Welcome to the Overnight News Digest (OND) for Tuesday, August 12, 2014.
OND is a regular
community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing near 12:00AM Eastern Time.
Creation and early water-bearing of the OND concept came from our very own Magnifico - proper respect is due.
---
This diary is named for its "Hump Point" video: Born on the Bayou by Creedence Clearwater Revival
News below Aunt Flossie's hairdo . . .
Please feel free to browse and add your own links, content or thoughts in the Comments section.
Any timestamps shown are relative to each publication.
---------------------------------------
|
|
Top News |
|
Why is the Cuomo Administration Automatically Deleting State Employees’ Emails?
By Theodoric Meyer
|
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration — which the governor pledged would be the most transparent in state history — has quietly adopted policies that allow it to purge the emails of tens of thousands of state employees, cutting off a key avenue for understanding and investigating state government.
. . .
A previously unpublished memo outlining the policy raises new questions about the state's stated rationale for its deletions policy. What's more, the rules on which emails must be retained are bewilderingly complex – they fill 118 pages – leading to further concern that emails may not be saved at all.
. . .
The length of time emails are required to be kept varies by category. Any emails related to "human rights training," for instance, must be kept for six years. Emails concerning "agency fiscal management" must be kept for three years. Emails about "the development of internal administrative policies and procedures" must be kept for a year, but emails "used to support administrative analysis, planning and development of procedures" can be deleted as soon as they're "obsolete," according to the rules.
. . .
The state also doesn't have a standardized system for preserving emails that do have to be saved, according to the Office of Information Technology Services official. State workers can save their emails by printing them out, pasting them into Microsoft Word documents or placing them in a special folder in the email program itself.
. . .
Cuomo's aides have also developed a reputation for using their personal email accounts to conduct state business — a move that can make it more difficult to seek the emails under the state's freedom of information law. The Cuomo administration has denied that it does so, but a ProPublica reporter and others have, in fact, received such emails from officials.
|
Wolverines lose chances at protection over climate change 'ambiguity'
By (AP via theguardian.com)
|
Federal wildlife officials plan to withdraw proposed protections for the snow-loving wolverine Tuesday, in a course reversal that highlights lingering uncertainties over what a warming climate means for some temperature-sensitive species.
. . .
US Fish and Wildlife Service director Dan Ashe said predictions about climate change’s localized impacts remain “ambiguous”. Rejecting the conclusions of the agency’s own scientists, Ashe said that made it impossible to determine whether less snow cover would put wolverines in danger of extinction in coming decades.
The decision carries potential ramifications for other species affected by climate change – from Alaska’s bearded seals and the Pacific walrus to dozens of species of corals – as scientists and regulators grapple with limits on computer climate models.
. . .
But Running added that climate trajectories over recent decades give an accurate depiction of what’s in store and should be used by wildlife managers now to make long-term decisions. Over the past 50 years, he said, the snow melt in the northern Rockies has shifted two weeks earlier in the spring.
|
Ethical to use untested Ebola drugs, says WHO
By (BBC)
|
Untested drugs can be used to treat patients infected with the Ebola virus, the World Health Organization says.
The WHO said it was ethical in light of the scale of the outbreak and high number of deaths - more than 1,000 people have died in West Africa.
. . .
It was also unclear where the funding for the treatment would come from.
. . .
"We know there may be risks associated with it," the minister added, "but choosing a risk and choosing dying I am sure many would prefer to see that risk happen"
|
|
|
|
International |
|
The threat of Pakistan's angry young marchers
By (BBC)
|
As Pakistani authorities brace themselves for two huge protest movements taking to the streets on Thursday, Pakistan's Independence Day, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan considers the implications of this assault on the leadership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
. . .
Analysts say that to a growing chunk of the Pakistani youth - which makes up more than 50% of the national population - Mr Khan comes across as a possible saviour against what they see as "corrupt and inept" leaders.
. . .
