Monday, March 16, 2009

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Vitale: Count On Tar Heels To Cut Down The Nets Top
Hey, do you think there's some big time screaming going on in State College, Pa.? This is my 30th year at ESPN, and trust me, every year the scene plays out with similar cries of, "We were robbed!" At least now, we don't have to listen to any more talk about, "They're on the bubble baby." More on March Madness
 
Illinois Ranks 32nd In Public Info Available Online Top
CHICAGO -- When former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said a day before being arrested that sunshine hung over him, he wasn't talking about releasing public records. The ousted governor's administration was known for routinely fighting or ignoring even the most basic requests for information. With Blagojevich now removed from office and facing federal corruption charges, new Gov. Pat Quinn is moving quickly to open up state government. But he has a long road ahead. Illinois ranked No. 32 nationally in the 2009 Sunshine Week survey of state and local government information readily available on the Internet. Sunshine Week, which begins Sunday, is a national initiative by journalism organizations to focus on open government and access to information. Illinois has public records in 10 of the 20 online categories surveyed. But it doesn't have a searchable statewide database of expenditures, the Illinois Department of Transportation doesn't make contracts available on its Web site and hospital inspection reports aren't available online, according to the survey. Only Texas provided information in all 20 categories in the survey, which was coordinated in partnership with the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Freedom of Information Committee, the National Freedom of Information Coalition and the Society of Professional Journalists' FOI Committee. In the state's highest office less than two months, Quinn already has ordered state agencies to study what information can be made available online. "A government that shrouds itself in secrecy and shuts out the sunshine of public scrutiny is one that will neither earn nor deserve the respect and trust of the people," the Democrat wrote in a memo to state agencies late last month. Illinois does provide online access to information that includes political contributions, businesses that register fictitious names, and disciplinary actions against attorneys and doctors, according to the Sunshine Week survey. Quinn also has told state agencies to assume information should be released under the state's Freedom of Information Act unless there is a clear prohibition to withhold it. "That's exactly what we wanted him to do," said Attorney General Lisa Madigan, another likely Democratic candidate in the 2010 governor's race who also is backing more government openness. "It has to come from the top and under the former governor the directive was clearly: 'Don't provide information even if the law says you have to turn it over."' Blagojevich's administration routinely withheld information, even fought unsuccessfully in court to not release secret subpoenas from federal prosecutors. The Better Government Association watchdog group sued for subpoenas that were released, and Quinn has since hired its former executive director, Jay Stewart, to be his senior counsel. Stewart's job includes working on matters of government openness. Stewart said there has been a flurry of information requests related to Blagojevich's time in office now that the impeached governor is gone. Under Quinn, Stewart expects more state government information to be moved to the Web after agencies assess what they've got, the demand for it and the cost of making it digital. "We're trying to adopt a clean-slate attitude on this," Stewart said. Keeping tabs on government and politicians becomes infinitely easier when state records are accessible online. "We really have to get away from the sense that public records belong to the public body and not the public citizens," said David Morrison, deputy director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. Morrison remembers a time more than a decade ago when political campaign contributions could only be accessed in two places: state office buildings in Chicago and Springfield. Inside one of the offices, information-seekers had to fill out a form in triplicate stating why they wanted to look at the records. The form then was sent to the political committee whose records were being inspected. "It was supposed to scare people," Morrison said. While those days are gone, some officials hope they'll fade even further from memory with fresh efforts to rewrite Illinois' freedom of information act. Madigan is backing legislation that would impose fines on governmental bodies that do not comply with disclosure requests. She has suggested to Quinn ways to increase compliance with public records laws, including appointing a senior public information officer. Madigan also has said all FOIA requests denied during Blagojevich's six years in office should be reviewed to determine what information should be released. Stewart said such a review wasn't under way. Before a reform commission Quinn created to clean up state government in the wake of the Blagojevich scandal, Madigan blasted the former governor's "culture of secrecy." "Former Gov. Blagojevich made secrecy, not sunshine the default position of state government," Madigan said. More on Rod Blagojevich
 
Joan Garry: "Take Your Daughter To The White House" Day Top
My daughter Scout returned to Boston yesterday after a week long spring break. She is not a Daytona Beach, drink beer until it comes out of your eyeballs kind of spring break person. This of course makes me love her even more (if that were possible) (and it's not). Last year when Scout came home for Spring Break, her siblings were in school, my partner was working and I was a full blown Obamamaniac. Not much was planned; I suppose it didn't feel very special. And I'll admit it. Scout returned to Boston before the break was even over. She wasn't furious, At least I don't think so. Not sure we ever talked about it. As this spring break approached, I was determined to be more thoughtful and at least suggest some activities that a bit special. So I took her to the White House to see Barack and Michele. My friend Brian works in the White House and invited us to participate in the signing of a Presidential executive order creating the White House Council on Women and Girls - the object of the game is to ensure that as policies all throughout the administration are developed, the lens of women and girls is considered. How can policy X provide more opportunity for women? How can policy Y open the window of opportunity for girls just a little bit wider? So there we were. Strolling through the White House. Scout may have been the youngest of the 150 extraordinarily accomplished women on hand. But she had the opportunity to demonstrate a few unique skills of her own. The new Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on the status of women had a daughter home sick and asked her to take her picture. Then Scout used this moment as an opportunity. She showed Ambassador Frank how to take, save and email a picture of herself to her young daughter home in NJ. You can't tell me she didn't add value. As we strolled through the crowd, I saw old friends and met new women. Each more impressive than the one before. Scout took it all in, grabbed a few business cards for possible internships and took a few great pictures. After the event, Scout could not stop talking. And the questions were very, very focused. "How do you get to be Valerie Jarrett?" "Do you have to be a lawyer to be Nancy Pelosi?" "How do these women get these jobs?" As Scout drove up 95 back to New Jersey that night, I had my Blackberry at the ready and I read her the bios of some of the women in the room that day. Scout took in every word, every part of the path of each of these women. We talked about jobs, connections, civil engagement and the intersection of all of these in each bio. My friend Brian's invitation enabled me to score a few points with my daughter. I may have won Spring Break Mom of the Year. But the invitation was really a much bigger gift. I thought it was about being in a very small setting with the President. But the real gift was being in the room with those women. I understand and appreciate my privilege. But each and every one of us knows extraordinary women, extraordinary in ways large and small. Don't miss a single opportunity to tell your daughter the stories of these women. Or better yet, to have these women share their stories with your daughters. Create your own Council on Women and Girls. Seems to me you might open that window of opportunity for your own daughter just a little bit wider. More on Barack Obama
 
Citigroup's Pandit Awarded $10.8 Million In 2008 Top
Citigroup Inc (C.N) awarded Chief Executive Vikram Pandit $10.8 million of compensation in 2008, a year in which the bank required two government rescues totaling more than $45 billion. About $7.7 million of the compensation was a sign-on bonus the bank gave Pandit in January 2008, according to a regulatory filing on Monday. Pandit also received a salary of nearly $1 million and stock options of $1.6 million.
 
Cinderella Teams Get Stuffed This Year Top
If there's one dominant theme that came out of Selection Sunday it's that the N.C.A.A. tournament is becoming more like the B.C.S. -- an insider's club for the schools with rich tradition and deep coffers. More on March Madness
 
Barry Schwartz: In Defense of "Inefficiency" Top
When automobile manufacturers struggle to squeeze as many miles per gallon as possible out of their car designs, any feature of the design that impedes the forward motion of the vehicle -- friction, or coefficient of drag -- is the enemy. The aim is to design a vehicle that uses every ounce of fuel to move the car forward as efficiently as possible. And so it is in the world of finance. As historian Niall Ferguson reminds us in his recent book, The Ascent of Money , hard as it is to imagine, people didn't always have money. The invention of money went a long way toward reducing the friction -- the inefficiency -- in financial transactions. No longer did the farmer have to drag sacks of potatoes to the marketplace to trade for eggs and milk. Money was a medium of exchange that greatly reduced the financial "coefficient of drag." Arguably, much that has happened in the financial world over the last 200 years can be seen as a continuation of the revolution in efficiency begun by money. Credit, for example, meant that you could go shopping for eggs and milk without even having the money. The farmer could promise to pay it at a later date, after the potato harvest. Nor did the farmer need to save up the surplus from many years of bumper crops before expanding the amount of land under cultivation. It was possible to get the land now, with credit, and pay for it over time, in part with the proceeds from newly cultivated acres. Much more recently, financial markets have been all about efficiency. This is one way to understand the oft-cited distinction between the "real economy" and the "financial economy." Like point masses moving in frictionless, Newtonian vacuums, financial transactions are so far removed from the material entities that underlie them that transactions can occur with lightening speed, with nothing to slow them down. The creation of stock option markets means that you don't have to go to the trouble of actually buying a stock that you are going to be selling soon anyway. You can just promise to buy it and then sell it at a price and date specified by the option contract. And then you can trade the option rather than the underlying stock. And bundling mortgages into securities reduces the time-consuming, unproductive friction involved in checking the credit-worthiness of each mortgage applicant. You can just let the mortgages of the many work to indemnify the occasional defaults of the few. Similarly, credit card interest rates of 20% or more eliminate the need for credit-card companies to spend time unproductively checking the credit of applicants. High interest rates more than cover the occasional deadbeat. Home equity lines of credit mean that homeowners can borrow a big pile of money (or have the potential to borrow a big pile of money), and have it at the ready, even when there is no pressing need. Instead of having to go through red tape to get a loan when your kitchen pipes burst, or your car engine dies, you can just write a check. And A.T.M.'s mean not having to fill out withdrawal forms and stand in bank lines. Each of these developments has made it easier to do ones business without wasted time and energy -- without friction. Each has made economic transactions quicker and more efficient. And that's obviously good. But the current financial crisis suggests that maybe, there can be too much of a good thing. If loans weren't securitized, bankers might have taken the time to assess the credit-worthiness of each applicant. If homeowners had to apply for loans to improve their houses or buy new cars, instead of writing checks against home equity, they might have thought harder before making weighty financial commitments. If people actually had to go into a bank and stand in line to withdraw cash, they might spend a little less and save a little more. If credit card companies weren't allowed to charge outrageous interest, perhaps not everyone with a pulse would be offered credit cards. And if people had to pay with cash, rather than plastic, they might keep their hands in their pockets just a little bit longer. These are all cases in which a little friction to slow us down would have enabled both institutions and individuals to make better decisions. And in the case of individuals, there is the added bonus that using cash more and credit less would have made it apparent sooner just how much the "booming 90's" had left the middle class behind. Credit hid the ever-shrinking purchasing power of the middle class from view. So perhaps now the time is right to stop worshipping the god of efficiency and bring a little friction back into our lives. One way to do this is to reintroduce transactions that are real transactions -- person-to-person and face-to-face. A second is to rekindle certain social norms that serve to slow us down. For example, no one goes bankrupt on purpose, but if bankruptcy became a little more of a disgrace and embarrassment and a little less of a financial strategy, people and firms might do more to forestall it. And if people thought about their homes less as investments and more as places to live, full of the friction of kids, dogs, friends, neighbors, and community organizations attached, there might be less speculation with an eye toward house flipping. My appeal to inefficiency may seem like a bit of quaint nostalgia -- a longing for George Baileys -- bankers who know us and care about us -- to come back into our lives and slow things down. It may seem far too modest a suggestion to right the financial ship. But it isn't modest at all. Consider this: every macroeconomic model I know about is predicated on the need for economic growth. There are only two ways for economies to grow: they can produce more output, or they can produce the same output with less input. Our ecological train wreck suggests that we can't just continue producing more output indefinitely; the planet won't sustain it. So that leaves us with reducing input, which is just a jargon-ish way of describing efficiency. But if the drive to ever-greater efficiency leads to financial wipe-outs like the one we're now experiencing, maybe the limitless pursuit of efficiency is a false god. If so, we need to start developing models of our economic future that do not depend on unending growth. Either that, or we need to start distinguishing the good kind of efficiency from the bad kind. We'd all like a car that gets 100 miles to a gallon. The forces of friction and air resistance that slow us down are an expensive annoyance. But the thing is, when we're driving a car, we know where we're going and we're in control. Fast is good, though even here, a little bit of friction can forestall disaster when you encounter an icy road. Life is not as predictable as driving. We don't always know where we're going. We're not always in control. Black ice is everywhere. A little something to slow us down in the uncertain world we inhabit may be a life saver.
 
Possible Therapy Takes A Bite Out Of Peanut Allergy Top
WASHINGTON — A handful of children once severely allergic to peanuts now can munch them without worry. Scientists retrained their bodies to tolerate peanuts by feeding them tiny amounts of the very food that endangered them. Don't try this on your own. Doctors monitored youngsters closely in case they needed rescue, and there's no way to dice a peanut as small as the treatment doses required. But it's the first evidence that life-threatening peanut allergies one day may be cured. Immune system tests show no sign of remaining allergy in five children, and others can withstand amounts that once would have left them wheezing or worse, researchers reported Sunday. Are the five cured? Doctors at Duke University Medical Center and Arkansas Children's Hospital must track them years longer to be sure. "We're optimistic that they have lost their peanut allergy," said lead researcher Dr. Wesley Burks, Duke's allergy chief. "We've not seen this before medically. We'll have to see what happens to them." More rigorous research is under way to confirm the pilot study, released at a meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. If it pans out, the approach could mark a major advance for an allergy that afflicts 1.8 million Americans. For parents of these little allergy pioneers, that means no more fear that something as simple as sharing a friend's cookie at school could mean a race to the emergency room. "It's such a burden lifted off your shoulder to realize you don't have to worry about your child eating a peanut and ending up really sick," said Rhonda Cassada of Hillsborough, N.C., whose 7-year-old son Ryan has been labeled allergy-free for two years and counting. It's a big change for a child who couldn't tolerate one-sixth of a peanut when he entered the study at age 2 1/2. By age 5, Ryan could eat a whopping 15 at a time with no sign of a reaction. Not that Ryan grew to like peanuts. "They smell bad," he said matter-of-factly. Millions of Americans have food allergies. Peanut allergy is considered the most dangerous, with life-threatening reactions possible from trace amounts. It accounts for most of the 30,000 emergency-room visits and up to 200 deaths attributed to food allergies each year. Although some children outgrow peanut allergy, that's rare among the severely affected. There's no way to avoid a reaction other than avoiding peanuts. Those allergy shots that help people allergic to pollen and other environmental triggers reduce or eliminate symptoms _ by getting used to small amounts of the allergen _ are too risky for food allergies. Enter oral immunotherapy. Twenty-nine severely allergic children spent a day in the hospital swallowing minuscule but slowly increasing doses of a specially prepared peanut flour, until they had a reaction. The child went home with a daily dose just under that reactive amount, usually equivalent to 1/1,000th of a peanut. After eight to 10 months of gradual dose increases, most can eat the peanut-flour equivalent of 15 peanuts daily, said Burks, who two years ago began reporting these signs of desensitization as long as children took their daily medicine. Sunday's report takes the next big step. Nine children who'd taken daily therapy for 2 1/2 years were given a series of peanut challenges. Four in the initial study _ and a fifth who finished testing last week _ could stop treatment and avoid peanuts for an entire month and still have no reaction the next time they ate 15 whole peanuts. Immune-system changes suggest they're truly allergy-free, Burks said. Scientists call that tolerance _ meaning their immune systems didn't forget and go bad again _ and it's a first for food allergy treatment, said Dr. Marshall Plaut of the National Institutes of Health. "Anything that would enable kids to eat peanuts would be a major advance," Plaut said, cautioning that more study is needed. But "this paper, if it's correct, takes it to the next level. ... That is potentially very exciting." Arkansas Children's Hospital has begun randomly assigning youngsters to eat either peanut flour or a dummy flour. The study is still under way but after the first year, the treated group ate the equivalent of 15 peanuts with no symptoms while the placebo group suffered symptoms to the equivalent of a single peanut, Burks said. The treatment remains experimental, Burks stresses, although he hopes it will be ready for prime time in a few years. And he isn't taking chances with the first five allergy-free kids. They're under orders to eat the equivalent of a tablespoon of peanut butter a day to keep their bodies used to the allergen. Ryan Cassada says his mom sometimes "hides them in things so she can force me to eat it." Peanut butter cookies are OK, he says, just not straight peanut butter. The battle is a small price, his mother said: "As much as I can get into him is fine with me. It's huge knowing he won't have a reaction."
 
