Friday, March 6, 2009

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Michael Wolff: When the End Is Not the End Top
It's the end of everything--or should be. General Motors is going to go bankrupt. And Citigroup is probably going to go bankrupt. And the New York Times is maybe going to go, too. Life as I've known it is about to disappear. Big cars, big banks, important newspapers. That's the American way. I can barely imagine what life looks like without those over-sized cars, a bank branch (or two or three) on every street corner, and that large, dull, worthy paper at my door. But then I'm a middle-aged guy. Likewise, GM and Citibank and the Times are, each in their way, of another age. Mid-century modern. Decrepit, actually. GM, it seems, has been going bankrupt, or marching into obsolescence, since 1973. It's painful to have to even think about GM and its inability to adapt to...well, anything. Even saying GM is tedious and desultory. Dead. GM is not going to be saved, because nobody has any reason to save it. Continue reading at newser.com More on Citibank
 
Jerry Weissman: The One-eyed Man Top
In the 16th Century, the Dutch humanist, Erasmus, wrote , "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." In the 21st Century, a specialist in eye contact spoke about that subject with one eye. I am that specialist. As a presentation coach and writer, a major part of my technique deals with eye contact. But last week, in the midst of a media tour to promote my new book, The Power Presenter --which, unsurprisingly, deals with eye contact in great detail--I contracted an infection in my eye and had to deliver two presentations wearing a distinguished but nonetheless distracting patch over one eye. You might think that this challenge impacted my presentation negatively, but it had the opposite effect. John F. Kennedy, during his campaign for the presidency in 1960, frequently referred to the Chinese symbol for "crisis" which is composed of two characters, one represents danger and one represents opportunity. The eye patch became my opportunity. Another key element of my presentation technique is to treat presentations as a series of person-to-person conversations. Whenever I present, I role model that technique by moving around the audience--regardless of the size--and engaging with one person at a time. Each time I engage with a different person, I rotate my head and shoulders to face that person directly, but the eye patch caused me to emphasize that technique. I made my rotations more deliberate. In every engagement, every person saw one of my eyes and one eye patch, but in each case, there was no doubt that we had connected. Imagine the power of doing that with both eyes. I turned my mini-crisis in opportunity. Seize the opportunity. Always present person-to-person--and always make eye contact.
 
Elizabeth Goitein: A Commission of Inquiry: Not Criminalizing Policy Differences Top
As the idea of creating an independent commission to investigate post-9/11 counter-terrorism policies continues to gain support, opponents of the idea have identified a favorite talking point: that an investigative commission would "criminalize policy differences." Senator Specter dutifully raised this objection at the Judiciary Committee hearing this week. But the real danger here is not that policy differences will be criminalized. In fact, it is the opposite: that unlawful conduct will be chalked up to policy differences and swept under the rug before the American public can even learn the full truth about what happened. Because of the previous administration's largely successful efforts to keep information from Congress, the courts, and the media, there is still much we do not know about its policies. We do know, however, that officials have admitted to waterboarding detainees, which experts -- including the current Attorney General -- almost unanimously agree to be torture. We know that the President admitted to a program of wiretapping Americans without warrants. And information in the public domain overwhelmingly suggests that the government had a policy of "rendering" people, for the purpose of interrogation, to countries that are known to engage in torture. All three practices go against the plain text of statutes duly enacted by Congress. That information is more than sufficient to trigger not only the need, but the obligation to learn all of the facts surrounding these and other counter-terrorism policies. Nonetheless, diehard supporters of the former administration continue to resist an investigation by invoking the specter of "criminalization." This is a red herring. While a commission might well find violations of criminal law (in which case, we clearly would no longer be in the realm of mere "policy differences"), the Department of Justice is unlikely to initiate criminal investigations, due to strong political pressures against prosecuting former government officials. Even if that were not the case, the existence of the notorious OLC opinions purporting to justify the illegal conduct would likely provide a defense that would discourage the Justice Department from pursuing this route. The "criminalization" bogeyman is off-base for another reason: many of the most important ends a commission would serve have little or nothing to do with the investigation and punishment of specific crimes. To be sure, a commission would answer the question of whether particular policies were unlawful. But it also would answer equally vital questions that a prosecutor would have no reason (and no jurisdiction) to ask, including how and why our policies veered off course, what institutional failures allowed this to happen, how to fix those institutional failures to ensure that the problem will not recur, and how best to bring the policies in question back in line with the rule of law. And the commission's mandate to learn the truth would be much broader than the mandate held by a prosecutor, whose interest lies only in the facts of any given case. Of course, there are some goals of criminal prosecution -- achieving accountability and vindicating the rule of law, for instance -- that a commission ought to share. There are a number of ways in which a commission could achieve these goals, even with criminal prosecution effectively off the table. To name just a few: the commission could highlight systemic problems that could be corrected through legislation; it could motivate voters to organize behind the issues in question and to demand better conduct by their elected representatives; it could send a message to the world about what our nation stands for; and it could serve as a warning to those who would stray from the rule of law in the future. Commission opponents are right about one thing: to avoid a cycle of political recrimination, there should be a presumption against creating commissions to investigate the conduct of prior administrations. That presumption is already safely in place. As President Obama's lukewarm response to calls for an independent commission demonstrates, administrations are naturally reluctant to initiate such investigations, both because of the fear of setting a precedent and because of the potential for a political backlash. That presumption should be overcome, however, in sufficiently compelling cases - such as where high-level government officials have admitted to conduct that nearly all legal experts believe to be against the law. In such cases, the vision of the "partisan witch hunt" falls away. Fidelity to the rule of law is -- or at least, should be -- a non-partisan issue on which all Americans agree. Indeed, the commission should not limit itself to investigating the actions of the Bush administration; it should examine the role of Congress, which has been controlled by Democrats for the past two years, in allowing or even aiding these actions. It also should examine whether any unlawful policies (such as extraordinary rendition) pre-dated the Bush administration and/or have continued into the Obama administration. Policy differences are a natural part of political life in this country, and we must tolerate them. Unlawful conduct by government officials, however, must never be tolerated. We currently face a real risk that recent unlawful activities will come to be viewed as mere policy preferences, due to political pressures against doing what is necessary to learn the truth. Such a result - not the criminalization of policy differences, but the politicization of unlawful conduct - would be an affront to the rule of law. We need an independent commission to prevent that from happening. Elizabeth Goitein is the Director of the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Project. More on War Crimes
 
Matt Littman: The Republican Party's Spokesperson Should Be... Top
It is really remarkable to watch the Republican Party implode. This was the Party that had it all. The Presidency, Congress. Today, their leading spokespeople are Bobby Jindall and Michael Steele. They watch President Obama's oratory and popularity, and they have tried to emulate him - with people of color, youth. This is like watching the NFL teams try to emulate the Super Bowl winner - they won the championship with the 3-4 defense, so we'll play the 3-4! We'll hire the assistant from the championship team! Usually, by the time you emulate the winner, the league is on to some new trend. Or, you have actually missed what made that team win. And in the case of the Republican Party, they're missing out on an important point about Obama's popularity. Aside from the fact that he's "new" and talks about "hope" and "change," President Obama's popularity is soaring because he is perceived as sober, responsible, and concerned about the vast majority of Americans. We just had a disastrous, divisive President who often seemed overwhelmed by the job. He was incredibly irresponsible. He probably never wanted to be President in the first place. This President is a response to that President. Forget the fact that he's African-American, or relatively young. He is pro-active - and that is the most important characteristic about him that Republicans can emulate. Let me give a comparison for the Republicans reading this (and if there are, what are you doing on the Huffington Post?): in 1993, David Dinkins was finishing a disastrous first term as Mayor of New York City. Crime was on the rise, Dinkins seemed out of touch, and often idle, as the City appeared headed toward dark days. Along came Rudy Giuliani. Rudy was, essentially, a war-time Mayor. He came into office and he acted - there was no question as to who was in charge. You may not have liked everything he did, but you could never say that he was not trying. Just the fact that he was so on top of things - showing up at every crime scene, finding new ways to fight crime - helped the City's confidence. The City, which had seemingly intractable problems and many felt was in a state of permanent decay, was instead on the move again. Obama is Rudy Giuliani (the Rudy of his first-term, not the Rudy of his second-term, who still thought he was a war-time Mayor even though the City was at peace). The country seems to have intractable problems. But we have a pro-active President, one who shows up everywhere, is on TV nearly every day, and with the sheer force of his personality, he makes a difference. All of his ideas will not work - but he's going to try. Some say America is in decline - President Obama says we will be on the move again. Now, here's where today's Republicans come in: the point isn't that their new spokespeople are charismatic like Obama; young like Obama; of color like Obama. The point should be that they are sober leaders who can speak with authority on the situation that we are in today, and speak with authority on the changes that should be made so we can get out of this mess. That's what the American people want right now. Michael Steele is not an authority on the issues facing the country, and he has proven to be a disaster on TV. Bobby Jindall had a shot, but his ideas were the same old same old, and he was awful on TV, so he's out, too. Who's left? Rudy Giuliani flew off the deep end years ago, and now he's a punch-line. He's out. Obviously, the moderates don't take Sarah Palin seriously. Out. I know Rush Limbaugh is intimidating to the Republicans in Congress, but seriously, folks. He's out. Eric Cantor, the Congressman, may be a power on the Hill, but he's putting the Republicans in a deep hole. Paul Ryan is a young Congressman with credibility - maybe he can be the person Republicans need, but he may be too new to be an authority. There are two that I can think of for the Republicans right now: Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. The rise of Newt has been well chronicled lately. Newt has more ideas in his head than any other leader out there. But Newt still remains a divisive figure. And Mitt - well, here's the thing. Mitt ran a horrible campaign for President. He ran against his own previously stated positions. He ran a campaign that was appropriate for 1988, not 2008. He missed the yacht on what the country was looking for, and he was passed in the race by John McCain. But Mitt can speak with authority on the economic crisis facing the country. Now, as a Democrat, I don't agree with much of what Mitt would say. But if I'm a Republican, or one who recently left the Party, I may listen to Mitt, given his previous positions of power in the business world. Certainly, he speaks with more authority than the radical righties on Capitol Hill, who speak of nothing but tax cuts. If Mitt is willing to reject Republican Party orthodoxy, and I don't believe Mitt is as "conservative" as he pretended to be in 2008, he may have some ideas that voters would find palatable. This is his opportunity, to be Mitt, the guy who brought health care to Massachussets, the guy who turned around the Olympics, the guy whose father led Michigan and who knows the auto industry. And so, Republicans, do not look for Obama-lite as your spokesperson. Look to Mitt Romney. He could not answer the call in 2008, but maybe he can do so now. He is your best bet. More on Barack Obama
 
