Sunday, April 12, 2009

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Anheuser-Busch InBev Explores Rolling Rock Sale Top
Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev NV is exploring the sale of its storied but struggling Rolling Rock brand, according to people familiar with the matter. The potential sale comes three years after Anheuser-Busch Cos. bought Rolling Rock from InBev NV for $82 million. InBev, the maker of Stella Artois, acquired Anheuser-Busch for about $52 billion last autumn to form the world's largest beer maker by sales, and is selling assets to help repay debt from the deal.
 
Harold Pollack: Why does Michelle Obama drive people crazy? Top
To my knowledge, I have never met Michelle Obama. This is actually surprising. She was in my Princeton graduating class, but I was ensconced in the engineering quadrangle, and she was in another department. I might have introduced myself, but I suspect she was the sort of shiksa goddess I feared to approach. We overlapped at Harvard. I was--again--ensconced across the campus. Fifteen years later, we both did health work at the University of Chicago. I work with many people who know her personally and have worked with her closely. I arrived a year or so too late to rank in that number. Maybe if I actually knew her, I would understand why this mild-mannered person drives otherwise-sane people crazy. Maureen Dowd and David Brooks famously obsessed in the back of a cab about Mrs. Obama's biceps--a conversation which Ms. Dowd deemed a worthy centerpiece of a published column. Mrs. Obama's European travels occasioned Branjelina-level commentary on her wardrobe. Conservative commentators are still stewing over some blunt comments she made during the campaign. Yesterday, a friend sent me David Samuels's recent column about her from New York magazine. The money quote reads: There are clear limits to Michelle's ambition. She went to excellent schools, got decent grades, stayed away from too much intellectual heavy lifting, and held a series of practical, modestly salaried jobs while accommodating her husband's wilder dreams and raising two lovely daughters. In this, she is a more practical role model for young women than Hillary Clinton, blending her calculations about family and career with an expectation of normal personal happiness. As Katha Pollitt observes, this is an odd description of a conspicuously driven and successful Harvard lawyer whose last position was a VP slot at one of America's leading academic medical centers. (Samuels elaborates--to my mind gets weirder-- here .) I'll bet 10,000 doctoral dissertations are being penned to explain how and why onlookers project so much onto the person of Michelle Obama. As with Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush before her, we prefer our first-ladies to be cardboard icons rather than as the actual human beings they are. I will simply add two things to this flood of commentary and blather. First, I spend much of my day traveling Chicago meeting people in public health work. Some are connected with President Obama. Many more are connected to Michelle, and report something substantive that she said or did pertinent to the work at hand. She was no lobbyist or figurehead. She had a real job. It was to navigate intricate logistical, financial, and political issues of linking a university medical center with local networks of collaborating providers. People around town seem to think that she did a good job. If Mr. Samuels does not regard this as "intellectual heavy lifting," he should come on over and try himself. Second, she strikes me as a supercharged version of many successful women I know, who combine several personal and political qualities we don't expect to find in a single person. She is (a) a driven and privileged Ivy League professional, (b) drawn by personal experience and a larger history to be occasionally ambivalent in her expressions of American nationalism, (c) a committed mom who enjoys baking cookies for her kids, and (d) someone who enjoys the occasional workout and wearing nice clothes. This being Chicago, many of the women I'm thinking about are African-American. Yet successful Jewish women of my mom's generation shared many of these qualities, as their daughters often do today. Michelle Obama goes on with life as there is no inherent contradiction among these different identities and goals. This drives some people crazy. As my mother might say, they'd better get used to it. More on Michelle Obama
 
