Morning Snooze Button

(Al Jazeera)

(Al Jazeera)

theatlantic: Virginia Lawmakers Drop Invasive Ultrasound Requirement From Abortion Bill After an understandable uproar over a mandatory procedure that federal law would consider rape, Virginia legislators have opted to forgo the invasive and most definitely uncomfortable procedure for women seeking abortions. On top of a big invasion of privacy for all women, the legislation could have re-traumatized women who sought abortions because of rapes. A meeting last night led legislators to reconsider the vagina wand provision, reaching a compromise that would make the procedure voluntary, but not mandatory, reports The Washington Post. We’re not sure what woman might choose to have an ultrasound used in this way, but, now they get a choice. And with that, the never-ending reproduction debates continue. Read more. It’s worth pointing out that the kind of ultrasound here is transvaginal. That’s not the traditional kind you see on TV, where they rub gel on the baby bump and put a scanner on it. Transvaginal ultrasounds look like this: 

theatlantic:

Virginia Lawmakers Drop Invasive Ultrasound Requirement From Abortion Bill

After an understandable uproar over a mandatory procedure that federal law would consider rape, Virginia legislators have opted to forgo the invasive and most definitely uncomfortable procedure for women seeking abortions. On top of a big invasion of privacy for all women, the legislation could have re-traumatized women who sought abortions because of rapes. A meeting last night led legislators to reconsider the vagina wand provision, reaching a compromise that would make the procedure voluntary, but not mandatory, reports The Washington Post. We’re not sure what woman might choose to have an ultrasound used in this way, but, now they get a choice. And with that, the never-ending reproduction debates continue.

Read more.

It’s worth pointing out that the kind of ultrasound here is transvaginal. That’s not the traditional kind you see on TV, where they rub gel on the baby bump and put a scanner on it. Transvaginal ultrasounds look like this: 

guardiancomment: • Today it was confirmed that the war correspondent Marie Colvin has died in the Syrian city of Homs. In November 2010 Colvin gave the following speech on the importance of war reporting. This is the text of a speech Marie Colvin gave at St Brides Church, Fleet Street, London Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured and humbled to be speaking to you at this service tonight to remember the journalists and their support staff who gave their lives to report from the war zones of the 21st century. I have been a war correspondent for most of my professional life. It has always been a hard calling. But the need for frontline, objective reporting has never been more compelling. Covering a war means going to places torn by chaos, destruction and death, and trying to bear witness. It means trying to find the truth in a sandstorm of propaganda when armies, tribes or terrorists clash. And yes, it means taking risks, not just for yourself but often for the people who work closely with you. Despite all the videos you see from the Ministry of Defence or the Pentagon, and all the sanitised language describing smart bombs and pinpoint strikes, the scene on the ground has remained remarkably the same for hundreds of years. Craters. Burned houses. Mutilated bodies. Women weeping for children and husbands. Men for their wives, mothers children. Our mission is to report these horrors of war with accuracy and without prejudice. We always have to ask ourselves whether the level of risk is worth the story. What is bravery, and what is bravado? Journalists covering combat shoulder great responsibilities and face difficult choices. Sometimes they pay the ultimate price. Tonight we honour the 49 journalists and support staff who were killed bringing the news to our shores. We also remember journalists around the world who have been wounded, maimed or kidnapped and held hostage for months. It has never been more dangerous to be a war correspondent, because the journalist in the combat zone has become a prime target. I lost my eye in an ambush in the Sri Lankan civil war. I had gone to the northern Tamil area from which journalists were banned and found an unreported humanitarian disaster. As I was smuggled back across the internal border, a soldier launched a grenade at me and the shrapnel sliced into my face and chest. He knew what he was doing. Just last week, I had a coffee in Afghanistan with a photographer friend, Joao Silva. We talked about the terror one feels and must contain when patrolling on an embed with the armed forces through fields and villages in Afghanistan … putting one foot in front of the other, steeling yourself each step for the blast. The expectation of that blast is the stuff of nightmares. Two days after our meeting, Joao stepped on a mine and lost both legs at the knee. Many of you here must have asked yourselves, or be asking yourselves now, is it worth the cost in lives, heartbreak, loss? Can we really make a difference? I faced that question when I was injured. In fact one paper ran a headline saying, has Marie Colvin gone too far this time? My answer then, and now, was that it is worth it. Today in this church are friends, colleagues and families who know exactly what I am talking about, and bear the cost of those experiences, as do their families and loved ones. Today we must also remember how important it is that news organisations continue to invest in sending us out at great cost, both financial and emotional, to cover stories. We go to remote war zones to report what is happening. The public have a right to know what our government, and our armed forces, are doing in our name. Our mission is to speak the truth to power. We send home that first rough draft of history. We can and do make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the atrocities that befall civilians. The history of our profession is one to be proud of. The first war correspondent in the modern era was William Howard Russell of the Times, who was sent to cover the Crimean conflict when a British-led coalition fought an invading Russian army. Billy Russell, as the troops called him, created a firestorm of public indignation back home by revealing inadequate equipment, scandalous treatment of the wounded, especially when they were repatriated – does this sound familiar? – and an incompetent high command that led to the folly of the Charge of the Light Brigade. It was a breakthrough in war reporting. Until then, wars were reported by junior officers who sent back dispatches to newspapers. Billy Russell went to war with an open mind, a telescope, a notebook and a bottle of brandy. I first went to war with a typewriter, and learned to tap out a telex tape. It could take days to get from the front to a telephone or telex machine. War reporting has changed greatly in just the last few years. Now we go to war with a satellite phone, laptop, video camera and a flak jacket. I point my satellite phone to south southwest in Afghanistan, press a button and I have filed. In an age of 24/7 rolling news, blogs and Twitters, we are on constant call wherever we are. But war reporting is still essentially the same – someone has to go there and see what is happening. You can’t get that information without going to places where people are being shot at, and others are shooting at you. The real difficulty is having enough faith in humanity to believe that enough people be they government, military or the man on the street, will care when your file reaches the printed page, the website or the TV screen. We do have that faith because we believe we do make a difference. And we could not make that difference – or begin to do our job – without the fixers, drivers and translators, who face the same risks and die in appalling numbers. Today we honour them as much as the front line journalists who have died in pursuit of the truth. They have kept the faith as we who remain must continue to do. Photograph: Arthur Edwards/WPA Pool/Getty Image

