Thursday, February 12, 2009

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Pakistan Acknowledges Role In Mumbai Attacks, Arrests Main Suspects Top
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan acknowledged for the first time Thursday that the Mumbai terrorist attacks were launched from its shores and at least partly plotted on its soil. Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik also said Pakistan had arrested most of the main suspects _ including those named by India as the masterminds of the attacks_ and had started criminal proceedings against them, but reiterated that authorities needed more evidence from New Delhi to secure convictions. The revelations suggest Pakistan is serious about punishing those behind the November attacks, which killed 164 people and stirred fear that the nuclear-armed neighbors could slide toward war and distract Pakistan from its struggle against the Taliban and al-Qaida. India and the U.S. have pressed Pakistan hard to dismantle Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned Pakistan-based group fighting Indian rule in the divided Kashmir region that is widely blamed for the Mumbai carnage. Islamabad and New Delhi have fought two out of their three wars since 1947 over the region. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said it passed details of its investigation to India on Thursday. However, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said in New Delhi he had no immediate reaction. Malik said investigators had traced a boat engine used by the attackers to sail from Pakistan to India and busted two hideouts of the suspects near the southern city of Karachi. Other leads pointed to Europe and the United States, and Malik said Pakistan would ask the FBI for help. "Some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan and ... according to the available information, most of them (the suspects) are in our custody," Malik said at a media conference. New Delhi says all 10 gunmen _ only one of whom was captured alive _ were Pakistanis and that their handlers in Pakistan had kept in touch with them by phone during the three-day assault. New Delhi provided a dossier of evidence to Islamabad, and in the first update on Pakistan's investigation, Malik said criminal cases had been opened against eight suspects on charges of "abetting, conspiracy and facilitation" of a terrorist act. He said six of them were already in custody, including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah, Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders named by India as the masterminds of the attack, and a person who sent an e-mail claiming responsibility for the attacks. Indian media said at the time that they received an e-mail in the name of the previously unknown Deccan Mujahideen _ a name which suggested an Indian rather than Pakistani group was behind the attacks and which now appears to have been a decoy. Malik said they were "non-state actors," a phrase used by Pakistani authorities to counter allegations that its intelligence agencies had a hand in the attacks. Malik said the assailants used three boats to travel from Pakistan to Mumbai. He said detectives had traced an engine recovered from one of the vessels to a shop in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi. He said the shopkeeper had provided the phone number of the buyer which led to a bank account in the name of Hammad Amin Sadiq. Malik said authorities had arrested Sadiq and obtained from him information that led them to bust two "hideouts of the terrorists," one in Karachi and one about two hours drive away. He described Sadiq as "the main operator," but didn't elaborate. Investigators identified locations where the attackers had practiced the sea-borne portion of their attack plan, he said. Malik urged India to provide more information to help secure convictions in the attacks and said that Pakistan was sending 30 questions to India about the attacks. Among the additional information sought are the fingerprints of the 10 gunmen, the DNA of the lone survivor and details of intercepted phone conversations between the militants and their handlers. Malik also suggested a wider international dimension to the crime. He said one suspect, Javed Iqbal, been "lured" back from Barcelona, Spain, where he had been living, and was now in Pakistani custody. He alleged that while in Spain, Iqbal had arranged Internet telephone accounts used in the attacks. Suspects also used a digital teleconferencing system whose service provider is based in Houston, Texas, while a Thuraya phone was issued in a "Middle Eastern country," Malik said. Bills were paid by a company in Islamabad and two people have been arrested as a result, Malik said. The terrorists also used phones with Indian SIM cards, he noted. "It is not only Pakistan, but the system of the other countries has also been used," Malik said. More on South Asia
 
Beth Arnold: A Valentine's Day Hint: The World's Best Pedicure Top