Their anger follows from their frustration over a sinking economy, the uncontrolled growth of militancy, and a system of service delivery that has nearly ground to a halt.
Mr Khan is now threatening to let loose this mass of anger and frustration on Islamabad unless the prime minister resigns and paves the way for early elections.
|
Australia-US talks: 'Action needed' on foreign fighters
By (BBC)
|
The US and Australia have highlighted the threat posed by foreign jihadi fighters returning from Syria and Iraq, amid horror in Australia over a graphic image involving a young boy.
. . .
The photo shows a young boy, believed to be the son of an Australian man convicted of terrorism offences, using both hands to hold up the severed head of a Syrian.
. . .
About 150 Australians are believed to be fighting with militants in the Middle East.
Last week, Australia announced laws that would restrict its citizens from travelling to certain countries, in a bid to prevent nationals joining extremist groups overseas.
|
‘Eternal’ university students to be ousted
By (ekathimerini.com)
|
Thousands of students who are taking too long to complete their university courses will be barred from continuing their degrees, Education Minister Andreas Loverdos said on Monday.
As a result of reforms passed a few years ago, the names of any students taking longer than 11 years to complete courses that should run to a maximum of five years will be scrubbed from university registers.
. . .
Loverdos argued that although most of these students were not a financial burden for the state, the cleaning up of university records would allow the government to make more accurate calculations about the number of teaching and administrative staff required at the public institutions.
The minister refused to give further information about the government’s proposal to allow university students to freely transfer between institutions. This has created fears that universities in rural areas will lose students as parents seek to save money by bringing their children closer to home.
|
Military wives protest Boko Haram deployment
By (Al Jazeera)
|
Military wives in the restive Nigerian city of Maiduguri have taken to the streets this week, burning tyres to prevent their husbands' deployment to fight Boko Haram.
About 300 women and 500 children have for two days gathered at the gates of a military base in the Borno state capital, claiming that their spouses were ill-equipped to take on the armed group.
"No weapons for our husbands, no trip to Gwoza or any volatile place. We are tired of burying our loved ones," Thabita John, one of the protesting wives, said on Monday.
. . .
Boko Haram has been waging a brutal insurgency since 2009 which has left thousands of people dead, despite a state of emergency imposed in three northeast states since May 2013 and a troop surge.
|
|
|
|
USA Politics, Economy, Major Events |
|
LA Clippers sold to ex-Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer
By (BBC)
|
Former Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has purchased the Los Angeles Clippers for $2bn (1.2bn) after a court cleared the way for the sale.
A Los Angeles judge confirmed Shelly Sterling could sell the basketball franchise over the objections of her estranged husband Donald Sterling.
. . .
The $2bn sale price is the highest ever paid for an NBA team.
"Really excited - in a pretty hardcore way to continue the path to making the Clippers a better and better basketball team, and a better and better citizen of the Los Angeles community," said Mr Ballmer.
|
Confidential Memo: Former Koch Group Insider Fears the Tea Party Is Fading
By Andy Kroll
|
Americans for Prosperity, the dark-money-funded advocacy group founded by Charles and David Koch, rose to prominence in 2009 and 2010 on the back of the white-hot tea party movement. But today, even though Republicans stand a good chance of retaking the Senate and the conservative fringe has hijacked the House's efforts to pass immigration reform, the tea party grassroots is withering away, according to a confidential AFP memo obtained by Mother Jones.
The internal AFP memo was written in April by Jason Cline, an Arkansas political consultant who left the state's influential AFP chapter this spring. It's clear from the memo that Cline clashed with higher-ups in AFP's national office, including Teresa Oelke, a former AFP-Arkansas director who now is AFP's vice president of state operations. In the memo, Cline responds to various allegations leveled against him by Oelke and others, including that Cline was "sexist toward women," "prejudiced against old people," and mismanaged AFP-Arkansas.
. . .