Craig Aaron: Fairness Doctrine 'Debate' Goes Off the Deep End Top
The Fairness Doctrine is dead. But some Republicans are still trying to prop up the issue and parade it around in a tired political theater production of Weekend at Bernie's . The star of the show is Rush Limbaugh, de facto leader of the Republican Party, who saw one of his latest crusades derailed last week when the Democrat -controlled Senate overwhelmingly voted to permanently ban the long-deceased federal rule that required broadcasters to present contrasting views on controversial issues. Needing a new bogeyman, Limbaugh has turned his sights to the next head of the Federal Communications Commission. On Wednesday's show he compared FCC nominee Julius Genachowski to -- surprise, surprise -- Hugo Chavez: I did a little research on Mr. Julius last night, and it turns out that Mr. Julius is very devoted to localism, local content rules. He's very devoted to the concept of minority ownership, diversifying in ownership. Julius Genachowski, this man's resume sounds like he would fit perfectly with Hugo Chavez in identifying some of this media critical of the government and devising strategies of what to do about it. Welcome to El Rushbo's alternate universe, where a moderate lawyer and venture capitalist is synonymous with the Venezuelan president; diversity is something to fear; localism equals communism; and the greatest threat to free speech is still a rarely enforced rule that disappeared from the books during the Reagan administration. Doctrine Not Dead Yet? As I've written again and again , there is no chance the Fairness Doctrine will come back. There's no bill to reinstate it in Congress, no proceeding before the FCC that would resurrect it, and no public interest advocates are campaigning for it. President Barack Obama has unequivocally and repeatedly stated his opposition to its return. Of course, none of that dissuaded Sen. Jim DeMint from attaching an amendment banning the Fairness Doctrine to a completely unrelated bill on voting rights for Washington, D.C. While waving his arms and decrying "socialism" on the Senate floor, DeMint also tried to sneak a line into his legislation that would prevent the FCC from imposing "any similar requirement that broadcasters meet programming quotas or guidelines for issues of public importance." Such incredibly broad language would mean, for example, that the FCC couldn't require a minimum amount of children's or public affairs programming, or even suggest that stations using the public airwaves try to pay attention to their local communities. Fortunately, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) caught on to this ruse and introduced his own amendment, striking the devious part of DeMint's legislation and reaffirming the FCC's commitment to "take actions to encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership." Let's be clear about what happened: Durbin, along with 86 other senators , voted to keep the Fairness Doctrine in the grave. All Durbin's amendment, which passed on a party-line vote 57-41 , would do is clarify that the FCC could continue carrying out its core mission -- as enshrined in the Communications Act of 1934 -- to promote competition, localism and diversity in the media. So the Senate voted to abolish a rule that didn't exist and endorse policies that have been in place for 75 years. To the barricades! The 'Durbin Doctrine' Within minutes of the Senate vote, DeMint was braying about how the Democrats were going to censor conservative and Christian radio via the terrifying and now unlocked back door . Then he went on Lou Dobbs to sound the alarm. Suddenly, the Fairness Doctrine had mutated into the new, more dangerous "Durbin Doctrine." Soon, L. Brent Bozell III of the Media Research Center was ominously warning of Julius Genachowski's history as a "a long-time proponent of media-ownership rules that encourage more diversity" and demanding that the new FCC chief publicly disavow use of the "frightening new governmental censorship powers" allegedly handed to him by Durbin. Of course, there are no such powers. There's no legal way for the FCC to use ownership rules or localism requirements to censor content. In theory, the agency could ask broadcasters to hold community events and get feedback from their listeners in exchange for their lucrative licenses to use the public airwaves. All the rest is an absurd fantasy completely divorced from reality and history, which shows broadcast licenses have been revoked in only the most extreme and rare circumstances. (Like a KKK-run TV station in Mississippi in 1969.) All this talk of censorship is a little hard to swallow from Bozell, who founded the Parents Television Council to go after "indecency" and stray swear words on TV. While he's happy for the government to spend taxpayer money to guard against nipple slips, the idea of encouraging minority ownership or asking broadcasters to meet every few years with their listeners is somehow one step away from the Gulag. Here's the other thing: Bozell was for the "Durbin Doctrine" before he was against it. To his flip-flopping credit, in fact, Bozell and his colleagues not only have encouraged the FCC to keep an eye out for smut, but they've long opposed runaway media consolidation and supported more local ownership. And Comrade Bozell's not alone in his pink-hued affection for the now dreaded "localism." His fellow travelers include Bush-appointed FCC chairs Kevin Martin ("broadcasters are required to meet the needs and interests of their local audience") and Michael Powell ("Given our shared commitment in this area, I am optimistic that we will reach consensus on how the FCC can promote localism by broadcasters.") Big Media Megaphone In fact, even Clear Channel is fan of localism when it suits its purposes. The radio giant is endlessly touting its free, local service when seeking favors at the FCC. Most recently, the conglomerate opposed the XM-Sirius satellite merger because, to quote from Clear Channel's filing , "Permitting one company to control so much spectrum would inevitably undermine the viability of free, over-the-air, advertiser-supported radio's economic model, harming localism and diversity, the pillars of the public interest under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended." Clear Channel also just so happens to be the company that syndicates Rush Limbaugh and awarded him with a $400 million contract last year. Nobody could argue he's not earning his keep. For a guy who supposedly such a foe of the mainstream media, he sure spends a lot of time doing their bidding : Let's say you've got a large owner of radio stations. Clear Channel happens to own, what is it, 1,700 radio stations, they're not all talk, a lot of them are music stations. They even have Chinese opera format radio stations. But somebody like Obama and his new FCC chairman might look at that and say, "There's not enough diversity, one big company, no, no, no, we need to break some of that up. ... We've gotta bust up some of these conglomerate guys and open up radio to minority ownership. So, you do that, and if a bunch of minorities end up owning a bunch of stations. ... If some of them don't like me, get rid of me, put on Al Sharpton. Get rid of me, find some local program. This is the way they envision it happening. Some might remember a time when we actually had local radio newsrooms, local music, local talent, and local owners who actually lived in the community. Some might ask why women and people of color own so few of the nation's radio stations. Some might question how many of the nearly 2,000 Clear Channel employees sacked on Inauguration Day might still have jobs if Rush took home a little less. But who has time to worry about all that with localism on the march and the Fairness Doctrine lurking out back?
 
John Morton: Enjoy Today Regardless, It's Your Choice Top
If you knew you had one day left before going to prison for the rest of your life, what would you do on that last day of freedom? Perhaps those are the things we all should be doing right now. Things that really nurture us. Things that put us in touch with our Spirit. Whether we're making enough money and things are really fortunate for us or not, we can still choose to be happy regardless. When we're in touch with our Spirit, we don't get caught up in the negativity of the world. Instead, we have the choice to transform it. And that's really what's in front of all of us each day. We have infinite choices to transform our worries, doubts, and judgments into something better. Whatever takes place, especially with the things we don't control, we can choose to change our attitude and enjoy them somehow, someway. In spite of the adversity around us, we can still do things that put a smile on our face. In other words, it's up to us to find a way to have a good day and look to how we can contribute and make things better even in seemingly small ways. Someone once told me that his difficulties were so great he felt it was impossible to have a good day. I disagreed. "Find your gratitude. It's a great key for me," I said. "When I'm having difficulties, I look to the things in my life for which I feel grateful." "Don't base your actions and choices on fear," I said. "If you find yourself doing things out of your worry and fear, just let that go. Instead, get practical. Do what you need to do. And look to your faith and trust." When I find the going has become particularly tough and I feel stuck, then my trust in the inherent good in people and things can really assist. It is also helpful to have patience for how long it may take to find that a happy day is here again. Gratitude works tremendously as a tonic or prescription for my sense of well-being and comfort. It frees me up from worry and fear. So I choose that no matter what happens in my life, I'm not going to let the current situation determine whether I'm happy or not. I'm not going to let what goes on in the world dictate whether I'm fulfilled or not. I choose an attitude of gratitude and often begin with patience in letting go of a disturbance. When I'm worrying or feeling afraid, often that's the best time for me to smell the flowers, look at the trees, and take in the beauty surrounding me. Even if I don't have any money, I can still enjoy a walk on the beach or a run in the park. Even if I'm locked up somewhere, I can still enjoy my breath and the peace present within me. Regardless of the circumstances, I can choose to fully take in the freedom and joy present within me in any moment. I have a trust inside, an inner strength and conviction, that I can withstand the worst things about this world. It's partly from my own personal experience. But it also comes from what I know is the power of God, the power that can withstand and overcome the negativity of this world. My trust goes to God. And in that trust, I have great peace and calm and a sense of blessings in my life. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Learn more about John Morton at www.theblessings.org . Contact John at johnmorton@theblessings.org. More on Happiness
 
Dr. Michael J. Breus: Headaches and Insomnia Going Hand in Hand Top
Headaches come with the territory these days. Any look at the news can give you one of the most common types around: the tension-type. But if you suffer from chronic tension headaches and resort to sleeping them off, you may want to listen up: a new study out of Rush University just emerged showing a behavioral link between these kinds of headaches and insomnia. In other words, you could be worsening your headaches--and the quality of your sleep--by snoozing them off. It's no surprise that one of the ways to treat a headache is to lie down and take a nap (assuming, of course, you have the luxury of napping in the middle of your day). But napping can also conflict with your nighttime sleep if it's not planned carefully. It also appears to incite a vicious cycle: 59 percent of those in the study with tension-type headaches complained of sleep problems as a trigger of those headaches. It's the classic catch-22. Sleep to dull headache. Sleep to trigger headache. Not fair? Well, there are some solutions to consider. The first is treating the headache with other means, such as drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen. A little bit of caffeine can help, too (which can be found in headache meds like Excedrin). But the secret is to be mindful of your nighttime sleep schedule and avoid things that can disrupt your normal bedtime. I've always advocated avoiding naps after 3 pm, and the same goes for caffeine, including those caffeine-rich headache medicines. So what do you do if your head begins to pound in the late afternoon? The late-day headache can be a monster. Sometimes they are simply the result of: staring too long at the computer losing all sense of good posture and straining your neck, upper back, and shoulders forgetting to have a snack when your blood-sugar dives not realizing you haven't had anything to drink in hours letting the tensions of the day pile up in your head--literally. For late-day headaches, why don't you try: Take a 15 minute break from whatever you were doing. Go outside, breathe in some fresh air, and get your circulation going at a faster clip. You'd be amazed by what a little circulation can do. Have a light snack and drink plenty of water. Consider a brisk walk. If you can work the headache out without resorting to pills, naps, or caffeine late in the day, you'll be able to sleep better at night and welcome a better--headache-free--day the next. Nothing is more frustrating than a headache that won't go away... or chronic insomnia that has you perpetually on edge. The good news is acknowledging the link between the two can kill these two annoying beasts with one stone.  Sweet Dreams, The Sleep Doctor Michael Breus, PhD This article by The Sleep Doctor is also available at Dr. Breus's official blog, The Insomnia Blog . More on Health
 
GM shares hit lowest point in 75 years Top
NEW YORK — General Motors Corp. shares on Friday fell to their lowest point in more than 75 years, as investors fretted that despite government help the ailing automaker may still be forced to file for bankruptcy protection. GM shares hit a low of $1.27 in late morning trading Friday, before rebounding to $1.45 in midday trading. The low point matched a record set on May 4, 1933, according to the Center for Research in Security Prices at the University of Chicago. The price is adjusted for splits and other changes. GM released a statement Friday saying that it had not changed it position on a possible bankruptcy protection filing, and that an out of court restructuring remains its best option. "As a prudent business measure, the company has analyzed various bankruptcy scenarios," GM said in its statement. "However, the company firmly believes an in-court restructuring would carry with it tremendous costs and risks, the most significant being a dramatic deterioration of revenue due to lost sales." Even if the automaker doesn't file for bankruptcy protection, analysts have said that a government bailout of the automaker will also dilute its shares to the point that they are nearly worthless. Friday's stock drop comes as members of the Obama administration's auto task force continue to meet with GM's stakeholders and weigh their options. On Thursday, members of the task force met with representatives of General Motors' bondholders, along with the chief executive of Fiat Group SpA whose company wants to form an alliance with GM's fellow ailing automaker Chrysler LLC. The news came on the same day that Detroit-based GM released its annual report in which its auditors said they had doubts about whether GM can overcome its staggering losses and generate enough cash to stay in business. GM said in the report that it's on the edge of bankruptcy and won't be able to avoid it unless it gets more government money and successfully executes a huge restructuring plan. The automaker lost $30.9 billion last year, is living on $13.4 billion in U.S. government loans, and is seeking up to $30 billion as it tries to survive the worst auto sales climate in 27 years. GM is also hoping to get help from other countries. The automaker's Adam Opel AG subsidiary wants to secure at least $3.8 billion from the German government. More on Auto Bailout
 
Kay Koplovitz: At Last, Steve Forbes and I agree: Get rid of onerous mark to market accounting rules, institute the uptick rule for short sellers and enforce rules for naked short selling Top
At Last, Steve Forbes and I agree: Get rid of onerous mark to market accounting rules, institute the uptick rule for short sellers and enforce rules for naked short selling There aren't many topics relating to policy on which Steve Forbes and I agree. But his editorial in The Wall Street Journal today is spot on. There are three onerous rules that were implemented under President George W. Bush that are causing great harm to the banking businesses, accelerating the liquidity crisis and damaging stocks of companies large and small. The first of these is the mark to market accounting rule that was put into place in 2007. Forcing banks , insurance companies and other financial institutions to mark to market assets such as subprime securities when there was no market is a major mistake. It is causing a death spiral downward even for banks and insurance companies that have positive cash flow. Unless this insanity is stopped, we will see the scorched earth scenario played out before our very eyes. This is unnecessary and can be stopped by the Obama administration, if they have the will power to do it. The second damage residue left from the Bush administration was the eliminating of the uptick rule for short sellers. Removing the uptick rule just allows short sellers to pile on and drive stocks uncontrollably downward at alarming speeds. If you wonder how so much equity was lost in a blink of an eye since September 2008, you will find one very good reason in removing the uptick requirement. The SEC instituted this change in July 2007, and a volatile market quickly ensued. Let's put that uptick rule back in place. The third policy, this one the Bush administration failed to enforce and is not being enforced today, is the policy against naked short selling. Short sellers are supposed to borrow the stock before short selling it in the market, thereby requiring access to the stock you are shorting. The SEC has failed to enforce this requirement, thereby allowing short sellers to pile on a pressured stock without taking this first important step. I am 100 % supportive of all three actions. These times demand corrective measures now.
 
