Saturday, May 30, 2009

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David Henry Sterry: Angry Yankee Fans Urge A-Roid: Get Back on Steroids Top
Rabid NY Yankees fans, furious that Alex Rodriguez is batting a miniscule .177, are uniting to urge the beleaguered ballplayer to get back on steroids. "Let's face it," said Vinny "3 Balls" Boombatz from Bay Ridge, "all those warning track outs, those would be home runs if A-Rod would just do the right thing and get huge and juiced again." Contrary to reports in the media, fans are apparently more interested in winning than they are in having their heroes drug-free. "It ain't fair," said Rocco "Momo" Como from the Bronx, "the guy is making two-hundred squazillion smackeroos or whatever, and he doesn't care enough to do everything he can do to help the Bronx Bomber win? We don't want the .177 hitter with clean p*ss. We want the .320 hitter jacked up on female hormones or X-man chromostones or whatever." Although Rodriguez was never suspended or punished by Major League Baseball (despite the fact that they knew he was using performance enhancers), he was outted by a writer for Sports Illustrated. Having lied on national television about his drug use, he came clean about being unclean just before the season started, and has been anemic offensively ever since. Coincidence? Yankee fans don't know or care. They just want to win. "Look, when A-Rod sucks I hate his f-ing guts," said Carmine "the Mongoose" Saragusa, "When he's great I love him more than my wife and my girlfriend put together. Please, A-Rod, get back on the 'roids. Don't make me come and stick a needle in your *ss myself, that would not be in your best interest, trust me!" And the people have spoken.
 
Frances Moore Lappe: Americans Wouldn't Want To Be Like Them! (Oh, Yeah?) Top
The Republican national committee loves to call them socialist. Dick Cheney dubbed them part of, you know, the "Old Europe," suggesting they're locked in a useless past. In any case, they've nothing to teach, right? Wrong. In a world searching for answers to multiple assaults, it's probably not a bad idea to take off the blinders and look for what is actually working. I just spent two weeks in Germany and after I got accustomed to Hamburg's wide, well-groomed biking and running trails and rest stops on the autobahn that look like swank New York cafes - embarrassing my German friend by taking photos of the salad bar - I looked further. Crisscrossing the country in 10 stops, touring for my latest book Getting a Grip - in German, Packen Wir's An! (Let's go for it!) - I passed groves of tall wind turbines in every part of the country. Looking graceful and powerful, to my eyes, some stood just in front of old, sagging power lines. I drove by at least a few fields, called "solar parks," blanketed with photovoltaic panels. I rode my first solar-charged electric bike. Wind installations near Steyerberg I could now see, literally, why Germany has earned its place among world leaders in clean energy - with over 15 percent of its electricity now coming from renewable sources. This shift didn't happen spontaneously, of course, but by using a legislative tool creating a win-win-win: for citizens, for the earth, for the nation. It is Germany's " feed-in tariff " law, upgraded about a decade ago. And it's real simple - the law rewards any household, business or utility for becoming a renewable energy generator. It guarantees that you, the generator, can feed your power into the grid and that you'll be paid a price good enough to quickly recover your installation costs. And, that good price is assured for 20 years. The locked-in premium offered is reduced each year so the sooner you get started, the more you gain. Costs are spread across all rate payers and come to a few dollars a month. In Germany, I'm told, this one law has generated about 280,000 new jobs . (Proportionally, in the United States that would mean almost a million jobs.) It's such a simple and effective tool that it's already spread to over 64 countries, states, provinces and municipalities. My first day home, on NPR's " Living on Earth ," I learn that Gainesville, Florida, is a recent convert. There, households pay about 13 cents a kilowatt hour for electricity, but they can now earn 32 cents a kilowatt hour for generating electricity. Not bad. Apparently, about a quarter of U.S. utilities, those that are public or cooperative, would find it attractive and could adopt the approach just by deciding to do it without legislative action. But my most enduring impression of Germany was nothing I could see in whirling blades, generous bicycle paths, or mouthwatering food at highway rest stops. It was a feeling - less stress, less fear; more trust. The day I got home, the New York Times reported that German unemployment is significantly less than it was in 2006, even though I know Germany is hurting in the global crisis. German employers in a downturn can get help from the government to keep workers employed. Hmm. Isn't this approach a sensible complement to "unemployment" benefits that just pay jobless people to stay home or search for a new job? Germans aren't losing homes like we are because they didn't experience our housing boom or bust; and unemployment benefits there offer about two-thirds of previous pay, compared to less than half in the U.S.; and they last much longer. And, as with their "rewarding renewables" approach to clean energy, Germans are innovating their way around the broken money system, too. They've created virtually hundreds of complementary currency systems , roughly 30 of which serve whole regions by keeping money circulating in the region and promoting regional goods and services. The greater ease I felt among Germans might also reflect less stress of, and less fear of, poverty. The share of Germans who are poor -- living below 50 percent of the median income -- is not even half the share of Americans who are in the same situation . And in the U.S., the probability of dying before your 60th birthday is 35 percent higher than in Germany. One particular scene stays with me. I am waiting for a friend outside a beautifully appointed women's restroom in the lower level of the main Cologne train station. People walk briskly by through a long, wide corridor of shops. My eyes land on two little girls, maybe 5 and 7, talking and playing across from me. I watch for a few minutes, and then it dawns on me that there's no parent in sight. Their mom has left them here to wait for her. I realize that at home I'd probably never see this ordinary scene of public trust. No culture can expect to look to another for answers, wholesale. But wouldn't it be tragic if we let mindless labels and manipulated stereotypes block us from inspiration and practical ideas just because they arise elsewhere? After all, these positive glimpses are of a country that in the last 100 years has experienced two wars on its soil, Fascism, genocide, and, for a huge portion of its people, totalitarianism enduring 40 years. Germany has not only survived but is working in many important ways. It might have just a little something to offer the world. Children presented me with " The Peace Dove " while in Berlin. There are 30 traveling around the world as part of the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. More information may be found on Feed-in Tariffs in Powering the Green Economy: The Feed-in Tariff Handbook , Miguel Mendonca, 2009, Earthscan. More on Germany
 
Angelina Gets A New Tattoo (PHOTOS) Top
Angelina Jolie has a new tattoo, and no one else seems to have noticed. When Jolie walked the red carpet in Cannes in an asymmetrical backless dress with partner Brad Pitt, the crowds went crazy and photographers zoomed in for shots of the well-documented Khmer script on her left shoulder blade and the tiger on her lower back, two of her many well-documented tattoos. But perhaps her best known is the six lines on her left arm with the longitudes and latitudes of the birthplaces of each of her children. Those six lines, existing on skin where an almost-gone tattoo tribute to ex-husband Billy Bob Thornton used to dominate, are now partially framed by curving lines that form a right angle. Below are Getty and AP close ups of her arm first at this year's Oscars, for a before shot, and then in Cannes PHOTOS: More on Photo Galleries
 