Ladies, who among us doesn't love a pedicure? Manicures are nice and all. I'm happy to get one, but someone fluffing up my feet and putting them back in shape is the next best thing to a full body massage. With Valentine's Day coming up, you get what I'm saying? There's something truly luxurious about someone handling our body's mules with velvety care and attention. Not to mention how sensuous it is to slip pedicured tootsies into slinky stilettos (that is, if you haven't thrown yours all away because they either kill you or are too hard to wear). "She has such pretty feet," my sweet Mississippi mother-in-law drawled to her son, my husband Jim, the first time she met me. He was very impressed with this. Well, I thought, that's nice...okay...a little strange. On the other hand, Jim is known among family and friends to be something of a foot fetishist, so his mother remarking on my pretty feet was giving her blessing to this son who, she intuited, was intrigued by them as well as the shoes that adorned them. After 20 years of hard-core aerobics, my shoes breaking down and me not knowing it, I chipped and cracked some bones, and the doctor told me to stop pounding the puppies. On top of that, my skin has become quite sensitive, and I recently realized the reason I almost fall down all the time is because my feet are unbalanced. How does this happen? In short, my feet needed help. Ladies, what about yours? How hard is it to find shoes in which you can walk all day and not hurt--or a pair that are comfy but not as ugly as sin? I'd been looking for a fantastic pedicure in Paris, and as strange as this may seem, good nail care is hard to find--and expensive to boot. But I Googled up a foot guru. In fact, I hit the lottery and found the most famous pedicurist in the world, Bastien Gonzalez . His clients reported feeling they were walking on clouds when they left his golden hands. Why was he a Christian Louboutin while other pedicurists were Doc Martens ? I made an appointment to see Gonzalez at the Hotel Le Bristol. Bastien Gonzalez is French with Spanish heritage, and he looks like a shorter haired Fabio minus the extreme body. Gonzalez is a trained podiatrist and began his practice with offices on the sublime Place des Vosges. But then he had a vision to reach more people--and that was designing a "true pedicure"--which meant his treatment wasn't just cosmetic, as most are, but a medical curing of the feet, nails, and skin, plus a therapeutic foot and leg massage. His clients' feet would not just be attractive but also natural and healthy. Gonzalez took a preventive medical stance, which was to understand the origins of his clients' foot problems and to teach them how to better care for them. In reviving his clients' feet, the walking-on-clouds reports were born. Gonzalez loves his job and was inspired by his beautiful great-grandmother who took time for her nails and buffed them until they gleamed. She thought polish vulgar. Part of what makes his treatment unique is that he actually removes the top few layers of nail with a dentist's drill he adapted (which, by the way, requires proper training so the nails aren't damaged). He also buffs the nails until they're so glossy they veritably sparkle. The look is natural and fresh, while the feet feel born again. Starting his new practice in Paris's fashionista Hotel Costes , Gonzalez fast became such a word of mouth hit that he added New York to his schedule and was being flown on private jets around the world. This is a man who knows what he wants--and what he wanted to offer his clients--and he began honing his vision and business even more. Today, he has received global press and has developed a line of products called Reverence de Bastien . He did it with his own money so no one else can muck up his dream. Gonzalez now alternates his time between Paris and London with a regular client schedule in New York and Moscow and another slate at luxurious One and Only Resorts in Mexico, Mauritius, the Maldives, Capetown, and Dubai. He has also begun to train others in his technique. For this Valentine's Day and a glamorous special moment, Gonzalez has introduced his first nail polish--One and Only Red--to his product line. I plan to get some. A decade ago, I wrote a book about what women should pass along to their daughters, sisters, and friends. Part of my goal was for men to read the book as well--to understand more about what their women wanted and needed. After Jim read it, he got the importance of women taking care of themselves--and for pampering. He often sent my daughters and me for manicures and pedicures. Getting a pedicure isn't just divine, though it is that. It is also for our health and well-being, a concept Bastien Gonzalez understands and promotes. But if you can't get the treatment from him, book yourself an appointment somewhere else. Or print this out and show it to your spouse or partner. Hint hint! And just for the record, what's your favorite treatment for your own well-being? Beth Arnold lives and writes in Paris. To see more or her work, check out www.betharnold.com . More on Mexico
 
Prince Harry To Attend Diversity Course: Reports Top
LONDON — After a royal reprimand, it's back to school for Prince Harry. British media outlets reported Thursday that the prince is being sent on an "equality and diversity" course by the British army after he was recorded making racist remarks. The BBC and the Daily Mirror, citing senior defense officials, said the 24-year-old prince would attend a course designed to press home how offensive racist language is. Last month a newspaper released 2006 video of Harry using a highly offensive term about a Pakistani officer. Harry apologized but said he had used the expression about a friend and without malice. The prince also was recorded using an epithet for people of Middle Eastern descent to mock another cadet This week, black British comedian Stephen K. Amos said Harry _ a lieutenant in the Household Cavalry regiment who is training to be a helicopter pilot _ had told him last year that he didn't "sound like a black chap." The prince's office said Harry had been "subjected to normal army disciplinary procedures" but would not confirm he was being sent on a diversity course. The Ministry of Defense said Harry had received "a dressing down" from his commanding officer. Harry has likely already been on a diversity course. Charles Heyman, a defense analyst and former British army