This year's primary season has borne out Cline and Stefano's observations. Unlike 2010 and 2012, when tea party favorites Mike Lee and Ted Cruz ousted establishment Republicans, the 2014 Senate primary season has seen the defeat of every single tea-party-aligned challenger. The major surprise of this election cycle has been economics professor David Brat's victory over then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Yet neither AFP or FreedomWorks, the two major national tea party groups, spent money to elect Brat.
Of course, establishment Republicans won in 2014 in part because they tacked hard to the right in anticipation of a tea party challenge. Likewise, the Republican Party has become more hardline in the past five years. The tea party, then, has won an ideological victory. But as a source of manpower on the ground, the movement is no longer what it once was.
|
|
Welcome to the "Hump Point" of this OND.
News can be sobering and engrossing - at this point in the diary, an offering of brief escapism:
Random notes related to this video:
. . .
"Born on the Bayou" was vaguely like "Porterville," about a mythical childhood and a heat-filled time, the Fourth of July. I put it in the swamp where, of course, I had never lived. It was late as I was writing. I was trying to be a pure writer, no guitar in hand, visualizing and looking at the bare walls of my apartment . . .
"Born on the Bayou" is an example of 'swamp rock', a genre associated with John Fogerty, Little Feat/Lowell George, The Band, Canned Heat, J.J. Cale, The Doobie Brothers and Tony Joe White. The guitar setting for the intro is over-driven with amp tremolo on a slow setting; Fogerty uses a Gibson ES-175 (which was stolen from his car soon after recording this track).[3] The E7 chord gives the song a strong Southern blues feel. To many, the vocal performance on this track represents a pinnacle in John Fogerty's singing, the performance as a whole is regarded as one of Creedence Clearwater Revival's finest hours. "Born on the Bayou" opened most of CCR's concerts, and was known as the band's signature song.
Back to what's happening:
|
|
Environment and Greening |
|
Tall prairie grass helps airports keep birds from runway
By Brooks Hays
|
. . .
Flocks of geese regularly gather on the short open grasses that often abut airport runways. When they take off in groups, they can quickly find themselves in the path of a jumbo jet moving at speeds upwards of 200 miles per hour. Officials say taller prairie grasses can deter birds, which don't feel comfortable surrounded by tall grasses where predators can lurk undetected.
According to the FAA, there were a reported 11,315 wildlife strikes by aircrafts in 2013 -- 97 percent of those involved birds. Between 1988 and 2013, 255 people died as a result of airplane and wildlife collisions.
. . .
"Reduced mowing eliminates runway incursion, a costly safety issue," Kobland told the Chestnut Hill Local. "In some situations, airports implement a full or partial closure for mowing alone. Less mowing also significantly decreases the flush of insects, mutilation of small animals and production of hay, all of which unduly attracts wildlife."
|
When did Republicans start hating green? When green started helping blacks
By Brentin Mock
|
The question swirling around Climate Desk today is, “When did Republicans start hating on the environment?” Chris Mooney explores the question by looking into a new study from Michigan State University sociologists led by Aaron McCright. The researchers date the hate to around 1992, and chalk it up to party polarization “driven by increasing anti-environmentalism among conservative elites.”
. . .
McCright’s team alludes to . . . a rise in global environmentalism signaled by the Rio Earth Summit, which led conservatives to associating it with socialism. The Rio Summit may have started setting off white conservatives racist panic alarms as well, by bringing a new focus to righting environmental wrongs in the global South.
I’d also argue that, along with McCright findings, what drove the GOP away from environmental support was the federal government’s burgeoning recognition that its policies were steering pollution disproportionately to communities of color and low income. In the early 1990s, the federal government began working on ways to correct this, which meant funding and resources dedicated to racial equity and injustice — things that the GOP hadn’t quite tolerated since Reagan.
. . .
