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August 9, 2012 -- (San Diego’s East County) – ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflecting all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:
U.S.
General news
- Sikh temple shooting to be probed as domestic terror (CNN)
- Sikh temple shooter tied to hate groups (Washington Post)
- Despite Supreme Court ruling, many minors may stay in prison for life (Pro Publica)
- CDC warns about reemergence of swine flu (NPR)
- Firefighters battling wildfires in Sequoia national forest (Los Angeles Times)
- At least 18 blazes scorch Oklahoma; one nears record size (Los Angeles Times)
Presidential campaign
- Santorum, Jeb, Ron Paul get convention speaking spots (Politico)
- ‘Romneyhood’: Obama derides Mitt’s tax plan (RawStory)
- Romney campaign on fundraising winning streak (USA Today)
- Reid puts Romney in a bind over taxes (CNN)
- The massive policy gap between Obama and Romney (Washington Post)
WORLD
- Syria’s prime minister leaves regime (CNN)
- Floods paralyze Philipine capitol, Manila (BBC)
- Suicide bombers attack as Somali delegates approve new constitution (ABC)
- Islamists kill 15 Egyptians, Israel strikes attackers (Reuters)
- Chemo may make cancer stronger (iScienceTimes and BBC)
Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.
U.S.
General news
Sikh temple shooting to be probed as domestic terror (CNN)
August 5, 2012 -- The FBI will investigate Sunday's rampage at a Sikh temple in a Milwaukee suburb as a "domestic terrorist-type incident" that left at least six people and the gunman dead, the town's police chief said.
Another three people were wounded, including the first officer to respond to the scene, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said. A second officer returned fire, killing the suspect, according to the chief.
Sikh temple shooter tied to hate groups (Washington Post)
August 6, 2012 -- The gunman who killed six people at a Sikh temple south of Milwaukee on Sunday and critically wounded three others, including a police officer, was identified Monday as Wade Michael Page, a 40-year-old Army veteran with reported links to the white supremacist movement.
Page was shot and killed by a police officer outside the temple after he opened fire at Sikh worshipers and at police responding to the scene, Oak Creek Police Chief John Edwards said at a news conference.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sikh-temple-shooter-was-military-veteran-who-lived-nearby/2012/08/06/648d8134-dfbd-11e1-a421-8bf0f0e5aa11_story.html?hpid=z1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sikh-temple-shooter-was-military-veteran-who-lived-nearby/2012/08/06/648d8134-dfbd-11e1-a421-8bf0f0e5aa11_story.html?hpid=z1
Despite Supreme Court ruling, many minors may stay in prison for life (Pro Publica)
August 2, 2012 -- When Dennis Epps learned in June that the Supreme Court had struck down mandatory life without parole sentences for kids convicted of murder, he was hopeful. His brother, David, was given such a sentence for home burglary-murder committed at 16 and has spent most of his 48 years behind bars.
"I was thinking he was going to get some kind of release, because he served 32 years on a life sentence," Epps told ProPublica.
http://www.propublica.org/article/despite-supreme-court-ruling-many-minors-may-stay-in-prison-for-life
http://www.propublica.org/article/despite-supreme-court-ruling-many-minors-may-stay-in-prison-for-life
CDC warns about reemergence of swine flu (NPR)
August 3, 2012 -- Federal health officials today issued a warning for something we don't usually think about in August: the flu. NPR's Rob Stein reports on a worrisome jump in the number of Americans getting infected with a new swine flu virus.
ROB STEIN, BYLINE: There are lots of different kinds of flu viruses out there. Some infect people, others infect animals like pigs. Whenever a pig virus jumps to a person, public health officials take notice. That's because when a new virus comes along, most people have no immunity against it, and it could easily be deadly.
http://www.npr.org/2012/08/03/158100710/cdc-warns-about-reemergence-of-swine-flu-in-u-s?ft=1&f=1128
http://www.npr.org/2012/08/03/158100710/cdc-warns-about-reemergence-of-swine-flu-in-u-s?ft=1&f=1128
Firefighters battling wildfires in Sequoia national forest (Los Angeles Times)
August 5, 2012 -- Dozens of firefighters were battling two separate wildfires Sunday that broke out in Kern County after a series of lightning strikes that accompanied a weekend storm.
The Clear fire, burning 12 miles south of Lake Isabella, has consumed 514 acres since it was reported Saturday, said Greg Powell, engineer and spokesman for the Kern County Fire Department. Eight miles away, the Heald fire has spread through 313 acres in steep and rocky terrain.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/08/fire-crews-battling-wildfires-in-sequoia-national-forest.html
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/08/fire-crews-battling-wildfires-in-sequoia-national-forest.html
At least 18 blazes scorch Oklahoma; one nears record size (Los Angeles Times)
August 5, 2012 -- At least 18 wildfires raged in Oklahoma on Sunday as firefighters battled the consequences of a severe drought that shows no signs of letting up.
One of those blazes, the Freedom Hill fire, has consumed at least 40 buildings south of Tulsa and grown to 58,320 acres. That is “close to a record,” Oklahoma Forestry Services spokeswoman Michelle Finch-Walker told The Times.
