@10:21, 3/26/15

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1

World

Grief Engulfs German Town That Lost 16 Students and 2 Teachers in Crash

By JACK EWING | Mar 25th 2015

The entire town of Haltern am See was in mourning after the deaths of students and teachers returning from an exchange trip to Spain on the Germanwings plane that crashed in France.

Aviation Accidents, Safety and Disasters; Airlines and Airplanes 

 The copilot intentionally crashed the airplane.

Heard on NPR this morning.  Sourced from the cockpit voice recorder.

2

Magazine

The Radical Humaneness of Norway’s Halden Prison

By JESSICA BENKO | Mar 26th 2015

The goal of the Norwegian penal system is to get inmates out of it.

Prisons and Prisoners; Therapy and Rehabilitation; Sentences (Criminal) 

"Much of the backlash within penological circles can be traced to Robert Martinson, a sociology researcher at the City University of New York. In a 1974 article for the journal Public Interest, he summarized an analysis of data from 1945 to 1967 about the impact of rehabilitation programs on recidivism. Despite the fact that around half the individual programs did show evidence of effectiveness in reducing recidivism, Martinson’s article concluded that no category of rehabilitation program (education or psychotherapy, for example) showed consistent results across prison systems. “With few and isolated exceptions,” he wrote, “the rehabilitative efforts that have been reported so far have had no appreciable effect on recidivism.” Martinson’s paper was immediately seized upon by the news media and politicians, who latched on to the idea that “nothing works” in regard to prisoner rehabilitation. “It Doesn’t Work” was the title of a “60 Minutes” segment on rehabilitation. “They don’t rehabilitate, they don’t deter, they don’t punish and they don’t protect,” Jerry Brown, the governor of California, said in a 1975 speech. A top psychiatrist for the Bureau of Prisons resigned in disgust at what he perceived to be an abandonment of commitment to rehabilitation. At the dedication ceremony for the San Diego M.C.C. in 1974, one of the very structures designed with rehabilitation in mind, William Saxbe, the attorney general of the United States, declared that the ability of a correctional program to produce rehabilitation was a “myth” for all but the youngest offenders.

Martinson’s paper was quickly challenged; a 1975 analysis of much of the same data by another sociologist criticized Martinson’s choice to overlook the successful programs and their characteristics in favor of a broad conclusion devoid of context. By 1979, in light of new analyses, Martinson published another paper that unequivocally withdrew his previous conclusion, declaring that “contrary to my previous position, some treatment programs do have an appreciable effect on recidivism.” But by then, the “nothing works” narrative was firmly entrenched. In 1984, a Senate report calling for more stringent sentencing guidelines cited Martinson’s 1974 paper, without acknowledging his later reversal. The tough-on-crime policies that sprouted in Congress and state legislatures soon after included mandatory minimums, longer sentences, three-­strikes laws, legislation allowing juveniles to be prosecuted as adults and an increase in prisoners’ “maxing out,” or being released without passing through reintegration programs or the parole system. Between 1975 and 2005, the rate of incarceration in the United States skyrocketed, from roughly 100 inmates per 100,000 citizens to more than 700 — consistently one of the highest rates in the world. Though Americans make up about only 4.6 percent of the world’s population, American prisons hold 22 percent of all incarcerated people."

The American prison system was carefully constructed.

It is intentionally punitive and lacking in attempts at rehabilitation.

Rural prisons serve as support for otherwise dead towns.

After a prisoner in Norway fails at rehabilitation there is the possibility of psychiatric hospitalization. 

3

Opinion

A Rebuff to India’s Censors

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | Mar 26th 2015

The country’s Supreme Court struck down restrictions on Internet speech, but the ruling was not as strong as it could have been.

Censorship; Freedom of Speech and Expression; Computers and the Internet; Freedom of the Press 

Indian and American conservatism are much alike.

They empower religion and industry.

Maintenance of the common is not a high priority for conservatism.

The ruling will be disappointing.

4

U.S.

Radio and TV Martí, U.S. Broadcasters for Cuba, Face New Obstacles

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ | Mar 24th 2015

The Martís are illegal on the island, and President Raúl Castro has made their shutdown a condition of normalizing relations with the United States.

Radio 

The Marti broad and narrow casts should not be a part of the federal government.

It is not a friendly act to propagandize a neighbor.

The spectrum and facilities could be sold to a corporation on the public broadcasting model.  The new corporation would have to get private support from exiles and foundations.

The F.C.C. does not limit the content of broadcasts with the exception of a few specific words.  

The new corporation would be subject to the libel laws.  

They should put attorneys on the staff.   

5

U.S.

Division Seen in Supreme Court on Pollution Limits

By ADAM LIPTAK | Mar 25th 2015

The case concerns Environmental Protection Agency regulations adopted in 2012 that set curbs on toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Clean Air Act; Environment; Air Pollution; Regulation and Deregulation of Industry 

A cost benefit analysis is not required by the act.

The E.P.A. is acting properly.

Congress can add a feature to the act if it so desires.

Coal burning must end.  

There is already more carbon dioxide in the air than humanity can tolerate. 