Republicans’ commitment to the environment was questionable well before 1992. Reagan’s EPA chief, Anne M. Burford, for example, went to great lengths to untool the EPA. According to Burford’s Washington Post obituary, “More than half of the federal regulations targeted for an early review by the Reagan administration’s regulatory reform team were EPA rules.” Burford slashed EPA’s budget by almost a quarter, and refused to sue polluters. She basically destroyed the $1.6 billion Superfund program, which EJ advocates favor because it makes companies pay for their pollution.
. . .
It’s also not uncommon for Republicans to attack federal policies that prove too effective at helping people of color: affirmative action, welfare, public housing/schooling — today, “Obamacare.” Republicans didn’t oppose most of these policies when they helped poor white Americans, and today conservatives have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to dismantle affirmative action because white people don’t benefit from it.
|
Mexican mine was slow to report leak, officials say
By (BBC)
|
A private copper mine in north-west Mexico did not immediately alert the authorities that large quantities of a toxic chemical were spilling into a river last week, Mexican officials say.
The authorities in Sonora state said the spill only came to light the next day, after residents downstream noticed the river had turned orange.
. . . lax supervision at the mine, along with rains and construction defects, appeared to have caused the spill on 7 August, AP says.
. . .
More than a quarter of Mexico's mining activity is located in the north-western region, making it the country's top producer of gold, copper and graphite, according to the AFP news agency.
|
|
|
|
Science and Health |
|
An Unusual Cure for Not Enough Sleep
By Piercarlo Valdesolo
|
. . .
Psychologists know that beliefs about how experiences should affect us can bring about the expected outcomes. Though these “placebo effects” have primarily been studied in the context of pharmaceutical interventions (e.g. patients reporting pain relief after receiving saline they believed to be an analgesic), recent research has shown their strength in a variety of domains. Tell people that their job has exercise benefits and they will lose more weight than their coworkers who had no such belief. Convince people of a correlation between athleticism and visual acuity and they will show better vision after working out . Trick people into believing they are consuming caffeine and their vigilance and cognitive functioning increases. Some evidence shows that such interventions can even mitigate the negative effects of other experiences. For example, consuming placebo caffeine alleviates the cognitive consequences of sleep deprivation.
New research from psychologists at Colorado College suggests that this might not be the only way to get over those late nights out. Beliefs about the quality of the sleep you get might be enough to ward off negative effects of sleep-deprivation on your mental acuity. Manipulating people’s perception of how well they slept could affect cognitive functioning.
. . .
A follow up experiment replicated this study while also testing the generalizability of the results (to, say, verbal as opposed to aural tests). The original results held (52% correct vs. 64% on the PASAT).The degree to which this “placebo sleep” influenced other kinds of cognitive abilities, however, remained unclear.
|
Climate change, predators, and trickle down effects on ecosystems
By (ScienceDaily)
|
Pedators play important roles in maintaining diverse and stable ecosystems. Climate change can push species to move in order to stay in their climatic comfort zones, potentially altering where species live and how they interact, which could fundamentally transform current ecosystems.
. . .
Without sea otters, the undersea sea urchins they prey on would devour the kelp forests, resulting in dense areas called sea urchin barrens that have lower biodiversity due to the loss of kelp that provide 3-dimensional habitat and a food source for many species. Researchers found that when sea otters arrive in an area from which they have been absent, they begin feasting on urchins. As a result, the kelp forest begins to grow back, changing the structure of kelp forest communities.
. . .
Dr. Martone's analyses of the effects of sea otters on kelp forest ecosystems can help shape predictions of how climate change and trophic cascades, in concert with other drivers, affect coastal ecosystems. The ecological impacts of a changing climate are evident, from terrestrial polar regions to tropical marine environments. Ecologists' research into the tropic cascading effects of predators will assist decision makers by providing important scientific findings to prepare for the impacts of climate change occurring now and into the future. Speakers for the symposia include marine, freshwater and terrestrial experimental ecologists who will present their research and offer insights from different approaches used to studying consumer-resource interactions.
|
|
|
|
Technology |
|
Dear Tesla: Bypassing Environmental Laws Is Bad For Everyone
By Robert Sorokanich
|
Tesla is planning a so-called Gigafactory, an enormous battery plant to supply the company's upcoming high-volume Model 3. California wants that factory bad, offering to waive its environmental regulations to win it. That's bad news—for Tesla, for California, for you and me, and for the future of electric cars.
