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If this is even 10% of the threat suggested in this webpage, we are on a very dangerous precipice:

Fukushima 311 Watchdogs

UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike uses pepper spray to move Occupy UC Davis protesters blocking a walkway in the quad on Friday, 11/18/11. (photo: Wayne Tilcock/Davis Enterprise)

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/316-20/8495-qchillingq-uc-davis-video-launches-investigation

This is just so shocking.

So unfair...

http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/275-42/8110-occupy-oakland-too-big-to-fail-too-big-to-jail

(See, Youtube video of this unfortunate scene in the first item in this newsletter. The Reader Supported News is an excellent updater on the Occupy movement.)

U.S. | October 26, 2011

Top Earners Doubled Share of Nation's Income, Study Finds

By ROBERT PEAR

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office is likely to figure prominently in the escalating political fight over the economy.

I visited Occupy Boston today:

At the back of the space is a well placed rise in the ground that accommodates speakers such as this one who is reading poetry-a daily activity around 3 in the afternoon:

Here are some of the signs I read and a few other shots. I like the statue of Gandhi near the entrance; and the site is excellent, especially as it is directly in front of the Federal Reserve Bank (see below).

Below: The Federal Reserve Bank stands across the street from the Occupy Boston encampment:

"How I Was Arrested at Occupy Wall StreetBy Naomi Wolf, Guardian UK19 October 11ast night I was arrested in my home town, outside an event to which I had been invited, for standing lawfully on the sidewalk in an evening gown.

Let me explain; my partner and I were attending an event for the Huffington Post, for which I often write: Game Changers 2011, in a venue space on Hudson Street. As we entered the space, we saw that about 200 Occupy Wall Street protesters were peacefully assembled and were chanting. They wanted to address Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was going to be arriving at the event. They were using a technique that has become known as "the human mic" - by which the crowd laboriously repeats every word the speaker says - since they had been told that using real megaphones was illegal.In my book Give Me Liberty, a blueprint for how to open up a closing civil society, I have a chapter on permits - which is a crucial subject to understand for anyone involved in protest in the US. In 70s America, protest used to be very effective, but in subsequent decades municipalities have sneakily created a web of "overpermiticisation" - requirements that were designed to stifle freedom of assembly and the right to petition government for redress of grievances, both of which are part of our first amendment. One of these made-up permit requirements, which are not transparent or accountable, is the megaphone restriction.So I informed the group on Hudson Street that they had a first amendment right to use a megaphone and that the National Lawyers' Guild should appeal the issue if they got arrested. And I repeated the words of the first amendment, which the crowd repeated.Then my partner suggested that I ask the group for their list of demands. Since we would be inside, we thought it would be helpful to take their list into the event and if I had a chance to talk with the governor I could pass the list on. That is how a democracy works, right? The people have the right to address their representatives.We went inside, chatted with our friends, but needed to leave before the governor had arrived. I decided I would present their list to his office in the morning and write about the response. On our exit, I saw that the protesters had been cordoned off by a now-massive phalanx of NYPD cops and pinned against the far side of the street - far away from the event they sought to address.I went up and asked them why. They replied that they had been informed that the Huffington Post event had a permit that forbade them to use the sidewalk. I knew from my investigative reporting on NYC permits that this was impossible: a private entity cannot lease the public sidewalks; even film crews must allow pedestrian traffic. I asked the police for clarification - no response.I went over to the sidewalk at issue and identified myself as a NYC citizen and a reporter, and asked to see the permit in question or to locate the source on the police or event side that claimed it forbade citizen access to a public sidewalk. Finally a tall man, who seemed to be with the event, confessed that while it did have a permit, the permit did allow for protest so long as we did not block pedestrian passage.I thanked him, returned to the protesters, and said: "The permit allows us to walk on the other side of the street if we don't block access. I am now going to walk on the public sidewalk and not block it. It is legal to do so. Please join me if you wish." My partner and I then returned to the event-side sidewalk and began to walk peacefully arm in arm, while about 30 or 40 people walked with us in single file, not blocking access.Then a phalanx of perhaps 40 white-shirted senior offices descended out of seemingly nowhere and, with a megaphone (which was supposedly illegal for citizens to use), one said: "You are unlawfully creating a disruption. You are ordered to disperse." I approached him peacefully, slowly, gently and respectfully and said: "I am confused. I was told that the permit in question allows us to walk if we don't block pedestrian access and as you see we are complying with the permit."He gave me a look of pure hate. "Are you going to back down?" he shouted. I stood, immobilised, for a moment. "Are you getting out of my way?" I did not even make a conscious decision not to "fall back" - I simply couldn't even will myself to do so, because I knew that he was not giving a lawful order and that if I stepped aside it would be not because of the law, which I was following, but as a capitulation to sheer force. In that moment's hesitation, he said, "OK," gestured, and my partner and I were surrounded by about 20 officers who pulled our hands behind our backs and cuffed us with plastic handcuffs.We were taken in a van to the seventh precinct - the scary part about that is that the protesters and lawyers marched to the first precinct, which handles Hudson Street, but in the van the police got the message to avoid them by rerouting me. I understood later that the protesters were lied to about our whereabouts, which seemed to me to be a trickle-down of the Bush-era detention practice of unaccountable detentions.The officers who had us in custody were very courteous, and several expressed sympathy for the movements' aims. Nonetheless, my partner and I had our possessions taken from us, our ID copied, and we were placed in separate cells for about half an hour. It was clear that by then the police knew there was scrutiny of this arrest so they handled us with great courtesy, but my phone was taken and for half an hour I was in a faeces- or blood-smeared cell, thinking at that moment the only thing that separates civil societies from barbaric states is the rule of law - that finds the prisoner, and holds the arresting officers and courts accountable.Another scary outcome I discovered is that, when the protesters marched to the first precinct, the whole of Erickson Street was cordoned off - "frozen" they were told, "by Homeland Security". Obviously if DHS now has powers to simply take over a New York City street because of an arrest for peaceable conduct by a middle-aged writer in an evening gown, we have entered a stage of the closing of America, which is a serious departure from our days as a free republic in which municipalities are governed by police forces.The police are now telling my supporters that the permit in question gave the event managers "control of the sidewalks". I have asked to see the permit but still haven't been provided with it - if such a category now exists, I have never heard of it; that, too, is a serious blow to an open civil society. What did I take away? Just that, unfortunately, my partner and I became exhibit A in a process that I have been warning Americans about since 2007: first they come for the "other" - the "terrorist", the brown person, the Muslim, the outsider; then they come for you - while you are standing on a sidewalk in evening dress, obeying the law."