Yvonne R. Davis: So What If Obama Bowed? HALAS! Top
Okay so what if President Obama bowed to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah at the G-20 Summit? Showing respect for the Elder King's position does NOT in any way mean the apocalyptic messages Republican Clerics are screaming over the air waves -- the U.S. is going to turn Muslim and Christianity is going to get thrown out of an ancient Uzbek tower and smash on the ground because of the so-called Obama genuflect. It is so wildly crazy to see all of this talky talk about President Obama on this silly issue. On Fox News you see the veins popping out of the foreheads and necks of their squawkers. On MSNBC, their conservative guests' faces turn real red (Not Pat Buchanan, he is always very cool and does not get caught up in the petty stuff), with their venomous punditry. The Right's charge in the blogosphere that the President is a secret Muslim (since he also said his full name -- Barack Hussein Obama -- aloud twice overseas and also in the "Muslim" country of Turkey), is being sung like an Ozzy Osbourne record played backwards. They shriek we are "less safe" because he has opened the clinched fist the United States had to the Arab and Muslim world since 9/11, 2001. Effective leadership is not driven by authority proving power, but in graciousness and humility allowing others to experience the true power of a leader. President Obama's recalibration of America's respect for our European Allies and their leadership with -- yes -- the leadership of King Abdullah shows a higher level gentleman style Diplomacy that has not been seen in this way by any President. You may argue that Presidents Clinton, Reagan and Kennedy showed style and grace and I will agree -- they looked the part, spoke eloquently and were well received by our allies -- but Obama's approach is completely different and out of the box, and again this type of change scares conservatives. Hegemony was the way Americans grew accustomed to. However, abuse of this Leviathan style domination hurt us on so many fronts that it must be deconstructed to meet a new form of influence and command that is mutually inclusive as we lead. Do you remember when the U.S. was the Great Empire and President Bush went to the last G-20 Summit with our allies and how they dissed him by not even looking at him or shaking his hand? President Bush was also snubbed at the NATO Summit last April. It was embarrassing for President Bush and our Nation because we had made serious missteps towards being emotionally and culturally intelligent about our allies. Finally, to end 2008, a pair of shoes being chucked at our former President was equally disheartening. This is nothing even for the liberal left to laugh at (but they unfortunately did), and celebrate when a President of the United States is reduced to a kid playing dodge ball at recess. The President is speaking a language of acceptance and outreach that is quite sincere. Of course President Obama has an agenda attached to his efforts, but there is more of a willingness to accept or consider what his agenda is for America and the rest of the world if he offers his right hand of fellowship first. President Obama is walking down a very divided and rocky road to establish his legacy as the Balancer in Chief between nations and polities that are dangerous, unstable and at each other's throat. Now because he hosted Passover Seder (which by the way he also hosted during the campaign last April), there will be some extremists again coming from the Right who will say he is a secret Jew or perhaps even a Secret Muslim Jew? Is that really possible? And of course after he and his family attend church on Easter Sunday, some from the Right again will analyze this and accuse him of going to church to worship himself because after all, he is -- as Glenn Beck all but indicates -- the Anti-Christ Benito Mussolini Fascist. He can't possibly have a spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ. He is Pro-choice and supports Gay Rights! Wow, this is so bizarre! You know the truth is Republican Clerics who are borderline xenophobic are working very hard in front of and behind the scenes to paint President Obama as someone who is weak without grit and Un P (atriotic). Calling him a "Foreigner or AyyRab Lover," they are screeching out domino and post ad hoc conclusions hoping that he will put on a thobe, tagiyah, ghutra, and agal (Arab male garb) to prove their point. Their political rhetoric is psychotic. Americans must be awake and allow our President to focus on a higher path towards authentic and noble leadership in the free world without this shrill and stupid discourse. More on Barack Obama
 
Jeff Danziger: Ted Stevens, Mitch McConnell Top
More on GOP
 
"Sound Of Music" Train Station Dance: Why Is It So Popular? (VIDEO) Top
A video of almost 200 people taking over Antwerpen's Centraal Station in Belgium and doing a carefully choreographed dance to the Do Re Mi song (aka Maria's Dance aka Maria's Song) from "Sound of Music" has garnered almost a million views on YouTube, and continues to grow, sprouting a new round of google trends today. People like viral videos, they like flash mobs, and they like weird junk on the Internet, but this video has struck an especially emotional chord with those who've watched it. The folks at Shallow Nation called it a "sheer joy to watch"; Dancer Universe blog chirped , "How could you not smile for hours? I'm smiling now just typing this!"; and Salon.com's Table Talk offered this to the discussion: "The dancers are presenting the purest form of art imaginable: art simply and truly for the sake of art...They managed to punch right through my cynicism and show me that good things are still out there and there are good people in the world...In a small way, I have a deeper understanding of what it is to be human because of the actions of 200 fellow humans in a train station in Belgium." It's a publicity stunt for a reality show, but that doesn't seem to bother anyone, they just like it for what it is: a really cool, well shot video, that lets average people express their joy and talent and make those around them happy for a brief period. The producers chose the exact right song: one that harkens back to our childhoods, but also recalls Maria's unabashed upbeatness in the face of evil. We're in a global economic crisis, America's fighting two wars, there's genocide in Darfur, AIDs running rampant, and a pretty good shot that we could all be killed by bird flu in a year or two. We need this video. WATCH: Get HuffPost Comedy On Facebook! Become A Fan! More on Video
 