guardiancomment:

• Today it was confirmed that the war correspondent Marie Colvin has died in the Syrian city of Homs. In November 2010 Colvin gave the following speech on the importance of war reporting. This is the text of a speech Marie Colvin gave at St Brides Church, Fleet Street, London

Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured and humbled to be speaking to you at this service tonight to remember the journalists and their support staff who gave their lives to report from the war zones of the 21st century. I have been a war correspondent for most of my professional life. It has always been a hard calling. But the need for frontline, objective reporting has never been more compelling.

Covering a war means going to places torn by chaos, destruction and death, and trying to bear witness. It means trying to find the truth in a sandstorm of propaganda when armies, tribes or terrorists clash. And yes, it means taking risks, not just for yourself but often for the people who work closely with you.

Despite all the videos you see from the Ministry of Defence or the Pentagon, and all the sanitised language describing smart bombs and pinpoint strikes, the scene on the ground has remained remarkably the same for hundreds of years. Craters. Burned houses. Mutilated bodies. Women weeping for children and husbands. Men for their wives, mothers children.

Our mission is to report these horrors of war with accuracy and without prejudice. We always have to ask ourselves whether the level of risk is worth the story. What is bravery, and what is bravado?

Journalists covering combat shoulder great responsibilities and face difficult choices. Sometimes they pay the ultimate price. Tonight we honour the 49 journalists and support staff who were killed bringing the news to our shores. We also remember journalists around the world who have been wounded, maimed or kidnapped and held hostage for months. It has never been more dangerous to be a war correspondent, because the journalist in the combat zone has become a prime target.

I lost my eye in an ambush in the Sri Lankan civil war. I had gone to the northern Tamil area from which journalists were banned and found an unreported humanitarian disaster. As I was smuggled back across the internal border, a soldier launched a grenade at me and the shrapnel sliced into my face and chest. He knew what he was doing.

Just last week, I had a coffee in Afghanistan with a photographer friend, Joao Silva. We talked about the terror one feels and must contain when patrolling on an embed with the armed forces through fields and villages in Afghanistan … putting one foot in front of the other, steeling yourself each step for the blast. The expectation of that blast is the stuff of nightmares. Two days after our meeting, Joao stepped on a mine and lost both legs at the knee.

Many of you here must have asked yourselves, or be asking yourselves now, is it worth the cost in lives, heartbreak, loss? Can we really make a difference?

I faced that question when I was injured. In fact one paper ran a headline saying, has Marie Colvin gone too far this time? My answer then, and now, was that it is worth it.

Today in this church are friends, colleagues and families who know exactly what I am talking about, and bear the cost of those experiences, as do their families and loved ones.

Today we must also remember how important it is that news organisations continue to invest in sending us out at great cost, both financial and emotional, to cover stories.

We go to remote war zones to report what is happening. The public have a right to know what our government, and our armed forces, are doing in our name. Our mission is to speak the truth to power. We send home that first rough draft of history. We can and do make a difference in exposing the horrors of war and especially the atrocities that befall civilians.

The history of our profession is one to be proud of. The first war correspondent in the modern era was William Howard Russell of the Times, who was sent to cover the Crimean conflict when a British-led coalition fought an invading Russian army.