I never tire of the views of Capitol Reef and the Henry Mountains

in the background, seen from the Aqueous Plateau of Boulder Mountain.

We visited one of the best Japanese gardens in America

and the Portland Zoo:

Mike and I dug into bowls of too many crawfish, a learning experience.

- Posted from my iPad

The following is quoted from the newsletter of the Brennan Center for Justice of NYU Law School, October 10, 2011:

Anti-Immigrant Laws Keep Documented and Undocumented People Away from Courts and Justice System at Large

Grace Meng, “Immigrant Injustice,”Hill Congress Blog, October 7, 2011

Grace Meng, a researcher in the U.S. program at Human Rights Watch, writes in the Hill’s Congress blog: “I met ‘Sonia,’ a farmworker in upstate New York, in August. She and her husband had managed to scrape together $3,000 for a down payment on a house. After two years of making mortgage payments, they discovered the seller had never transferred the title to them. They are being evicted from the home they thought was their own. What would you do if you were Sonia? Hire a lawyer? Sonia and her husband tried to do just that, but as they started to seek recourse in the legal system, the seller threatened to call immigration. Sonia is an undocumented immigrant. If Sonia were in Alabama, she would be barred from seeking justice in its courts. In addition to other abusive provisions, Alabama’s new immigration law declares that its state courts will not uphold any contracts involving undocumented immigrants. But even outside of Alabama, Sonia essentially lacks access to justice. . . . Legal service providers in Raleigh, North Carolina report that undocumented immigrants face the same problem Sonia did. Since undocumented immigrants cannot get legal title to the cars or mobile homes they buy, sellers often don’t actually transfer the property to the buyers. The Latino Outreach Center in the Blue Ridge Mountains frequently receives reports from day laborers that local homeowners who hired them to rake leaves and do other small jobs have refused to pay them, knowing they can get away with it. Undocumented immigrants have long been afraid of government officials, but that fear is now translating into a fear of the justice system. Immigrants avoid going to court in communities from Fresno to Rochester, even to pay traffic tickets or to help a family member with translation, because Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents like to hang out by the courthouse. In North Carolina, a victim of domestic violence told me she would never again call the police for help after being questioned more about her immigration status than her safety the first time she called. . . . When millions of people are afraid to avail themselves of their rights under the U.S. legal system, the entire system is undermined. The injustice is not only to undocumented immigrants but to U.S. society as a whole.”

- Posted from my iPad

If you like to walk in light rain and fog come visit with us. We enjoyed this view from our host's living room, a bit north of Portland.

If the drizzle, mist and fog are depressing after a time Portland is the capital of micro-brewing.

Darrow Tests the water at Seaside, Oregon:

Lower Multnomah Falls:

Mt. Hood:

-Posted from my iPad

Location:Portland, Oregon

Janet, near the entrance to Cohab Canyon, said to have been a place of refuge for some Mormons who sought to practice polygamy and to evade federal agents.

A rather carefully constructed cairn on the way to the "Tanks" in Capitol Gorge.

John at the "Tanks."

So, on to Oregon...