Michael Vazquez: Why We Don't Condemn Our Pirates by K'naan Top
As the first pirate attack of a U.S. ship in 200 years comes to a climax, I'm re-posting an essay I solicited and received several weeks ago from K'naan, a Somali-Canadian singer and activist. A video of a performance by K'naan that I filmed at the All Points West music festival last summer appears below. Michael Vazquez Why We Don't Condemn Our Pirates by K'naan Can anyone ever really be for piracy? Outside of sea bandits, and young girls fantasizing of Johnny Depp, would anyone with an honest regard for good human conduct really say that they are in support of Sea Robbery? Well, in Somalia, the answer is: it's complicated. The news media these days has been covering piracy in the Somali coast with such Lop-sided journalism, that it's lucky they're not on a ship themselves. It's true that the constant hi-jacking of vessels in the Gulf of Aden is a major threat to the vibrant trade route between Asia and Europe. It is also true that for most of the pirates operating in this vast shoreline, money is the primary objective. But according to so many Somalis, the disruption of Europe's darling of a trade route, is just Karma biting a perpetrator in the butt. And if you don't believe in Karma, maybe you believe in recent history. Here is why we Somalis find ourselves slightly shy of condemning our pirates. Somalia has been without any form of a functioning government since 1991. And although its failures, like many other toddler governments in Africa, sprung from the wells of post-colonial independence, bad governance and development loan sharks, the specific problem of piracy was put in motion in 1992. After the overthrow of Siyad Barre, our charmless dictator of twenty-some-odd years, two major forces of the Hawiye Clan came to power. At the time, Ali Mahdi, and General Mohamed Farah Aidid, the two leaders of the Hawiye rebels, were largely considered liberators. But the unity of the two men and their respective sub-clans was very short-lived. It's as if they were dumbstruck at the advent of ousting the dictator, or that they just forgot to discuss who will be the leader of the country once they defeated their common foe. A disagreement of who will upgrade from militia leader to Mr. President broke up their honeymoon. It's because of this disagreement that we've seen one of the most decomposing wars in Somalia's history, leading to millions displaced and hundreds of thousands dead. But war is expensive and militias need food for their families, and Jaad (an amphetamine-based stimulant) to stay awake for the fighting. Therefore, a good clan -based Warlord must look out for his own fighters. Aidid's men turned to robbing aid trucks carrying food to the starving masses, and re-selling it to continue their war. But Ali Mahdi had his sights set on a larger and more unexploited resource, namely: the Indian Ocean. Already by this time, local fishermen in the coastline of Somalia have been complaining of illegal vessels coming to Somali waters and stealing all the fish. And since there was no government to report it to, and since the severity of the violence clumsily overshadowed every other problem, the fishermen went completely unheard. But it was around this same time that a more sinister, a more patronizing practice was being put in motion. A Swiss firm called Achair Parterns, and an Italian waste company called Achair Parterns, made a deal with Ali Mahdi, that they were to dump containers of waste material in Somali waters. These European companies were said to be paying Warlords about $3 a ton, whereas to properly dispose of waste in Europe costs about $1000 a ton. In 2004, after a tsunami washed ashore several leaking containers, thousand of locals in the Puntland region of Somalia started to complain of severe and previously unreported ailments, such as abdominal bleeding, skin melting off and a lot of immediate cancer-like symptoms. Nick Nuttall, a spokesman for the United Nations Environmental Program, says that the containers had many different kinds of waste, including "Uranium, radioactive waste, lead, Cadmium, Mercury and chemical waste." But this wasn't just a passing evil from one or two groups taking advantage of our unprotected waters. The UN envoy for Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, says that the practice still continues to this day. It was months after those initial reports that local fishermen mobilized themselves, along with street militias, to go into the waters and deter the Westerners from having a free pass at completely destroying Somalia's aquatic life. Now years later, the deterring has become less noble, and the ex-fishermen with their militias have begun to develop a taste for ransom at sea. This form of piracy is now a major contributor to the Somali economy, especially in the very region that private toxic waste companies first began to burry our nation's death trap. Now Somalia has upped the world's pirate attacks by over 21 percent in one year, and while NATO and the EU are both sending forces to the Somali coast to try and slow down the attacks, Black Water and all kinds of private security firms are intent on cashing in. But while Europeans are well in their right to protect their trade interest in the region, our pirates were the only deterrent we had from an externally imposed environmental disaster. No one can say for sure that some of the ships they are now holding for ransom were not involved in illegal activity in our waters. The truth is, if you ask any Somali, if getting rid of the pirates only means the continuous rape of our coast by unmonitored Western Vessels, and the producing of a new cancerous generation, we would all fly our pirate flags high. It is time that the world gave the Somali people some assurance that these Western illegal activities will end, if our pirates are to seize their operations. We do not want the EU and NATO serving as a shield for these nuclear waste-dumping hoodlums. It seems to me that this new modern crisis is truly a question of justice, but also a question of whose justice. As is apparent these days, one man's pirate is another man's coast guard. by K'naan K'naan performs at the All Points West Music festival, 2008
 
