Thursday, April 23, 2009

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Bill Haney: Another War America Cannot Afford Top
Senator Obama swept into national prominence with his prescient view that an American war in Iraq was one we should not start and could not win. By 2007, years of carnage in Iraq had taught many Americans how foolish the Bush Administration's promises of a simple and flower-strewn victory were. Now President Obama has honored his campaign pledge, committing to a substantial withdrawal of American troops from Iraq within 18 months. But there is another drawn-out war America is embroiled in -- a war that was launched with rosy expectations; a war that has led to unacceptable burdens for our country. It is well past time to withdraw from this war as well. When President Nixon declared the War on Drugs in 1971, American prisons held fewer than 200,000 people and the prison population was declining. Back then, prison was seen as a last resort: mandatory minimums had been repealed, prisons were not-for-profit and less than 1 in every 1000 American adults was behind bars, few for drug crimes. This wasn't because drugs didn't exist, of course, or because Presidents like Eisenhower and Truman were soft on crime, but rather because the threat of non-violent marijuana smokers to American security was deemed unworthy of a "War". Today, every 17 seconds an American is arrested for a drug-related crime. That's about as long as it will take you to read this sentence. There are now more than 2.3 million Americans in jail or prison. In fact, the United States now has the world's largest prison population. China is second, with only 1.5 million people in jail. That's right, although the American population is roughly 300 million and China's is over 1.3 billion, we have nearly 50% more people in prison than China. Since the early days of Nixon, we have gone from having less than one adult in prison per thousand to having roughly one adult in prison per hundred, more than 500% of the global median. Who says we don't lead the world in anything anymore? Not all of the folks in prison are there for drug offenses, of course, but more than half of federal prisoners are locked up in connection with nonviolent drug offenses, frequently for mere possession. With profits from drug crime high enough to destabilize important democracies like Mexico and fuel terrorist groups like Afghanistan's Taliban, it will surprise no one that many non-drug crimes are themselves fueled by the profits of the drug business. Despite these labeling challenges, the Federal Bureau of Prisons lists more than 50% of its convicts as drug violators. Sweeping up explosives, arson, and weapons violations into a single category makes up the next-largest Bureau of Prisons grouping, at 15% of convicts. There can be no doubt that the War on Drugs consumes an outlandish percentage of federal and state law enforcement resources. The expense of this almost 40-year war is horrendous any way you measure it. Millions upon millions of American adults have been convicted as felons. Millions of American children have been left in single parent destitution as their fathers, and increasingly mothers, are locked up. Studies suggest as many as 70% of these children are destined to become prisoners themselves. Thirteen million Americans live among us as convicted felons right now, and federal and state restrictions on their housing, medical, education and voting rights have greatly diminished their job prospects and their standing in civil society. As convicted felons, their ability to legally earn a living is greatly reduced, and so is their ability to pay taxes. Not only is this a tremendous burden on their families, it is a burden on all American taxpayers. It's difficult to measure the full economic costs of the War on Drugs, as it has been for the War in Iraq, but even a simple accounting suggests that they are staggering. The costs of hiring, training, equipping, paying and providing facilities and pensions for an appropriate portion of police and drug task force officers must be added to the costs of doing the same for corrections officers and management -- as well as the federally funded DEA. The costs of supporting struggling democracies like those in Columbia, Mexico and Afghanistan would surely be less if they weren't battling narco-fueled violence. The costs of the full drug war infrastructure run well north of $40 billion a year, with expenditures on corrections now outstripping spending on higher education in some states. Is there any wonder that cries to legalize and tax marijuana are now beginning to come from state legislators, and even law enforcement officers? Decriminalization of all drugs is not the answer. We all know that drugs can be a scourge, as we know that other addictive substances wreak havoc in our society. Still, 76% of Americans polled by Zogby in September 2008 believe that the War on Drugs is a costly failure, and most believe that policies of narrowly targeted illegality, education and treatment should replace it. Prohibition was repealed during the Depression of the 1930s, as the costs of enforcing draconian anti-alcohol laws became too expensive for society to bear. Today we have laws limiting alcohol use, tax revenues that result from its legal sale and a virtual elimination of violence resulting from its black-market distribution. With our economy staggering and the social, financial and strategic costs of our failed drug policies mounting, it is time for President Obama to bring an end to this ill-conceived "War". The active search for peace with principle must begin. Bill Haney is the writer and producer of American Violet, a film based on the true story of an innocent woman arrested in a drug raid. Samuel Goldwyn Films will release the film across the country this month. More on Barack Obama
 
Mike Malloy: Cheney Agonistes Top
Dick Cheney has suddenly become a champion of openness in government. Pigs are darting around the sky and Sean Hannity finally is pregnant. Which of those three statements is not true. Take your time. This is an open book test. And you can use your semester notes, too. In his recent television appearance on Fox, Cheney says he wants transcripts of C.I.A. torture sessions made public. Those sessions, this insane war criminal maintains, will reveal how necessary the torture was in getting information that saved hundreds, nay, thousands, of American lives. (Duck! There's another flying pig! Look out!) Beatings, partial drownings, slamming detainees against walls, punching, kicking, poisonous stinging insects, forced nudity, sleep deprivation, profound disruption of sensory input, exposure to extreme cold and heat, all of it was so very necessary in prying loose information the psychopathic former vice president claims would have been20used to . . . to . . . (Look out! Another one!) keep us snug and secure at night when we climb into our cozy beds and he slides back into his box of sacred dirt. Bullshit. Total bullshit, Dick. You know it; the interrogators know it; and the clutch of voyeuristic administration freaks who joined you at midnight in the Offal Office to watch the videos know it. You bastards did it for the same reason every despotic jerk-off throughout history did it: Because you could. Because you had absolute power over people who had never been charged with a crime, given legal counsel, provided a chance to confront his accuser, all that weak-kneed garbage guaranteed by Bush's "goddam piece of paper," the U.S. Constitution. You're the worst type of coward, Dick. The type that worms his way to enormous power simply to act out his own sick interpretation of abuse, destruction and contempt for life. All life. The whole goddam planet, right Dick? In an op-ed piece( http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/opinion/23soufan.html ) in today's New York Times a former F.B.I. special agent rips your fantasy of torture equals intel to pieces, Dick. He writes, One of the most striking parts of the memos is the false premises on which they are based. The first, dated August 2002, grants authorization to use harsh interrogation techniques on a high-ranking terrorist, Abu Zubaydah, on the grounds that previous methods hadn't been working. The next three memos cite the successes of those methods as a justification for their continued use. It is inaccurate, however, to say that Abu Zubaydah had been uncooperative. Along with another F.B.I. agent, and with several C.I.A. officers present, I questioned him from March to June 2002, before the harsh techniques were introduced later in August. Under traditional interrogation methods, he provided us with important actionable intelligence. This is the agent's way of saying what most thinking Americans already know, Dick. Simply put, you're a fucking liar. And, because of your lies thousands of American soldiers have been killed - murdered by you and your hand-puppet president - and tens of thousands of Iraqis have been blown into red mist and bone fragments. However, you couldn't care less, right, Dick? Torture videos in the company of other moral zombies - Rice, Bush, Rumsfeld, Yoo, Gonzalez, Bybee - are fun and, when you add a bottle of wine and some salty snacks, can make for an evening's entertainment, right, Dick? The F.B.I. special agent continues: There was no actionable intelligence gained from using enhanced interrogation techniques on Abu Zubaydah that wasn't, or couldn't have been, gained from regular tactics.=2 0In addition, I saw that using these alternative methods on other terrorists backfired on more than a few occasions -- all of which are still classified. The short sightedness behind the use of these techniques ignored the unreliability of the methods, the nature of the threat, the mentality and modus operandi of the terrorists, and due process. Wow. This F.B.I. creep must be a Democrat, right, Dick? What'd he write again? There was no actionable intelligence gained from using enhanced interrogation techniques on Abu Zubaydah that wasn't, or couldn't have been, gained from regular tactics. Who would write such nonsense when the truth is torture works. Why, just ask any of dozens of "private contractors" you and your partners hired to destroy the human dignity of prisoners who had been charged with nothing and found guilty of nothing, Zubayda's "confessions" to the contrary notwithstanding. But, the F.B.I. special agent is not content to stop there in his revealing your lies (and your taste for torture videos). He goes on: Defenders of these techniques have claimed that they got Abu Zubaydah to give up information leading to the capture of Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a top aide to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, and Mr. Padilla. This is false. The information that led to Mr. Shibh's capture came primarily from a different terrorist operative who20was interviewed using traditional methods. As for Mr. Padilla, the dates just don't add up: the harsh techniques were approved in the memo of August 2002, Mr. Padilla had been arrested that May. There's more, Dick, and not just from this particular source. Pick up today's Times and read the whole piece. Do a google search using your name and the word "torture" and see what you get. Look, Dick, we all have our dark little secrets and perverse types of, um, entertainment. But, for most of us, those dark pleasures don't result in mega-death, war, and screaming human beings. Couldn't you just switch to Internet porn? I'll bet Lynn knows web sites that will give you all the thrills you can handle. And, by the way, I don't think you'll have web access when your ass finally goes to prison. But, not to worry. Maybe you'll get a cell mate who'll provide a rousing substitute for mere videos. An interactive substitute. - MDM Mike Malloy can be heard daily on his radio show 9pm - 12pm ET. Visit www.mikemalloy.com to stream live or find a station near you. More on Dick Cheney
 
Dr. Jon LaPook: Ladies, How's Your Sex Life? Top
An assumption of my new web show, cbsdoc.com , is that people are aching for mature discussions about health. This week I went to Central Park in New York City to talk to passersby about their sexuality, hoping to strike the right tone. I brought along two female gynecologists -- Dr. Lori Warren and Dr. Rebecca Booth -- experts who flew all the way from Louisville, Kentucky to help me out. Dr. Booth has written a book called The Venus Week: Discover the Powerful Secret of Your Cycle At Any Age that explains how hormones affect women from adolescence to menopause. Each has an active clinical practice and extensive experience talking to their patients about everything from memory loss following pregnancy ("my memory went out with the placenta") to plummeting libido. And as luck would have it, total strangers we met at Columbus Circle talked to us quite openly about those very problems, eager to hear some practical advice. I hope we accomplished our goal of talking about a sensitive subject in a grown-up manner. More on Sex
 
Buddy Winston: Stand-up Emoticon Top
More on Comics
 
22 Things You Didn't Know You Could Compost Top
Composting is a way of utilizing microorganisms to break down and decompose organic matter. The unique benefits of composting include a reduction of waste needlessly going into landfills and the production of a free stable, organic soil amendment that can't be beat. Many people compost their yard waste and kitchen scraps, but there are many other materials that are generally thrown away that could easily be converted into compost and given back to the soil instead. More on Green Living
 
Pakistan Nearing Collapse Top
"The move by Taliban-backed militants into the Buna district of northwestern Pakistan, closer than ever to Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, have prompted concerns both within the country and abroad that the nuclear-armed nation of 165 million is on the verge of inexorable collapse." So begins a report from TIME's Aryn Baker. More on Pakistan
 
Jane Hamsher: FBI, Army, Marines & Air Force Opposed the Use of Torture in 2002 Top
There were already serious objections to the use of torture when the Bush administration made it legal in 2002 -- FBI chief Robert Muller refused to let his agents participate in the CIA's "coercive interrogations" in June of that year , well before the Bybee memo made them legal on August 1. But it's not like the FBI was alone in expressing those concerns. According to the recently declassified report by the Senate Armed Services Committee , on October 1, the commander in charge of detainee interrogation at Guantanamo Bay wrote a memo requesting authority to use "aggressive interrogations techniques" that were similar to those outlined in the Bybee memo. It reached the desk of Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Joint Staff solicited opinions before making a decision. Here's what came back to them in November 2002 ( PDF ): Air Force : Had "serious concerns regarding the legality of many of the proposed techniques...Some of these techniques could be construed as 'torture' as that crime is defined by 18 U.S.C 2340." Further, they were concerned that "implementation of these techniques could preclude the ability to prosecute the individuals interrogated," because "Level III techniques will almost certainly result in any statements obtained being declared as coerced and involuntary, and therefore inadmissible....Additionally, the techniques described may be subject to challenge as failing to meet the requirements outlined in military order to treat detainees humanely and to provide them with adequate food, water, shelter and medical treatment." They called for an in-depth legal review. Criminal Investigative Task Force (CITM): Chief Legal Advisor to the CITF at Gitmo, Maj Sam W. McCahon, writes "Both the utility and the legality of applying certain techniques identified in the memorandum listed above are, in my opinion, questionable. Any policy decision to use the Tier III techniques, or any techniques inconsistent with the analysis herein, will be contrary to my recommendation. The aggressive techniques should not occur at GTMO where both CITF and the intelligence community are conducting interviews and interrogations." He calls for further review and concludes by saying "I cannot advocate any action, interrogation or otherwise, that is predicated upon the principal that all is well if the ends justify the means and others are not aware of how we conduct our business." Army : The Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans writes: "As set forth in the enclosed memoranda, the Army interposes significant legal, policy and practical concerns regarding most of the Category II and all of the Category III techniques proposed." They recommend "a comprehensive legal review of this proposal in its entirety by the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice." Navy: recommends that "more detailed interagency legal and political review be conducted on proposed techniques." Marine Corp : expressed strong reservations, since "several of the Category II and III techniques arguably violate federal law, and would expose our service members to possible prosecution." Called for further review. Legal adviser to the Joint Chiefs, Jane Dalton, commenced the review that was requested by the military services. But before it was concluded, Myers put a stop to it -- at the request of Jim Haynes, the Department of Defense General Counsel, who was told by Rumsfeld that things were "taking too long." Over the objections of the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force and the Criminal Investigation Task Force, Haynes recommended that the "aggressive technique" be approved without further investigation. He testified that Wolfowitz, Feith and Myers concurred. On December 2, 2002 Rumsfeld approved Haynes' recommendation with the famous comment "I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to 4 hours?" One of the conclusions of the Senate Armed Services Committee report is that Myers screwed up: Conclusion 11: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers's decision to cut short the legal and policy review of the October 11,2002 GTMO request initiated by his Legal Counsel, then-Captain Jane Dalton, undermined the military's review process. Subsequent conclusions reached by Chairman Myers and Captain Dalton regarding the legality of interrogation techniques in the request followed a grossly deficient review and were at odds with conclusions previously reached by the Anny, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Criminal Investigative Task Force. They also conclude that "Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques for use at Guantanamo Bay was a direct cause of detainee abuse there. Secretary Rumsfeld's December 2,2002 approval of Mr. Haynes's recommendation that most of the techniques contained in GTMO's October 11, 2002 request be authorized, influenced and contributed to the use of abusive techniques, including military working dogs, forced nudity, and stress positions, in Afghanistan and Iraq." Objections to torture aren't the exclusive terrain, as Bill Kristol likes to pretend , of "President Obama" and his "leftist lawyers" looking back on a "bright, sunny safe day in April" with "preening self-righteousness" and forgetting how "dark and painful" that chapter in our history was. When Donald Rumsfeld approved "enhanced interrogation techniques" for Guantanamo Bay in 2002, he did so in defiance of the recommendations of the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force and the Criminal Investigation Task Force. Jane Hamsher blogs at firedoglake.com
 