Lloyd Garver: An Inventive Nation Top
If necessity is the mother of invention, a bad economy is invention's annoying, but motivating brother-in-law. During the Great Depression, all kinds of important things were invented including the electric shaver, penicillin, and Monopoly. The 30s also spawned the first laundromat, baby food, and nylon stockings. The car radio came out during the Depression, and so did photocopiers and radar. And let's not forget one of the greatest inventions of all time: the chocolate chip cookie, also a child of the Depression. Since so many people were out of work with plenty of time on their hands in the Depression, they could devote those non-working hours to dreaming of ways to make life better for others which they hoped would make a fortune for themselves. Today's economic conditions are similarly ripe to bear the (organic) fruit of people's imagination. Maybe we won't come up with anything as great as the first roll-on deodorant or the non-leaking ballpoint pen, but I predict historians will look back at the end of the first decade of the Twenty-First Century as a time of some very creative inventions. Apparently, a lot of people are trying to make that prediction come true. According to its Executive Director, Patrick Raymond, membership in the United Inventors Association has grown 20% in the last six months. Attendance at the Silicon Valley Inventors Alliance meetings has doubled lately. People all over the country are sitting at their kitchen tables or pacing about their backyards, trying to think of The Next Big Thing. Some of them have probably enlisted their kids in this effort. They're saying things to their children like, "Sit down and tell me what kids your age would want. We can change your diaper later." Similarly, when a spouse asks, "Why don't you look for a job?" it may be answered, "Are you crazy? I don't have the time. I have to think of a great invention before everybody else does." Thomas Edison had 1,093-patented inventions. How hard can it be to think of one? I'll prove it to you. Here are some things that I think would make great inventions, and I'm offering the ideas to you, free of charge. All you have to do is work out a few minor details: SEX Viag-bowow - is a sex drug and/or gadget that not only gets you in the mood, but also walks your dog while you're enjoying yourselves. COMMUNICATION Caller ID Switcherooni -- This device is for people who want to call their old boyfriend or girlfriend and then hang up once they hear his or her voice. (You know who you are). Nobody wants their old love to find out their identity by seeing their phone number on their Caller ID. No need to worry anymore. The Caller ID Switcherooni doesn't show your phone number; it shows the number of that good looking, but shallow, person who stole your love many years ago. And that's who gets questioned by the police for stalking. COMMUTING Wait No More -- An alarm clock that also automatically wakes up all the other people in your car pool so you won't have to wait for anybody. HEALTH The Food Predictor -- This looks like a meat thermometer. You stick it in your food, and it will tell you if the FDA is going to declare what you're about to eat unhealthy in the next five years. THE WORKPLACE Instant Porn -- A device for your computer when you're at work. So you won't get caught by your boss, it quickly changes your computer to a porn site from a job search site. AIRLINE TRAVEL Grand Canyon This -- enables you to talk to the pilot from your seat and tell him about what you're reading whenever you feel like interrupting his trip. DIET Mirrored Dessert Plates -- these plates show more of your chubby face as you eat, so you'll know when to stop. You see how easy it is to think of inventions? Now, you try. Oh, I almost forgot. I have an idea for an invention for use after the economy recovers and people go back to investing the same way they used to. I call it the Yes It Can Machine: every time you look at your stocks and are about to put even more money in the market, you'll hear a recording that says, "Yes, it can happen again." Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from "Sesame Street" to "Family Ties" to "Home Improvement" to "Frasier." He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. He can be reached at lloydgarver@gmail.com. Check out his website at lloydgarver.com and his podcasts on i Tune s.
 
Susan Boyle Final Performance VIDEO From "Britain's Got Talent" (VIDEO) Top
AP : LONDON — The lady has sung. But has she won? Susan Boyle faced the music for the final time Saturday, performing in the finals of the television show "Britain's Got Talent." But the 48-year-old amateur singer now must wait until 10 p.m. local time for the results of the public vote to be revealed. The winner earns a 100,000 pound ($159,000) prize and the chance to perform before Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Show. Boyle, wearing a sparkling, floor-length gown and performing with confidence, returned to the song that made her an internet sensation _ "I Dreamed A Dream" from "Les Miserables." She appeared more polished and animated than in previous performances, but uncomfortable during banter with the judges after her song. Boyle acknowledged she had felt the pressure in the weeks building up to her performance. "Win or lose, you had the guts to come back here tonight, face your critics _ and you beat them," judge Simon Cowell told Boyle. To win, the amateur singer must have outshone nine other competitors on live television Saturday in front of millions of viewers in Britain and a worldwide Internet audience. Boyle was up against a host of everyman acts determined to find stardom on reality television, including Shaheen Jafargholi, a 12-year-old whose voice has been compared to Michael Jackson's, Hollie Steel, a 10-year-old who turned in a solid performance after a tearful semifinal meltdown, and a grandfather-grandaughter singing duo. And then there was "Stavros Flatley," a father-son act who parodied "The Lord of the Dance" by romping around the stage shirtless, in blond wigs and leather pants, combining Greek dancing and Irish beats. They, too, received standing ovations from the judges _ and Amanda Holden confessed that 40-year-old Demetrios Demetriou and his 13-year-old son Lagi were her favorite act. "I want you to win," she said. "I love you." Cowell called their act "genius." But it was Boyle whom millions of people tuned in to watch. She became a favorite to win the competition after her first appearance in April. Her frumpy appearance drew condescending looks from the studio audience and the judges but her soaring, evocative voice silenced the doubters and turned her into an Internet sensation. The first moment Boyle sang was one that has been viewed millions of times, the fifth-most watched clip in history on YouTube. And it was a moment that went down in reality show history. During that performance, as Boyle hit a high note at the end of the song's first line, Cowell's eyebrows rose along with her voice. The audience went mad. And a star was born. She has since appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." Demi Moore tweeted about Boyle on her Twitter feed. She dominated Britain's tabloids _ but there were signs Boyle was feeling the heat. She lost her cool this week during a confrontation with two reporters, and the police intervened. One contest judge said she contemplated pulling out of the competition to soothe her frazzled nerves. British bookmaker William Hill offered 10-11 odds on her victory Saturday. The betting service had briefly lowered its odds on Boyle when the reports of erratic behavior seemed to show "there might be a chink in her armor," according to spokesman Rupert Adams. But he said William Hill "got absolutely hammered" with bets and quickly went back to predicting a Boyle victory. ___ On the Net: http://talent.itv.com/?ps More on Susan Boyle
 
Military Companies Vying For Billions Of Dollars In Cyberwarfare Defense Contracts Top
The government's urgent push into cyberwarfare has set off a rush among the biggest military companies for billions of dollars in new defense contracts.
 