Location:Cohab Canyon, Capitol Reef

The New York Times reports that "a Brown University study, published in June, estimates that the United States will have spent $3.7 trillion in Afghanistan and Iraq by the time the wars are over." Maybe we would be better off had we spent this money on paying off some debt, improving our educational programs, restoring and building our infrastructure and doing research to regain first place in innovative science and technology. I think so.

Location:Oakland

We decided not to camp on this trip, so here we are in the bunkhouse of our Evergreen host in Boulder, Utah.

We hiked to the lovely Lower Calf Creek Falls in the desert near Boulder.

along Calf Creek on the way to the Falls:

In Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

Pioneer graffiti in Capitol Gorge on the way to the "Tanks."

The pioneers who traveled through this canyon used water from large potholes, now called the "Tanks" high above the canyon floor.

Janet on the way to the "Tanks":

- Posted from my iPad

Location:Salt Lake City

Friday September 23, 2011Weekly edition News and Blog Headlines

A six-sigma signal of superluminal neutrinos from OPERA

How to make movies of what the brain sees

Searching for new ideas

OPERA neutrino experiment on breaking speed of light — UPDATE #2: CERN seeks independent replication

Will super Wi-Fi live up to its name?

OPERA neutrino experiment on breaking speed of light — Update #1: Live webcast, ArXiv paper posted

Scientists turn back the clock on adult stem cells aging

Video: Goertzel presents open-source AI engine at AGI-11 conference

Electrical stimulation of brain boosts birth of new cells

UC San Diego biologists discover genes that repair nerves after injury

Marijuana could prevent post-traumatic stress symptoms

New 'smart window' switches from transparent and opaque in seconds

Longevity gene debate opens trans-atlantic rift

A knack for bashing orthodoxy

'Inexhaustible' source of hydrogen may be unlocked by salt water

Breakthrough: proton-based chips that communicate directly with living things

Technology listens as doctors keep talking

A future for drones: automated killing

Turn your smart phone into a robot remote control

Free will and quantum clones: how your choices today affect the universe at its origin

Next-generation solar cell technology

On-line gamers succeed where scientists fail, opening door to new AIDS drug design

Google Wallet official launch

China and India developing biotech drugs

Robots to reduce cost of building aircraft

Every breath you take, every move you make …

The cyborg in us all

NASA satellite expected to crash to Earth in days

Smartphone brain scanner

Amazing Earth video from the Space Station

Intel runs PC on CPU powered by solar cell

Installed cost of solar photovoltaic systems in the US declined significantly in 2010 and 2011

How to synthesize a new kind of yeast cell — or person

Scientists create first step toward creating 'inorganic life'

Latest News

A six-sigma signal of superluminal neutrinos from OPERA

September 23, 2011

A measurement has been performed on the time that muon neutrinos take to travel from their production point at CERN to the Opera detector, finding that neutrinos take a handful of nanoseconds less than if they were traveling at light speed, experimental particle physicist (CERN and Fermilab) and blogger Tommaso Dorigo reports. Neutrinos seen by … more…

How to make movies of what the brain sees

September 23, 2011

Remember the movie Brainstorm? Imagine watching someone's dream, or tapping directly into the mind of a coma patient. University of California, Berkeley scientists claim they have finally achieved this classic futuristic movie "mind reading" trope. Sorta. They're using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and computational models, to decode and reconstructing people's dynamic visual experiences. So … more…

Searching for new ideas

September 23, 2011 Source Link: Technology Review

Google's head of research Alfred Spector explained in an interview why artificial intelligence is crucial to the search company's future. "In general, we have been using hybrid artificial intelligence, which means that we learn from our user community," Spector said, "When they label something as having a certain meaning or implication, we learn from that."

OPERA neutrino experiment on breaking speed of light — UPDATE #2: CERN seeks independent replication

September 23, 2011

GENEVA, Sept. 23, 12:30 a.m. PDT — Given the potential far-reaching consequences of the OPERA experiment — which observes a neutrino beam from CERN 730 km away at Italy's INFN Gran Sasso Laboratory, indicating that the neutrinos travel at a velocity 20 parts per million above the speed of light — independent measurements are needed … more…

Will super Wi-Fi live up to its name?