Peter Diamandis: Guest Blogger, Don Tapscott: Encouraging Fresh Thinking from Today's Youth Top
Later this month I will have the pleasure of helping announce the winners of the Grown Up Digital Net Gen Education Challenge. The announcement will be made during a first-of-its-kind online awards show that will bring together hundreds of students, teachers, and educators from around the world. In the spirit of the X PRIZE , I was part of a group that asked students to make videos that suggested ways to reinvent education for relevance and effectiveness for the 21st century. The person putting forward the best suggestion will be awarded a small scholarship. To get the project underway, I partnered with the Flat Classroom Project . This wonderful organization was founded in 2006 to connect Julie Lindsay's classroom at the International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Vicki Davis' classroom at Westwood Schools in Camilla, Georgia. Today the project brings together more than 1,500 students from 20 countries. They use leading Web 2.0 technologies to connect students in powerful learning environments where students learn, collaborate, and improve their cultural understanding. The Flat Classroom Project epitomizes the kind of fresh thinking needed in today's education system. We have a crisis in our schools and universities. We know that Facebook, MySpace, and other networks and digital technologies used by the Net Generation are changing our global society. But why are connected students at home suddenly disconnected at school? Schools have not embraced digital technologies as quickly as other institutions, and students are becoming disengaged as a result. Traditional, one-way broadcast models of education are out-dated. In Grown Up Digital, I discussed the need to change the learning experience to create a student-focused, multi-way, customized approach where the students collaborate, are excited, engaged, and improve problem solving. Such an environment gives them the tools to achieve lifelong learning. You could see from the entries to the Educational Challenge that these kids knew exactly what I was talking about. I look forward to the i2i conference in early June. I will share many of the insights that the kids put forward. I will show how today's youth are flooding into the workplace, marketplace, and every niche of society. They are bringing with them their demographic muscle, media smarts, purchasing power, new models of collaborating and parenting, entrepreneurship, and political power. They have strong values and care deeply about our planet. In many countries, volunteering by young people is at an all-time high. In some countries we can see this civic involvement morphing into political involvement; witness the critical role the Net Generation played in the election of President Barack Obama. There has never been greater need for the skills and values of today's youth. We're facing unprecedented economic turmoil, and institutions in areas such as business, government and education are experiencing deep transformations. What the world really needs now is a generation of fresh, energized, savvy champions for change, and that's exactly what today's youth are. Don Tapscott recently led a survey of 11,000 young people around the world. He has written 13 widely read books on the impact of the Internet on society. His 1997 book Growing Up Digital defined the Net Generation and the sequel, Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, was published in November 2008. Follow Don on twitter: dtapscott
 
Obama Puppy A Portugese Water Dog Named "Bo" Top
The AP reports on the Obama's new dog, Bo: Bo? No jest. The first family has settled on a first pet _ a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog that the Obama girls are naming Bo. The selection was one of the White House's most tightly kept secrets. President Barack Obama's daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, picked a black and white pup, a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press Saturday night. More on Bo Obama
 
