Saturday, March 28, 2009

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Leader Of Britain's Conservative Party To Meet With Obama On Wednesday Top
It appears that President Barack Obama can read the polls and see that the writing is on the wall for Gordon Brown. The White House has just confirmed that President Obama will meet David Cameron, on course to succeed Brown as Prime Minister next year, in London on Wednesday. Denis McDonough, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, said during a press conference call that Mr Obama's first full day in the British capital will include bilaterals with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and President Hu Jintao of China. More on Barack Obama
 
Jay Michaelson: An Ancient Basis for Tomorrow's Financial Regulations: Rethinking Usury Law Top
On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced sweeping changes in the nation's finance rules, specifically targeting the derivative financial products that led to the credit crisis, mortgage crisis, banking crisis, and the crisis in the American automobile industry.. Predictably, some conservatives have responded that such policies would lead to "socialism," or a similar compromise of the free-enterprise American dream. In fact, such regulations are as old as the Ten Commandments, and as American as apple pie: they are nothing more than an update of the ancient prohibitions on usury, or the unfair charging of interest. And while today, "usury" has a whiff of the antiquarian about it (or worse, one of antisemitism), if we look closely at what usury laws were meant to do, I think we'll discover that they are much more relevant, and worthy, than we might suppose. Western civilization's original usury laws are found in the Bible: the Torah contains several prohibitions against lending money at interest, and the New Testament several condemnations of it. Deuteronomy 23:20-21 is representative: "Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother: interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest. Unto a foreigner thou mayest lend upon interest; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon interest; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou puttest thy hand unto, in the land whither thou goest in to possess it." I will return to the distinction between Israelite and foreigner below, but first, however, I want to explore rationales for the usury prohibition in the first place. In the Deuteronomy passage above, the reason is somewhat generic: interest is forbidden, like many other ritual and ethical acts, "so that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou puttest thy hand unto." In Leviticus 25:35-37, however, a more specific reason is given: "And if thy brother be waxen poor, and his means fail with thee; then thou shalt uphold him: as a stranger and a settler shall he live with thee. Take thou no interest of him or increase; but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon interest, nor give him thy victuals for increase." Here, at least two reasons are given: first, the ethical value of caring for the poor, an second, "that thy brother may live with thee." If one were to charge interest, the text suggests, the bonds of society would collapse; rich and poor could not live together. Leviticus goes no further than this, but later commentators in Jewish and Christian traditions developed these dual rationales. St. Thomas Aquinas, for example, said that usury is both morally wrong and an improper form of "double-charging," because money is a means of commerce, not a thing in itself. "That thy brother may live with me," in other words, is a prudential argument, not a moral/ethical one. The concern here is not only that usury is immoral -- it takes advantage of the weak -- but also that civil society itself would be compromised if usury were allowed. This, not ethnocentrism, is why lending to foreigners was allowed; the concern was with the economic health and civil cohesion of Israelite society, which would are not threatened by lending to outsiders. But if usury multiplied risk and magnified inequity within the community of Israel, chaos would result. Notice, too, that these twin rationales extend the purview of usury law far beyond the narrow contemporary meaning of charging excessive interest. Today, all states have usury statutes that cap the rate of interest for loans. But the Biblical and exegetical usury statutes are broader: they are aimed at the moral turpitude, societal inequity, and economic instability inherent in making money from money. Translated into today's economic realities, this has indeed come to pass. Wealthy institutions have lured poor people into unsustainable and unstable credit arrangements, and indeed, the basic cords of our society have begun to fray. As we have seen in the excesses of executive compensation, we have lost the moral compass which once tied pay to some notions of actual work and fairness, rather than to the made-up prices of economic bubbles. Indeed, our current crisis is exactly the economic, societal, and ethical chaos which the usury laws sought to prevent. Today's derivatives market, for example, is precisely about "making money from money" -- but taken to new and ludicrous extremes. The credit default swaps which were largely responsible for sinking insurance giant A.I.G. were essentially bets about whether certain debts would be paid or defaulted-upon. Now, as it happened, debtors defaulted in such numbers that they brought down the house. But this derivative security should never have been legal in the first place. It is a bet on making money from money; or rather, a bet on making money from lending money at a near-usurious rate of interest, and thus a usurious attempt to make money from making money from making money. As the Bible itself knew, bubbles pop. The anti-usury value does not and should not depend on the percentage rate of interest. It is a wider prohibition, both ethical and prudential, against making money from money. Of course, it cannot be taken too literally, either; credit is what makes our economy run, as we have now learned the hard way. But in principle, anti-usury values are fundamental to the American experience, and more needed now than ever. To ban or heavily regulate usurious derivative securities is not socialism. It is Christianity and Judaism. More on Timothy Geithner
 
Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent: The Millionaire Matchmaker Knows How To Love Like a Hot Chick Top
We had the pleasure of meeting Patti Stanger, star of the hit TV show The Millionaire Matchmaker, at one of our Today Show appearances. We were already fans of her show and thrilled to meet her in person, but we were even more excited to find that this savvy personality is also a genuine, compassionate Hot Chick whose message and beliefs about love and relationships are very much in line with our own. Patti doesn't just set Hot Chicks up with millionaires; she truly believes in love and we were thrilled to learn that she believes the lessons in our book, How to Love Like a Hot Chick, can help the women on her show find not just a man with deep pockets, but the love they truly do deserve. We're looking forward to partnering with Patti in many ways throughout the coming months, but the first thing we did was ask her a few questions about the things she knows best: love, sex and money. Here are some answers from the woman who is certainly living by our definition of the term Hot Chick and is teaching her clients to do the same. Q: In How to Love Like a Hot Chick, we define a Hot Chick as a confident, passionate woman who knows what she wants, isn't afraid to go after it and doesn't compete with other women. Do you agree? How do you define a Hot Chick? Patti: I think there's a little Hot Chick in everyone waiting to come out. Not only do I agree with the statement, I wish more women would realize that you don't have to be a model or an A-list actress to feel like a Hot Chick. I talk to men everyday of the week and nowhere is it written that you have to be perfect in order for them to see you as a Hot Chick. The problem is that the media keeps telling women that unless you look like you belong on the cover of a magazine - they're no longer valuable. Q: What role do you think confidence plays in finding true love? Patti: I state in my book "Become Your Own Matchmaker", confidence is the key to ANY endeavor. Women don't realize that when they do things they love and are passionate about - their confidence soars. Men are attracted to women who feel happy and decisive about life. That is the time when a woman is the most attractive to the opposite sex. Q: Your show, The Millionaire Matchmaker, is a huge success and it seems that men and women can't stop talking about you. How do you think that love and money are really related and can the two ever really be separated? Patti: Unfortunately this is an area that most people don't want to talk about and dampens the romance. But in this horrible economic climate it is a fact that needs to be addressed. As long as women are in the work force making their own money and decisions, men are going to have to realize that this way of life is here to stay - because it takes two incomes to make it and more now. The sooner you address your style of saving and spending with your mate the better off your relationship will be. Q: We tell women that they need to know exactly what they want in a man and in a relationship in order to get the love they deserve. Do you think that men and women should be specific when looking for love or that they should keep their options open? Patti: I always believe a woman should have 5 Non-negotiables that she should stick to when attracting a mate. If the guy does not have these five major things - then she should not give the guy a chance as she's wasting her time. The rest is up to the magic and wiggle room the universe gives. Q: We advise women to make their men feel sexy and attractive with honest compliments and kind words and are shocked when we meet women who have never told their man that he is hot! What other big mistakes do you find that women are making when it comes to love? Patti: Appreciation is the key to any romantic success. I love the fact that women want to be adored and told that they are beautiful till the end of days. But they never tell their man this. I have a strict hard and fast rule that says - for every two compliments he gives me - I give him one. Q: We went on the Tyra Banks Show with Steve Harvey, and he said, "A man is not going to cross the room for your brains." What are your clients looking for in women? What would they cross a room for? Patti: A man can be drawn across the room with the simplicity of a smile. That's why your pearly whites should always be straight and shiny. I think most of my clients are drawn to a fun, flirty nature in a woman. The problem is, most women do not often feel fun and flirty. That's why they need YOU to release their inner Hot Chick! Q: Finally, what is your biggest/best piece of advice for women who are out there looking for love? Patti: DON'T PANIC. It is not a race and today relationships are defined many different ways - marriage is NOT for everyone. Know that love is out there for each and every one of you. But he will only show up when it is the right time. The key is to keep busy with the things that you enjoy and that you're passionate about. Then before you know it... he's tapping you on the shoulder and asking you out. More on Relationships
 
Vast Electronic Spy System Loots Computers In 103 Countries Top
A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded. In a report to be issued this weekend, the researchers said that the system was being controlled from computers based almost exclusively in China, but that they could not say conclusively that the Chinese government was involved. More on China
 
William Fisher: At Last, a "Good News" Story Top
Because mainstream media covers fewer and fewer civil liberties stories by the day, I do what I can to report on this critical subject. Given what the Bush Administration did to trash our Constitution over the past eight years, most of what I write is depressing. And my friends are constantly asking me: Can't you find something cheerful to write about? So once or twice a year, I search for enough positive information to write a "good news" column. This is my first of 2009. Every once in a while, I go to the web to read stories from the newspaper that, in 1950, suspended its good judgement and hired me as a cub reporter. Later, the Daytona Beach (Florida) News-Journal sent me to the county seat, a little town called DeLand, to run their bureau there. Now, DeLand was familiar territory to me. I did my undergraduate work at Stetson University in that town. The Stetson I knew was populated by a combination of Southern Baptist fundamentalists and uninformed and uninterested sons and daughters of the rich -- Bubbas and wannabe Southern Belles. How fundamentalist? Well, when I got to be editor of the college weekly newspaper, I was summoned to the office of the Dean of Students and told that I couldn't print the word "dance," because dancing led to pregnancy (we compromised on "frolic"). When I arrived in DeLand to begin my studies, I was "rushed" by most of the many fraternities on campus - until they found out I was Jewish. Suddenly, the attention dried up. It was like turning off a light-switch! So for four years, I remained the only Jew in the school (there were also three Catholics, out of total enrollment of some 1,500 students). Many of the students had never seen a Jew before I appeared, and I believe they were expecting a menacing creature with horns. The DeLand I knew was, like most Southern towns of that era, thoroughly Jim Crow -- a combination of Babbitt and Elmer Gantry. The civil rights movement hadn't caught anyone's attention yet, and that was still the case when I came back to this central Florida redneck town to cover the cops and the courts. My most vivid memories of that time were watching the local sheriff and his deputies carrying out their Saturday night raids into "colored town." Their mission was to arrest anything moving that was black. The sheriff and his merry men had a great incentive: They were on the so-called "fee system" in which their paychecks were determined mostly by the cash bonds posted by the people they arrested. The more folks arrested, the more bonds got posted, and the more money they got. The ones who couldn't post bonds ended up in jail. I got into a heap of trouble writing about these "Saturday Night Raids" for the News-Journal (like get-out-of-town-or-else threats). But my old paper had the courage to publish them, often on page one. I give you all this ancient background so that you might be able to understand my total disbelief when I read this headline in News-Journal Online: "Stetson Students Re-create Freedom Rides." Here are the salient parts of the story I read, written by staff writer John Bozzo. Following in the path of the 1961 civil rights Freedom Rides was an eye-opening experience for Stetson University student Rebecca Hallum. "It really changes your perspective," said the 21-year-old political science-psychology major, one of 19 students from Stetson and its College of Law who re-created the bus ride last July. "For me, it's hard to ever understand being treated with any sort of inequality because I'm a white middle-class female," Hallum said. "To see what these people had to go through simply to ride a bus was inspiring." "During the weeklong civil rights seminar, students followed the road traveled by the 1961 Freedom Riders, who rode buses in the South challenging segregation on interstate transportation. Students met with civil rights activists including Allen Cason, a native of Orlando who participated in the Freedom Ride 48 years ago. "He had an incredible story," Hallum said. "He was actually imprisoned after the ride. He was in solitary confinement for about a month and lived basically on bread and water." The students also visited important sites, such as the National Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala. Many of the original Freedom Riders made out their wills before their rides. Riders were attacked in Birmingham and Montgomery bus stations. Hallum saw a small marker outside Anniston, Ala., where a mob burned one of the first Freedom Ride buses. More should be done to commemorate the site, she said. "It was overwhelming," said Hallum, who is looking forward to seeing the documentary. "It's hard to think that we take these small things for granted. To think they had to go through this incredible effort and go through so much violence." Hallum said she was impressed how the former Freedom Riders were humble about their experiences. "None of them were bitter," she said. "They knew they were doing the right thing ." When I was working in DeLand, it would be another decade before Earl Warren's 1960 Supreme Court would ban segregation in interstate travel facilities - at bus stations and restaurants as well as on buses. A year later, the first Freedom Riders set off on journeys that would change our history. And at the Stetson I knew, students being even the slightest bit interested in the situation of their black brothers and sisters would have been unthinkable. Their fellow students would have been outraged. Ostracism - even death threats - would surely have followed. But here were kids from my alma mater re-creating one of the truly transformative events in American history. True, only 19 students participated. But half a century ago, there wouldn't have been one - and the notion of a weeklong civil rights seminar would have been considered delusional. Today, Stetson has not only changed and adapted, it has actually enrolled minority students - 105 non-resident aliens, 336 Hispanics, 72 Asians, and 190 African-Americans - out of a total enrollment of just over 3,000. That's 190 African-Americans! So my first "good news" of 2009 is that positive change is still alive and well - even in redneck central Florida. That's change I can believe in! I wonder how the Stetson kids feel about our black President?
 