September 23, 2011 Source Link: Technology Review

It's likely that a few years from now, Americans' laptops, smart phones, and other wireless devices will be able to get online using "Super Wi-Fi," a new standard that will increase capacity in places where regular Wi-Fi networks have become overcrowded. The idea of Super Wi-Fi is to make use of the vacant airwaves that … more…

OPERA neutrino experiment on breaking speed of light — Update #1: Live webcast, ArXiv paper posted

September 23, 2011

A live Webcast from CERN is scheduled for 16:00:00 (Europe/Zurich) Friday September 23, 2011 (07:00:00 PDT Friday September 23, 2011). "If confirmed, the CERN discovery is one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all times." — CERN and University of Bologna physicist Antonino Zichichi on Italian television RAI 1, Sept. 23, 2001 A technical paper, … more…

Scientists turn back the clock on adult stem cells aging

September 22, 2011

Researchers led by the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and the Georgia Institute of Technology have shown they can reverse the aging process for human adult stem cells, which are responsible for helping old or damaged tissues regenerate. The findings could lead to medical treatments that may repair a host of ailments that occur … more…

Video: Goertzel presents open-source AI engine at AGI-11 conference

September 22, 2011

AI researcher Ben Goertzel gave a talk about the OpenCog open source AI engine at the Fourth Conference on Artificial General Intelligence (AGI-11), held on Google's campus in Mountain View (Silicon Valley), California, on August 3–5, 2011. The video of the talk is now online at YouTube.

Electrical stimulation of brain boosts birth of new cells

September 22, 2011

Stimulating a specific region of the brain leads to the production of new brain cells that enhance memory, researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children have found. The findings show how deep brain stimulation (DBS) — a clinical intervention that delivers electrical pulses to targeted areas of the brain — may work to improve cognition. … more…

UC San Diego biologists discover genes that repair nerves after injury

September 22, 2011

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have identified more than 70 genes that play a role in regenerating nerves after injury, providing biomedical researchers with a valuable set of genetic leads for use in developing therapies to repair spinal cord injuries and other common kinds of nerve damage such as stroke. While scientists … more…

Marijuana could prevent post-traumatic stress symptoms

September 22, 2011

Administering cannabinoids (synthetic marijuana) after experiencing a traumatic event blocks the development of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in rats, according to a new study conducted at the University of Haifa. The researchers exposed a group of rats to extreme stress. The rats displayed symptoms resembling PTSD in humans, such as an enhanced startle reflex, impaired … more…

New 'smart window' switches from transparent and opaque in seconds

September 22, 2011

A new "smart" window system that can inexpensively change from summer to winter modes, darkening to save air conditioning costs on scorching days and returning to crystal clarity in the winter to capture free heat from the sun, scientists from Soongsil University, Seoul report. "Smart" windows that reflect sunlight away from buildings in summer and … more…

Longevity gene debate opens trans-atlantic rift

September 22, 2011 Source Link: New York Times

A trans-Atlantic dispute has opened up between two camps of researchers pursuing a gene that could lead to drugs that enhance longevity. British scientists say the longevity gene is "nearing the end of its life," but the Americans whose work is under attack say the approach remains as promising as ever. The dispute concerns genes … more…

A knack for bashing orthodoxy

September 21, 2011 Source Link: New York Times

"It's highly plausible that in the universe there are God-like creatures," says evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, but belief in the supernatural strikes him as incurious, which is perhaps the worst insult he can imagine. "Religion teaches you to be satisfied with nonanswers," he says. "It's a sort of crime against childhood." His first children's book, … more…

'Inexhaustible' source of hydrogen may be unlocked by salt water

September 21, 2011

A grain of salt or two may be all that microbial electrolysis cells need to produce hydrogen from wastewater or organic byproducts, without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere or using grid electricity, according to Penn State engineers. "This system could produce hydrogen anyplace that there is wastewater near sea water," said Bruce E. Logan, … more…

Technology listens as doctors keep talking

September 21, 2011 Source Link: Technology Review

Medical dictation software company Nuance Communications is developing what it calls Clinical Language Understanding. It's designed to automatically extract information from a doctor's dictated narrative description of a patient and use it to fill out electronic records. Clinical Language Understanding has been developed with the IBM researchers who created Watson, the computer system that was … more…

A future for drones: automated killing

September 21, 2011 Source Link: Washington Post

An exercise in autonomous robotics with two model-size planes could presage the future of the American way of war: a day when drones hunt, identify and kill the enemy based on calculations made by software, not decisions made by humans. The automated, unpiloted planes worked on their own, with no human guidance, no hand on … more…

Turn your smart phone into a robot remote control

September 21, 2011

Technology Review blogger David Zax reports two ways to turn your iPhone/Android into a remote controller: Orbotix is developing an smartphone-controlled ball called the Sphero, and BirdBrain Technologies' Brainlink system lets you hack your old Roomba or other household robot and turn it into something more like a remote-controlled car.