Kari Henley: My Dog is a Whack Job! Canine Allergies, Anxieties and Ailments, Oh My! Top
I have a message for the Obama family in their search for a hypo-allergenic dog: they are in for a lot more than they bargained for. The dog world is no longer the simple place where our beloved pets eat table scraps, fetch the newspaper, go to the vet for emergencies, and hang out for their loyal little lives. No. It is not like that now. Today dogs are getting more attention than the most pampered movie star and having their share of 'designer ailments' like allergies and anxieties. As a mother, I have experienced the challenging impacts of having a son with severe allergies, and another son with anxiety issues in my own household. As we decided to get a family pet, I never imagined our dog would drive me crazy with the same set of problems. Yes, President and Mrs. Obama, be prepared: your loving pound pet may require doggie alternative medicine, doggie physical therapy and doggie day care. We did our research, just like the Obama's, to find a dog that does not shed and is considered "hypoallergenic", as one of my sons has terrible allergies. We spent about a year sorting through all the " designer" breeds, and settled on a cockapoo (aka: cocker spaniel and poodle). It seems you can breed a poodle with just about everything these days to get a hybrid. Everyone wants the poodles' brains and temperament, but nobody wants their dog to look like one. First mistake: driving our cute, furry blonde hypoallergenic dog home, I looked at my black sweater, and discovered hair all over the place. Uh oh. "Can't guarantee, anything, Ma'am," the breeder said. "You have more 'cocker' than 'poo." Great. Now, we have to live with a shedding, non-shedding dog. Luckily the household adjusts with no allergic reactions, and we move on to buy our $1200 electric fence, all sorts of fancy accessories for puppy potty training, and a new crate contraption they are supposed to enjoy. It became a handy clothes hanger. Now comes the whack job part. The dog starts scratching, biting her feet, and is itchy all the time. She's scared of her food bowl and jumps at the flies landing on the patio door. Our vet cleared that there was nothing wrong with her, so I headed to PAWS, a chic little designer pet store in our home town. I was dazzled at the array of sparkling pet apparel, home-baked biscuits in a glass display case, bumper stickers, key chains and posters advertising "in-house spa doggie pamper services". This is not the Alpo land that I remember.... I ask about my hypoallergenic dog's itches, and Joanne, the owner of the store, informs me my half breed probably has "food allergies." You have GOT to be kidding. Apparently it is all the rage. The cheap chow in the grocery store is sooo passé. Instead we have to start an "elimination" diet. $50.00 later I am trucking home a special organic buffalo meat for my mutt. Feeling a bit smug and superior that MY dog is not eating the crap in the grocery store, we give it a whirl. No luck. A month later, still scratching, biting and acting like a whack job. Back I go to the doggie designer store. It is a happening spot. Tons of people just hang there with their pets inside the store; chatting like they are on a kid's play date or something. Feeling doggie peer pressure, I tentatively sidle in with the crowd. Clearly the buffalo is "just not agreeing with her." Everyone clucks at my problems while little itchy, trembling Maggie pees in the corner of the store. One of the nearby customers chimes that I should hand-bake dog biscuits with pressed vegetables. She tries to sell me a book on how to make your own dog food. Still stunned this is actually my life, I truck home with a fancy salmon dog chow instead of buffalo -- to help her skin with the Omega 3's. The irony is not lost on me as I am buzzing the kids through the Wendy's drive-through for $0.99 burgers that my dog, my MUTT is eating salmon tonight and we are eating fast food. We love our pets, right? These days we will do just about anything for them. Somehow PAWS has become my second home and Joanne is now my doggie therapist. I am slouching around her counters like some sort of sap. The food elimination diet is a failure. With deep concern, she proclaims it must be 'environmental allergies' and I need to give her a special bath with oatmeal and aloe to soothe her skin. At $18.00 per bottle, I wonder if maybe I should try it on my hair and give the stupid damn dog the $1.88 bottle of Suave hanging in my shower. The final straw with our beloved whack job mutt came just yesterday, as our now grown up old dog continues to scratch herself into a frenzy and has bloodied her lovely little velvet ears. "Looks like its anxiety," Joanne pronounces; "very common with these 'designer' breeds." Off she trots to dig up a referral for her favorite vet because he has, ' excellent 'pet side' manner, and is experienced with these psychological issues.' "And," she informs me on the sly, drawing me in closer, "if he prescribes the anti-anxiety medication, it is really the same as Prozac and you can get it for $10 at the drug store." I give up. Would we trade our little Maggie? Never. Yet, I just have to wonder.....would Michelle Obama get salmon chow, hand baked biscuits, aloe conditioner and Prozac for the White House dog? Here is a clip from CBS news about the craze of 'designer dogs' and how they are not always what they are cracked up to be: What do you think about the pet craze these daze? Are we over the top? Love to hear your comments and Happy Passover/Easter to everyone. More on Barack Obama
 
Michael DeJong: Eco-Extrava-gay-ances Top
"They have enough to deal with without bearing the humiliation of having to wear last season!" ~A classic Absolutely Fabulous moment, when Edina refuses to give her Vivienne Westwood clothes away to the homeless. Next to the faded glory of black and white Hollywood 30s and 40s celluloid imagery, who is more associated with luxe than gay men and women? And why not? Many find employment in the industries that create the illusion-of-opulence, and they're often also the creative forces that invent and market the stuff as well (even those celluloid classics!) And because many (but certainly not all) gay men and women have disposable incomes, many partake in these goodies, too. But to many -- gay and straight alike -- "sustainable luxury" is, however, a term that's as oxymoronic as the phrase "open secret" or "army intelligence." The word luxury implies the excesses and waste of the fashion industry, driving women of means to pay their personal shoppers to "jump" the waiting line to embrace that outrageously expensive "Bag du Jour" to dangle casually from their Social X-Ray elbows. (Truth be told, the extravagance of most label-laden handbags could float an average American household for a month or two.) In an industry-wide turn-around, however, many high-end labels are trying to change their luxury goods businesses by "double air kissing" new environmental and labor standards. In a cultural shift, their customers who up until recently associated "green" with "granola" and "hippie" are now insisting that the bling and glamour they buy be made eco-sensitively and with a conscience, and in fact, recent marketing studies have shown that many posh and not-so-posh folks are now willing to pay more for goods labeled "green." Even while our economy slips down the crapper, luxury brands are probing the zeitgeist for new reasons why you and I should buy their wares. And with more and more folks -- gay, straight or on the spectrum -- yearning for genuine eco-values like effectiveness, honesty, transparency, purity and even hipness, many brands are making attempts at being socially responsible. In an industry that typically tosses away last year's rags for this year's rags, the new fashion paradigm now also takes responsibility for things previously left to the government -- improved working conditions and salaries, fair trade, "clean" diamonds rather than "blood" diamonds, etc. And although the luxury market is a bit late in adopting social responsibility standards, as taste-makers and innovators, their new approach could potentially have a bountiful impact. Additionally, because most are so profitable, high-end brands also have the cash to implement reduced energy consumption, green-up their means of production, buy carbon offsets, and redesign packaging to be more environmentally friendly. Sure, some might call "sustainable luxury" just another trend or even the "greenwashing" of yet another industry. And if that turns out to be the case, it's up to us as consumers to hold their perfectly pedicured feet to the fire! Today's critical need for "cradle-to-cradle" sustainability at every level of society has grown beyond the too-easily dismissible "tree-hugger" imagery of just a few years ago. Furthermore, unlike many societal ills that primarily strike those that would be classified as "the disadvantaged," the environmental problems we need to address affect every global citizen, regardless of their social standing. Put differently, the effects of global warming make us all disadvantaged. Like health care, sustainability isn't for some and not others - it's our right. Saving the environment is up there in the pantheon of social values that ended slavery, that gave women the right to vote, that ended the Vietnam War, that forged the Civil Rights movement, that gave women choice, and that are also beginning to recognize marriage equality for gay men and lesbians -- the same creative force that brought us luxury in the first place. More on Gay Marriage
 
