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Purveyor's JournalGOP Lawmaker( Alexander, La) Announces Retirement, Citing Frustration
Source: USA TODAY
Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., a six-term lawmaker first elected as a Democrat, announced Tuesday that he will not run for re-election, citing the inability of Congress to get things done.
"Rather than producing tangible solutions to better this nation, partisan posturing has created a legislative standstill, Alexander said. "Unfortunately, I do not foresee this environment to change anytime soon. I have decided not to seek re-election, so that another may put forth ideas on how to break through the gridlock and bring about positive change for our country."
Alexander is not the first to suggest that Capitol Hill has become too much of a quagmire to make service there satisfying.
--CLIP
Alexander was first elected as a Democrat in his northeastern Louisiana district but voted often with Republicans. In 2004, near the end of his first term, he switched to the Republican Party just before the election filing deadline, infuriating Democrats who had no time to replace him on the ballot.
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/08/06/rodney-alexander-retirement-frustration/2625737/
All Chinese Troops Arrive At Destination In Russia For Joint Drills
CHELYABINSK, Russia, Aug. 5 (ChinaMil) -- As the military trains carrying the third echelon of the ground force battle group of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) participating in the Peace Mission 2013 joint anti-terror military exercise pulled into a railway station in Chelyabinsk in Russia's Ural Mountainous region at 10:00, local time, on August 3, 2013, all the participating troops of the Chinese side have arrived at the exercise area, marking the completion of the stage of troop delivery and deployment in this joint exercise. The next step is to shift into the stage of battle planning.
"Travelling to Russia to take part in the joint military exercise is a tampering and test put to the actual combat capability of the troops ", said Lieut. Gen. Shi Xiangyuan, chief director of the Chinese side in the joint exercise and deputy commander of the PLA Shenyang Military Area Command (MAC).
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http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90786/8353779.html
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Chinese Fighter-Bombers Practice Reconnaissance In Anti-Terror Drills In Russia
Five Chinese JH-7A fighter-bombers carried out their first reconnaissance mission in China-Russia joint military drills in Chelyabinsk Tuesday.
The flight lasted for more than an hour and focused on getting familiar with the environment, unaided eye reconnaissance and searching for combat targets, said Wang Xiaoliang, one of the pilots.
Since the Chinese unit arrived here Friday, they had been briefed by their hosts on airport procedures, airspace control, weather conditions and notice alerts, and had examined the runway, tarmac and tower, Wang said.
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http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/802022.shtml#.UgGJFDtOZJE
Israel's AG Defends Detention Of Migrants For Minor Crimes
The government is enforcing new regulations, under which migrants can face prolonged incarceration for relatively minor offenses, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Monday, during a tour of south Tel Aviv’s Levinsky Park and the Neveh Sha’anan neighborhood, where many African migrants live
“We have lowered the threshold for offenses that are a real threat to public safety and we are strict about this threshold,” Weinstein said.
Referring to two recent cases in which Sudanese migrants were imprisoned without being brought before a court, Weinstein said that it was right that both suspects had been subsequently released. “I don’t regret it for a moment… It says nothing about future cases. Each case will be examined individually,“ he said, during a discussion with members of a grass-roots neighborhood action group.
Neither of the suspects, one of whom was held on suspicion of stealing a bicycle and the other on suspicion of rape, was ever charged.
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http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.540106
Putin May Be The Only Winner In Snowden Affair
MOSCOW – A worldwide media frenzy has turned the plight of the rogue American intelligence analyst Edward Snowden into something resembling a John le Carré novel, full of suspense and intrigue.
Whose spy is he?
Will he be able to outmaneuver the National Security Agency as it attempts to force him to return to the United States to stand trial on charges of theft and espionage? And what will U.S. President Barack Obama say to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, at their scheduled September meeting in Moscow — where Snowden was given a year’s asylum after he was in limbo for more than five weeks at Sheremetyevo Airport?
The real espionage, however, lies not in Snowden’s decision to release NSA secrets, but in the surveillance programs that he exposed. The leaked information highlighted the West’s long-ignored failure to strike an informed balance between security and liberty.
---CLIP
This is not true only in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, which happen to be entangled in the Snowden scandal. The reluctant responses by Germany and France to evidence that the NSA has been conducting unprecedented surveillance of their officials indicate that Europe’s governments may also be involved.
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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/08/05/commentary/putin-may-be-the-only-winner-in-snowden-affair/#.UgGFxjtOZJE
Deployment Factors Are Not Related to Rise in Military Suicides, Study Finds
In the largest study of its kind, military medical researchers have concluded that deployments to war zones and exposure to combat were not major factors behind a significant increase in suicides among military personnel from 2001 to 2008, according to a paper published on Tuesday.
The study, published online by The Journal of the American Medical Association, corroborates what many military medical experts have been saying for years: that the forces underlying the spike in military suicides are similar to those in the civilian world. They include mental illness, substance abuse, and financial and relationship problems.
“The findings from this study are not consistent with the assumption that specific deployment-related characteristics, such as length of deployment, number of deployments, or combat experiences, are directly associated with increased suicide risk,” the authors, based at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego, wrote. “Instead, the risk factors associated with suicide in this military population are consistent with civilian populations, including male sex and mental disorders.”
