Saturday, May 9, 2009

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White House Correspondents' Dinner: Alicia Keys Interviewed By CNN (VIDEO) Top
The stars were out tonight in D.C. to attend the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner. CNN caught up with Alicia Keys and she said that even though she's been invited before, this is the first time she's attending. Watch CNN ask Ashton Kutcher about their Twitter feud as he arrives. WATCH More on Video
 
Cheryl Saban: A Mother's Day Gift of Private Time Top
When my son was little, he occasionally had trouble falling asleep - he had night terrors that caused him to be fearful. Often to calm him, I nestled beside him in his bed and rubbed his back until he dosed off. I began to talk him through a guided meditation that I used on myself, and which in time he came to call "The Relax." He enjoyed this so much that even after he grew out of his terrors he continued to ask for it. I'm offering this shortened version of The Relax to mothers everywhere - and even if you don't have the private time it takes to enjoy this on your own, you'll find that it relaxes you even when you share it with someone else. Enjoy. Find a comfortable position - laying down, or if you prefer, sitting in a comfortable chair, with both fee on the floor, hands resting on your legs, or at your side. Close your eyes. Breathe in and out, in a rhythmic fashion and after a few breaths, focus your attention to the top of your head. As you continue to take deep breaths in and out, raise your eyebrows, and relax them. Then squeeze your eyes tightly, and relax them. Open your mouth as wide as you can, then relax it. Exert all the muscles in your face, then relax, and then move down to your neck and shoulders. Breathe in - contract the muscles in these areas and then as you breathe out, relax them. Tense your right arm and right hand, then relax it - tense your left arm and hand, then relax it. Breathing slowly and deeply, in and out, work your way down your body, tensing and relaxing your large muscle groups all the way down to your toes. Your body feels calm, and content. Now, as you breathe in and out, imagine you are standing in a large, luscious meadow - one that is blooming with green grasses and wild flowers. Birds are chirping, and the sun is shining. It's a warm, pleasant day. On the periphery of the meadow, you can see tall pine trees, and the aroma of the pine fills you with a sense of joy, and contentment. As you inhale, you can imagine the smell of pine in the air. You delight in the sights and sounds of nature. As you gaze around, relishing the scenery, you look to your right, and see a set of stone steps leading down a trail. You begin to descend. With every step, you inhale deeply, and as you exhale, you find you are becoming more relaxed. At the bottom of the stone stairway, you cross through a rock portal and suddenly find yourself on a beautiful, tropical beach. You can smell the salty air - feel the sun on your face, and hear the soft rush of water as the gentle waves lap the shore. You smile, and breathe deeply, enjoying the sounds and smells of the ocean. You take in your surroundings, observing the seagulls flying high overhead on a breeze that feels warm and soft on your face. You turn left and walk casually along the water's edge - the refreshing, cool water touches your skin, and the white, soft sand feels cool and fine beneath your feet. In the distance, between two large coconut palms, you see a woven hammock swaying gently in the tropical breeze. You make your way to the hammock, taking pleasure in the beautiful, disserted beach scene as you go. You settle in the hammock, lying down on your back so you can face the sea, and allow the gentle rocking movement to calm you even more. You feel happy and serene, as the hammock sways, and your mind and body are content, and rested. You are in harmony with your world - at ease and restored. Breathing deeply, you decide to come back to this place often. I hope you do. Happy Mother's Day.
 