Spanish Court Weighs Criminal Investigation Over Torture For 6 Bush-Era Officials Top
A high-level Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation against six former Bush administration officials, including former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, on whether they violated international law by providing a legalistic framework to justify the use of torture of American prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, an official close to the case said. The case was sent to the prosecutor's office for review by Baltasar Garzón, the crusading investigative judge who ordered the arrest of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The official said that it was "highly probable" that the case would go forward and that it could lead to arrest warrants.
 
Trey Borzillieri: Power Through... With Patience Top
"Power through" had its start for me as a mantra during binge weekends in college - something to keep in mind while drinking beer after beer, eating way too much crappy food, attending football games and staying out to the wee night hours in hope of ending up in a stranger's bed. I am a stay-at-home Dad and having been the primary caregiver of my fourteen-month old son... the phrase "power through" is back in my life. For the record, my son is the best thing in my life and I am grateful for every minute with him. Now let's digress. The last fourteen months have left me in a zombie state. I don't know what I did yesterday, I do really, it's just trapped inside my brain somewhere that I'm not allowed to have access to at this moment. Next week I'll remember what I did yesterday, right now I am too busy reading the Velveteen Rabbit to a little man who just jammed the nozzle of his sippy-cup into my ear. Let's "power through." Ok, he is asleep. He managed to doze off over the ring of my cell phone. Like clockwork everyday, the second he closes his eyes and is about to fall asleep, my wife calls to check on him. Everyday that really annoys me. And by the next day I have completely forgotten about it and it happens again! A vicious cycle... if I could get more sleep myself it might help. So as it rings, I actually answer it because I don't want to feel I am depriving Mom a precious update on Baby's condition. A way more appropriate response would be to put the phone on silent and ask myself... why I am at home at 11:30am on a workday? Where were we? Oh yeah, "powering through" could be perceived as a cold choice of words to describe this stage of parenthood. I don't agree. This is a very NORMAL thing for a man to say about parenting... especially coming from a stay-at-home Dad in the midst. I am living within a dynamic in our society that can be seen as emasculating. Have I been emasculated yet? I don't believe so; I'm still saying phrases like "powering through", aren't I? I chugged a beer in the closet after dinner the other night. When my wife asked what I was doing? I replied, "working on something for baby." Does lying mean I'm still a man? Hey wait a second here... that's a different topic. There are many things that would be normal for men/fathers to say about parenting... we just don't always say them. Are men liberated enough to say them these days in our sensitive world? Truth be told; maybe men just aren't cut out to be at home with the kids. Let's examine it... Maybe men haven't thought about it that much and before they know it, they are living it with no way out, "powering through." In one third of all married couples in the U.S. (according to a University study), the wives are earning more money then their husbands. The women have roared! More and more men are staying at home to take care of the kids. More and more men are taking the role of a stay-at-home husband. What is that... a stay-at-home husband? Is that a husband who tells his wife to stay out of the kitchen? Attention! These dynamics are growing in our culture for a number of reasons. Let's see if we can liberate the men now in these positions to speak their minds. Are there any of you out there that have a story to tell? Share an experience? (Suddenly my hand rises) Patience is the key to being at home. Patience is a friend of mine. Be patient with patience. One could say that patience is the true essence of a man. I admit my newfound patience does feel good. Eleven months ago was the day we (me and baby) dropped my wife off at work. It was the end of her four-month maternity leave from her company. During those fours months my son was born and he had two parents giving him devoted attention around the clock. Two months prior to giving birth, my wife was put on bed rest. On the same day my wife's doctor told her to "hop in bed and ride it out," I was laid off from my job at a Fortune 100 company. So it had been six months straight that the family was together, all day and all night. On a Monday morning last April, I drove to my wife's office with little guy in his seat in the back and my wife seated next to him (where she sat for over a year). It was then that I realized between the hours of 8am and 6pm I would be alone. Not entirely of course because baby would be there, but no other adults, no grandparents, no nannies or babysitters. Just baby and me. "Baby" has become my favorite word. It can be used to describe mood, atmosphere, mental condition, physical condition, odor and of course it's literal meaning. How are things going for you and your wife these days? "Baby." Gary, would you like to grab a Dodgers game Friday night? "Baby." Why have you been driving around in circles for the past twenty minutes? "Baby." You can't remember where the grocery store is? "Baby." Did you just put a gallon of milk in the oven for storage? "Baby." Yes, so as my wife left the backseat and said good-bye. I looked at my son. He smiled back. I looked to my left and seated next to me in the front seat was an incredibly beautiful blond woman. She smiled as well. She appeared to be in great shape. Ah hah, I'm not alone after all. She said her name was "Patience." Oooh, I can see I'm in good hands. "Powering through" isn't so bad... with "Patience." More on Relationships
 