Be A Citizen Scientist, Help Study Climate Change Top
If you dreamed of being a scientist but took a different career path, here's your opportunity to do some side work to save the planet as a citizen scientist. Here's the skinny - volunteers from all over the nation are needed to get outside and start paying attention. The USA-National Phenology Network will use observations made by the volunteers about seasonal events, like the flowering of plants and when trees fruit, to track the effects of climate change. "This program is designed for people interested in participating in climate change science, not just reading about it," said USA-NPN Executive Director and U.S. Geological Survey scientist Jake Weltzin. "We encourage everyone to visit the USA National Phenology Network Web site and then go outside and observe the marvelous cycles of plant and animal life." More on Climate Change
 
Paul Klein: Another Strong Chicago Exhibition Top
I didn't really want to write an ArtLetter this week. My prerequisite is that I've got at least three openings I want to write about. And this week I only found two. But one was so strong I'm here at my keyboard to tell you about it. Sarah Krepp's exhibition at Roy Boyd Gallery is the 3rd show by a seasoned Chicago artist that has moved me in the past couple of months. The first impression I have of Krepp's work is the massive amount of labor she brings to her canvasses. David Hockney wrote many years ago about time: how long an artist spends making a piece is directly related to how long a viewer spends with it. Shredded car tires play a significant role in her work, adding a strong 3-dimensional element which balances the multiple cuts she makes into most paintings. Yes, the art moves forward and back from the painted surface, which by the way is painted after she has spent an obsessive amount of time sewing tire parts, text, game pieces and symbols into place. The art exists on many levels and so does its meaning, dealing with sensory perception as indicated by the exhibition title: Blind Sight, which is how people, blind included, can sense objects in their physical space without using their eyes. Loaded with content the work addresses cacophony, decipherable or indecipherable esoteric forms - depending on our familiarity with scientific charts, eye tests, wind patterns and dance steps. Keep looking; more will reveal itself momentarily. I see a gestalt that suggests Krepp's art is a parable for life, how we are composite individuals, with multiple relationships and affinities, yet on the surface we all look pretty normal. Sarah Krepp's new show is impressive. The other show I enjoyed is at a small new gallery at 1513 N. Western Avenue named FR Works on Paper which opens Saturday night. FR stands for Frank and Robert, who have been collecting works on paper for decades and are now editing their collection significantly. There are some works, either on view, or in print drawers that are over 200 years old and there are pieces that aren't very old at all. Some of the works have known artists - many do not. And the pieces are invariably very inexpensive. This is a fabulous resource for people who want antique works on paper at prices cheaper than the frames this art is likely to go in. I was surprised to learn that Susan Aurenko is closing her Flatfile Galleries . She has represented a lot of photographers and has been very supportive of local sculptors and numerous Chicago artists. This is what happens in our compromised economy. To the extent we can, we need to support our local galleries or we aren't going to have as many. Looks like a good weekend; there's art to see, Paul Klein
 
Ari Bendersky: Who Wants Wine? Top
Great Deals Abound at Chicago's Restaurants How many times have you gone out to dinner, looked at the wine list and scoffed at the price of some of the bottles? Deep down you knew you wanted to try one but just couldn't bring yourself to shell out the money. A number of restaurants around town have started offering many or most of the wines on their lists for major discounts -- but on select nights. Every Sunday and Monday Vivo hosts Vivo Enoteca. The restaurant offers select bottles at really reduced prices. For example, grab a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label for just $67 (normally this goes for $100). If you like Chardonnay, branch out and try the 2006 Donnafugatta Chiaranda and save $25 off the normal $75 price tag. It's a delicious, robust wine that goes well with salmon, pasta or chicken. And if you want a real treat, pick out the 2001 Masi 'Vaio' Amarone for $97 (regularly $145). Amarone is one of my favorite wines -- it's big, lush, jammy and generally a wonderful drinking wine. If you can't make it out Sunday or Monday, head in Tuesday or Wednesday when a bottle purchase of $75 or more lets you get a second bottle of equal or lesser value for half price. What's better than a big red with a fat steak? Not much. That's why on Sundays Custom House now offers 50 percent off every bottle on their list -- and you get to eat Shawn McClain's incredible dishes. It's not just reds, but whites and sparklings as well. Right -- 1997 Laurent Perrier Brut for $62.50. A great New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc for just $21 (that'd be the Saint Clair Vicar's Choice ). And then there's the big, bad reds. You can get Walter Hansel 2006 North Slope Pinot Noir for $42.50; Tensly 2006 Colson Canyon Syrah for $37.50; Susan Balbo 2007 Malbec for $31; even 1995 Graves Chateau la Mission Haut Brion for $325. Hey -- it's a Bordeaux for half off -- can you really complain? If you're just in the mood for a really delicious glass of reserve red, head to Nacional 27 on Mondays where sommelier Adam Seger hand selects a glass for just $5. And if you decide you want a bottle -- and then really love it -- you can purchase a full, unopened bottle at 30 percent off. Every night. It's a great new promotion -- 30 percent wines to go. Not bad. More on Food
 
Javan Rhinoceros Could Be Doomed, Fewer Than 60 Remain Top
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Time and space are running out for the Javan Rhinoceros _ the most endangered mammal in the world. There are fewer than 60 left in the wild _ almost all in a single Indonesian national park _ and numbers appear to be declining for the first time in decades because of low birthrates, said Christy Williams, the WWF's Asian Rhino Specialist. "We need to take immediate, urgent action to try to move some of these rhinos to another suitable site, either on Java or Sumatra island," he said Friday. "If we don't act quickly, I think we could lose this population." The Javan rhino weighs 5,000 pounds (2,300 kilograms) and measures more than 10 feet (3 meters) in length. Conservation groups say it is the world's most endangered mammal. About 50 live in Ujung Kulon National Park, but it appears that only three of the females are breeding continuously, said Adhi Rachmat Hariyadi, who leads WWF-Indonesia's project in the park. As a result, an average of one calf is born every year _ near to the number of animals dying, and four times fewer than would be needed to sustain a healthy, growing rhino population, he and others say. Williams said the park may have reached the maximum number of rhinos it can support and the animals may also be struggling to compete for scare resources with growing populations of wild cattle. The government is working with conservation groups to find a suitable second site for the Java rhinos, which would help protect them from catastrophic events like disease or natural disasters, Williams said. Researchers say a smaller population of Javan rhinos in Vietnam does not appear to be breeding anymore. ___ On the Net: International Rhino Foundation: http://www.rhinos-irf.org More on Animals
 
FBI: DC Police Officers Spent Time With Suspicious Figures Around Inauguration Top
In the days leading up to President Obama's inauguration, U.S. law enforcement agencies huddled regularly in an effort to minimize any possible security risk to an event that promised record crowds for the country's first black president. But one agenda item led authorities to a target close to home: the ranks of the U.S. Capitol Police. More on Obama's Inauguration
 
David Murray: The One Thing in the City That's Actually Getting Better Top
The economy started going bad just as we felt the first fall nips in Chicago, and for many consecutive months our troubles have multiplied with the potholes. So it came to me as a pleasant surprise that Wednesday was the first official day of the golf season at the Chicago Park District. And here's an even more pleasant surprise for urban golfers ready to come out of hibernation: This summer the Park District courses will finally get the long-needed "shave and a haircut" I called for here back in October . Once improved but then long left unkempt by Kemper Sports , "all of the courses will be in much better shape this year," promises Bill Rehanek, senior vice president for Billy Casper Golf , the management company that outbid Kemper for a 15-year deal to run the six courses and other golf facilities. Casper will invest $5.5 million and provide "agro minds and bodies" to make the courses better, according to Rehanek. (The deal's basic terms: Casper gets an annual fee of $875,000 annually to manage the courses, and collects five percent of the courses' gross revenues when those revenues exceed $2.5 million.) Rehanek warns us not to expect miracles immediately: "Our guests on day one will not find completely remodeled clubhouses and acres of [new] sod, but they will immediately be struck by an overwhelming sense of caring." Sorry, Bill, but to Park District regulars, that's a miracle. The bidding rivalry between Kemper and Casper was quietly cantankerous, and Rehanek and vice president of Midwest operations Jered Wieland know they're under "a lot of microscopes," as Rehanek puts it. Wieland says he's working ungodly hours getting familiar with each Park District course and ascertaining most urgent needs of each. He's having facilities cleaned, he's ordering new equipment and he's hiring new staff to replace the entrenched Park District greens keepers and clubhouse workers. "The staff were all Kemper employees so when Kemper did not win the contract the staff lost their positions at the CPD facilities," Wieland says, snuffing out the notion that incumbents will get favored status. "We accept applications from anyone who wishes to apply with us and we give everyone consideration when they apply." Those of us who have seen what Casper has accomplished with Cook County's Forest Preserve courses--before Casper took them over six years ago they were as scruffy as the Park District courses are today--don't doubt that we will indeed see major improvements at the Park District courses: the snarly trees will be trimmed, the weedy fairways will be seeded and watered and mown and the bumpy greens will be smooth. The service will be enthusiastic and friendly ("our guests," indeed!) and the whole operation will be much better organized. Of course, we also struggle to imagine a South Shore where golfers stuck behind a slow group won't walk willy-nilly across the course to find an open hole. We worry that we'll miss the homeless guy fishing balls out of the pond at Jackson Park and selling them to golfers playing through. We feel prematurely nostalgic for Waveland in the winter, with the broken branches for flagsticks. We look forward to telling our grandchildren about Columbus Park, where large families would play golf together, as a traveling picnic. The price of progress, I suppose. In any case: I plan to supervise these golf courses very closely this summer. Like, starting tomorrow morning.
 
Michelle Obama's Oprah Magazine Cover: Winfrey's First Shared Cover Top
CHICAGO — After sharing the cover of her magazine with her slimmer self a couple months back, Oprah Winfrey is for the first time sharing it with somebody else: first lady Michelle Obama. Winfrey showed off the cover of the April issue during "The Oprah Winfrey Show" broadcast Friday. The media mogul had gone solo on the "O" magazine cover for nine years. In the issue that will hit the newsstands March 17, Winfrey interviews the first lady about topics ranging from her decorating philosophy to how she hopes she can help other women. In the interview, Obama talks about her first weekend in the White House and how the Obama family sees it as their responsibility to make the White House what she calls the "people's house." ___ On the Net: http://www.oprah.com/index More on Oprah
 
Fight Green Fatigue: Remember The Victories Top
Depressed About the State of the Planet? If you're an avid follower of green news, particular the harder green news about climate change, natural resource depletion and pollution it is really easy to get depressed, thinking we're really going to hell in the proverbial hand-basket. Things can seem pretty grim, but here are a couple of genuine green success stories. Here's an obscure one, but it's still a success: Gainesville, Florida establishes a feed-in tariff for solar power. Why is this uplifting? Because even though they are popular and successful in Europe for promoting renewable energy, and less expensive than any of the methods in the United States I might add, they have not seen much favor here. Perhaps its because they are seen as not market-based enough. Whatever the reason, it genuinely encourages me to know that there is a community thinking outside the US's normal boundaries and doing the right thing. More on Green Living
 