Leno Has Record Friday Night Top
Jay Leno signed off "The Tonight Show" on a high note, delivering the best ratings of his 17-year run for a Friday night telecast. More on Jay Leno
 
Mara Reinstein: Jon and Kate: Why We Can't Stop Looking Top
Big mistake. That was my gut reaction six weeks ago when I heard that my Us Weekly powers-that-be had decided to put Jon and Kate Gosselin -- stars of the TLC reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8 -- on the cover. Seems Jon had recently enjoyed a rollicking late night out with a pretty female who was not his wife. We had reported it out for weeks, and it was time to break it. Insert eye roll here. Though I'm a senior writer at the magazine, that show was blissfully off my radar. Who cares about an unscripted program featuring an ordinary looking Pennyslvania-bred family with a bunch of kids? Unless the Real Housewives of New York were the ones planning play dates and Simon Cowell was critiquing them, I wasn't interested. TLC? Please. I wouldn't turn it on in a cheap hotel even if the only other channel available were the Golf Channel. And I was certain that our savvy young readers would feel the same way. Ok, maybe a few of my mom friends in the Midwest would devour the story, but that's it. Should have gone with the scary-skinny Lindsay Lohan cover. Definitely. Yet that issue not only pushed a million copies on the newsstand, it sparked a pop culture frenzy. Each day, Jon and Kate turn up as late-night punchlines and news headlines. The May 25 premiere pulled in nearly 10 million viewers. Those are Sopranos -in-its-heyday numbers; in other words, far more wide-reaching than the playground crowd. Meanwhile, Us Weekly has featured Jon and Kate's evolving problems on its cover for the past five consecutive weeks. The last drama to warrant such coverage: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston's split in January 2005. Just to be clear: Jon Gosselin is not gorgeous and dashing movie god and Kate Gosselin did not star on an iconic sitcom. A split isn't even on the table (yet). Yet they're our most popular celebrities -- and their saga seems to have legs of steel. How did this phenomenon come to be? Yes, there is impeccable timing involved. The story has flourished during a time when Angelina is not pregnant, Britney is not crazy and Jessica Simpson is not wearing high-wasted mom jeans. Had Us Weekly unearthed this scandal even three months ago -- when Octomom and Rihanna dominated the news -- this might have been a footnote. But probably not. For the Jon and Kate story has an appeal that's unlike any other in the celebrity lexicon. Until now, our big stars primarily existed in a world where blemishes get airbrushed and scandals get glossed over via sterile publicist statements. (Heck, even Tweets are just 140-characters long). Take Pitt and Jolie. As much as we love them, we don't really know them. Thanks to their orchestrated images, they come across as this madly-in-love couple who seem to have no problems traveling the world while raising six children. Surely Pitt has stresses, but there were no traces of it during a recent taped and breezy interview with Ann Curry on a yacht at the Cannes Film Festival. He wore an ascot, for pete's sake! It's a unattainable standard. For two years, the Gosselins' as-seen-on-TV life seemed equally manufactured. As my mom friends love to point out, Kate juggled eight kids and made it look effortless. Sure, she often berated Jon on camera -- but their fights were usually petty and manageable. And those kids! Adorable, happy and adored. As a result, there was a bland let's-hug-it-out sitcom feel to each episode. No more. It took an infidelity scandal, but the Gosselins are now finally and mercifully real. With no facade, Jon and Kate can come clean about the emotional toll of eight kids, diverging lifestyles and a broken union. Never was that feeling more apparent than during that season premiere when the estranged couple sat awkwardly on a cramped love seat and somberly admitted that the future of their relationship is unknown. Even by reality TV standards, it was pure uncensored access. And utterly compelling. Of course, some cynics may argue that their marriage meltdown is an example of schadenfreude at its best (worst?). After all, everybody likes to crane their necks at the proverbial car wreck -- and Jon and Kate's crash is particularly explosive. (Knee-deep in trouble, a freshly tanned Kate chose to go on a book tour and praise her maternal decisions while a miserable-looking Jon stayed home with the kids). Indeed, for longtime viewers, perhaps there is something exhilarating about seeing Kate get her karmic comeuppance. And for those captivated by the Suri Cruises and Kingston Rossdales of the world, there's a vested interest in hoping that the kids -- who never be asked to thrust into the limelight -- emerge unscathed. All of these storylines will undoubtedly unfold over the next (gulp) 39 episodes and countless more cover stories. All the while, Jon and Kate will remain more relatable and fascinating than any Hollywood start making $10 million a movie and spending every night on a red carpet. It's messy, screwed up and the stakes are tragically high. I'll be watching, and chances are good that I won't be rolling my eyes. More on Jon & Kate Plus 8
 
Frank Dwyer: Political Haiku: Roland Top
The song of Roland: Did I ever say I did not say I said that? ***** Senator Burris seeks Portuguese water dog; must be named Roly.
 
Southwest To Start Charging For Luggage Top
Southwest Airlines announced it would begin charging a fee for passengers who bring small pets onboard and for unaccompanied minors
 
Pope Benedict: I Was Surprised To Be Chosen As Pope Top
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI says he was surprised when he was elected pontiff, but accepted the role even though the challenge seemed greater than his strength. Benedict was asked by a curious child at a Vatican audience with thousands of children on Saturday if he ever thought he would grow up to be come pontiff. He replied that he found it difficult to understand why the Lord would have picked him, once an "ingenuous, small town boy," for the post. But, says Benedict: "I accepted it, even though it seemed to me to be something that went beyond my strength." He also reminisced about being an altar boy when he was 8 or 9, and how he and his friends were, as he put it, "no saints," and sometimes even had fights in the small village in Germany where he grew up. More on The Pope
 
Berlusconi Moves To Block Release Of Topless Photos Top
ROME — Italian media say Premier Silvio Berlusconi has moved to block publication of hundreds of photos, including images of young women either topless or wearing bikinis at one of his Sardinian villas. TV and newspaper reports say Berlusconi wrote recently to the Italian watchdog for privacy issues. Saturday's reports say some of the photos were taken during last New Year's vacation. Among those at the villa was a woman the heart of an alleged scandal. Berlusconi has denied anything "spicy" in his relationship with the 18-year-old. His wife, Veronica Lario, cited what she called her 72-year-old husband's flirtations with young women when she announced this month she wanted a divorce. The prime minister's lawyer was not immediately available for comment. More on Silvio Berlusconi
 