Midwest's Unemployment Rate 2nd Worst In Nation Top
The Midwest's February unemployment rate was the second-highest among regions in the nation based on federal figures released Friday. The region's jobless rate reached 8.6% last month, up from 8.1% in January, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor. More on Layoffs
 
Craig Aaron: Consolidation Is No Cure for Journalism Crisis Top
Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose hometown San Francisco Chronicle is in trouble, asked Attorney General Eric Holder to consider loosening antitrust laws to help out struggling newspapers by allowing more media mergers. Holder says he is open to revisiting the rules. Pelosi's request sounds innocuous at first; after all, struggling newspapers seem to need all the help they can get. But opening the door to more media consolidation is not the cure for the crisis in journalism. More of this bad medicine will only weaken reporting and worsen the health of our democracy. As a few big companies swallowed up more local media outlets, they gutted newsrooms. The Project for Excellence in Journalism reports that the industry lost 5,000 journalists last year and has slashed 16 percent of its news staff since 2001. Is it any surprise that fewer people are buying newspapers when reporters are being taken off their beats and bureaus are being shuttered? But media consolidation hasn't just been a disaster for dedicated journalists or the public who rely on reporters to keep an eye on their leaders. It's also been bad for business. Newspapers Still Making Money Just a few years ago, the average profit margin for newspapers was over 20 percent - with some bringing in twice as much or more. But that did not satisfy the newspaper executives or Wall Street. Instead of investing in the quality of their products and innovating for the future, the big media companies have been obsessed with short-term gains. Instead of bolstering their newsgathering or adjusting to the new media landscape, companies like McClatchy, Tribune and Lee Enterprises used these astronomical profits to buy up other properties. While federal regulators rubber-stamped these mega-mergers, the media giants took on massive amounts of debt. Even though newspapers themselves are still profitable, their corporate bosses are drowning in IOUs. A recent Advertising Age article reported that McClatchy's newspapers earned a 21 percent profit margin last year. But struggling under $2 billion it owes after acquiring Knight Ridder in 2006, the company has slashed its work force by nearly a third in the past year. Tribune Co. earned a 5 percent profit margin in its newspaper division for the first three quarters of 2008, but it still declared bankruptcy in December. Gannett's newspaper holdings earned an 18 percent profit margin last year, with some properties earning as much as 42.5 percent . Nevertheless, Gannett axed more than 3,000 jobs and required employees to take a weeklong furlough. The company is also expected to sell off or shut down the 139-year-old Tucson Citizen at any moment. Despite taking pay cuts, Gannett's top executives still received sizable six-figure bonuses . Saving the News Of course, poor leadership and debt aren't the only problems facing the newspaper industry. Ad revenue has been down 23 percent across the industry in the past two years. Today, advertisers have cheaper options online to reach their target audiences, a major problem for newspapers relying on print advertising for 90 percent of their revenue. Even though more people are reading newspapers online than ever before, online advertising still makes up just a small percentage of a newspaper's earnings. We can't put the Internet back in the bottle or restore newspapers' monopoly on local advertising. Instead, what we need to figure out is how to support newsgathering, investigative journalism and beat reporting in a world in which Wal-Mart coupons and car-dealership ads will no longer cover the costs of bureaus in Baghdad or Boise. But if the same handful of conglomerates now coming to Washington for handouts had been held in check earlier, many of these newspapers and their employees would stand a better chance of weathering the economic storm. And if regulators hadn't looked the other way as these deals went through, newsrooms would probably have 10 years left to experiment, adjust and adapt --- instead of what feels like 10 minutes. Green-lighting more consolidation will only serve to prop up a failing business model. It won't create any new jobs - in fact, more reporters are sure to be sacked. And it won't add any new voices to the marketplace of ideas. Letting the rapacious Dean Singleton, who already owns multiple dailies throughout the Bay Area, put out the same cookie-cutter content under the Chronicle banner won't bring back readers or help the industry. What Won't Work If Pelosi and Holder believe that newspapers are critical to our democracy and worth saving, then they have to explore real structural alternatives that give media ownership back to local communities; figure out short-term ways to fund serious reporting during the bumpy transition to the Internet; and look for changes in tax or bankruptcy policy that might encourage local, diverse and nonprofit owners who'd be happy to see the 10 to 15 percent profit margins that are still the industry average. How to support serious journalism and local coverage in the new media landscape is a complicated question that surely requires a menu of answers, forward-looking policy ideas, and lots of experimentation. But we know what won't work: the exact same policies that got us into this mess in the first place. Media consolidation is the problem, not the answer. This post was co-authored by Joseph Torres. Support newspapers by reading The Guardian , where a version of this originally appeared . More on Nancy Pelosi
 