Free will and quantum clones: how your choices today affect the universe at its origin

September 20, 2011

Do we have autonomy, or are our choices preordained? Computer scientist Scott Aaronson has proposed a variation on the Turing Test that he calls the Envelope Argument or Prediction Game to address the question of free will, Scientific American blogger George Musser reports. Someone poses questions to you and to a computer model of your brain, … more…

Next-generation solar cell technology

September 20, 2011

The "most efficient colloidal quantum dot (CQD) solar cell ever" has been created by researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T), King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) and Pennsylvania State University. Quantum dots are nanoscale semiconductors that capture light and convert it into electrical energy. Because of their small scale, the … more…

On-line gamers succeed where scientists fail, opening door to new AIDS drug design

September 20, 2011

Online gamers have solved the structure of a retrovirus enzyme whose configuration had stymied scientists, biochemist Firas Khatib of the University of Washington (UW) reports. The players were adept at a computer game, Foldit, that allows players to collaborate and compete in predicting the structure of protein molecules. After scientists repeatedly failed to piece together the … more…

Google Wallet official launch

September 20, 2011

Google released Monday the first version of its Google Wallet app to Sprint. With Google Wallet, you can tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC). Google is now rolling out Google Wallet to all Sprint Nexus S 4G phones through an over-the-air update, with a $10 free bonus to the Google … more…

China and India developing biotech drugs

September 20, 2011 Source Link: New York Times

Chinese and Indian drug makers have taken over much of the global trade in medicines and now manufacture more than 80 percent of the active ingredients in drugs sold worldwide. But they had never been able to copy the complex and expensive biotech medicines increasingly used to treat cancer, diabetes and other diseases in rich … more…

Robots to reduce cost of building aircraft

September 20, 2011

Fraunhofer researchers have come up with a concept for a flexible assembly-line concept using robots to build future aircraft more flexibly and economically. The aircraft will be machined and assembled by small industrial robots, as in the automotive sector. The key element of the assembly line is a versatile component gripper made of lightweight CFRP … more…

The cyborg in us all

September 19, 2011 Source Link: New York Times

Gerwin Schalk studies Albany Medical Center patients who have become some of the world's first cyborgs, with brain implants. Schalk transforms the brain signals emitted by their thoughts into software commands. He is, in effect, designing a button that the mind could push. He dreams of letting people speak with their neurons, issuing silent commands to … more…

NASA satellite expected to crash to Earth in days

September 19, 2011

NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is expected to crash to Earth Sept. 23, plus or minus a day, as of the latest NASA update, Sept. 18. NASA says the 35-foot-long satellite will crash somewhere between 57 degrees north latitude and 57 degrees south latitude — a projected crash zone that covers most of the planet. Although … more…

Smartphone brain scanner

September 19, 2011

Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark have demonstrated a fully functional smartphone brain scanner — consisting of a low-cost 14-channel EEG headset with a wireless connection to a smartphone (Nokia N900) — enabling minimally invasive EEG monitoring in real-world settings. The system provides a fully portable EEG based real-time functional brain scanner, sensors, data … more…

Amazing Earth video from the Space Station

September 19, 2011

Science educator James Drake built this amazing timelapse video from the perspective of the International Space Station as it flew over North and South America, created it by downloading a series of 600 photographs, Universe Today reports.

Intel runs PC on CPU powered by solar cell

September 19, 2011 Source Link: Computerworld

Intel has developed an experimental low-power Pentium processor (code-named Claremont) the size of a postage stamp that could run PCs on solar power, by dropping energy consumption to under 10 milliwatts. The company's goal is to deliver a 300-fold improvement in energy efficiency in high-performance computing over 10 years.

Installed cost of solar photovoltaic systems in the US declined significantly in 2010 and 2011

September 19, 2011

The U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has released the latest edition of an annual solar photovoltaic (PV) cost tracking report, showing that the installed cost of PV power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2010 and the first half of 2011. The average installed cost of residential and … more…

Scientists create first step toward creating 'inorganic life'

September 17, 2011

University of Glasgow scientists have taken their first tentative steps towards creating "life" from inorganic chemical cells (iCHELLS), potentially defining the new area of "inorganic biology." "What we are trying do is create self-replicating, evolving inorganic cells that would essentially be alive. You could call it inorganic biology," said Professor Lee Cronin, University of Glagow … more…

New BLOG POSTS

Breakthrough: proton-based chips that communicate directly with living things

September 21, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

University of Washington scientists have just crossed another major threshold between humans and machines: they've built a transistor that uses protons instead of electrons. Their ultimate goal: create devices that can communicate directly with living things certain biological functions that involve protons — eventually even control them — a "first step toward 'bionanoprotonics'." Yes, there … more…

Every breath you take, every move you make …

September 19, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

Those University of Utah engineers who built wireless networks that see through walls are now taking it a step further: detecting if surgery patients, adults with sleep apnea, and babies at risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have stopped breathing. This thing freaks me out a bit. Think what Homeland Security could do with … more…

How to synthesize a new kind of yeast cell — or person

September 19, 2011 by Amara D. Angelica

Scientists, in theory, could one day create whole new lifeforms, going way beyond simple cloning, new research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine suggests. The scientists have now replaced the DNA in a yeast chromosome with computer-designed, synthetically produced DNA (structurally distinct from its original DNA), producing a healthy yeast cell. So perhaps one … more…

New EVENTS

Mechanicrawl 02011

Dates: Sep 24, 2011 – Jan ,

Location: San Francisco, California

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The Annual Burrill Personalized Medicine Meeting

Dates: Oct 3 – 4, 2011

Location: Burlingame, California

more...