Credit Suisse Starts Shutting 2,500-5,000 U.S. Offshore Accounts Top
Swiss bank Credit Suisse has started closing down the offshore accounts of U.S. clients who have not declared the money to the U.S. authorities, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The Sonntagszeitung newspaper said the bank had about 2,500-5,000 U.S. clients with undeclared offshore accounts worth about 3 billion francs, without citing its sources.
 
Betwa Sharma: The Armenian Question: A Snapshot Top
Taner Akcam is one of the first scholars of Turkish origin to speak and write about the killing of one and half million Armenians by the Ottoman government during the First World War. Many academics and historians have been charged under Law 301 - which makes insulting "Turkishness" a crime. Last year, the Turkish government, driven by its desire of European Union membership, amended the law and eased restrictions on free speech. Recently, at an event organized by Columbia University's Armenian Students Association, Akcam said, "After decades of suppression the lid has blown off the Armenian genocide in Turkish society." Akcam told the emotionally charged audience that the record should be set straight: "You cannot solve ethnic problems without facing history." Turkish denial of the events is attributed to years of government propaganda. The subject, though less taboo today, remains shrouded. On a visit to Turkey, President Barack Obama did not use the word 'genocide.' Clearly, the matter is far from resolved. The moderator at the Armenian Students Association meeting, Andrea Kannapell, pointed out that the panel discussion was for people who believed that genocide had taken place. It was not to debate its occurrence. A student from Columbia Law School, who asked not to be named, said that for "academic integrity, the panel should have included a historian with an opposite view." After the event, the president of the Turkish Initiative at the School of International and Public Affairs, Tolga Turan said that "They said that this would be an academic discussion. But they presented only one view." He was shocked at being asked to step away from the microphone by a security guard. According to Turan, "Nobody denies that Armenians were killed but there is no archival material that proves a centrally planned massacre." An Armenian student from Columbia's engineering department said, "Turks use these different ideas to justify what happened," he said. "It did happen. You can't deny it." The student did not want to be named because he has received death threats in the past. The word 'genocide' sticks out like a sore thumb. The conversation can't seem to move past this label. Turkey contends that the deaths resulted from civil war and that their numbers were exaggerated. A common sentiment on both sides was to open up the Armenian archives in Boston and Paris. "Even if we don't use the word 'genocide' you can't justify killing of a million people," said the Armenian student. The audience was also addressed by Mark Geragos, a trial lawyer who led Federal Class Action law suits against New York Life Insurance and AXA Corporation for insurance policies issued during the time of the killings in Turkey. The cases were settled for 37.5 million dollars. Geragos, an Armenian himself, said that his legal battles had shifted from recognition to reparation. "Restitution is a fundamental right of a victim." This means possibly getting back the Armenian land and money, which was confiscated by Turkish officials. Already, Geragos said that he was collecting land deeds. This could result in future action. Individual deeds could not be used to claim land because the case has to be presented in Turkey, which was a problem. The lawyer caused quite a stir to the Turkish part of the audience when he said that Mount Ararat, where Noah's Ark lodged after the great deluge, should be given back to the Armenians. The highest peak in Turkey, holy for the Armenians, lies to the extreme northeast and 20 miles south of Armenia. Someone in the audience responded, "How fair is it to displace the people who live there now?" He added, "Half of this country should be given back to the native Americans." Akcam warned that it was unwise to mess with the territories and boundaries in the Middle East. "Ararat should be open to everyone," he said. The scholar also noted that it was important to support Turkey's bid for a position in the European Union and encourage diplomatic relations with Armenia. "Language" was the key to moving the Armenian question forward in Turkish society. "Change our language," he said. "The language of conflict is different from the language of reconciliation." In September, President Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia. On April 24, the Armenian Diaspora remembers the night in 1915 when around 250 Armenian leaders and intellectuals were rounded up in Constantinople. They were taken to a prison in Anatolia and executed. Obama called the killings that lasted from 1915 to 1918 genocide during his presidential campaign. Turkey is militarily strategic to Washington. Will he call it genocide on April 24? A journalist in New York, Kahraman Haliscelik, is from Sanliurfa in South East Turkey. "Sanli" means great. The city was given the title "great" for the heroic fight it put up against French occupation. "I did not grow up with propaganda. I grew up with stories," he said. These were stories that his great grandmother told him of how the Armenians sided with the colonizers and killed the Turks. Haliscelik compares the march of the Armenians to the desert in Syria to the internment of Japanese in the US during the Second World War. The memories of the past have been passed on through the generations on both sides of the conflict. The talk of peace and reconciliation is difficult to achieve. "In our village it was the Armenians who killed their Turkish neighbors," he said. "They would not be welcome back in the village." Genocide memorial at the Armenian Church is Khartoum. More on Turkey
 
