Welcome to the Overnight News Digest (OND) for Tuesday, February 02, 2015
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 - respect is due.
This diary is named for its "Hump Point" video: Ways to Go by Grouplove
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Top News |
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Syrian offensive blamed for putting peace talks at risk
By (Al Jazeera)
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. . .
"Since last night, big massacres have taken place in Syria and nobody is doing or saying anything.
"We do not know if the international community is completely blind or they do not want to do anything. We are here to know if they are keen to do anything."
The HNC condemned the Aleppo offensive, saying it showed President Bashar al-Assad's government is not committed to finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
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Separately, John Kerry, US secretary of state, has also given warning that "the situation on the ground for the Syrian people is unfathomable".
. . .
The Geneva negotiations are meant to develop a "road map" to end the nearly five-year conflict that has resulted in more than 250,000 Syrians being killed.
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L.A. County files criminal charges over Porter Ranch gas leak
By Paige St. John, Alice Walton
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. . .
L.A. County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey filed four misdemeanor criminal charges against the gas company, accusing it of releasing air contaminants and neglecting to report the release of hazardous materials until three days after the leak began Oct. 23.
. . .
Harris' joining in the litigation brings to 11 the number of local, state and federal agencies now either investigating or suing the gas company. Her office is the only one that can press some claims, such as alleging statewide harm through greenhouse gas emissions.
"Quite frankly, it's not litigation overkill at all," said Los Angeles City Councilman Mitchell Englander, who represents communities affected by the leak. "The damage the gas has caused to residents, the environment, the economy, is unprecedented."
. . .
The lawsuit includes yet-unnamed corporate officers of the gas company who were in a position of responsibility to either prevent, or immediately correct, the leak. Southern California Gas is owned by Sempra Energy, a San Diego-based corporation whose board of directors includes Kathleen Brown, the sister of Gov. Jerry Brown.
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International |
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Israel's unwanted African migrants
By Kathy Harcombe
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Adam was 18 when he arrived in Israel in 2011. Attackers had burned down his home in Darfur at the height of the genocide, and he had spent his teenage years in a UN refugee camp in another part of Sudan. With no prospects in the camp and no sign of an end to the conflict in Darfur, he made his way north through Egypt and the lawless Sinai peninsula to Israel.
But Israel - which has approved fewer than 1% of asylum applications since it signed the UN Refugee Convention six decades ago - has not offered asylum to a single person from Sudan. It turned down Adam's application, and last October, when he went to renew the temporary permit allowing him to stay in the country, he was summoned to a detention centre known as Holot, deep in the Negev desert.
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In October, Israeli immigration authorities said 3,000 asylum seekers had left Israel for a third country. But the BBC has learned that only seven have registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Rwanda, all of them Eritreans, and only eight, mostly from Sudan, in Uganda.
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"And then the whole idea of asking them to give their 'voluntary' consent to something they do not know because this is a secret arrangement... Of course this is not voluntary because you are using the threat of putting them indefinitely in prison if they refuse to go.
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USA |
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American exceptionalism in a time of American malaise
By Nick Bryant
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Early in his presidency, Barack Obama looked set to retire the rhetoric of exceptionalism, even though many in America and around the world regarded his election, after the shocks of 9/11 and the Great Recession, as proof of its salience.
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America's Grand Old Party has been in a state of open civil war.
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The National Security Agency scandal has undercut America's claim to have a clarion voice in international diplomacy.
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In this age of mass shootings, laws are still based on a document drafted in the era of the single-shot musket.
, , ,
As for spreading American values around the world, many people here simply don't think it is worth the expenditure of blood and treasure, especially after draining wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
. . .
Certainly, it is harder these days to find parents who believe, with absolute conviction, their children will enjoy lives of greater abundance.
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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:
http://pigeonsandplanes.com/2013/09/grouplove-interview/ related to this video:
Grouplove is an indie-pop band with the rapidly-growing following to prove that they have a knack for the pop side. Over the past few years, the Los Angeles quintet has released a series of anthemic singles that feel like pure, infectious escapism. It’s fun music, but it’s the diversity of the band’s catalog that sets them apart from any contemporaries. Their sophomore album, Spreading Rumours, which came out this week, puts a point on how truly eclectic Grouplove can be, without ever sacrificing the pop edge that makes the band something of a sure bet to grow into something huge or the childlike enthusiasm that bleeds through the recordings. We caught up with lead singer and keyboardist Hannah Hooper to talk about the new record, what it’s like to be in the one indie band signed to a major label that doesn’t seem to have anything resembling an image, and painting the album artwork for the band.
. . .
Apart from the songs and just as a band, you seem really eclectic. A lot of artists we see that come out as fast as you do will have a really defined aesthetic and image, and you guys don’t seem to have that at all. It’s so cool that you say that, because it’s kind of like if you dressed the same way that you did in sixth grade. You know what I mean?