officer, said they were a standard part of military training. Heyman said the courses were designed to let soldiers know "that the world is a bit different than they might think, and that it's good manners to treat people the way they would like to be treated themselves." The younger son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, Harry had a party-loving image for much of his very public youth. Newspapers and magazines loved to cast him as a flame-haired bad boy, in contrast to his ostensibly more sober elder brother, Prince William. In 2002, Charles took Harry to a drug rehab center to meet recovering addicts after Harry acknowledged smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol while underage. The tabloid press dubbed him "Harry Pothead." After graduating from elite boarding school Eton College the next year, Harry was frequently snapped by paparazzi leaving nightclubs in the early hours, and once scuffled in the street with a photographer. In January 2005, Harry apologized after being pictured in a newspaper at a costume party dressed as a Nazi, complete with a swastika armband. Harry's public image has improved since he entered the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in 2005. After being commissioned as a junior officer he lobbied hard to be sent to the front line, and served in Afghanistan for 10 weeks before his secret deployment was leaked over the Internet. But recent events have raised questions about Harry's attitudes. Last month it was reported that Prince Charles and his sons refer to a south Asian family friend as "Sooty" _ although the friend said he was not offended by the nickname. Heyman said that soldiers often use language among themselves that would offend delicate civilian ears, but that Harry's videotaped comments showed poor judgment. "He's not the ordinary man in the pub," Heyman said. "You've got to be careful when you are third in line to the throne." More on Europe
 
Pope Condemns Holocaust Denial Top
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI said Thursday any minimization of the Holocaust was unacceptable, especially for a priest, as he met with Jewish leaders in hopes of ending the rancor over a bishop who denied 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis. The German-born Benedict also confirmed that he planned to visit Israel in May, in what would be the second official visit by a pope. The Vatican scheduled the pope's audience with about 60 American Jewish leaders Thursday after Benedict lifted the excommunication of a traditionalist bishop who denied the Holocaust, sparking outrage among Jews and Catholics alike. Issuing his strongest condemnation of Holocaust denial yet, Benedict affirmed the Catholic Church was "profoundly and irrevocably committed to reject all anti-Semitism." "The hatred and contempt for men, women and children that was manifested in the Shoah was a crime against God and against humanity," Benedict said, using the Hebrew term for the Holocaust. "This should be clear to everyone, especially to those standing in the tradition of the Holy Scriptures." "It is beyond question that any denial or minimization of this terrible crime is intolerable and altogether unacceptable," he said during the meeting in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. Jewish leaders applauded his comments, saying the crisis with the church that had been sparked by Bishop Richard Williamson's comments was over. In an interview with Swedish state TV broadcast Jan. 21, Williamson denied that any Jews were gassed during World War II. He said only about 200,000 to 300,000 Jews were killed, but none of them gassed. The Vatican said Benedict did not know of Williamson's views when he agreed to lift the excommunication, and stressed that it did not in any way share Williamson's views. But confronted with mounting Jewish outrage, the Vatican demanded Williamson recant before he would be fully admitted as a bishop into the church. Williamson has apologized for causing distress to the pope, but has not recanted. He said he would correct himself if he is satisfied by the evidence, but insisted in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel that examining it "will take time." Benedict lifted the excommunication of Williamson and three other bishops consecrated by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre without papal consent in 1988. Lefebvre founded the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X in 1969, opposed to the liberalizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council, particularly its outreach to Jews. Benedict's trip in May, which had been planned before the Williamson affair surfaced, would be the second official visit by a pope to Israel. Pope John Paul II made the first official visit in 2000. The only other visit by a pope, in 1964, reflected the strained nature of the relationship in those years. Pope Paul VI spent only part of one day in Israel, and never ventured into Jewish west Jerusalem. He never uttered the word "Israel" in public. More on Pope
 
Nadya Suleman's Octuplet Pregnant Belly (PHOTO) Top
TMZ obtained a photo of Nadya Suleman's pregnant stomach shortly before she gave birth to octuplets in California. This picture of a ready to explode Nadya Suleman was taken eight days before giving birth to the last eight of her fourteen kids. PHOTO:
 
For Algae's Next Trick, It Will Clean Up The World Top