The offer on the table would give Tesla a pass on some of the most stringent aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act, a statewide policy that requires a detailed environmental impact report before any project can break ground. As the L.A. Times reports, Gov. Jerry Brown's office has offered to fast-track the process for Tesla, waiving major portions of the law, and even letting the company begin construction first and mitigating any ensuing environmental damage later.
. . .
Electric cars are the most future-proof concept for individual transportation. Unlike hybrids, diesels, or hydrogen fuel cells, electric cars can be powered by any electricity source, whether that's solar, wind, hydroelectric, nuclear, or old-fashioned coal. Frail though it may be, the infrastructure for charging electric cars at home is already in place. Tesla's Model S has already won the hearts of the automotive press—largely because it stacks up so well against its more traditional competition.
As successful as Tesla has been, it still has an uphill fight in convincing lawmakers, investors, and the buying public that electric cars can be successful. Demanding, and accepting, golden-kid treatment from a state government will just provide more bullets for the anti-future crowd to fire at the technologies that could legitimately bring cars into the 21st century.
|
A Counterfeit Ring Behind $77 Million in Fake Bills Finally Got Busted
By Sarah Zhang
|
For years, the Secret Service has been tracking down the legendary "Russian-Israeli Note," one of the most sophisticated and common fake Benjamins ever made. This high-tech international ring was finally busted and indicted this week, thanks to years of good old-fashioned surveillance and legwork.
The lucky break in the case came back in May 2012, when four of these fake $100 bills popped up at a title loan shop in Virginia. The Russian-Israeli note is so sophisticated that it's usually not detected until it reaches a bank or a Federal Reserve, at which point the chain of ownership is almost impossible to trace. Because they were used at a title loan shop, the bills in Virginia could be directly connected to the person who paid with them; in Secret Service special agent parlance, it's a "No. 1 bill."
. . .
Details on how the $100 bills were faked is scant, as you might expect, though you can bet it's a whole lot more sophisticated than cleaning product and an inkjet printer. The gang even came close to replicating the 3D security ribbon on the redesigned $100 bill. But eventually, even best counterfeiters seem destined to get caught. Unless there's someone even better out there that we don't even know about yet.
|
|
|
|
Cultural |
|
My Short Career in the Internet Outrage Business
By Dale Eisinger
|
. . .
We made up the New York office of a conservative media company based in the South. In hindsight, the politics seem both hyper-specific and nebulous; the one constant is that they orbited around white-hot outrage and fear. This was not obvious to me when I replied to the "Digital Reporter" listing. I’d been in the business for a few years by then, writing candidly about art and music and related topics, and my track record wasn’t hard to come by: it would have been clear to anyone checking that I stood on the liberal side of things. But the earnest man conducting my interview assured me that my politics had nothing to do with the scope of the work I’d be doing. For the most part, he was correct. We’re all actors on the internet, right?
. . .
I identified with the few other writers and producers on a pretty basic level: we were just trying to make a buck. On other, much more significant levels, I felt totally alone. Ruth seemed idealistic and “liked boys.” David was an energetic old tabloid reporter who always wore jeans. Steven had a family and a bit of a lisp. Joshua, who sat next to me, had been in the battle of Fallujah and ran a small publication from South Jersey focusing on animal rights issues. He had decency and kindness and heart. He was trying to lose weight after a few slack newlywed years. Eventually, he and my editor would get into a contest over who could shed more pounds. I’d be fired before seeing the outcome.
. . .