App Conference and Hackathon

Dates: Oct 26 – 27, 2011

Location: Santa Clara, California

more...

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The following is quoted from the e-newsletter of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law:

Under New Restriction, Minnesota Legal Aid Groups Unable to Bring Lawsuits in Federal Court with State Dollars

Paul Demko, “Legal aid groups wrestle with new restriction,”Saint Paul Legal Ledger; September 7, 2011

The Saint Paul Legal Ledger reports: “State funding has been ‘hugely important because of its flexibility,’ said Catharine Haukedahl, executive director of Mid Minnesota Legal Assistance, one of the state's largest providers of legal representation to poor individuals. ‘We would prefer not to see less flexibility.’ Organizations receiving state grant dollars can no longer use that money to pursue federal court cases. A little-discussed provision in the public safety budget bill is causing headaches for legal services organizations across the state. The legislation states that ‘priority must be given’ to clients with cases in state courts when spending state dollars. Despite the seeming ambiguity in that language, legal aid groups are interpreting it as a prohibition on spending state dollars to litigate cases in the federal courts. It's the first time that state funds for legal services have been restricted in such a manner. . . . Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says the provision was simply intended to remind legal aid organizations about the proper use of state dollars. ‘There was discussion about whether or not mission creep has affected legal services over the years,’ Limmer said. ‘This was a reminder to legal services that we should keep in mind the original intent of the funding.’ . . . . The state budget allocates $22 million for civil legal services during the current biennium. . . . . The 11-member Legal Services Advisory Committee, which is appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court, is responsible for allocating $1.5 million of that money. It's part of a two-year, $4.1 million grant pool that comes from three funding sources. The restriction on spending has already altered the grant process, said Bridget Gernander, the state's legal services grant program manager. Most notably, the advisory committee decided to use only non-state funds in making grants to the Immigration Law Center of Minnesota and the Advocates for Human Rights, which work almost exclusively on federal court matters. In addition, the relevant language from the legislation was included in each grant contract in order to make certain that legal aid organizations are aware of the change. . . . . The change comes at a time when legal services groups face dwindling budgets. The court system was one of the few areas to largely avoid the budget axe in the deal reached in July. But legal services was an exception, taking a 6.8 percent cut. It could have been much worse: The initial bill passed by the Legislature contained a 17 percent reduction in spending for legal aid. . . . . The restriction on how state dollars may be spent is already changing the way that legal aid groups do their work. It's causing organizations to implement additional administrative tasks to track state dollars so that they can prove to legislators that none of it is being spent on federal cases. . . . It also could alter where aid groups file lawsuits. If they have a choice between seeking redress in state or federal courts, they may be more inclined to choose the former in order to allow the use of state funds.”

We enjoyed celebrating Lillian's birthday yesterday at Technique the restaurant of the Cordon Bleu International School of Cooking here in Cambridge.

Recently, we met a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal who is doing some excellent work helping people at a major hospital in Dakar and at a high school in a suburb of Dakar to establish and build gardens adjacent to the institutional buildings. There are some images of those gardens in our recent posts. Since our return home, he has written to us about another project that he and other Peace Corps volunteers are undertaking, camps for girls. He writes:

"Peace Corps volunteers in Senegal have started to develop annual, week long girls' camps in different regions. The camps range in age groups, but generally are designed to give females a safe, open space to discuss crucial gender issues (that they might not be able to elsewhere), learn about the environment, health-related issues, the importance of education, etc, and, of course, to have fun. This year the Dakar region is hosting the second annual girls' camp the first week in October. A number of volunteers in the Dakar region are participating, using our combined knowledge of Health/Environment Education, Small Enterprise development, and Agriculture. I'll be helping out with a few of the environmental sessions, basically helping spread the work about moringa and showing the usefulness of bottles and such as alternative containers. We're all set to go, save for a bit of fund raising."

So, Janet and I contributed a few bucks and we are hoping that some of our Breaking Away blog readers might wish to do the same. If you wish to view the girls' camp project on the Peace Corps site and consider making a donation, which is tax deductible, please visit:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=685-178



Excerpt from the PC website:

"...Our main objective with this camp is to help these young women see the importance of school and how it benefits both themselves and their family lives; in short, creating the perfect work/life balance...."

And for more information and updates, please let us know. John and Janet

Crossing Cultures Senegal-January 2013

Intercultural Dimensions, Inc. (a 501(c)(3) educational organization) offers a stimulating travel and educational program focused on the French-speaking Republic of Senegal, West Africa. The program dates for the 2013 Crossing Cultures Senegal program are January 2 to January 18. It will be ID's 22nd program to Senegal. Escape the cold and experience the real story of Senegal.