6

Science

Experts Back Angelina Jolie Pitt in Choices for Cancer Prevention

By PAM BELLUCK | Mar 24th 2015

The actress had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed because she carries a genetic mutation that increases the risk of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian Cancer; Surgery and Surgeons; Genetics and Heredity; Breast Cancer 

No one should involuntarily die of a preventable cancer.

7

World

Indian Court Strikes Down Section of Law Punishing Offensive Online Posts

By NIDA NAJAR and SUHASINI RAJ | Mar 24th 2015

The ruling did not go far enough.

8

U.S.

Report Credits F.B.I. With Progress Since 9/11, but Says More Is Needed

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT | Mar 25th 2015

The bureau needs to improve intelligence capabilities and hire more linguists, said the report, which looked at progress since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Terrorism; September 11 (2001) 

The U.S. does not need a "Secret Police".

9

U.S.

UPS Worker’s Pregnancy Discrimination Suit Reinstated by Supreme Court

By ADAM LIPTAK | Mar 25th 2015

The justices, voting 6 to 3, said a lower court had erred in dismissing the suit of a woman turned down for lighter duties during her pregnancy.

Discrimination 

Good.

"Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas dissented."

10

World

Greece: Ex-Official Avoids Prison

By NIKI KITSANTONIS | Mar 24th 2015

A former finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, was found guilty on Tuesday of tampering with a list of about 2,000 Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, but he was spared prison time.

Tax Evasion 

Ok.

www.ekathimerini.com

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_26/03/2015_548537

No news.

11

World

Terrorism Unlikely in Germanwings Crash, French Officials Say

By DAN BILEFSKY and NICOLA CLARK | Mar 25th 2015

As investigators reviewed one of the plane’s black boxes, unanswered questions remained, including why the plane had descended for eight minutes before crashing.

Aviation Accidents, Safety and Disasters 

It is not known.  

We should not guess.

It looks intentional to me.

12

N.Y. / Region

Prosecution of Senator in 2008 Looms Over Menendez Case

By MATT APUZZO | Mar 23rd 2015

As federal prosecutors plan corruption charges against Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, comparisons are being made to the unsuccessful prosecution of Senator Ted Stevens.

Ethics and Official Misconduct 

For the right price we are all corruptible.

No person is above the law.

Senator Menendez will go to trial.

13

 World

One Year Later, Ebola Outbreak Offers Lessons for Next Epidemic

By SHERI FINK and PAM BELLUCK | Mar 22nd 2015

While the disease has not been eliminated, aid groups take stock of what worked and didn’t, and continue to point fingers.

Ebola Virus; Epidemics; Humanitarian Aid 

The world may have learned some things.

We can hope so.

14

World

Health Agency Reports Lowest Weekly Total of New Ebola Cases

By RICK GLADSTONE | Mar 26th 2015

The World Health Organization on Wednesday reported the lowest weekly total of new Ebola cases so far this year in the three nations of West Africa that have been afflicted by the deadly virus.

Ebola Virus; Epidemics 

I an happy the numbers are much smaller.

15

Technology

Restoring the iCloud Drive Icon

By J. D. BIERSDORFER | Mar 23rd 2015

With a few steps, the icon — and any other deleted icon on a Mac — can be brought back. Also, why Windows sometimes must restart when updating.

Computers and the Internet; Software; Android (Operating System); Windows (Operating System); iOS (Operating System) 

Yes.  

Microsoft has ended all support for XP.

There will be no more updates.

16

World

Ukraine Arrests 2 Officials as Nation Watches on TV

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN | Mar 25th 2015

The director of the emergency services ministry and his deputy were handcuffed at a meeting and face charges of embezzlement and abuse of power.

Ethics and Official Misconduct; Embezzlement 

There is a bit of doubt about high level arrests.

I will take the governments word and read the trial reports.

17

Opinion

Harmful Budget Cuts

Mar 26th 2015

Mary Woolley of Research!America writes that proposed cuts to discretionary spending “would dramatically slow medical progress.”

Budgets and Budgeting; Federal Budget (US); Research 

The Republican budgets are unnecessarily cruel. 

18

The Upshot

A Novel Way to Mandate Sick Leave, From Microsoft

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER | Mar 26th 2015

The company announced that many of its 2,000 contractors and vendors would have to give employees 15 days of time off with pay.

Paid Time Off; Labor and Jobs; Law and Legislation 

Anything to avoid regulation.

19

World

Dozens Arrested in Raids to Stem Illegal Influx of Kosovars

By ALISON SMALE | Mar 25th 2015

The European authorities arrested 77 people accused of running a network smuggling in immigrants from Kosovo to countries in Western Europe.

Smuggling; Illegal Immigration 

The former Yugoslavia is still in the news.

There is money in supplying cheap labor. 

20

Business Day

Deep Freeze on Great Lakes Halts Cargo Shipments

By IAN AUSTEN and MARY M. CHAPMAN | Mar 23rd 2015

Two harsh winters have burdened ship lines and businesses that depend on their cargo, including grain and iron ore.

Freight (Cargo); Winter (Season); Ice 

An annual event.

Sometimes there is less ice.

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