Gates: North Korea "A Harbinger Of A Dark Future" Top
SINGAPORE — North Korea's progress on nuclear weapons and long-range missiles is "a harbinger of a dark future" and has created an urgent need for more pressure on the reclusive communist government to change its ways, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday. He said the North's nuclear program does not "at this point" represent a direct military threat to the United States and he does not plan to build up American troops in the region. But the North's efforts pose the potential for an arms race in Asia that could spread beyond the region, he added. At an annual meeting of defense and security officials, the Pentagon chief said past efforts to cajole North Korea into scrapping its nuclear weapons program have only emboldened it. North Korea's yearslong use of scare tactics as a bargaining chip to secure aid and other concessions _ only to later renege on promises _ has worn thin the patience of five nations negotiating with the North, Gates said. "I think that everyone in the room is familiar with the tactics that the North Koreans use. They create a crisis and the rest of us pay a price to return to the status quo ante," he said in a question and answer session after his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue. "As the expression goes in the United States, `I am tired of buying the same horse twice.' I think this notion that we buy our way back to the status quo ante is an approach that I personally at least think we ought to think very hard about. There are perhaps other ways to try and get the North Koreans to change their approach," he said. The sharp statements were echoed by the South Korean defense minister and even China, North Korea's strongest ally. They reflect fears throughout the region that last week's nuclear and missile tests by North Korea could spiral out of control and lead to fighting. "President Obama has offered an open hand to tyrannies that unclench their fists. He is hopeful, but he is not naive," Gates said in his speech. "Likewise, the United States and our allies are open to dialogue, but we will not bend to pressure or provocation. And on this count, North Korea's latest reply to our overtures is not exactly something we would characterize as helpful or constructive. We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in Asia _ or on us. At the end of the day, the choice to continue as a destitute, international pariah is North Korea's alone to make. The world is waiting." The North said it would no longer honor a 1953 armistice truce with South Korea after Seoul joined a 90-plus nation security alliance that seeks to curb nuclear trafficking on the seas. Additionally, the U.N. Security Council is drafting financial and military penalties against North Korea as punishment for the weapons testing. Similar penalties approved after the North's 2006 atomic test have been only sporadically enforced, and largely ignored by China and Russia. "I think that the combination of their progress in developing nuclear technology, and their progress in developing multistage long-range missiles, is a harbinger of a dark future," Gates said. "What is now central to multilateral efforts ... is to try to peacefully stop those programs before they do in fact become a `clear and present danger,' as the expression goes." Gates also warned North Korea against secretly selling its weapons technology to other outlaw nations. Later, at what officials called the first-ever meeting among defense chiefs from the U.S., Japan and South Korea, Gates asked his counterparts to begin considering other steps against the North should it continue to escalate is nuclear program. The military leaders did not discuss specific potential actions, but U.S. officials who attended the half-hour meeting said any steps would be taken in self-defense. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said the talks "could not have come at a better time." "North Korea perhaps to this point may have mistakenly believed that it could be perhaps rewarded for its wrong behaviors," Lee told reporters. "But that is no longer the case." Earlier Saturday, Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, the second-in-command of the General Staff of China's military, told the security forum that Beijing "has expressed a firm opposition and grave concern about the nuclear test." The Obama administration said it planned to send a delegation on Sunday to Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing and possibly Moscow over the next week to discuss how to respond to North Korea. "The reality is that given the objectives of the six-party talks that were established some years ago, it would be hard to point to them at this point as an example of success," Gates said in response to a question after his speech. Those countries _ the U.S., South Korea, China, Russia and Japan _ "need to think freshly about where we go from here." ___ On the Net: Shangri-La Dialogue: http://www.iiss.org/conferences/the-shangri-la-dialogue/ More on North Korea
 
Huff Radio: Left, Right & Center: Sotomayor, North Korea and GM Top
Is Sonia Sotomayor a judicial activist? A racist? Is empathy a good or bad thing in a judge? Arianna wonders what the GOP thinks it's doing by attacking her, but Tony says conservatives have legitimate reasons to object to her based on their own philosophies of jurisprudence -- a slight chortle here about Rush Limbaugh's motives.... Matt wants to know what the role of the court is: to lead or follow society's direction? North Korea's nuclear activity is an unwelcome challenge but Tony says only China has the kind of influence to get them to scale back -- and they've chose not to pull those strings. What's in GM's future? Will the free market or government influence the kinds of cars they should be producing? And, can Obama succeed in reforming health care? More on Sonia Sotomayor
 
Politicians And Their Alleged Affairs: A Slideshow Top
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has found himself under public scrutiny for his alleged affair with 18-year-old model Noemi Letizia. However, he's hardly the first politician to conduct extra business on the side. Here's a collection of other elected officials and their infamous extramarital affairs that once attracted the media's attention. More on Photo Galleries
 
Obama Admin Refuses To Release Secret Documents In Wiretapping Case Top
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration insists it has no obligation to provide access to a top secret document in a wiretapping case, setting up a showdown next week with the judge who ordered it released. Justice Department lawyers, in a response Friday with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, also argued that Judge Vaughn Walker had no cause to penalize the government over its refusal to turn over the document. Walker on May 22 threatened to punish the administration for withholding the document, which he ordered given to lawyers suing the government over its warrantless wiretapping program. The judge has ordered department lawyers to appear before his court Wednesday to make the case why he should not award damages to the now-defunct Oregon chapter of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. That group is challenging the wiretapping program. In its response, the department said that in this case "disclosure of classified information _ even under protective order _ would create intolerable risks to national security." The filing said President Barack Obama has authorized access to classified information on a "need-to-know" basis and argued that the government "cannot be sanctioned for its determination that plaintiffs do not have a need to know classified information." The Al-Haramain case has been a focal point for civil liberties groups questioning the legality of the warrantless wiretapping program, and has become one of several instances where the current administration has taken its cue from the Bush administration in citing national security as justification for keeping secrets. Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a review of all state secrets used by the Bush administration to protect anti-terrorism programs from lawsuits. But the Obama administration is also fighting the court-ordered release of prisoner-abuse photos and is reviving, in a revised form, military tribunals where suspected terrorists have limited access to information. The Bush administration inadvertently turned over the top secret document to Al-Haramain lawyers, who claimed it proved illegal wiretapping by the National Security Agency. The document was returned to the government, and the lawyers have argued they need the document back to prove their case. The Treasury Department in 2004 designated the charity as an organization that supports terrorism. More on Barack Obama
 