US Military Dogs Sent On Multiple War Tours, Suffer From Stress, Nightmares Top
Rambo sounds the warning as soon as the kennel door at Bolling Air Force Base creaks open, a ferocious, thunderous bark as loud and persistent as a jackhammer. In the next stalls, Rocky goes berserk, spinning in tight circles like a top, and Jess, ears perked, bounces excitedly up and down. More on Animals
 
Queen Rania of Jordan: My Visit to South Africa Part 2 Top
I've never walked into a library to the sound of stomping, rattling, and rhythmic gumboots pounding the floor, but I did today, thanks to two amazing dance groups from Soweto and Thembisa. Not only did it wake me up, but it set the tone for some pretty lively storytelling and discussion with them. Sitting in a cozy and colorful little amphitheater in Sandton Library, we talked about books...the joy they give us, the friends we meet through them, the new experiences they teach us, and the imaginary places they transport us to. Larger than life, Gcina Mhlope, South Africa's popular poet and inspirational storyteller, held us spellbound with her animated and expressive tales. Gcina has a rare gift, made all the more remarkable by the fact that until she was 20, she had never set foot in a library. Her aunt was illiterate, but she collected words and books in a suitcase. Now, in her memory, Gcina travels around schools and centers putting those words to work, and encouraging children to read. She leaves a suitcase of books behind everywhere she goes. Luggage for life. (P.S. I later discovered that the children dance at the weekends to earn money for gumboots, drums, and to help them with school expenses.) But sadly, today, there are nearly 800 million adults around the world who cannot read or write. The majority of them are girls and women. They can't read newspapers, or instructions on medicine bottles. They can't fill out application forms, or use the internet. Learning to read and write changes lives; it means jobs, money, health, and dreams fulfilled. Next month, the Global Campaign for Education will organize a global call to put children into classrooms by focusing on literacy. It's called, The Big Read. Please check it out and lend your support so that we can all turn to a new page together. www.campaignforeducation.org A chance encounter with rugby legend, François Piennar, after that event meant I, quite unexpectedly, found myself at the Liberty Life Wanderers' Stadium watching cricket. The ICC World Twenty 20 tournament to be precise. South Africa vs. Australia. Until a few hours ago, what I knew about cricket could have been carved on the back of a postage stamp with an ice axe, but after a crash course, I now know my overs from my batsmen and my runs from my sixes. What an amazing atmosphere: celebratory fireworks lit up the dusky sky; there were victory dances to booming drums; endless Mexican waves, and rousing choruses of "We Will Rock You!" But even amidst the gasps and cheers of a cricket match, South Africa's history bubbled to the surface. In a stadium of 34,000 people, Dr. Essop Pahad, former Minister in the Presidency, pointed to around 400 seats under the scoreboard that, in the Apartheid era, were reserved for non whites, like him. Because, at midday, those were the hottest, least desirable seats. Little wonder he sat so proudly in the Presidential box today. Sport has a special status here. It's unified this country. In 1995, when South Africa won the World Cup, whites and non whites rallied around rugby to help heal the wounds of apartheid. A TV commentator asked François, captain back then, what it felt like to have such passionate support from 63,000 people packed into Ellis Park. He replied: "We did not have 63,000 fans behind us today, we had 43 million South Africans." Nelson Mandela later wrote: "It was under François Pienaar's inspiring leadership that rugby became the pride of the entire country. He brought the nation together." I can only imagine what it must feel like to have Madiba describe you as the 'man who brought the nation together.' Such humility and charm are typical of the father of this nation. Walking around the incredibly moving Apartheid Museum in Soweto, I struggled to understand how he could have endured 27 years of imprisonment and emerge as compassionate as he is. The museum shocks from the outset. Your ticket randomly labels you by race so that some visitors experience the humiliation of walking through the dark, non-white entrance. Faded identity papers cover the walls. Visitors glimpse each other through a metal grid. Hundreds of nooses hang, symbolizing state executions. The tour takes you into Mandela's tiny cell to experience his numbing, stifling, isolation. His voice echoes everywhere. A priceless array of artifacts, footage, photography and text tell the chilling apartheid story, and bring to life the struggle...the sacrifice. Mandela has said that, "True reconciliation does not consist in merely forgetting the past." If we are truly to move forward, we need to understand the past. We need to reflect on how after 27 stolen years, he built a new nation from the fragments of conflict. We need to learn his lessons. We need to live up to his example. The curator told me that there are plans afoot to adapt the photographs and footage so that Madiba's legacy of peace and reconciliation can travel the world, and reach even more people. What did I take away from my visit? That reconciliation is achievable. That deep-rooted hatreds can be addressed. But as I came out into the sunlight, I was shaken and sad. In my part of the world, we haven't learned those lessons. Our long walk to freedom continues. Click here to read Queen Rania's first blog post about her trip to Africa. More on South Africa
 