Marcia G. Yerman: An "Unconference" for Online Communities Top
In February, I attended the "Online Community Unconference East" in New York City, presented by Forum One Networks . The goal was to attract those active in the online community to share experiences, and to strategize on how best to grow and develop online communities. There was the requisite talk about software and technology. Yet, just as much discussion was geared to creating new forms of engagement and messaging, along with philosophical discourse on the "new paradigms" that have been wrought by the Internet and new media. Bill Johnston, the Chief Community Officer for Forum One Network, gave me a brief overview of what to expect. He explained the unconference format, which has been around for twenty years. "In an open space methodology," Johnston said, "the participants set the agenda." He walked me over to what had started out as a large, empty grid - that was now filled with a wide variety of topics. There were six to eight time slots for breakouts in different rooms. "It's very democratic and participatory," Johnston told me. "Also responsibility based," he added. "If you don't see a topic, propose it!" We conversed briefly about the "Obama effect" on the online community. Johnston mentioned that members of Obama's campaign team have been spotted attending "these types of events." Johnston spoke of the new administration's commitment to the use of web tools, referencing the change.gov site and its innovative features, proposals, and citizen briefing book. With some time to spare before the start of the next session, I checked out the information on the four event sponsors: Hive Live, Amplify, Athena East, and Leverage Software. The media sponsor was Mashable . HiveLive 's materials featured a reprinted Q & A with CEO John Kembel, who posited a now entrenched POV that "social networking is changing the rules of marketing." Kembel emphasized the shift away form the "traditional one-way message to a two-way dialogue." He opined, "Every community is unique...so it's absolutely necessary to find a solution that can support the specific activities of your community." Amplify characterized the top challenges for community managers as "moderation, monetization, and measurement." Athena East was offering strategic methods to "develop, moderate, and maintain online communities." Leverage Software was touting tools that could be "customized, and integrated into existing systems" with ease, as well as an "eventconnect" platform. I sat in on the "Monetizing the Web" session, a topic Johnston had told me earlier "has been a challenge since day one of the web." The "conflict between print and the web" was brought up. The question was raised, "Is it worthwhile trying to sell content anymore? A reply came suggesting, "Content is the sizzle that sells something else." The exchange kept circling back to how the distribution model was changing -- and the fixation on how to impact old media concepts. Michael T. Petit, Co-Founder of Amplify, referenced one of the tenants of his company..."Keeping advertisers secure that you won't serve ads where users are trashing their products (i.e. A Toyota car ad adjacent to a blog about how "Toyoto sucks."). Petit, who comes out of advertising, commented that one of the durable trends of the Internet was, "We don't control content." The theory that there was "a lot to be learned from looking at the past," was put forth by Donald Schwartz , Technology Coordinator for Fast Company.com . He was interested in social communities going back to the bulletin board systems, because the forms worked so well due to "easy to follow threads." A vigorous debate on the "tyranny of the clicks" took place, with statements ranging from "CPV became the metric because that was all that was available" to "It's not about how often people click, but about face time." A man in his mid- twenties inferred that there was a generational disparity, as "Millennials don't even see the ads." "The whole advertising model is broken," insisted one participant. "It's about engagement! The cornerstone to community content is to know where you resonate." Relationship was another word that came up frequently, particularly in deconstructing the ad agency model which was "campaign based as opposed to relationship based." At this point, a man chimed in, "The old model didn't work. Why bother?" Thinking about the ramifications of that question, I caught up with him to learn more about his perspective. His name was Vidar Brekke, CEO and Co-Founder of SocialIntent , a four-month-old company. Working in the industry for ten years, Brekke came from Norway to pursue a PhD in Communications. After getting a Master's degree, became involved with start-ups and product development in the late 1990's. He even did a stint as Vice-President of Marketing at JP Morgan Chase ("The one thing my mother's proud of," he confides.) Brekke's opinion is that brands need to be personal. "How do brands insert themselves into that personal space?" he asked. Then answering his own question he replied, "You have to give them the tools." He emphasized, "Social media is a product extension." The problem, as Brekke sees it, is that those in charge are not yet ready to let go of the "agency model." They are "risk averse" and "fail to see new capacities." He points to what he terms "corporate vigilantes...tied in to the status quo." Brekke related that he is "called in for all the wrong reasons." A client may contact him, not because they are theoretically ready to integrate new media into their approach, but because of their anxiety that their "competition did something." In speaking of his company's role Brekke said, "We're a specialized unit. We figure out what's wrong, and try to fix it." But he still keeps crashing against the resistance to the fact that social media "doesn't fit into the advertising/pr model." "Facebook is a tactic, not a strategy," Brekke said, echoing a similar exchange that I had recently with Stan Magniant of linkfluence . Talking about a current client, a book author who has written about finances," Brekke elucidated how he would be "webalizing the book" through pulling it apart, creating tools, placing an application on Facebook and "bringing the book's promise to life - because when your friends engage, there is reinforcement in the social group." All this would "be on top of the traditional public relations campaign." The conference ended with an open forum where participants offered the most important things they had learned that day. There were numerous sound bites of advice. "If you get five to ten posts a day per forum on a community site, you're doing well." "It's not the numbers in a community. It's who the people are and what they are doing." "Despite a down economy, there is a lot of innovation." "Let your community grow organically. Don't impose your thoughts on them." The group exemplified a true willingness to share. There is a conference wiki that is still being updated. Before leaving, I spoke with Scott Moore , who does strategy, design and consulting, gave me a brief primer on "computation linguistics." Gadi Ben-Yehuda, a government 2.0 specialist, spoke about his work for the District of Columbia . "I came to the event to learn about how other people are managing their online communities, and activating them in the physical world." I saw Johnston again on my way out, and asked him how he thought the day had gone. "A lot of really good energy," he replied. " A lot of very specific information about what didn't work, how to create engagement...and it spanned all sectors." Reflecting on the "myriad set of experiences" that had been shared he remarked, "It was almost like group therapy." Technorati Profile More on Facebook
 
Dr. Eric Braverman: Ask for A Brain Health Checkup Top
One of the indisputable facts of science is that our head is attached to the rest of our body. However, most doctors seem to forget all about your head, or the brain that it houses, when you seek treatment for any type of medical condition, complaint, or symptom. I strongly believe that they are wrong. As a doctor who has been focusing on brain research and treatment for more than 30 years, I know that when your body is not working properly, the first place to examine is your brain. The brain's health controls the body's health. Yet every day, millions of people are diagnosed with a host of ailments from heart disease to depression, headaches to cancer, insomnia to obesity, without taking brain health into consideration. Today, scientists and doctors are just beginning to uncover the mysteries that lie deep within the brain. Medical care is finally moving away from the model of treating symptoms related to individual organs and body systems, and beginning to look at the whole human body as one living system. However, most physicians still use the words 'brain' and 'mind' interchangeably -- they don't recognize the distinction between anatomy and psychology. Brain Health Began at NYU Dr. Rodolfo Llinas, a world-renowned researcher of brain function, and my mentor at NYU Medical School, was the first to pinpoint the electrical roadmap to the brain-mind-body connection, which proved that brain biochemical imbalances could cause disease. He called this concept the Edge Effect, and demonstrated the physical point where the brain and the body connect electrically. At that point, all of the electricity of the human body reaches the brain and is processed into four brain chemicals: dopamine, acetylcholine, GABA, and serotonin. The Edge Effect multiplies small electrical imbalances into bigger health problems. It requires that all four of these brain chemicals be processed in the correct order, and in exacting amounts. Neurological specialists in the 1980's confirmed the connection between brain chemistry and electricity. They identified four key measures of the functioning brain, attributed to specific brain lobes and neurotransmitters: • Voltage -- Dopamine -- frontal lobes (Energy or Metabolism): Is the brain getting the necessary nutrients to function? • Speed -- Acetylcholine -- parietal lobes (Memory): How well is the brain processing information? • Rhythm -- GABA -- temporal lobes (Calm): Are the four primary waves in balance? • Synchrony -- Serotonin -- occipital lobes (Mood): Are the left and right hemispheres functionally connected? Brain chemistry can become unbalanced when the brain is not able to process the electrical cues correctly, which leads to one or more of the brain chemicals becomes deficient. These deficiencies directly lead to decreased physical and mental health, ranging from obesity to heart disease, osteoporosis to Alzheimer's. No matter what your current medical condition is, I guarantee there is a brain component that is being overlooked. To my mind, the Edge Effect can be viewed as having a total spectrum of reactions. On one side, biochemical deficiencies will lead to poor health. On the other hand, a normally balanced brain will not only give you good health, but is mandatory for maintaining a sound mind and body. The Brain First Approach to Medicine The majority of symptoms -- both physical and mental -- that require medical attention are related to either an interruption or overload of brain circuits. A brain health assessment enables us to effectively treat the causes of disease -- not just the symptoms. By recognizing the first and most subtle shifts in the balance of brain health, we are able to address both prevention and the earliest possible treatment of existing disease and illness throughout the body. You can get a good sense of your brain health by taking my Brain Quiz featured on my website, www.pathmed.com . Your unique brain chemistry (the combination of the brain chemicals acetylcholine, dopamine, GABA, and serotonin) controls how you think, feel, and behave. The results of this quiz will show you which brain chemicals you are deficient in. By addressing your deficiencies you will be on the path to a healthier, younger you. Give the results of your Brain Quiz to your doctor, or ask if you can create a quantifiable profile of how your brain is working by using a variety of standardized tests. Next time you see your doctor, ask if they can give you at least one of the following tests to determine your current brain health: • Test of Variable Attention (T.O.V.A.): measures responses to visual stimulus, with scores for consistency, impulsivity, inattention, and speed of response • Weschler Memory Scale (WMS): tests of brain recall in four areas: working memory, verbal memory, immediate memory, and visual memory • Millon IQ: assesses four types of intelligence: abstract, emotional, creative, and perceptual • Type and Temperament: assesses behavioral temperament and personality Your Health Lies Your Head Effective, long-lasting treatments are the ones that incorporate the brain in both diagnosis and restorative recommendations. Being aware of brain-based symptoms that are related to specific anatomic/functional areas -- and the biochemicals related to them -- enables us to look at health in a completely new light. More on Health
 
Penny Herscher: Evidence the U.S. layoffs trend has peaked Top
There's a turn in the U.S. employment market happening. There's evidence that the number of layoff announcements and reported layoff events has started to drop. This does not mean the number of job losses will drop yet since announcements precede the actual elimination of jobs, but it is a leading indicator of the turn in the employment market. Here's the monthly data for the last few months - and you can see the charts and data behind it here Number of unique web stories on announced layoffs or reported layoff events in the U.S. October 08: 754 November 08: 1799 December 08: 2218 January 09: 3268 February 09: 2161 For the last few months it has seemed as if the bad news on layoff announcements just kept growing and as I watched the web news flow on U.S. Layoffs specifically - as you can do too both in the free FirstRain newsletter Eye on the Storm - or on the front page of firstrain.com - it has been like watching a train wreck every day. But I've also been watching the statistics to look for a turnaround in the trend - and it's started. There is no way to know if this is the turn or a turn in the trend but it is a compelling change in the data and could be a leading indicator of a change in the way companies are dealing with the crisis. The weekly data (see it here ) shows that the number of layoff announcements and reported events climbed through to the end of November - dropped back for the holidays - and then went back into a steep climb with the worst week being the week following the inauguration. This is because between October and January companies realized things were getting very bad very quickly and many acted decisively to manage their businesses in the face of the economic crisis - leading to the horrible job loss statistics we've been seeing. The report published by Watson Wyatt last week also corroborates that many companies have made the sweeping deep cuts and the majority are now focusing are local management measures such as salary freezes and cutting 401(k) contributions to further manage costs. Note: The FirstRain data is a count of unique articles on the web about a reported layoff event or the announcement of a planned or actual layoff - it's important to count just the original stories (we use technology to do this) because stories get copied, repeated and changed as they ripple through the web. More on Layoffs
 
Brian Dickie: You Tube Contest For Free Chicago Opera Theater Tickets Top
We at Chicago Opera Theater (COT) try to be at the "cutting edge." And so here we are with a marketing gimmick which just may be an operatic first. Anyway, our marketing folks thought of it all by themselves. We shall see what happens with this little bit of fun. Watch this below and then give it a shot and enter. Someone has to be the smart one who wins free tickets for COT. And check out the first video here created by our interns here at COT: Entering the Video Contest: Grab a phone, webcam or a video camera and shoot a video to tell us why you deserve to come to Chicago Opera Theater for FREE! Make sure your video is three (3) minutes or less in length. Go to http://www.youtube.com/group/COTfreeopera Click Join This Group. Click the Add Videos link. Then tell your friends to add your video to their Favorites! Of course all such things have rules - so here they are: The COT Free Opera Contest will run from March 2, 2009 through April 1, 2009 at 10am (CST). Chicago Opera Theater will contact subscription ticket winners on April 1, 2009 via YouTube asking for name, address, phone number and email. The winners must reply by April 8, 2009 at 10am (CST) to claim their tickets or they will be forfeited. Runner-up winners of the passes to the final dress rehearsal will be contacted after April 8, 2009 via YouTube asking for name, address, phone number and email. Final dress rehearsal passes are subject to availability. More on YouTube
 