Sure. I genuinely believe that artists should be constantly developing and growing, aesthetically taking risks, incorporating new mediums. There’s something terrifyingly boring about knowing exactly who you are. Like, “I’m the letter-jacket, black jeans, boots band with the electric guitar.” There’s something really limiting with that. At a certain point you’re gonna be bored of your audience and there’s only so much you can do with that, and I’m coming from a perspective were I don’t even really know how to play any instruments well, you know? I do understand that if you have any limitations, it’s gonna be a limitation.
Back to what's happening:
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Environmental |
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EPA 'seeks to strengthen' safe water laws amid widespread testing concerns
By Oliver Milman
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Since news proliferated of dangerous lead contamination in Flint’s water, the Guardian revealed that numerous US cities and states, including Philadelphia, Detroit and Rhode Island, advise residents to run their faucets for several minutes the night before taking a sample of water for lead tests.
The EPA, which has come under fire for its response to the Flint crisis and its reluctance to stamp out the altered tests, will work to clarify best practice with water authorities, a spokeswoman told the Guardian. An update to the 25-year-old lead and copper rule is expected in 2017 but the EPA said it would act in the meantime.
The EPA’s comments come as it is poised to face greater public scrutiny in a hearing before Congress Wednesday morning, over its administration of the Safe Drinking Water Act in Flint, Michigan. Acting deputy administrator Joel Beauvais and EPA researcher Miguel Del Toral will testify before the House Oversight committee, along with state and local officials.
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Meanwhile, Detroit’s water and sewerage department said it has not been responsible for water testing since 1 January, when responsibilities were handed to the the Great Lakes water authority. However, the Great Lakes water authority said that the water and sewerage department was still responsible for tests.
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Science and Health |
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How Winning Leads to Cheating
By Jordana Cepelewicz
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Schurr and Ritov found that when people win a competition in which success is measured by social comparison rather than by a fixed standard, they are more likely to engage in unrelated unethical behavior—in the case of this study, to cheat their peers out of money. “We are the first to ask what happens to contestants and their behavior after a competition ends,” Schurr says, “and we found that competitions have long-lasting effects.”
. . .
Schurr and Ritov attribute the cheating that occurred in their study to a number of possible psychological mechanisms, particularly entitlement. Their study “ties into recent work that relates to the influence of social-economic status and its influence on ethical behavior,” says Shaul Shalvi, a behavioral economist at the University of Amsterdam who was not part of this study. “People who are of higher status would break the rules more often. So, for example, you’re more likely to see a very fancy car ignoring the red traffic light compared to the guy in the normal car because they apparently feel entitled. So it’s nice that this study links to that, because people of high status have probably had the experience of winning.”
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If confirmed by such analyses, the research suggests that discouraging social comparisons and focusing instead on fixed goals might be a good way for organizations—from sport teams to businesses to governments—to reduce corruption.
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Technology |
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Encryption May Hurt Surveillance, But Internet Of Things Could Open New Doors
By Alina Selyukh
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information from some apps and devices like smartphones may be harder for government investigators to intercept because of stronger encryption. But, it said, we are connecting so many more things to the Internet (light bulbs, door locks, watches, toasters) that they could create new surveillance channels.
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"If you have data flowing or at rest somewhere and it's held by somebody that can be under the jurisdiction of not just one but multiple governments, those governments at some point or another are going to get around to asking for the data," he says.
The study team is notable for including technical experts and civil liberties advocates alongside current and former National Security Agency, Defense Department and Justice Department officials. Another chief author was Matthew Olsen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center and NSA general counsel.
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"When you look at it over the long term," says Zittrain, "with the breadth of ways in which stuff that used to be ephemeral is now becoming digital and stored, the opportunities for surveillance are quite bright, possibly even worryingly so."
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Cultural |
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Conservative Culture and the Fear of Reverse Racism
By Kevin Drum
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. . . everyone agrees that racism was endemic in the 50s, and everyone agrees that it's improved since then. But among whites, a majority believe that racism against blacks has improved so much—and reverse racism against whites has intensified so much—that today there's literally more bias against whites than against blacks.
. . .it's a safe guess that fears of reverse racism are concentrated primarily among political conservatives—encouraged on a near daily basis by talk radio, Fox News, and Republican politicians. Given this, it's hardly any wonder that Trump's barely-coded appeals to racial resentment have resonated so strongly among Republican voters. Trump himself may or may not have any staying power, but his basic appeal is rooted in a culture of white grievance that's been growing for years and is likely to keep growing in the future as white majorities continue to shrink. . .
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Meteor Blades is known to offer an enlightening Evening Open Diary - you might consider checking that out tonight if you haven't already.