Alan M. Webber: Why 2009 College Graduates Will Win Big Top
On campuses all across America you can practically feel the fear. But despite schools closing with sick students, kids and parents aren't afraid of the swine flu. In the wake of the economic crash, they're afraid that the jobs flew. If you scratch below the surface of this recession-triggered fear, you quickly discover two key realities. First, what really has graduates most disturbed is not the scarcity of jobs--it's the disappearance of business-as-usual jobs. Gone are the big-ticket positions on Wall Street; the blue-chip jobs at management consulting firms have dried up; the high-end jobs at old and storied companies and sexy technology startups aren't there for the picking. In other words, the cool jobs that top students effortlessly slid into in the past, complete with signing bonuses and ego strokes, aren't in the cards for the Great Class of 2009. The second reality is that the Great Class of 2009 is better off because those jobs aren't waiting for them. This year's graduates dodged a bullet. It's the bullet that nailed the CEOs of America's car companies when they mindlessly flew to Washington, D.C. in their private jets to ask Congress for a bailout. It's the bullet that hit the Wall Street bankers who mindlessly handed out bonuses to their bailed-out executives using money from the public treasury. Here's the truth: The game has changed and this year's graduates are the beneficiaries. They have the opportunity to write the new rules, establish the new expectations, and explore the new territory that lies ahead. Instead of lamenting the loss of illusory jobs and phony careers, the Great Class of 2009 is in the unique position of asking new questions that they can learn from--and they can teach the rest of us. Having just published a book with 52 rules of thumb designed to make sense out of this time of turbulence and transition, I can offer a couple of rules here to help guide this freshly started quest for our newly-minted graduates. Start with Rule #3: Ask the last question first--what's the point of the exercise? In other words, why are you doing what you're doing? Before this transformative economic re-set, college and business school graduates were trooping off to lucrative jobs without bothering to ask themselves why they were doing it--other than for the money. Now there's an opportunity--even a necessity--to dig a little deeper. It's a chance to explore more personal and profound goals, and not just for college grads. It's a new national priority: Who are we going forward? What matters to us? What kind of future do we really want to create? Or, simply, what's the point of the exercise? Interestingly, one soon-to-graduate Wharton student put her finger on the opportunity recently. She commented that she didn't actually know what an interesting group of school friends she had until Wall Street collapsed and banking jobs disappeared. Now she and her friends are free to explore new, previously off-limits opportunities--in other words, jobs they'd actually like to have! The second new rule I'd suggest for today's grads is Rule #44: When it comes to business, it helps if you actually know something about something. The good news is now that you've got your degree, you can actually start to learn something! And the even better news is you can devote yourself to learning as much as you can about something you actually care about, not something you're told you have to learn. That's how real entrepreneurs are made. They become the most knowledgeable people in the world about the one thing they care about more than anyone in the world. And in this post-meltdown economy, one way or another we're all entrepreneurs. So here's how to get started: Ask yourself what you're most passionate about and dig into it. Surround yourself with the details and artifacts of your personal passion. Become an expert so that you know all there is to know. I'm not saying you'll end up rich this way--or even employed. I'm saying that you'll find your way in the world by relentlessly pursuing what matters most to you. And finally Rule #52: Stay alert! There are teachers everywhere! Now that you're a graduate, you can begin your real education--the work of learning from everyone you meet and everything you do. The world is a large and endlessly fascinating place--and getting larger and more fascinating every day. This economic crisis has blown away all the old categories. Things that never were true have been revealed as profound lies: You don't have to go to get your ticket stamped by the powers-that-be, you don't need validation from the old-school brokers. Your path to the future can lead you to China or India, Australia or New Zealand. You're as likely to make an important contribution working in a not-for-profit or a social business as you are at a law firm or a hedge fund--in fact, more likely. The bottom line for today's graduates is this: There's a world waiting to be born, and you're the young men and women for the job. Your parents--and all the rest of us--are rooting for you. Now please, go to work!
 
Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore At White House Correspondents' Dinner (VIDEO) Top
Hollywood has descended upon Washington D.C. tonight for the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner . Journalists are escorting their guests, and Wolf Blitzer brought Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore so we assume that the Twitter feud between Ashton and CNN has left no hard feelings. CNN's correspondent at the dinner asked Ashton about it, and he replied that he viewed it as "a slight changing of the guard for media." WATCH More on Video
 
Texas Charging Rape Victims For Rape Kits (VIDEO) Top
Via Think Progress comes this shocking CNN report that Texas is charging women thousands of dollars for the rape kits they use at the hospital. Essentially, since these rape kits are part of the police investigation, the police are charging these women for cooperating with authorities. Watch the video report below and then visit Think Progress for more information. Embedded video from CNN Video More on Sexual Violence
 