Paula Duffy: Does NFL Draft lose its sizzle if #1 pick is pre-determined? Top
Reports have been circulating that the Detroit Lions are in negotiations with Matthew Stafford to become the first pick in Saturday's NFL Draft. The Lions were quick to say that he wasn't the only one under consideration. That might just be a ruse or a back-up plan to remedy a piggish money grab by Stafford's agent. Hard to believe the Lions are still debating the merits of taking the former Georgia QB. Let's say they sign him and make an announcement, does the draft lose some excitement? The #1 pick is the glamor moment since discussion of draft order has run rampant for more than a month. But do you care if it's a surprise or not? Hypothetically, the Lions could sew up their pick and try to cloak it in secrecy until Saturday but you and I know that leaks and sources will torpedo that. If that happens, the number two draft pick slides into the slot of the first unknown choice. Is that enough to soak up the guessing game? We have some recent history on our side since the Dolphins signed Jake Long and the Texans sewed up Mario Williams in 2008 and 2006 respectively. The Williams pick didn't hurt our guessing games because of the talent pool that contained Vince Young and Reggie Bush. Last year might not have been as white-hot as the 2006 draft but I don't recall it losing any steam when Miami made its announcement. With the memory of the months' long duel between the Oakland Raiders and the agent for the 2007 pick, JaMarcus Russell still fresh it just makes more sense for a contract negotiation involving tens of millions of dollars to be done before draft day. And I doubt it will hurt ESPN's ratings for the big event. If you are geeky enough to get amped-up and watch a process that is only slightly more exciting than watching paint dry, a predetermined #1 shouldn't bother you. By the way, I'm one of those people
 
Lee Camp: WATCH: Invasion of Privacy - Filmmaker Has Own Eye Replaced with Video Camera Top
 
Robert Mueller, Bush FBI Director In 2008: Torture Didn't Foil Any Plots Top
Now that Bush administration officials have launched a major campaign to persuade us that torture "worked," perhaps it's worth recalling that George W. Bush's own FBI director said in an interview last year that he wasn't aware of a single planned terror attack on America that had been foiled by information obtained through torture.
 
Huckabee Fares Best Against Obama: Poll Top
Is it too early to poll Barack Obama against potential opponents in 2012? Sure. But that doesn't mean people don't find it interesting, and it gives us something to track against moving forward so here goes: More on Barack Obama
 
California Fuel Rules Expected To Set National Example Top
SACRAMENTO — California air regulators are considering first-in-the nation rules to require low-carbon fuels as part of the state's wider effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The California Air Resources Board on Thursday is expected to adopt standards that could serve as a template for a national policy. The proposal calls for reducing the carbon content of fuels sold in California by 10 percent by 2020 by counting the emissions required to deliver gasoline and diesel to California consumers _ from drilling a new oil well or planting corn to transporting it to gas stations. Transportation accounts for 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in California. The ethanol and petroleum industries have criticized the proposed rules. More on Cars
 
Dem Senators Call For Freeze On Credit Card Interest Rates Top
Last year, the Federal Reserve announced new rules for credit card issuers that would rein in controversial practices like arbitrary rate increases on existing balances. Consumer advocates welcomed the news, but the regulations wouldn't take effect until mid-2010. So members of the House and Senate introduced legislation that would essentially move up the start date for the Fed's plans. That's still not fast enough for some. Hearing it from their constituents, Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Chris Dodd (Conn.) asked the Federal Reserve on Thursday to hurry up and stop arbitrary rate increases immediately. "Credit card providers have been aggressively raising rates on consumers now to avoid the ramifications of this rule when it goes into effect next year," the senators wrote. "Companies have increased interest rates across the board now, to increase interest rates before the new rules go into effect." The senators say the people they represent have been getting soaked: "Consumers describe situations to our offices in which the interest rates on their accounts have doubled or tripled overnight, without any misconduct on their part." Public anger over credit card rates has reached the White House -- on Thursday President Obama assembled CEOs to talk to them about their controversial practices. After the meeting, the president called credit cards "an important convenience for a lot of people...We think that's important and so we want to preserve the credit card market... but we also want to do so in a way that eliminates a lot of the abuses and the problems that a lot of people are familiar with." Obama called out industry practices like enticing consumers with low interest "teaser rates," hidden fees, and unclear contracts. He called for an end to "the days of any time, any place rate increases." The president said his team would be working with Congress to make it happen. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Monday that the administration supports Rep. Carolyn Maloney's (D-N.Y.) Credit Cardholder Bill of Rights, one of the bills that would advance the Fed's new rules and codify them into law. A House committee approved the legislation on Wednesday. Elected officials aren't the only ones hearing from frustrated credit card holders. In February, the Huffington Post asked readers to share their stories of credit card debt -- and the letters haven't stopped since. Banks blame the economy for the rate hikes . On Monday, John in Oregon wrote that he had "never, ever, missed or been late on a payment." But rates recently increased for each of his cards: "Capital One (9.9 to 19.9), Chase (8.9 to 18.5), American Express Blue 8.9 to 19.9), and Citi (8.8 to 19.99) ... all went up. And AmEx saw fit to lower my available balance from 15,000 down to 5, I think they all did actually." Paul from Mississippi wrote: I paid off my credit card debt to Bank of America, about $2600 in a single payment. Understand that my credit is in great shape with them, and I have never had a late payment in the years I have been their customer to them or any other creditor. A week ago, they sent me a letter claiming I have TOO MUCH CREDIT! My credit card did have $14K available, but they lowered the amount to $11.5K. I did nothing wrong but pay off my debt, and they reduced my available credit, which will affect my credit rating. On Thursday, a few hours before the senators sent their letter, we received this note from Barbara: I am writing in regards to my recent unfairness by credit card companies. I have ALWAYS paid my bill 2 weeks in advance of my due date and have always paid way above my minimum payment ! I receive a letter saying they are raising my rate from 7.99% to 29.99%. after several phone calls they simply dont care. I have been a customer of both of these companies for a long time and consider myself a VERY GOOD customer. this is raping people and unjust and NEEDS to stop. how much more can a person do? now it IS getting harder to make payments. this needs TO STOP ! I am self employed and yes business is bad but these companies and CEOS are at fault for greed and it must stop. Here is the text of the senators' letter: April 23, 2009 Ben S. Bernanke Chairman The Federal Reserve Board 20th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20551 John E. Bowman Acting Director Office of Thrift Supervision 1700 G. Street, NW Washington, DC 20552 Michael E. Fryzel Chairman National Credit Union Administration 1775 Duke Street Alexandria, VA 22314-3428 Dear Chairman Bernanke, Director Bowman, and Chairman Fryzel: We write to you today to urge you to use your emergency authority under the "good cause" exception to the Administrative Procedures Act, to immediately implement the provision in the final rules you have previously issued concerning interest rate increases on existing balances for consumer credit cards. The rules are currently scheduled to become effective in July 2010. As you are also aware, Congress is working on legislation to strengthen these rules and provide additional protections for consumers. As Congress works to pass this legislation, and before your rules become effective, issuers continue to operate using unfair and deceptive acts and practices. Credit card providers have been aggressively raising rates on consumers now to avoid the ramifications of this rule when it goes into effect next year. Companies have increased interest rates across the board now, to increase interest rates before the new rules go into effect. Consumers describe situations to our offices in which the interest rates on their accounts have doubled or tripled overnight, without any misconduct on their part. This kind of practice clearly violates the spirit and intention of the rules, even if the delayed implementation date has the effect of making such behavior legal. The OTS, NCUA and Federal Reserve have all used this emergency authority numerous times since 2007 to implement rules without public notice or comment, and to make final rules effective immediately. Over the past year, the Federal Reserve has cited the financial crisis as one of the reasons for acting quickly to implement new lending facilities and programs to protect financial institutions. It is long past time for the regulatory agencies to act with the same sense of urgency to protect consumers from the behavior of those same financial companies. Therefore, we strongly urge you to utilize your emergency powers to put this rule into place immediately and protect consumers from these outrageous rate increases. Thank you for your consideration of this matter. Please don't hesitate to contact our staffs any information or questions. Sincerely, Charles Schumer United States Senator Chris Dodd United States Senator Get HuffPost Politics on Facebook , or follow us on Twitter .
 
Terrence Howard Whines About Being Dropped From Iron Man 2 Top
Terrence Howard is still complaining about being replaced by Don Cheadle in "Iron Man 2." In a new interview with Parade , Howard said the following ominous statement: "Marvel made a choice, and it was a very, very bad choice. They didn't keep their word. They didn't honor my contract. They produced a great bounty with the first one but they put it all in the storehouse and you were not allowed in. They did the same thing with Gwyneth Paltrow, from what I've been told. They did it with almost everyone except Robert Downey [Jr.]. One of the things that actors need to learn to do is always stick together, one for all and all for one." Read the whole interview at Parade.com .
 
Jeff Danziger: Empty Malls Top
 
Woody Allen's Sad Face At "Whatever Works" Premiere (PHOTOS) Top
Woody Allen, never one for toothy grins, looked pretty miserable at the premiere of "Whatever Works" Wednesday night. His newest film, starring Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood, opened the Tribeca Film Festival and brought out a slew of supporters, including Uma Thurman and festival founder Robert De Niro. Allen came with wife Soon-Yi Previn, and barely cracked a smile at the premiere or the after party. A collection of the first few reviews, which were mixed, is also below. PHOTOS: More on Photo Galleries
 
Kangaroos Don't Know How To Use Snuggies (PHOTO) Top
Adorable image(s) of the day from Getty: Joeys rescued after the recent bushfires are seen at the home of carer Annie Williams on April 23, 2009 in Gisborne, Australia. Whilst the state of Victoria does not allow commercial hunting, Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia do permit such. Hunters are instucted to kill any joeys by decapitation, shooting or clubbing. The controversial practice has been brought to the forefront due to the opening up of vast parts of NSW to commercial shooters. More on Animals
 
Treasury Dept Preparing Chrysler Bankruptcy Filing Top
The Treasury Department is preparing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Chrysler that could come as soon as next week, people with direct knowledge of the action said Thursday.
 
Kim Evans: Reversing Diabetes Naturally. Watch it happen... Top
There's an interesting movie out called Simply Raw . It chronicles the journey of six diabetics making a 30-day dietary shift to a raw, organic, sugar-free, vegan diet, and along the way, most reversed all medical signs of having diabetes. It's pretty powerful stuff, probably most so for the 246 million diabetics worldwide, many of whom believe that their only option for managing or eliminating their diabetes is pharmaceutical drugs. It's my understanding that some of the participants also took enzymes to aid the process and did colonics to clean the impacted waste from their colon walls, but when it's all said and done, thirty days isn't bad for a disease that's said to be incurable. And it certainly speaks to how fundamentally what we put into our bodies (and what we choose not to put in them) determines whether we'll have health or sickness. Many people aren't familiar with raw foods or why they are important. Raw foods are simply foods from the earth that haven't been processed or heated above 118 degrees. They are fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts, and if you're new to this, you may be asking, "Why 118 degrees?" Actually, it's pretty simple. Raw, unfired foods from the earth have enzymes in them and enzymes are destroyed at temperatures above 118 degrees, as are many of the nutrients in foods. Enzymes are important because they help your body break down the foods you're consuming, but they also play a larger role. Enzymes are the catalysts for every action in the human body - including stuff like blinking and breathing. Quite literally, when we run out of enzymes, we die. It's the case because our bodies can no longer initiate these basic tasks that are required for life. So, raw foods supplement these enzymes in our bodies, while cooked foods drain them from our bodies because cooked foods require the body to borrow from its enzyme reserves to facilitate digestion. Of course, by following such a diet, an aspect not to be overlooked is the absence of foods that are processed and filled with unnatural chemicals, which encompass many of the foods that most people put into their bodies daily. Unfortunately, it's not yet common knowledge that many processed foods and foods with pesticides and herbicides sprayed on them actually have a detrimental impact on health. But this movie shines the light on some of the truly amazing things that can (and do) happen when you put a little effort into eating a diet as nature intended, while foregoing the processed and man-made foods that many have come to see as the norm. --------- Kim Evans is the author of Cleaning Up! which outlines a powerful body cleanse to help remove the years of built up waste that the average person has stored in their body. Learn more about about how having a clean body impacts health at www.cleaningupcleanse.com More on Food
 
