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From the Los Angeles Times

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Violence at state hospitals spurs calls for change

Among proposals are high-security units for the most predatory patients and expedited hearings to involuntarily medicate the violent. With most patients having committed crimes, 'you have to be somewhere between a hospital and a prison,' a union official says.

by Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times

January 1, 2011

Reporting from San Francisco

For years, the number of patients in the state's mental hospitals who have committed crimes has been rising. Today, they represent more than 90% of the population.

That dramatic trend has brought an increasing level of violence to the hospitals, including vicious attacks on patients and hospital employees.?? As assaults rose, staff members privately urged state officials to improve security at the hospitals to no avail, documents show.

But the slaying of a Napa State Hospital psychiatric technician two months ago has emboldened angry employees to go public with their demands.?? The outcry has captured the attention of at least three state lawmakers who plan to press for significant changes.

Two of them toured Napa's aging campus last week and have called on incoming Gov. Jerry Brown "to immediately allocate the necessary resources to secure the hospital."?? The third, state Sen. Sam Blakeslee (R- San Luis Obispo), has met numerous times over the years with employees at Atascadero State Hospital and said he was shocked by the rising degree of danger.

"This level of violence is unacceptable," he said.??

The unions that represent hospital employees are working together to craft legislation that calls for high-security units at each hospital to house the most predatory patients, expedited hearings to involuntarily medicate those who are violent and a streamlined process to transfer dangerous criminals sent for treatment by the corrections system back to prison.??

More fundamentally, the violence is spurring a debate on the viability of the mental hospital system's core philosophy — to maintain a treatment environment that does not resemble prison.??

"The days when Grandpa's a little crazy and ended up at Napa State Hospital for a while, those days are gone," said Brad Leggs, the facility president for the California Assn. of Psychiatric Technicians. "Now we have a barbed wire fence up and we have police officers guarding the perimeter. There's a prison mentality."

Although it's essential to "keep the treatment in place," Leggs said, "you have to be somewhere between a hospital and a prison."

??Blakeslee agrees.

"There needs to be capacity to handle patients who are not completely right for a pure corrections system or a pure therapeutic setting," he said.??

The debate comes as some clinicians question the use of cages at the California Medical Facility at Vacaville, northeast of San Francisco, to restrict the movement of dangerous mentally ill prisoners during therapy sessions.

The state mental hospitals have already moved toward more patient freedoms. Even as they receive more patients from prison who are too sick to be treated there or can't be accommodated, hospital police remain unarmed and don't visit units unless called in a crisis??.

The hospitals have been subject to a federal court judgment to improve care since 2006.

But a review of data through mid-2010 shows overall increases in patient and staff assaults at the four facilities under federal monitoring. In addition to Atascadero and Napa, those include Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk and Patton State Hospital in San Bernardino.

??In the mid-1990s, four-fifths of the patients were committed by the civil courts. At Napa, they wore their own clothes and went on outings to see the city's Christmas lights. Today, more than 90% of patients are there because they committed crimes.

Many arrive with gang affiliations, hard-to-treat antisocial personality disorders and predatory behavior, staff and mental health officials say.?? The rise in violence at Napa has been particularly acute.

Attacks on staff in the second quarter of 2010 doubled to about 200 compared with the same period of 2009, and patient assaults against one another soared about sixfold to 692, state data show. The hospital's buildings, some from the 1800s, are scattered across a bucolic campus in a rambling way that makes control difficult.

Dr. Richard Frishman, a Napa State Hospital psychiatrist, works in an office that is tucked out of sight. In 2008, he was beaten by a patient, his wrist broken and his eye blackened.

"I never know if the next time I walk out of my office it's going to be my last," he said.?? The alarm carried by a colleague who was with Fishman failed to go off.

Staffers have called for an improved system. The current one does not work outdoors, where 54-year-old Donna Gross, the first staff member killed in the hospital system in two decades, was strangled.??

Staff members stress that patients are victimized more often than staff.