Reid Offers Power Grid Plan, Starts States' Rights Debate Top
WASHINGTON — The Senate's top Democrat on Thursday proposed new federal authority to build special power lines that carry renewable energy _ like solar and wind power _ from remote places. The Federal government would be able override states and direct where the lines would go and who would pay for them. In unveiling the proposal, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said an increased federal role in locating power lines was needed to encourage greater availability of electricity produced from wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable energy sources. "Reforming our energy policies to build a cleaner, greener national transmission system _ an electric superhighway _ must be a top national priority," Reid said in a statement. His proposal was expected to become part of a broader energy bill the Senate plans to take up in the coming weeks. Reid's measure would give the president authority to declare "renewable energy zones" that have great potential for generating electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar but which have no high-voltage transmission lines to bring that power to consumers. While states and the federal government would jointly develop "green" transmission plans for such areas, the proposal gives final say to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to take land under eminent domain and issue construction permits if a project is determined to be stalled or killed by state action. Reid's proposal is likely to unleash a states' rights debate in the Senate over the federal government's role in locating transmission lines, a role that traditionally has been the bailiwick of state regulators _ and with considerable involvement by local communities. Attempts by Congress in recent years to allow the federal government to locate transmission lines has prompted strong opposition from states. The Energy Department now has authority to declare transmission areas of national importance and for FERC to intervene in those areas if a power line project is at an impasse. But a federal court recently limited FERC's involvement in such cases. State utility regulators responded cautiously to Reid's proposal. Frederick Butler, chairman of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, said in a statement that the group hopes to work with Reid on the issue. "We are optimistic that our continued dialogue will produce a better outcome for consumers and the environment," he said of the proposal. The green power lines are aimed at boosting development of solar, wind and geothermal energy projects otherwise cut off from the nation's electric grid. It's also a proposal that Reid acknowledged would give "an enormous boost" to his own state of Nevada, where companies are eyeing large solar projects. For a power line project to be under the new federal siting authority it must make available 75 percent of its transmission capacity to electricity from renewable energy sources, although in some cases that might be reduced to maintain line stability. More on Energy
 
Phyllis F. Mitz: Ask Phyllis...Astrology and Beyond: Venus In Retrograde Top
Dear Phyllis, So many people seem to be having relationship issues these days! Is anything going on astrologically? Signed, Hardly Relating Dear (It's Harder, But Do Your Best to Keep) Relating, Yes! Relationships might be much more topsy-turvy now due to Venus, the planet of love traveling Retrograde from March 6th through April 17th. Changes of heart, shifts in commitments and other relationship transitions are quite likely - perhaps through early May. *Where your Sun Sign will experience this most is listed below Venus Retrograde is a time of relationship review. People tend to stop and say "Wait! Is this what I really want in my relationship(s)???" Even good alliances can experience a call to tweak matters so they get even better. This relationship review is designed for adjustments and healings that lead to more deeply satisfying connections. But the process of getting there can trigger confusion, restlessness and/or urges for something or some one different. So it might be a good idea to avoid making final decisions about relationships until you are very clear, even if that is after April 17th . No need to rush your retrograde review. Importantly, this Venus is Retrograde in the "me" sign of Aries. This indicates we are really working on our relationship with our selves...even though it feels like it's about others. As others could be mirroring back to us what we have to work on, it's a terrific period enhance your relationship with yourself. Since Aries is the sign of the Hero, this Retrograde is perfect for being courageous with trying new behaviors and attitudes that express more of your authentic self. But tempers could flair as Aries is also the sign of the Warrior. Lots of people might be on the warpath, so steer clear of unnecessary confrontations. Instead, use Venus Retrograde to touch into your authentic power and direct it towards initiating what you do want, keeping in mind that you might have to negotiate with others so it works for them, too. Here's where each Sun Sign might experience the Venus Retrograde's Relationship Review. (Said another way, here's where relationships might seem the nuttiest) Aries : Relationships with yourself, your expression and/or how you appear. Taurus : Relationships with people you serve, people from your past, what you believe Gemini : Relationships with friends, Associates who could help you Cancer : Relationships with authority figures, Career/Reputation alliances Leo: Long-distance relationships, legal, moral, religious connections Virgo : Sexual, Financial relationships Libra : Partners, Very close friends Scorpio : Work associates, Health matters, Sagittarius : Lovers, Kids, Capricorn : Family, Home matters Aquarius : Siblings, Neighbors, School buddies Pisces : Financial alliances, possessions Schedule a personal consultation with Astrologer Phyllis and find out what's in store for your love and professional life 303-730-6680 or www.astrologerphyllis.com Enhance your LOVE LIFE and PROFESSIONAL success with Phyllis' books, Astrology's Secrets To Hot Romance: How To Find True Love and the One Who's Right For You and You're Every Sign: Using Astrology's Keys to Create Success, Love and Happiness More on Relationships
 
David Ormsby: Feigenholtz May Seek Quigley's County Board Seat, Source Says Top
(Chicago, IL) -- If Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is breathing a sigh of relief that his chief nemesis on the County Board, Mike Quigley, is about to exit his position after winning the Democratic primary in Illinois' Fifth Congressional District. But Stroger may not have time to exhale. Quigley's defeated rival in the race-- State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz --has expressed interest in the soon-to-be-vacant County Board seat and preliminary discussions are underway, a highly placed source says. As Rich Miller pointed out Thursday on the Capital Fax Blog, the County Board will select Quigley's replacement . If the initial talks gain traction, Feigenholtz's legions of fans may revolt and lobby her against the move. As Chair of the House Human Services Appropriations Committee, Feigenholtz has assumed the role of health care lioness over the years, protecting her health care cubs--HIV/AIDS drug programs, mental health care services, medical information for adult adoptees, mammogram services, foster children, etc--from budget cutting onslaughts or worse, indifference. Undoubtedly, the County hospital would profit from Feigenholtz's health care zeal and expertise, and the Board would welcome her peculiar brand of cheeseball charm collegiality. Good for Cook County. Bad for Illinois. Too many depend on Feigenholtz in Springfield. She's needed there. We hope that Feigenholtz stays put.
 
Daniel Werman: Genre Bending: How Hip Hop Became Kind of Hip Pop Top
Nasir Jones, aka Nas, or, to those of us unwilling to let go of the past, Nasty Nas, may have actually been right. Hip Hop, the music that most of the dot-com generation has grown up with, might very well be dying -- if it's not already dead. Why? Well DJ Shadow may have answered that question almost 13 years ago on "Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96." A quiet yet echoing voice speaks after 25 seconds on the gimmicky interlude, only 41 seconds long, and says one thing -- "It's the money." Regarding the topic at hand, that response couldn't come from a better source. Shadow's 1996 full-length debut, Endtroducing , the source of said tune, would be near impossible to make today, as it's comprised of nothing but samples -- small portions of recordings which are copied and pasted to make or add to an entirely new work. Shadow chopped, looped and played with samples to create dramatic melodies, usually backing them up with drums that were also sampled from an entirely different record (or numerous records), manipulating all the ingredients into a completely new beat. This wasn't a new practice though -- he'd learned from many of the hip hop producers that preceded him. It's said that Shadow has cleared all the samples from Endtroducing -- meaning that the owners of the master recording and publishers of the used samples have agreed to and been paid for the usage. This is no small feat, as there are over 80 known samples throughout the LP, and if it were done today, it would cost a small fortune. Initially stemming from a court case in 1991 where singer Gilbert O'Sullivan sued mc/producer Biz Markie for sampling his hit "Alone Again (Naturally)" without permission, sample clearance has become one of the major woes of the record industry, due to snowballing prices and lengthy wait times. One solution has been for producers to replay samples, thus allowing them to owe only the publisher; but this can still be quite costly. Even then, there remains the painstaking process of dividing the publishing rights of the new, replayed tune. Third party corporations have even been created to track down copyright holders and to broker deals between labels and artists, to aid in the clearance process. But in these tough economic times with album sales at an all-time low and labels trying to stay afloat, the glowing price tags for sampling have, in fact, given the hip hop we grew up with a less than subtle face lift. To most average listeners of today's urban music, this trend is going largely unnoticed. Sure, there are cases of songs built on samples sneaking into the mainframe, such as Lil Wayne's recent hit "A Milli", which borrowed a vocal sample from an old remix of A Tribe Called Quest's "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo", and perhaps T.I.'s "Live Your Life," derived from the infamous "Numa Numa" song (the European group O-Zone's "Dragostea Din Tei"). But both were of a rare breed; Lil Wayne used samples to build the melodies of only 4 of the 16 tracks on the initial release of The Carter III -- and T.I.'s Paper Trail on sampled on 3 of its 16 tracks. To many critics, the whole concept of sampling -- and therefore most hip hop -- has often been regarded as completely unoriginal, and not much better than stealing. While they may well have somewhat of an understanding of the music, my guess is that most simply haven't developed an appreciation for the actual process itself. Sampling acts as an audible collage -- a challenge to build an entire production around that one part of a song, old or new (mostly old), that just feels right -- that gives us those chills we music junkies constantly seek. If the track is still missing something? Add a brass riff, a drum fill, or a synth line from an additional record (emphasis on that because it's not easy). Numerous producers were able to meet this challenge, though, and many were able to perfect styles all their own, becoming auteurs of hip hop production. DJ Premier (of Gang Starr) was taking tiny snippets of old tracks, both well known and obscure, and while rendering them unrecognizable, turning them into astonishing new creations. Hearing Biggie's "Unbelievable" for the first time or Gang Starr's "Mass Appeal" was just flooring (both are Premier productions). The RZA garnered worldwide acclaim for his gritty and beautifully imperfect usage of vintage soul records like The Sweet Inspirations and Syl Johnson, enabling him to paint an eerie picture through Wu-Tang's one of a kind music. A Tribe Called Quest perfected the art of pairing 60's and 70's jazz samples (along with every other genre) with big drum breaks from wherever they found them -- in rock, soul, funk ...whatever sounded good. Unfortunately, with this practice no longer being a solid option, the sonic landscape of commercial hip hop has lent itself to a much more accessible and predictable sound. Vocals have gone the way of the vocoder (T-Pain, don't have to say much else). The same airy and predictable synthesizer and clichéd drum sounds have become the industry standard, and the music has just sort of...I dunno....fallen flat? It's in a rut, a lull, and people like Nas Escobar (yep, same guy) are speaking up. Purists argue about the death of the traditional sound and the new wave of artists that are lumped into the same category as not turning out anything more than pop music -- a point that might actually be valid, since beside the rapping, little remains of what once was. A sort of quiet commotion has risen against the loss of traditionalism, with new groups like the Cool Kids and The Retro Kids wearing their golden age of hip hop influence on their sleeves (and proving that "Kids" may have replaced "Lil"). But , it's not to say that the climate we've been left with is all bad. There's a lot of risk taking and some very creative music being released -- certain artists are making do, and coming up with 100% original material that's really quite good. There are producers out there that are capable of generating the emotional integrity that sampling so easily provided. The Neptunes can certainly pull it off, and post 808s and Heartbreak , it seems that Kanye West might have that ability as well (only 3 of the 12 tracks on Heartbreak borrow from existing recordings while 12 of the 15 tracks on 2007's Graduation were built from samples). So where does that leave the future of this music? It's quite tough to say. It's clear that financial strains have brought on this untimely identity crisis for hip hop music, but there's an uneasiness among listeners that this identity may have been lost for good (hence, the death). Many believe this is just a phase -- a rebuilding period. After all, one of the cornerstones that identified the sound is being demolished, so it's only appropriate that the culture has time for a walkabout. What remains paramount, though, is that regardless of the quality of the material being put out, material is still being put out. The passion that created this music in the mid-seventies has been marred, but it hasn't been destroyed. While this progression has alienated many listeners, it is still a movement that is being fed by young, new acts who, because of this dry spell, have searched for inspiration elsewhere and incorporated it into their music. New comers such as Wale and Kid Cudi have mixed Go-Go and electronic music into their sound and have achieved much notoriety and even major label deals. So while sampling's presence may have made hip hop into the form that many of us miss dearly, its absence could actually start to foster a broad sound that we also may soon grow to know and love. One thing's for sure -- it'd be great to be a fan again.
 