Dr. M.J. Wegmann: Is Your Food Genetically Modified (GM)? How To Tell Top
As reported by Maria Gallagher, in the June 26, 2002 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer , by reading the PLU code, you can tell if the fruit was genetically modified, organically grown or produced with chemical fertilizers, fungicides, or herbicides. Here's what to look for. Look for the labels (stickers) stuck on your fruits and veggies: A four-digit number means it's conventionally grown. A five-digit number beginning with 9 means it's organic. A five-digit number beginning with 8 means it's GM. The numeric system was developed by the Produce Electronic Identification Board, an affiliate of the Produce Marketing Association, a Newark, Delaware-based trade group for the produce industry. As of October 2001, the board had assigned more than 1,200 PLUs for individual produce items. Genetically modified (GM) foods are food items that have had their DNA changed through genetic engineering. What this does is create food that is better suited to withstand environmental forces such as drought and bugs. In the US, by 2006 89% of the planted area of soybeans, 83% of cotton, and 61% maize were genetically modified varieties.[1] GM foods were first put on the market in the early 1990s. The first commercially grown genetically modified whole food crop was a tomato (called FlavrSavr), which was modified to ripen more slowly by Californian company Calgene.[2] The most common modified foods are derived from plants: soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil. Here is how some of these foods become GM. Let's take soybeans for example, my father-in-law is a large scale farmer in Iowa. The corn and beans he purchases have been soaked in RoundUp. RoundUp is a commercial weed killer. When the weeds grow they spray the entire field with RoundUp and the crops are resistant to the weed killer, and only the weeds die. The farmers know this is a problem, but here's the catch, they can only purchase RoundUp ready seeds. The issue with GM food lies with a problem called Gene Transfer. This happens when genetic material from the crop can be found in the human. Currently there are only a few dozen peer reviewed studies completed on the health effects of genetically modified foods. The results of many of these studies strongly challenges the industry and government standard of substantial equivalence. As of January 2009 there has only been one human feeding study conducted on genetically modified foods. The study involved seven human volunteers who had their small intestines removed. These volunteers were to eat GM Soy to see if the DNA of the GM soy transferred to the human gut bacteria.[3] Researchers identified that three of the seven volunteers had transgenes from GM soy transferred into their gut bacteria. "This transgene was stable inside the bacteria and appeared to produce herbicide-tolerant protein... In the only human feeding study ever conducted on GM crops, long standing assumptions that genes would not transfer to human gut bacteria were overturned. It's a catch 22, clearly millions of people around the world would die if we didn't produce food on a large scale, but the side-effects are still largely unknown. I choose to avoid GM food as much as possible. The fact is if you live in America, the chances of you consuming GM is great. [1] Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops in the U.S. USDA ERS July 14, 2006 [2] Martineau, Belinda (2001). First Fruit: The Creation of the Flavr Savr Tomato and the Birth of Biotech Foods. McGraw-Hill. pp. 269. ISBN 978-0071360562. [3] Netherwood et al., "Assessing the survival of transgenic planic plant DNA in the human gastrointestinal tract," Nature Biotechnology 22 (2004):2. More on Health
 
Rev. Jesse Jackson: First, Stop the Hemorrhaging Top
Cowritten with Leonard Greenhalgh Chrysler has been forced into bankruptcy and GM is next in line. At the same time, many banks recently failed the "stress test" and, after already receiving tens of billions in bailout funds, will require billions of dollars in additional capital to remain solvent. We are stimulating banks, top-down; but eliminating auto and manufacturing industries, bottom-up. Each week, new shock waves are being sent through our economic system: Chrysler announced it will shutter 25 percent, or nearly 800 of its dealerships. Some 1100 GM dealers got pink slip letters. That amounts to, as reported in the NY Times , almost 200,000 jobs, more than are employed directly in the U.S. by GM and Chrysler today. The economic stimulus must stop the hemorrhaging as priority #1: workers are losing their jobs at a rate of 600,000 a month, as "official" unemployment approaches 10%. 2 million families are losing their homes to foreclosures each year. The shut down of industries like auto and steel and related small businesses will exacerbate the crisis. Clearly, the hemorrhaging is outpacing the stimulus. Liken our economic crisis to a car crash: when the patients -- workers and small businesses -- come to the emergency room, the first order of business is to see if the aorta was cut, and stop the bleeding. Working families and the poor need emergency treatment now and should not be left in the waiting room. Providing a transfusion -- i.e., the stimulus -- may not be enough if we first don't stop further hemorrhaging. Whole towns and cities are built around these industries and are now in jeopardy. We need a new, comprehensive reindustrial strategy, a bailout plan that is connected directly to reinvesting in and reindustrializing America . The bailout of industries must be linked to reinvesting in America, retention and creation of jobs. We cannot bail out industries, and then have them take the manufacturing and jobs abroad, and leave only the brand at home. Worker and trade policy must be a central part of a new, industrial reconstruction program. GM got $15.4 billion on loans from taxpayers, with billions more to come. Yet, GM plans to move double the amount of jobs and manufacturing abroad. We didn't bail out GM so it could profit from moving more jobs to low wage markets abroad. If we force workers to renegotiate labor agreements, we must also renegotiate trade agreements. There is a tremendous imbalance in the formula. We've globalized capital, without globalized rules, without globalizing worker's rights, environmental rights, women and children's rights. For too long, the US has let multinational companies and banks define our trade policies. So now we import $41.5 billion in cars and light trucks from Japan. But we sell just $534 million in Japan. South Korea sells $7.5 billion in cars and trucks in the US., but the US exports only $373 million worth of cars to those two countries. They sell 700,000 cars in the U.S., we sell just 5000 US cars in Korea. We want and demand two-way trade, not one-way trade. We want and demand trade that is not just free, but fair, reciprocal and of mutual benefit. We want economic competition where all nations compete on a level, even playing field. We need more than stimulation for the banks, and elimination for the auto and manufacturing industries. We need a comprehensive industrial policy which projects a plan to stop the hemorrhage; a plan for a new economy for the future. Wouldn't it make sense for the economic stimulus plan to prioritize retention of existing jobs and avoid losing the jobs NOW , while working to create new "green jobs for the future? Recent studies are alarming: automotive-related industries account for 7.2 million U.S. jobs, 3.5 million in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Alabama, Texas and the 11 mid-western and southern states along the bus tour route. Five thousand auto supplier companies and automobile dealers are at risk; over half of the 631 minority supplier companies may be put out of business. GM has to cut its 6,500 dealerships down to 3,200; Chrysler from 3,200 to 2,000 -- with each dealership employing an average of 60 workers; Minority dealer reduction at GM is projected to be 60% out of 300 and at Chrysler 80% out of 150. It is projected that over 137,000 direct jobs will be lost as a result of this downsizing and projected another 200-300,000 affected indirectly. And more economic loss is imminent and instantaneous. Consider this: at 12:15PM, Chrysler's bankruptcy was announced; by 3PM Chrysler had closed retail loans, floor plans, and access to working capital. Dealers and suppliers are being left to die: the Treasury Department has removed life support from the businesses that remain breathing. As we confront the global economic crisis, it's time to challenge short-sighted economic "global sourcing" strategies that have decimated our manufacturing base and sent millions of Americans who had well-paying, middle class jobs, to the unemployment lines. It's time for fresh thinking and a new industrial policy to emerge from the ashes of the current economic crisis. Every other country is devising policy based on their national interest: we must do the same. What must be done? First, the U.S. cannot continue to export jobs, capital and our entire manufacturing industry. Already, two thirds of the value of a modern vehicle is outsourced and manufactured overseas -- utilizing cheap labor in foreign countries, and undercutting U.S. workers at home. That trend must be reversed. We should learn from Germany and France, who will permit the sale as long as the manufacturing industry clusters remain intact -- in Germany and France. Secondly, the economic recovery should prioritize job retention -- saving the jobs workers have NOW , along with creating new green jobs for the future. Third, since the crisis is having a disproportionate impact on minority communities and businesses, they require "targeted" support and resources in order to survive the next era. We have to reverse the trend of "last in and first out." Time is of the essence, and that's why Rainbow PUSH joined with Mayor Bernero of Lansing, MI, unions, religious leaders and others for a mass march and rally on June 1 to Reinvest in America and Save the American Dream. That's why auto and steel workers, employees from plastics and rubber factories, along with local auto dealers, community employers, and elected leaders led in a 11 state, 34 city "Keep it Made in America" bus tour next week. Auto and steel workers are right to protest national policy that says, "Banks are too big too fail, but auto workers and manufacturing industries are too small to matter." It's time to march. It's time to rally. It's time to bring on the street heat to raise the voices from Main Street and be heard on Wall Street. The hopes of the nation rest on the success of the administration's economic recovery plan. We need a new national industrial strategy. In industry after industry, we're losing national competitive advantage to overseas competitors. It's time to stem the outflow of jobs, economic opportunities, and whole industries, and think strategically about our futures. We need to save the auto industry and our manufacturing base. We need to save jobs for American workers. And we need to save small businesses, save our cities and states so linked to their survival. It's worth the investment. Reverend Jesse L. Jackson is one of the world's foremost human rights leaders, and is founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Leonard Greenhalgh, PhD, is Professor of Management, Director, Programs for Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth More on Auto Bailout
 