Michigan Avenue Shooting: Cops Shoot Woman Suspected In Gold Coast Robberies Top
CHICAGO (AP) -- A woman has been shot along Chicago's bustling Michigan Avenue during a midday struggle with police. Chicago police say officers were called to the area Saturday after witnesses recognized the woman and her male companion as suspects in recent robberies. The man fled on foot, but the woman struggled with an officer as she tried to drive away. Police say the woman was shot in the abdomen as she tried to disarm the officer. She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition. The man was later caught, and both are in police custody. Two officers were treated for minor injuries. Chicago Police news affairs officer JoAnn Taylor says an investigation is ongoing into how the woman was shot. The Independent Police Review Authority also is investigating. -ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
Diane Wood, Potential Obama Supreme Court Nominee, In Spotlight On Religious Symbols Case Top
On its face, the so-called mezuzah case sparks an interesting question: Does a condo association violate owners' civil rights by banning religious symbols from a unit's front door? But the answer to that question could get even more attention this week because one of the judges who will answer it is being touted to fill the upcoming vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. More on Supreme Court
 
Melinda Katz: Mother's Day Thoughts from a Political Mom Top
As a single mother whose day job is that of a New York City Council Member and who also happens to be running for office, I thought Mother's Day would be a good time to share my story on balancing work and motherhood on the campaign trail. Like many women in New York -- and throughout the country for that matter -- I'm all too accustomed to the challenges, trials and tribulations of balancing work with motherhood. Suffice it to say, I've learned more than I could have ever anticipated since the birth of my son Carter just over a year ago. Most of the challenges I face are not unique to me and, quite frankly, have nothing to do with my position as an elected official. They range from the purely mundane to moments of "crisis" (a word that, of course, becomes a much too frequent member of the lexicon for new mothers). How do I best fit my work schedule around his? How much can I get done during his naps/at night? Am I overpaying for childcare? Do I try to come home during lunch if I can? What do I do if the nanny gets sick? But there are some things I face that are somewhat unique to the life of a single mom politician. One thing you learn as a candidate or sitting official is that everything becomes a political issue. If I have to bring Carter with me -- to an event, to City Hall for an emergency session -- do I have to think twice about being accused of using him as a political prop, or do I decide to take whatever comes because I need to do what's best for my kid? Do I heed the advice of political consultants who tell me I should mention being a mother as much as possible? Having conceived through in vitro fertilization, do I answer personal questions from reporters who ask about Carter's parentage? Regardless of whether I answer or choose not to, I run the risk of having my answer become politicized. I have no illusions about the double-standard women face when they run for elected office, and I chose my career -- and, more recently, to run for the position of NYC Comptroller -- in spite of that. Male politicians, after all, never get asked if their familial commitments take away from their ability to do their job. And they rarely get scrutinized for using photos of their family on their website. I, however, face this all the time. And as much as I harbor hope that my son grows up in a world where that bias melts away, I'm a pragmatist and I'm well aware of the advantages that being a woman can bring. One of those advantages is perspective. I like to say that everything is a woman's issue -- we just bring a different perspective to it. And right now I think there aren't enough public officials who understand and champion the perspective of working mothers. Ultimately, I'm not just running as a woman or a mom. I'm running as a lawyer, a legislator, a skilled negotiator, a product of public schools, a New Yorker with great experience and compelling ideas about how to better steward the City's finances through this tumultuous period. But for the part of me that is running as a mom, I'm eager to hear what others think about the often imperfect balance between work and motherhood. Please share your experiences and your questions, and I look forward to sharing more of mine. Thanks for reading, and again, Happy Mother's Day.
 