Bill Mann: The Parts of The 401(k) Disaster Story "60 Minutes" DIDN'T Report Top
Steve Kroft's "60 Minutes" report Sunday, "401-K Recession," good as it was, covered only a small portion of the whole retirees-are-now-officially-screwed story. It's a fascinating and infuriating story, with far too many angles for a 13-minute segment. Boy, do we ever have a good show on this financial tragedy for you to watch. (See link below). The whole sordid 401(k) saga largely involves big corporations dumping their pension plans and pushing 401(k)'s and then brazenly gaming the bankruptcy laws. The story has, sadly, largely gone unnoticed and unreported these past few months during the stock-market meltdown and housing/bank scandals. How did we even come to have 401(k)'s in the first place? Why didn't we just keep company pensions, which worked fine for most people for years? The questions get even more interesting (and "60 Minutes" didn't address this big one): Why and how was much of the cost of employee retirement savings dumped on individual workers - and then taken off companies' books -- in the 1980's? And finally: Why would anyone assume that most people have the time, inclination or talent to be savvy investors? The answers can be found in an absorbing report called "Can You Afford to Retire?" It originally aired on PBS's estimable "Frontline" investigative series in May, 2006, and the reporter was veteran New York Times journalist Hedrick Smith . (Smith's new "Frontline" report this week, on widespread and dangerous PCB pollution of the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound, "Poisoned Waters," as usual, got strong reviews) . Anyone with a 401(k) -- cratered-out or otherwise -- or a pension plan, or anyone whose company may go bankrupt, should try to watch Smith's piece, which is still there in its entirety at "Frontline's" web site. Cavaet: Be prepared to shake your head in amazement and swear a lot. When this award-winning "Frontline" piece on the creation of 401(k)'s first aired, I cited it in my annual year-end newspaper TV column as one of the top 10 shows on TV all year. It still stands up; please watch it. A familiar character shows up on both Smith's 2006 report and on Kroft's story this week -- David Ray, a cheerleader/apologist for the huge 401(k) industry. A couple of highlights of Smith's amazingly prescient story: --CBS's Kroft was right when he said the 401 (k) was never designed to be a retirement plan for millions of Americans . Kroft reported they were created in the late 1970's "as a tax shelter for ordinary Americans." But Smith revealed that 401(k) were originally a piece of obscure special-interest legislation, an arcane paragraph in the 1978 Federal Tax Code. It was a technical fix -- to protect a tax shelter for Kodak and Xerox execs. Under corporate prodding , Smith reports, in 1981 the IRS ruled that savings from regular workers also qualified for the 401 (k) tax shelter. That opened the floodgates. It "electrified" the financial-services industry, says Smith, and huge mutual-fund companies started promoting the hell out of the 401(k). --But, explained Smith, "what got lost in all the euphoria" about "empowering" the small investor was "the enormous shift in who was now paying for retirement." That''s the biggest story here. Corporations, said Smith, quickly realized that 401(k)'s would save them a shitload of money (here I employ an obscure accounting term). It would only cost them 50% of what pensions had cost before. Sweet! So, Smith says, companies started pitching employees to "take charge of your future" and put the money in the stock market, which was a roaring bull then and seemed to have no limit. Sound familiar?. We financial novices were quite the investing wizards in those heady Dow-runup days, weren't we? In 1978, Smith reported, workers put in only 11 percent of total contributions to retirement plans while corporations put in 89 percent. By 2000, the employee share had jumped way up to 51 percent - and the company share had fallen to 49 percent. That's a tidy cost savings of 40 %. for companies. So who needed pensions? They were so...outdated. Among the most fascinating sections of Smith's first-rate reporting for "Frontline" involved this now-all-too-obvious fact: Most of us aren't very good investors. Really understanding stocks, bonds and other investments doesn't come easy to most working people. (I write a column for Dow Jones' big investment website, MarketWatch, and understanding a lot of this financial stuff still intimidates the hell out of me. Who has time to learn what EBITDA is or means?) The state of Nebraska, Smith reported, had an illuminating, 40-year experience with 401(k) plans. It was a "unique laboratory" said Smith. For years, Nebraska state employees could choose from two different kinds of retirement plans - a self-directed plan like a 401(k) , or a traditional pension. A state study found that retirees did far better with the pension plan over the years. So Nebraska dropped the 401(k) plan for all new state workers. "For people who are not investment professionals," a retirement pro told Smith, "a defined-benefit plan works far better." Quel surprise! You don't suppose all the companies who dumped pensions and saved billions of dollars knew this all along, do you?
 
Obama Prime-Time News Conference Wednesday Top
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama plans a prime-time news conference next week to mark his 100 days in office. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says Obama will answer questions in the East Room on Wednesday, beginning at 8 p.m. EDT. It will be Obama's third prime-time news conference. The president held his first news conference in February, followed by a second in March. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama plans a prime-time news conference next week. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says Obama will answer questions in the East Room on Wednesday, beginning at 8 p.m. EDT. It will be Obama's third prime-time news conference. The president held his first news conference in February, followed by a second in March.
 
83-Year-Old Yoga Instructor Still Going Strong: "You're Never Too Old" Top
YOGA instructor Bette Calman may be 83, but she is still bending over backwards to spread the benefits of the ancient Indian system. With 40 years of teaching under her belt, the Williamstown wonder is living proof that a lifetime's dedication to the healthy pursuit can keep you nimble. More on Wellness
 
Andrea Chalupa: Sexy job of the future: the almighty fact-checker Top
Monday night, Air America CEO Bennett Zier led a panel with two media bigwigs and polar opposites: Craig Newmark, the laid-back founder of Craigslist, a self-proclaimed nerd who launched CL, "without a plan," in San Francisco, and Michael Wolff, an officer in the sorority of New York media lust, columnist for Vanity Fair, and founder of news aggregate site, Newser.com. The talk was on the future of media and whether one day all of it (namely the news) will be free. Out of all the talk and hyperbole dished by Wolff, on how newspapers will cease to exist in 18-months, one thing stood out: ode to the mighty fact-checker. Craig (I refuse to refer to him by his last name -- he gave us Craigslist!) said he would pay for fact-checkers, so yes, he would continue to pay for his news, as long as it's fact-checked. His answer resonates with this growing fear that, with newspapers slowly disappearing, we might have to, God forbid, rely on the blogosphere for information, and the strict standards of the fact-checking department will be gone. This is obviously a frightening scenario. I have worked at a magazine and have seen the tenacity of fact-checkers first hand. Their paranoia and eye-for-detail drives them to confirm the slightest descriptions in a story -- was it really raining that day? Without them we'd have a lot more Jayson Blair's and Walter Duranty's, reporters who just make stuff up. (By the way, both of these men reported for the New York Times, so even the "paper of record" can let a bad egg get by). It's sad to think that journalistic standards, and reliability, is slipping away as magazines and newspapers shut down. But this is creating a great Hollywood close-up for the humble fact-checker. With all the websites and blogs continuously sprouting up, promising you your news in pill-form, as Wolff's Newser does, there's a marketing opportunity to get one up on the competition: Oh yeah? We have fact-checkers!!! That, my friend, will be the marketing edge in the future of news. Future news: Not only does some great new news site have pithy writers who put the big stories of the day into snark-filled context that represents the political side that you believe in, but it has fact-checkers: two recent college grads from Harvard, who did nothing but read big thick books all through college, checking stories to make sure the facts are in their purest form. It's not only genius marketing but material for the next Devil Wears Prada. So move over, abused editorial assistants! To read more, go to WalletPop
 
Arianna Huffington: The Torture Moment Top
This is a defining moment for America. The way we respond -- or fail to respond -- to the revelations about the Bush administration's use of torture will delineate -- for ourselves and for the world -- the kind of country we are. It is a test of our courage and our convictions. A test of whether we are indeed a nation of laws -- or a nation that pays lip service to the notion of being a nation of laws. And everyone engaged in our public conversation has a role to play. So far, the media are not getting high marks. They can't seem to shake their addiction to looking at every issue -- even one that pivots on questions of morality, not politics -- through the archaic prism of right vs. left. So we got CNN's Ed Henry mainlining a right-left 8-ball at Tuesday's press briefing, asking Robert Gibbs , "Is this an example of this White House giving in to pressure from the left?" And we got the Washington Post 's Dan Balz saying -- in two different pieces -- that Obama's release of the torture memos "has stirred a major controversy on the right and left." According to Balz , "the anger on the right was expected. But Obama faces equally strong reaction from the left, where there is a desire to punish Bush administration officials for their actions... Obama owes his presidency in part to this constituency, who rallied to him during the battle for the Democratic nomination because he presented himself as a staunch and early opponent of the war in Iraq. Now they are demanding that he acknowledge their point of view." Since when is the need to adhere to the laws that govern us a left-wing "point of view"? Is Thou Shalt Not Kill a "point of view"? When the police arrest a rapist, is it because rape is inherently, inarguably wrong -- or because that's the cops' "point of view"? Isn't torture one of those things where there really is no legitimate other side? And if this really is a question of right vs. left, how do Henry, Balz, and all the others framing the discussion that way account for Shepard Smith's table-slamming outburst on FoxNews.com's The Strategy Room ? Was his "We are AMERICA! We do not fucking torture!" a left-wing point of view confusingly expressed by a right-wing commentator? Memo to the media: Time to check in for a serious round of "right vs left" rehab. When it comes to torture, the only appropriate framing is "right vs wrong." Obama and his team have had their own problems with the issue. Despite a commitment to looking forward, they failed to see the massive wall of public indignation directly in front of them. After all the internal back-and-forth they apparently had about how to handle the issue, it was interesting to see how fast they reversed course -- the president quickly walking back from Rahm Emanuel's unequivocal "no prosecution" position. Once the spotlight was turned on, it was impossible to sustain the let's-just-move-on stance. What is at stake is just too huge to sweep under the presidential rug. It leaves too big a lump in the middle of the Oval Office -- and too big a stumbling block in the path of Obama's presidency. I understand the president's preference for "reflection" over "anger and retribution." But this is not about personal pique or a desire for vengeance. It's about the nation's fundamental morality. Which is why it is imperative that we keep the pressure on the president, on Congress, and on the Justice Department. Not left-wing pressure. Not blogospheric pressure. Moral pressure. The pressure born of America's values. Pressure to do the right thing. The moral thing. The legal thing. Pressure to keep the acts of the Bush White House from being implicitly condoned. And to keep the abuse of presidential power -- and the use of torture -- from becoming American precedent. In pushing for a truth commission on torture, Sen. Patrick Leahy had repeatedly said that "we can't turn the page unless we first read the page." But we've actually read the page -- the torture memos -- and been horrified by what we're read. So now we need to act on that horror. And we can only do that by holding accountable those responsible for authorizing the use of torture. The clock is ticking while the world waits to see if Yeats was right. Do the best of us really lack the conviction necessary to make sure that justice is done? Is it really only the worst of us who are full of passionate intensity? (See Rove and Cheney and Hayden coming out swinging, acting -- as John Cusack described them to me -- "like caged, cornered animals.") And do the best of us become the worst of us if our passionate intensity does not make the leap from words to action?
 
Pharmacy Poisoned Polo Horses Top
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — An official at a Florida pharmacy said Thursday the business incorrectly prepared a supplement given to 21 polo horses that died over the weekend while preparing to play in a championship match. Jennifer Beckett of Franck's Pharmacy in Ocala, Fla., told The Associated Press in a statement that the business conducted an internal investigation that found "the strength of an ingredient in the medication was incorrect." The statement did not say what the ingredient was. Beckett, who's the pharmacy's chief operating officer, said the pharmacy is cooperating with an investigation by state authorities and the Food and Drug Administration. The horses from the Venezuelan-owned Lechuza polo team began crumpling to the ground shortly before Sunday's U.S. Open match was supposed to begin, shocking a crowd of well-heeled spectators at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington. "On an order from a veterinarian, Franck's Pharmacy prepared medication that was used to treat the 21 horses on the Lechuza Polo team," Beckett said. "As soon as we learned of the tragic incident, we conducted an internal investigation." She said the report has been given to state authorities. Lechuza also issued a statement to AP acknowledging that a Florida veterinarian wrote the prescription for the pharmacy to create a compound similar to Biodyl, a French-made supplement that includes vitamins and minerals and is not approved for use in the United States. "Only horses treated with the compound became sick and died within 3 hours of treatment," Lechuza said in the statement. "Other horses that were not treated remain healthy and normal." Lechuza also said it was cooperating with authorities that include the State Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Biodyl contains a combination of vitamin B12, a form of selenium called sodium selenite and other minerals. It is made in France by Duluth, Ga.-based animal pharmaceutical firm Merial Ltd. and can be given to horses to help with exhaustion. It is widely used abroad, but not approved in the U.S. Compound pharmacies can, among other things, add flavor, make substances into a powder or liquid or remove a certain compound that may have an adverse reaction in different animal species. Only in limited circumstances can they legally recreate a drug that is not approved in the U.S., according to the FDA. Necropsies of the 21 horses found internal bleeding, some in the lungs, but offered no definitive clues to the cause of death. FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLancey said compounding pharmacies cannot legally recreate existing drugs or supplements under patent. In most cases, they are also not allowed to recreate a medication that is not approved for use in the U.S. On its Web site, the FDA says it generally defers to "state authorities regarding the day-to-day regulation of compounding by veterinarians and pharmacists." However, the agency says it would "seriously consider enforcement action" if a pharmacy breaks federal law in compounding medications. It isn't yet clear Franck's broke the law.
 
Dave Johnson: Public Still Trusts Corporations More Than Self-Government Top
Marketing works.  But we already knew that.  Big business has been marketing the idea that corporations making decisions for us is better than having government run by the people.  And a lot of people have bought into that idea. But is it really better to be government by corporations?  In February I wrote , After decades of anti-government speeches claiming that government holds back business, government takes money out of the economy and government is less efficient than corporations, people came to believe that, as Ronald Reagan famously said, "Government is the problem, not the solution."  This led to deregulation and budget cutbacks in all areas including education and infrastructure.  If you think about it, government really is what We, the People want it to be.  In a democracy we jointly make decisions about the best way to manage our affairs.  So saying that corporations do things better is really an anti-democracy message.  What they are saying is that organizations run by a few wealthy elites telling everyone else what to do, with the benefits of everyone's work mostly going to those few at the top, is a better way to manage society than to have everyone making the decisions and sharing in the results. Just for fun, here is the video from that post again: Here is more proof that marketing works:  A recent Gallup Poll of public trust of government vs corporations found that the public still would rather be governed by big corporations than by themselves. Gallup's recent update of its long-standing trend question on whether big business, big labor, or big government will be the biggest threat to the country in the future finds Americans still viewing big government as the most serious threat. However, compared to Gallup's last pre-financial-crisis measurement in December 2006, more now see big business and fewer see big government as the greater threat. Gallup's results, graphically: Marketing works.  Especially when it is repeated over and over for decades, unopposed.  This blog reaches a moderate audience, but the message that government by the people is a good thing needs to reach people who don't hear it very often, and only hear the marketed anti-government, anti-democracy message that is spread by the corporations.  Did you know that Speak Out California also provides speakers to talk to local groups across California and do radio and TV interviews discussing the benefits of government and democracy? Please contact us at info@speakoutca.org to schedule a speaker for your event. Click through to Speak Out California and leave a comment.
 