Sophia A. Nelson: "Slammin & Rammin Sotomayor" vs. "Sotomayor the Racist"--What is the GOP Thinking? Top
Talk about being in a state of confusion--man the GOP sinks lower into the political abyss everyday. Chairman Michael Steele has been very consistent that the GOP would be "careful" in its handling of Judge Sotomayor while at the same time carefully scrutinizing her record. Ok, I have no problem with that. Just yesterday, however, Steele was quoted as saying, there will be no "slammin and rammin" of Judge Sotomayor . in reference to the tough and racially charged language that has been thrown around about Sotomayor since her nomination was announced on Tuesday. eeeh hem (cough cough) what Michael? Come on you hold a juris doctorate degree can't you elevate the speech just a bit when referring to the likely next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court--"slammin and rammin" it sounds like the title of a late night HBO "adult" movie that parents watch after their children have gone to sleep. "Slammin and rammin" it will be years before I forget that one. Turn to the party's other side (read dark side), however, and what I have heard from former Speaker Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, conservative radio hosts and others has left me speechless. One controversial conservative radio talk show host from California compared the Latino organization "La Raza" (Judge Sotomayor is a member) to "the KKK without hoods". The word "racist" or "reverse racist" has been used so many times to describe Judge Sotomayor that I have lost count. Senators Hatch, Cornyn and Sessions have all been far more restrained and have condemned such language or descriptions of Sotomayor as a "racist" as "inappropriate and wrong" but it may be too little too late folks. I am presently at a conference in Florida where I am with 600 professional women of color, all of who attended the nation's finest schools, earn in excess of six figures, run or work at America's most successful small &large companies, and who pay attention to politics. The feedback I have gotten as one of the few republicans in attendance (we did a panel yesterday titled "The Obama Effect" which was moderated by CNN's Soledad O'Brien) has been very thoughtful actually. Person after person has pulled me aside and thanked me for being a "thoughful Kemp/Powell" republican and asked me what can they do to try and help move the GOP back to its former more reasonable self. There is genuine concern among even a 90% pro-Obama audience that the GOP is endangering our viable two party system of governance with its inflammatory and angry rhetoric surrounding race. Even Congressswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI) who was on the panel with me said she believes America needs a "viable two party-system" in place. I agree. The problem is that you cannot build a national party or real coalitions with anger and division. What does it benefit the GOP to attack Judge Sotomayor as a "racist" and to pick apart her statement on how her gender and race shape her views when Justice Alito said damned near the same thing in his confirmation hearings when he made reference to his Italian immigrant ancestry and how it shapes his view. My concern is that the so-called fringe of the GOP is destroying what is left of the Republican Party's credbility on issues of inclusion, civility, and fairness. And Chairman Steele continues to choose his words poorly when he speaks on just about anything. The loud angry voices of Limbaugh and others are drowning out the more common-sense, reasonable and often bi-partisan voices in the party (which includes many conservatives by the way). In the final analysis--the GOP cannot score political points by "ramming" Sotomayor. It has a far better platform against this President and this Congress by sticking with National Security and Economic issues versus so-called "cultural issues". This is where the President and Congress will have their most difficult challanges and this is an area where historically the GOP has been able to win over public opinion. Time will tell which side of the GOP coin will win out--but for now, once again the GOP is in a slammin mess over the issue of race. More on GOP
 