If you've been at the bottom of the food chain for millions of years, you'd better have a few tricks up your sleeve. Algae, the tiny green plants without which the world would be a mess, may just save the world, says Reuters : In the distant past, algae helped turn the earth's then inhospitable atmosphere into one that could support modern life through photosynthesis, which plants use to turn carbon dioxide and sunlight into sugars and oxygen. The race is now on to find economic ways to turn algae, one of the planet's oldest life forms, into vegetable oil that can be made into biodiesel, jet fuel, other fuels and plastic products. "So we are harvesting sunshine directly using algae, then we are extracting that stored energy in the form of oil from the alga and then using that to make fuels and other non-petroleum based products," Skill said. (See also: Reuters video on algae-based fuel with lots of labcoats and vials of green stuff.) And sure, algae can do all of that. In fact, people have been working on it for a long time. The US Air Force wants to use algae-based fuels . Farms are springing up to make "biocrude" from algae . It's just that right now, the technology isn't up to snuff. But that's what R&D is for. Related: :: 5 Things You Didn't Know Were Biofuels :: Algae: Biofuel, Cooking Oil, Health Supplement More on Environment
 
Satellite Collision Focuses Attention On Space Pollution Top
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Scientists are keeping a close eye on orbital debris created when two communications satellites _ one American, the other Russian _ smashed into each other hundreds of miles above the Earth. NASA said it will take weeks to determine the full magnitude of the unprecedented crash and whether any other satellites or even the Hubble Space Telescope are threatened. The collision, which occurred nearly 500 miles over Siberia on Tuesday, was the first high-speed impact between two intact spacecraft, NASA officials said. "We knew this was going to happen eventually," said Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA believes any risk to the international space station and its three astronauts is low. It orbits about 270 miles below the collision course. A spokesman for the Russian civilian space agency Roscosmos, Alexander Vorobyev, said on state-controlled Channel I television that "for the international space station, at this time and in the near future, there's no threat." There also should be no danger to the space shuttle set to launch with seven astronauts on Feb. 22, officials said, but that will be re-evaluated in the coming days. Nicholas Johnson, an orbital debris expert at the Houston space center, said the risk of damage from Tuesday's collision is greater for the Hubble Space Telescope and Earth-observing satellites, which are in higher orbit and nearer the debris field. The collision involved an Iridium commercial satellite, which was launched in 1997, and a Russian satellite launched in 1993 and believed to be nonfunctioning. The Russian satellite was out of control, Matney said. The Iridium craft weighed 1,235 pounds, and the Russian craft nearly a ton. No one has any idea yet how many pieces were generated or how big they might be. "Right now, they're definitely counting dozens," Matney said. "I would suspect that they'll be counting hundreds when the counting is done." There have been four other cases in which space objects have collided accidentally in orbit, NASA said. But those were considered minor and involved parts of spent rockets or small satellites. At the beginning of this year there were roughly 17,000 pieces of manmade debris orbiting Earth, Johnson said. The items, at least 4 inches in size, are being tracked by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, which is operated by the military. The network detected the two debris clouds created Tuesday. Litter in orbit has increased in recent years, in part because of the deliberate breakups of old satellites. It's gotten so bad that orbital debris is now the biggest threat to a space shuttle in flight, surpassing the dangers of liftoff and return to Earth. NASA is in regular touch with the Space Surveillance Network, to keep the space station a safe distance from any encroaching objects, and shuttles, too, when they're flying. "The collisions are going to be becoming more and more important in the coming decades," Matney said. Iridium Holdings LLC has a system of 65 active satellites that relay calls from portable phones that are about twice the size of a regular mobile phone. It has more than 300,000 subscribers. The U.S. Department of Defense is one of its largest customers. The company said the loss of the satellite was causing brief, occasional outages in its service and that it expected to have the problem fixed by Friday. Iridium also said it expected to replace the lost satellite with one of its eight in-orbit spares within 30 days. "The Iridium constellation is healthy, and this event is not the result of a failure on the part of Iridium or its technology," the company said in a statement. Initially launched by Motorola Inc. in the 1990s, Iridium plunged into bankruptcy in 1999. Private investors relaunched service in 2001. Iridium satellites are unusual because their orbit is so low and they move so fast. Most communications satellites are in much higher orbits and don't move relative to each other, which means collisions are rare. Iridium Holdings LLC, is owned by New York-based investment firm Greenhill & Co. through a subsidiary, GHL Acquisition Corp., which is listed on the American Stock Exchange. ___ AP science writer Seth Borenstein in Washington and AP technology writer Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this report. ___ On the Net: NASA: http://www.nasa.gov
 
Art Levine: Will Hilda Solis Arrest "Wage Theft" CEOs? Lessons from L.A.'s Car Wash Bust Top