NCAA Tournament Odds Rundown Top
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Discovery nears space station as debris nears, too Top
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Seven astronauts raced to the international space station aboard space shuttle Discovery on Monday, while NASA debated whether the orbiting outpost will need to move aside to dodge a piece of space junk. Space station astronauts had a close call last week with a small piece of orbiting junk that passed nearby, and NASA said Monday that a piece of a Russian satellite could come within about half a mile of the station early Tuesday. NASA will decide later Monday whether to fire the space station's engines to nudge the complex out of the path of the debris. The three space station residents had to move into their emergency getaway capsule last week for about 10 minutes because another piece of space junk came too close for comfort. A NASA spokesman said if the space station has to move, the shuttle will have to adjust its course slightly to be in position for docking on Tuesday. The shuttle launch Sunday followed five delays that caused Discovery's mission to be shortened by a day and canceled a planned spacewalk. After a "first, quick look," Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations, said no apparent debris came off the external fuel tank during the launch. Debris has been a concern for NASA since a piece flew off the fuel tank and caused a breach in the wing of Columbia in 2003, dooming the shuttle and its seven crew members. As insurance, Discovery's crew planned to spend a good part of Monday examining the shuttle's thermal protection system with cameras and sensors attached to a boom which is hooked to the shuttle's robotic arm. Mission managers said Sunday that despite shortening Discovery's stay by a day, they would still be able to complete most of the tasks planned. The canceled spacewalk chores will be tackled by the space station crew after Discovery leaves. "It's not a major setback to us," said Gerstenmaier. "We're able to accomplish everything we want." That includes dropping off the space station's newest crew member: Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is replacing U.S. astronaut Sandra Magnus. From Tokyo, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said he was relieved by the successful launch after the delays. Other tasks during the 13-day mission include installing the station's last pair of solar wings so the orbiting outpost can operate at full power. The crew will also deliver a replacement for a broken machine that turns urine into drinking water. NASA managers faced a tight schedule to get Discovery off the ground because of a Russian Soyuz rocket launch March 26. Discovery needs to be gone from the space station by the time the Russian spacecraft flies. The Soyuz will carry up a fresh crew for the space station. NASA had until Tuesday to get Discovery flying or else the launch would have been bumped to April. Problems with hydrogen valves kept the shuttle grounded for weeks in February and then a hydrogen leak during fueling prevented launch Wednesday. The valves worked as they should have and there were no leaks during fueling Sunday. Discovery's crew also included pilot Tony Antonelli and astronauts Joseph Acaba, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and John Philips. Acaba and Arnold are former teachers. ___ Associated Press Writer Mike Schneider contributed to this report. ___ On the Net: NASA: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov
 
Yvonne R. Davis: Chris Brown And Now Bee Bee Winans! Black America Where Is the Outrage? Top
Oh my! Another black man accused of smacking down another black woman. This time however, it is Bee Bee Winans. The Grammy Award winning Gospel Crooner in a mouth spat with his ex-wife is alleged to have pushed her to the ground. Bee Bee's altercation with his ex-wife is a reminder of Reverend televangelist Bishop Dr. Juanita Bynum who, in 2007 came close to meeting her death after suffering a near fatal attack at the hands of her estranged husband. So now we have Chris Brown, Bee Winans and of course behind the scenes hosts of other famous or not so famous brothers either beating down to the ground or beating up from the feet up black women. Black America, where is the outrage! Are you afraid to finally wash the dirty laundry that has been so publicly aired by our community to White Folks? You don't they think they know about our problems? Pulleeze! It is interesting how the NAACP and Black Leaders can jump all over the racism that continues to prevail even with the election of a Black President, but when it comes to abuse perpetrated by black men against black women, we issue no statements, have no press conferences and seem to be silent on an issue that is destructive to our community and the larger society. How come the only Black person most vocal about this issue is Oprah Winfrey? How come the majority of the other people vocal about violence against Rihanna have been white women and the organizations they represent? How come black women as have not come together as a collective to say enough-is-enough? As the collective we spoke about the racist New York Post and its stupid Monkey cartoon, but as a collective we have said nothing about abuse against black women! It is appears with President Obama and his wife Michelle in the White House, we are trying to take some sort of hiatus from a reality about a moral issue concerning the black family in America. A part of me can't blame us for wanting to enjoy the fact that the First Couple represents an important part of the African American family that really exists -- The Obamas are the Huxtables finally reified. However, the other reality is Chris Brown knocked us up side our heads when he maimed Rihanna. Still, all we can do is talk about Chris and Rhianna at home, in the barber shops, hair salons, church parking lots, school cafeterias, chicken shacks, offices and even in the clubs or bars. There is an undercurrent attitude by a number of African American men that it is okay to set a woman straight or let her know who the boss is when she gets too crazy by pushing her or jacking her up against the wall. When a black woman gets loud and in a black man's face or pushes what he perceives to be his manhood too far, some black men feel they have to let her know who the man is by slapping her, kicking her, punching her or in some cases body slamming her while he calls her bitch and like Chris Brown too threatens to kill her. Sadly, there is also an attitude by some black women that it's best not to challenge a "brotha" too much or in other cases "she must have done something" to have caused a scene for the beat down. In addition to having Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union every February, we should have the State of the Black Family and what we have to do to stop this viscous cycle of violence in our community. Additionally, when Black Leadership really and once and for all decides to come together to deal head on with our problem, let us not only review the problem from same old black perspective pathology that blames the white man, slavery or a cycle of violence black boys witness as their fathers or boyfriends beat their mothers and grow up to do the same. While these issues have played a significant role in the dilemma and must be counted towards the solution, it is certainly not all of it, and we must stop the excuses. Finally, let us stop psychologically becoming dependent upon President Obama to speak on the issues we already know about. Yes, he is black, but he has the whole country and the world the deal with right now (which includes us). His plate is overflowing. As our economy continues to struggle and the black community feels the pain perhaps more than any other demographic in this country, social ills like physical abuse increase. Therefore, the best approach African American leadership can do is to pro-actively take personal responsibility for this issue and not look to Obama take any lead on what we can do for ourselves! More on Barack Obama
 
Obama Using Campaign Email List To Fight For Budget Passage Top
President Obama will kick off an all-out grass-roots effort today urging Congress to pass his $3.55 trillion budget, activating the extensive campaign apparatus he built during his successful 2008 candidacy for the first time since taking office. More on Barack Obama
 
Media Using Dow As Obama Tracking Poll Top
As the Dow embarked on a long slide after Inauguration Day -- a nearly 2,000-point slide, to be precise -- the drumbeat seemed to grow louder. "There's no confidence in Obama's plan," said Fox's Sean Hannity. "The markets respond to data. They have no confidence." More on Obama's First 100 Days
 
Daley Let Foie Gras Ban Pass To Setup Aldermen: Claim Top
One of Daley's most powerful allies suggests that the mayor could have nipped the council's foie gras passion before it ever bloomed into a target of widespread scorn. In Tribune reporter Mark Caro's new book, "The Foie Gras Wars," Ald. Edward Burke (14th) says Daley flatly declined a chance to do that. More on Food
 
Christine Pelosi: AIG Apologists - Let's See You In Court Top
Remember those AIG commercials from 2008 where the little kids talked about how their parents invested family savings in AIG? Now those kids and their parents are called to pay bonuses to the AIG executives who ran through those family savings like ... little kids. AIG apologists claim contractual obligations for their bonuses, while the outraged public wonders why they even get paid at all. There are no bonuses on Main Street, where pay cuts and pink slips are a fact of life and American workers wind up on the short end of employment-related contractual disputes on a daily basis - so why does Wall Street have a different standard? Here's a solution: AIG should cancel the bonuses or the feds should cancel the AIG money. Make the AIG apologists who claim entitlement sue for their "contractual" bonuses - and televise those hearings so we can all know just exactly what the AIG apologists think they did to earn public bonuses - and whether those bonuses were actually promised by the federal government. It is long past time to peel back the curtain that has shrouded the AIG bailout in secrecy. AIG apologists:let's see you in court. More on Financial Crisis
 
Biden Drops F-Bomb On Live Mic (AUDIO) Top
Joe Biden dropped a big F-bomb into a live mic at an event on Friday afternoon. "Gimme a f--ing break," the vice president said after a former Senate colleague referred to him as "Mr. Vice President." Biden was at Union Station in Washington, D.C. to announce $1.3 billion in stimulus money to expand passenger rail capacity. Here's the audio:
 
Kimberly Brooks: America Still Screams: The Art of Liz Markus Top
I didn't expect to laugh as hard as I did when I watched Will Farrell's "Your Welcome, America" this Saturday night featuring himself as George Bush. It felt great. It is almost the sixth anniversary of the start of shock and awe campaign of the Iraq war this Friday. I'll always remember that because it happened on my birthday. And that day in my studio I just sat in front of a huge canvas and painted the word "war" with a blog sloppy dripping paint brush and left early. For pretty much all the artists I know, with their antennaes out there blowing in the wind , it was impossible to not let the war-- everything--all seep into our thoughts and work. It was also almost impossible for me not to write about the election and view art in terms of of politics and what was going on in the world. When Obama got elected, I felt as if my mother finally kicked the abusive stepfather out of the house and started dating a cool new guy that I actually liked. I still can't quite believe that they live together, let alone got married. Yet in spite of finally feeling freed from the last administration and the politics leading up to its ouster, I welcome any kind of therapy I can lay my eyes on. So in addition to laughing at Will Farrell's rendition of 43, I was just as relieved to discover the works of Brooklyn-based artist Liz Markus. Liz Markus, American Scream, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches, Courtesy of ZieherSmith Gallery With rapid brush strokes and streaking paint, Markus creates images that bring humor and light to sensitive and charged subjects. Her restrained use of saturated primary colors prevents these images from being too candy-hued-psychedelic, and are instead bold and resonating. She pours paint onto her canvas and lightly controls the flow of the colors, resulting in haunting images that make us think we are sure of what we are looking at...or not. We wonder, "Have I seen this portrait before?" "My G-d, is that Nancy Reagan?" Calling images stored in our subconscious to the forefront, Markus engages viewers in an interplay between memories of the past and present, fact and fiction. You can catch her upcoming solo show at ZieherSmith's New York gallery from March 19 to April 18, 2009. Liz Markus' moments of desperation and inspiration: George W. Bush and Markus' Green Hippie, 2004 Kimberly Brooks: What was the single moment that led to this body of work? Liz Markus: During the 2004 presidential election I would get up at 6am everyday and paint on paper in a very stream of conscious way while listening to Air America. As I became increasingly frustrated by the Bush administration as well as the corporate office job I still had, a hippie appeared in my work. It was an image that immediately resonated with me. It represented freedom, rebellion, down to earth values, in short everything that I wasn't seeing or experiencing around me. This moment was the beginning of a very rich vein that completely took over my studio for the next three years. I was interested in the arc of the hippie experience, from innocence and optimism through psychedelia to the Manson murders, Vietnam and drug burnout. I imagined a burnt out hippie wandering around in Mexico with his motorcycle and painted those subjects in somewhat abstracted ways. Liz Markus, Nancy 4, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches, Courtesy of ZieherSmith Gallery KB: I think I met that hippie several times over. Definitely while growing up in Marin County and attending UC Berkeley. I think he lives in a lot of us. What inspired you to paint Nancy Reagan? LM: Too young for a first hand experience of the 60's, I was 13 when Reagan took office. My knowledge of Nancy Reagan was limited to her penchant for red Bob Mackey dresses, her just say no anti-drug campaign, and the obvious power she held in the white house. My parents ingrained in me a distaste for the Reagan administration but I didn't think much more about Nancy until I came across a classic photo of her in Vanity Fair several years ago. I knew immediately that I needed to paint her, there was something about her face that was compelling to me. Initially I had hoped that she wouldn't read as Nancy but as a generic WASP-y woman of that era. Nope. Everyone always knew she was Nancy. I've painted her many times and wondered why I have this attraction to her image. Looking back at Nancy now, I still absolutely dislike her politics and think she must be very tightly wound up inside. However, I can see that she was a strong and powerful woman in a time when there weren't a lot of Hillary Clintons or Michelle Obamas around. She fascinates me.  Liz Markus, All These Things Were Way Beyond My Mind, 2007, acrylic on canvas, 54 x 72 inches, Courtesy of ZieherSmith Gallery KB: How do you create your canvases, what is your process? LM: I stain unprimed canvas with acrylic paint. They are often on the floor while I paint. I use brushes at times, but I often pour the paint on directly and tilt the canvas to control the movement and flow. The thing I really love about staining is the reliance on chance. I can control the paint to a certain extent, but as the paint is very fluid and seeps quickly into the cotton fabric, it does it's own thing, as well. So there is always a wonderful but also anxious moment during the process while I wait to see how my intentions and fate interact to make the final image.  Liz Markus, Failed Target 1, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches KB: You've talked about the Hippies and the Nancy Reagans, but what about the other subjects that appear in your work, like Noland targets, taxidermy, Johnny Rotten and oranges, for example? LM: It's hard to describe in words, but visually, it all makes sense and I think that is an important point. I paint because I am expressing things that cannot be simply explained on a verbal level, I wouldn't have to paint them if that wasn't true. That said, I think the Noland targets reflect an intense interest in the cannon of modern painting. On a different note, I associate taxidermy with the classic WASPy interior. The stuffed animals had an uncanny resemblance to the residents of the houses and began to act as surrogates for them in my paintings. Johnny Rotten and oranges, well, I just thought they would be cool to paint. KB: Is there a particular work of art that inspires you? LM: I have always been a huge fan of art history and it has played an important role in my development as an artist. I grew up in Buffalo going to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and its strong collection of Abstract Expressionist painting is what originally inspired me to be an artist. De Kooning continues to inspire me. The attraction/repulsion he has for his subject in his women series reminds me of how I feel about Nancy. To me he is the ultimate painter.  Willem de Kooning, Woman V, 1952-53, National Gallery of Australia Liz Markus is based in Brooklyn, New York. She received an MFA from Tyler School of Art and a BFA from School of Visual Arts. Her second solo show at ZieherSmith's New York gallery will take place from March 19 to April 18, 2009. Her work will also be included in **ckheads: Portraiture for the Silicon Enlightenment, curated by Angela Dufresne, SCA Contemporary, Albuquerque later this year. Her exhibition history includes a solo exhibition at Galleri Loyal, Stockholm and recent group shows at Gallerie Opdahl, Stavinger, Norway; James Graham & Sons, New York; and Werkstatte, New York among others. Her work is regularly shown at various international art fairs including NADA, Miami; Zoo, London; and MACO, Mexico City.  Artist Liz Markus -- First Person Artist is a weekly column by artist Kimberly Brooks in which she provides commentary on the creative process , technology and showcases artists ' work from around the world. Come back every Monday for more Kimberly Brooks. More on George Bush
 