Michelle Renee: Lessons From a Junk Yard Top
When I arrived home from a speaking engagement in Florida the back window to my car was shattered. My mom was so sweet to want to stock my fridge with groceries before I arrived home and when she pulled out of the garage to go pick up my daughter from school the thought hit her: I left the liftgate up. Too late...it was already crumbling to the cement floor after a corner caught the garage door as it was opening. Insurance said they wouldn't cover it and the quote...ready for this...$2,200! It doesn't matter how much money you do or don't have in the bank. Being resourceful and getting second, and third, opinions is just smart. Why throw money away if you don't have to? Especially in today's economic environment. But going to a junk yard? Seriously... For me, the thought of a junk yard in the past was accompanied by visions of disgusting grease caked parts piled high while greased up beer bellied mechanics say, "good luck finding what you need blondie." But with a daunting and obnoxious quote hanging over my head, I listened to my brother and began calling wrecking yards for a rear liftgate. When I arrived at the truck salvage yard, it was totally different than what I expected. The guys were so helpful, the parts all separated and organized and there were cars up for auction that were actually nice! Although I didn't find what I needed there, the guys in the shop began calling all over San Diego to help me find the part. Now I was on a mission to save money and get what I needed and not settle for a quote from a body shop that would not listen to me when I told them all I needed was the glass, not all the parts that go around it that were in perfect condition. Within a week I was tipped off to a glass company in Santa Ana and was blessed to have Tony at California Auto Glass pick up the phone. I mean this guy was awesome! He had me send him picture text messages so he could match my glass perfectly, told me he would save all my old parts including the panel that matched my SUV and only charge me for the glass. The total cost...$433. If it wasn't for my allowing myself to let go of my previous programming about junk yards, thinking I am somehow too good or too snooty or too whatever to check out ALL of my options, I would never have done the research it took to find a glass guy that rocked and saved me hundreds of dollars. My lesson from the junk yard? A little grease never hurt anyone! More on Economy
 
Frank Schaeffer: Rick Warren: Balancing Consumer Success and Hate Top
Rick Warren is the celebrity founder of an evangelical "megachurch." He's also the author of The Purpose Driven Life , which has sold 30 million copies. Warren is the icon that every ambitious evangelical pastor strives to become the way a wedding singer grinding out tunes in some godforsaken Holiday Inn lounge would rather be Bono. Been there, done that. I was an evangelical leader and sidekick to one (my late father, Francis Schaeffer) until I quit in the mid-'80s. Empire builders are empire builders, and entertainers are entertainers, regardless of what they call themselves. Mea culpa! I only understood the reality of the symbiotic relationship between our consumer/entertainment culture and the star religious empire builders, after I quit being one. Judging by the many emails I am getting from pastors who have read my memoir Crazy For God , it seems that many a preacher is in the position of Groucho Marx. Groucho said he'd never want to belong to a club that would let someone like him join. The self-loathing in the evangelical world is rampant. With good reason -- something I'm exploring in my forthcoming book Patience With God -- Faith For People Who Don't Like Religion (Or Atheism) , due out this fall. In Purpose Driven , Warren writes; "It's not about you." But his church is very much about him. He's the star in a personality-cult that fits the celebrity-worshiping temper of our times. Ask yourself: what will happen to his church when Warren dies, leaves or is thrown out? Will it remain as "successful?" Are people are there for each other and their community? Are they there for Jesus? Or are they there for Rick Warren? Fulfillment, satisfaction, and meaning can only be found in "understanding and doing what God placed you on Earth to do," writes Warren. But Warren's message turns out to be less about God than it is about trying to convince his readers to become American-style evangelicals -- in other words, to find purpose, they have to join the North American individualistic cult of one-stop, born-again "salvation" to which Warren belongs. According to traditional Christianity a person was not "saved" or "lost" in a one-stop magical affirmation of Jesus, but rather the process of salvation was lived out in a community. Salvation was a path toward God, not a "you're in or out" event, as in, "At two thirty last Wednesday I accepted Jesus." The process of redemption took, as Hilary Clinton said about child rearing, a village. Bishops and priests came and went, but the Church -- the "village" -- remained. Today the American evangelical consumer of religion is even more prone to the truism that nothing succeeds like success. Talk about unregulated banks and hedge funds, the biggest unregulated market is big-time religion. Its success isn't measured in spiritual gain that changes anything for the better. Big-time as religion is in the USA compared to highly secular Europe, nevertheless America's teen sex statistics, abortion rates, spread of STDs, divorce, child rape rates are higher than those in non-church-going Europe. So, the "success" of Warren's type of entrepreneurship is measured in the same way all success in our consumer-driven culture is measured. It's no coincidence that other entrepreneurs, who aren't necessarily believers, have gotten in on the act. Rupert Murdock now owns the largest "Christian" publishing company, having bought out and then folded it into his stable of publishing companies, one of which publishes Rick Warren. The evangelical religion is no different in its core "values" than the celebrity-worshiping entertainment-oriented society it claims to be a prophetic witness to. Star power is seductive. The problem is that evangelical faith revolves around two directives: be successful and evangelize. Pastors aren't a pastors in the evangelical culture any more than evangelical "writers" are writers. Rather "pastors" are but the inventors of their own product line sold as religion, offering it as just another consumer choice to a culture that picks churches the way they pick sweaters. I can't prove this but I believe it's true: any person who remains a "professional Christian" in the evangelical world for a lifetime, especially pastors, risks becoming atheists. They put on an act of certainty that the actual uncertainties of life can't sustain. Sooner or later they become flakes faking it, or quit. In the mid '80s my final break with my evangelical past was like turning on some sort of creative tap. I knew that as an artist and writer, even if I could have kept putting up with the "theology" -- which I couldn't -- let alone the insane hate-filled, war-loving, gay-bashing, gun-toting, moron-making right wing politics, that the evangelical subculture is death to creativity. Since there is no there, there -- no tradition -- all that polices the empire-builders are the self-appointed Church Lady Brigade. You always have moralizing busybodies sniffing around your butt to see if you're pure enough: good for dogs, maybe, bad for writers. When I left the evangelical world I found that I was no longer looking over my shoulder wondering what people, in other words the Church Ladies, would think. You see, a Rick Warren looks powerful, but he makes a bad trade, sort of like Prince Charles: you get the life and the palace, but being Prince Charles is all you'll ever be. You are your job. It's a gilded cage and you are stuck ! It's the worst type-casting imaginable. Warren, like any evangelical leader, knows that he must park his mind at the door of his golden cage or his empire will melt away under the intolerable weight of the gossip of the Church Ladies. Warren got a whiff of this when he was foolish enough to go on Larry King in the spring of 2009 and mention that maybe he wasn't as firmly against gay marriage as he was said to have been. As the Washington Times reported on April 11, 2009, "I was extremely troubled," said Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville KY. "Absolutely baffling," huffed Wendy Wright, president of the Concerned Women of America organization. My friend Richard Cizik, former vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals, learned a hard lesson: you have to hate consistently to be an evangelical in good standing. Cizik was being interviewed by Terry Gross on "Fresh Air" early in 2009 and mentioned that maybe he wasn't against gay civil unions. He didn't even mention gay marriage. End of story! He was fired within days. Cizik had almost been forced out several years before when James Dobson, of "Focus on the Family" fame, wrote to the NAE board demanding Cizik's dismissal for saying that he thought global warming was real. Cizik got away with that "apostasy" against the Republican Party, that had long since come to be a stand in for Jesus for power hungry evangelical leaders like Dobson. But when Cizik didn't hate gays enough; game over! Since evangelicals pretty much get to make up their doctrine as they go along they really only have to live by two rules. First, they must be commercial successes in our consumer culture. Second, they must always hate the "other." Warren ultimately answers to the Church Ladies. And when they are sniffing around you to make sure you are "one of them" the thing they look for first is the reassuring stench of hate. Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of Crazy For God -- How I Grew Up As One Of The elect, Helped Found The Religious Right And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back and the forthcoming Patience With God -- Faith For People Who Don't Like Religion (Or Atheism) , due out this fall.
 
Kellermann Autopsy Incomplete Top
McLEAN, Va. — Medical examiners have completed an autopsy on a Freddie Mac executive found dead in an apparent suicide, but say a final determination on his cause of death could be weeks away. David Kellermann of Vienna, Va., was found dead in his home Wednesday. Police say it looked like the 41-year-old chief financial officer committed suicide. Nancy Bull, the regional administrator for the medical examiner's office, said Thursday the final determination won't be made until all the lab results are received. But she said the preliminary findings are consistent with a suicide. A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that Kellermann hanged himself. He asked not to be identified because the investigation was ongoing.
 
Mark Goulston, M.D.: About Torture: Evil Doing does not an Evil Person Make Top
Torture is evil doing, but not all people who do it are evil. In a sense they are doing it by reason of a temporary insanity built into them by training in the service of THE Mission. Training for war, combat and police work is geared towards taking the human element out of the equation. There is no room in tactics for empathy. Understanding another person's emotions is only relevant if it serves the mission. In such settings, the human element can be dangerous. When your buddy is blown up next to you, there is no time to emote or grieve, when you need to focus on getting back to report on the situation. A good example of the dangers of such empathy comes from the book Lone Survivor where Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell feels such empathy towards captive Afghan tribesmen, that he influences his fellow Seals to let them go. The end result, Luttrell and his unit are discovered and every one but Luttrell is killed. Training involves removing the capacity to relate on a human basis and replacing it with achieving the mission. True, you may have some feeling for your fellow soldiers, but this may be more for reasons of keeping the unit in tact to serve the mission than for emotional reasons (how much do NBA teammates really love each other vs. love winning). Also being trained for war is an adrenaline rush. The power that adrenaline gives you is much more powerful than the warmer feelings of connectedness. But what happens after the mission you are trained for or your tour of duty is over? After either are over, your mission centric anti-empathic vigilance is no longer necessary. At that point flashbacks of what you have seen and done come back along with the emotions you never got to feel. And when those memories and their attendant emotions are things you can't live with, PTSD* in soldiers occurs. What is the solution? It seems that President Obama is tenaciously trying to move us to a post modern world where cooperation will take the place of combativeness and collaboration will take the place of competitiveness. The reason he is getting such push back, especially by Republicans is that they are by nature competitive and combative (remember the mentions about "killing Obama" during the campaign that even offended John McCain). "When you're a hammer, everything in the world is a nail" and "when you're competitive and combative every exchange is a 'zero sum' challenge that you must win." Obama's approach is an idea whose time has come. Let's hope there is enough time for it to enroll enough people for it to have a chance. * For more info about PTSD, check out Mark's book: PTSD for Dummies . More on Barack Obama
 
Scott Gilmore: Bowoto v. Chevron: Judge Quashes Chevron's Bid to Bill Nigerian Villagers 1/2 Million in Legal Costs Top
April 23, 2009, San Francisco, CA - Late Wednesday afternoon, a U.S. federal court denied Chevron's attempt to have Nigerian victims of abuses pay the oil giant's costs of litigation arising out of Bowoto v. Chevron , a landmark human rights lawsuit that went to trial last fall. Despite a December 2008 jury verdict in Chevron's favor, Judge Susan Illston found that making these victims pay Chevron's costs "would have a chilling effect on future civil rights litigants." Chevron had requested to collect $485,000 in expenses, including nearly $200,000 in photocopying costs, from a group of impoverished Nigerian villagers living in the Niger River Delta, a region of subsistence farmers and fishermen, devastated by the environmental impact of oil extraction in the region. According to a 2006 UN estimate, the per capita income for Nigeria was $912 -- however, this figure emcompasses areas far wealthier than the Delta home of the Ilaje plaintiffs. Contrast this with the $23.4 billion in recordbreaking profit that Chevron earned in 2008 and you have a sense of the cynicism of Chevron's request. Clearly, it was a brazen attempt to intimidate would-be plaintiffs from bringing human rights lawsuits against multinational corporations - part of Chevron's 'lawfare' strategy of putting the kibosh on future Alien Tort Statute suits. Although the jury found in favor of Chevron at trial, the court's order recognizes that "this case was an attempt by impoverished citizens of Nigeria to increase accountability for the activities of American companies in their country," and that denying payment of Chevron's costs was warranted given the "extreme economic disparity between plaintiffs and defendants--Chevron Corporation's fourth quarter net income in 2008 was $4.9 billion; full year 2008 net income was $23.93 billion." Plaintiffs' counsel Cindy Cohn, Legal Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), stated,"We're pleased that Chevron's attempt to punish these poor Nigerian villagers was soundly rejected by the Court, and that the Court saw through the oil company's larger effort to deter victims of human rights abuses from bringing suit." The plaintiffs have also appealed the jury's verdict, and argued that a new trial was appropriate after Chevron's lawyers made improper arguments and misused evidence. Plaintiffs' counsel Marco Simons, Legal Director of EarthRights International (ERI), said, "In this order, the Court rejected Chevron's argument that the plaintiffs' claims had no merit, and we are confident that we will be vindicated on appeal." Bowoto v. Chevron Corp., No. 99-2506, charged the multinational oil company with complicity in gross human rights abuses arising from its use of the notorious Nigerian military and "kill and go" mobile police against those who protested environmental and economic harms caused by oil production in the Niger Delta. The lawsuit is based on a 1998 incident in which Nigerian soldiers shot unarmed protesters at Chevron's Parabe offshore platform. The soldiers were admittedly paid by Chevron, ferried to the platform in Chevron helicopters and supervised by Chevron personnel. Two demonstrators were killed, others were shot and wounded, and several others were detained and tortured after the attack. More information on the Bowoto v. Chevron case is available here: http://bowotovchevron.wordpress.com/ http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/bowoto-v.-chevron http://www.earthrights.org/site_blurbs/bowoto_v_chevrontexaco_case_overview.html http://justiceinnigerianow.org/ --- Re-posted in part from original press release*** More on Nigeria
 