"We believe you can't possibly treat an individual who is highly aggressive without sufficient security enhancements," said Dr. Patricia Tyler, a psychiatrist at Napa who is working on behalf of the Union of American Physicians and Dentists to help design proposed fixes to the system.

?Key among them is a high-security unit at each hospital that would place the most predatory patients in a more rigid environment with specially trained staff and a regular officer presence.

Documents show that a unit was retrofitted for that purpose at Napa in 2006 and had the approval of hospital management, but was derailed in part over a labor dispute.?? Another proposal would require that hearing officers come to the hospitals within 72 hours to decide whether dangerous patients who arrive from jails as "incompetent to stand trial" can be medicated against their will.

The process now takes as long as three months, Tyler said.?? Yet another proposal would make "gassing" of staff — the throwing of feces, urine or other bodily fluids — a felony. It is already a felony for state prisoners.??

The federal consent judgment demanded a shift in treatment to what is known as a "recovery model," a patient-based form of care that has included a push to reduce the use of restraints, seclusion rooms, some medication cocktails and one-to-one supervision of patients.?? Many staff members say the changes have been implemented in a way that has reduced safety, an allegation that administrators deny.

Although there are efforts to reward good behavior, attempts to withhold rewards because of bad behavior have been discouraged.??

"A 3-year-old gets put in time out or grounded for a week. These guys don't get any consequences," said Kathleen Thomas-Morris, a nurse at Napa .?

?The Department of Mental Health, which runs the hospitals, has not taken a position on the proposals, said spokeswoman Jennifer Turner, but is "committed to providing technical assistance and working with legislators to understand the impact of the issues."??

At Napa, administrators have withdrawn all patient grounds passes while reworking the system by which they are awarded. They are poised to implement a "grounds patrol" staffed by psychiatric technicians and are taking measures to clear some trees and shrubs, Turner said.??

Staff memos have described extensive contraband activities and fights on the grounds.?? Results of a security audit are expected soon, and Turner said hospital officials are meeting with employees and unions to gather suggestions before the next legislative budget session.??

Blakeslee said he is committed to legislation calling for high-security units and making "gassing" a felony. State Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) and Assemblyman Michael Allen (D-Santa Rosa), who recently visited Napa, are talking to employee groups.

"One thing I take very seriously is my responsibility for oversight," Evans said.?? Allen, a onetime psychiatric nurse, has called for immediate fixes, including more fencing and video cameras.

The freshman lawmaker, who landed on the budget committee, hopes to take the members of the panel and the new governor on a tour of the facility.

"We have a bad budget situation," he said, "but when you have people being killed, people being harmed, that's not a savings."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hospital-violence-20110101,0,5594884,print.story

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Geezer Bandit case to be featured on 'America's Most Wanted'

The case of the so-called Geezer Bandit, suspected in a dozen bank robberies in three counties, will be featured Saturday on the television show "America's Most Wanted."

It is the latest attempt by authorities to find the elusive robber whose string of bank robberies began in August 2009 and now includes 10 in San Diego County, one in Riverside and one in Bakersfield. So far, a $20,000 reward has failed to provide information leading to an arrest.

The robber got his FBI nickname from his appearance: 60 to 70 years old, lean, and usually dressed in a dapper if inexpensive style. In his most recent robbery, in Bakersfield in November, one witness thought he was wearing a mask to appear old.

Anyone with Geezer Bandit information is asked to call the FBI at (858) 565-1255 , the San Diego Police Department's robbery squad at (619) 531-2299 or CrimeStoppers at (888)( 580-8477.

In addition to "America's Most Wanted," the case also will be featured on "San Diego's Most Wanted" on KSWB-Fox, Channel 5.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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From the New York Times

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Political Battle on Illegal Immigration Shifts to States

Legislative leaders in at least half a dozen states say they will propose bills similar to a controversial law to fight illegal immigration that was adopted by Arizona last spring, even though a federal court has suspended central provisions of that statute.

The efforts, led by Republicans, are part of a wave of state measures coming this year aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

Legislators have also announced measures to limit access to public colleges and other benefits for illegal immigrants and to punish employers who hire them.