Led by two former U.S. Peace Corps volunteers, this well-established cultural immersion program appeals to people in and out of academia. It works well for those who want to experience family life and community projects in rural areas of this diverse nation and for those with special interests in dance and music training, teaching, literature, environment, medicine, government, NGOs, agriculture, language and health projects.

The Crossing Cultures Senegal group (three leaders and three participants) is small allowing the leaders to tailor activities to the participants' interests. Many professors, teachers and students of French have been past participants. Reasonable cost. Extended stays for volunteer work or field study can be facilitated. This program is an eye-opener. For some it can be a stepping stone to their future; for others it can be an enrichment of the work they are already doing. Start now and apply early.

Deadline for applications is September 15, 2012.

Please visit ID's website for more information and to apply to participate in the next program:

Please click here:www.interculturaldimensions.org

John Hand and Janet Ghattas

If ever you get a chance to drive from Blanking to Hanksville, Utah, take the time to do so-it is one great drive. Not only is the scenery fabulous as viewed from your vehicle but along the way, there are a number of great short hikes where you will find beauty and fascinating ruins and relics of the past inhabitants.

Here, we see the route 95 bridge across the Colorado River.

Anasazi ruin in Butler Wash, an easy hike from Route 95

Pottery shards in a canyon close to Route 95

During almost fifty years Joseph N’Diaye, as curator of the Maison des Esclaves on the island of Gorée, informed people from all over the world about the horrors of slavery. In doing so, he must have met many of the world’s luminaries. We miss him.

We visited a therapeutic art workshop and two gardens at Fann Hospital in Dakar. The patients are enthusiastic about these additions to their medical treatment.

In my lifetime the value of this coin, about the size of a dime has risen from about $4 to about $350 today. Much of that astonishing increase has occurred in the past decade.

Chief Rising Sun, (third from left) entertained us at my fifth birthday party. I still have this Ute drum:Chief Rising SunI guess you could say that my birthday parties have been going downhill ever since. Chief Rising Sun helped my father with the 1937 production of "The Sundance," an opera that was composed by William Hanson in collaboration with a Sioux woman, Gertrude Simmons Bonnin.

(above) Cottonwood Canyon Road, east of Bryce Canyon, Utah

The Betatakin Ruin, Navajo National Monument, Arizona

A view of Keet Seel, Navajo National Monument, AZ, a spectacular, well preserved Anasazi ruin and an interesting hike.

Grinding stones at Keet Seel

Lower Calf Creek Falls, a nice place to cool off and have a picnic in Escalante country

Hell's Backbone, an exciting scenic drive in the Escalante region

Desert Storm in central Utah

The Grand Gallery, Horseshoe Unit, Canyonlands National Park-a fantastic panel of pictographs and petroglyphs said one of the finest examples of "Anasazi" art so far discovered. The hike to this fairly remote location is fun and interesting.

Our federal government officials are sworn to uphold the Constitution and to work to protect the people. But their current actions and inaction violate the Constitution. The failure of the Government to take the normal steps to pay the obligations of the United States, previously approved by legislation, puts the country and the people in immediate jeopardy of severe losses and injuries. Millions of innocent people may suffer as a result of our elected officials' collective violations of their sworn duty. Before the U.S. suffers a possibly disabling reduction in it's credit standing, the President should assure the public and the financial community that America's debts will continue to be paid in full and on time. While it is true that we owe too much money, the answer does not lie in refusing to pay our just debts and carrying out the legislation which is already on the books. If our expenses are to be reduced that should be done through future legislation -- not by refusing to pay what we owe.

Location:Cambridge

A Principal Road in the Casamance. No wonder there are folks wanting out.

Theater gorup in Kaolack

Garden in Kolda assisted by a Peace Corps Volunteer (on left).

Janet at the market in Kolda before visiting the village of Temento Samba

Dancing at Temento Samba

The Chief, Samba Mballo gave us his home during our visit.

Solar power for this home in Temento

pounding couscous at Temento

preparing dinner at Temento Samba

Fields adjoining the village

Pape, who coached successful men's and women's soccor teams now turns to basketball.

Vocalist who sings with the balafonist at Sedhiou

M. Mané, master balafonist at Sediou

Fatou Diemé at Diedhioucounda

El Hadji Abdoulaye Biaye giving us a lesson about the Region of Sedhiou

Garden at Diedhioucounda

We took a pirogue ride on the Casamance River to the Ile du Diable. (They say, it's best not to step onto the land).

Computer room at the "Fort" in Sedhiou. (I hope it's being used by the people in Sedhiou.)

Dinner at Diedhioucounda

Cakes were baked for us in the solar oven at Diedhioucounda

Tea in the afternoon at Diedhioucounda

The Kankouran marches about in Sedhiou in front of our compound.

Some of the women of Diedhioucounda

On the road east of Kolda-maybe some work should be done here instead of building the new airport!