Early Voting Starts For 5th Congressional District Seat Top
Early voting begins this morning for a replacement for Rahm Emanuel in the 5th Congressional District and also for a number of suburban races. More on Voting
 
White House May Get Its Own Veggie Garden Top
It's the latest front in food legend Alice Waters' promotion of eating fresh, locally grown foods. Waters told "60 Minutes ... ... " that "the symbolism of an edible landscape at the White House" would do much for her cause.
 
Jerry, Jerry! Connecticut's Gold Coast Braces for Jerry Springer Top
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Connecticut's Gold Coast, a bastion of suburban perfection including both Martha Stewart and the Stepford Wives, is about to become home to Jerry Springer's bawdy TV show, which features wife swappers, strippers and skinheads. Subject to negotiations, Springer's show will move from Chicago this summer into the new production studio at the Rich Forum Theater in Stamford, about 30 miles from New York City and next to one of the region's largest and oldest Catholic churches. The pastor says he plans to talk to church lawyers to see if they can stop the plan after hearing complaints from parishioners, including one who called the show "low-brow." "They didn't think this was the right place for it," said the Rev. Stephen DiGiovanni of St. John's Catholic Church. "I'm not very thrilled about it." Fairfield County is one of the nation's richest regions and inspired the classic film "The Stepford Wives" in which the men in a seemingly perfect town find a way to turn their spouses into beautiful, compliant housebound robots. Stewart's television show focusing on fine living was filmed for many years in nearby Westport. Springer, the former mayor of Cincinnati, shows the seedier side of life with a show known for profanity, fistfights, cheating spouses and incestuous relationships. Many of the guests are from low-income backgrounds and reinforce negative attitudes about the poor, DiGiovanni said. "Springer is making millions on other peoples' misery and stereotypes," DiGiovanni said. Telephone messages were left Thursday and Friday for Springer. The deal would also bring two other shows with similar formats. "Maury," hosted by Maury Povich, would move from New York, and "The Steve Wilkos Show," hosted by the former security director of "Springer," would move from Chicago this summer to start producing shows for next season. Connecticut officials see dollar signs amid the Wall Street meltdown that has taken a toll on Fairfield County, which borders New York and is home to many business executives. They said the new studio that will house Springer's show and two other shows will create 150 to 200 jobs and could be the start of an emerging entertainment industry in Connecticut. "It's a home run for Fairfield County," said Joseph McGee of the Business Council of Fairfield County. "This is not public radio, but who cares? Springer may upgrade his audience mix." Connecticut officials announced last month they were in final negotiations with NBC Universal to open the studio by offering a 30 percent production tax credit on annual activity and a 20 percent tax credit on infrastructure costs exceeding $1 million. The state would spend $3 million in infrastructure, Gov. M. Jodi Rell said. "We hope to close the deal soon, but I'm kind of getting a jump on the gun because we're so excited about bringing some new talent and new production to the state," she told reporters Feb. 27. "We are delighted that the film production tax credit enables us to create high-paying jobs in the state, and we're happy to be working with the governor and the mayor to stimulate the Connecticut economy and also to help save the arts center financially," NBC said. The deal will help the Stamford Center for the Arts _ which runs the Rich Forum and another theater _ pull out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy, said Michael Widland, the center's chairman. The financial stability during precarious times also will enhance the arts by allowing the center to continue to serve as a venue for ballet, symphony and other performances, he said. Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy said he has not received any complaints about Springer's show coming to his city, which ranks among the safest in the country. He denied the show would hurt the region's image. "Having the rest of GE doesn't hurt either," Malloy said, referring to NBC parent company General Electric, headquartered in nearby Fairfield. Stamford has long been home to World Wrestling Entertainment, whose televised wrestling shows have sparked controversy over the years. While Fairfield County is renowned for its wealth and cachet, local officials note that the region is more economically diverse than its image. The Jerry Springer show could shatter the Fairfield stereotype, said Frank Trotta, a lawyer who lives in Greenwich. "If anything, it will bring the perception of Fairfield County more in reality," Trotta said. But he compared the show's new setting to a blizzard in Bermuda. "One is nasty, cold and bitter," Trotta said. "The other is bright, clean and warm. I'm not sure it's a good fit." But after a wave of corruption in Connecticut, some officials don't see much harm with Jerry Springer's arrival. "Some of the politics in our state is as entertaining as anything Springer puts on," said Michael Freimuth, Stamford's economic development director.
 
Zardari's Weakness Exposed By Pakistan Riots Top
Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary's return as chief justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court, two years after his dismissal by Pervez Musharraf, the then military ruler, will be seen as a triumph by the opposition lawyers and activists involved in protests on his behalf. More on Pakistan
 
Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks: The Big Leap Top
While Kathlyn heads off to Honolulu to teach one of our 3-Day conscious loving seminars, I'm happily engaged in the run-up to the publication on April 21 of my new book, The Big Leap. It's all about what we've named the Upper Limit Problem. Between now and when the book comes out, I'd like to share with you some of the key points from it. I'll be out on the talk show circuit in April and May, and could really use your help in giving me some fresh examples of your experiences with the Upper Limit Problem (what our students affectionately call the ULP) to use on various shows. Please share them in the Comments section below. What Is The Upper Limit Problem? The ULP is the human tendency to put the brakes on our positive energy when we've exceeded our unconscious thermostat setting for how good we can feel, how successful we can be, and how much love we can feel. The essential move we all need to master is learning to handle more positive energy, success and love. Instead of focusing on the past, we need to increase our tolerance for things going well in our lives right now. If we don't learn how to do this, we suffer in every area of our lives. As we bump into our Upper Limit Problems, relationships suffer greatly. In fact, the greater success you achieve, the bumpier your relationship tends to be. Some years ago John Cuber and Peggy Harroff did one of the few in-depth studies ever done on the relationships of successful people. From studying the relationships of 437 successful people, the authors found that 80% of the people they studied had unsatisfying marriages and long-term relationships. Only about 20% of the couples had relationships the authors called "Vital." The other 80% had three main styles of unsatisfying relationships: 1. Devitalized. In these relationships, the partners remained together in spite of having fallen out of love with each other years ago. They had been "going through the motions," sometimes for decades. The relationships often looked okay from the outside, but there was little or no passion between the individuals. 2. Passive-Congenial. In these relationships, the partners had never been passionate about each other in the first place. Their relationship was based more on affectionate friendship, much like business partners. Their expectations were low, so they were seldom disappointed with each other. Because of the low expectations, they didn't fight much and so remained together in a state of ho-hum harmony. 3. Conflict-Habituated. In these relationships, the partners had created a lifestyle based around constant conflict. Whether engaged in low-level bickering or heated conflict, they remained together as long-term combatants, interspersed with periods of truce. They seemed almost to thrive on conflict, which provided them with an adrenalin-infused state of ongoing arousal. I felt a wave of despair when I first saw these findings. If these highly successful people had such dismal relationships, was there any hope for the rest of us? It's been twenty years since I first saw this study, and with those years has come considerable experience working with people and their relationships. I don't think the overall statistics are any different now than when Cuber and Harroff first published their work. In other words, I think the majority of successful people still have dismal relationships. Now, though, I know a lot more about how they got that way. More importantly, I know a lot more about how they can avoid falling into the traps that many successful people get stuck in. I'll give you more details on how to deal with the Upper Limit Problem in my next post. More on Marriage
 
Sudan To Kick Out All Darfur Foreign Aid Groups In One Year Top
Sudan will no longer need any international NGOs in war-ravaged Darfur in a year's time, President Omar al-Bashir said on Monday amid rising tensions with the international community. More on Darfur
 
Marian Wright Edelman: The Girl Next Door May Now Be on the Corner Top
We rarely see headlines that read: "Prostitute Arrested for Soliciting" because such law enforcement incidents are so commonplace. But behind the thousands of stories about prostitution that don't make their way into the newspapers is the brutal nightmare of child trafficking in America today. One such story is of a 13-year-old girl who ran away to New York City to escape sexual abuse at home. Without friends or money, she met a man who said he could introduce her to someone who would employ her to dance at parties. But the offer turned out to be an entry-level job as a prostitute, and her new "employer" sold her at a rate of $40 for oral sex and $80 for intercourse. Over a period of three weeks, her pimp arranged a series of "parties" where she had sex with more than 20 men. The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a widespread multibillion dollar criminal industry in which as many as 300,000 children are peddled on our streets, according to U.S. Justice Department-funded studies. Most of them are made to live lives filled with violence, forced drug use and constant threats. They need rescue and support. Yet, while in many states the legal age of consent for sex is 17, there is no minimum age limit for prosecuting a child for prostitution. The costs of commercial sexual exploitation of children are great. In addition to the horribly damaged lives of these child victims, taxpayers must pay millions of dollars for prosecuting and detaining them through the juvenile justice system. Many of the girls and boys initiated into the terrifying world of prostitution are between the ages of 11 and 14--some as young as nine. The great shame is that so many of them have been thrown away--abandoned by families that will never report them as missing, so no one is looking to rescue them or offer aid. Among the million and a half children who run away from home each year, traffickers ensnare tens of thousands of them into the sex trade through rape, drug addition, coercion, deception, brute force and abduction. They are transported far from their homes to isolate them from family and friends. In late October 2008, federal law enforcement agents broke up more than a dozen child prostitution and sex trafficking rings operating in several cities involving girls and boys from ages 13 to 17. These youths are sold like cartons of cigarettes and six packs of beer in urban working-class neighborhoods, as well as suburban and rural communities, and purchased online though an Internet sexual slave market. It is an appalling scandal that our society too often treats these abused and damaged children as criminals instead of victims and condemns them to the pipeline to prison. In the eyes of most state and municipal governments and law enforcement agencies, prostituted children are routinely arrested and locked up and not provided help. So, if a man in his 30s has sex with a 14-year-old (below the age of consent in most states), he could be convicted and sent to prison for the crime of statutory rape. But if the 14-year-old is a "prostitute," she is arrested and faces criminal charges. Virtually all states prosecute children that age for prostitution--even though they are too young to consent to have sex with adults. In 2002, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention held a Child Prostitution Summit to raise awareness about the commercial sexual exploitation of children and develop a consensus for action. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children launched the Internet Crime Against Children program to go after child predators on the Internet. And the Department of Justice has advanced other initiatives focused on sexually exploited children. But more must be done. A few states are moving toward providing sexually exploited children a way out. After four years of concerted advocacy, youth survivors of sexual exploitation working together with child advocates and service providers won passage of New York's Safe Harbor for Exploited Children Act . This groundbreaking law requires that a young person arrested for the first time for prostitution who is under 16 years of age be treated as a "person in need of supervision," and not a delinquent. Instead of directing them to the juvenile justice system, they would receive crisis intervention and medical services including counseling and protection from pimps in a safe house. They also would have access to long-term housing operated by nonprofit agencies with the mission of helping sexually exploited children. Family support services can also help by working to prevent abuse and neglect and other crises that confront children and teens. If a child is being raised in a safe, healthy family environment, she or he is far less likely to run away from home. It is vital that we all become more aware of this nightmare of sexual slavery because some of these children could be from your street, your block, even next door. Marian Wright Edelman, whose latest book is The Sea Is So Wide And My Boat Is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation , is president of the Children's Defense Fund. For more information about the Children's Defense Fund, go to www.childrensdefense.org.
 