Next week, at least five states plan to begin an unusual coordinated effort to cancel automatic United States citizenship for children born in this country to illegal immigrant parents.

Opponents say that effort would be unconstitutional, arguing that the power to grant citizenship resides with the federal government, not with the states. Still, the chances of passing many of these measures appear better than at any time since 2006, when many states, frustrated with inaction in Washington, began proposing initiatives to curb illegal immigration.

Republicans gained more than 690 seats in state legislatures nationwide in the November midterms, winning their strongest representation at the state level in more than 80 years.

Few people expect movement on immigration issues when Congress reconvenes next week in a divided Washington. Republicans, who will control the House of Representatives, do not support an overhaul of immigration laws that President Obama has promised to continue to push. State lawmakers say it has fallen to them to act.

“The federal government's failure to enforce our border has functionally turned every state into a border state,” said Randy Terrill, a Republican representative in Oklahoma who has led the drive for anti-illegal immigration laws there. “This is federalism in action,” he said. “The states are stepping in and filling the void left by the federal government.”

But the proposals have already drawn opposition from some business groups. And they are forcing strategic soul-searching within the Republican Party nationwide, with a rising populist base on one side demanding tough immigration measures, and, on the other side, traditional Republican supporters in business and a fast-growing Latino electorate strongly opposing those measures.

In Utah, a state dominated by Republicans, leaders from business, law enforcement, several churches and the Latino community sought to bridge the divide by joining together in November in a compact urging moderation on immigration issues.

Some of the more contentious measures may not go into effect immediately, including Arizona-style bills and those intended to eliminate birthright citizenship for American-born children of illegal immigrants. Latino and immigrant advocate legal organizations are gearing up for a host of court challenges.

Among the states expected to introduce bills similar to Arizona's are Georgia, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

The Arizona law authorized the state and local police to ask about the immigration status of anyone they detained for other reasons, if they had a “reasonable suspicion” that the person was an illegal immigrant.

Acting on a lawsuit filed by the Obama administration, a federal judge stayed central provisions of the law. In November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard arguments on an appeal of that stay by Arizona.

“States will push ahead regardless of the Ninth Circuit,” said Kris Kobach, a law professor and politician from Kansas who helped many states devise immigration laws — including Arizona's. “A lot of people recognize that the district judge's decision is very much open to dispute.”

In Oklahoma, where Republicans won big majorities in both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office, Mr. Terrill said he would introduce a bill he called “Arizona plus.” In addition to the terms of Arizona's law, it would allow for the seizure of vehicles and property used to transport or harbor illegal immigrants.

In Georgia, an all-Republican commission of legislators plans to propose measures to enhance enforcement of tough laws already on the books. Georgia will also consider a bill to bar illegal immigrant students from all public universities.

The newly elected governor, Nathan Deal, a Republican, is expected to sign those bills. But the Georgia Farm Bureau, which represents the state's powerful growers, voted to oppose any measures that would affect immigrant farm workers, most of whom do not have legal status.

In Kansas, Republicans won big majorities in both legislative houses and Sam Brownback, who just retired as a United States senator, was elected governor. Mr. Kobach, the law professor, was elected secretary of state after a campaign in which he vowed to pass a law requiring proof of citizenship for voters.

But the Kansas Chamber of Commerce has voiced its opposition, and Mr. Brownback has said he will focus on reducing unemployment.

The newest initiative is a joint effort among lawmakers from states including Arizona, Oklahoma, Missouri and Pennsylvania to pass laws based on a single model that would deny American citizenship to children born in those states to illegal immigrants. The legislators were to announce the campaign in Washington on Wednesday.

A leader of that effort is Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican state representative from Pennsylvania. At a recent news conference, Mr. Metcalfe said his goal was to eliminate “an anchor baby status, in which an illegal alien invader comes into our country and has a child on our soil that is granted citizenship automatically.”