Gay Marriage Effort Stalls In Heavily Catholic Rhode Island Top
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Gay marriage could soon become the law of the land across New England _ except in the heavily Roman Catholic state of Rhode Island. A string of sudden successes for gay marriage advocates has left Rhode Island a political outlier. Maine became the fourth state in New England to legalize same-sex unions on Wednesday, while New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch is now deciding whether to sign similar legislation. Vermont lawmakers established gay marriage last month, following a path already set by courts in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Yet the movement has stalled in Rhode Island, perhaps even lost ground, after a stalemate at the Statehouse, a loss in the state's top court and continued opposition from religious leaders. "I do not hear voices raised, voices stating absolutely that this just cannot do," said Cassandra Ormiston, 62, a lesbian who could not get divorced in Rhode Island after she and her partner married in Massachusetts. "It is not enough to be patient." Religion remains among the biggest hurdles. A recent survey by Trinity College in Connecticut showed 46 percent of Rhode Islanders identify themselves as Roman Catholic, a larger percentage than any other state. Given its size, the church carries political clout. On the last Inauguration Day, every statewide elected official began the morning with a special Mass at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, celebrated by Bishop Thomas Tobin. Tobin does not hesitate to tussle with politicians, especially on gay marriage. He calls gay unions a perversion of natural law and a violation of an institution that Catholics believe was created by God. Two years ago, he harshly criticized Attorney General Patrick Lynch, a Catholic, for advising state agencies to recognize the marriages of gay couples wed outside Rhode Island. "We don't see it as a civil rights issue," Tobin said in a recent interview, "because there's never a right to do something that's morally wrong." Bills legalizing gay marriage have been introduced in the Statehouse every year since 1997. None has ever been approved by a legislative committee, required before those bills could be aired on the full floor. House Speaker William Murphy and Senate President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed, both Democrats and Catholics, oppose gay marriage. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Rhoda Perry, a Democrat from Providence, does not expect to get a vote this year. She believes legislative leaders are trying to shield fellow lawmakers from a fractious debate. "You know your numbers," Perry said. "So why make anyone even have to vote on something that at least some of their constituents will be upset about if you already know the votes aren't there." Even if a simple majority of lawmakers backed Perry's bill, Republican Gov. Don Carcieri _ another Catholic _ would almost certainly veto it. Overriding a veto requires the support of 60 percent of lawmakers in each chamber. Courts legalized gay marriage in Massachusetts and Connecticut, but that avenue seems unlikely in Rhode Island. In 2007, Rhode Island's Supreme Court refused to let Ormiston divorce her wife, Margaret Chambers. The couple lived in Rhode Island but married across the border in Massachusetts. In its ruling, the court said it could not grant a divorce because Rhode Island lawmakers have never recognized marriage as anything but a union between a man and a woman. Frustrated with the slow pace in Rhode Island, Ormiston is parting ways with Marriage Equality Rhode Island, which has locally advocated for gay marriage, and starting a new organization, called Equality Rising, to push harder. "It is not enough to wait until we no longer have opposition," she said. It might become slightly easier for those looking to legalize gay marriage in Rhode Island when Carcieri finishes his second and final term as governor in January 2011. Potential candidates including former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, an independent, and Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts and Attorney General Patrick Lynch, both Democrats, support gay marriage. General Treasurer Frank Caprio, also a Democrat, said he would not veto a gay marriage bill if he were elected governor. More on Gay Marriage
 
David Wild: sse Top
There are musicians who grab headlines for the controversy they can kick up or the drugs they can do. We love some of these musicians. But then there is another breed of player who rather quietly but consistently make our world a more beautiful and better sounding place, one song at a time. Stephen Bruton -- who died today -- was never much of a household name -- unless your house was in Austin, Texas. Yet somehow along the way his genius as a guitarist, a producer, a singer, a songwriter and a recording artist probably touched many millions of American music lovers. A buddy of T-Bone Burnett going back to their days growing up in Fort Worth, Texas, Bruton played with the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Christine McVie, the Wallflowers, Carly Simon, Sonny Landreth and Peter Case. He produced other great recordings artists like Alejandro Escovedo, Jimmie Dale Gilmore. And after appearing with Kristofferson in A Star Is Born, Bruton also worked in film numerous times. Indeed, he may have been the only man to be seen in both Heaven's Gate and Miss Congeniality. Whether or not you knew his name, he will be missed.
 