Alex Pasternack: GOP Congressman Calls Climate Bill "The Largest Assault on Democracy and Freedom in this Country" Top
When it comes to talking about climate change and the costs of fighting it, not all Republicans find it easy being green (or rational, for that matter). Yesterday's opening of hearings on the draft bill on climate change before the House included this grandstanding gem from Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.): This is the largest assault on democracy and freedom in this country that I've ever experienced. I've lived through some tough times in Congress. We've seen two wars, terrorist attacks. I fear this more than all of the above. We've heard of the risks of climate change hype and fear-mongering , but this takes it in a whole new direction. The House's biggest emitter of tragicomic relief had other compelling points to make. In the same hearing, Shimkus asked EPA Chief Lisa Jackson what the greatest source of greenhouse gases were. "Livestock," she responded. He quickly shot back that wetlands were the country's greatest source of carbon dioxide, and asked if therefore the EPA intended to drain the nation's wetlands. Jackson replied that the issue at hand was anthropogenic climate change, and no, the EPA did not intend to drain America's wetlands. If verbal arguments wouldn't disabuse Shimkus of his fears about "the largest assault on democracy and freedom in this country," maybe images like these would do the trick? Probably not. This wasn't the first head-slapping Shimkus moment. During a recent exchange with British global warming denier Lord Christopher Monckton, Shimkus offered the compelling argument that because plants need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, curtailing man-made carbon dioxide emissions would actually kill the world's plants. It probably need to be seen to be believed: So if we decrease the use of carbon dioxide, are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere? ... So all our good intentions could be for naught. In fact, we could be doing just the opposite of what the people who want to save the world are saying. Never mind that man-made carbon emissions are helping to augment the fires that are tearing through the world's forests. But Shimkus doesn't let science get in the way of a good theological argument. In March, he cited a higher authority than the EPA in challenging the legitimacy of climate science. "The earth will end only when God declares it's time to be over. Man will not destroy this Earth," he said. "Today we have about 388 parts per million [of carbon dioxide] in the atmosphere," Shimkus also noted. "I think in the age of the dinosaurs, when we had most flora and fauna, we were probably at 4,000 parts per million. There is a theological debate that this is a carbon-starved planet, not too much carbon." Meanwhile, on Sunday House Republican leader John Boehner called the idea that carbon dioxide was dangerous "comical." . That same day, Congressman Markey told TreeHugger that the EPA's finding that CO2 is a pollutant was "the most important decision in the history of environmental decisions." But Republicans in Congress are going to be putting up a big fight against climate legislation, and with imaginative critics like Shimkus , the playing field won't be exactly level. via Washington Independent Read the full post at TreeHugger More on Climate Change
 
Pakistan's Media Critical In Fight Against Extremists Top
By Madiha Sattar, HuffingtonPost Contributor "So, it's not okay for women to be touched by male doctors but male executioners can hold hands and slap bottoms in front of milling crowds?" asked a Lahore-based lawyer in an April 6 op-ed in Pakistan's English-language daily The News . "Apparently only girls must be punished for their libido. Boys, after all, become men when they can 'tap that'." He was referring to the video that surfaced recently of a woman being flogged by the Taliban in Swat, allegedly for contact with a man she wasn't married to. The column could have been more responsible; some reports claim, for example, that Chand Bibi's companion (if she had one) was also flogged. But the point here is the power of unfettered language. The frank, almost shocking nature of this piece showcases how Pakistan's media offers a more open platform for debate than many Americans might have realized, one that is vital for building public support against Taliban ideology. Pakistan is not Saudi Arabia, Saddam-led Iraq or Taliban-led Afghanistan - one of its strongest civil institutions is a news media that relentlessly pursues the country's failures, with journalists routinely speaking out against the government, extremists, and the notion of a theocratic state, among other things. At the same time the press has a vocal right-wing component that refuses to criticize anything with a socially conservative bent. But discussion of the media's relevance to Obama's "Af-Pak" strategy is conspicuously absent from American discourse, which analyzes political, military, developmental and economic efforts but seems unaware of the extent of media influence on the country's governance and on Pakistanis' worldviews. Newspapers here have always been fiercely independent except under extreme coercion, and in a country with limited literacy, the liberalization of the electronic media in 2002 was nothing short of a cultural revolution. Water-cooler conversation here is about political talk shows, not television dramas, and watching these is now a national pastime. Their hosts are celebrities with passionate fans and detractors. Junkies can easily spend the hours between nine p.m and midnight every weeknight watching these shows after having poured through several newspapers earlier in the day. The more famous print journalists are known for their political leanings, and their politically linked contacts. Certain media outlets draw a line so thin between reporting and comment that it might as well be invisible, and most news channels tend to sensationalize and exaggerate, but, warts and all, Pakistan's media is far more than what marketing nerds would call a "key influencer". It is nothing short of the most powerful element of civil society in the country, with a wider reach than educational institutions, religious organizations, trade unions, cultural groups, NGOs, corporations or the lawyers' movement. It's true that all decisions are ultimately controlled by Pakistan's army, the intelligence agencies, our patronage-based political system and the United States. And for all the reform it has brought about, there are certain topics the media dare not touch or is not given access to - operations against the Baloch insurgency, for example, are hidden behind a media blackout. There are journalists who have lost their lives and others who live under the constant threat of doing so. Despite all of this, the institution still helps more than any other in keeping power brokers honest and aware of public opinion. But the problem with free media, as with democracy, is that people are free. The same newspaper that carried the op-ed mentioned above ran another on its front page on April 14, a day after parliament voted for a deal with the Taliban in Swat; peace in exchange for Islamic law, just 100 km from Islamabad. "The collective wisdom of the country's prime public representative body . . . has put its weight behind the Swat peace deal. The parochial view of NGO types, liberal extremists and confused souls has been rejected . . . [parliamentarians] should be encouraged and praised," The oped gushed, conveniently failing to mention that the Taliban had threatened the lives of any parliamentarians voting against the deal. Another article immediately adjacent to it mentioned the threat, adding that: "Only two sane voices were heard" in the 300-plus assembly. "This agreement was signed under the shadow of guns . . . the guns of the Taliban have turned out to be more powerful than the guns of the Pakistan Army," The piece quoted one of them as saying: "The most shocking part . . . was that not a single woman parliamentarian stood up to protest the sweeping laws which would greatly affect the women of Swat. . . . [the] Opposition Leader . . . turned his guns towards US Defence Secretary Roberts Gates instead of evaluating the peace deal." This past Sunday, a piece in Dawn, the country's most widely read English newspaper, thundered about how "right-wing journalists, politicians and 'scholars' had carefully concocted a long-winded narrative that cleverly defended and explained religious extremism as an expression against 'American imperialism', 'Zionist conspiracies', 'Hindu infiltration', 'economic inequality', and 'injustice'. The barbarism that is being practiced in the name of faith in Pakistan can so easily puncture [this narrative]." On television, too, the dialogue is ferociously antagonistic, since talk shows invite guests with diametrically opposed views. One episode had Swat's Taliban chief stating that girls would be allowed to attend school only if this was ruled permissible by Islamic courts set up under the peace deal; in reply, a journalist pointed out that it was ludicrous to send Swat's parents to court for permission to provide a fundamental human right to their children. It is clear by now that Pakistan's press and its political analysts include religious conservatives who see the Taliban as upholders of the faith and nationalists who view Taliban violence as a justified reaction to American drone attacks. This is especially true of the Urdu press, which reaches far more people than English newspapers do. But that makes even more crucial the continued freedom of liberal commentators to show the Pakistani people what a theocratic, violent state would mean for their lives. One of the worst scenarios for the country at this time would be a media crackdown, even if for unrelated reasons - a danger that is always present in Pakistan, and one that was all too real during coverage of the lawyers' protests in March. If it muzzles the press next time a political crisis emerges, the government will be losing a limb in its battle against the Taliban. Separately, what the Pakistani government needs to do - if President Zardari is sincere about fighting terrorism - is use some of the five billion dollars in aid we just received to pay the world's best marketing firm to come up with an anti-Taliban PR blitz. It then needs to saturate Pakistani minds and hearts with this message, and it needs to use the established reach of the media to do so, leveraging it to run public service ads and programs. It wouldn't hurt if our President went on air after all the violence we have seen in recent weeks to set out, in no unclear terms, his strategy for fighting extremist violence and a rousing appeal to our better natures. If America is going to attach strings to aid, continued freedom for Pakistan's media and an all-out, over-the-top, government-led public relations campaign should be two of them. Without these, hope for both our immediate and long term futures might be lost. Madiha Sattar is a Karachi-based editor and writer at the Herald, a Pakistani monthly covering domestic politics, society and culture. This column is part of HuffPost World's new project, Spotlight On Pakistan. In order to better cover Pakistan, we are building a network of people based there who can help us understand what is happening on the ground. If you are interested, please join our project. This is an opportunity to have a continued conversation with Americans about what's really happening in Pakistan. If you would like to participate, please sign up here. Keep in touch with Huffington Post World on Facebook and Twitter . More on Pakistan
 
Sen. Kit Bond: Obama Is Building A Banana Republic (VIDEO) Top
Sen. Kit Bond suggested on Thursday that the openness of the Obama administration to merely investigating the possibility of criminal activity during the Bush years amounts to creating a banana republic government of the type seen in the Third World countries. The Missouri Republican, in an appearance on MSNBC, was asked to opine about the possibility of investigations -- either through Congress, the Justice Department or an independent commission -- into the use of torture by the Bush administration. This whole thing about punishing people in past administrations reminds me more of a banana republic than the United States of America. We don't criminally prosecute people we disagree with when we change office. There were a lot of questions that could have been asked of the Clinton administration failing to recognize the war on terror. They did not. The Bush administration went forward and that's the way our country should. The president said he was going to be forward looking and now he has opened up a stab in the back. The pejorative reference to countries rife with political instability from legal and even military vendettas was enough of a shock host Andrea Mitchell to prompt a request for clarification. "I am saying that those who want to have public hearings and show trials in the United States Congress... would be following tactics that are more appropriate for a banana republic," replied Bond. "I don't think the Obama administration wants to say the next time the Republicans get in control they will have show hearing-trials and try to institute criminal prosecutions against people who carried out orders of the Obama administration." Bond is retiring from the Senate in 2010. [WATCH:] More on Video
 
Anti-Piracy Donations Reach $250 Million Top
BRUSSELS — International donors pledged more than $250 million Thursday to strengthen Somalia's security forces and try to stop the rampant attacks by armed Somali pirates that have plagued one of the world's most important waterways. The hefty sum, which included funding for military equipment and material as well as development aid, exceeded the initial request made by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel said. "We have just begun the first step of an important process to restore rule of law in Somalia ... which has been a lawless state for 20 years," Ban told a news conference following a one-day, U.N.-sponsored donors' conference. Stabilizing Somalia was the focus of Thursday's meeting, but the near-daily pirate attacks along Somalia's 1,900-mile-long (3,100-kilometer) coastline that endanger ships from around the world immediately moved to the forefront of the discussions. "Piracy is a symptom of anarchy and insecurity on the ground," Ban told the delegates. "More security on the ground will make less piracy on the seas." Somali President Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed pledged to do "everything imaginable" to stabilize Somalia and fight piracy. "This phenomenon will not last forever," he promised, expressing "regret" for the pirates' actions. The pledges were a recognition of the need to end two decades of anarchy in Somalia and of the threat that further lawlessness posed to the world, not just one nation. The funds included at least $134 million for the African Union peacekeeping mission already in Somalia, which numbers 4,350 now but is expected to expand to 8,000 troops. Another $31 million will go to training the Somali police force by the United Nations and developing Somali security forces and their oversight bodies. The package also included aid for medicine, education and rural development under the auspices of the European Development Fund. According to the U.N. humanitarian agency, an estimated 2.8 million Somalis received food aid in March, up from 1.8 million at the start of 2008. "The situation continues to be very difficult, but with this financial help ... I sincerely hope we will be able to control the situation there," Ban said at a joint news conference with Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the EU's executive body. Ahmed, elected by parliament in January, is a former fighter with the Islamic insurgency. He has been trying to broker peace with warring groups after years of chaos and gain legitimacy, but his Western-backed government wields little control outside the capital of Mogadishu, and needs help from African peacekeepers to do even that. U.N. bodies will oversee funding earmarked for Ahmed's government, which wants to build a police force of 10,000 along with a separate security force of 6,000 members. Ahmed said his government had taken measures to achieve peace and stability and to reconcile with the country's warring militias. In the final communique, Ahmed pledged to forge a government "open to all those who wanted to join." He also urged the international community to help his government set up a new coast guard. "It is our duty to pursue these criminals not only on the high seas, but also on terra firma," he said to loud applause. Those comments may ignore reality. Ahmed's administration has not gone after the pirates who flash their cash in Somalia's coastal cities because pirate leaders currently wield more power than his shaky government. In the past year, pirates have hijacked dozens of ships in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping lane linking Asia via the Suez Canal to Europe. Piracy experts estimate the seafaring gangs took in about $80 million in ransom payments in 2008. Nearly a dozen nations and organizations _ including the U.S., the European Union NATO, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea _ have deployed warships to the region. But pirate attacks have still surged, and the gangs still hold at least 15 ships and over 250 crew. ___ Associated Press writers Deborah Seward, Slobodan Lekic, Robert Wielaard, and Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report. More on Pirates
 