The campaign is certain to run into legal obstacles. Courts have interpreted the 14th Amendment as guaranteeing birthright citizenship. Even among those who seek its repeal, debate has hinged on whether that would require a constitutional amendment, an act of Congress or a decision by the Supreme Court.

Some Republicans argue that the party is risking losing its appeal to Latino voters, the fastest-growing minority voter bloc.

“The Republican Party is divided between those who see that Hispanics are an essential constituency going forward, and those who don't see that,” said Tamar Jacoby, a Republican who is the president of ImmigrationWorks USA, a business coalition that supports legalization for illegal immigrants.

Latino and immigrant advocate groups are resigned to being on the defensive for the next two years. “These laws are creating resentment within the Latino community that is going to last for decades,” said Tony Yapias, director of Proyecto Latino de Utah in Salt Lake City, an immigrant advocacy group.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/us/01immig.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1293886996-DmfUdwlB8kp7l6vgF9By7Q&pagewanted=print

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Giving Alzheimer's Patients Their Way, Even Chocolate

PHOENIX — Margaret Nance was, to put it mildly, a difficult case. Agitated, combative, often reluctant to eat, she would hit staff members and fellow residents at nursing homes, several of which kicked her out. But when Beatitudes nursing home agreed to an urgent plea to accept her, all that changed.

Disregarding typical nursing-home rules, Beatitudes allowed Ms. Nance, 96 and afflicted with Alzheimer's, to sleep, be bathed and dine whenever she wanted, even at 2 a.m. She could eat anything, too, no matter how unhealthy, including unlimited chocolate.

And she was given a baby doll, a move that seemed so jarring that a supervisor initially objected until she saw how calm Ms. Nance became when she rocked, caressed and fed her “baby,” often agreeing to eat herself after the doll “ate” several spoonfuls.

Dementia patients at Beatitudes are allowed practically anything that brings comfort, even an alcoholic “nip at night,” said Tena Alonzo, director of research. “Whatever your vice is, we're your folks,” she said.

Once, Ms. Alonzo said: “The state tried to cite us for having chocolate on the nursing chart. They were like, ‘It's not a medication.' Yes, it is. It's better than Xanax.”

It is an unusual posture for a nursing home, but Beatitudes is actually following some of the latest science. Research suggests that creating positive emotional experiences for Alzheimer's patients diminishes distress and behavior problems.

In fact, science is weighing in on many aspects of taking care of dementia patients, applying evidence-based research to what used to be considered subjective and ad hoc.

With virtually no effective medical treatment for Alzheimer's yet, most dementia therapy is the caregiving performed by families and nursing homes. Some 11 million people care for Alzheimer's-afflicted relatives at home. In nursing homes, two-thirds of residents have some dementia.

Caregiving is considered so crucial that several federal and state agencies, including the Department of Veterans Affairs, are adopting research-tested programs to support and train caregivers. This month, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a forum about Alzheimer's caregiving.

“There's actually better evidence and more significant results in caregiver interventions than there is in anything to treat this disease so far,” said Lisa P. Gwyther, education director for the Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Duke University.

The National Institute on Aging and the Administration on Aging are now financing caregiving studies on “things that just kind of make the life of an Alzheimer's patient and his or her caregiver less burdensome,” said Sidney M. Stahl, chief of the Individual Behavioral Processes branch of the Institute on Aging. “At least initially, these seem to be good nonpharmacological techniques.”

Techniques include using food, scheduling, art, music and exercise to generate positive emotions; engaging patients in activities that salvage fragments of their skills; and helping caregivers be more accepting and competent.

Changing the Mood

Some efforts involve stopping anti-anxiety or antipsychotic drugs, used to quell hallucinations or aggression, but potentially harmful to dementia patients, who can be especially sensitive to side effects. Instead, some experts recommend primarily giving drugs for pain or depression, addressing what might be making patients unhappy.

Others recommend making cosmetic changes to rooms and buildings to affect behavior or mood.