Tsvangirai's Wife Killed In Car Crash Top
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife, Susan, died on Friday in a car accident in which Tsvangirai was also injured, a source from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party said. More on Zimbabwe
 
Jeff Stein: CIA Tapes Mystery Will Have a Very Long Run Top
Don't expect the CIA to turn over the family jewels on its interrogation videotapes to the American Civil Liberties Union , just because it lost a legal round this week. On Monday the Justice Department revealed that the CIA had now admitted destroying 92 videotapes of the interrogations of terrorist suspects. And it said the spy agency had promised to deliver a schedule for turning over the rest of the information to the plaintiffs by the close of business this Friday, Mar. 6. That would include, according to the letter from Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin to the court and the ACLU , which had filed an FOIA suit : * An unredacted copy of the CIA Inspector General's Special Review Report on the tape destruction; * A list identifying and describing each of the destroyed records; * A list of any summaries or transcripts describing the destroyed records' content, and, * The identification of any witnesses who may have seen or possessed the videotapes before they were destroyed Anticipation has been building that the spy agency would somehow suddenly renounce its past ways and suddenly come clean - totally clean - on the who, what, why, where, when and how of the videotapes disappearing act. Not likely. In his letter Dassin noted that although the CIA would indeed turn over an "unredacted" version of the CIA IG's report - it had provided the ACLU a redacted version previously -- some information "may be classified or statutorily protected from disclosure, such as the names of CIA employees who viewed the tapes." And if past practice, ratified by federal courts in other cases, holds, the CIA is likely to argue that plenty more information about the interrogation tapes needs to be withheld, such as the dates and places of the sessions and identities of any foreign personnel present. And more. In CIA v. Sims , a 1985 Freedom of Information Act suit for the names of researchers and institutions involved in the spy agency's secret LSD testing program , the Supreme Court said the CIA had a right to withhold a wide variety information from the public under the National Security Act of 1947 . Anything related to " sources and methods " - how the spy agency goes about its business - is exempt, because, as the statute reads, "the Director of Central Intelligence shall be responsible for protecting intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure." An ACLU spokeswoman said the group "cannot speculate as to what will or will not be redacted." But FOIA suit is not the only avenue of attack on the CIA's interrogations. A senior Justice Department prosecutor, John Durham , is pursuing a separate, criminal investigation of the CIA's videotapes destruction. And yesterday, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced it was going to conduct a broad review of how terror suspects were interrogated, whether the CIA's actions against detainees were authorized , and what techniques produced useful intelligence. It will take a year, said the committee's chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif., and vice chair, Sen. Kit Bond , R-Mo. The missing tapes mystery is going to have a very long run.### Jeff Stein can be reached at jstein@cq.com. Go to his daily SpyTalk blog at CQ Politics.com for more on this and other intelligence issues.
 
Alec Baldwin: Hoping the GOP Gets Its Act Together Top
I am an actor and someone employed in the entertainment business. I have my own opinions about how this government should be run and how disgracefully it has been run by both parties. I want to give it as hard as I can to those who willingly seek political roles and disgrace their office and, conversely, commend those who, in my opinion, behave commendably. I express those opinions un-self-consciously while never believing for one minute that they will influence anyone or anything. I do it as an American. For me, it's an American thing. I am not the head of my Party. Rush Limbaugh is an uneducated, marginally talented, overbearing, recovering drug addict who was, at least according to Wikipedia, ineligible for the draft because he had cysts on his ass. I have dear friends of mine who represent real Republicans. Goldwater Republicans. Strong on defense. Tough on immigration. Fiscal conservatives. Not the bullshit Reagan wing of the party which, along with Clinton killing Glass-Stiegel, brought us to where we are today. My friends who are these real Republicans (not hypocritical evangelicals who are too lazy to raise their own children properly so, therefore, insist that all public institutions and policies bend to their will to make that job easier) do not listen to Limbaugh. They don't care what he says. They think he is an amusing entertainer. Like most progressives I know are well aware how hit-and-miss Michael Moore can be and, ultimately view him as an entertainer and don't give a damn what he says. Until Limbaugh gets real, weans himself off the big salary and runs for office, he will always be nothing more than a poorly educated, marginally talented buffoon who has developed a real talent for manipulating the G-spot of the neocon consciousness and massaging the hate gland of so many economically displaced white voters in America. I hope to God the GOP gets its act together soon and finds a real leader for their Party. Rush Limbaugh as the spokesperson for the GOP? 2010, I can't wait. More on Celebs Talk Politics
 
Thursday's Late Night Round-Up: Limbaugh, Obama's Tax Plan, And Deep-Frying The Budget Top
Both Leno and Letterman took on Rush Limbaugh again last night: This time both for his robust physique. The comedians have continued to go after the talk show host for his performance at CPAC and his dealings within the Republican Party. Colbert joined in giving a tip of his hat to Limbaugh for changing the Constitution during a recent speech, saying it's final proof that he is the true leader of the Republican party. More from Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon below. To see yesterday's round-up click here. WATCH: More on Jimmy Fallon
 
Karen Salmansohn: Fuel Your Greatness: Lessons In Success From Colonel Sanders Top
I believe the purpose of your life is to find and do the purpose of your life - your truest passions. For me, it's writing self-help books. For others, it's creating new technology, designing various products, learning medicine -- and at least one person was put on this planet to invent that little plastic doohickey which holds up the pizza box. I recognize there are many challenges on your path to greatness, and you can offen grow discouraged. But far too often it's not outside circumstances which stop you - but your internal beliefs. Far too many people get in their own way of greatness - by telling themselves what I call "Blame Excuses" and "Mythtaken Thinking." For example, right now you might be telling yourself you're too old, too broke, too inexperienced to snag your passions. If so, let me tell you about a guy named Colonel Harland Sanders. When the Colonel first tried to sell his chicken recipe he was 65 years old -- with only a small pension -- a tiny bit of money in the bank -- and an old Caddie roadster. His first plan was to sell his chicken recipe to restaurant owners, who'd give him a residual for every chicken piece sold -- a nickle per chicken. He knocked on the first restaurateur's door, and was greeted by a NOPE. Second door: NOPE. Third door: NOPE. In fact his first 1008 sales calls all served up a NOPE. Still, the Colonel continued to call on owners as he traveled across the USA, sleeping in his Caddie to save money. It wasn't until prospect number 1,009 that the Colonel received his first YES. Then, after two years of making daily sales, he had only signed up a total of five restaurants. Still the Colonel kept knocking on doors, staying passionately focused in the belief that his golden fried chicken would create a big pile of gold. Finally by 1963 the Colonel procured 600 restaurants across the country to sell his Kentucky Fried Chicken! In 1964 he was bought out by a multi-millionaire -- who made The Colonel a multi-millionaire himself. I love this story - because it's an "against all odds" tale. The Colonel was a senior citizen, with no money, entering a new field - and yet he succeeded! How? He knew how to fuel his greatness instead of fueling his fears, insecurity and excuses. Robert Louis Stevenson said it well when he said: "To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying amen to what the world tells you that you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive." Below are some soul-energizing, FUEL YOUR GREATNESS tips: 1. WRITE MAKES MIGHT: I'm a big believer in the power of writing lists, writing in a journal, writing in a schedule book. Writing helps to clarify and organize your scattered thoughts and goals. If you never write down your thoughts and goals, they remain wishy washy vague ideas. And wishy washy vague ideas become wishy washy vague plans which bring wishy washy lousy results. It also helps to put your motivational lists and crystallized goals in places where you might see them often -- and thereby not fall off the Greatness Bandwagon 2. KNOW THAT "SEEDING IS BELIEVING." Overnight success rarely happens overnight. But it doesn't mean it's not a-comin' when it's slow in a-comin'. You know how if you plant seeds, it takes time for the fruits of these seeds to grow -- push up through the ground's surface? Ditto on your new thought seeds and habit seeds. They take time to manifest into the change you are seeking. Hence, while you're on your path to greatness, it's important to keep reassuring yourself that what you see with your limited short-term lens is not necessarily what you are getting in your long-term future. It's essential to recognize that seeing is not always believing. However, SEEDING IS BELIEVING. What you seed is what you get. If you are seeding positive thoughts and positive habits, then success will eventually blossom. Remember: The universe's delays are not necessarily the universe's denials. 3. REMEMBER: MONEY DOESN'T BRING YOU HAPPINESS, BUT HAPPINESS BRINGS YOU MONEY. Studies show that the more positive you are, the more positive results you achieve in life. Some of this is because of "The Law of Attraction." And some of this is simply "The Law of Logic." After all, happy people have more energy and positivity to jump over obstacles in a single bound - or a few bounds. Plus other people prefer to work with positive peeps. Whatever the reason being happy literally PAYS. A recent study reported by Marci Shimoff stated: "People who are happy earn $750,000+ more in their lifetime than others." How can you keep yourself joyful during your challenging pursuit of greatness? Eat lots of fish, for starters. Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln preformed a study which showed that high fish-eating countries like Japan and Taiwan have very low rates of depression, while low fish-eating countries like Germany and the U.S. have high rates. Indeed, overall, major depression is 60 times more prevalent in countries where little fish is eaten. Preferably eat your fish in a "supercharged meal" - which means having your healthful fish, with some healthful carb (brown rice), and some healthful greens (salad or spinach). Plus whenever you're stressed/depressed it's especially important you take empowering vitamins, minerals, herbs and supplements. I particularly recommend supplementing with NatureMade's SAM-e. Basically SAM-e is a naturally occurring molecule produced in your body that is there to help regulate your mood. When you're stressed, SAM-e gets depleted, which increases moodiness and irritability -- two success-busters you want to avoid! If you do all the above, you'll be destined for greatness for sure. And not only will you achieve absolute pride in your fabulousness, you can also achieve a little added fame (be in a documentary film) and fortune (win one thousand buckeroos) by submitting your tale of greatness story in this Fuel Your Greatness contest here: www.NatureMade.com . Go get 'em, tiger! Remember: No Blame Excuses and Mythtaken Thinking allowed!
 
EARTH HOUR 2009: Washington, DC, To Go Dark For Earth Hour (VIDEO) Top
WASHINGTON, DC, March 4, 2009 - World Wildlife Fund announced today that the District of Columbia has signed on to be an official flagship city for Earth Hour 2009 , a global climate change event in which tens of millions of citizens, businesses and government leaders from all corners of the world will turn off their lights to make a statement about the urgent need for action on climate change. Beginning at 8:30 p.m. on March 28th, the District will turn off non-essential lighting on many buildings and landmarks, including facilities owned by the local government. More than 950 cities in 80 countries have committed to turning out for Earth Hour. In the US, the District joins Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York and San Francisco in dimming its skyline to cast a vote for action on the climate crisis. "The way we light our buildings is a major factor in any city's carbon footprint," said George S. Hawkins, director of the District Department of the Environment. "Earth Hour is a symbolic but important step in showing the world we're serious about the climate." "This will be a pivotal year in the future of our planet as we look to Congress, President Obama and global leaders to take immediate and decisive action on climate change," said Dr. Richard Moss, Vice President and Managing Director of WWF's Climate Change Program. "Having our Nation's Capital go dark for Earth Hour will send a powerful message to the world that the US is ready to assume a leadership position in solving one of the most serious challenges facing our planet today. By turning out the lights, the people of Washington will be casting a vote in support of the future of the Earth." During Earth Hour 2009, lights are slated to go out on some of the world's most iconic buildings and landmarks including: · The Las Vegas Strip · Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco · Sears Tower in Chicago · Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame in Paris · Sydney Opera House · Christ the Redeemer in Brazil · Niagara Falls · Coliseum in Rome · Stockholm Castle · Burj Dubai WWF officials stressed the importance of safety during Earth Hour, noting that all lighting related to public safety will remain on.
 