Critics Call Freedom Tower Name Change Unpatriotic Top
NEW YORK — Even without the name, the symbolism of the Freedom Tower as an American response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks was hard to miss. The original architect designed a twisting form he wanted to imitate the Statue of Liberty, with a spire that rose to the deliberate height of 1,776 feet to recognize the year of American independence. Politicians called the tower proof of the country's triumph over terrorism. Former Gov. George Pataki said visitors to the iconic skyscraper "will know our determination to overcome evil" in a 2003 speech that first gave the Freedom Tower its name. The tower _ still under construction with a projected completion date of 2013 _ no longer has the same architect, design or footprint on the 16-acre site. And this week, the owners of ground zero publicly parted ways with the Freedom Tower name, saying it would be more practical to market the tallest building in New York as the former north tower's name, One World Trade Center. Critics called the name drop an unpatriotic shedding of symbolism by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Some newspaper editorials blasted the agency for years of missed deadlines and changing plans for the site. "When you've broken your promises on everything else to do with redeveloping ground zero, it's no big deal to discard the name by which the public has come to know the iconic skyscraper at the heart of the plan," the New York Daily News wrote on Friday. But others privately repeated fears that have plagued the building as negotiations with major corporations to take up space in the tower came and went: that the 102-story Freedom Tower's name could make it more susceptible to future attacks than a symbol of defiance against it. "The fact is, more than 3 billion dollars of public money is invested in that building and, as a public agency, we have the responsibility to make sure it is completed and that we utilize the best strategy to make certain it is fully occupied," the agency said in a statement Friday. Agency chairman Anthony Coscia was more critical in remarks Thursday, when the Port Authority announced its first corporate lease at the tower with a Chinese business center. "As we market the building, we will ensure the building is presented in the best possible way," he said. One World Trade Center is "easiest for people to identify with, and frankly, we've gotten a very interested and warm reception to it." Coscia had expressed concerns about the Freedom Tower three years earlier, saying he would never ask Port Authority employees to move into the tallest, most symbolic skyscraper being built at the site because they had survived 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks and would find it too emotionally difficult to return. Several other government offices were located in the original trade center, and the Port Authority is trying to finalize leases with the federal and state governments that would lease half the building. No other corporate tenants have signed on. The Port Authority has agreed to lease space in another tower being built at the site. Pataki _ who named the Freedom Tower in his 2003 speech and continued to refer to it in rebuilding speeches as a symbol of America's ability to come back after Sept. 11, took offense at the loss of the Freedom Tower moniker and its replacement. "Where One and Two World Trade Center once stood, there will be a memorial with two voids to honor the heroes we lost. In my view, those addresses should never be used again," he said. The Daily News and New York Post published editorials backing the former governor. But The New York Times on Saturday wrote that Pataki's name for the building became "its burden," and said the Port Authority was "quietly and sensibly" using another name to market the tower to high-profile commercial tenants. The Port Authority suggested that people could still call the building the Freedom Tower; the name has stuck despite the fact that the agency quietly stopped it on first reference years ago. The agency made One World Trade Center the building's legal name when it took over its construction in 2006, although it also acquired the trademark for the Freedom Tower name. Mayor Michael Bloomberg _ who said Friday he prefers the name Freedom Tower _ said the building's true name may be left to the public. "One of the things is we call things what we want to call them. So Avenue of Americas is a good example. It's Sixth Avenue to most people," the mayor said. "If they name this One World Trade Center, people will still call it the Freedom Tower."
 
White House Debate Led To Plan To Widen Effort In Afghanistan Top
President Obama's plan to widen United States involvement in Afghanistan came after an internal debate in which Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. warned against getting into a political and military quagmire, while military advisers argued that the Afghanistan war effort could be imperiled without even more troops. All of the president's advisers agreed that the primary goal in the region should be narrow -- taking aim at Al Qaeda, as opposed to the vast attempt at nation-building the Bush administration had sought in Iraq. The question was how to get there. More on Barack Obama
 
Diamond Industry Rocked By Recession Top
Last fall, recession-wary Americans more concerned about basics than bling began to lose interest in diamonds and other jewelry, and now the sales slump is reverberating around the world. Retailers are taking a big hit. Tiffany said Monday that its profit dropped more than 75 percent in the fourth quarter. Lynn Jewelers, a downtown Washington presence since 1946, closed its doors last month. Christian Bernard Jewelers, a national chain with several stores in the Washington area, has shut down, as well. They are among 1,000-plus jewelers across the country to go out of business in the past year.
 
Connecticut School Bans Physical Contact Top
A Connecticut middle school principal has laid down the law: You put your hands on someone -- anyone -- in any way, you're going to pay. A violent incident that put one student in the hospital has officials at the Milford school implementing a "no touching" policy, according to a letter written by the school's principal.
 
Lane Hudson: Dear Bill O: I doubt your mother would approve Top
Dear Bill (the real villain): Hillary Clinton, former O'Reilly Factor producer Andrea Mackris, rape and murder victim Jennifer Moore, and now blogger Amanda Terkel. You seem to think women are expendable, or at least not worth valuing as equal. About a year and a half ago, you took a break from your ridiculous characterizations of progressive bloggers as 'worse than the Ku Klux Klan' to distract America from the fact that your followers at BillOreilly.com are so vile that they fancy offing Hillary Clinton with their shotgun. At no point, did you condemn your misguided minions. Instead you said I was a liar and insane for being a stand up citizen and notifying the Secret Service of a threat to a protected person. Where do you get our values from? I doubt your mother would approve. Your former producer, Andrea Mackris, sued your for sexual harassment. Instead of addressing her allegations (such as your propensity for loofah and language usually only found in hard core porn videos), you quietly settled out of court, paying her millions of dollars to stay quiet. I doubt your mother would approve. Recently, ThinkProgress.org, which has a rather impeccable record for accuracy, reported on the hypocrisy of your propensity to blame rape victims like Jennifer Moore for the horrific crimes committed against her and your willingness to speak at a fundraiser for the Alexa Foundation, which seems to be diametrically opposed to the beliefs that you have espoused on your teevee and radio shows. At no point did you apologize your misguided beliefs. Instead, you sent your minions to stalk ThinkProgress.org blogger Amanda Terkel, a diminutive and kind human being, on her vacation. Your minions even ambushed her unexpectedly on camera. (That is so classy and professional!) Instead of denouncing the highly unprofessional conduct of your minion (otherwise known as producer Jesse Watters), you proceeded to use highly edited footage of said minion's ambush of knowledgeable and fact-conscious blogger Amanda Terkel to cast her as a villain . How in the world could someone (like a highly partisan talk show host with the most fragile of egos) take someone (like a highly ethical writer) and cast her as a villan? It's a very simple and well-known tactic to some people (like talk show hosts who must defend their fragile egos at all costs). It's known as abandoning any semblance of journalistic integrity. I doubt your mother would approve. Now, instead of calling highly ethical professional writers names just because they called out your hypocrisy, it would have been really refreshing if you showed us that Ms. Terkel jumped the gun because of your pending plans to acknowledge your past mistakes of blaming innocent women for rapes committed against them. After all, the entire notion boggles any kind of logical thinking. You're not that unreasonable of a person, right? Alas, I guess it wasn't in the cards. You must be that unreasonable. I'm not sure why I even suggested you might be. In spite of this, I'll give you some advice that you should already know. Stay away from Amanda Terkel. She's way out of your league. Her integrity is something you have never had in your career and never will. I'm sure you (or your minion of a producer) made a strategic decision not to invite her on your show before you attempted to smear her because you already knew that you couldn't hold your own against her (knowing you could cut her microphone off wasn't enough of a comfort). So, instead of a highly edited 'interview' conducted by a shady producer stalking and ambushing someone on vacation, could you find a way to not be so lame? Even people like me, who know how pathetic you are, think this is a new low. Your mother would probably agree. Hugs and Kisses, Lane Hudson More on Bill O'Reilly
 