Just a day before Wednesday's Senate panel vote for the pro-worker Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary, another blow for workers' rights was struck by the crusading City Attorney of Los Angeles, Rocky Delgadillo. He filed a 176-count criminal case against two Los Angeles carwash owners and their machete-wielding manager for violating labor laws and criminal statutes by allegedly abusing and intimidating workers, and for failing to pay the minimum wage; the city attorney likened the conditions to a "work environment that bordered on indentured servitude." "In this city, we will hold to account and prosecute those who cheat or abuse their employees," said Delgadillo. "We are not going to allow business owners to cut corners -- in violation of the law -- to turn a profit." The owners of these four car wash sweatshops, Benny and Nissan Pirian, could each face as long as 86 years in jail and a total of more than $1.25 million in fines and restitution. (Neither Pirian brother returned phone calls for comment, and manager Manny Reyes told this reporter "I don't know anything" about allegations that he flaunted a machete, a bullet and a billy club at various times to threaten workers and organizers. ) But it's not just the Southern California car wash industry that routinely violates basic labor laws on pay, hours and workers' rights: it's a widespread scandal involving an estimated $19 billion a year in virtually unpunished wage theft involving some of the country's major corporations, including Wal-Mart , Tyson and even Federal Express . And it's no surprise, then, that such companies are among the most virulent opponents of the Employee Free Choice Ac t, which aims to level the playing field by giving workers the right to choose how to form a union. One of the challenges for Solis is whether she'll be tough enough in cracking down on such rampant abuses with a Labor Department gutted by eight years of pro-business GOP hacks in charge. It's not that likely, though, that the moderate Solis will pursue criminal cases against the top CEOs who have yet to face the prospect of jail time over wage theft, given the corporate flack the Obama administration faces over the Employee Free Choice Act. Both federal and state wages-and-hours laws include criminal provisions. Even so, as the AFL-CIO's general counsel, Jon Hiatt, observes, "My dream is that the first act of the new Secretary of Labor would be to identify top executives of companies that routinely violate wages and hours laws -- and take them out of their offices in handcuffs. The deterrent value would be enormous." In the 1930s, he points out, FDR's secretary of labor pursued the prosecution of the top executive of the F.W. Woolworth company for refusing to recognize a union -- and he was indeed photographed being dragged from his office in handcuffs. But even without criminal penalties, the lax federal enforcement in recent years has created a workplace climate that essentially gives a green light to owners and managers to break laws with impunity. These scofflaws apparently included Vermont Hand Wash manager Manuel Reyes , charged with two counts each of witness intimidation and brandishing a deadly weapon -- with a maximum penalty of two and half years in the county jail. Reyes threatened Israel Jimenez, a union supporter, with violence when the manager showed him .38 caliber bullets on one occasion in April and a machete and combat knife on another occasion in June -- after Jimenez complained about his hours being cut. That's according to this reporter's interviews with union supporters, an unfair labor complaint filed last July , and the new criminal charges. Jiminez says, through a translator, "When the manager showed me his machete, he said that he kept it, and other weapons, in his car for whatever might come up at the car wash. He has told me when he pulls out his gun, he uses it to kill. This made me afraid for myself and my co-workers who are trying to improve the conditions at this carwash." Reyes's alleged threats were a response, in part, to the union organizing campaign by the Carwash Workers Organizing Committee (CWOC) of the United Steelworkers that began last March. That organizing effort is joined by a coalition of community and union groups known as CLEAN , which stands for Community-Labor-Environmental Action Network, to improve working conditions for the roughly 10,000 workers in the car wash industry in Los Angeles. Henry Huerta, the director of the CLEAN Carwash Campaign, says of the car wash owners: "They're driven by greed and a belief that they can get away with a blatant disregard for the law." He witnessed Reyes's unique approach to reform appeals when Huerta was leading a group of demonstrators outside of the Vermont Hand Wash, and Reyes reached into his trunk, then brandished a billy club raised high for all to see. The workers stood inside the car wash, cowed, while Reyes glared at Huerta and others, turning around slowly with the billy club in his hand, signaling his willingness to use it, Huerta recalls. If all these threats and wage theft abuses weren't enough, the car wash owners charged criminally Tuesday not only forced some workers to live on tips alone, but they have reportedly endangered the safety of their workers with the heedless use of chemicals and arranged for them to drink unclean, polluted water on the job. As even a car care industry newsletter reported : Prosecutors have accused the Pirians of routinely denying employees fair wages, refusing to pay for overtime, and ignoring rest and lunch break requirements. Some of the Pirians' employees were paid a flat rate of $35 to $40 per day, with some working for tips alone, Delgadillo's office said. Investigators also have charged the Pirians with failing to provide adequate drinking water for employees. At some