Joseph A. Palermo: Judge Sonia Sotomayor's Nomination: Obama Gives the Nation Another Teaching Moment Top
President Barack Obama has done a symbolically extraordinary thing by nominating for the first time in U.S. history a person of Latino descent to the Supreme Court. The president has stayed true to the theme of his long campaign when he adopted "Si Se Puede" from the legendary Latina leader, Dolores Huerta. Right-wing talk show hosts have been bludgeoning Judge Sonia Sotomayor, (first appointed to the federal bench by a Republican president), as if she were a kingpin in a Mexican drug cartel. This toxic soil has been well fertilized by the anti-immigrant rants of CNN's Lou Dobbs, by the high-profile "border patrol" work of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and by the paramilitary activities of the "Minutemen." Add to this context the unwarranted venom of the hate-radio crowd and we can see that President Obama, like his Philadelphia speech on race during the 2008 campaign, has given the nation yet another teaching moment. Glen Beck calls Judge Sotomayor "Hispanic chick lady"; G. Gordon Liddy says she speaks a language called "Illegal Alien"; Newt Gingrich and Tom Tancredo label her a "racist," (Tancredo even called La Raza a "Latino KKK"); Karl Rove calls her "not distinguished," "emotional," and claims Sotomayor is "combative, opinionated, argumentative"; Rush Limbaugh compares her to the Ku Klux Klansman David Duke and calls her every other coded and not-so-coded anti-Latino slur in the book. Others have piled on calling her a "bigot" and a "radical" and an "activist" and a "socialist" and a "Marxist" and an "anti-constitutionalist" and an "affirmative action" nominee. They say "empathy" is a "liberal code word" for an "activist judge." They call her "not too bright" and "an angry woman." Mark Krikorian of the National Review even took issue with the pronunciation of her name, writing, "it sticks in my craw." Politico's Mike Allen and Jonathan Martin reported that Sotomayor was "a Latina single mother" despite the fact she has no children. Sean Hannity said that President Obama has "turned his back on Mainstream America" by nominating "the most divisive nominee possible." And so on, and on, and on. One thing is clear: President Obama's choice of a Latina woman has sparked the ugliest reaction from the Republican Right we've seen years. These right-wing white men who are right now unleashing their inner racists all over the public airwaves are happy to see a 54-year-old Latina woman changing the sheets of their beds in their luxury hotel suites, or cleaning the bathrooms of their offices at night inside their high-rises, or washing the dishes in the kitchens of the fancy restaurants they frequent, but a Latina woman on the Supreme Court -- the first ever -- has really gotten under their alabaster skins. I can't help but think of Stephen Colbert, who says he "doesn't see race," when I hear these multimillionaire white men screaming "racism" at Sonia Sotomayor. Is this a joke? Is this satire? Lost in the din is Sotomayor's own compelling Horatio Alger story. Her accomplishments rising from a disadvantaged background are every bit as impressive as Clarence Thomas's or Alberto Gonzalez's. When he testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee Attorney General Gonzalez, trying to save his job, fell back on his compelling life story: immigrant parents who knew the virtues of backbreaking agricultural labor. But what we've learned with the whole Sotomayor saga is that the only "compelling" personal stories of public officials that matter are those who belong to conservative Republicans -- liberal Democrats need not apply -- they're all just "affirmative action" cases. What President Obama has exposed with his choice of Judge Sotomayor is the seamy underbelly of latent American racism and misogyny. These hate-filled white men are on TV whining about Sotomayor's "racism." The whole sordid set of talking points the Right is pushing in hope of derailing her confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice shows that no matter what Sotomayor's accomplishments -- second in her class at Princeton, editor of the Yale Law Review, a decade as a federal judge -- the Right judges her solely on her race and on her gender. Obama, once again, has forced America to look at its ugly side and the predictably vicious response of the Right has driven home the message with its astonishing hatred. There was a time when George W. Bush pandered to Latino voters on the campaign trail by mouthing a few sentences in Spanish. Well, no amount of pandering to Latinos is ever going to help the Republicans win another election if they insist on keeping this deeply offensive burlesque going against Judge Sotomayor. More on Sonia Sotomayor
 