Iraqi Soccer Player Killed By Fan During Game-Tying Shot Top
BAGHDAD — Police say an Iraqi soccer player has been shot dead just as he was about to kick what could have been the tying goal in a weekend game south of Baghdad. Police Maj. Muthanna Khalid says a striker from the Buhairat amateur team was facing only the goalie during a Sunday match in Hillah when a supporter of the rival Sinjar club shot him in the head in the final minute of play. Sinjar was leading 1-0 when the shooting occurred. Khalid said a spectator was arrested. More Iraqis are turning out for sports events now that security is improving. Major matches in Baghdad are heavily guarded but security in amateur games in smaller cities is often lax. More on Iraq
 
Joseph A. Palermo: Blue Dog Democrats and Republican Triangulation Top
Senator John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, has served up a devastating critique of the direction the Republican Party has taken recently. "If figureheads like Ann Coulter are turning me off," Ms. McCain writes, "then they are definitely turning off other members of my generation as well." She understands that when the GOP's dominant personalities are a bleach-blonde banshee, a loud-mouthed shock jock, a "plumber" who writes "books," and a "hipster" chairman who can't get the party line straight, most people, regardless of political affiliation, can see that the "Party of Lincoln" has devolved into the "Party of Limbaugh." But be forewarned, the rot from within the Republican Party doesn't mean Republicans can't still win elections. They know how to drive up the "negatives" of their opponents. In a rare display of candor, North Carolina Representative Patrick McHenry said: "Our goal is to bring down the approval numbers for [Speaker] Pelosi and for House Democrats. That will take repetition. This is a marathon, not a sprint." He boasted about the GOP's "strategy" going forward: "We will lose on legislation. But we will win the message war every day, and every week, until November 2010." This Republican "communications" operation is already in full swing with the corporate media playing the usual enabler role. Even though we're facing what Alan Greenspan called a "once in a century" economic cataclysm, the public airwaves are still filled with the familiar Republican boilerplate: cut taxes, cut spending, deregulate, let the market work its magic, and so on. And for some bizarre reason Blue Dog Democrats have chosen to ape these discredited Republican doctrines. These elite-serving ideas permeating the political discourse are dangerous. Remember, we're still dealing with an electorate that elected Richard Nixon twice, Ronald Reagan twice, George H.W. Bush once, gave the House of Representatives to Newt Gingrich, and then re-elected George W. Bush. The Blue Dogs provide an opening for the Republicans to "triangulate" against the progressives inside the Democratic Party. They're calling for "belt tightening" at a time of severe under-consumption and high employment. Republican leaders in the Senate will try to use the Evan Bayhs and Blanche Lincolns of the Blue Dog faction as a wedge to defeat vital parts of President Barack Obama's legislative agenda. One thing the current economic crisis has taught almost everybody is just how little control we have over our lives. The three-decade era of largely unfettered capitalism tore apart communities, outsourced jobs, forced us to work harder for less, and pile up debt just to stay in place. And how about those crooks over at A.I.G.? After a taxpayer bailout of $170 billion they continue to dole out hundreds of millions in "bonuses" to the same people who brought down the whole company through their mismanagement of the "financial products division." Wow! Whatever capitalism's merits, "conservatism" is clearly not one of them, (unless you see credit-default swaps as expressions of Norman Rockwell's America). Ironically, now that the social dislocations have multiplied a hundredfold, the Republicans might be able to benefit politically by exploiting the pervasive fear and uncertainty caused by their own laissez-faire policies. (About this prospect, somewhere, some place, William Kristol and Grover Norquist are saying: "Sweeeet.") We need to reverse decades of the maldistribution of wealth and usher in a more just era for working people through passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). We need a new international economic order that brings in China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the other countries awash in dollars after decades of "free trade" policies that hollowed out American manufacturing while creating astonishing trade imbalances and current accounts deficits. We need a new set of rules imposed on corporations that gives investors not only the "transparency" we hear so much about, but a real share in corporate governance, including determining the amount of compensation CEOs and other executives extort from institutions they've been hired to serve yet in recent years have only looted. Finally, progressive Democrats must continue to press the Obama Administration to end the costly occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. The Blue Dog Democrats voted for Bush's wars knowing they would balloon the deficit. Now they're deficit hawks. We can't afford the open-ended occupations of these countries. The bottom line is this: the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan have the right to rule themselves -- even badly -- and the United States should step aside and give them the chance to do so. Republican congressional leaders have been wasting time on stem cells and "earmarks" when we face an economic crisis the likes of which we haven't seen before. It's still uncertain whether the United States and its institutions have the capacity or the political will to pull the country out of this morass. And with Blue Doggery rearing its ugly head President Obama could end up losing some crucial battles with the Congress. We must not allow the Blue Dogs to slow down President Obama's momentum or water down the sweeping reforms the nation needs in these trying economic times. More on Alan Greenspan
 
Therese Borchard: 12 Ways To Pray During Lent Top
This blog post has been also featured as a Beliefnet gallery. To get there click here. Lent, the 40 days preceding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, is supposed to be a time of fasting, where we chocoholics take an "s" of out the word "dessert," and are left with "desert." I heard somewhere that Jesus wandered around in the desert for 40 days (and Moses for 40 years) because he is like every other man-he refused to ask for directions. Actually, the opposite is true. This liturgical season is all about asking for directions-going into the dryness so that we can show up transformed at the spring of new life. I pray many different ways during this time of preparation, and most of them are quite fun. For me Lent isn't about being somber or morose. I have enough of that in my life. It's about using everything in my life to better connect me with God. Here are some of my paths into the desert of Lent. 1. Fold Your Hands Some ways you can tell someone is lying: his arm and leg movement will be limited, stiff, and towards his own body; she avoids eye contact; he will touch his face, throat, and mouth a lot. I learned at a young age the power of body language. I was a clumsy girl, so my mom enrolled me in ballet classes, which I took for 14 years. My instructors pulled back my shoulders every two minutes-so that I would project the confidence that I didn't feel. "Let your body lead," they said. "And your mind will follow." That is why I always fold my hands when I pray. I want my body to tell God that I'm talking to Him, even if my mind is off wandering elsewhere. 2. Say Thank You Gratitude, they say, is the highest form of prayer. It's also the most difficult when I'm in a depressive cycle or feel a panic attack coming on. During Lent, I try to pay special attention to all the small, wonderful things around me: that my kids aren't using diapers anymore, that they don't have disabilities, that my husband works around the corner and can come home for lunch. My mom and dad told my sisters and me that when someone gives you a gift-no matter how small-you ALWAYS write a thank-you letter. It's the polite thing to do. So, as I try to teach my kids the same lesson, I remind myself to say thank you to God, as well. That's just plain good manners. 3. Light a Candle Even though there is no "Lenten wreath" like an Advent wreath, I light candles in the same manner during Lent as I do in the days preceding Christmas. For some reason, I feel like God hears me better if I stick my face near a hot, glowing body of flame. The scarlet blaze generates a feeling of hope, of fierce tenacity, that whispers: "Hang in there." 4. Sing the Verses I've been known to belt out the lyrics of "Be Not Afraid," and "On Eagles' Wings" in the shower. And I do admit, I get chills every time I sing the "Our Father" or "Amazing Grace." In the church bulletin recently, I read that "singing is praying twice." So if I sing a refrain three times, that's like saying six prayers, right? Right? 5. Use Prayer Beads You don't have to be Catholic or even Christian to handle prayer beads. In fact, Christians were probably the last to use them, after Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims. I postulate that counting prayers was implemented out of practical necessity by all the major world religions to assist persons such as myself with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. For me, it's simply an easy way I can keep track of my prayers, because when I say a rosary without one-like when I run-I always lose count (wait, this is my fifth decade, no, fourth, oh man, I don't remember). The rosary for me is also like Prayer for Dummies. I don't have to compose any original prose to say it. And the prayers are there in my memory from second grade. On the good days, I remember to think holy thoughts (or at least consider the life of Jesus and Mary once) during the devotion. But most of the time the mouth is automatically moving with the beads, without tons of energy or effort. And that's actually a wonderful feeling. 6. Yell Like Hell I know this is controversial, but I condone yelling profanities at God if it helps release your anger and frustration at an imperfect world. Catholic author Ronald Rolheiser is with me on this (sort of). He writes in Forgotten Among the Lilies that wrestling with God is a form of prayer: "The refusal to accept the harshness of God's ways in the name of his love is an authentic form of prayer. Indeed the prophets and saints were not always in the habit of simply saying, 'Thy will be done.' They often fought, challenged, squirmed and begged as a way of saying 'Thy will be changed!'" Jerry explained to George once on "Seinfeld" that the make-up sex you get after a fight with your girlfriend is reason alone for the argument. I'm not sure I'd go that far-as I hate all confrontation-but, yes, those conversations with God after I've yelled at him for something, are especially intimate. The squabbles mean we're in a real, organic relationship. 7. Stare at Something Holy In college I took a religion course called "Exploring Beauty," mostly because I thought I could get an easy A. In the class, Professor Keith J. Egan, a prominent Carmelite scholar (and friend to this day) taught us the importance of art to spirituality, what it meant to "take a long, loving look at the real." The late theologian Henri Nouwen explained his love of icons this way: "Gazing is probably the best word to touch the core of Eastern spirituality. Whereas St. Benedict, who has set the tone for spirituality of the West, calls us first of all to listen, the Byzantine fathers focus on gazing. . . . An icon is like a window looking out upon eternity. Behind its two dimensional surface lies the garden of God, which is beyond dimension or size." 8. Repeat One Word As a person with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, I LOVE mantras! During several months when I felt suicidal, I repeated four words: "Jesus, be with me." And that mantra was enough, at times, to beat back my fear and sadness. I didn't have a clue as to if God heard me, but by repeating the words over and over and over again, they became part of me-which meant that death became less and less of an option. 9. Laugh Is laughing allowed in Lent, in the desert? You bet! In Proverbs 17:22, it is written "A merry heart is a good medicine: but a broken spirit drieth up the bones." I believe that God wants us to laugh because laughter heals in ways traditional and alternative medicine can't. According to a recent article I just read, a growing body of evidence suggests depression and stress makes people more prone to illness, and more likely to experience suffering. In one study, researchers asked 20 healthy men and women to watch clips of two movies-the violent battle scenes in "Saving Private Ryan" or a humorous scene from a comedy, like "Kingpin." Blood flow was significantly reduced in 14 of the 20 people who saw "Saving Private Ryan," while blood flow increased in 19 of the 20 people watching the comedy. If laughter can do that to our blood flow, think of what it can do for our spirits! 10. Eat and Drink This one might get me in trouble with the bishops, but eating and drinking is what the Eucharist is all about: gathering together with friends and families to eat bread, dark chocolate, pepperoni pizza, spaghetti with meatballs, dark chocolate (yes, that was intentional) and to drink wine, sparkling apple cider, orange juice, and milk. When we do this during Lent, we celebrate Jesus and each other just like he did at the Last Supper. I especially like this form of prayer since eating and drinking come so naturally to me. So then, gaining weight is actually an exercise in holiness. 11. Talk to the Saints Yes, as a typical Catholic I'm crazy about the saints. Why wouldn't I be? They have every neurosis and insecurity covered! St. Joseph takes care of those prone to panic attacks while traveling. For twitching, Bartholomew the Apostle is your dude. Those roaming the house in their sleep can call on Dymphna. The venerable Matt Talbot is patron saint to those struggling with alcoholism and drug addiction. And, of course, St. Jude covers the hopeless causes. Personally, I pray a novena to Saint Therese every day--during Lent and every other liturgical season. Maybe it's because I was named after her, but this saint's "little ways" to God are much more appealing than the heady theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas. In reading words by Therese, I'm comforted because she experienced the same annoyances and distractions that I do. And she's a saint! I also have a special devotion to Mary. Now that I'm a mom, I can appreciate how much she must have suffered watching her Son be crucified. I also know if I beg her to deliver a message to her boy, she'll be sure it gets there. She's a mom. She's responsible. 12. Give Something Up I return to the desert with this last one. Why is fasting important? Why must we give up something we enjoy to be enlightened? I don't know. But I do think the lines of communication between God and me are better on the days I've abstained from a desired object. I noticed that after I gave up drinking in high school. I like the clarity of thinking I get by being sober 24/7. It's a small way of saying to God every day, "I really, REALLY need you." My mom feels that way too. I can always tell when someone in my family is in trouble. She starts fasting. "Mom, are you worried about me?" I'll ask. "Who's pregnant? Come on, I won't say anything." She told me she fasts because she gets better results. It's like going from a one-bar connection on a cell phone to five bars. "Can you hear me now?" "I most certainly can." *** Originally published on Beyond Blue at Beliefnet.com . To read more of Therese, visit her blog, Beyond Blue at Beliefnet.com , or subscribe here . You may also find her at www.thereseborchard.com . More on The Inner Life
 
Mauricio Funes Wins El Salvador Election In A First For Leftist Ex-Rebels Top
MIAMI, March 16 -- Mauricio Funes, a former TV newsman who was recruited to run for president, declared himself the winner of El Salvador's presidential contest Sunday night, bringing into power a leftist party built by former guerrillas and ending two decades of conservative rule. More on Latin America
 
Politico, AP Push False GOP Talking Point On Tax Cuts Top
The Politico and the AP forwarded the false Republican talking point that President Obama's proposals to let the Bush tax cuts for wealthy taxpayers expire and reduce the tax rate at which wealthy taxpayers could take itemized deductions would increase taxes on a large percentage of small businesses.
 
Norm Coleman Floated As RNC Chairman Despite Ethics Troubles Top
Politico's Mike Allen, in his daily Playbook , floats an interesting albeit somewhat implausible scenario with deep ramifications for the Republican Party. If embattled RNC chairman Michael Steele fails to raise a respectable amount of funds and continues to trip all over himself with rhetorical gaffes, a certain soon-to-be-former Senator is waiting in the wings to take over the post. "WORD ON THE STREET: The next RNC chairman will be Norm Coleman, after he loses his recount fight and big donors see Michael Steele's March numbers." Coleman does, in fact, seem poised to be officially out of the job soon (not counting his consulting gig for the Republican Jewish Coalition). The Minnesota Republican closed his case challenging the results of the Senate recount last week, but can appeal to state or federal court. He was, until a few months ago, set to head the National Republican Senatorial Committee, but had to drop that title to focus on his own election. At a very basic level, he's regarded as a well-seasoned fundraiser with conservative bonafides. But there is one problem: Coleman is currently under FBI investigation . Indeed, word leaked only a few months ago that the FBI was looking into allegations that the former Senator's family received $75,000 in secret payments from longtime friend and benefactor. Those payments went unreported on Coleman's financial disclosure form, leading some congressional ethicist to draw parallels to the corruption case that ultimately felled former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens. Whether or not the RNC is willing to take Coleman in light of the ethical cloud hanging over his head would be a testament to just how poorly received Michael Steele has been. Though, to be fair, Republican operatives say Steele's job is secure, provided he raises a solid amount of money. That said, at least one Democrat is giddy about the Allen float, writing to the Huffington Post: "given all the facts is that really who the Republicans want as their champion right now." More on Michael Steele
 
New Yorker Summit To Replace Innovation Conference Top
Out with the conference, in with the summit. The New Yorker has jettisoned its two-year-old, two-day Innovation Conference, held at a symbol of more flush times -- the Frank Gehry-designed InterActiveCorp. building -- with an equally exuberant price tag of $1,200. Instead, the magazine will host a $350, one-day summit on President Obama's first 100 days, with New Yorker writers interviewing the likes of Howard Dean, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, special envoy Richard Holbrooke, former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, author Naomi Klein, and economist Jeffrey Sachs. "These are different and unusual times we're in, and I wanted the magazine to respond directly," said director of special events Rhonda Sherman, adding, "It's not going to be about glamour. It's about information and what we need now to deal with the times we're in."
 