James Love: Obama and Free Software Top
One of the more interesting aspects of the modern knowledge society is the free software movement . The most famous and influential leader of this movement is Richard M. Stallman (RMS). Richard recognized the value of a new model for software development and the various risks to that model. He also created a philosophical and ideological framework, and a new set of slogans, legal strategies and ideas to protect and promote the environment that would make free software more common and powerful. If Richard had not began his work in the 1980s, the Internet today would be less open, less innovative, and less useful. In recent years the free software movement has grown in many different dimensions, and become much more diverse in terms of its leadership and approach. Playing an important role are Stallman critics like Eric Raymond or Bruce Perens[2], gifted software development leaders like Linus Torvalds, thousands of independently managed software development communities, corporate supported ventures like OpenOffice, MySql, Redhat or Ubuntu, and a host of influential academics like Eben Moglen or Yoachi Benkler. Today Google Scholar has 53,900 hits for the term "free software."[3] [Clockwise: Obama ( Marc Nozell) and free software leaders Richard Stallman (Leonid Dmitriev), Eben Moglen (Andrew McMillan), Linux Torvalds (t3rmin4t0r), Bruce Perens (Manon Ress) and Michell Baker (Dead Squid). All photos available under licenses from Author, Wikimedia or Flickr] While free software was once considered by some as a fringe movement, it is now mainstream. Fortune 500 companies are embracing free software programs like R to analyse data. Linux, Apache, MySql and PhP (LAMP) servers power much of the Internet. Many cell phones, Kindle 2, and other devices run Linux. There is enormous interest in the development of every aspect of free software tools and applications. Some of the most profitable software companies today are those that are providing services over free software platforms. Free software also is important for empowering and protecting other social movements that routinely rely upon free software for a wide range of services. The "free" part of the free software movement is an important element of this. The ability to innovate, and specifically to create innovations that serve social needs, is well served by platforms, like the Internet, that are based upon openness and freedom. What does all this have to do with Obama? Actually, quite a bit. As important as free software has become economically and socially, it gets almost no respect among U.S. political leaders. People should insist that elected and appointed government officials be more explicit about policies. I would start by asking the Obama Administration to answer the following initial questions: Is free software important? 1. To what extent is free software used today? 2. What are the efficiency benefits of free software, in terms of allowing code to be freely reused and re-purposed? 3. What are the benefits of having software code transparent? 4. What are the benefits of users having the freedom to modify software to meet their needs? 5. Does free software play an important role in avoiding harm from the monopoly control over software products and platforms? 6. How much money do users save by using free software solutions? 7. Does free software make it easier for young people to learn about and contribute to the development of software? Next, I would ask the Obama Administration to address certain policy questions relevant to procurement and government services: 8. Does government procurement policy recognize the benefits of free software solutions? 9. If so, do procurement policies encourage or discourage the supply and use of free software? 10. Does the Obama Administration recognize the strategic importance and value of interoperability and open standards in the software field? 11. Does the Obama Administration recognize the strategic importance of open standards for data formats? 12. Does the Administration have a strategy to support and promote interoperability and open standards, including open data formats? If so, what is this strategy? 13. To what extent can someone who uses free software fully interact with government agencies, such as by editing collaborative documents, using web based services, viewing multimedia content, or using government funded databases and services? Does the administration have a policy that e-government services should not compel citizens to use proprietary software?" Grant Related Issues: 14. Does the federal Bayh-Dole Act provide the flexibility for the US government to insert appropriate conditions in grants that would increase public access to the software code developed under a government grant? 15. Should federal grants require recipients, when publishing or sharing data, to use open formats? Competition Issues. 16. Is the impact of a merger of the free software sector relevant to a proposed merger? For example, will the Obama Administration examine the impact of the Oracle acquisition of Sun on the future viability of MySQL, Java or OpenOffice? 17. Would an agreement among the owners of the two leading proprietary operating systems to not distribute software on the Linux platform be considered a violation of competition laws? If competition law is not a good tool to address such issues, what is? 18. Would an aggressive effort to break an open standard for data formats be considered a violation of competition law? 19. Should the dominant personal computing OS be required to offer a fair choice for Internet browsers? Patent issues. 20. Should there be a zone of fair use for software patents when used in free software projects? A lot of these issues are technical, but the issues are quite important economically and socially. The trick is to make these geeky issues political enough that politicians engage. --Notes [1]Yoachi Benkler, Coase's Penguin, or Linux and the Nature of the Firm, 112 Yale L.J (2002); Yoachi Benkler, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom (Yale University Press 2006). Eben Moglen, "Anarchism Triumphant: Free Software and the Death of Copyright," First Monday (August, 1999) [2] Eric S Raymond, The cathedral and the bazaar: Musings on Linux and open source by an accidental revolutionary, 2001, O'Reilly & Associates. http://perens.com/policy/open-source/ [3]http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=%22free+software%22&btnG=Search
 