Late Night Jokes Of The Week: CNN, Schwarzenegger, Barack Obama And More (VIDEO) Top
It's everyone's favorite time again, when we can look back at the late night jokes that week and say here are the ones you need to see. In this edition, Jay Leno takes on CNN's new anchor model, Jimmy Kimmel takes on the Governator, and David Letterman shows us why George Bush is uncool. WATCH: More on Late Night Shows
 
Brazil: Abortion Debate Flares Amid Widespread Abuse Of Girls Top
SÃO PAULO, Brazil -- The waiting room at Pérola Byington Hospital resembles a small day care center many days. Young girls play on the cold tile floors or rock hyperactively in plastic chairs, while their mothers stare pensively at the red digital readout on a wall, signaling their place in line. More on Crime
 
Newsweek's Krugman Cover Story: Obama's Loyal Opposition Top
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has been one of most vocal critics of the Obama administration's bank bailout plan. As the Financial Times noted Friday, Krugman is one of the "many prominent left-leaning economists" who is leading what the article referred to as "the liberal backlash" against Obama. For example, in a widely-read post on his blog "Conscience of a Liberal" last Saturday, Krugman criticized Geithner's plan for the banks, declaring that "the zombie ideas have won." His critique quickly echoed around the blogosphere and beyond. This week's issue of Newsweek highlights, and perhaps helps solidify, Krugman's status as arguably the most prominent, influential and prescient critic of the administration on the left by featuring him on the magazine's cover alongside the headline "OBAMA IS WRONG: The Loyal Opposition of Paul Krugman." (SCROLL DOWN FOR IMAGE OF COVER) As Newsweek editor Jon Meacham writes in his letter to the magazine's readers about the Krugman article: Every once a while, ... a critic emerges who is more than a chatterer--a critic with credibility whose views seem more than a little plausible and who manages to rankle those in power in more than passing ways. As the debate over the rescue of the financial system--the crucial step toward stabilizing the economy and returning the country to prosperity--unfolds, the man on our cover this week, Paul Krugman of The New York Times, has emerged as the kind of critic who, as Evan Thomas writes, appears disturbingly close to the mark when he expresses his 'despair' over the administration's bailout plan. [...] There is little doubt that Krugman--Nobel laureate and Princeton professor--has be come the voice of the loyal opposition. What is striking about this development is that Obama's most thoughtful critic is taking on the president from the left at a time when, as Jonathan Alter notes, so many others are reflexively arguing that the administration is trying too much too soon. Read the full article by Evan Thomas here . From the article: Krugman is having his 15 minutes and enjoying it, although at moments, as I followed him around last week, he seemed a little overwhelmed. He is an unusual mix, at once nervous, shy, sweet and fiercely sure of himself. He enjoys his outsider's power: "No one has as big a megaphone as I have," he says. "Aside from the world going to hell, it's great." He is in much demand on the talk-show circuit: PBS's "The NewsHour" and "Charlie Rose" on Monday last week, ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" this past Sunday. Someone has even cut a rock video on YouTube: "Hey, Paul Krugman, why aren't you in the administration?" A singer croons, "Hey, Paul Krugman, where the hell are you, man? We need you on the front lines, not just writing for The New York Times." (And the cruel chorus: "All we hear [from Geithner] is blah, blah, blah.") Krugman is not likely to show up in an administration job in part because he has a noble--but not government-career-enhancing--history of speaking truth to power. With dry humor, he once told a friend the story of attending an economic summit in Little Rock after Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992. As the friend recounted the story to NEWSWEEK, "Clinton asked Paul, 'Can we have a balanced budget and health-care reform?'--essentially, can we have it all? And Paul said, 'No, you have to be disciplined. You have to make choices.' Then Paul says to me (deadpan), 'That was the wrong answer.' Then Clinton turns to Laura Tyson and asks the same questions, and she says, 'Yes, it's all possible, you have your cake and eat it too.' And then [Paul] says, 'That was the right answer'." (Tyson became chairman of Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers; she did not respond to requests to comment.) Krugman confirmed the story to NEWSWEEK WITH a smile. "I'm more tolerant now," he says. But at the time, he was bitter that he was kept out of the Clinton administration. More on Barack Obama
 