Stanley Dunham's WWII Experience: AP Portrait Top
WASHINGTON — Surely, Stanley Dunham was gazing skyward 65 years ago, on D-Day. Dunham, the man whom Barack Obama would one day call Gramps, was a 26-year-old supply sergeant stationed near the English Channel with the U.S. Army Air Forces when the invasion of Normandy at last began. Six weeks later, he crossed the Channel, too, and followed the Allied front across France. A year later, he was on track to fight in Japan when the atom bomb sent him home instead. Dunham, who died 17 years ago, was the Kansas-born grandfather with the outsized personality who helped to fill the hole in the future president's life created by the absence of Obama's Kenyan father. Sgt. Dunham's war years have been something of a mystery, the details of dates and places lost with the passage of time. The units that he served in were unknown even to the White House. But a life-size portrait emerges from interviews and records unearthed by The Associated Press. On D-Day, documents place him at Stoney Cross, England, in the 1830th Ordnance Supply and Maintenance Co., Aviation. "This was the day we had all been waiting for," Dunham's commanding officer wrote the night of June 6 from their base near the English Channel. "Planes by the hundreds took off and landed at our field from dusk until dawn." His company supported the 9th Air Force as it prepared for the assault on Normandy and took part in the drive that carried the Allies across France. Dunham and the men of the 1830th came across six weeks after the initial Normandy invasion and followed the front through France, servicing airfields known by numbers _ A-2, A-44, A-71, and more _ in places such as Brucheville, Cricqueville, St.-Jean-de-Daye, Peray, Clastres, Juvincourt and Saint-Dizier. On this coming Saturday, the 65th anniversary of D-Day, Obama will visit the gravesites and beaches of Normandy, and look out across the channel that his grandfather crossed from a staging area at Southampton, England. "I knew him when he was older," Obama said of his grandfather in 2007. "But I think about him now and then as he enlisted _ a man of 23, fresh-faced with a wise-guy grin." To the 75 men of Dunham's company, he was a good guy to have around. For one thing, he taught the men how to use their new gas masks. He also came up with a radio, games and books for a day room that Dunham's commanding officer described as "a swell place to spend an evening." And when the 1830th had a party in the gym three days after D-Day, they had Dunham to thank for it. On May 31, 1944, payday, Dunham had taken up a collection of 35 British pounds _ about $150 in today's dollars _ to finance the event. He lined up a convoy of girls from Southampton who, the men hoped, would be "simply smashing," as his commanding officer, Frederick Maloof, wrote in his diary. "The party was a huge success, except that the beer ran out about 10:30 p.m.," 1st Lt. Maloof later reported. "All agreed that the orchestra was good. A few of the die-hards were still crooning over the empty beer barrels at an early morning hour." For all the good times, the strains of war were ever present for Dunham and his fellow soldiers. On the evening after D-Day, Dunham's unit dug 27 foxholes. "This was done in case of a retaliation by the Germans," Maloof wrote. On June 11, the first hospital ships returned from France, bringing tales of the "hardships encountered on invasion day." That same day, Maloof wrote that "our mail has not been reaching home, and the wives and sweethearts are beginning to wonder if we have gone across the channel on the first wave." The wives included Madelyn Dunham, back home in Wichita, Kan., with Stanley Ann, a toddler who would grow up to be Obama's mother. Madelyn, the beloved grandmother known as "Toot" who helped raise the future president, did her part for the war effort, working the night shift as a supervisor on the B-29 bomber assembly line at the Boeing plant. Her brother is part of the war story, too. Charles Payne, Obama's great-uncle, in 1945 helped liberate a sub-camp of the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, which Obama will visit this Friday. Stanley Dunham's older brother Ralph, another great-uncle to Obama, also is a branch in the wartime family tree. Ralph was called up after Stanley enlisted. He landed at Normandy's Omaha Easy Red beach on D-Day plus four, then worked his way through France, Italy and Germany as an assignment and personnel officer. In the months before the invasion, the brothers met up twice in England while on leave. Once, they came across each other by happenstance in London, where Ralph was staying at the Russell Hotel. "I walked down the steps and there was my brother sitting on a settee," 92-year-old Ralph Dunham said in interview with the AP. It turned out that Stanley's hotel had run out of rations and he was sent to the Russell in search of food. The two Kansas boys _ each 6-foot-2, by Ralph's recollection _ spent the rest of their leave together, touring the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and other sites with a helpful taxi driver. At night, they sampled the London theater offerings. Ralph remembers they saw "Hamlet." The brothers had a double portrait snapped to send home _ after Stanley borrowed a jacket from a fellow member of the 9th Air Force so they'd both be in uniform. The February 1944 portrait is one that Ralph still treasures. Late in July, six weeks after D-Day, Stanley Dunham's unit crossed the English Channel and landed at Omaha Beach. "After looking over the Atlantic wall, with its pill boxes, we all agreed it was a miracle that the Allies were able to land," Maloof wrote. In his autobiography, Obama reports that during the war his grandfather was "sloshing around in the mud of France, part of Patton's Army." That's right, at least for a few months. In February 1945, at Saint-Dizier, Dunham's unit was assigned to Patton's 3rd Army, and Dunham remained in that company until early April. Prior to February, Dunham's unit had supported 1st Army operations. Obama sketches Dunham as a man with a wild streak early on who settled down to sell furniture and life insurance. By the time he joined the Army, he already had lived large. He'd been thrown out of his high school in El Dorado, Kan., for punching the principal in the nose. For three years he'd lived off odd jobs, "hopping rail cars to Chicago, then California, then back again, dabbling in moonshine, cards and women," Obama wrote in his autobiography, "Dreams from My Father." Dunham had also fallen in love with a woman from the other side of the tracks _ the good side _ and married her. He eloped with Madelyn Payne just before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941, and he was quick to enlist after the Japanese attack. "He was really gung-ho," remembers Ralph. "He didn't have to go because he was married. He could have held off." He was inducted at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., on Jan. 15, 1942. That November, while Dunham still was stationed stateside, he got leave to come home to Kansas when his daughter, Stanley Ann, was born at Fort Leavenworth. Her unusual name, Obama wrote, was "one of Gramps' less judicious ideas _ he had wanted a son." The family called her Stannie. Later, she would be known as Ann. In December 1942, weeks-old Stanley Ann makes her appearance as a dependent on Dunham's pay records. (He's earning $22 a month, with $6.70 deducted for life insurance.) Dunham spent the first year and a half of his war service stateside, part of it in the 1802nd Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company, Aviation, at Baer Field in Indiana, now Fort Wayne International Airport. He transferred to the 1830th in March 1943, and the unit shipped out to England on the HMS Mauretania that October. "All officers and enlisted men alike tumbled out of bunks and hammocks to get the last view of the good old U.S.A. as it disappeared beyond the horizon," Maloof wrote. The rhythms of life for Dunham and the men of the 1830th emerge in the weekly unit histories recorded by Maloof. Men transfer in and out. There is field training. There is a lecture on mines and booby-traps, another on "sex morality." Typhus shots are administered. The company drills on the use of the carbine. The men take a 3-mile hike and bivouacked overnight. Time and again, they move on from one airfield to the next, supporting the front lines. A number of men go AWOL. Others are charged with drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Dunham's name turns up with surprising frequency, but his conduct generates nothing but praise. "Sgt. Dunham has been doing a good job as Special Service noncom," Maloof takes time to report in September 1944. At Clastres in France, stoves are issued to each tent "as the weather at this base has been very cold." French classes are offered. At Juvincourt, it is worthy of note when a small shower is installed, heated by a boiler found in the ruins of an old building. "It is the best bathing facilities we have had since coming to France," the unit history states. In October 1944, as the front presses forward, the men attend a compulsory lecture in the 367th Fighter Group area on "What to Expect When Stationed in Germany." It turns out Dunham could have skipped that one. On April 7, 1945, one week before the 1830th moves on to Germany and three weeks before Hitler commits suicide, Dunham is transferred "to the infantry," the unit history shows. Further digging reveals he was assigned to the 12th Reinforcement Depot, based in Tidworth, England, where replacements were being trained for depleted combat units. The war was winding down in Europe by then, with air superiority achieved and the Luftwaffe not a major threat. Ralph Dunham says his brother was sent back to the states to prepare for possible transfer to Japan in the infantry. Were it not for V-J Day in August 1945, "he would've been fighting in Japan," says Ralph. Stanley Dunham's military personnel file was destroyed, along with millions of others, in a 1973 fire at the Military Personnel Records center in St. Louis. The AP pieced together Dunham's war years from other records at the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama and the St. Louis center, and with help from historian David Spires at the University of Colorado. The richest details, however, come from Ralph Dunham and the private papers of Maloof, who died in 2005. Maloof's granddaughter, Tamara Maloof Ryman in Houston, searched through page after page to pry out details about Dunham for the AP. Four months after he transferred out of the 1830th, Stanley Dunham was discharged from the Army on Aug. 30, 1945, at Fort Leavenworth. Obama tells the rest of the story in his autobiography. "Gramps returned from the war never having seen real combat, and the family headed to California, where he enrolled at Berkeley under the GI Bill," Obama wrote. "But the classroom couldn't contain his ambitions, his restlessness, and so the family moved again, first back to Kansas, then through a series of small Texas towns, then finally to Seattle, where they stayed long enough for my mother to finish high school." Wanderlust sent the family on to Hawaii, where Dunham and his wife would be central figures in the life of their grandson after Obama's father left the family. Madelyn died last year at age 86, two days before Obama was elected president. Stanley, who called his grandson "Bar," died in 1992 at age 73. His ashes are inurned at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, commonly known as Punchbowl. "It was a small ceremony with a few of his bridge and golf partners in attendance, a three-gun salute, and a bugle playing taps," Obama wrote. That ceremony was 17 years ago. But Ralph Dunham is reminded of his brother every time Obama's face appears on TV or in the paper. "You know," Ralph says, "he looks exactly like Stanley. He looks exactly like my brother, only he's dark." ___ Associated Press writer Betsy Taylor in St. Louis and investigative researcher Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report.
 
Lovelorn Iraqi Men Take Out Their Frustration With Homemade Bombs Top
It goes like this: Boy meets girl. They exchange glances and text messages, the limit of respectable courting here. Then boy asks girl's father for her hand. Dad turns him down. Boy goes to girl's house and plants a bomb out front. More on Iraq
 
Cheryl Saban: Profiting From a Non-Profit Top
The associated press reported recently that several employees of a national non-profit that helps victims of child sexual abuse had pilfered more than $50,000 from the organization. Obviously this news is sad and disturbing, but what's worse is that it's not the first time we've heard that unscrupulous individuals committed fraud, and took advantage of the altruism of others. A Google search turns up dozens of pages of similar abuses. Unfortunately, before such crimes are noticed, the amount stolen is often much more. This latest revelation of the theft of non-profit funds is a reminder that independent supervision and oversight is vital. It's also a wake-up call to individuals who donate to charitable organizations. It's not always easy to give money away -- it requires due-diligence and follow-through, and a personal effort to determine whether those non-profits have the proper checks and balances in place to ensure that the funds actually go to the population of individuals who were meant to benefit from the donations in the first place. Hopefully, we all learn from these difficult, costly experiences. Going forward, it appears that non-profit organizations will need to be even more savvy in their efforts to protect themselves and you, their donors, from fraudulent practices and employee theft. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners has suggestions on their website. www.acfe.com . More on The Giving Life
 

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