Low vaccination rates at some Bay Area schools raise alarm

At the Los Altos-based Waldorf School of the Peninsula, only 33 percent of the kindergarten class was up to date on vaccines, and half were unvaccinated due to parents' "personal belief exemptions." "We comply with state law," said Sandy Olson, the school's development director. "Vaccination is an issue between a parent and child and their doctor. We don't get involved in that choice."

http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_27399104/measles-outbreak-low-vaccination-rates-at-some-bay

Nearly 85 percent of Great Lakes covered by ice

Nearly 85 percent of the Great Lakes were covered in ice as of Sunday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The figure is not only well above the long term average for ice coverage of the Great Lakes, it's approaching last year's peak of 92.5 percent coverage on March 6, weather experts said.

An image released by NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory on Monday shows Lake Erie is "a vast white plain." Along with Lake Huron and Lake Superior, it is more than 90 percent ice covered with small areas of open water.

Scientists have said that the prolonged deep freeze that has led to the ice coverage could bring cooler temperatures for the region this spring.


http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/02/23/nearly-percent-great-lakes-covered-ice/23912401/

Conservative group uses Elizabeth Warren to attack Hillary Clinton in new ad

A new attack ad leveled at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that uses sound clips of Elizabeth Warren doesn’t actually come from the Democratic U.S. Senator from Massachusetts but instead was paid for by American Crossroads, a Republican group not tied to Warren. The ad, titled “Rigged,” went live on Sunday and alleged that Clinton would have a conflict of interest if she were elected president because the Clinton Foundation, the group founded by former President Bill Clinton and which Hillary became involved with after stepping down as secretary of state, accepts donations from foreign governments.

“Powerful interests have tried to capture Washington and rig the system in their favor. The power of well-funded special interests tilts our democracy away from the people and toward the powerful,” Warren says as images of Hillary Clinton are shown with Middle Eastern leaders. The ad from American Crossroads, which backs Republican candidates, claims the Clinton Foundation “took millions from foreign governments,” including up to $5 million from the United Arab Emirates, up to $25 million from Saudi Arabia and “potentially millions from Qatar,” which American Crossroads describes as “a prominent backer of Hamas,” the Palestinian militant group. Warren’s voice continues: “Action is required to defend our great democracy against those that would see it perverted into one more rigged game where the rich and the powerful always win.”

Progressive Democrats are urging Warren to run for president, but the Massachusetts senator has consistently denied that she’ll mount a 2016 campaign. American Crossroads acknowledges that it uses Warren’s voice in its ad, but unless the watcher is aware that American Crossroads backs Republican candidates, it may be unclear if it actually came from Warren. American Crossroads’ leadership includes Mike Duncan, a former Republican National Committee chairman, and Steven Law, deputy labor secretary under former President George W. Bush and an ex-staffer to Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

The screen then goes dark, followed by the words, “Powerful Foreign Governments Are Ready for Hillary,” a take on the Ready for Hillary Super PAC that is gearing up for a 2016 run by the former secretary of state. “Are We?”


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/conservative-group-uses-elizabeth-warren-to-attack-hillary-clinton-in-new-ad/

Who Made Germany Europe's Boss?

Germany is Europe's biggest and most successful economy, accounting for 29 percent of the euro zone's output and 24 percent of its population; its voting power in various EU forums is weighted accordingly. It's also Europe's biggest creditor, which gives it special standing (and a huge vested interest) in negotiations about public debt. Constitutionally, though, it's still just one nation in a euro system of 19.

Because of its size and strength, it can and should lead. It has no right to dictate. And if its leaders were wise, they'd avoid arousing the suspicion that they were trying to do just that.

Recently Germany has often appeared to direct policy at the European Central Bank, on banking union, on Greece, and on many other politically freighted topics. It has seemed to presume it's in charge. Europe's other governments and various policy-making bodies are much to blame in this, because they've acquiesced.

Heaven knows, Europe needs stronger leadership -- but Germany, at the moment, looks poorly qualified. Its policy makers are unenlightened on the macroeconomics of debt and deflation, and its officials seem unable to exercise influence with restraint or respect for all EU citizens.


http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-02-22/germany-thinks-it-s-europe-s-boss-on-greek-debt

Oscars: For all the anti-superhero snobbery in Hollywood these days....

