weapons, and the ability to disrupt critical infrastructure. With this type of war built around digital technology, America’s enemies will focus on turning our own technology against us.
The first year of the twenty-first century will be remembered for 19 illegal aliens who trained at a Florida school to use U.S. commercial airliners as improvised explosive devices. The 9/11 terroristsslaughtered more Americans than died at Pearl Harbor. With the U.S. government politically forced to declare war on much of the Middle East, the financial cost from the attacks and subsequent military response is over $3.3 trillion.
Former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism for the United States, Richard A. Clarke, defined "cyberwarfare” as “actions by a nation-state to penetrate another nation's computers or networks for the purposes of causing damage or disruption.” When confronted with the statistic that less than 0.0025% of revenue at the average U.S. corporation was being spent on information technology security, Clarke warned: “If you spend more on coffee than on IT security, then you will be hacked. What's more, you deserve to be hacked.”
Edward Snowden’s revelations concerning the militarized activities of the NSA highlight cyberwarfare’s danger to the U.S. corporate sector. Military power in the cyber domain is projected through the civilian computer networks of U.S. tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Verizon, and Apple. The cooperation or conscription of private U.S. networks for cyberwarfare attacks or defenses creates an extreme liability for these firms. U.S. tech companies are top targets for suspicion and potential retaliation by enemy states.
The main proliferator of cyberwarfare capabilities to potential enemies of the United States is the boom in attendance by international students at U.S. colleges. The State Department’s 2014 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange reported the number of international students studying at U.S. colleges grew since 2000 by 72% to 886,052. About 23% of international students worldwide now study in the U.S.
Over 315,000 or 35% of international college students in the U.S. are enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This compares to about 3.1 million or 28% of American-born college students with STEM majors. But unlike international students that overwhelmingly graduate in their major, 48% of American-born students drop STEM majors before graduation.
Forbes reported Chinese cybercrooks are stealing secrets from leading U.S. weapons systems manufacturers; Iran has invaded the operations of leading American banks to plant malicious viruses that could cause a debilitating financial crisis; and Russian hackers are breaking into the networks of U.S. oil and gas companies to gain access to their industrial control systems.
Yet, 276,000 Chinese, 4,500 Russians, and 8,700 Iranians are legally enrolled as international students at U.S. colleges. Some of these students will eventually return home armed with cyberweapons-of-mass-destruction they can deploy against America.
Clausewitz stressed three centuries ago that great military commanders are prepared to respond to incomplete, dubious, and often completely erroneous information coupled with high levels of fear, doubt, and excitement that he termed the “fog of war.”
Low cost cyberwarfare tools allow adversaries of the United States to inflict pain and instantly create the fog of war by attacking American computer networks. Since no nation on earth currently has the equipment and financial resources to win a conventional military war against America, cyberwar will be the primary existential threat to the peace and security of the United States in the twenty-first century.
Chriss Street suggests that if you are interested in U.S. infrastructure, please click on Hoover Dam Low Water Could Double SoCal Water Prices.
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Guatemalan immigration officials are seeing an increase in people leaving their country hoping to benefit from President Barack Obama’s executive order that granted amnesty to approximately 5 million illegal aliens living in America.
Following the November 20 announcement about executive action on immigration, Guatemala has seen a spike in migration from individuals thinking they will also benefit from it, Guatemala’s La Prensa Libre reported.
While in televised speeches and in press conferences Obama Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson have said that the executive action is only for those who have been in the country for more than five years and others would be placed into priority deportation list, the message appears to have already been twisted in Central America.
According to the Latin American publication, Alejandra Gordillo, the director of the Guatemalan Migrant Assistance Council, said the immigration announcement can be a motivator for human smugglers who can trick Guatemalans in to paying large sums under the impression that they would be welcomed into America with open arms.
Gordillo said that two of her department’s offices have been contacted by people who are planning on traveling to America without documents thinking they will be included in the executive action.
La Prensa Libre claims that in the past 11 months, Guatemala has already seen more than 48,000 deportations with even more expected in the coming months.
Follow Ildefonso Ortiz on Twitter @ildefonsoortiz
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Piling on to the racial fiasco known as Ferguson, AG Eric Holder has announced that he would be pressing forward with another federal civil rights case investigating the death of Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, on July 17, after a New York City grand jury nixed any indictment of Officer Daniel Pantaleo.
It is obvious that holder and the Obama administration are trying to make a white-on-black violence case, but where is the outrage, and where is the federal investigation into the 2012 shooting death of a white man, who was killed by a black police officer in Mobile, Alabama?
The shooting incident in Mobile, is eerily similar to the Ferguson case, in that a police officer shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old white man, who just so happened to be high on drugs.