Obama Dog A Portugese Water Puppy Named "Bo" Top
The AP reports on the Obama's new dog, Bo: Bo? No jest. The first family has settled on a first pet _ a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog that the Obama girls are naming Bo. The selection was one of the White House's most tightly kept secrets. President Barack Obama's daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, picked a black and white pup, a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press Saturday night. More on Bo Obama
 
Bo Obama: Obamas' New Portguese Water Dog Top
The AP reports on the Obama's new dog, Bo: Bo? No jest. The first family has settled on a first pet _ a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog that the Obama girls are naming Bo. The selection was one of the White House's most tightly kept secrets. President Barack Obama's daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, picked a black and white pup, a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press Saturday night. More on Bo Obama
 
Sheldon Filger: Ireland's Economy in Free Fall Collapse Top
Once known as the "Celtic Tiger" for its sustained record of double-digit economic growth, Ireland is now in the midst of a financial tsunami. Unemployment is soaring, economic activity is contracting, banks are over-loaded on toxic assets and government spending is out of control. In many ways, Ireland seems to be a microcosm of the United States, only with a Gaelic accent. However, sheer size and the status of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency has delayed the full replication of what Ireland is currently experiencing. For that reason, what is occurring to the Irish economy in the present may be a window of what might soon lie ahead for the United States. The strength of Ireland's economy during its glory years was largely based on the seeming success of the globalization economic model. International businesses, especially in the high technology sphere, set up shop on the Emerald Isle, taking advantage of a well educated, cost-competitive workforce in close proximity to the European mainland, and an economy fully integrated into the Eurozone. This globalized corporate presence ended the historic migration of Irish workers overseas, as the local economy's demands even drew immigrants from Eastern Europe into Ireland. The increase in domestic opportunities contributed to a massive explosion in property prices. Irish banks bet heavily on securitized assets, as the financial sector assumed a leading role in the Irish economy. This is a scenario we have seen elsewhere, and led to Ireland being especially vulnerable to the consequences of the Global Economic Crisis. Since the onset of the synchronized global recession, the Irish economy has undergone a rapid contraction, erasing almost overnight the economic gains of the past several years. Unemployment in the Irish republic stands at near 11%, and is likely to get much worse. According to Ireland's Central Statistics Office, the nation's GDP shrank by 7.5% in Q4 of 2008. Added to these grim numbers hangs the dismal situation characterizing Irish banking and financial institutions; approximately $110 billion of toxic assets are eroding their balance sheets. The Irish Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, has reacted with desperation. Recently, his government unveiled a second emergency budget. Ireland's finance minister, Brian Lenihan, submitted a spending plan that contained a smorgasbord of selective tax increases and spending cuts. These steps were taken in recognition of the dual emergency facing the Irish economy. The once "Celtic Tiger" is not only incurring massive unemployment and social distress; the collapse in revenues has driven the nation's budget deficit through the roof. The steps proposed by Lenihan sought to reduce the government's budget deficit from nearly 14% to about 10.75% of GDP. These steps were not nearly enough to comfort the worried rating agencies. Standard and Poor's has removed Ireland's coveted AAA rating, while Moody's downgraded all 12 Irish banks. With expenditures of 55 billion euros and revenues falling below 35 billion euros, Ireland is facing the daunting paradox confronting a growing host of nations, including the United States. The politicians maintain they cannot implement draconian spending cuts in the face of severe human hardships being created by the Global Economic Crisis. Yet, mathematical realities may constrict the ability of political leaders to infinitely borrow money in order to maintain high structural deficits. With the rating agencies having made their move, the ability of Ireland to finance its deficits through the largess of the global credit market will become increasingly more problematic. It appears that the IMF may be the ultimate lender of last resort for Ireland, and that kind of assistance will impose costs of its own. The economic catastrophe facing Ireland will cause sorrows that cannot be suppressed by a pint of Guiness. Nothing less than national insolvency threatens this once robust economy. And lest the United States pretend that the economic collapse now underway in Ireland is irrelevant to its own situation, the elements that have brought down the "Celtic Tiger" are almost identical to those now eating away at the very foundation of the U.S. economy. More on Ireland
 