A study in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that brightening lights in dementia facilities decreased depression, cognitive deterioration and loss of functional abilities. Increased light bolsters circadian rhythms and helps patients see better so they can be more active, said Elizabeth C. Brawley, a dementia care design expert not involved in the study, adding, “If I could change one thing in these places it would be the lighting.”

Several German nursing homes have fake bus stops outside to keep patients from wandering; they wait for nonexistent buses until they forget where they wanted to go, or agree to come inside.

And Beatitudes installed a rectangle of black carpet in front of the dementia unit's fourth-floor elevators because residents appear to interpret it as a cliff or hole, no longer darting into elevators and wandering away.

“They'll walk right along the edge but don't want to step in the black,” said Ms. Alonzo, who finds it less unsettling than methods some facilities use, bracelets that trigger alarms when residents exit. “People with dementia have visual-spatial problems. We've actually had some people so wary of it that when we have to get them on the elevator to take them somewhere, we put down a white towel or something to cover it up.”

When elevator doors open, Beatitudes staff members stand casually in front, distracting residents with “over-the-top” hellos, she said: “We look like Cheshire cats,” but “who's going to want to get on the elevator when here's this lovely smiling person greeting you? It gets through to the emotional brain.”

New research suggests emotion persists after cognition deteriorates. In a University of Iowa study, people with brain damage producing Alzheimer's-like amnesia viewed film clips evoking tears and sadness (“Sophie's Choice,” “Steel Magnolias”), or laughter and happiness (Bill Cosby, “America's Funniest Home Videos”).

Six minutes later, participants had trouble recalling the clips. But 30 minutes later, emotion evaluations showed they still felt sad or happy, often more than participants with normal memories. The more memory-impaired patients retained stronger emotions.

Justin Feinstein, the lead author, an advanced neuropsychology doctoral student, said the results, being studied with Alzheimer's patients at Iowa and Harvard, suggest behavioral problems could stem from sadness or anxiety that patients cannot explain.

“Because you don't have a memory, there's this general free-floating state of distress and you can't really figure out why,” Mr. Feinstein said. Similarly, happy emotions, even from socializing with patients, “could linger well beyond the memories that actually caused them.”

One program for dementia patients cared for by relatives at home creates specific activities related to something they once enjoyed: arranging flowers, filling photo albums, snapping beans.

“A gentleman who loved fishing could still set up a tackle box, so we gave him a plastic tackle box” to set up every day, said the program's developer, Laura N. Gitlin, a sociologist at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and newly appointed director of the Center on Aging and Health at Johns Hopkins University.

After four months, patients seemed happier and more active, and showed fewer behavior problems, especially repetitive questioning and shadowing, following caregivers around. And that gave caregivers breaks, important because studies suggest that “what's good for the caregiver is good for the patient,” Professor Gwyther said.

Aiding the Caregiver

In fact, reducing caregiver stress is considered significant enough in dementia care that federal and state health agencies are adopting programs giving caregivers education and emotional support.

One, led by Mary S. Mittelman, a New York University dementia expert, found that when people who cared for demented spouses were given six counseling sessions as well as counselors whom they could call in a crisis, it helped them handle caregiving better and delayed by 18 months placing patients in nursing homes.

“The patient did not have fewer symptoms,” Dr. Mittelman said. “It was the caregiver's reaction that changed.”

The Veterans Affairs Department is adopting another program, Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health, providing 12 counseling sessions and 5 telephone support group sessions. Studies showed that these measures reduced hospital visits and helped family caregivers manage dementia behaviors.

“Investing in caregiver services and support is very worthwhile,” saving money and letting patients remain home, said Deborah Amdur, chief consultant for care management and social work at the Veterans Affairs Department.

Beatitudes, which takes about 30 moderate to severe dementia sufferers, introduced its program 12 years ago, focusing on individualized care.

“In the old days,” Ms. Alonzo said, “we would find out more about somebody from their obituary than we did when they were alive.”

The dementia floor was named Vermillion Cliffs, after colorfully layered rock formations formed by centuries of erosion, implying that, “although weathered, although tested by dementia, people are beautiful” and “have certain strengths,” said Peggy Mullan, the president of Beatitudes.