Craig Crawford: Limbaugh the Ultimate 'Straw Man' Top
How fitting that Rush Limbaugh is a straw man for Democrats portraying him as the face of the GOP. He has, after all, spent a career in faux battle against straw man arguments. In this video I take a look at past efforts by both parties to define their foes with well known and unpopular faces. (Craig blogs daily at craigcrawford.com on CQ Politics) Follow Craig on Twitter and Facebook More on Bill Clinton
 
Jeff Stein: CIA Tapes Mystery Will Have a Very Long Run Top
Don't expect the CIA to turn over the family jewels on its interrogation videotapes to the American Civil Liberties Union , just because it lost a legal round this week. On Monday the Justice Department revealed that the CIA had now admitted destroying 92 videotapes of the interrogations of terrorist suspects. And it said the spy agency had promised to deliver a schedule for turning over the rest of the information to the plaintiffs by the close of business this Friday, Mar. 6. That would include, according to the letter from Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin to the court and the ACLU , which had filed an FOIA suit : * An unredacted copy of the CIA Inspector General's Special Review Report on the tape destruction; * A list identifying and describing each of the destroyed records; * A list of any summaries or transcripts describing the destroyed records' content, and, * The identification of any witnesses who may have seen or possessed the videotapes before they were destroyed Anticipation has been building that the spy agency would somehow suddenly renounce its past ways and suddenly come clean - totally clean - on the who, what, why, where, when and how of the videotapes disappearing act. Not likely. In his letter Dassin noted that although the CIA would indeed turn over an "unredacted" version of the CIA IG's report - it had provided the ACLU a redacted version previously -- some information "may be classified or statutorily protected from disclosure, such as the names of CIA employees who viewed the tapes." And if past practice, ratified by federal courts in other cases, holds, the CIA is likely to argue that plenty more information about the interrogation tapes needs to be withheld, such as the dates and places of the sessions and identities of any foreign personnel present. And more. In CIA v. Sims , a 1985 Freedom of Information Act suit for the names of researchers and institutions involved in the spy agency's secret LSD testing program , the Supreme Court said the CIA had a right to withhold a wide variety information from the public under the National Security Act of 1947 . Anything related to " sources and methods " - how the spy agency goes about its business - is exempt, because, as the statute reads, "the Director of Central Intelligence shall be responsible for protecting intelligence sources and methods from unauthorized disclosure." An ACLU spokeswoman said the group "cannot speculate as to what will or will not be redacted." But FOIA suit is not the only avenue of attack on the CIA's interrogations. A senior Justice Department prosecutor, John Durham , is pursuing a separate, criminal investigation of the CIA's videotapes destruction. And yesterday, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced it was going to conduct a broad review of how terror suspects were interrogated, whether the CIA's actions against detainees were authorized , and what techniques produced useful intelligence. It will take a year, said the committee's chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein , D-Calif., and vice chair, Sen. Kit Bond , R-Mo. The missing tapes mystery is going to have a very long run.### Jeff Stein can be reached at jstein@cq.com. Go to his daily SpyTalk blog at CQ Politics.com for more on this and other intelligence issues.
 
Talk to US: Gaza Destruction, Rebuilding: Send Us Your Videos Top
In partnership with Ground Report and WorldFocus, our Talk to US initiative asks web users around the world to share perspectives on international news by uploading a video response to a weekly topic. The international community recently pledged billions of dollars in aid for Gaza and the Palestinian Authority. Are you in Gaza or the West Bank? Show us your homes and neighborhood life. Take out your cell phone or camera and walk us through your neighborhood. Show us the destruction, and rebuilding. Tell us your side of the story. And if you're in another country, what's your opinion of what should be done to aid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza? We're looking for submitted videos from around the world. The best ones will be featured on the Worldfocus broadcast or the Huffington Post. This is your chance to have a conversation with Americans about the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Go to the Talk to US YouTube channel to upload your video. See it here: Deadline: March 13 Comments: If you leave a comment below, please tell us what country you are from. The most interesting and informative comments might be used on a WorldFocus report. About Talk To US : In a partnership with WorldFocus and GroundReport, our Talk to US initiative invites people around the world to share perspectives on and help us shape international news. Sign up here to receive Huffington Post World updates and learn about other ways you can participate in our coverage. More on Gaza War
 
Vanessa Richmond: Is the Future of Journalism Goop? Top
Gwyneth Paltrow could be the future of journalism. Not as the subject of articles or magazines, but the writer and publisher of them. Her weekly e-newsletter and blog, Goop , which offers earnest advice on how to improve our tasteless, unstylish, ignorant lives, has 150,000 subscribers (an astronomical number for a new blog) and climbing, and she's already been offered a book deal (and is opening a gym, and starring in a cooking series with Mario Batali of Iron Chef fame). Goop, whose title is based on her initials and nickname, has the New-Agey tagline, "Nourish the Inner Aspect," and covers recipes, books, spirituality, style, travel, health and culture, through notes to readers, and high profile guest contributions. This foray into journalism, or whatever it might be called, is proving so captivating it's outshining Paltrow's work on the bigger screen: at the premiere of Two Lovers , co-starring actor-turned-hip-hop underachiever Joaquin Phoenix, media interest in Paltrow's role as the more stylish pretender to Martha Stewart's crown hogged the spotlight. Perplexed and curious, I've been a subscriber since the first issue back in September, fascinated by the unfolding of her project, and its effect on the media and public. It's clearly well meaning, and Paltrow makes no pretense of being a Pulitzer-prize calibre writer, but its tone(-deafness) and purpose(lessness) have nonetheless ignited millions of vitriolic words from journalists, bloggers and commenters. But though many are justified, those criticisms alone don't account for the depth of passion felt by the "haters," as Paltrow herself calls them. As a NYT article put it this week,, "In a culture that has given us Jane Fonda workout tapes, Paul Newman salad dressing, fashion and perfumes from J. Lo, Madonna children's books, and furniture and clothing by the Olsen twins, why is Ms. Paltrow the victim of such ridicule?" That level of ridicule and vehemence is far surpassing what's needed to conclusively establish that Goop's writing is average at best and its voice naïve and classist. Here's what I think: In the as yet-unacknowledged heart of the hatred is a most uncomfortable truth. Whether fan or foe, readers' eyeballs are glued to her site and weekly missives, bucking the trend afflicting conventional media outlets, and even possibly contributing to it. And Goop's popularity foreshadows a dark possibility about the future of journalism that many would prefer to deny: people who already have money and fame might increasingly be able to launch hobby sites that draw readers, while skilled writers' professional efforts go unread and even fade away. Paltrow's writing and publishing star is rising as many of her haters' stars are fading into the dim background of laptop screens. The media is used to seeing how less talented actors use the pointed elbows of nepotism and celebrity to nudge out more talented but unconnected and unknown ones, but writers themselves aren't as used to being on the receiving end of such a mechanism. After all, content is supposed to be king (or queen), isn't it? Sure, rich people have always owned magazines as trophies, but hundreds of thousands of readers are actually choosing to read Paltrow's amateur, earnest prose, over that of professionals. And while everyone has friends with blogs, some of which better written than Goop, I bet that many still read Goop instead. And Goop's rise coincides with conventional media's decline. Magazines and daily newspapers are folding faster than ever. Canada's CanWest is on the brink of bankruptcy this week, tens of thousands of journalists and editors have lost their jobs in the U.S. and Canada in the last year, the first major U.S. city is possibly about to lose its daily paper (San Francisco, no less), the New York Times is in trouble, Playboy lost $157 million last quarter and Penthouse might admit defeat to YouPorn. Newspapers lost $64.5 billion in market value in the U.S. and shares dropped 83 per cent on average. There's also arguably some jealousy involved. Goop is the fantasy of every aspiring writer -- that you will quickly and easily write self-absorbed, un-edited, well-intentioned nonsense, post it, and be met with tens of thousands of readers. In reality, if an aspiring writer submitted prose like this to an editor, in hopes of getting it published, it would be unlikely to even generate a response, and if it did, it wouldn't be a pleasant one. And if a non-celebrity tried to launch a blog and newsletter like this, they'd be lucky to have a dozen weekly page views. Paltrow has become the scapegoat for a media phenomenon I doubt she even understands. Unlike most players, even The Daily Beast, media mogul Tina Brown's new site, which launched at a similar time, I don't think Paltrow masterminded this project as a way to manipulate the current media environment. She just wanted to put out a little lifestyle newsletter and got caught in a maelstrom. As The Globe and Mail 's Lynn Crosbie said , "Goop is, ultimately, a nice little forum for ideas about self-improvement, ideas that are rooted in harmless acquisitiveness, simple playfulness and an exceptionally fragile sense of the mind and soul. It is this fragility that makes Goop (its name is, admittedly, dreadful) hard to dislike, as it puts forward such tentative feelers toward art and literature, spirituality and the dream of a whole, harmonious life." I'll admit, it was cultural fascination that drove me to read her project, but I found some of it to be genuinely useful, helpful, and interesting. Despite eye-roll-inducing recommendations for $500-a-night hotels and must-have Chanel dresses, her recipes for Turkey Ragu , Carmelized Brussel Sprouts , and Maple-Dijon Roasted Winter Vegetables worked out very well. I was also given a decanter she'd recommended ($60) as a present, and like it very much. I appreciated the leg exercises, sent to Paltrow by her personal trainer (who happens to be on tour with Madonna so unable to meet Paltrow personally several times a week) because I can never understand the faded illustrations on the wall at my dingy gym. I enjoyed hearing from a public figure directly; rather than just hearing about her, and unlike many celebrity blogs and twitters, I don't doubt Paltrow wrote these herself, and I admire her for that. But that said, while Paltrow herself might not herself understand the "haters," it's not really all that difficult to. Paltrow told USA Today that the secret to her editorial vision was that: "I felt like I had a lot of really useful information that I was privileged enough to get, because I have this amazing, super, fortunate life." Are you cringing a little too? In "Stepping in Goop," in Daily Beast, Megan Hustad wrote , that the luxury lifestyle endorsed by the site is quite a problem. "In the current reality-based market, Gwyneth's timing could not have been more awkward... I've long been fixated, low-budget Edith Wharton-like, on what happens when different strata of society rub up against each other. Is it possible that now, brandishing one's piles of money could become a career liability?" Others went further. "It's pretentious, it's out of touch, it's haughty, and it's oblivious. All in all, it's utterly intolerable," wrote Celebitchy . After Paltrow's books enewsletter, Meredith Blake from the Huffington Post wrote that "Her list does not include a single idiosyncratic, offbeat or hard-to-find title; in fact, it bears a striking resemblance to my high school reading list. Of course, there is nothing wrong with having predictably highbrow taste in books, but the idea that she is somehow unlocking privileged information is laughable -- and more than a little condescending." This month, in British Elle , Paltrow responded by saying , "I saw this blog of people writing horrible things about me. And, you know, for a second you lose perspective and your ego is so wounded. You think, how could people hate me or hate my intentions or what I'm trying to do? I'm a good person and I'm trying to put good things into the world... I am who I am. I can't pretend to be somebody who makes [$30,000] a year. That would be completely inauthentic. I know what my intention [with her e-mail newsletter Goop] is -- and if it makes one person's life better, then it's worth it. And f**k the haters!" Of course, the obvious response is "What's the big deal? If you don't like it, don't subscribe." But that misunderstands the two reasons for all of the fuss in the first place. The first is that in celebrity culture, as a result of evolutionary psychology, it's harder to ignore Paltrow's efforts than those of a mere blogging or journalisting mortal. As Jake Halpern argues in his book Fame Junkies , humans are programmed to pay attention to powerful people in order to ensure their own survival. That wiring has become jumbled, to say the least, in this culture where paying attention no longer has many or any benefits for the follower, but it's still more appealing for many readers to follow Paltrow than their best friend Susie. Plus, celebrity culture is designed to make us look. Yes, we can look away. And in the clear, critical-thinking light of day, that is indeed the best option. But even if you don't subscribe, these memes will worm their way to you through other channels. The second reason is that every click on Goop means a click vacuum somewhere else. I don't think Goop would be controversial if conventional media was going strong. But with the way media trends are going, Paltrow could soon be Queen of Clicks, inadvertently leaving professional journalists even more click-poor, and silencing many critical debates now taking place in the court of public opinion. This post first appeared in The Tyee. More on Gwyneth Paltrow
 
Michelle Obama's Prom Dress And Prom Date Revealed! (PHOTO) Top
Mr Upchurch, 47, now a divorced father-of-three who lives in Colorado Springs and works as a customer service representative, said he had "pretty much forgotten" the night of the prom, and couldn't even recall whether the evening had ended with a kiss. More on Michelle Obama Style
 
Hale "Bonddad" Stewart: The Unemployment Report: Analysis and Ugly Pictures Top
From the BLS: Nonfarm payroll employment continued to fall sharply in February (-651,000), and the unemployment rate rose from 7.6 to 8.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment has declined by 2.6 million in the past 4 months. In February, job losses were large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors. ..... The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased by 270,000 to 2.9 million in February. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed was up by 1.6 million. (See table A-9.) ..... In February, the number of persons who worked part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) rose by 787,000, reaching 8.6 million. The number of such workers rose by 3.7 million over the past 12 months. This category includes persons who would like to work full time but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time jobs. (See table A-5.) ..... About 2.1 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in February, 466,000 more than a year earlier. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 731,000 discouraged workers in February, up by 335,000 from a year earlier. Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The other 1.3 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in February had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. (See table A-13.) ..... Total nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 651,000 in February. Since the recession began in December 2007, about 4.4 million jobs have been lost, with more than half (2.6 million) of the decrease occurring in the last 4 months. In February, employment declined in most major industry sectors, with the largest losses occurring in professional and business services, manufacturing, and construction. Health care continued to add jobs over the month. (See table B-1.) Let's break this information down. 1.) The best read of job growth for the last expansion is a total of 8.2 million jobs created. 2.6 million jobs were lost in the last 4 months, or 31%. Since the recession began, we've lost 4.4 million jobs or 53%. There is no way to spin those numbers as anything except terrible. 2.) The number of people who worked part-time for economic reasons increased by 787,000. That's also a ton of people. That number has increased by 3.7 million over the last 12 months -- also a ton of people. That facts tells us two relevant data points. First, businesses are still cutting back sharply. Secondly, there is probably at least one more month of horrible job losses in the works; that number is simply too high for there not to be another serious round of job losses coming down the pike. 3.) Year over year, the unemployment rate of service occupations has increased from 6.7% to 9.1% the unemployment rate of natural resources, construction and maintenance has increased from 9.1% to 17.7% and the unemployment rate of production, transportation and material employment has increased from 6.6% to 13.1%. 4.) Hours worked is decreasing across a wide swath of industries. Here are the graphs from the St. Louis Federal Reserve. They are presented in no order of importance. More on Economy
 
The Surprising Reasons You're Not Sleeping (And 9 Ways To Get Over Them) Top
The recession has forced Americans to cut back on everything from health care to groceries. According to the results of a poll released Monday, it's also driving them to give up a precious commodity that doesn't cost a cent: sleep. More than a quarter of 1,000 Americans randomly polled by the National Sleep Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes a greater understanding of sleep and health, reported that the economy had disturbed their sleep at least a few nights a week. Article Controls Personal finances, unemployment and health care costs are among the troubles keeping people awake. The percentage of Americans experiencing economy-related insomnia may have worsened since the telephone poll was conducted over a month-long period beginning in late September. Keep reading... -or- Click here to find out 9 ways you can conquer your insomnia...
 