Afghan War Rationale Questioned By Some Key Strategists: Analysis Top
WASHINGTON, Mar 28 (IPS) - The argument for deeper U.S. military commitment to the Afghan War invoked by President Barack Obama in his first major policy statement on Afghanistan and Pakistan Friday - that al Qaeda must be denied a safe haven in Afghanistan - has not been subjected to public debate in Washington. A few influential strategists here have been arguing, however, that this official rationale misstates the al Qaeda problem and ignores the serious risk that an escalating U.S. war poses to Pakistan. Those strategists doubt that al Qaeda would seek to move into Afghanistan as long as they are ensconced in Pakistan and argue that escalating U.S. drone airstrikes or Special Operations raids on Taliban targets in Pakistan will actually strengthen radical jihadi groups in the country and weaken the Pakistani government's ability to resist them. The first military strategist to go on record with such a dissenting view on Afghanistan and Pakistan was Col. T. X. Hammes, a retired Marine officer and author of the 2004 book "The Sling and the Stone", which argued that the U.S. military faces a new type of warfare which it would continue to lose if it did not radically reorient its thinking. He became more widely known as one of the first military officers to call in September 2006 for Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation over failures in Iraq. Col. Hammes dissected the rationale for the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan in an article last September on the website of the "Small Wars Journal", which specialises in counterinsurgency issues. He questioned the argument that Afghanistan had to be stabilised in order to deny al Qaeda a terrorist base there, because, "Unfortunately, al Qaeda has moved its forces and its bases into Pakistan." Hammes suggested that the Afghan War might actually undermine the tenuous stability of a Pakistani regime, thus making the al Qaeda threat far more serious. He complained that "neither candidate has even commented on how our actions [in Afghanistan] may be feeding Pakistan's instability." Hammes, who has since joined the Institute for Defence Analysis, a Pentagon contractor, declined to comment on the Obama administration's rationale for the Afghan War for this article. Kenneth Pollack, the director of research at the Saban Centre for Middle East Policy of the Brookings Institution, has also expressed doubt about the official argument for escalation in Afghanistan. Pollack's 2002 book, "The Threatening Storm," was important in persuading opinion-makers in Washington to support the Bush administration's use of U.S. military force against the Saddam Hussein regime, and he remains an enthusiastic supporter of the U.S. military presence in Iraq. But at a Brookings forum Dec. 16, Pollack expressed serious doubts about the strategic rationale for committing the U.S. military to Afghanistan. Contrasting the case for war in Afghanistan with the one for war in Iraq in 2003, he said, it is "much harder to see the tie between Afghanistan and our vital interests." Like Hammes, Pollack argued that it is Pakistan, where al Qaeda's leadership has flourished since being ejected from Afghanistan, which could clearly affect those vital interests. And additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan, Pollack pointed out, "are not going to solve the problems of Pakistan." Responding to a question about the possibility of U.S. attacks against Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan paralleling the U.S. efforts during the Vietnam War to clean out the Communist "sanctuaries" in Cambodia, Pollack expressed concern about that possibility. "The more we put the troops into Afghanistan," said Pollack, "the more we are tempted to mount cross-border operations into Pakistan, exactly as we did in Vietnam." Pollack cast doubt on the use of either drone bombing attacks or Special Operations commando raids into Pakistan as an approach to dealing with the Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan. "The only way to do it is to mount a full-scale counterinsurgency campaign," said Pollack, "which seems unlikely in the case of Pakistan." The concern raised by Hammes and Pollack about the war in Afghanistan spilling over into Pakistan paralleled concerns in the U.S. intelligence community about the effect on Pakistan of commando raids by U.S. Special Operations forces based in Afghanistan against targets inside Pakistan. In mid-August 2008, the National Intelligence Council presented to the White House the consensus view of the intelligence community that such Special Forces raids, which were then under consideration, could threaten the unity of the Pakistani military if continued long enough, as IPS reported Sep. 9. Despite that warning, a commando raid was carried out on a target in South Waziristan Sep. 3, reportedly killing as many as 20 people, mostly apparently civilians. A Pentagon official told Army Times reporter Sean D. Naylor that the raid was in response to cross-border activities by Taliban allies with the complicity of the Pakistani military's Frontier Corps. Although that raid was supposed to be the beginning of a longer campaign, it was halted because of the virulence of the political backlash in Pakistan that followed, according to Naylor's Sep. 29 report. The raid represented "a strategic miscalculation," one U.S. official told Naylor. "We did not fully appreciate the vehemence of the Pakistani response." The Pakistani military sent a strong message to Washington by demonstrating that they were willing to close down U.S. supply routes through the Khyber Pass talking about shooting at U.S. helicopters. The commando raids were put on hold for the time being, but the issue of resuming them was part of the Obama administration's policy review. That aspect of the review has not been revealed. Meanwhile airstrikes by drone aircraft in Pakistan have sharply increased in recent months, increasingly targeting Pashtun allies of the Taliban. Last week, apparently anticipating one result of the policy review, the New York Times reported Obama and his national security advisers were considering expanding the strikes by drone aircraft from the Tribal areas of Northwest Pakistan to Quetta, Baluchistan, where top Taliban leaders are known to be located. But Daniel Byman, a former CIA analyst and counter-terrorism policy specialist at Georgetown University, who has been research director on the Middle East at the RAND corporation, told the Times that, if drone attacks were expanded as is now being contemplated, al Qaeda and other jihadist organisations might move "farther and farther into Pakistan, into cities". Byman believes that would risk "weakening the government we want to bolster", which he says is "already to some degree a house of cards." The Times report suggested that some officials in the administration agree with Byman's assessment. The drone strikes are admitted by U.S. officials to be so unpopular with the Pakistani public that no Pakistani government can afford to appear to tolerate them, the Times reported. But such dissenting views as those voiced by Hammes, Pollack and Byman are unknown on Capital Hill. At a hearing on Afghanistan before a subcommittee of the House Government Operations Committee Thursday, the four witnesses were all enthusiastic supporters of escalation, and the argument that U.S. troops must fight to prevent al Qaeda from getting a new sanctuary in Afghanistan never even came up for discussion. *Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in 2006. Read more from Inter Press Service. More on War Wire
 

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