Vicky Ward: Is There a War on the Rich? Top
These days it's not just financial journalists who follow the movements of financiers. So, too, do the entertainment channels and press. Who could have predicted the day would come when OK! magazine would care what mode of transport Ken Lewis, Bank of America's chief, uses? But according to the New York Times, these topics are now considered as interesting to readers as Britney Spears's weight fluctuations. In other words, the war on the rich is spreading fast. Inevitably the rich (who are still rich, even if their bank statements are a bit depleted) are not amused by this. One billionaire tells me he feels we are living in times where the spirit is akin to the French Revolution. In other words journalists are taking aim indiscriminately, like Robespierre's out-of-control mob. The analogy is ludicrously far-fetched: as far as I am aware, no Wall Street chief executive or other rich person has been guillotined. Yet it is true that people with money are being scrutinized in a way they never used to be. Thus some of the Noel family, whose fund Fairfield Greenwich was the biggest feeder into Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, have finally got the message that it's not seemly for them to be seen rocking out on the dance floor, given that so many of the firm's investors lost up to $7 billion. What is more astonishing is how long it has taken for the new "tone" to sink in. The truth is that many "society" people are still in denial. They want to pretend that nothing has changed. I recently received an email from someone on the Westchester Land Trust committee. The committee had discovered that the hosts for its annual gala, Paul and Robin Greenwood, would now be unable to offer their home as a party venue, owing to "recent developments", and could someone else please step in? The letter did not spell out the "recent developments" - the fact that Greenwood has been arrested and charged with siphoning $500 million from his money-management business for personal use. Spelling this out would obviously have been considered inelegant - but then so too is making off with someone else's money. Eventually so-called polite society will have to choose whether to see things and people for what they really are. This article was originally published by the London Evening Standard More on Bernard Madoff
 
Rachel Thebault: Having It All Top
Earlier this week, I was surfing through my Facebook friends' status updates, and I noticed a former classmate had spoken at our high school's career day. She mentioned that it had quickly spiraled into an intense debate as to whether or not one can "have it all." By way of background, I went to a stereotypical, ultra-competitive, over-achieving private all-girls school in Washington, D.C. At the age of nine, we were taught that we can and should be anything we want to be. Because it was an all-girls school, it was all girls who were the star athletes, valedictorians, student government leaders, yearbook and newspaper editors. We had an annual "Women in Power" day. In short, we were taught that with the right combination of hard work, social responsibility and, of course, good grades, there was no reason we couldn't have it all. No one ever told us that we were chasing an impossible dream. Having it all is an illusion. Life is all about making choices--sacrifices--leaving roads untaken, and anyone who says you "have it all" demeans the sacrifices you've made in life. At least, that's what I believed until I heard about the cynical comments from my friend's career day panel-mates. There was the 50-something alumna who started her own business and got married in the 80's. She worked so hard she never had kids and later got divorced (all her friends are divorced). Now she is happy to have a 24-year old live-in male caretaker (who has dinner prepared for her when she returns from work!) and lives vicariously through her friends with children. Next, there was the 40-something alumna who stepped off her career path to have kids. Now she's back at work, but making one-third the salary of her husband, so her job takes second fiddle when it comes to child-rearing responsibilities. Each of these women envied the other and both drove home the impossibility of "having it all." The high school seniors sat slack-jawed as all the hope drained from their little feminist minds. Even my 30-something friend (with a good job and engaged to be married) could offer no reassurance. This shocked even me, because as much as I believe I can never "have it all," I would never complain about the path I have taken in life. So I took stock in what I do have. I have two beautiful, smart daughters who are blessed with a late-sleeper gene. I have a husband who's willing to change diapers, bring me dinner at work late at night, and be an endless source for blog fodder. He has yet to don a fudgy brownie suit to hand out Tribeca Treats postcards or become a Redskins fan. But that's neither here nor there. I have two parents, three sisters, a huge extended family and great friends, all of whom have helped me follow my dream. I get to make cakes for a living, and I have a business that's showing early signs of success. I have a wonderful dentist (Dr. Saul Pressner) and amazing movers (Personal Touch Movers). Don't underestimate the value in this. Of course I don't have it all. Among other things, I don't have a lot of sleep; I rarely have time for myself; I could use more vacation time, or at least work-free vacation time. When I'm at work, I miss doing things with my daughters. When I'm with my daughters, I'm often worrying about work. I could have better hair. Or a favorite football team that's won a Super Bowl in the last 17 years. But I am content. No, not content--content implies that you are not going to continue to strive for things, and I have plenty to still strive for, but I never look longingly at another's life. Sure, I would love to be able to take spontaneous trips to Morocco and have a personal trainer that comes to my home or a closet full of Christian Louboutins, but I am surrounded by the rewards (and, of course, challenges) of the choices I have made, and this makes me happy. I chose to have kids; I chose to start my own business. I may not have control of the Redskins' win-loss record, but I do choose to put on my burgundy and gold jersey year after year. Looking at it that way, I realize I am lucky to have one of the most important things in life--opportunity, something I'm sure both these panelists had as well. So I encourage the aforementioned 50-something panelist to just wake up and revel in her own cougar-ness. It may be impossible to have it all, but as long as I have the ability and means to make my own choices -- then I have enough.
 
DOJ Triggers Protest By Sealing "Unclassified" Gitmo Records Top
 
Michael Pertnoy and Michael Kleiman: The Last Survivor: 'Home to Darfur' Top
Home to Darfur from Genocide Prevention Month on Vimeo . On March 4th, 2009, when the International Criminal Court issued the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, over 400 local Darfuri refugees living in Israel rallied in support of this decision. When we met Adam Bashar, we were running a few minutes late and were out of breath. The bus that was supposed to take us to the Yemine Orde Youth Village outside of Haifa - where Adam was on pace to finish Israeli high school in just two years - dropped us at an unmarked stop at the base of Mount Carmel. We hiked up the first half of the hill before being offered a ride to the top. Adam greeted us with a welcoming smile and slowed the rush of the morning to a snail's pace as he lead us, one step at a time, around the beautiful campus of the Yemine Orde Youth Village and school. The village, which was founded in the 1950s as a home for Jewish children orphaned by the Holocaust, has since become home to orphaned youth from over 20 countries around the world. Most recently, the case of a group of young refugees fleeing genocide in Darfur caught the attention of the director of the village, Dr. Chaim Peri. Dr. Peri was especially moved by the group's eldest member - a 16-year old named Adam who, having had his first taste of democracy, petitioned the United Nations and the Israeli government to allow him to attend school like any other child his age. Dr. Peri was appalled by his own government's refusal. United with his students, Dr. Peri fought - successfully - to have Adam and the others released to the school's custody. As we walked along the path that ran the perimeter of Yemine Orde, Adam told us about the last time he saw his home in Darfur. He was just 14 and was playing outside with friends when the village was bombed. He told us how he and the others started to run; how they went from village to village in search of food and shelter; how although there were many boys at the outset of the journey, only Adam and one other were able to escape into Egypt; that once there he joined other refugees in sleeping outside the United Nations headquarters - the comfort of the organization's promise the only shelter afforded to them in an unknown land. And as we continued walking, Adam told us about the massacres carried out against Darfuris in Egypt, that he fled to Sinai where he found work but was never paid, and that, seeing few options before them, he and two others decided to cross the depths of the Sinai Desert during the night and cross the border into Israel. Through Adam, we were introduced to an entire community of Darfuris who had made the journey from Sudan, through Egypt, and across the border into Israel. And when we walked into the homeless shelter in which many of them lived, we were overwhelmed. We have both spent the better part of the last two years speaking with genocide Survivors, listening to stories of horror and loss. But when we met the refugees who had fled Darfur where genocide continues, the past tense was suddenly replaced by the present. Experiences of loss had not yet settled as treasured memories that linger in the heart, but remained raw panic that screamed from the eyes. But these refugees did not fit into our clichéd assumptions of what a refugee was supposed to be. They did not sit around, helplessly waiting for their plight to improve. Instead, under the inspired leadership of people like Adam, they strove to improve themselves - to rebuild their lives so they might one day return home and rebuild their country. They organized themselves into a nationally recognized non-profit, B'nai Darfur (Sons of Darfur). Touting the motto, "God helps those who help themselves," the organization assists newly arrived refugees in finding shelter, work and schooling for their children. Adam himself, works in elementary schools around Tel-Aviv, helping Darfuri children continue their education in a foreign land. He preaches the importance of education as a means of not only improving oneself, but as a weapon by which we can combat the very forces of intolerance and hatred that drove him and his people from their land. Yet despite all of this it is the first image that remains with us - that of a fourteen year old boy, scattering into an unknown wilderness, equally unsure of the whereabouts and well-being of his family as he is of his own destination. Before meeting Adam, like many others, we quantified the horror of mass atrocity solely by the number of dead - in the case of Darfur the death toll is staggering: over 400,000 and rising. What we often overlooked, were the millions, like Adam, who have been displaced by the genocide. Meeting Adam has taught us what it means to lose one's home - to be forced from the land of your ancestors, driven from your history, your family and all that distinguishes you in this world. And so what inspires us most about Adam is that, despite all he has endured, the unexpected turns of life that have forced him to age far beyond his 19 years, he clings to the same inclination he once held as a young boy playing outside with friends in Darfur: that when this is all over he will return home. There is a compelling moment that we captured during a radio interview with Adam on the day that the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President, Omar al-Bashir. After listening to Adam's story, the Israeli radio host questioned how Adam was able to cross into Israel. As an illegal immigrant, she wondered, how is it that he was allowed to stay? "I am not staying," Adam insisted. "I am waiting until there is peace in Sudan. "And then I will go home." Much more of Adam's story and the stories of the refugees whom he leads will be featured in the 20-minute version of our film, The Last Survivor , that will be featured via live webcast as part of the Genocide Prevention Month kick-off event. To learn more about the premier and other events you can participate in as part of Genocide Prevention Month, please visit the Month's official website, www.genocidepreventionmonth.org and sign the pledge to honor the six genocides commemorated in April by working to prevent future atrocities. This blog is part two of a multi-part series on survivors of genocides. Cross-posted at change.org More on Genocide
 
Man Unwisely Tries To Rob Tae Kwon Do Studio Top
FOX POINT, Wis. — A robber gets more than he bargained for when he targeted a Tae Kwon Do studio in suburban Milwaukee. The robber thought he could quietly slip in and out of David Kang's studio in Fox Point with some loot. What he didn't realize is that he would encounter a Tae Kwon Do master who wasn't about to let him off the hook. Kang was giving a private lesson Tuesday and heard someone in his office. Kang found the man going through his closet, grabbed him by the neck and sat him down while he called police. The robber took off and Kang gave chase, finally catching up with the man and holding him by the neck until police arrived. ___ Information from: WITI-TV, http://www.myfoxmilwaukee.com More on Stupid Criminals
 
Met Party: Mary-Kate Olsen, Kanye, Parker Posey, Claudia Schiffer & More (PHOTOS) Top
The Metropolitan Opera celebrated with a 125th anniversary gala at Lincoln Center in New York on Sunday night. Among the stars who got all dressed up and turned out were Parker Posey, Willem Dafoe, Diane Kruger, Brooke Shields, Mary-Kate Olsen, Kanye West, Claudia Schiffer, Patricia Clarkson, and more. PHOTOS: More on Photo Galleries
 
Rui Chenggang China Televsion Personality Is Newest Face Of Capitalism Top
BEIJING -- At just 31 years old, Rui Chenggang has emerged as the media face of Chinese capitalism: young, smart and, to the dismay of some, deeply nationalistic. His nightly financial news program attracts 13 million viewers on China Central Television, the nation's biggest state-run network, where Mr. Rui puts tough questions to Wall Street chiefs and Chinese economists while also delivering a dose of optimism about China's outlook. More on China
 
Syfy Channel: Sci Fi "Imagines Greater," Rebrands Top
FOR years, television viewers, journalists who write about TV and services that compile listings have wondered how to refer to a certain cable network: Sci Fi Channel? Sci-Fi Channel? SciFi Channel? SCI FI Channel? Soon, to paraphrase Rod Serling -- whose vintage series, "The Twilight Zone," is a mainstay of the Sci Fi Channel -- executives will submit for public approval another name, not only of sight and sound but of mind, meant to signal a channel whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead -- your next stop, Syfy. Plans call for Sci Fi and its companion Web site (scifi.com) to morph into the oddly spelled Syfy -- pronounced the same as "Sci Fi" -- on July 7. The new name will be accompanied by the slogan "Imagine Greater," which replaces a logo featuring a stylized version of Saturn.
 
Norm Coleman Rumored To Be Replacing Steele At RNC Top
Buzz is brewing that former Senator Norm Coleman is becoming the consensus pick to take over for Michael Steele. Democrats have every incentive to drive this rumor: More on Michael Steele
 
Book Sales Rise In Europe Amid Recession Top
After a dip in the fall, the number of books sold in France rose 2 percent in December from a year earlier and 2.4 percent in January, according to Livres Hebdo, a trade publication. The trend has been similar in Germany, where the number of books sold rose 2.3 percent in January, according to the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, a trade organization. Analysts say many other European markets have also shown gains. In the United States and Britain, book sales have been slightly less robust, falling by a fraction of 1 percent in both countries last year, according to Nielsen BookScan. Sales in the United States were down about 1 percent in the first 10 weeks of this year.
 