William Bradley: Obama's Earth Day Energy Declaration: California May Be The Model He Says, But It's Not Enough Top
On Earth Day in Iowa, President Barack Obama talked up green energy development as central to his economic strategy. President Barack Obama made a big show for Earth Day of his commitment to a much greener energy future, and in the process paid a huge compliment to California for dramatically altering its energy path three decades ago. But even though California, as Obama puts it, shows the rest of America what can be done, it's not enough. Obama spoke after touring a wind energy equipment factory, once a Maytag washing machine factory, in Newton, Iowa. While he talked up innovation in new technologies, he noted that, in our history, increases in innovation are generally coupled with big increases in consumption. And that that can lead to disaster. Obama framed the the development of green energy technology -- which includes energy efficiency tech as well as renewable sources such as wind, solar, waves, geothermal, and biomass -- as the way out of the usual false choice on the environment. "The choice we face," he said, "is not between saving our environment and saving our economy. The choice we face is between prosperity and decline. We can remain the world's leading importer of oil, or we can become the world's leading exporter of clean energy. We can allow climate change to wreak unnatural havoc across the landscape, or we can create jobs working to prevent its worst effects. We can hand over the jobs of the 21st century to our competitors, or we can confront what countries in Europe and Asia have already recognized as both a challenge and an opportunity: The nation that leads the world in creating new energy sources will be the nation that leads the 21st-century global economy." Obama praised California as a model for the rest of the country. For those who think that it's too hard to build an economy without pursuing the old course on energy, Obama pointed to California, the world's seventh largest economy. "Think about this," he said. "I want everybody to think about this. Over the last several decades, the rest of the country, we used 50 percent more energy; California remained flat, used the same amount, even though that they were growing just as fast as the rest of the country -- because they were more energy efficient. They put in some good policy early on that assured that they weren't wasting energy. Now, if California can do it, then the whole country can do it. Iowa can do it." What happened those several decades ago is that then Governor Jerry Brown sharply shifted California's direction on energy policy. At the time, the 1970s and early 1980s, Brown was derided by status quo interests and conventional thinkers in the media for pursuing a policy of "woodchips and windmills." (So it was amusing for me to hear none other than George W. Bush declare in a "State of the Union" address that wind energy and, yes, woodchips were part of his policy, too, because it wasn't all just about oil. Though, of course, it mainly was.) What Brown decided to do, and succeeded in doing, was to cut California's annual rate of growth in electric power demand from 7% to 2% during his two terms as governor. In the process, California's energy policy developed a heavy focus on conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and cleaner-burning fossil fuels in the form of natural gas-fired plants as a bridge to the renewable future. Absent that, California would now be littered with scores of obsolete yet hugely expensive conventional power plants, a great many of them nuclear. The two Republican governors who succeeded Brown, George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson, didn't share Jerry Brown's enthusiasm for renewable energy. But they did like the greater efficiency in energy consumption. When Democrat Gray Davis, Brown's former chief of staff, became governor, he returned to the renewable course. And Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican who succeeded him, continued it, actually ramping it up further. Under Davis, California committed to having 20% of its electric power generated by renewable sources by 2017. Schwarzenegger accelerated that target to 2010, with 33% to be renewable by 2020. But, and this is a warning for Obama about how implementation can be difficult and is key for any politician with a very expansive agenda, Schwarzenegger's accelerated goal for California is slipping. At the end of 2008, the share of California electric power that is from renewable sources stood around 12%. Very good compared to most, but well short of Schwarzenegger's accelerated target. Critics point to foot-dragging by utilities and opposition by some enviros to transmission lines. Indeed, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies director V. John White, a former Sierra Club lobbyist who is one of the premier advocates for renewable power and works closely with the industry, says that 90% of California's current renewable power portfolio stems from decisions made during Jerry Brown's administration. Which is a lot better for Brown than it is for California. Obama has a big agenda going, with a vast geopolitical portfolio that is simply in another dimension from what's dealt with at the state level. It would not be hard for this very ambitious new president to be distracted from this mission, key though it is to his economic and environmental agendas. In the campaign, Obama denounced the old energy path and promoted the agenda he discussed on Earth Day. The saving grace is that it's key to Obama's geopolitical agenda as well. Until we change the resource base of the economy, America's foreign policy will always be a very risky business. And forget about that "Drill, baby, drill" stuff. That's non-serious, which is why Sarah Palin was so into it. Aside from the bad environmental policy of it, and the fact that it's akin to kicking heroin by getting more heroin, the amount of oil involved is a relative drop in the bucket. Which leaves us in the same old mess. A Governor Jerry Brown or a Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can talk about green energy as key to greater energy independence all he wants, but he can't declare it a national security priority. A President Barack Obama can. You can check things during the day on my site, New West Notes ... www.newwestnotes.com. More on Earth Day
 
David Kellermann, Freddie Mac CFO, Told To Take Time Off Before Apparent Suicide Top
VIENNA, Va. — Freddie Mac's acting chief financial officer had met with the mortgage giant's human resources office and had been making plans to take time off only a day before authorities found him dead in an apparent suicide, a person close to the company said Thursday. A human resources official met with David Kellermann on Tuesday and told him he needed a break because he had been working hard, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the individual wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Kellermann, 41, of Vienna, was found dead Wednesday in the basement of his home. A law enforcement official also speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that Kellermann hanged himself. He asked not to be identified because the investigation was ongoing. Kellermann worked for the company for 16 years and was promoted last September when the government seized the mortgage company and ousted its top two executives. He oversaw a staff of about 500 at Freddie Mac's McLean headquarters and was working on the company's first-quarter financial report, due by the end of May. Co-workers were not the only ones who had noticed the strain placed on Kellermann by his job duties. Several neighbors said Kellermann had lost weight in recent months, and some had even advised him to quit, but Kellermann responded that he wanted to help the company through its difficulties. The meeting with the human resources office was first reported Thursday on the Wall Street Journal's Web site. Freddie Mac, which owns or guarantees about 13 million mortgages, has been criticized for financing risky loans that fueled the real estate bubble and are now defaulting at a record pace. The company lost more than $50 billion last year, and the Treasury Department has pumped in $45 billion to keep the company afloat. Last month, David Moffett, the government-appointed chief executive, resigned in frustration over strict oversight. Medical examiners have completed Kellermann's autopsy but say a final determination on his cause of death could be weeks away. Nancy Bull, the regional administrator for the medical examiner's office, said Thursday the final determination won't be made until all the lab results are received. But she said the preliminary findings are consistent with a suicide.
 
David Finkle: Real Good Pop Singing, American Idol-Style Top
If there's a single television series that's never gone begging for coverage, it's American Idol . Were the column inches devoted to the annual reality TV competition laid end to end, they'd undoubtedly stretch from here to Alpha Centauri. Yet it seems to me that most of the compulsive typing focuses on one two-pronged aspect of the show: which contestant is pulling ahead (currently Adam Lambert) and which has fallen behind (Allison Iraheta bottom-threeing again!?). Much of the blah-blahing centers on the voting and predictability (or shock) of the successive eliminations. Much of the yammering also revolves around how the judges are trending -- if you can decipher what they're saying. The caustic Simon Cowell is always clear, if often wrong-headed. What Paul Abdul means is anyone's guess, as Cowell loves mentioning. Randy Jackson can be totally obtuse, since his (woefully dated) slang seems all but entirely limited to "yo," "check it out," "dawg," "dude," "pitchy" and "da bomb." This year's newcomer Kara DioGuardi apparently knows a thing or two about recording (so does Jackson, but you'd never realize it) but also has trouble articulating complex thoughts. Nonetheless, there's one AI facet I don't ever recall being discussed by viewers and that -- you're reading it here first -- is how the reality enterprise has redefined what constitutes high-quality popular singing at this point in our checkered culture. Good popular singing -- as American Idol has it -- is the following: 1. For commercial purposes, today's pop tooting requires melismas. What are melismas? They're those bent notes -- sometimes termed "riffs" -- that repeatedly crop up. Just about every singer who enters the AI competish hoping to get anywhere understands he or she better shove a sufficient number of notes up and down the scale for some time before moving on to the next note, which also can be tortured until it cries "Uncle!" Riffing is crucial because it virtually guarantees vociferous audience response. 2. Belting is obligatory. What's "belting"? It's dynamically raising the chest voice several decibels either from the song's outset or at the very least somewhere midway through the song. Raising decibel level -- like riffing -- also begets cheers and applause. One problem here is that if belting begins to approach shouting or, worse, bellowing, the judges might diss it. When that happens, the in-house audience may boo, but you never know how a judge's negative assessment will influence at-home voters. 3. Vocal pyrotechnics applied to melodies are far more important than attention paid to lyrics. Truth to tell, much as the judges reiterate the importance of "making a song your own," they're not suggesting rethinking how the words affect personal emotion -- or at least aren't understood to mean that -- but are talking about modernizing musical arrangements. Why stress words, the AI policy seems to ask, when that might provoke audience members to listen to sentiments being expressed and consequently forget to raise their arms and mindlessly wave them to the beat? Wait! Before you get all teed off and start acting snarky towards me, understand I'm not saying none of the singers at present or in the past are any good. Many of them are. The list is long and includes, in my opinion, Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Chris Daugherty, Carrie Underwood, Melinda Doolittle, Blake Lewis, David Cook and this year's Lambert and Iraheta. But also to my way of thinking, these and several others intuited that use of the above techniques must be judicious. Some -- like Underwood, in particular -- have matured after the competition, as is expected, of course, of any performer who realizes that growth is part of artistry. Something to remember about this year's singing, as implicitly prescribed by American Idol (especially by Cowell, who listens for what he thinks will hit charts based on what's currently on the charts), is that it's only part of an evolving notion of what popular singing is. Remember, for instance, that in the '20s the advent of radio and the microphone also redefined singing. Singing softly was possible, and crooning was not only born but dominated pop chanting until the late '50s and '60s when teenagers rebelled against the sound via adult-defying rock 'n' roll. In quick time, robust, sometimes ear-splitting chirping led to gospel-trained Aretha Franklin and the magnificent Patti LaBelle and to Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, who could be called the progenitors of today's melisma-infused warbling. In an ever-changing world, who knows what's next -- although we might have gotten a taste of it these past weeks with the astonishing advent of Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent . Even the normally butter-wouldn't-melt-in-his-mouth Simon Cowell was reduced to holding his head in amazement when 47-year-old Boyle sang "I Dreamed a Dream." And notice that throughout her triumph -- surely bigger than will dog (dawg) this year's Idol winner -- not a melisma was uttered. More on American Idol
 
Gerald McEntee: The Roadblock Republicans: 100 Days of Saying No to Progress Top
Every day, more Americans get a pink slip, more stores shutter their doors and more families find the American Dream growing dimmer and farther from their grasp. Our 1.6 million members are on the frontlines of this crisis. The vital services they provide are taking huge hits - which means communities are suffering. AFSCME stepped up our political and legislative efforts in January by creating the "Make America Happen" campaign. Through this campaign, we are mobilizing our members and the general public to support President Obama's comprehensive effort to promote jobs and economic recovery, enact health care reform this year and pass the Employee Free Choice Act. AFSCME marshaled our resources to make sure that the President's historic recovery bill would include substantial new assistance to state and local governments. We generated more than 40,000 phone calls, personal letters and e-mails to members of Congress. Working with Americans United for Change, we launched ads to end the Republicans' "Just Say No" campaign of obstruction. The Republicans say we're exaggerating the problems facing our economy. When President Obama extends a friendly hand to them, they respond with a clenched fist. So, we're going on the air again with a new television spot . The Roadblock Republicans can't hide from the damage their resistance is doing to the recovery our people need. AFSCME has deployed grassroots organizers to work in target states as part of our "Make America Happen" campaign. We're mobilizing across the country, from Maine to Alaska . . . in union strongholds like Pennsylvania and Ohio . . . but also in Southern states, like Arkansas and North Carolina. We're sending our organizers into Mountain and Western states, like Montana and North Dakota. And we're mobilizing the grassroots in the American heartland, in states such as Indiana and Missouri. We have important work to do to overcome the opposition of the corporate CEOs who set the GOP agenda. We're going to flood Capitol Hill with phone calls and letters to keep us on the road to recovery. And we're going to make sure that the Roadblock Republicans know that working Americans expect them to put partisanship aside and do what is right for America. You can see the new TV spot and read about our grassroots efforts at our new website: Make America Happen.com. AFSCME is committed to bringing bold change to our country. We are committed to making America happen again.
 
Michael Markarian: Writing Off Fido and Fluffy Top
Ben Stein has some advice on how to get through the worst economic times since the Great Depression: Get a dog . Now thanks to a California lawmaker, adopting a dog might be not only good for your morale, but also good for your pocketbook. In an effort to help animal shelters across the state that are teeming with near-record numbers of relinquished pets, Assemblyman Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita) has introduced Assembly Bill 233 . The legislation would allow California taxpayers to write off up to $100 of the cost of adopting an animal from a municipal, county, or nonprofit animal shelter or qualified rescue organization. It would become effective January 1, 2010 and last for five years. While the tax break cannot address all that ails our homeless pets and the agencies looking out for their interests, it is a relatively inexpensive and efficient way to send a strong message to California taxpayers: that never before has their compassion been more critical to improving the chances for animals who have done nothing wrong other than prove too expensive for their downtrodden owners. AB 233 asks Californians to help out, and by promoting the benefits -- to the animals and to the government and charitable sectors -- of adopting dogs and cats, the deduction would increase the ability of municipal and charitable animal protection organizations to continue their life-saving work. How can the state of California -- already burdened with a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall -- afford to forego the estimated $1 million per year this tax deduction would cost? The question is how can the state afford not to. According to The HSUS's chief economist, Jennifer Fearing, who is working to pass the bill in Sacramento, the ultimate fiscal impact of AB 233 will be driven by the extent to which Californians respond to the call to help, and the more they respond, the more positive the impact will be on local government and nonprofit sheltering costs (lower), their revenue (higher), stimulating consumer spending (more), and saving animal lives (more). Rather than distributing additional government funds to all animal shelters, a tax deduction puts the power in the taxpayers' hands -- and to the extent they choose to adopt, they will be rewarded (however modestly) by the state for doing so. Making pet adoption fees tax-deductible will have a positive impact on the outcomes for pets who land in shelters. It is a recognized principle of tax policy that an income tax deduction for charitable donations promotes charitable behavior -- often in excess of what may be expected given the actual dollar value associated with the deduction. As such, even though the dollar amount per taxpayer granted by AB 233 is small, its impact for the animals involved could be significant. Government sends a strong signal to citizens and the mere fact that an expenditure is deemed deductible increases public awareness of the behavior and of the "right" choice. In addition to the potential for reduced local government costs associated with increased adoption rates and lower animal holding, we must also consider the tremendous economic impact of pet ownership. To the extent that AB 233 promotes pet adoptions among taxpayers who would otherwise not become pet owners, the bill could yield significant economic returns in the form of stimulated spending. The average pet owner annually spends $1,425 per dog and $990 per cat. To stimulate as much economic activity as the estimated cost of AB 233's tax expenditure, the new deduction would only have to prompt 4,141 new pet adoptions over five years -- or 828 more per year. This is an increase of less than one-half of one percent in the number of animals adopted statewide in 2007 -- and certainly a modest estimate of this deduction's impact on behavior.  Additionally, fees paid for pet adoptions go directly back to the municipality, further offsetting the costs of animal care and control. With approximately 800,000 California animals entering city and county shelters each year, with an annual cost of more than $100 million spent to house animals who ultimately are euthanized, AB 233 presents an opportunity to increase revenue to offset these significant annual local expenditures -- saving tax dollars and saving animal lives. These are tough times indeed, but by allowing a tax write-off for Fido and Fluffy, we will help ensure that they won't be written off at the shelters. Adopting a pet can be good for the economy and good for taxpayers -- but most importantly, it's good for your soul. Many trends start in California -- let's hope that Assemblyman Smyth's foresighted policy initiative becomes one that spreads to other states. More on Animals
 