The facility itself is institutional-looking, dowdy and “extremely outdated,” Ms. Mullan said.

“It's ugly,” said Jan Dougherty, director of family and community services at Banner Alzheimer's Institute in Phoenix. But “they're probably doing some of the best work” and “virtually have no sundowning,” she said, referring to agitated, delusional behavior common with Alzheimer's, especially during afternoon and evening.

Beatitudes eliminated anything potentially considered restraining, from deep-seated wheelchairs that hinder standing up to bedrails (some beds are lowered and protected by mats). It drastically reduced antipsychotics and medications considered primarily for “staff convenience,” focusing on relieving pain, Ms. Alonzo said.

It encouraged keeping residents out of diapers if possible, taking them to the toilet to preserve feelings of independence. Some staff members resisted, Ms. Alonzo said, but now “like it because it saves time” and difficult diaper changes.

Family members like Nancy Mendelsohn, whose mother, Rose Taran, was kicked out of facilities for screaming and calling 911, appreciate it. “The last place just put her in diapers, and she was not incontinent at all,” Ms. Mendelsohn said.

Ms. Alonzo declined to pay workers more to adopt the additional skills or night work, saying, “We want people to work here because it's your bag.”

Finding Favorite Things

For behavior management, Beatitudes plumbs residents' biographies, soothing one woman, Ruth Ann Clapper, by dabbing on White Shoulders perfume, which her biographical survey indicated she had worn before becoming ill. Food became available constantly, a canny move, Ms. Dougherty said, because people with dementia might be “too distracted” to eat during group mealtimes, and later “be acting out when what they actually need is food.”

Realizing that nutritious, low-salt, low-fat, doctor-recommended foods might actually discourage people from eating, Ms. Alonzo began carrying chocolate in her pocket. “For God's sake,” Ms. Mullan said, “if you like bacon, you can have bacon here.”

Comforting food improves behavior and mood because it “sends messages they can still understand: ‘it feels good, therefore I must be in a place where I'm loved,' ” Ms. Dougherty said.

Now, when Maribeth Gallagher, Beatitudes' dementia program director, learns someone's favorite foods, “I'm going to pop that on your tongue, and you're going to go ‘yum,' ” she said. “Isn't that better than an injection?”

Beatitudes also changed activity programming. Instead of group events like bingo, in which few residents could actually participate, staff members, including housekeepers, conduct one-on-one activities: block-building, coloring, simply conversing. State regulators initially objected, saying, “Where's your big group, and what you're doing isn't right and doesn't follow regulations,” Ms. Alonzo said.

Ms. Mullan said, “I don't think we ever got cited, but it was a huge fight to make sure we didn't.”

These days, hundreds of Arizona physicians, medical students, and staff members at other nursing homes have received Beatitudes' training, and several Illinois nursing homes are adopting it. The program, which received an award from an industry association, the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, also appears to save money.

Arlene Washington's family moved her to Beatitudes recently, pulling her from another nursing home because of what they considered inattentive and “improper care,” said her husband, William. Mrs. Washington, 86, was heavily medicated, tube fed and unable to communicate, “like she had no life in her,” said Sharon Hibbert, a friend.

At Beatitudes, Dr. Gillian Hamilton, administrative medical director, said she found Mrs. Washington “very sedated,” took her off antipsychotics, then gradually stopped using the feeding tube. Now Mrs. Washington eats so well she no longer needs the insulin she was receiving. During a recent visit, she was alert, even singing a hymn.

That afternoon, Ms. Nance, in her wheelchair, happily held her baby doll, which she named Benjamin, and commented about raising her sons decades ago.

Ms. Alonzo had at first considered the doll an “undignified” and demeaning security blanket. But Ms. Gallagher explained that “for a lot of people who are parents, what gives them joy is caring for children.”

“I was able,” Ms. Gallagher said, “to find Margaret's strength.”