If it gets much bigger, Oklahoma would join Colorado and New Mexico as states that have seen record-breaking blazes in a historically hot and dry summer. Blazes in Oklahoma -- already under a state of emergency -- have torched 78,330 acres since Friday.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-oklahoma-blaze-nears-record-size-20120805,0,3997366.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-oklahoma-blaze-nears-record-size-20120805,0,3997366.story
Presidential campaign
Santorum, Jeb, Ron Paul get convention speaking spots (Politico)
August 7, 2012 -- Rick Santorum, the former presidential candidate who lobbed harsh criticism at Romney during some bitter primary contests, will join a host of other big-name Republicans as headline speakers, according to Republican sources.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will also speak, along with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and tea party hero and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
Paul spent much of the year campaigning against Romney on behalf of his father, Texas Rep. Ron Paul.
‘Romneyhood’: Obama derides Mitt’s tax plan (RawStory)
August 7, 2012 -- President Barack Obama is labeling opponent Mitt Romney's tax plan as "Romney Hood," saying it takes from the poor and gives to the rich.
Speaking Monday night at a campaign event in Connecticut, Obama said the GOP plan "is like Robin Hood in reverse."
Obama says Romney's tax plan would give tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans while forcing middle-class families to pay up to $2,000 a year in additional taxes.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/romney-hood-obama-taxes_n_1749781.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/romney-hood-obama-taxes_n_1749781.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business
Romney campaign on fundraising winning streak (USA Today)
August 7, 2012 -- President Obama and his aides have been warning supporters for weeks that they're in danger of losing the money battle. They weren't just crying wolf.
Mitt Romney and the Republican Party said Monday that they picked up $101.3 million in July, the third straight month they have outraised the incumbent's campaign. Obama and the Democrats raised just over $75 million in July, his campaign announced.
Reid puts Romney in a bind over taxes (CNN)
August 7, 2012 -- Republican sources say they're in a Catch-22 situation on how to reply to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's claims that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney went 10 years without paying taxes.
They understand that they're taking Reid's bait and that responding to his unsubstantiated claims against Romney keeps alive the issue of Romney's refusing to release his tax returns.
Still, these GOP sources say they feel that if they do not respond to such a serious charge from such a high-ranking Democrat, it will look like a tacit admission Reid is right.
The massive policy gap between Obama and Romney (Washington Post)
August 6, 2012 -- The central difficulty of covering this presidential campaign — which is to say, of explaining Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s disparate plans for the country — is the continued existence of what we might call the policy gap. The policy gap, put simply, is this: Obama has proposed policies. Mitt Romney hasn’t.
It is important to say that this exists separately from any judgments about the quality of either man’s policies. You can believe every idea Obama has proposed is a socialist horror inspired by Kenyan revenge fantasies. This would, I think, be a strange judgment to reach about plans to invest in infrastructure, temporarily double the size of the payroll tax cuts and raise the marginal tax rate on income over $250,000 by 4.5 percentage points. Nevertheless, Obama’s policy proposals are sufficiently detailed that they can be fully assessed and conclusions — even odd ones — confidently drawn. Romney’s policies are not.
WORLD
Syria’s prime minister leaves regime (CNN)
August 7, 2012 -- Syria's prime minister defected Monday, becoming the latest among high-profile politicians and leaders to leave the embattled regime of Bashar al-Assad.
"I announce today my defection from the killing and terrorist regime and I announce that I have joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution. I announce that I am from today a soldier in this blessed revolution," Riyad Hijab said in a written statement read by a Syrian opposition official on Al Jazeera.
Floods paralyze Philippine capitol, Manila (BBC)
August 7, 2012 -- At least nine people have been reported dead as torrential rain caused flooding that paralysed most parts of the Philippine capital, Manila.The flooding - neck-deep in some areas - forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, closing schools, offices and the stock exchange.
Nine members of one family died after a landslide hit shanty houses in Quezon City, a government report said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19159509
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19159509
Suicide bombers attack as Somali delegates approve new constitution (ABC)
August 1, 2012 -- As more than 600 delegates met in Mogadishu to approve Somalia's new constitution, marking a symbolic break with the country's turbulent past, two al Qaeda-linked suicide bombers tried to attack the gathering only to be killed by security guards.
Two men pretending to be delegates and wearing explosive vests tried to pass a security checkpoint outside the assembly at a police building in the HamarJajab section of the capital city.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/suicide-bombers-attack-somali-delegates-approve-constitution/story?id=16907274#.UB80kKNinQg
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/suicide-bombers-attack-somali-delegates-approve-constitution/story?id=16907274#.UB80kKNinQg
Islamists kill 15 Egyptians, Israel strikes attackers (Reuters)
August 6, 2012 -- Egypt branded Islamist gunmen who killed 16 police near the Israeli border as "infidels" and promised on Monday to launch a crackdown following the massacre that has strained Cairo's ties with both Israel and Palestinians.
An Egyptian official said insurgents crossed into Egypt from the Gaza Strip before attacking the border station on Sunday. They then stole two vehicles and headed to nearby Israel, where they were eventually killed by Israeli fire.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/06/us-egypt-idUSBRE8740JB20120806
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/06/us-egypt-idUSBRE8740JB20120806
Chemo may make cancer stronger (iScienceTimes and BBC)
August 6, 2102 -- Chemotherapy can undermine itself and lose effectiveness, which explains why some people become resistant to the treatment, according to a new study, published in the journal Nature Medicine. Researchers said the findings can help stop this process and increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy can cause wound-healing cells to release a protein that makes tumors resistant to the treatment. The protein is known to be important in cancer development, but this is the first time it's been seen in treatment resistance.
http://www.isciencetimes.com/articles/3597/20120806/chemotherapy-trigger-cancer-resistance.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19111700
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