Swine Flu: Illinois Confirms 421 Cases, 187 In Chicago Top
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) -- Health officials say they've confirmed 421 cases of swine flu in Illinois, including 187 in Chicago. Saturday's tally from the Illinois Department of Public Health is 28 more than Friday's total. In Chicago, officials have announced the closing of a school on the city's far North Side because of the spread of swine flu. The closing Friday of the Northside Learning Center in the Jefferson Park neighborhood came two days after school officials reopened the Joyce Kilmer Elementary School. That school had been closed for a week because one student there had the flu. School officials said Northside, a special education facility with 288 students, will be closed Monday. Reported absences have been about three times the normal rate for this time of year. --- On the Net: http://www.Ready.Illinois.gov More on Swine Flu
 
Michael Steele's First 100 Days Marked By Strife, Flubs, Self-Inflicted Wounds Top
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele has spent his first 100 days atop the GOP tending wounds, some self-inflicted, that have slowed efforts to rebuild the injured party. More on GOP
 
John Farr: This Summer's Movies: A Good Reason to Stay Outdoors? Top
This past Sunday, the venerable New York Times issued a special section on upcoming movie releases for the critical summer season. Before laying out what we have to look forward to, the first page featured a series of "Memos to Hollywood" from critics A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis. I thought Mr. Scott in particular offered up some important, though hardly new, suggestions for the industry: 1) Allow people to see movies how, when and where they want to; 2) Fix our nitwitted, confusing ratings system; 3) Give some edgy young filmmakers the chance to enliven the embarrassingly stale phenomenon known as film comedy; 4) Political correctness is the enemy of art and entertainment- take a stand; aim for some controversy in your films, get people talking; 5) Scorsese and Spielberg- think small again (fat chance); and finally, 6) A depressingly apt and descriptive listing of all the tired formulas still being flogged to the public, accompanied by a heartfelt plea to do something different and better. Ms. Darghis, working as she does for one of the top surviving newspapers in the land, inspired me less than her colleague. Maybe she is meant to speak for the youth, but the youth I meet are brighter than this. For example, she saluted Pixar for making a film with a female protagonist (something on everyone's mind), decried the portrayal of effeminate gays (does Sean Penn count?), and asked for more movies with Rachel McAdams and James Franco (I like Franco, but I'm seeing plenty of him. Does he need a job?). Most annoyingly, she contradicted A.O Scott's first well-made point about the public's desire to consume film how, when and where they choose by taking the urban public to task for not supporting foreign and independent films at their neighborhood arts-house! After all, "DVDs and downloads pale next to the big-screen experience", and companies like New Yorker films are going out of business! This is our fault, Manohla? Hollywood's marketing might, which marginalizes the awareness and distribution of these smaller films, is not the primary culprit? And sorry to break it to you, but more and more people watch a good portion of their movies at home, and very happily too, for reasons of price and convenience. Later I had to wonder if the ensuing irony was evident to anyone at the Times . Moving on from this lead article, I quickly discovered that the rest of the section was dominated by plugs and ads for just the kinds of movies these critics are asking Hollywood to stop making. Among the cinematic treats in store for us this summer: The much anticipated re-make of "The Taking Of Pelham One, Two, Three" for those who found the original classic had too many words and not enough bullets; A drama (yes, drama- and about terminal illness) misleadingly titled "Funny People" starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, logical perhaps in that their latest comedies stopped being funny; A new variation on the plodding "Da Vinci Code" called "Angels and Demons", with Tom Hanks still sporting that silly haircut (only Hollywood so blatantly aims to capitalize on failure); The inevitable sequels... for "Harry Potter" (he must have chest hair by now), "Ice Age", and the eternally witty, effervescent "Night At The Museum"; For those already nostalgic for "Beverly Hills Chihuahua", the high-minded Jerry Bruckheimer brings us a movie called "G Force" starring-you guessed it- a guinea pig; Not to mention a new (airbrushed) Sandra Bullock romantic comedy called "The Proposal", starring a much younger man with nice hair named Ryan Reynolds. Of course, it's not all bad; it never is. To be fair, there are always a few surprise gems buried amidst the muck. Personally, I will be curious to see whether: The classically beautiful (but never effeminate) Johnny Depp can bring off his portrayal of tough, macho gangster John Dillinger in "Public Enemies"; Quentin Tarantino can pull himself out of his recent spate of creative self-indulgence with "Inglorious Bastards", starring Brad Pitt; Meryl Streep's rendition of Julia Child in "Julie and Julia" approaches my own legendary impersonation- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BFGC8l1gA0. Till these breathless moments arrive, Ms. Darghis, I will stay blissfully at home, watching the Criterion release of "The Friends Of Eddie Coyle" on DVD. Who knows? I may even program my very own Bob Mitchum Film Festival. More on Brad Pitt
 