In this case, a grand jury was also called to look into the shooting, but against pressure by the public to indict the black officer, the jury did not levy charges against the police officer.
Is this racial hypocrisy by Obama and Holder?
As New Yorkers take stock of a grand jury decision not to indict a police officer for the choking death of a suspect, news has slipped under the radar that there was one person who was indicted for his actions during last July's fatal arrest attempt. The man who took the famous video of the incident was indicted on charges of illegal possession of a pistol.
On Wednesday evening, a New York grand jury announced that it was not going to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo for the July death of the 350-pound, six-foot-three Eric Garner. Garner died after the officer used a choke hold to subdue him.
Another man was also present that day and he used his cell phone to video the officers as they tried to arrest Garner.
Ramsey Orta, Garner's associate, was on hand when the officers made their attempt to arrest Garner for selling illegal cigarettes. After the incident with Garner, police also detained Orta, saying he had an illegal .25 caliber pistol on his person when they arrived on the scene.
Police said Orta slipped the illegal gun into the waistband of a teen standing near the scene of the altercation before he took out his cell phone to record Garner's arrest.
Orta was arrested and charged with illegal possession of a weapon after Garner's failed arrest.
In his own defense, Orta claimed that the police filed false gun charges against him because they were upset that his film of Garner's death became national news. A New York grand jury, however, discounted Orta's claims and indicted him on one felony count each of third-degree criminal weapon possession and criminal firearm possession.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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On Thursday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani took on the reaction of his successor, current New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, for his reaction to Wednesday’s announcement of a grand jury decision not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo for a chokehold that allegedly led to the death of Eric Garner.
“This helps to create this atmosphere of protests and sometimes even violence,” Giuliani said. “First of all, there was no racism in this case. There is no indication if this man were a white man resisting arrest, the same thing would happen. If I recall, there was an African-American sergeant on the scene observing, in charge of the entire situation, never did anything to stop … observing the technique used.”“As far as I know,” he continued. “Again, I haven't seen the grand jury's transcript. She did nothing to interrupt it. That might have weighed in the grand jury's decision. But to suggest racism was involved, just because it's a white man and black man, and then also to talk about families worried about their children? There are a handful of police shootings of blacks -- a handful. I don't know the exact percentage. Different city, 1 percent, 2 percent, 3 percent. Ninety-six percent of the time it's a black child being killed by a black.”“So this is like you have two streets,” Giuliani added. “Ninety-six percent of your action takes place on one street. Two percent takes place on the other. And the mayor is telling his son, worry about the one with the 2 percent, not the one with the 96 percent. If he wants to train young black men and how to avoid being killed in a city, you can talk about police. Police should never kill anybody unjustifiably. I’ve put them in jail when that happens. But you should spend 90 percent of your time talking about the way they're actually probably going to get killed, which is by another black. To avoid that fact, to avoid that fact, I think is racism.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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This article was originally published in the Washington Post.
The White House has defended President Obama’s unilateral decision to legalize the presence of nearly 4 million undocumented immigrants as consistent, even in scope, with the executive actions of previous presidents. In fact, it is increasingly clear that the sweeping magnitude of Mr. Obama’s order is unprecedented.
Central to the administration’s argument is its contention that the 4 million covered by the president’s order — some 36 percent of the estimated undocumented population of 11 million — is in line with the percentage covered by a comparable action by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. At that time, there were about 3.5 million illegal immigrants in the country; Mr. Obama, administration officials and their allies have said that about 1.5 million of them — the spouses and children of previously amnestied immigrants — benefited from Mr. Bush’s move.
In addition to the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, and Mr. Obama himself, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel citedthe Bush executive action as precedent, using the figure of 1.5 million immigrants.
Read the rest of the article here.
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On December 1st, a figure in a black burqa, armed with an eight-inch knife, entered the upscale Boutik shopping mall located in Reem Island, the neighborhood where most of Abu Dhabi’s 40,000 expatriates live.
The black burqa’ed figure waited for more than an hour in a woman’s toilet—then stabbed the first white blonde infidel American woman who came in to use the facilities six times until she was dead. Then, with the possible help of two other women, the mysterious black burqa’ed figure either smoothly and calmly walked away, or did so in a frenzied fashion (there are conflicting eye witness reports about this). In any event, the killer entered an elevator and disappeared.
The victim’s name was Ibolya Ryan. She was a Hungarian-born and Romanian-raised kindergarten teacher and the divorced mother of two 11 year-old twin boys, Adam and Aiden. Her former husband lives in Colorado. Ryan had described herself in an online profile for a teacher-recruiting company as “Romanian born” and someone who has worked “in four countries over the last 15 years.” Ryan wanted to “experience the Arab world…their culture and daily life.”