Billy Russell, as the troops called him, created a firestorm of public indignation back home by revealing inadequate equipment, scandalous treatment of the wounded, especially when they were repatriated – does this sound familiar? – and an incompetent high command that led to the folly of the Charge of the Light Brigade. It was a breakthrough in war reporting. Until then, wars were reported by junior officers who sent back dispatches to newspapers. Billy Russell went to war with an open mind, a telescope, a notebook and a bottle of brandy. I first went to war with a typewriter, and learned to tap out a telex tape. It could take days to get from the front to a telephone or telex machine.

War reporting has changed greatly in just the last few years. Now we go to war with a satellite phone, laptop, video camera and a flak jacket. I point my satellite phone to south southwest in Afghanistan, press a button and I have filed.

In an age of 24/7 rolling news, blogs and Twitters, we are on constant call wherever we are. But war reporting is still essentially the same – someone has to go there and see what is happening. You can’t get that information without going to places where people are being shot at, and others are shooting at you. The real difficulty is having enough faith in humanity to believe that enough people be they government, military or the man on the street, will care when your file reaches the printed page, the website or the TV screen.

We do have that faith because we believe we do make a difference.

And we could not make that difference – or begin to do our job – without the fixers, drivers and translators, who face the same risks and die in appalling numbers. Today we honour them as much as the front line journalists who have died in pursuit of the truth. They have kept the faith as we who remain must continue to do.

Photograph: Arthur Edwards/WPA Pool/Getty Image

GOP debate, tonight at 8pm at Arizona.

This is the first GOP debate in over a month, and the last debate before the Feb. 28 primaries (Michigan, Arizona) and Super Tuesday in March. Some things to watch out for:

  • Santorum’s hat trick: Santorum’s win in three primaries has brought new life to his campaign as he seems to be leading the “Not-Romney” nomination, and the nomination as a whole (see below). 
  • Romney’s tax proposal: Romney will probably be spending a good amount of time talking about his tax overhaul proposal, which was released a week ago.
  • Gingrich’s final final hurrah?: Gingrich’s campaign has been floundering (again), and if his numbers continue to be as low, he may no longer be considered a viable candidate after Super Tuesday. A traditionally strong debater, this might be a last chance to bring some life back to his bid. 
  • It’s Ash Wednesday: So the faith of the two Catholic candidates (Santorum and Gingrich) will literally be on display

John King will host the 2 hour debate between Romney, Santorum, Gingrich, and Paul, and you can watch it live at 8pm here.

We’ll be liveblogging the debate on our sister blog, Afternoon Snooze Button.

latimes: Swooping toward a high-risk thrill: The death of another skydiver at Perris facility draws attention to the sport’s trend of increased safety for novices along with riskier maneuvers by experienced divers. Photo: J.C. Colclasure, left, and Clint Clawson perform freestyle moves while “swooping” a pond at Perris Valley Skydiving in Perris. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

latimes:

Swooping toward a high-risk thrill: The death of another skydiver at Perris facility draws attention to the sport’s trend of increased safety for novices along with riskier maneuvers by experienced divers.

Photo: J.C. Colclasure, left, and Clint Clawson perform freestyle moves while “swooping” a pond at Perris Valley Skydiving in Perris. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

(Source: Los Angeles Times)

“Labor unions are gearing up to spend more than $400 million to help re-elect President Barack Obama and back other Democrats at the federal and state level in a fight for labor’s survival.”
— ABC, “Unions Gearing up to Spend Big in 2012 Election”

(Source: abcnews.go.com)
“Washington (CNN) — Two Western journalists were killed Wednesday in the Syrian city of Homs, opposition activists told CNN. The journalists were killed by shelling from government forces in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs, the activists said. The deaths follow that of New York Times reporter Anthony Shadid, who was reporting in eastern Syria when he died last week, apparently from an asthma attack, the newspaper said. While violence erupted once again across Syria on Wednesday, Syrians pleading for help in stopping a government-led slaughter might have fresh hope, as the United States called for more international action and hinted that arming the opposition isn’t out of the question.”

“Washington (CNN) — Two Western journalists were killed Wednesday in the Syrian city of Homs, opposition activists told CNN.

The journalists were killed by shelling from government forces in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs, the activists said.

The deaths follow that of New York Times reporter Anthony Shadid, who was reporting in eastern Syria when he died last week, apparently from an asthma attack, the newspaper said.