Marc Cooper: Leftist Victory in El Salvador Closes an Historic Cycle Top
The apparent victory of leftist candidate Maurico Funes in Sunday's presidential election in El Salvador finally closes out the Cold War in Central America and raises some serious questions about the long term goals of U.S. foreign policy. With Funes' election, history has come full cycle. Both El Salvador and neighboring Nicaragua will now be governed by two former guerrilla fronts against which the Reagan administration spared no efforts in trying to defeat during the entire course of the 1980's. We will now coexist with those we once branded as the greatest of threats to our national security. Those we branded as "international terrorists" now democratically govern much of Central America. Funes, once a commentator for CNN's Spanish-language service, comes to power representing the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a Marxist guerrilla group-turned-political -party, an organization that the U.S. government once described in terms now reserved for Al Qaeda and Hizbollah. From the late 1970's until a negotiated peace settlement in 1992, the FMLN fought a bloody civil war against a series of U.S.-backed right-wing regimes. Those Salvadoran regimes engaged in horrific massacres and deployed savage death squads, taking a massive human toll. While the FMLN also perpetrated atrocities, all independent analysts agree that the overwhelming majority of the 75,000 who were killed in the war in El Salvador were victims of government-sponsored violence. This same FMLN which now comes to power in El Salvador was once declared as the primary perpetrator of "international terrorism" by the Reagan administration who deployed hundreds of U.S. military advisors to the tiny Central American country and who quadrupled the size of the Salvadoran Army. In this all-out quest to crush the FLMN, U.S. authorities, at best, turned a blind eye to the bloody excesses of the Salvadoran regime. At worst, it encouraged them. At the same time in history, the U.S. spent billions creating a "contra" army to destabilize and dislodge the leftist Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) which had taken power in Nicaragua in 1979, overthrowing the dynastic and dictatorial rule of the Somoza family - another U.S.-backed ally. During the entire eight years of the Reagan era, defeating both the FMLN and the FSLN were the absolute top priorities of U.S. foreign policy as the administration argued that the Texas border was a short hop from the fields of Central America and that all must be done to stop the northward march of hemispheric revolution. The sort of inflammatory rhetoric used to describe the Central American guerrilla movements was an eerie precedent for the overheated war of words against "The Axis of Evil" that would emerge earlier this decade. The Nicaraguan Sandinistas were eventually defeated by an American-backed opposition in elections in 1990 and democratically and peacefully transferred power (something the Reaganites claimed could never happen). But the Sandinistas returned to power last year re-electing its historic leader Daniel Ortega as president. Almost twenty years of rule from the pro-U.S. coalitions that had succeeded the Sandinistas had failed to implement any meaningful social change. The Salvadoran FMLN, meanwhile, which has acted as a parliamentary opposition party since the 1992 Salvadoran peace accords, now comes to power ending twenty years of uninterrupted rule by the country's ultra-conservative ARENA party - a political organization born directly from the death squads of the 1980's and, yes, a close ally of the U.S. All of this raises the question of why so many lives were spent and so many billions in U.S. dollars were burned in an attempt to expunge these leftist forces twenty years ago? Wouldn't it have been possible in 1989 to find some sort of accommodation with these radical forces and not postpone the inevitable for twenty years? In the case of Nicaragua, the year-old reborn and duly elected Sandinista administration--while far from a model of democratic ethics-- hardly poses any threat to U.S. interests. Though President Ortega, saddled with governing one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere, still clothes his actions in revolutionary rhetoric, he has headed up what many think is essentially a conservative regime which recently outlawed all abortion (a move that could warm the deceased Ronald Reagan's heart). Ortega campaigned successfully for the presidency last year by quoting from scripture and has not flinched from pacting with the most conservative of political elements. In the case of El Salvador, President-elect Funes has pledged to maintain close and cordial relations with the U.S. And while the FMLN--like the Sandinistas - clings to some of its Cold War revolutionary rhetoric, no one expects any radical moves by the incoming government. Fighting widespread poverty aggravated by the global slump and a chilling crime wave, the FMLN will have its hands full just keeping the government on keel. President-elect Funes holds distinctly moderate views and in an American context would be little more than a liberal Democrat. In any case, the FMLN can point to its recent governance of several Salvadoran cities (including until recently the capital of San Salvador) as its democratic bona fides. The resurrection of the FMLN and the FSLN at this time in history raises a troubling irony regarding U.S. foreign policy. Yesterday we were told they were our greatest enemies. Today, now in power, they hardly garner any U.S. press coverage, let alone much attention from Washington. Likewise, the right-wing forces we bankrolled with blood and treasure and who we were told were a bulwark of Western Civilization, utterly failed in solving the basic existential questions that bedeviled their respective countries. Twenty years from now, we have to ask, what will Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria look like? Might we find ourselves peacefully co-existing with the same undefeated forces who today we proclaim our mortal enemies? Might we be better off using our soft power, our economic and diplomatic clout to force negotiation and moderation with those we perceive as irrational and radical enemies? Or do we only reach that conclusion after the dissipation of prolonged, bloody and ultimately unsuccessful armed intervention and war? More on Latin America
 
Obama To Headline First Fundraiser As President, Faces "Donor Fatigue" Top
President Barack Obama will headline the first fundraiser of his presidency this month, appealing to donors large and small even as the economy struggles through the worst recession in generations. More on Barack Obama
 
Caption This Photo, Vote For Friday's Best, See Thursday's Winner Top
Original Caption: Actress Penelope Cruz, left, and actress Blanca Portillo, right, kiss Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, center, during a photocall for their new movie "Los Abrazos Rotos" (Broken Embraces) in Madrid, on Friday, March 13, 2009. FRIDAY'S FAVORITES: THURSDAY'S WINNER Kermit the Frock. By Phuz01. More on Caption Contest
 
Museums' "Suggested Donations" Don't Matter Much In This Economy Top
In a tough economy, New York museum-goers are less open to "suggestion." Rather than pay the full $20, recommended admission price to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, visitors lately are forking over as little as a buck to walk through the door.
 
Aisha Tyler's New Music Video: No Ass At All Top
Comedian Aisha Tyler made the following music video to promote her Comedy Central special. It chronicles her life growing up in San Francisco with no ass. Tyler, who attended Dartmouth College where she earned a degree in environmental policy, started out in advertising before going into comedy and obviously had a knack for viral promotion. She starts by explaining her childhood: "I used to stumble round the playground on size twelve feet, other kids thought I was weird cause my family didn't eat meat." Then goes on to use rap lyrics about women's behinds to explain her lack of one: "My lady lumps just ain't no fun, I ain't got no buns hun, your anaconda won't want none." WATCH: nowassitall - watch more funny videos More on Funny Videos
 
WSJ: Obama's Agenda Overwhelming His Staff Top
President Barack Obama has filled nearly twice as many government posts as the previous two presidents did at this point in their first terms. The problem is, the current administration has so much more on its plate that it needs more key people in place to advance its ambitious agenda. More on Barack Obama
 
Shelly Palmer: Yahoo's Latest Attempt at Web Video: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer March 16, 2009 Top
Yahoo is set to refresh its web video presence . While Yahoo tried its hand at web video last year in a joint venture with Pepsi dubbed "the 9", new shows like "Primetime in No Time" maybe successful by utilizing sponsors and basing content around popular search queries. New shows include "Spotlight to Nightlight", a show about celebrity mothers hosted by Ali Landry, which is sponsored by State Farm. T-Mobile has confirmed that Google will release a firmware update for the G1 Android in April . The update will add a virtual keyboard, video and voice recording features to the Android, as well as giving it Bluetooth capabities. In addition, Amazon is selling the G1 for $97.99, $300 less than its retail value, with a two-year, $40 a month service contract. New York Governor David Paterson ditched plans to instill a $1.3 billion "nuisance" tax that included a fee for downloading music. Better known as the 'iPod tax", the defeated bill also included a tax on movie tickets, soft drinks and massages. Citing the federal stimulus as the reason for abandoning the plan, Gov. Paterson said "The reason that we would like to put money back in the hands of New Yorkers is so that they'll spend it. Not on taxes, but on ways to grow the economy." After users attending the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas began loosing cell phone reception, AT&T has its Austin presence in order to satisfy media hungry festival goers. Sources says that Austin was flooded with iPhone users this weekend who effectively jammed AT&T's Texas network. "To accommodate unprecedented demand for mobile data and voice applications at SXSW, we are actively working this afternoon to add capacity to our cell sites serving downtown Austin. These efforts are ongoing, but we anticipate that customers should see improved network performance this evening and for the remainder of the event." The New York Times is mulling a $55/a year online subscription rate . This past weekend publisher Arthur Sulzberger told audiences at Stony Brooke that the Grey Lady was looking to charge for some content, in order to boost its slumping revenue. With advertisers unwilling to pay the same amount of money online as they are in print, content providers are looking back to the subscription model in order to generate much needed revenue. Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (2008, York House Press). Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, NY (the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy® Awards ). You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here . Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net . More on Apple
 
Alison Rose Levy: Having a Cow and Eating it Too: The Real Deal on Food Safety Top
When in the Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan portrayed agribusiness' unhealthy treatment of livestock animals, some readers suddenly lost their appetite for meat, going vegan overnight. But others found "the sane food loophole:" Organic, pasture-raised meat and dairy-- the protein complement to the fruits and vegetables First Lady Michelle Obama championed last week. Livestock farmed in organic, sustainable, and small farm settings, are healthier, and safer from the myriad infections, wounds, and diseases common in agribusiness livestock. That's why many doctors recommend eating organic or locally raised, hormone and pesticide-free meat and dairy. In contrast, pumped full of hormones and pesticides, herded into cramped and disease-ridden factory farms, and fattened on corn and animal byproducts, (unknown in animal diets before corporations dictated the menu) factory farm animals aren't healthy--and some doctors claim that their consumption may detract from human health via antibiotic resistance, pesticide toxicity, weight gain, endocrine disruption, and other factors. So it's ironic that--in the name of safety, the FDA today moves to close the sane food loophole, while failing to address farming practices unsafe for animals and their human consumers. The FDA plan, called the National Animal Identification System, or NAIS will require the costly insertion of microchips into all livestock to record and track their antibiotic use, medical history, and location via a global GPS system. The compliance costs for NAIS could imbalance the careful economics of small, organic, and sustainable farms, driving many into bankruptcy. Unlike your local farmer, assembly line factory farms can easily install microchips. They support the NAIS plan, which conveniently undermines the competition (organic food suppliers are now the fastest growing food segment) while setting the mass producers up for global exports to foreign buyers. Just like fifty years ago, when no one spoke the scary word, cancer, when you talk about beef safety, you can't mention Mad Cow Disease. Mad Cow Disease is what NAIS is really about. Unlike the U.S., Europe and Japan routinely test animals, while also prohibiting the use in feed of animal waste products, which studies show increase the likelihood of BSE, the bovine version of Mad Cow Disease. But despite a reported 4.2 million cattle who die annually in the U.S. from unknown causes, US agencies prohibit, rather than require testing. With the NAIS, they instead propose a costly technology to track animals. Does tracking--without testing-- confer food safety? Only in Cargill's dreams. Without testing, chipping every animal is like installing multiple television cameras in every nook and cranny of your home to record the moment when you collapse from unknown causes so that you can be promptly removed to the funeral home. Without determining the actual cause of death of the 4.2 million downed animals, and without mentioning BSE, the NAIS will monitor anyone owning a single cow, horse or chicken for personal use. When Fritzie goes to the State Fair, Big Brother will know. NAIS will make a killing for the microchip company, VeriChip Corps, while taxpayers pay for a giant bureaucracy that tracks all those chipped animals. The groundwork for NAIS was initially green-lighted at the FDA under former HHS secretary Tommy Thompson, who left his post two weeks later, eventually joining the board of VeriChip Corps, from gave him cash and stock options. While we've lost count on the Bush administration's malfeasances, it's unclear why the current administration would erect a new infrastructure that undermines small, suppliers of healthy foods, in order to enable large suppliers in perpetuating health risks. If the worry is that downer cows will lead to a downturn in sales, then deal with the causes rather than deodorizing with microchips. With record obesity rates and skyrocketing health care costs, many doctors critique our health care model for its failure to address the root causes of ill health. Healthy food--and the healthy agriculture which produces it, are considered crucial for both health creation and the economy. Yet in this turnkey moment, facing the challenge of covering health costs and converting failing, but entrenched, health infrastructures, the FDA decides to build a new infrastructure that overlooks and perpetuates the root causes of disease in animals. Ignoring the causes of disease hasn't worked for humans and it won't work for livestock animals. Moreover, the microchip has side effects, with carcinogenic risks to the chip-wearing animals, shown by several animal studies. Monday, March 16th is the last day the FDA will accept comments on the NAIS plan. To comment and contact your Congress people, go here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26665 For health news, insight, and action, please sign up for the Health Outlook at: www.health-journalist.com
 
MBA Hopefuls Grow As Economy Sinks Top
Add this number to the many fact and figures being bandied about during this recession: 246,957, the record-high number of GMAT exams administered to aspiring MBA candidates last year. So far this year, numbers of test-takers show the volume looks to be even greater.
 
2009 NCAA Tournament Schedule and Key Dates Top
Here are some key dates for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. • Selection Sunday March 15, 2009 • Opening-Round Game March 17, 2009 UD Arena (Dayton, Ohio) • First Two Rounds March 19, 21, 2009 Greensboro Coliseum (Greensboro, N.C.) Sprint Center (Kansas City, Mo.) Wachovia Center (Philadelphia) Rose Garden (Portland, Ore.) More on Sports
 
Drew Barrymore And Justin Long: Together Again Top
Witnesses saw the couple on several dates in Los Angeles, Life & Style reports, including one at Bar Marmont in Hollywood. "Drew walked in with Justin, and all heads turned. They were definitely acting like more than friendly exes!" a source told the magazine. "They couldn't get enough of each other. I don't think they even noticed that there were other people in the room! In between kisses it was all smiles and laughs."
 