Tragically, she has done just that. At a time of fierce Islamic fundamentalist Jihad, Ibolya, a civilian, may have been targeted by Jihadists. On October 29, 2014, the Embassy of the United States Abu Dhabi UAE posted a “message” for U.S. Citizens, especially “Teachers at International Schools.” An anonymous posting on a Jihadist site, which encouraged “attacks against teachers at American and other international schools in the Middle East,” prompted the Embassy to issue a “security warning.” This included the following:
Avoid crowds or large gatherings when traveling in public; Identify safe areas (for example police stations, hospitals) in your area and how to get to them quickly; Tell co-workers or neighbors where you are going and when you intend to return; Minimize your profile while in public; Always carry a cellphone…; Be prepared to postpone or cancel activities for personal safety concerns.
In other words: Live vigilantly, live fearfully, live indoors as much as possible and have as little contact with strangers, especially with Arab Muslim strangers, as possible.
This is no way to live. But that is the point of such terrorist intimidation-- namely, to make life unlivable, unbearable, so that the infidel will either convert to Jihadic Islamism or leave Muslim lands.
On the other hand, the UAE is a strong ally of the United States. Every state in the United States exports to the UAE and more than 1000 American firms have an on-the-ground presence. Strategic American and UAE alliances exist in terms of oil, medical, and military equipment and personnel—but most important, perhaps, is the fact that the UAE “was the first country to support the United States at the advent of Desert Storm; the only Arab country to participate with the US in five coalition actions over the last 20 years: Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Bosnia-Kosovo, and the First Gulf War.”
More importantly, the UAE supports and enforces UN sanctions to contain Iranian nuclear weapons capabilities and, since mid-September of this year, “the UAE has flown dozens of missions against ISIL targets.”
The murder of Ibolya Ryan might also have been a targeted message to the governments of both the UAE and the United States, one that hoped to destroy their relationship in terms of the ongoing joint fight against the most barbaric forms of Islamic fundamentalism.
Jihadists wish to intimidate Americans abroad in Muslim countries so that they move back to America. But Jihadists also wish to punish any individual Muslim or Muslim country for daring to work with infidels against Islamic fundamentalists. How this intimidation is handled, both by individuals and by governments, is bound to affect the course of the war between civilization and barbarism.
Photo via Daily Mail.
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Finance More: Russia Putin Ukraine Immigrants
Russia's Brain Drain Is Astounding
Reuters
Although emigration trended downward from 1997 to 2011, there was a sudden spike in people leaving the country around the third term of President Vladimir Putin, according to Rosstat, Russia's federal state statistics service.
In 2012, almost 123,000 people left, and in 2013, more than 186,000 got out.
Additionally, a UN report showed that 40,000 Russians applied for asylum in 2013 — 76% more than in 2012.
The biggest bombshell of all is that since April 2014 — a month after Russia annexed Crimea — 203,659 Russians have left the country.
By comparison, approximately 37,000 people left the country in 2011, and less than 34,000 people left in 2010.
Furthermore, the emigration numbers may be even higher. "The official statistics are very low," Mikhail Gorshkov, the director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Sociology told Reuters.
Elena Holodny/Business Insider
"While the total number of Russians who leave for good remains relatively small, the profile of the typical emigrant has changed. When the Soviet Union dissolved, the most common emigrant was a poor, unskilled young man. Today, it is a well-off professional," according to World Policy.
"People who have it good are starting to leave," Anton Nosski, a tech entrepreneur, told World Policy.
Notable individuals who have left include chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, economist Sergei Guriyev, journalist Leonid Bershidsky, and the founder of VKontakte (Russia's version of Facebook) Pavel Durov.
For the most part, these people are leaving either for their children or for their professional futures. "Corruption, red tape, and allegedly crooked courts are [also] driving the exodus among entrepreneurs," according to Reuters.
"I want my children to grow up in a fairer country, one where the rule of law is more or less observed. I used think it was possible to build a better society in Russia, but I've basically lost all hope now. It's time to leave," one Russian businessman told Vocativ.
"Russian venture capital funds want to invest their money only in Russia," start-up founder Artem Kulizhnikov told Bloomberg news, "but we want to build an international business and they won't support us."
Additionally, Russia's "creative class" is starting to feel isolated, although some politicians seem unfazed.
"Russia won't lose anything if the entire so-called creative class leaves. What's the creative class anyway? For me, a woman who gets up at 5 a.m. to milk a cow is creative because she produces something. Not some guy with a stupid haircut who sits in a cafe all day long writing in his blog," said Vitaly Milonov, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg.
But the brain drain isn't the whole story. A huge influx of immigrants are entering Russia as well.
Elena Holodny/Business Insider
This makes sense: If many high-level individuals and intellectuals are leaving Russia, more high-end jobs and opportunities will become available in Russia.