of the carwash locations, the only drinking water provided allegedly came from a filtered pump attached to the same washing machine used to clean dirty towels, according to the city attorney's office. The only alternative on-site was to buy bottled water for $1.50 to $2 per bottle, officials said. The carwashes also did not meet safety standards and failed to arrange necessary medical attention for workers who suffered serious physical injuries, including acid burns, deep puncture wounds and lacerations, prosecutors said. As Bosbely Reyna told reporters Tuesday when the prosecutor announced the charges: "The owners cheated us out of our wages and didn't pay us for all the hours we worked. The working conditions are dangerous, and they treated us with no respect, yelling at us to work faster and humiliating us in front of customers." In fact, according to the CLEAN campaign, Bosbely , who worked at Vermont Hand Wash for nearly two years as a dryer and detailer, suffered along with his co-workers from health effects from using acids and other toxic chemicals without any protective gear, such as goggles or gloves. Bosbely bravely reported the dangerous working conditions at the carwash to Cal/OSHA and answered questions from the press when other workers were afraid to. He also joined his coworkers in taking legal action against the owners of the carwash for not paying minimum wage or overtime pay, and not allowing workers to take meal and rest breaks. In October 2008, management at Vermont Hand Wash fired Bosbely. But all his legal complaints to state labor and environmental agencies didn't lead to any redress by the owners, either because they were tied up in appeals and delaying tactics by the company, or the owners' blunt refusal to abide by any rulings against them. As CLEAN pointed out in its news release this week: The City Attorney's criminal complaint is only the latest enforcement action taken by government agencies against carwashes operated by Benny and/or Nisan Pirian: * Pirian family-owned carwashes have been cited by Cal/OSHA for putting workers in danger due to unsafe working conditions; * The National Labor Relations Board recently filed a complaint against Vermont Hand Wash for, among other instances of alleged misconduct, firing and/or retaliating against workers who spoke out publicly about working conditions; * A Pirian family-owned carwash was cited by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works for repeatedly allowing carwash wastewater to flow into our storm drains. "We hope this sends a message to carwashes across the city that they can no longer violate the law with impunity," said Glen Arnodo of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. "This community, including thousands of workers across Los Angeles, will stand together with carwash workers until they win this fight for justice and dignity." The Los Angeles Times also cited the Pirians' history of flouting laws and a series of lawsuits: The criminal charges follow a number of lawsuits filed against the Pirians by the nonprofit [legal services organization] Bet Tzedek. The first suit, filed in 2005, alleged violation of labor laws, including wage and hour and overtime laws. It was settled. In May, the firm sued the Pirians again, alleging wage and hour and overtime violations. Bet Tzedek is seeking class action status for about 300 current and former employees. "It's the exact same thing," sighed Kevin Kish, director of Bet Tzedek's Employment Rights Project. "We deal with a lot of industries where there are a lot of unrepentant employers. I'm a little surprised at the level of unrepentance here." The entire carwash industry, it seems, along with other industries with low-paid immigrant workers, are a throwback to the early 1900s with bosses who do whatever they like to workers as if federal and state regulations don't exist. The carwash industry in Los Angeles represents, in short, a utopian ideal of management-labor relations for GOP anti-union politicians and their pro-business cheerleaders in Washington's right-wing think tanks . As James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation asked last year in an essay, "Do Americans today still need labor unions?" His answer was headlined in bold: " NO: LABOR UNIONS ADD TO COSTS AND DISCOURAGE PRODUCTIVITY ." But the crimes being pursued by Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, responding to the violations brought to his attention by union supporters, show just why unions are needed and why employers can't be allowed the untrammeled freedom to pay workers whatever they want and treat them like serfs. As Kevin Kish, director of the Employment Rights Project at the Bet Tzedek Legal Services, notes, "The City Attorney is sending a clear message: wage theft is a crime, and it won't be tolerated in Los Angeles." The use of criminal prosecution, instead of the time-consuming and often fruitless approach of seeking redress through complex civil ligitation, is "quite extraordinary," observes Jon Hiatt, the AFL-CIO counsel. Union activists hope that when Hilda Solis is confirmed as Labor Secretary, as now seems likely, she'll take some cues from the innovative, tough-minded prosecution in Los Angeles. If that turns out to be the case, we could perhaps look forward to seeing a CEO from Tyson, Wal-Mart or other wage-robbing employer marched by federal agents in a "perp walk" past ogling cameras and pushed into a waiting squad car. And the dream of union attorneys -- and exploited workers -- everywhere then might then finally come true. ************************************** Art Levine is the co-host of the "D'Antoni and Levine" show on BlogTalk Radio, every Thursday at 5:30 p.m, ET.