While violence erupted once again across Syria on Wednesday, Syrians pleading for help in stopping a government-led slaughter might have fresh hope, as the United States called for more international action and hinted that arming the opposition isn’t out of the question.”

latimes: A very rough road for community college students: Many graduated from low-performing high schools that ill-prepared them for college, making them unlikely to get a degree. L.A.’s. community college district is responding with special programs, but one social scientist says it’s not enough. The challenges facing community colleges nationwide are borne out by a trio of studies released last week by the Civil Rights Project, a social science research group at UCLA: The studies found that black and Latino community college students in Southern California are failing to advance because many have graduated from low-performing high schools that ill-prepare them for college work. These students then end up at similar two-year institutions with poor transfer records. One of the studies analyzed high school graduates and the transfer rates of students after six years at 51 community colleges in Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego counties. It found that students who graduated from high schools with large minority populations, low test scores and low numbers of parents with college degrees were far less likely to transfer to a four-year institution. The likelihood of attending a low- or high-performing high school was strongly related to race and ethnicity, the studies found. Patterns of high school segregation — by race, ethnicity and poverty — continued in the community college system because students typically attend the college closest to home. Photo: Los Angeles Southwest College students Vincent Atkins, from left, Frank Simmons, Kent Williams and Foster Washington work on a class project together. Behind them is supplemental English instructor Eddie Powell. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

latimes:

A very rough road for community college students: Many graduated from low-performing high schools that ill-prepared them for college, making them unlikely to get a degree. L.A.’s. community college district is responding with special programs, but one social scientist says it’s not enough.

The challenges facing community colleges nationwide are borne out by a trio of studies released last week by the Civil Rights Project, a social science research group at UCLA:

The studies found that black and Latino community college students in Southern California are failing to advance because many have graduated from low-performing high schools that ill-prepare them for college work. These students then end up at similar two-year institutions with poor transfer records.

One of the studies analyzed high school graduates and the transfer rates of students after six years at 51 community colleges in Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego counties. It found that students who graduated from high schools with large minority populations, low test scores and low numbers of parents with college degrees were far less likely to transfer to a four-year institution.

The likelihood of attending a low- or high-performing high school was strongly related to race and ethnicity, the studies found. Patterns of high school segregation — by race, ethnicity and poverty — continued in the community college system because students typically attend the college closest to home.

Photo: Los Angeles Southwest College students Vincent Atkins, from left, Frank Simmons, Kent Williams and Foster Washington work on a class project together. Behind them is supplemental English instructor Eddie Powell. Credit: Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

(Source: Los Angeles Times)

An 18 year old boy is the latest Tibetan to set himself on fire

FreeTibet is reporting that an 18-year-old set himself on fire around 2pm in Barma, Tibet. His body was removed by monks. Nearly two-dozen Tibetans have self-immolated as a protest against Chinese repression. 

The spate of new self-immolations can be seen as a sign of Tibet’s increasing desperation and radicalization. Protests this year in Qinghai and Sichuan provinces have resulted in Chinese security forces fatally shooting 7 and wounding at least 60.

The last time there was this much unrest in Tibet was 2008, during race riots between the Tibetans and the Han in Lhasa. Those riots left 19 dead.  Monks speaking to NPR said that in the town of Aba in Sichuan province, considered the epicenter for these self-immolations, riot police armed with fire extinguishers and spiked clubs can be found on every street corner.  

You can follow all of Morning Snooze Button’s coverage on Tibet here.

(Source: NPR)

The World Press Photos of 2012 

  1. 2012 World Press Photo of the Year: A woman holds a wounded relative during protests against President Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Oct. 15, 2011. (Samuel Aranda/The New York Times)
  2. 1st Prize Contemporary Issues Stories: Tahani, who married her husband Majed when she was 6 years old and he was 25 years old, poses for a portrait with her former classmate Ghada, also a child bride outside their mountain home in Hajjah, Yemen, June 10, 2010. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. (Stephanie Sinclair/VII Photo Agency/National Geographic Magazine)
  3. 1st Prize Daily Life Singles: A photograph of North Korea’s founder, Kim II-sung, hangs on a building in the capital of Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 5, 2011. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
  4. 1st Prize Nature Singles: A male polar bear climbs precariously on the face of a cliff above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie in northern Novaya Zemlya, attempting to feed on seabird eggs. (Jenny E. Ross)
  5. 1st Prize Portrait Singles: Iranian-born Danish actress Mellica Mehraban, Copenhagen, May 4, 2011. (Laerke Posselt)
  6. 1st Prize People in the News Stories: Chieko Matsukawa shows her daughter’s graduation certificate, after she found it in the debris in Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, April 3, 2011. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP)
  7. 1st Prize General News Singles: Protestors cry, chant and scream in Cairo’s Tahrir Square after listening to a speech in which Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would not give up power in Cairo, Egypt, Feb. 10, 2011. (Alex Majoli/Magnum Photos/Newsweek)
  8. 2nd Prize Arts and Entertainment Singles: A model poses in front of a tailor in the center of Dakar, Senegal, July 9, 2011. She wears a creation of designer Yolande Mancini, participating in the 9th edition of Dakar Fashion Week. (Vincent Boisot/Riva Press/Le Figaro Magazine)

(Source: Boston.com)