We always enjoy visiting the artists' retreat, Sabo Badé at Toubab Dialaw.

On the rad outside Dakar

In the market at Kolda

Sculptures by Gérard Chenet at Toubab Dialaw, Senegal

The buildings and their settings, conceived and executed by Chenet are themselves works of art

Here we see the Kancouran who protects young men who are being initiated from evil spirits (among the Mandinka).

YouTube Video

Location:Sabo Badé

Roof design at the cultural center (Alliance Franco-Senegalaise) in Kaolack

Rope shop in the Kolda market:

Janet marketing in Kolda in preparation for our visit to the Pulaar village Temento Samba.

Location:Sabo Badé, Senegal

Computer room at a community center in Sedhiou.

Our host in Sedhiou baked two cakes for us in the family's solar oven-delicious.

A Balant singer accompanied the master balafonist for our entertainment.

YouTube Video- Posted from my iPad

Location:Sabo Badé, Senegal

We visited the cultural center and it's library. (below)

Home grown veggies are served with rice and fish at our host's home in

Sedhiou.

Pape, who coaches soccer and basketball, having led successful men's and women's teams for Sedhiou now begins the basketball season.

Location:Sedhiou, Senegal

Dinner on the hoof...

The chef du village gave Janet and me his home for the night. We were comfortably accommodated.

- Posted from my iPad

Location:South of Kolda, Senegal, near the Guinea Bissau border

The kaicedra tree in Kolda

At a demonstration garden assisted by a Peace Corps volunteer in Kolda. Public training sessions encourage urban gardens here and in a number of other cities and suburbs in Senegal. (below)

Location:Kolda, Senegal

Discussion with the traditional healers at Fatick.

People come from distant parts even other countries seeking salt here in the Sine-saloum area of Senegal.

The Senegalese-French Alliance community center provides many cultural services to students, researchers and the general public in Kaolack with it's lending library, study rooms, archives of newspapers, theater, movie room, language lab, classrooms and cybercafe. It's unusual design won the Aga Khan Award in architecture.

John (left) speaking with the director.

At Kaolack, we were entertained by a musical theater troop which presents morality plays in the City and in the villages.

YouTube Video

Location:Kaolack

More from the Fann Hospital gardens, Dakar, above: a shot from the Infectious Ward garden at Fann Hospital

In the therapeutic garden at Fann Psychiatric Ward (above and below)

YouTube VideoBelow: Janet in the course of the orientation session for the 21st program of Intercultural Dimensions at the Hotel Ganalé, Dakar.

YouTube VideoAbove: We visited a garden cultivated by students at the Lycée (high school) in a suburb of Dakar. This is a joint effort of the school and the Peace Corps. A volunteer comes regularly to consult and work in the garden. The plan is to utilize the proceeds of the garden for the maintenance of the garden and for the benefit of the students, including the purchase of medications for the infirmary.

Though many students are preparing for exams at this time, several members of the Gardening Club came to greet us.

Leaving the suburbs of Dakar to continue to Fatick and Kaolack. The road is shared by a variety of conveyances.

Fueling our "sept place" modified Peugeot station wagon is not cheap.Fuel costs about $6.70 a gallon at today's rate of exchange.

On the way to Kaolack, we visited a center for transitional healing at Fatick ("Malango"). The administration and healers were most welcoming and explained their work, their successes and problems with us. (Below)

- Posted from my iPad

Location:Dakar-Kaolack, Senegal

Since we arrived in Senegal five days ago, the electricity has been off more than it has been on, I believe throughout the country. Businesses to some extent can get along with their privately purchased generators. Of course, this is at a significant added expense. At our hotel, we had electricity but we were asked to turn off the air conditioner because the generator was being overtaxed. Apparently, the generator has no problem with outages of a few hours but outages of long duration may be beyond its capacity to endure and fully supply the needs of the hotel. I suspect this is true for other businesses as well-and so I was told. But those who have the means to purchase such machinery and fuel it do not include the common man and woman in the street nor many institutions such as schools and infirmaries. As for small business people such as tailors, woodworking tradesmen, iron workers and many others, they have no means to pursue their livelihoods.

It is one thing when electricity is cut off due to causes of nature beyond human control. Though severe, that kind of interruption is both understandable and of relatively short duration. What we have here is a system that simply is not working and has not been working over a long period of time. The last time we were in Senegal and the times before that, there were outages, but nothing like what we are experiencing now. A two or three hour interruption several times a week is bad enough; but now we are way beyond that level of inconvenience. We are into a really serious deterioration of the level of functioning in Senegal.

- Posted from my iPad

Location:Senegal

We visited a garden at the Fann Hospital in Dakar this morning. The produce is utilized at the hospital for the benefit of the patients. There is also a therapeutic garden beside the psychiatric ward. Both gardens are assisted by a Peace Corps volunteer.

- Posted from my iPad

Location:Dakar, Senegal