Was anyone stopping us from celebrating Christmas? What was the lawsuit against the CEO of Papa John’s Pizza all about? How many headlines could we get off of Lena Dunham’s haircut? What was it like to share a trailer at the RNC with Sean Hannity? In the world I wanted to live in, in the New York I’d envisioned for myself years before, the answer to all these questions was another question: “Who gives a shit?” That was the problem: getting myself interested in this news was the real work. The rest was a form letter. My attention wandered. I sought out stranger and stranger news. My friends made Tweets specific to my stories so I could put them into posts. If I wasn’t working through lunch, I’d sit in the park and watch porn on my phone and occasionally crank one out in the office bathroom. I spent afternoons tailoring my OKCupid page. I used the copier for “an art project.” I lost my RFID keycard. I made stupid mistakes. I came in later and later and sometimes not at all.
Every morning, I’d get a runsheet of stories my editor would have liked to see covered. I didn’t have to accomplish them (I rarely did as time went on) but it was the closest thing we had to direct guidance. Eventually I was given a story about a very young person in a Western state who identified as transgender. This elementary schooler wanted to use the girls’ bathroom and this caused a stir all over conservative media. I got it into my head that I could do something about this. I wrote the article sympathetic to the child in what I’m sure was a crusade of bombast. The next day, I must have been late. My editor called and the sun was up and I was still in bed. He sounded genuinely pained. “Today,” he said, “we’ve had to make the hard decision to let you go. I don’t know what’s gotten into you. You’re trending sideways.” Then he said bye and hung up.
|
Berlin artists claim responsibility for Brooklyn Bridge flag swap stunt
By Xeni Jardin
|
. . . two German artists . . . say they "are the ones who pulled off the stunt of the summer, hoisting two big all-white flags atop the Brooklyn Bridge last month, swapping them for the usual red, white and blue."
. . .
“This was not an anti-American statement,” Mr. Wermke insisted. Mr. Leinkauf added: “From our Berlin background, we were a little surprised that it got the reaction it did. We really didn’t intend to embarrass the police.”
|
Guide dogs and guns: America's blind gunmen
By William Kremer
|
He had been into guns since he was 15, when, as an air force cadet, he went on a military camp. The marine in charge of the shooting range had a brother who had lost his sight but they still went hunting together, so he let McWilliams handle the M16 machine gun. McWilliams, who before he lost his sight at the age of 10 had dreamed of joining the armed services, was instantly hooked.
Three years later, he asked to enrol on a pistol marksmanship course run by the Reserve Officer's Training Corps, the body that trains officers for the US armed forces. At that time there was no requirement to be enlisted in the army to take the course, and after much discussion, the instructor agreed to take him on. On the range, McWilliams learned to take aim by listening to the sound of his target being wheeled back against the wall. It served him very well. McWilliams says he shot better than two-thirds of his class, and in his final exam scored 105 out of 100, with one bullet somehow ricocheting and passing through the target twice.
. . .
Since then, McWilliams has killed a black bear and is now set on African game. He owns "eight or nine" guns, including an AR-15 machine gun, the civilian version of the M16 he handled as a teenager. Meanwhile, he has continued advise other blind Americans about how they can go about getting their concealed carry permit - he says he has now mentored nearly 100.
. . .
This advice was based on McWilliams' failure to get a permit for Minnesota, the state just to the east of Fargo. Even though he passed the shooting test, McWilliams is convinced the NRA instructor in charge tipped off the sheriff that he was blind. "Now why he did that I don't know because if had been of a different race or ethnicity or sex or whatever there would be riots in the street over that, because that's a civil rights issue," he says.
. . .
"I've only had to extract the gun three or four times in self-defence. One time a person charged me across the yard, another time a person tried to run me down with a car when I was on the street trying to walk someplace. When I pulled the gun, they saw the action, took off and that was it. He was about split second from getting a bullet in the radiator."
|
|
Meteor Blades is known to offer an enlightening Evening Open Diary - you might consider checking that out tonight if you haven't already. |