I see a number of presenters who either have been or will be appearing in hero movies.

1. Chris Evans (Captain America)
2. Dwayne Johnson (Black Adam in Shazam)
3.Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange)
4. Jerod Leto (Joker in Suicide Squad)
5. Terrance Howard (James Rhodes in Iron Man)
6. Liam Neeson (Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins)

DEAR SILICON VALLEY: Here's your wake-up call

Silicon Valley, to its credit, has always been a hotbed of optimism. In the Valley, the future is always bright. Opportunity is always everywhere. Failures are always just part of the innovation process. So if you ever want to get cheered up about where the world is heading and excited about the future, you just head for the Valley.

In normal times, though, Silicon Valley's optimism is thoughtful and calculated. It is also fact-based. Ideas are hotly debated, and risks are respected and understood.

But in peak boom times, such as the late 1990s, this healthy skepticism and dialogue disappear. Ideas, no matter how fanciful, are assumed to be sound, and success is assumed to be guaranteed. When assumptions are challenged, moreover, the response is dismissive — skeptics "don't get it." And the logic and facts invoked to bat away skepticism often collapse under scrutiny.

This, it seems, is the prevailing attitude in the Valley right now.



http://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-boom-bust-2015-2#ixzz3SWNxYu9O

Yale Study: Canine Minds Far More Complex Than Originally Thought

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Researchers at Yale are using cognitive interactive studies to learn more about how dogs’ minds work.

Laurie Santos, director of the Yale Canine Cognition Center, explains that hundreds of volunteer dogs are used as subjects of puppet shows and a series of other cognitive tests.

“Dogs are just fascinating,” Santos said. “We love them, they live in our homes. Anyone who hangs out with a dog is kind of wondering, ‘what are they thinking, do they love me’.”

In the puppet show exam, the dogs are shown one scene, where a rat puppet assists a hedgehog puppet up a hill. In a different scene, the rat puppet knocks the hedgehog puppet down.




http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2015/02/16/yale-study-canine-minds-far-more-complex-than-originally-thought/

Bill Kristol claims that ‘Iraq was safe and peaceful’ when Bush left office

During a panel discussion on ABC’s This Week, commentator Bill Kristol defended the legacy of former President George W. Bush by attempting to explain to a U.S. congressman that the Iraq Bush invaded in 2003 was “safe and peaceful” when he left office in 2008.

Kristol was asked by host George Stephanopoulos to address the foreign policy “roll-out” of Bush brother Jeb Bush last week, with the former Florida governor asserting “I am my own man,” as he attempted to put distance between himself and his brother’s disastrous two terms.

After admitting that Jeb Bush is doing well with donors, but not so well with voters, Kristol said, “They did a great job of rolling him out and making him seem inevitable, but I don’t think he feels as inevitable as they hoped he would at this point.”

Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) was quick to point out that the Bush name carries the baggage of the Iraq war which the congressman called, “a complete debacle.”



http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/watch-bill-kristol-tells-incredulous-congressman-that-iraq-was-safe-and-peaceful-when-bush-left-office/

Why California’s Head Start Kids Are Better Protected From Measles

The measles outbreak that began at Disneyland last month has grown to 141 cases in 17 states and Washington, D.C., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday. From the beginning, the media have blamed parents who refuse to vaccinate their children. The “anti-vaxxer” stereotype can vary from crunchy urban farmer to yoga-practicing hippie, but either way, it’s assumed that these parents are among California’s wealthier residents.

That stereotype might be spot on.

A look at nearly 9,000 child care facilities in California shows that the private, likely more expensive, programs are where kids are most at risk during this measles outbreak. Head Start, the federally funded child care program for low-income families, however, has the best protection. State-funded child care facilities fall in between.1

Nearly 1 in 5 (18.2 percent) private child care facilities in California has measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates below 92 percent — the level needed to protect all enrolled children. This finding comes from a massive database of California child care facilities for the 2014-15 school year (as reported as of November 2014).


http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/why-californias-head-start-kids-are-better-protected-from-measles/

Faye Wong - You're Happy, So I'm Happy