But even as it points to nondeployment factors as paramount, the study underscores the complex interplay of war and the mental health of troops, even those who never left the United States. It suggests that the stresses of 12 years of war may have worn on all service members, creating work and travel demands far outstripping those borne by peacetime troops.
“Perhaps it’s not being deployed so much as being in a war during a high-stress time period,” Dr. Nancy Crum-Cianflone, the principal investigator for the Millennium Cohort Study, which provided much of the raw data for the study, said in an interview.
more...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/us/deployment-factors-found-not-related-to-military-suicide-spike.html?_r=0#h[]
Roger Waters: 'I'm Not Anti-Semitic, I'm Anti-Apartheid'
Pig Balloon with Jewish Star Represents 'evil of government'Haaretz
Published August 05, 2013.
Former Pink Floyd star Roger Waters attempted to deflect accusations of anti-Semitism and defend his decision to use a pig-shaped balloon emblazoned with the Star of David, among other symbols, during a concert in Belgium.
Waters, who last year voiced support for the boycott of Israeli goods, came under fire for the use of the inflatable pig, which was destroyed by the audience at the end of the show. Apart from anti-Semitism claims, some accused him of being a Jew hater and Nazi supporter.
In a response posted on Facebook, Waters denied the allegations and said the Star of David represents Israel and its policies, and not Judaism.
"In a functioning theocracy it is almost inevitable that the symbol of the religion becomes confused with the symbol of the state, in this case the State of Israel, a state that operates apartheid both within its own borders and also in the territories it has occupied and colonized since 1967," wrote Waters. "Like it or not, the Star of David represents Israel and its policies."
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http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.539891
Israel May Forgo Millions In US Missile Defense Budget Aid
With automatic spending cuts bearing down on the Pentagon that will force the US Armed Forces to slash $50 billion in 2014 alone, Israel has waived its ostensible protection from the sequestration cuts, and will thus be eligible to forgo some $55 million in missile defense aid, Defense News reported.
“Our position is we must bear the burden that our American friends are bearing,” the Israeli ambassador in Washington, Michael Oren, told Defense News.
The cuts are the result of an unresolved budget dispute between Congress and the White House.
For the Pentagon, the 9 percent cut could translate into a $500 billion reduction in funding over the coming decade, likely forcing a significant cutback in the number of US troops, who will be “able to go fewer places and do fewer things, especially if crises occurred at the same time in different regions of the world,” Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said in July.
In March, during his first visit to Israel since taking office, President, Barack Obama said, “I’m also pleased to announce that we will take steps to ensure that there is no interruption of funding for Iron Dome. As a result of decisions that I made last year, Israel will receive approximately $200 million this fiscal year and we will continue to work with Congress on future funding of Iron Dome.”
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http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-may-forgo-millions-in-us-missile-defense-budget-aid/
Kentucky Youth Sports Coach Charged With Sexually Abusing 6 Boys, Slipping Sleeping Pill To 1
A grand jury in Boone County handed up 14 charges against 46-year-old Michael Schweitzer of Hebron.
Police say Schweitzer slipped a sleeping pill to one 13-year-old boy staying with him, then molested the youth while he slept. Five more boys have since contacted authorities with similar allegations.
Schweitzer is charged with three counts of sodomy in the first degree, three counts of unlawful transaction with a minor in the first degree, and eight counts of sexual abuse in the first degree. Prosecutors say the abuse happened from 2011 through 2013.
"I want to assure the parents of the children who've come forward - this case is a top priority for me and my office," Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said in announcing the indictment.
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_YOUTH_COACH_SEX_CHARGES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-06-17-13-49
PBS Sticking To Split US-UK 'Downton Abbey' Airing
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- PBS is standing firm against airing "Downton Abbey" simultaneously with the drama's U.K. season.
Despite the spoilers that leak online from its British run, the period drama has been a ratings hit for public TV, PBS chief executive Paula Kerger told the Television Critics Association on Tuesday.
"You kind of don't want to mess with that if it's working so well," Kerger said.
Word-of-mouth from the British airing helps create buzz and promotion in advance of its PBS run, she said.
The show begins its fourth season in Britain this fall, with PBS airing it starting Jan. 5. It picks up after last season's death of scion Matthew (Dan Stevens), heir to the English estate at the drama's center. Newcomers include Paul Giamatti as
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TV_DOWNTON_ABBEY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-06-16-27-15
Militants Shoot Down Army Helicopter In Yemen, Killing 8
SANAA, Yemen (AP) -- Yemeni officials say that militants have shot down an army helicopter, killing all eight people on board including a military commander.
The officials say the helicopter was downed by a missile over the al-Qaida stronghold of Wadi Ubida in central Yemen. The helicopter was flying from the capital Sanaa to the province of Marib, officials said. The passengers were part of a military force guarding oil installations in the province.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
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http://www.newser.com/article/da80iuio2/militants-shoot-down-army-helicopter-in-yemen-killing-8.html
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