Lawrence Lessig and Michael Eisen: John Conyers, It's Time to Speak Up Top
In the last 72 hours, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) received a lot of phone calls. Today, we're asking him to be responsive and speak up. It all began Tuesday on The Huffington Post , when we wrote about Conyers' proposal to forbid the government from requiring scientists who receive taxpayer funds for medical research to publish their findings openly on the Internet. Many political , science , and tech sites across the nation then wrote their own posts on this issue (including a major site from Conyers' home state). Conyers' proposed ban on "open access publishing" is the darling of the publishing industry because it would force the public to buy for-profit journals to get information that would otherwise be online for free. A new report by transparency group MAPLight.org shows that sponsors of this bill -- led by Conyers -- received twice as much money from the publishing industry as those on the relevant committee who are not sponsors. We asked people who cared about this issue to do two things. First, join the Change Congress donor strike -- pledging to fight the underlying cause of this corruption by not giving a penny more to politicians who don't support reforming our campaign finance system. Since Tuesday, over $100,000 in donations were withdrawn from opponents of reform -- bringing the strike's current total to $981,000 (based on people's contributions last cycle). To join this push for big-picture reform, click here . Then, everyone who joined the donor strike received an email telling them how to contact Conyers and their local member of Congress to voice opposition to this bill, H.R. 801. That resulted in lots of people sending us notes like these: "I joined the donor strike and committed to not support politicians who don't support campaign finance reform. Then, I called Rep. George Miller asking him to oppose the bill and called Rep. Conyers asking him to withdraw it." - Daniel L., CA "I joined the Change Congress donor strike and called Rep. Joe Courtney and left a message asking him to oppose the Conyers bill. I am very disappointed in Conyers, whom I had always respected until now. This kind of pay-to-play politics is not the type of change we had hoped for." - Marjorie O., CT "Rep. Conyers is usually on our side. But this does not sound good. It is certainly against the wishes of the voters who were for Obama's philosophy of open government." - Huffington Post commenter Every hour for the last few days, notes like these have been rolling into our inboxes and posted on blogs across the Internet. Representative Conyers, the public deserves to know you are paying attention and that you understand our concerns. Will you publicly defend this bill? Will you announce that you are withdrawing it? Either way, the public deserves an answer. If you haven't yet taken action, it's not too late. Please join the donor strike to help solve the underlying problem of special-interest influence, and then call the congressional numbers you receive over email. Thanks for helping to Change Congress.
 
Mike Lux: Health Care and History Top
Congrats to Health Care for America Now (disclosure: a client of mine) for playing a major role in the White House Health Care Summit, to the point that their National Campaign Manager, Richard Kirsch, was mentioned in Obama's closing remarks: With respect to the cost of care, Richard Kirsch with the Health Care for America Now said that we can't have a false dichotomy between coverage and costs, that by covering more people we can also lower costs at the same time, presumably because those who are not insured at the moment are ending up using extraordinarily expensive emergency room care. Also yesterday, HCAN released a video with me and Richard talking about history and the health care debate. Richard's question at the end about why it is going to be different this time is especially important. My answer, in part, is that online organizing is one of the biggest differences, and will be key to pushing this thing through. Momentum is building again on health care reform after being set back by the Daschle blow-up. But everyone should be really clear about this: this is going to be a major fight. All those health care industry types professing their support of Obama's agenda did the same thing at this stage of the Clinton fight in 1993-94, and they turned on us viciously. There will be blood in the streets on this issue before we're through, but hopefully we can still fight our way to the finish line. Mike Lux is the author of the new book The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be .
 
Prosecutor Wants Any Burris Tapes From Feds For Perjury Investigation Top
A published report indicates the prosecutor investigating Roland Burris' testimony before an Illinois House impeachment panel is asking federal authorities for any recordings involving the senator. The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting in Friday's editions that federal prosecutors are considering the request from Sangamon County State's Attorney John Schmidt. Schmidt is focused on conversations between Burris and Robert Blagojevich, who chaired former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign fund. Burris' admission that he had more contact with Blagojevich advisers about the Senate seat than he first described prompted Schmidt's investigation. Meanwhile, Schmidt has questioned House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie , Rep. Jim Durkin and Rep. Jil Tracy concerning Burris' appearance before the impeachment panel. Currie said she had nothing to offer. More on Rod Blagojevich
 
Buyer Beware: Students Sign Up For Electroshock Top
People don't like to read a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo when they want to buy something, even if the purchase requires a signature. It's much easier to simply sign a contract, assume it contains no surprises, and move on. A recent study suggests the unwisdom of this attitude. To quantify exactly how quickly consumers' eyes glaze over when presented with a contract, researchers rounded up 91 DePaul University undergrads who'd agreed to become research subjects as a course requirement. The students were asked to sign what was described as a cursory three-page consent form. Most students didn't bother to read the thing; 87 signed it. Oops! Some troubling conditions lurked within the form's dry language about "informed consent." The contract committed students to "administering electric shocks to fellow participants ... even if that participant screamed, cried, and asked for medical assistance. It also required participants to do push-ups." The contract forbade signees to leave the lab without the experimenter's permission. After they signed the form, the experimenter showed the students what they'd gotten themselves into. "Some of them laughed, some just rolled their eyes," says assistant professor Jessica Choplin, who with co-author Debra Pogrund Stark reported the findings in an article in the Spring 2009 NYU Journal of Law & Business. Public Citizen's Jeff Sovern suspects that Choplin's and Starks findings will become "classic." At least that's 87 people who won't be burned another time by a suspect contract, right? Oops again. After Choplin's team tore up the bogus forms, they asked their subjects to sign an actual consent form that allowed researchers to use the data they'd gleaned in the experiment. "Of the 87 participants who signed the bogus consent form," write Choplin and Stark, "17.2% did not even look at the actual consent form, another 18.4% looked so briefly that they could not have read it, and 21.8% only skimmed enough to get a vague idea of some of the provisions." Choplin says the students probably knew the university's internal review board would keep them safe from being forced to administer elctroshock treatment, just like "many people in the public assume the government is going to protect them from predatory loans." The take-home lesson for consumers, Choplin tells the Huffington Post, is this: "I would say to consumers that they should probably read contracts."
 
James S. Gordon: Obama and Health Care Reform: Finding Promise Amid Peril Top
Last Tuesday in a major address to both houses of Congress, President Obama eloquently invoked images of the healing crisis that wise physicians from antiquity on have commended to patients, urging us Americans, who are suffering a crisis of cash flow and confidence, to discover "promise amid peril". His plans for two of the three areas he diagnosed as "absolutely critical" to our future economic health--energy renewal and savings, and educational progress--were dynamic, expansive, spirit lifting, and as he assured us, marked by "bold action and big ideas." His prescription for health care reform, the third economic intervention, was, however, more tentative, diminished by limited vision and plans that promised mostly old action. His follow-up in yesterday's health care summit reiterated the importance of extending coverage to all Americans, but neglected again to ensure that that coverage would actually improve the physical or mental health of our population or significantly curb our costs. It is clear, as Mr. Obama told us, that the cost of our current system--at $2 trillion a year and 16.5% of our Gross Domestic Product, and continually, wildly climbing - is "crushing," that "health care reform cannot wait," and that every American should have "quality, affordable care." What was not at all clear in his speech or at the summit was what he was going to do to slow the increase in costs, or provide that quality care. His curiously flat health care ideas were limited to a universally-agreed on administrative measure - electronic records; a "down payment on the principle" of universal health care - not a commitment to action; and praise of, and promised cash for "prevention," which in administration documents so far floated seems mostly about more early disease detection. In his speech, Mr. Obama's only real health care passion seemed to be for "conquer[ing]" cancer, an image which inevitably evoked the hugely expensive, but largely inconclusive "war" on that disease that President Nixon declared almost forty years ago. Still, it's early times and Mr. Obama is a quick study and a wise man--quite willing, it seems to me, to change his mind to fit the facts he sees. He can begin by taking a step back from the received wisdom he offered us, to adopt the same holistic perspective on health that he brings to energy and education. He will then see that we have a non-system of disease care, not health care, an approach that works well for emergencies, but is woefully inadequate and often counterproductive for treating and preventing the chronic illnesses that beset our population, and for promoting good health: we spend as much as twice as much as other industrialized countries on per capita health care, but rank 37th in the world in major health indices. What the President will soon realize, I believe, is that we do not need more of the same kind of care for more people, but rather an approach that focuses on health rather than disease, one which makes respectful use of each person's capacity to help him- or herself - mobilizing the kind of creative, even entrepreneurial, activity he praised in education and energy development. Already, simple, inexpensive self-care measures--including diet, exercise, and mind-body approaches like meditation, guided imagery, and yoga, together with group support, are being demonstrated to reduce stress, improve immunity, decrease blood pressure and blood sugar, to reverse heart disease and diabetes, increase mobility in people with arthritis and lift the mood of those who are depressed--in short, to make major contributions to treating, preventing and lowering the cost of the chronic illnesses that cripple us, threaten to bankrupt our country, and prematurely claim our lives. I hope President Obama will soon bring this focus to programs the Federal Government already controls, the ones that provide care to the elderly and poor, to active duty military and veterans, and to Congress. I hope too that he will boldly put back "on the table" the "single payer" approach to health care for all the rest of us that has caused such fear in US politicians for so long. Properly designed, government-supervised single payer can not only save the yearly $350 billion that Physicians for a National Health Plan estimates, but actually refocus our system on health and wellness and even enlarge the caregiver and treatment options that the current, apparently free-choice insurance system actually limits. Two and a half months ago, the Obama administration asked the American people to hold and report on discussion groups on health care issues. We at The Center for Mind-Body Medicine organized one of hundreds of these meetings. To the thirty of us (patients, providers, and policy wonks, left, right, and center) single-payer seemed the "only sane" alternative-a Copernican simplification of health care chaos--and self-care the true primary care. We saw schools that teach our children to care for themselves--to say "yes" to good food, exercise, self-expression and stress management, not just "no" to sex, drugs, and alcohol--as laying the foundation for our nation's future good health. We asked that all health professionals be trained in wellness education and that jobs be created for people who want to devote their lives to this vital work. We called for a broad ecological, "functional" approach to the underlying biological disturbances that give rise to cancer as well as other chronic illnesses--after all, at least 40% of all cancers are precipitated or influenced by diet, and many others are caused by environmental carcinogens--not just an assault on malignant cells. And we recommended unanimously that a White House Office of Health and Wellness be created. This office would ensure that this health-promoting, disease-preventing approach be initiated and maintained in a coordinated way at all government agencies--at the Department of Education as well as the Department of Health and Human Services, that it would shape the services available to our troops and the kind of food that is served to our children in school lunch programs. No one I know has yet heard what the President and his team think of any of our recommendations. I hope that by the next time he speaks on health care he will use what we have shared to help himself and all of us to find the deep challenging promise that really does exist amid our current health care peril. Complete text of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine's recommendations to President Obama is available at here . More on Barack Obama
 

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