Ms. Gallagher said she learned when approaching Ms. Nance to “look at her baby doll, and once I connect with the doll, I can look at her.”

She squatted down, complimented Benjamin's shoes, and said, “You're the best mom I know.”

Ms. Nance nodded earnestly.

“It's good to know,” Ms. Nance said, “that somebody knows that you care.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/health/01care.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

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EDITORIAL

Still Tinkering

Of all the recommendations by the independent 9/11 Commission in 2004, the one that Congress has had the most difficulty with is the summons to Congress to reform itself. The commission urged lawmakers to junk the hydra-headed, multicommittee system of intelligence oversight in favor of single panels in the House and the Senate combining the clout of budgeting with oversight.

“Tinkering with the existing structure is not sufficient,” the commission said. That was true in 2004, and the need for sweeping reform is just as real today. Centralizing oversight offers the best hope of tracking the myriad jobs done by 15 separate agencies in the field.

Congress was instantly alarmed at the prospect of shrinking dozens of prized committee turfs and silencing the subcommittee gavels of chairmen fiercely protective of their perks. Self-imagined lions roared that Capitol Hill's ramshackle system was in fact beneficial: “purposeful redundancy,” they called it.

Enter now a fresh band of tinkerers. In 2007, Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, made a token gesture toward rationalizing the system by creating a select intelligence oversight panel. The incoming Republican majority promises to do a better job without the panel.

The panel was a hybrid of members from existing oversight committees who worked firmly under the thumb of the Appropriations Committee. There is some thought that it helped, even though it fell well short of the union of purse strings and oversight that was needed — and is still needed — in both House and Senate.

The Republicans insist that lawmakers in charge of intelligence and appropriations can work more closely. But if past practice holds, Congress will continue to shuffle the status quo and duck the need for painful reform. Our legislators need to be less concerned about protecting rival fiefs and far more committed to protecting the nation's security.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/opinion/01sat3.html?ref=opinion

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From Google News

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Woman accused of murdering boy and burning his body says: 'I am not a monster... I love kids'

Daily Mail Reporter

January 1, 2011

Mona Nelson, the woman accused of murdering Texas boy Jonathan Foster, spoke for the first time since being arrest - proclaiming her innocence.

Nelson, 44, told reporters that she would never do anything to harm a child, and that she has five grandchildren of her own

'I'm not a monster... I love kids,' she told a local TV station from her prison cell.

Although Nelson is adamant that she would not harm any child, it is not a view shared by police, who believe the 12-year-old Foster may not be her only victim.

The boy was reported missing from his home on Christmas Eve, after his mother claims she received a strange call at her workplace from a gruff-sounding woman.

Jonathan's mother, Angela Davis, initially told police that he was with a babysitter. But she later admitted that he was home alone.

His burned body was discovered on Tuesday in a roadside ditch in Houston, not far from where he lived.

Nelson told to local KTRK TV that a member of Jonathan's family gave her $20 to dump a plastic container on Christmas Eve.

She claimed she was drunk on vodka and didn't know what was inside the container.

She said she chose a random Houston ditch to dump the container in.

But police revealed that Jonathan's burned body was not discovered in a plastic container.

Nelson insisted: 'I'm not a monster. I have five grandkids and I love kids.'

She admitted having a cutting torch, a welding instrument that police say she used to burn the body, but she said she needed it for her job as a welder.

When asked if she used it on Jonathan, she said: 'I would never do that.'

Police allege that Nelson's truck was spotted on surveillance footage dumping something in the ditch where the body was found.

In addition, investigators say they've discovered evidence at Nelson's apartment that allegedly links her to the crime, including burned carpet and twine similar to that used to Jonathan's hands.

Houston Police Department Homicide Detective Mike Miller called Nelson a 'cold, soulless murderer who showed an absolute lack of remorse in taking the life of Jonathan Foster'.”

He called the boy's death 'an absolute tragedy that can't be put into words'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343225/Mona-Nelson-murder-Jonathan-Foster-Im-monster--I-love-kids.html?printingPage=true

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