Wall Street heads for higher opening Monday Top
NEW YORK — Reassuring words from Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke and strong gains overseas have Wall Street poised to extend a four-day rally. Futures pointed to a higher opening Monday. Bernanke said Sunday night the recession would probably end this year if the government's program to boost the ailing banking sector succeeds. The Fed chairman cautioned that the task of improving the banking system was a difficult one. During an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," Bernanke said the government needs to get banks to lend more freely and get the financial markets to work more normally. David Hefty, chief executive of Cornerstone Wealth Management in Auburn, Indiana, said Bernanke's comments were a lift. "Absolutely it's reassuring," Hefty said. "The American people look to these people for that hope." But Hefty said Bernanke's caveat that the end of the recession is predicated on success of the government support for struggling banks is still a major question facing the economy and markets. Overseas markets were rallying Monday as well. Japanese financial stocks surged on reports that the government would bolster their capital, while British lender Barclays PLC was the latest bank to say it had a good start to 2009. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 74, or 1 percent, to 7,306. Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 7.6, or 1 percent, to 762.20, while Nasdaq 100 index futures gained 6.25, or 0.54 percent, to 1,174.25. Investors will get plenty of economic data throughout the week to provide insight into the ongoing recession. The Fed will release a report on February industrial production Monday morning. The report will likely show production declined for the fourth straight month. It is due out at 9:15 a.m. EDT. Other data due out this week includes producer and consumer price reports as well as weekly unemployment claims data. The Fed also hosts its regular two-day meeting Tuesday and Wednesday where it sets key interest rates. Investors are looking to build on last week's gains that saw the Dow rise 9 percent and the S&P 500 index jump 10.7 percent. Investors were encouraged by better-than-expected retail sales and upbeat news from some beaten-down banks. Hefty said momentum from last week's gains will be the primary driver of gains early this week, and said the effect may last into Tuesday. "Investors have a stampede mentality," Hefty said. "They stampede in and they stampede out." He said the current rally is unlikely sustainable and mostly will just bring the market back to its November levels. Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. _ the banks that have received among the most federal funds _ both said they were performing well through the first two months of the quarter. Bond prices fell Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.99 percent from 2.90 percent late Friday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.22 percent from 0.20 percent late Friday. The dollar mostly fell against other major currencies, while gold prices fell. Oil prices fell $1.56, to $44.69 per barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1.8 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 gained 2.3 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 2 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 2.3 percent. ___ On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com More on Financial Crisis
 
August J. Pollak: Post Partisan Top
Everything Barack Obama does must be beyond partisanship. Everything. To see more of August J. Pollak's cartoon "Some Guy With a Website," check out the archive . More on Barack Obama
 
Barney Frank On AIG: "Maybe It's Time To Fire Some People" Top
WASHINGTON — Rep. Barney Frank charged Monday that a decision by financially strapped insurance giant AIG to pay millions in executive bonuses amounts to "rewarding incompetence." Echoing outrage expressed on both sides of the political aisle in the wake of revelations that American International Group will pay roughly $165 million in bonuses, Frank said he believes it's time to shake up the company. "These people may have a right to their bonuses. They don't have a right to their jobs forever," said Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Appearing on NBC's "Today" show, Frank noted that the Federal Reserve Board, using a Depression-era statute, was the institution that gave AIG its initial government bailout, before Congress passed legislation providing for additional assistance. He said he did not think sufficient safeguards were built into that initial bailout by the Fed. The $165 million was payable to executives by Sunday and was part of a larger total payout reportedly valued at $450 million. The company has benefited from more than $170 billion in a federal rescue. AIG reported this month that it had lost $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history. The bulk of the payments at issue cover AIG Financial Products, the unit of the company that sold credit default swaps, the risky contracts that caused massive losses for the insurer. It also was revealed over the weekend that American International Group Inc. used more than $90 billion in federal aid to pay out foreign and domestic banks, some of whom had received their own multibillion-dollar U.S. government bailouts. Some of the biggest recipients of the AIG money were Goldman Sachs at $12.9 billion, and three European banks _ France's Societe Generale at $11.9 billion, Germany's Deutsche Bank at $11.8 billion, and Britain's Barclays PLC at $8.5 billion. Merrill Lynch, which also is undergoing federal scrutiny of its bonus plans, received $6.8 billion as of Dec. 31. The money went to banks to cover their losses on complex mortgage investments, as well as for collateral needed for other transactions. On ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday, Sen. Richard Shelby said Congress must do everything it can to make sure the government money going to AIG is handled appropriately. "We ought to explore everything that we can through the government to make sure that this money is not wasted," the Alabama Republican said. "These people brought this on themselves. Now you're rewarding failure. A lot of these people should be fired, not awarded bonuses. This is horrible. It's outrageous." Frank said he was disgusted, asserting that "these bonuses are going to people who screwed this thing up enormously." "Maybe it's time to fire some people," he said. "We can't keep them from getting bonuses but we can keep them from having their jobs. ... In high school, they wouldn't have gotten retention (bonuses), they would have gotten detention." AIG has agreed to Obama administration requests to restrain future payments. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed the president's case with AIG's chairman, Edward Liddy, last week. "He stepped in and berated them, got them to reduce the bonuses following every legal means he has to do this," said Austan Goolsbee, staff director of President Barack Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Lawrence Summers, a leading Obama economic adviser, said Sunday that Geithner had used all his power, "both legal and moral, to reduce the level of these bonus payments." In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not address the bonuses but expressed his frustration with the AIG intervention. "It makes me angry. I slammed the phone more than a few times on discussing AIG," Bernanke said. "It's _ it's just absolutely _ I understand why the American people are angry." In a letter to Geithner dated Saturday, Liddy said outside lawyers had informed the company that AIG had contractual obligations to make the bonus payments and could face lawsuits if it did not do so.
 
Gilad Shalit Deal May Be Reached In Next 24 Hours: Haaretz Top
CAIRO ? Sources close to indirect Israel-Hamas negotiations over Gilad Shalit told Haaretz Monday there was a real possibility that a deal for the abducted Israeli soldier's release may be reached over the next 24 hours. More on Israel
 
Don Imus: I Have Prostate Cancer Top
Controversial radio host Don Imus announced Monday morning on his radio show that he has been diagnosed with Stage II Prostate Cancer. Imus, 68, said he believes that his doctors "will beat it," reports WABC TV (Imus' radio show airs on WABC radio): "The day you find out is fine," he said. "But the next morning when you get up, your knees are shaking. I didn't think I could make it to work." Wearing black sunglasses and slumped behind his microphone, Imus speculated that the cancer may have come from stress. WebMD describes Stage II Prostate Cancer as follows: In stage II, the tumor has grown inside the prostate but hasn't extended beyond it. Imus and his wife Deidre have worked on behalf of pediatric cancer patients for years through their well-known Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer, leading him to joke this morning that he was changing the name of the Imus Ranch for kids with cancer to the Imus Ranch for kids with cancer... and me." More on Don Imus
 
Avigdor Lieberman To Become Foreign Minister As Likud, Israel Beiteinu Sign Deal Top
Likud signed its first coalition deal Sunday, with Avigdor Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu. According to the deal, party chairman Lieberman is to be appointed foreign minister. MK Stas Meseznikov is to become tourism minister, MK Uzi Landau will be national infrastructures minister, MK Sofa Landver will be appointed absorption minister, and MK Yitzhak Aharonovitch - public security minister. More on Israel
 
Khatami To Pull Out Of Iran Race: BBC Top
Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami is to withdraw his candidacy from the country's June presidential election, the BBC understands. More on Ahmadinejad
 
Mel Gibson Frolics In Costa Rica With Mystery Lady Top
He has explained his way out out of tight spots before, and it looks like he'll have to again. Mel Gibson has been pictured embracing a stunning bikini-clad woman in the surf near his estate home in Costa Rica. And while her identity remains a mystery, it was definitely not 52-year-old Robyn Moore, his wife of 28 years and mother of his seven children.
 
Mike Lux: Is Our Big Change Moment Coming? Top
This piece first appeared in The Nation. I had the honor of serving as the head of the constituencies operation in the 1992 Clinton campaign, then in the transition and finally as a special assistant to the president in the Clinton White House. I relived some of those memories when I took a position advising the Obama transition team. In both cases, my main role was to serve as the liaison to the broad progressive movement--part advocate on their behalf, part diplomat and troubleshooter with that movement. But the progressive movement of today is strikingly different than that of the early to mid-'90s when Bill Clinton was first coming to power. During those early years of the Clinton presidency, the term "progressive movement" was really a misnomer: what there was instead was more a collection of DC-based, single-issue groups that didn't work together much at all. There was relatively little field organizing going on and little sophistication in terms of communications. It wasn't that there were no progressive groups in American politics, but they were more complacent and more fragmented than what we have today. When right-wing organizations and the media hit Clinton, there just weren't many folks hitting back very effectively. That was one of the biggest reasons we failed to bring about healthcare reform. The coalition that was organized to push for the Clinton healthcare plan was chaired by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), which was so intimidated by its Republican members that it couldn't bring itself to actually endorse the bill until it was too late to matter. The messages that were used were wimpy and uninspiring as well, even though there were populist anti-insurance company messages our polling showed would work very well. And when the healthcare reform effort failed, starved of good messaging and strong organizing, Clinton and the Democrats gave up any efforts to do anything big, bold or transformational--they became players of small ball, just looking to survive. I still remember when Dick Morris and Mark Penn were brought into the Clinton message team, and their insistence that we do no big policy initiatives and that we shy away from anything the least bit populist. It wasn't just healthcare, either. Where the right wing saw any opportunity for attacking Clinton as a chance at movement-building, the issue-siloed progressive groups didn't care if it didn't affect their specific issue. Impeachment was a classic example--the entire right-wing movement jumped on the Lewinsky scandal with passion. Our issues groups, outside of PFAW, some unions and civil rights groups, did nothing to help. When I called the Human Rights Campaign for help on the impeachment fight, for example, they told me that Al Gore was just as good on their issues as Clinton, so why should they care? That the right wing might score a huge political victory because of someone's personal sex scandal didn't faze them at all. My new book, The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be , makes the case that major progressive reform in this country comes in tectonic plate shifts that move the country forward fundamentally for generations to come, something I call "Big Change Moments." In the 1860s, early 1900s, 1930s and 1960s, these Big Change Moments swept the country, making huge progress on a range of important issues possible. It was made possible by a combination of presidential leadership willing to be bold on major problems in our country and a big, strong progressive movement. We did not have those conditions in the early 1990s. Bill Clinton was rarely willing to be bold and big in his politics. He did not want to irritate business by using populist messages even on healthcare, his one big progressive policy initiative, even though our polling clearly showed they worked. But the weakest link of all was the weakness of the progressive movement itself. Compared to the passion, courage and strength of past progressive movements, progressives in the 1990s just didn't have the juice to make big changes happen. Today's progressive movement is far more unified and passionate, and with the Internet and other new media tools that we have been using so effectively, there is now critical mass that can move quickly and in big numbers to make things happen. I hope and believe that the Obama era will be different. We have massive problems that demand big solutions. We have a president who ran on the mantra of change. And we have a rebuilt and passionate progressive movement, more cohesive, more coordinated, stronger at both organizing and media. The question now is whether we have a president and Congressional leaders who boldly seize the moment, and whether the newly resurgent progressive movement will have the strength and strategic sense to make the moment happen. I believe the time is ripe for another Big Change Moment, for another progressive revolution: we only have to seize the day and make it happen. Obama, and those of us in the progressive community, need to think big and shed the caution that too many Democrats on the Hill have let infect them in recent decades. I think it will be difficult to get Democrats to give up their habit of thinking small and cautious on everything, but the desperation of the times demand big bold solutions. Just as the abolitionists fought with Lincoln at times, just as the suffragists fought with Wilson, just as the labor movement demanded more of FDR and the civil rights movement demanded more of JFK and LBJ, the progressive movement of our era will have to be tough on Obama at times to push him over the finish line on delivering the changes we need. But just as in those earlier eras, the progressive movement and a president who wants to make change will need to work together to make it happen. Let's hope we are on the brink of another Big Change Moment. Mike Lux is the author of The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be .
 
China's Gobi Desert Source Of Rare Dinosaur Find Top
BEIJING — Left on their own by adults, the young dinosaurs sank into the mud beside a lake and died 90 million years ago in what would become the Gobi Desert. The well-preserved fossils, excavated by a team of Chinese and American scientists, offer a rare bounty of clues about how this herd of ostrich-like sinornithomimus lived _ and died. Two life-sized models of the sinornithomimus were put on public display for the first time Monday in Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia region. "This is a very exciting discovery, because 99.9 percent of the time, we find a group of skeletons that died at different periods due to unknown causes," said Paul Sereno, a University of Chicago professor on the excavation team. "The other 0.1 percent of the time, scientists consider themselves lucky to find small herds that have been well-preserved after floods or volcanic eruptions, similar to that of Pompeii." Italy's famous city of Pompeii was buried _ its way of life frozen in time_ in the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Sereno, a paleontologist, helped lead the 2001 expedition that uncovered the fossilized remains of the 25 young sinornithomimus near Suhongtu, a tiny, remote village in the Gobi desert about 370 miles (600 kilometers) west of Hohhot. The position of the dinosaur bones suggests they were looking for water on the edge of a lake, got stuck and died as the mud engulfed them, Sereno said in a telephone interview. Their hip bones were found at odd angles, indicating scavengers tugged at their carcasses. Crablike organisms were also found surrounding the skeletons, a clue that tells scientists they were covered in water shortly after death, which helped preserve them. Tan Xinwei, a paleontologist from the Inner Mongolia Department of Land and Resources who also worked on the expedition, said the findings tell researchers that "the youngsters were left to fend for themselves while the adults were preoccupied" with hatching eggs or building nests. The two-legged, feathered dinosaurs reached about 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall as adults and scavenged for small plants by jutting out their long necks in an ostrich-like fashion, Sereno said. Xu Xing, a professor at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, called the findings "an important discovery" that could only have happened under a unique set of circumstances. "Without the correct environmental conditions, these fossils would not have been found in nearly pristine condition _ uncrushed or worn down," said Xu, who was not involved with the project. The bones were spotted in 1978 by a Chinese geologist and first excavated by a Sino-Japanese team some 20 years later. That team named the dinosaurs sinornithomimus, or "Chinese bird mimic." It wasn't until 2001 that researchers were able to unearth all 25 skeletons and examine their findings. The sinornithomimus skeletons were brought to the University of Chicago for research and preservation but will return to China by the end of the year. The 10-member expedition and research team included scientists from the University of Chicago, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Montana State University, the University of Michigan and Inner Mongolia's Department of Land and Resources. It was financed by the National Geographic Society. More on China
 