Bella DePaulo: Marriage Wars: The Real Fight is Over Moral Superiority Top
Have you seen the "Gathering Storm" ad ? It is the latest from the anti-gay marriage machine. Set against a gray, lightening-pocked, ominous background, it begins with the words: "There's a storm gathering. The clouds are dark and the winds are strong and I am afraid." It continues with one person after another (actors, all) declaring that same-sex marriage advocates are a threat. "Those advocates want to change the way I live," says one. The ad touched off a televised maelstrom, with pairs of pundits yelling at and over each other with arguments that go round and round and never seem to come to any sensible resolution. The key question that befuddles gays who want to marry, and straights who have no problem with that, is this: How can one person's marriage threaten another person's? How is that even possible or plausible? As Mike Barnicle asked when he was guest hosting Hardball , "I still don't get it. How, you know, if the couple upstairs, Ray and Tommy - what do they have to do with my life downstairs?" The predictable arguments are trotted out: God doesn't want it. Marriage is for procreation. It is the foundation of civilization. By now, all of these are high hanging curve balls for the batters on the other team who have been swinging away at these pitches for so long. (See, for example, this parody of the "Gathering Storm" ad , and this blog .) Even if granted, though, none of the anti arguments answer that puzzling question - what does one person's marriage have to do with another person's? Just how, exactly, are gay marriage advocates going to "change the way [opponents] live?" They aren't. But they are a threat nonetheless. If advocates were to succeed in achieving complete cultural and legal acceptance - maybe even celebration - of same-sex marriage, something truly significant would be lost by the other side. It is not something that those opponents can see or feel or hold in their hands, but they cling to it nonetheless. It is their view of the world. Both sides have a worldview and wish fervently for theirs to prevail. Among some of those who oppose same-sex marriage, marriage really does have a sacred place. In their minds, it truly is the bedrock of civilization (anthropologists be damned!). Getting married is, to them personally, a transformative experience. It doesn't just make them more mature or more adult or just different from those who are not married - it makes them better. That, I think, is the real reason why some (though not all) of the opponents of same-sex marriage are so vehement. It is why they feel so threatened. To open the door of marriage to gays is to let them in on the one resource that opponents are most reluctant to share (especially with gays) - their own sense of moral superiority. The dark and scary motif of the gathering-storm ad aptly expresses a genuine sense of foreboding. Even though the arguments in the ad may be bogus, the fear is real. [Continue reading here , at the "Living Single" blog at Psychology Today ] More on Religion
 
Sean L. McCarthy: The SNL FAQ: Zac Efron and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Top
It's Sunday. You have questions about last night's Saturday Night Live . We have answers. Did they open with a political sketch? YES. Vice President Joe Biden (Jason Sudeikis) got caught acting all too comfy in the oval office when President Obama (Fred Armisen) returned from his first big trip overseas. No gifts for Biden! How did the host do, and did he/she do anything outrageously funny? Zac Efron played the straight man, so to speak, and instead of putting him in a dress or making him seem foolish (other than singing with Kathie Lee as Cody Gifford), his night was spent mostly allowing the craziness to happen around him. I suppose if you were a tween who stayed up late (or recorded this), you were just happy to see Efron. Who played President Obama? Armisen. Why do we even keep including this question... Was there a digital short? NO. Was there a fake ad? Sort of, kind of. Sudeikis played David Pappas, president of the alliance of direct mail marketers, in a video short explaining exactly how much a tree is worth in terms of all of that "junk" that shows up in your mailbox. The people at Chili's will be happy to see anyone mentioning their "fake" ad that ran during the first commercial break. Did the musical guest lip-sync or otherwise do something worth mentioning? The Yeah Yeah Yeahs continued a recent trend, in which a loved but not well-known musical act performs its new single first ("Zero"), and returns later in the show with one of their first big hits ("Maps") that all the hip kids have loved for years already. Did my favorite character return? YES. If you enjoy the parodies of the fourth hour of NBC's Today with Hoda Kotb (Michaela Watkins) and Kathie Lee Gifford (Kristen Wiig), Wiig's troublemaking student Gilly (which seems to be shaping up as a one-trick pony the show will be riding a la Debbie Downer or Pat), the New Jersey gay couple (Bill Hader and Armisen), celebrity blogger Angie Tempura (Watkins), and opposite band Jon Bovi (Will Forte and Sudeikis). Were there any celebrity cameos? NO. Did any celebrities get impersonated? YES. Fred Armisen played Penny Marshall sending well-wishes to Wiig's Kathie Lee Gifford (alongside Watkins as Hoda Kotb). Darrell Hammond appeared all-too-briefly (again), this time as a thawed-out Walt Disney, in a sketch in which Efron reprised his High School Musical role as Troy Bolton. Did any politicians get impersonated? YES. Sudeikis as VP Biden, and Bill Hader as disgraced former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer. For the full recap and analysis of this episode of SNL, click here . More on Barack Obama
 

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