 
Paul Rieckhoff: Iraq Vets Storm the Hill, Congress Rapidly Responds Top
Earlier this week, I told you about an amazing group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans that were coming to Capitol Hill for a historic trip to Congress, to advocate on behalf of their fellow vets . Today, I want to tell you just one of their extraordinary stories. Rey Leal served as a Marine in Fallujah during some of the heaviest fighting, earning a Bronze Star with valor as a Private First Class, an almost unheard of accomplishment for a soldier of his rank. But when he returned to southern Texas, he needed help coming home from war. Instead of having resources at his fingertips, his closest VA hospital was over five hours away. Rey’s a tough Marine, and a boxer, but he shouldn’t have to fight to get care at a veterans’ hospital. And at his nearest outpatient clinic, there was just one psychologist, taking appointments only two days a week.   The psychologist only works two days because that Texas clinic, like many VA clinics and hospitals, has to stretch its’ funding to make sure the money lasts the whole year. They don’t know how much funding they’ll have next year because the VA budget is routinely passed late. In fact, 19 of the past 22 years, the budget has not been passed on time. As a result, the VA is forced to ration care for the almost 6 million veterans that depend on its services. For the millions of veterans like Rey, we must fix this broken VA funding system.   Imagine trying to balance your family’s budget without knowing what your next paycheck will be. That’s what we’re asking of the largest health care provider in the nation to do.   And it doesn’t work. The good news is that there is a solution. “ Advance appropriations, ” approving the VA health care budget one year in advance, would supply timely and predictable funding, and it’s an effective way to ensure the highest quality care that our veterans deserve. It doesn’t make for a sexy news story.   But it is a critical, comprehensive way to tackle many of the challenges facing vets ranging from PTSD , to homelessness to military sexual trauma. And it wouldn’t cost a dime. That is not something you hear much down in Washington lately. While the lack of cost is highly unusual, advance appropriations is not a new concept for how the federal government does business. Low-income housing and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting already depend on the advance appropriations process to plan their programming. If this policy is good enough for Big Bird, then it should be good enough for vets like Rey. That has been our message all week in Washington.   Now this week, in the face of a surge of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans from across the country, Congress has rapidly responded.   Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA), the chairmen of the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees, are introducing bipartisan legislation to provide advance appropriations for the VA.   And Rey and the rest of our Storm the Hill team of young veterans will be there to support this historic change. It’s reassuring to know that in these tough fiscal times, Congress is not only listening to Wall Street CEOs, but that they are also listening to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. And Senator Akaka and Congressman Filner are not alone in supporting advanced VA funding. It has a broad coalition of support. President Obama and Senator McCain both backed the idea during the 2008 campaign, and new VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has signaled early support for the concept. Every major veterans’ organization in America is also on board. The IAVA crew in Washington this week represents the first wave of veterans’ groups hitting Capitol Hill to push for advance appropriations in 2009. This week, the young vets have boldly taken the beach. And in the coming days and weeks, other generations of veterans will follow.   We are coordinating our political fire—just like we did on the battlefields of Baghdad and Normandy.   Together, we will show Capitol Hill, the media, and the entire country, that 25 million veterans of all generations stand united behind the right solution to fix VA health care funding once and for all. Crossposted at IAVA.org .
 

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