Russell Bishop: Are You Dead Or Just Comfortable? Top
Are you hearing people talk about how uncomfortable they are these days? Kind of makes sense given all the uncomfortable changes accompanying this fine recession we find ourselves in. I attended a conference last week in San Francisco where one of the speakers said something that to some, sounded a bit outrageous. His comment: "Let's not waste a good recession." His point had to do with the opportunity hiding in the turmoil, and the difference between the recession going on "out there" and the recession going on in your head. While it is understandable that you might be contracting internally right along with the contractions taking place externally, contraction is not required. In fact, in the midst of all the external contractions, there are numerous opportunities to take stock inwardly, and discover both how you give up control over your inner experience and contract right along with the recession, and how you can take charge and expand even in the face of uncertainty and recession. This week I'd like to take a short look at something that helps keep some of us trapped, something old and well known - the Comfort Zone. The apparent safety and comfort of the Comfort Zone carries with it a form of myth similar to the Myth of Control and the Myth of Stability that we have been looking at the past few weeks. With control, we suggested that whereas you might be able to steer a bit as you find yourself moving through the ever changing landscape of life, you certainly aren't going to control everything going on around you. About the only thing we can control, we often forsake - that is, our ability to respond both inwardly and outwardly to changing to circumstances. The Stability Myth works right along with the Control Myth as many of us find ourselves struggling to find a place where things remain fairly predictable, calm, and, well, stable. Of course, nothing is really stable in this life, at least not anything that is alive. Even mountains have a way of changing, our shorelines are in constant motion, and life continues to demonstrate that living things are either growing or decaying, but certainly not remaining stable. So, if stability and control are out, can't I at least have my Comfort Zone? Sure you can, as long as you understand something about comfort. A good friend used to say: "If you're looking for comfort, try a warm bath." But even if you go for the warm bath, you will surely notice that the bath grows colder as you sit in it. You have to keep adapting to changing circumstances, and add more hot water. Comfort Zone or Dead Zone If you have been around long enough, you may have bumped into the term Comfort Zone applied to thermostats. In the old days, household thermostats often had Comfort Zone printed right on the dial. The basic concept was that you could establish an upper and lower limit for air temperature and the heating and air condition system would only kick in once the upper or lower limits were exceeded. Say, for example, you set your thermostat for an upper range of 76 and a lower end of 66. Once the air temperature rises above 76, the air conditioning kicks in and lowers the temperature back into the "Comfort Zone." Similarly, if the temperature falls below 66, the furnace kicks in and raises the temperature back above 66. Various thermostats had different ranges in which they would operate, and rarely was anything so precise that a mere 1/10th of a degree would cause something to start or stop. As long as the air temperature was within the "Comfort Zone," things were just fine. In the heating and air conditioning trade, the Comfort Zone is often referred to as the "dead zone." A friend in the trade told me that they called it the "dead zone" because as long as the room temperature was within the defined range, the system behaved as though it were "dead." There's been a lot of this kind of comfort seeking out there, as people strive to live within acceptable ranges. All kinds of us went to sleep as things kept cooking right along. Ever rising stocks, real estate the clear sure thing, and all the other trappings of a life focused on the external. As many of us found ourselves comfortable with our circumstances and the illusions of an ever growing economy, we entered into that "dead zone," numbly moving through life, expecting never ending stability and an era of predictable comfort. Clearly, things are changing. The question to consider: am I changing as well? Not just in terms of impacts on job, house, money, and possessions. I know I have taken hits in each of these areas right along with most people I know. Only now there is the opportunity to examine what role am I going to play in the turnaround? Maybe some of us can do something to impact the larger economy. If so, please do what you can. For the rest of us, helping ourselves will be the order of the day. What can you do to improve the circumstances in which you find yourself? What can you do to help someone in need, perhaps greater need than you? Look across this Living section and you will find all kinds of useful thought and advice from people who care, and people who have been through a few challenges of their own. Next week, we will take another look at how you might be setting yourself up for an even deeper mental recession, and what you can do to start steering a better course for yourself and those you care about. *** You can find out more about Russell Bishop at http://www.lessonsinthekeyoflife.com . Contact Russell at: russell@lessonsinthekeyoflife.com The author of Lessons in the Key of Life, Russell is an Educational Psychologist, professional life coach and management consultant, based in Santa Barbara California. More on The Inner Life
 
Van Jones: Obama's Green Jobs "Handyman" Top
Since the drafting of Van Jones to the Obama administration, people have wondered what exactly his job will be and what it will mean for the future of green jobs. Jones is a rising star among environmental activists, author of The Green Collar Economy and had been CEO of green jobs activist group Green For All until his government appointment caused him to step down. From a Greenwire interview with Van Jones : E&E: Do you consider yourself Obama's "green-jobs czar," as some have dubbed you? Jones: No, I'm the green-jobs handyman. I'm there to serve. I'm there to help as a leader in the field of green jobs, which is a new field. I'm happy to come and serve and be helpful, but there's no such thing as a green-jobs "czar." E&E: A Rutgers University report published today suggests that most green job openings will not be new occupations, but rather traditional occupations with a new layer of "green" skills and credentials. For example, laborers and building contractors who need specialized training and certification to perform home weatherization audits. Do you agree? Jones: Yes. That's one of the exciting things about this. Sometimes people think we're talking about some exotic occupation from Mars that nobody's ever heard of. That we're talking about George Jetson or Buck Rogers when we're thinking about green jobs. We're not talking about solar ray-guns; we're talking about caulking guns as one of the major tools we're going to need to be smarter with energy. Those are jobs our existing work force, with a little training, can start doing right away. Some bloggers privately wonder if it's the best move for Jones -- or for the green jobs effort. The thinking: He seemed to be doing well where he was. Why put him behind a government desk? What happens to the momentum he had built up? Jones gives his answers to those questions in this YES! Magazine interview : Doug: What happens to Green for All while you're in DC? Van: That's the best news of all, that we have an extraordinary leader in Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, who's coming on board. Anybody in California knows that she is a true wunderkind. She has been a phenomenal leader of the progressive labor movement, she's African-American, she's young -- in her early thirties. You just could not dream up a better person to come into Green for All at this time. Doug: The last time YES! readers heard from you was in an interview right after the election. In that interview you said that you had no intention of going to work for the Obama administration. What changed your mind? Van: Not only did I say I had no intention of going, when they asked the question, I burst out laughing because at the time it seemed completely ludicrous that it would even be an option. I think what changed my mind was interacting with the administration during the transition process and during the whole process of getting the recovery package pulled together. I began to see that there was an important role at the table, inside the process, to do make sure all the great things the president wants to do can get done well. Doug: While you're in DC, what can folks who have been following Green for All and working with you or on your initiatives, what can folks do to keep the movement going? Van: Continue doing the things we have planned. We're working to implement the green recovery in a just way. We need to get those recovery dollars out fast and fair. Anybody who's interested can got to the website greenforall.org and you'll see lots of opportunities to get involved and also lots of information about how to get those recovery dollars working in your own community. And that's going to be an important part of what Green for All does going forward. To tell you the truth, I think in that start-up phase the early phase, visioning and initiating, I think I did an extraordinary job. We are in a different world, and Green for All needs a different leader. And it has that leader in Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins. But it's the end of this guest post on Grist that may most accurately describe what Jones' real job is (emphasis mine): This week, President Obama defied those stereotypes by appointing Van Jones as his green jobs guru, tasked to simultaneously increase environmental protection and economic stimulus. I have hope that he can not only rise to the task but also tie together environment and economy in a way that we can all better understand. That fits with what seems to be an Obama signature move. He wants to help the country understand its myriad crises. Forgiving him for a moment for not making the economic crisis crystal clear just yet -- it's possible that the closest we'll come is that most of the United States wasn't engaged until two entertainers discussed it last week -- remember that Obama flirted with the idea of appointing a television personality to the surgeon general spot. Having people who can explain these murky waters in sound bites and confidently -- charismatically -- point toward the future seems to be important to the president. Is it better than surrounding oneself with wonks whose only passion is policy? Probably not. And that's why neither the administration nor Jones wants to let anyone call the new appointee a "czar." Here's Jones addressing young climate activists in Washington, D.C., last month: More on Barack Obama
 
Josef Fritzl Pleads Guilty To Incest, Not To Murder Top
ST. POELTEN, Austria — An Austrian man accused of fathering his daughter's seven children as he locked her in a basement for decades pleaded guilty to incest but insisted he was innocent of murder and enslavement charges as his trial opened Monday. Josef Fritzl hid his face behind a blue file folder as a judge began the proceedings under heavy security in St. Poelten, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Vienna. Fritzl pleaded guilty to incest and false imprisonment, but only partially guilty to charges of coercion and rape. He pleaded not guilty to murder and enslavement. Police say the 73-year-old has confessed to holding his daughter for 24 years in a cell he built beneath his home. Investigators say DNA tests show he fathered her six surviving children. Another child died in infancy, and prosecutors charged Fritzl with murder, contending the baby might have survived if Fritzl had arranged for medical care. In her opening statement, prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser accused Fritzl of repeatedly raping his daughter in front of the children. Burkheiser said Fritzl didn't talk to his daughter during her first few years in captivity and that he simply came down to the cellar to rape her. "Josef Fritzl used his daughter like his property," Burkheiser said. She alleged that Fritzl once punished the young woman by shutting off electricity to the dungeon, and forced her to spend the first part of her captivity in a tiny space that didn't even have a shower. "The worst was ... there was no daylight," Burkheiser said, adding it was also "incredibly humid" in the cramped space and the air was moldy and stale. Defense lawyer Rudolf Mayer appealed to the jury to be objective. He insisted Fritzl was "not a monster" and said his client even brought a Christmas tree down to his captives. "If you just want to have sex, you don't have children," Mayer said. "As a monster, I'd kill all of them downstairs." Fritzl faces up to life imprisonment. A verdict is expected by Friday. Fritzl's voice was almost inaudible as he gave the judge his name and other personal details Monday. He eventually removed the folder, but sat still in the dock, clasping his hands together, and stared straight ahead. He answered several questions from the presiding judge, but it was unclear exactly what he said. Mayer said he had no particular strategy for Fritzl's defense. Before the trial got under way, Mayer told The Associated Press his client was nervous. "He told me, 'I'm scared, Mr. Mayer,'" the lawyer said. Authorities say Fritzl imprisoned and repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, in the cramped and windowless dungeon he built beneath the family's home in the western town of Amstetten. The crime stunned people worldwide when it came to light last April. Security was tight in St. Poelten. Police imposed a no-fly zone above the courthouse to dissuade reporters from renting helicopters for aerial shots _ and to prevent prison breaks from the jail next door where Fritzl has been in pretrial detention. Mayer welcomed the security, saying both he and Fritzl had received threats over the past year. Three of the children grew up underground in Amstetten, never seeing the light of day. The other three were brought upstairs to be raised by Fritzl and his wife, Rosemarie, who apparently believed they had been abandoned. The children, together with Elisabeth, initially recovered from their ordeal in a psychiatric clinic and then were moved to a secret location. To ensure their security and privacy during the trial, they have since returned to the clinic, where guards are on high alert. The Associated Press normally withholds the names of victims of sexual assault. In this case, withholding Elisabeth's name by the AP became impractical when her name and her father's were announced publicly by police and details about them became the subject of massive publicity both in their home country and around the world. None of the victims is expected to testify in court. Instead, the eight-member jury will see prerecorded video testimony from Elisabeth and from one of her brothers, Harald. In Austria, which does not have the death penalty, murder carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. If convicted of enslavement, Fritzl could face up to 20 years behind bars. For rape, he could get up to 15. Incest is punishable by up to one year in prison. The conviction with the highest penalty will determine the length of his sentence. ___ Associated Press Writer William J. Kole in Vienna contributed to this report. More on Europe
 
Green Recession Tip: Two Ways To Get Free Clothes Top
Because swapping and clothing exchanges are part of the unofficial economy, it's hard to get a direct statistic on how much so-called "recession chic" has grown since the dawning of the global depression. Clothing and accessory sales have gone down about 6.5% in the last year. But two trends tell a story: the first is growing membership in different swapping Meet Up groups. The second is the rise of sites related to swaps, not only Big Wardrobe with its designer focus but also swapstyle.com, Clothing Swap, and green-oriented Rehash. And why not? Swapper Suzanne Agasi says women use only 20 percent of their wardrobe 80 percent of the time! So it makes sense to peel off some of that unused portion cluttering the closet, and swap (or in the UK "swish") it. More on Green Living
 
'Witch Mountain' Cooks 'Watchmen' At The Box Office Top
LOS ANGELES — Disney's "Race to Witch Mountain" raced to No. 1 at the weekend box office, bypassing expectations with $25 million in ticket sales. The PG-rated sci-fi flick starring Dwayne Johnson as a cab driver with a pair of alien teenagers along for the ride topped the R-rated superhero epic "Watchmen," which earned $18.1 million in its second week. Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion-picture group, said analysts had predicted that "Race to Witch Mountain," director Andy Fickman's re-imagination of the 1975 live-action film "Escape to Witch Mountain," would fly away with $20 million or less. Now he expects this "Witch Mountain" to maintain a high orbit in theaters with kids on spring break. "I think audiences this weekend were really drawn to the action adventure of 'Race to Witch Mountain,'" said Zoradi. "There was also this element of parents over 30 who remembered the original and were drawn to this one, so I think that combination is what helped us exceed what folks in the industry thought this movie was going to do." Ticket sales for "Watchmen" plummeted 67 percent from last weekend's $55.2 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday. Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. executive vice president of distribution, said the studio anticipated the big dip for director Zack Snyder's comic book adaptation about a team of subversive superheros. "It's very common with higher profile, highly anticipated movies," said Goldstein. Also opening this weekend in wide release was "The Last House on the Left," the Universal horror remake, which turned up at No. 3 with $14.7 million in ticket sales, and "Miss March," the Fox Atomic comedy in the No. 10 spot with $2.4 million. 20th Century Fox's thriller "Taken" remained at No. 4 with $6.7 million in its seventh weekend in theaters. Factoring in 2009's higher admission prices, the weekend box office total was down 16 percent compared with last year, making it the first down weekend in six weeks. Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers, does not believe the shift signals the end of 2009's otherwise stellar year at the box office. "I don't think this down weekend reflects any kind of lack of interest by the audience," Dergarabedian said. "I think it has to do with 'Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who' opening a year ago with $45 million. That's really a tough comparison. Not every weekend this year is going to be up when you have some strong openings like that from last year." Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday. 1. "Race to Witch Mountain," $25 million. 2. "Watchmen," $18.1 million. 3. "The Last House on the Left," $14.7 million. 4. "Taken," $6.7 million. 5. "Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail," $5.1 million. 6. "Slumdog Millionaire," $5 million. 7. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," $3.1 million. 8. "He's Just Not That Into You," $2.9 million. 9. "Coraline," $3.3 million. 10. "Miss March," $2.4 million. ___ On the Net: http://www.mediabynumbers.com ___ Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.
 

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