According to the UN, Russia saw the second-largest number of international migrants in 2013. The number of people moving into Russia actually tops the number of people moving out (which you can see above.)
Many of the immigrants come from countries like Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, according to data from Rosstat.
Additionally, millennials who are culturally Russian but were born in the US or Europe are considering opportunities in Russia.
"There are opportunities for my children in Moscow that aren't found anywhere else," one parent told BI.
"I believe that Russia is at a point where they realize they cannot rely on just oil and gas to keep up with the other BRIC countries and Western economies. Russia is looking to diversify its economy,"one 20-something told BI. "The opportunities in Russia seem to be more promising than here in the States currently. Before the current sanctions and drastic low oil prices, Russia was a top seven economic power. As a young Russian-American, I've thought about pursuing opportunities abroad that do not exist in the US."
The bottom line: Russia is seeing some dramatic demographic changes that could greatly influence its economic and political future.
NOW WATCH — Watch This Mesmerizing Time-Lapse Of All The Flights Across The North Atlantic In 24 Hours
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SEE ALSO: Russia Is Falling Into A Recession
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My impression was that Russian emmigrants were pretty educated for the last 20 years, but that may be my sample bias.
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New York Daily News |
Gymnast who died in dumbwaiter remembered for desire to help
New York Daily News The Wisconsin gymnast who died inside a bar's dumbwaiter Monday was an All-American athlete who only left the beam to pursue her second passion: helping others. Brooke Baures, a senior at Winona State, spent three years on the gymnastics team before ... Brooke Baures, College Gymnast, Found Dead In DumbwaiterHuffington Post Winona State University Student Brooke Baures Found Dead, Remembered as a ...University Herald Wisconsin Gymnast Found Dead in Restaurant DumbwaiterNBC Chicago WLS-TV -Fox News -American Live Wire all 181 news articles » |
Already facing a plunging currency and an armed conflict with pro-Russian militants, Ukrainians are now enduring electricity blackouts after a fault knocked out a generator at a nuclear-power station and other plants ran low on coal.
BRUSSELS — The military campaign against Islamist extremists in Syria and Iraq is inflicting heavy damage, said officials from a coalition working to uproot the militants from their self-declared caliphate.
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Detroit restoring power following massive outageby The European Union Times
Power is slowly returning to Detroit, Michigan, after a massive power outage on Tuesday morning left much of the Motor City in the dark.
As of 2:15 p.m., about 33 percent of the power outages had been restored, according to the Detroit Free Press, while the majority of city buildings should have electricity back by the evening. In a statement, the city said the power grid was shut down following a “major cable failure.”
“The city’s public lighting grid suffered a major cable failure that has caused the entire grid to lose power at approximately 10:30 this morning,” read the statement. “The outage is affecting all customers on the PLD grid. We have isolated the issue and are working to restore power as soon as possible.”
Spokespeople for the city and DTE Energy confirmed at around 11:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday that most of Detroit’s municipal grid is offline, preventing power from being delivered to police stations, schools, traffic lights and other city-run facilities and services.
Municipal buildings were being evacuated, WXYZ Radio anchor Alicia Smith tweeted early Tuesday, although eyewitnesses on the ground told her shortly after 11 a.m. that people were reportedly becoming stuck in elevators.
According to Smith, a spokesperson for the city of Detroit confirmed that most of the municipal power grid was down. Residential structures are apparently unaffected, and some of the emergency facilities — like fire stations — have back-up generators, a local Fox News affiliate reported.
“It looks like the entire Detroit Public Lighting system is down. Affecting about 100 buildings, places like The Joe, Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, fire stations, schools. We were notified about 10:30 a.m. We’re working with them to help resolve the situation. We’ll help investigate the problem and make repairs. It’s too early yet to determine what has caused the shutdown,” Scott Simons of DTE Energy Co. told the Detroit News.
Detroit Fire Chief Jack Wiley added to Fox 2 that every one of the city’s firehouse was experiencing outages early Tuesday. Around 50 buildings on the local Wayne State University campus were impacted as well, according to the college, and grade schools in the city were shutting down for the day.
“We have crisis plans in place. There are backup generators running in buildings, especially buildings with labs,” Tom Reynolds, associate director of public relations for Wayne State University, told Detroit News journalist Holly Fournier.
According to the paper, a high-profile murder-for-hire trial was interrupted due to the outages.
“This is unusual … it’s cold. They don’t own a generator? They should look into that,” one attendee at the proceedings told the News.
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Francesco Schettino insists he saved lives by not sounding the emergency alarm immediately after the doomed cruise ship hit rocks.
The Grand Imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar Mosque, Ahmed al-Tayeb, has accused Islamic State (IS) of "barbarity" and said the Sunni extremist group's ideology is incompatible with the teachings of Islamic law.
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