Robert Greenwald: Brave Afghan Vet Demands Answers from Congress Top
Everything we have all worked toward in our Rethink Afghanistan campaign -- interviewing experts, airing debates, passing around parts of the documentary, and signing the petition for Congressional oversight hearings -- is starting to pay off. Thanks to your efforts, we were able to bring Rick Reyes, a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, to Congress's attention. Reyes, a former Corporal in the US Marines of unquestionable military experience and patriotism, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Reyes was powerful and truthful as he expressed serious discontent with the current mission in Afghanistan, telling Congress, "Sending more troops will not make the US safer, it will only build more opposition against us." It is fitting then, that Reyes sat across from committee Chairman Senator John Kerry , considering yesterday marked the 38th anniversary of when Kerry sat before the same committee, electrifying the nation with his account of the Vietnam War. Reyes's testimony raises critical concerns that Congress must address before approving a massive supplemental war funding bill in the next few weeks. Let's work to halt this war funding bill by calling our Representatives , and urging them not to vote for it until all the questions raised in these hearings have been answered. If you're not sure who represents you, find out here . We couldn't have brought Reyes to Congress's attention without you. Help us by making a donation of $20, $30, $50, or even $100 to this campaign today, so we can continue making your voices heard in Congress. Your support is paramount to continue the work we're doing; clearly it's having an impact! As Reyes told Congress, "I urge you on behalf of truth and patriotism to consider carefully and rethink Afghanistan. More troops, more occupation is not the answer." More on Barack Obama
 
Cheryl Saban: Abolish Malaria as a gift for Earth Day Top
I attended an event a few night's ago to raise awareness and money to help prevent and abolish malaria. It occurred to me that giving to this cause would be the perfect "gift" to celebrate Earth Day, which was April 22nd. Malaria is an illness that can easily be eradicated -- we have the knowledge of what to do - education, mosquito nets and medication, and the network of distribution is being worked out too. Celebrating Earth is about enjoying, nurturing and protecting our environment. It's also about using our evolved skills and knowledge to help facilitate the most hospitable environment we can for earth's inhabitants while at the same time protecting all life forms from irrevocable damage. The damage caused by this illness is formidable and needs to be stopped. Millions of children die every year - malaria kills a child every 30 seconds -- that's clearly not very hospitable. We can change this. Donating to www.MalariaNoMore.org is the perfect way to express our gratitude for life, and an appropriate "Earth Day" gift to humanity. More on Earth Day
 
North Korea Now Fully Fledged Nuclear Power, Experts Agree Top
North Korea has become a fully fledged nuclear power, with the capacity to wipe out cities in Japan and South Korea. More on North Korea
 
Larry Summers Falls Asleep During Credit Card Industry Meeting (SLIDESHOW) Top
From the department of "it-can-happen-to-anyone," President Obama's chief economic adviser Larry Summers apparently fell asleep during a high-profile meeting with credit card industry officials in the White House on Thursday. From the pool report comes this nugget: "One thing to note is that Summers appeared to be nodding off near the beginning of Obama's remarks. And then he DID nod off, doing the head on the hand and then head falling off the hand thing. Photogs seemed to be having a field day. All other officials in the room appeared fully awake." We're still waiting for pictures and will add to the post when they come. But, among embarrassing snoozes this one should rank moderately high, though not quite up there with Bill Clinton falling asleep during an MLK Day speech last year, nor Ronald Reagan dozing off while meeting with the Pope. Also, Summers seems to have a mild narcoleptic issue. He fell asleep during a White House economic forum this past February. The New Republic reported recently that "Summers functions on exceedingly little sleep.... To power through the day, Summers relies on a punishing Diet Coke regimen. The combination of fatigue and extreme caffeine intake can produce the occasional verbal and physical tic: Summers is a chronic foot-tapper and sometimes turns over words and clauses like an engine that won't start." In a prescient piece titled, " Memo To Obama's Economic Team: Get Some Sleep! " Arianna Huffington wrote: The notion that driving yourself to the point of exhaustion and chronic foot-tapping is a sign of commitment and achievement is as obsolete as the belief that pumping more money into the same institutions that created the crisis will solve it. Summers' old boss, Bill Clinton, once said, "Every important mistake I've made in my life, I've made because I was too tired." Many Wall Street high-flyers could echo this -- if they had any self-awareness. Instead, they subscribe to our culture's veneration of exhaustion. Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi describes how Wall Streeters, when challenged, "talk about how hard they work, the 90-hour weeks, the stress, the failed marriages, the hemorrhoids and gallstones they all get before they hit 40." The country would be better off if Wall Street execs and, more importantly, Summers and Treasury Secretary Geithner -- who, we are admiringly told, works 15 hours a day -- knocked off early and came back to work the next day refreshed... and with some fresh ideas. Become a fan of HuffPost Politics on Facebook , or follow us on Twitter . More on Photo Galleries
 
Susan Morgan: Remembering the Holocaust, Obama Must Act for Darfur Top
Today Darfur activists from around the country, joined by actress Mia Farrow, sent an open letter to President Obama expressing concern about the administration's lack of action to end the Darfur genocide and bring peace to Sudan. The letter coincides with Obama's keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Annual Days of Remembrance Ceremony. This year's theme is "Never Again: What You Do Matters." The letter recommends that the Obama administration: 1) Embark on a public diplomacy blitz to ensure that as many countries as possible will demand that humanitarian aid be unfettered by politics with a focus on isolating President al- Bashir for starving his own citizens, 2) Conduct a private diplomatic effort to explore how governments could downgrade relations with Sudan's indicted president and eventually end his 20-year presidency and 3) Forge a coalition that can both negotiate with and pressure Sudan to seek peace in Darfur as well as implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which provides a framework for a democratic Sudan but is at risk of collapse. These recommendations were originally outlined in an April 12th Wall Street Journal op-ed by John Prendergast and Jim Wallis. The letter describes the ominously deteriorating humanitarian situation in Darfur since the Sudanese government expelled 13 humanitarian aid agencies. Since then, Darfuris in IDP camps have died from meningitis, children have died from malnutrition, pregnant women lack medical care, and shelters in camps were burned. The rainy season has started, and in some camps thousands live without the shelters destroyed by rain and wind. The day-to-day plight of Darfuris is chronicled in a moving blog by Mohamed Suleiman, a US-based Darfuri who is in ongoing contact those suffering on the ground. On April 21, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that Sudan's expulsion of aid groups from Darfur has put the lives of more than 1 million people at risk and increased the potential for instability in the region. Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan, has said that chances were " not very high " that the expelled aid workers would return. He is also reported to have discussed the possibility of normalizing the Sudan-United States relationship. The letter to President Obama states,: You, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Clinton, Ambassador Rice, and other members of your Administration acknowledged before your election that a very different approach was necessary to end the Darfur genocide. Notably, in April 2008, in response to the reports of Bush Administration offers of normalization talks to the GoS, you stated, '"This reckless and cynical initiative would reward a regime in Khartoum that has a record of failing to live up to its commitments." Your remarks gave hope to Darfuris that as President you would take decisive action. The letter concludes, We respectfully request that you make it a top personal priority to escalate US action and leadership to do whatever it takes to bring peace and protection to Darfur. Never has it been more true for Darfur and for all of Sudan that "what you do matters." FULL TEXT OF APRIL 23 LETTER April 23, 2009 The Honorable Barack H. Obama President, United States of America The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: Today you will deliver the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Annual Days of Remembrance Ceremony. This year's theme is "Never Again: What You Do Matters." The undersigned, representing organizations and individuals from all over the United States, write to you with concern about what your Administration is doing to end the Darfur genocide and bring peace to Sudan. Today is also the 93rd day since your inauguration as President, after pledging as a candidate to "make ending the genocide in Darfur a priority from Day One," of your Administration. Today is also the 49th day since Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir expelled 13 humanitarian aid agencies from Darfur and other regions of Sudan. Since then: Darfuris in IDP camps have died from meningitis, children have died from malnutrition, pregnant women lack medical care, and shelters in camps were burned. The rainy season has started, and in some camps thousands live without the shelters destroyed by rain and wind. Several aid workers have been kidnapped; at least two remain in captivity and are reportedly ill. The Government of Sudan (GoS) executed nine Darfuris accused of killing a journalist after a "trial" condemned by Amnesty International. Sudanese NGO workers are reported to have been harassed, detained and tortured by GoS forces attempting to force their silence. Please see www.WhileWeWaitSudan.org for daily updates directly from Darfuris. Today is also the 36th day since you appointed Maj. Gen. Scott Gration as your Special Envoy to Sudan. In one of his first public statements he observed that chances were "not very high" that the expelled aid workers would return. He is reported to have discussed the possibility of normalizing the Sudan-United States relationship and to have admitted upon his return from Sudan that he obtained no concessions. You, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Clinton, Ambassador Rice, and other members of your Administration acknowledged before your election that a very different approach was necessary to end the Darfur genocide. Notably, in April 2008, in response to the reports of Bush Administration offers of normalization talks to the GoS, you stated, "This reckless and cynical initiative would reward a regime in Khartoum that has a record of failing to live up to its commitments." Your remarks gave hope to Darfuris that as President you would take decisive action and lead the international community in finally taking effective measures, such as those you had advocated for years. Last week, upon General Gration's departure from Sudan, a Darfuri resident in the U.S. and a tireless advocate for his people stated, "The U.S.A. in the eyes of the Sudanese is losing its strength. Not the military strength, but the moral strength. The election of Obama gave hope to many victims that finally their prayers were answered. Today the mood is sadness and disappointment in Darfur because America seems back to the 50s and 60s when it sponsored many dictators. Today the mood is jubilation and relief in Khartoum also because America is back to the 50s and 60s when it sponsored many dictators and allowed them to wheel and deal with Washington." We respectfully urge you to take the course recommended by Jim Wallis and John Prendergast on April 12 at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123958504474112427.html: (1) Embark on a public diplomacy blitz to ensure that as many countries as possible will demand that humanitarian aid be unfettered by politics. The focus should be on isolating President al- Bashir for starving his own citizens -- as he has done before in Southern Sudan, leading to the deaths of two million people there -- and on ensuring that aid is no longer subject to deadly restrictions. (2) Conduct a private diplomatic effort to explore how governments could downgrade relations with Sudan's indicted president and eventually end his 20-year presidency. There must be a consequence for orchestrating violence. There also must be an end to the cycle of impunity that has allowed 2.5 million people to die during Bashir's presidency. (3) Forge a coalition that can both negotiate with and pressure Sudan to seek peace in Darfur as well as implement the existing peace agreement for the South. If the GoS does not take concrete measurable actions in a very short period of time to restore the necessary humanitarian aid, engage in meaningful peace talks, disarm and disengage the Janjaweed militia, and genuinely implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, we respectfully request that you make it a top personal priority to escalate US action and leadership to do whatever it takes to bring peace and protection to Darfur. Never has it been more true for Darfur and for all of Sudan that "what you do matters." Very truly yours, American Jewish World Service Ruth Messinger New York, New York Americans Against the Darfur Genocide Nikki Serapio, Director Berkeley, California Armenian Assembly of America Bryan Ardouny, Executive Director Washington, DC Armenian National Committee of America Aram Hamparian, Executive Director Washington, DC Be Their Messenger Leah Nuckolls, Founder Gilbert, Arizona Buddhist Peace Fellowship Rev. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, Executive Director Oakland, California A Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action Roz Duman, Founder/Coordinator Denver, Colorado Darfur Alert Coalition Ali Dinar, President Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Darfur and Beyond Cory Williams, Co-Founder Phoenix, Arizona Darfur Leaders Network Mastora Bakheit Fort Wayne, IN Darfur People's Association of New York Bushara Dosa, President Brooklyn, New York Darfur Rehabilitation Project Fatima Haroun, Philadelphia, PA Darfur Women Action Group Niemat Ahmadi Washington, DC Dear Sudan, Love Marin Gerri Miller, Co-ordinator Marin, California Defend Darfur Dallas Laura McCarthy, Director Dallas, TX Fur Cultural Revival Portland, Maine Genocide No More-Save Darfur Marv Steinberg, Coordinator Redding, California Idaho Darfur Coalition A.J. Fay, Co-founder Boise, Idaho Humanity United Pam Omidyar, Founder and Board Chair Redwood City, California Investors Against Genocide Eric Cohen, Chairperson, Boston, Massachusetts Jewish World Watch Tzivia Schwartz-Getzug, Executive Director Los Angeles, California Kentuckiana Interfaith Taskforce On Darfur Bob Brousseau, Founder Louisville, Kentucky Keokuk for Darfur Julia Hays, Director Keokuk, Iowa Kol Shalom, Community for Humanistic Judaism Diane Koosed, Darfur Action Group coordinator Portland, OR Lane County Darfur Coalition Roz Slovic, Coordinator Eugene, Oregon Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur Susan Morgan, Director of Communications Boston, Massachusetts Mia Farrow Michigan Darfur Coalition Charlton Breen, Coordinator Birmingham, Michigan New York City Coalition for Darfur Sharon Silber, Co-founder New York, New York People's Union of Darfur Musa Ishag Abdou Washington, D.C. Phoenix Save Darfur Jessica Couleur, Founder Phoenix Arizona San Antonio Interfaith Darfur Coalition Susan Smylie, Coordinator of Advocacy San Antonio, TX San Francisco Bay Area Darfur Coalition Martina Knee, Member, Executive Committee San Francisco, California Save Darfur Washington State Deborah Jones, President Seattle, Washington Stanford University STAND Angie McPhaul, Advocacy Coordinator Stanford, California Stop Genocide Now Gabriel Stauring, Director Los Angeles, California Sudan Unlimited Esther Sprague, Founder San Francisco, California The Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan: The National Network Julie Hines Mabus, President Jackson, Mississippi Use Your Voice to Save Darfur RI Sandra Hammel, Director Providence, Rhode Island Westchester Darfur Coalition Roberta Roos, Coordinator Westchester County, New York World Relief Organization Elgasim Salih, President Philadelphia, Pennsylvania More on Genocide
 
Pelosi: Bush Administration Never Briefed Congress On Waterboarding Top
The Bush administration did not inform Congress that it had waterboarded detainees in classified briefings, after the agency had already done so, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) charged Thursday. Pelosi told reporters that the administration officials only told her and those in a classified briefing in the fall of 2002 that they believed they had the legal authority to do so, based on Office of Legal Counsel memos which have recently been released by the Obama administration. "In that or any other briefing...we were not, and I repeat, were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation techniques were used," said Pelosi. "What they did tell us is that they had some legislative counsel...opinions that they could be used, but not that they would." Pelosi said that the officials promised to inform Congress if they ever did waterboard a detainee, but never did so. Her assertion contradicts a recently released Senate committee report that cited CIA records to claim that senior members of Congress in both parties were briefed on the waterboarding, which had already been done to detainee Abu Zubaydah. Pelosi, in the strongest terms should could conjure, said the report was untrue and that she never approved, tacitly or otherwise, the waterboarding of detainees. "Further to the point was that if and when they would be used, they would brief Congress at that time," said Pelosi. "I know that there's some different interpretations coming out of that meeting. My colleague, the chairman of the [intelligence] committee, has said, well if they say that it's legal you have to know they're going to use it. Well, his experience is that he was a member of the CIA and later went on to head the CIA. Maybe his experience is that they'll tell you one thing but may mean something else." Pelosi is referring to then-GOP Rep. Porter Goss. "My experience was they did not tell us they were using that, flat out. And any, any contention to the contrary is simply not true," she said. Republicans have recently been making the case that if Democrats insist on investigating torture, they must own up to their own culpability for remaining silent. Pelosi's insistence that she wasn't briefed on the occurrence of waterboarding is an effort to push back on that offensive. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) also pushed back against the GOP Thursday. "They know that this is all Cheney-driven and are making excuses," Reid told the Huffington Post. Get HuffPost Politics on Facebook , or follow us on Twitter . More on Nancy Pelosi
 
Illinois Tollway Wrongly Targeting Minnesota Drivers: Minnesota AG Top
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Minnesota's Attorney General is calling on Illinois officials to stop sending tickets to Minnesota drivers until they get their tollway violation system in order. Attorney General Lori Swanson says her office has received complaints from many motorists who received tickets, even though they weren't driving in Illinois at the time of the tollway violation. In some cases, Swanson says the tollway system photographs license plates but then uses outdated license information and tickets the wrong people. Some Illinois lawmakers have vowed to fix the system. But in a letter to Illinois officials, Swanson requests a moratorium on mailing tickets to Minnesota car owners and asks them to stop collection agencies from threatening Minnesotans who haven't paid alleged fines. -ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
Roxana Saberi Begins Hunger Strike: ABC News Top
ABC News reports that US journalist Roxana Saberi begins a hunger strike today to protest her prison sentence in Iran. ABC News' George Stephonopoulos was in Tehran and met with the imprisoned journalist's parents, who said she was committed to the hunger strike. "I tried to dissuade her but she said, 'not this time,'" Reza Saberi told Stephonopoulos. "She is, this time, determined to go on a hunger strike because she says she doesn't deserve to be in there in the prison, she hasn't done anything wrong. She should not be there." Saberi, a freelance journalist who has worked for NPR and BBC, was convicted of espionage and sentenced to eight years in prison. Yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he would not intervene in Saberi's case, as reported by Reuters. Asked in an interview if he would release Saberi as goodwill gesture, Ahmadinejad said through a translator, "I am not a judge. And I do not pass judgment over judicial cases. And in Iran, the judiciary is independent. Read more about her case here. More on Iran
 
South Carolina Wildfire Spreads Near Tourist Beach, Burns Dozens Of Homes Top
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — A coastal wildfire spread Thursday near one of the busiest tourist stretches in South Carolina, burning dozens of homes and forcing hundreds to flee in the middle of the night. No injuries were reported and officials said the blaze appeared to be heading several miles north of the most densely populated areas. "It's still a very intensely burning fire _ very extreme fire weather," said Mike Bozzo, a state Forestry Commission commander. Police banged on doors to awaken residents overnight as strong winds helped the blaze cut a four-mile-wide swath through forests and scrub toward the Barefoot Landing development, a sprawling complex of houses, condominiums and golf courses separated from the main route through Myrtle Beach by the Intracoastal Waterway. "It was like something out of a movie," said Danielle Prater, 25, of Charlotte, N.C., who woke her aunt and uncle at 1:30 a.m. after seeing flames several feet high racing through a neighbor's back yard. "I ran and got them and we got out of there as fast as we could." Officials said they hoped the waterway would act as a natural firebreak to protect more populated areas closer to the beach. State officials said as many as 70 homes had been destroyed and others were still threatened, though Bozzo said the blaze appeared to be drifting several miles north of the most densely packed tourist stretch of the region. The governor declared a state of emergency for the county and five schools closed because of the dense smoke. Garry Alderman, the county fire chief, described some homes as left with only "skeletal remains." "I've never seen anything this bad," he said. North Myrtle Beach mayor Marilyn Hatley said by midmorning the fire at the development had mostly died out, but police still stopped residents from returning to the homes there. "This is a natural disaster," Hatley said. About 2,500 people in a four-mile stretch on the western side of the waterway were told to leave their homes overnight, said North Myrtle Beach spokeswoman Nicole Aiello. Shelters were set up at North Myrtle Beach City Hall and the House of Blues, where about 200 people gathered, some waiting in their cars outside, as ash fell and the acrid smell of smoke was pervasive. "What we have on is what we got away with," said Sherlene Pinnix, 63. Nevertheless, visitors were teeing off at nearby golf courses and managers at the hotels that line the beach a few miles south of the blaze said they couldn't even smell smoke. A cause of the fire, which started a day earlier in a wooded area west of the beach, had not been determined. The governor's office said more than 15,000 acres, or about 23 square miles, had been scorched by early Thursday morning. A day earlier, flames jumped highways and walls of smoke engulfed tourist attractions as 30 mph gusts blew toward the ocean. Winds were expected to be weaker Thursday, but officials still feared the blaze could jump the waterway. Besides the wind, Horry County Fire Rescue spokesman Todd Cartner said crews were having trouble getting to the flames because of the dense vegetation and were using plows and tractors to cut paths to it. Adding to the problem were heavily vegetated patches called Carolina Bays that caught fire and fueled the blaze. The shallow, egg-shaped depressions pockmark the coast and range in size from a few to thousands of acres. The bays are densely filled with plant life and often have boggy bottoms where peat, if it catches fire, can burn for days or weeks. Tropical downpours are often needed to extinguish such fires, said state Forestry Commission spokesman Scott Hawkins. "Once you get a fire in a bay, it's very, very hard to put out," he said. The area is the anchor of the state's $16 billion annual tourist industry, drawing college students for its low-cost spring break and families who fill miles of budget beachfront hotels along the coast from Memorial through Labor Day. Tens of thousands of golfers visit each year, and some of the region's courses are among the most highly regarded in the nation. Just off the coast, subdivisons and golf courses have been carved from forest and swamps over decades and the area remain prone to wildfires that spring up in the woods and scrub. Cartner said it was the worst blaze since some 30,000 acres, or 47 square miles, burned in 1976. Local chamber of commerce officials said they were fielding calls from worried visitors but telling them Myrtle Beach was fine. Phania Carson, a tourist from Macon, Ga., said he was cutting his trip one day short because of the smoke and potential for traffic. "I don't want to wait until the last minute and they tell us to evacuate. The traffic will just be that much heavier," he said as he filled the tank of his pickup truck. ___ Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard in North Myrtle Beach, and Katrina A. Goggins, Jeffrey Collins and Jack Jones in Columbia contributed to this report.
 
Pia Sawhney: In a Week of Genocide Remembrances, Right Wing Leaders Play Up Rhetoric Top
This Tuesday, an Israeli reporter described her experience attending a Holocaust Remembrance day ceremony in Tel Aviv, where she and others were frisked a number of times before being permitted to enter. The writer outlines her growing discomfort with the affair as she finds the Prime Minister's opening remarks appear less focused on the children who passed during the Second World War (though there is certainly mention), and more on the rising tide of anti-Semitism globally. Rather than sharing the author's ambivalence on this, this is one instance where Israel's Prime Minister and I likely agree. On a trip to Italy a few months ago, I came upon a tiny, isolated mining town, mostly overridden by tourists in the summer, but where over half the residents otherwise attain at best only seasonal employment. I noticed that on the streets and inner walls of town, anti-Semitic epithets and symbols plastered nearly every beautiful old block; all dealt with the bombardment of Gaza. The town was otherwise weirdly quiet. It was February, though, and still winter. But it felt alarming, partly because perhaps one doesn't expect this in a popular vacation destination (where were the carbinieri , after all -- and don't people wash the graffiti off their buildings?). Research released this week, however, now reflects the phenomenon was far from unique. The December and early January Israeli invasion of Gaza was followed closely by a precipitous rise in hate speech against Israel . The conflict between Muslims and Jews is age-old, and this contributes to some of the outrage, I suspect. As I belong to neither side, nor to Christianity, I can honestly claim a limited view though I have read about it from time to time. In terms of this year, it seems anti-Semitic incidents jumped markedly as compared with 2008 and preceding years. Professor Dina Porat, head of the Stephen Roth Institute in Israel, reported this past Monday that there has finally been a "sharp decline" in recent months from peaks that surfaced in earlier months of the year. As part of what the institute uncovered, Porat notes that the United Kingdom alone saw 250 anti-Semitic incidents in the month of January (as compared with 35 that same month, a year earlier). All this has happened despite polls reflecting that 75 percent of both Palestinians and Israelis favor a two-state solution. In fact, it now appears that spiraling vitriol is spurring Muslim/Jewish divisiveness. The sacrificial lambs in these debates have been Palestinians in Gaza, but also moderates in both groups. Muslims on the ground continue not to receive the urgent attention they deserve, and, in particular, a raging genocide remains underway in Darfur. Little has been done by political leaders, although 300,000 are estimated to have been killed and over 2 million displaced. I, like many others, would argue that the radicalization of the Jewish/Muslim divide has, in part at least, contributed in stealing attention away from the genocide today that endures. In Darfur, which truly is today's largest, most harrowing ethnic conflict (and in which the victims are millions of Muslims), residents face challenges similar to Palestinians daily, as they are routinely forced from their land. Rather than being a romantically tragic, religiously-driven war, however, this conflict is modern and concerns a grab by the Sudan government for greater resources. And so Darfuris continue to be part of a community that lives in constant fear of its government. Few non-Western allies have shown the strength or political will to reconcile or even discuss today's genocide with Sudan's ruling classes, even though it is these allies that wield the greatest influence over local Sudanese officials. In fact, rather than rallying other countries over the conflict in Darfur, the Arab League has colluded with Sudan's president for the six years and continues to do so. Last month, the League even invited President Omar al-Bashir to Qatar for a summit. Read here about how Arab nations said they would intervene in 2006, but have since shirked this responsibility. On Tuesday, while the international news media drowned its sorrows in a near-pointless offensive at Israel launched by the Iranian premier, one slimy Mr. B (and no, I don't mean B Netanyahu) made a nonchalant state visit to Ethiopia where he received a relatively warm reception. There's an international arrest warrant out for al-Bashir, but so far, to little avail. Mia Farrow plans to go on a hunger strike to protest political inaction in the region starting this Monday. She has already made several trips to Darfur since 2003 when the region's genocide first began -- here's hoping this works out, this time, somehow. Apparently, she plans to continue for as long as she can survive without food. In the meanwhile, neither Jewish nor Muslim politicians, it seems, aren't close to doing their own folk any favors; bet that we'll still be seeing hate-speech from Jewish and Muslim politicians alike and more less-than-sincere collective action. Furthermore, Porat's research, in particular, has shown how political mobilization around genocide is becoming increasingly marginalized as Holocaust survivors age , and younger Jews begin to distance themselves from it. But this may already be having repercussions for some. In a UN conference on racism earlier this week, Rwandan genocide survivors who had been invited apparently received little deliberate attention. Reason was they were sandwiched within a Mid-East conflict, in which one self-proclaimed "humble" former mayor of Tehran, the dashing Mr. A, spent considerable time lamenting the Jewish state. The survivors, in comparison, couldn't stir up nearly as much enthusiasm in the midst of the deeply polarized audience, many of whom appeared to have rather ardently already taken a side. One moderate Muslim-American on the same panel who tried to voice nuanced views , alongside Rwandans, Iranians and others, received a startling response post-discussion, when, in a rather misplaced interaction, he was spat on afterwards by two Israelis. More on Gaza War
 
Auto-Tuning The News: Making Pirates, Drugs, And Gay Marriage More Intimate Through Song (VIDEO) Top
Michael and Andrew Gregory, brothers who have an affinity for R&B and news media, are back with their second installment of "Auto-Tune the News." In their first video Newt Gingrich, Robert Gates, and Joe Biden all got very public musical talking-tos. Now they've taken on Ruth Marcus, Kiran Chetry, Sean Hannity, and Katie Couric with a sultry song that makes you wonder how these big names can resist the Gregory boys (especially when dressed up as gorillas.) Here's a pretty good example of their lyrics. What the public figure actually said is in bold: RM: This was a pretty remarkable week on the gay marriage front First of all, to have a state like Iowa MG: Whatchoo tryna say about Iowa RM: Not the east coast state MG: East coast RM: Not the left coast state MG: Left coast RM: In a decision written by a republican appointee MG: Shawty, now you sounding so fine Give me your number, we can bump and grind Talkin about politics all night Leavin' the club in the mornin' light If we get carried away We might get gay-married today WATCH: (Via the Daily What) More on Funny Videos
 

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