US Stress Tests Leave Europe's Banks Exposed Top
The results of the stress tests on 19 of the biggest US banks have left European banks exposed, as they now look vulnerable to recapitalization needs and to claims that not all checks were made to ensure rules were being followed, analysts said on Friday.
 
Vickie Karp: Third Screen: Yoko Ono Calling, and It's For You Top
At John Lennon: The New York City Years , opening Tuesday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in New York, watch out for the phone near the exit. It's called Telephone Peace . It will have a little sign on it which says if it rings, pick up the phone. And, according to a NY Times review of the exhibit, it will indeed ring from time to time. When it does, it will be Yoko Ono calling, live, to chat with you. Here's the Times : ... A touch of the avant-garde playfulness of Lennon's early New York period is on display as well. Near the exit is "Telephone Peace," a white telephone mounted on a wall, with a card telling visitors to answer the phone when it rings. "This is something we did at the show in 2000," Mr. Henke said. "Yoko would periodically call in and speak to whoever answers." Ms. Ono seemed amused at the prospect. "Yes, you pick up the phone," she said, "and it will be me...." It reminds me of a play I heard about staged at Goethe Institute earlier this year. Apparently, you were led into a large room and invited to sit down on a couch and pick up the telephone when it rang. There on the other end of the line was an actor, in character, who performed the play -- a conversation with you. I hope these are just some of the early signs of a new wave of 21st century telephone art. Some notes for further development: The Library King You're reading Patricia Cornwell at the library, near the pay phone. Suddenly, it rings, and you notice a little sign on it that says, "If this phone rings, pick it up." Hi, this is Pat Cornwell. How do you like the book? I was a little worried about that part in Chapter Three where Kay Scarpetta uses white wine instead of vodka in the pasta sauce. What do you think? Blythe Cop Show Spirit You're in Times Square, admiring that gigantic ad for The Closer in which Kyra Sedgewick is wearing a very attractive yellow and black dress made out of police tape reading "Do Not Cross The Line." Suddenly, you notice the pay phone in the bus stop says "If this phone rings, pick it up." Hi, this is Kyra, hope you're going to tune in on June 8th. My parents say hello. How's the weather in NY today? Are people still wearing jackets? Dinner At Eight with Mark You're buying a hot dog and the vendor's cell phone goes off. He pulls it from his pocket and looks at it quizzically. It's for you, he says at last, handing it over. Hi, this is Mark Bittman. Are you sure you want to go through with this hot dog thing you're doing? Phona Lisa You're at the Met, feeling a little uncomfortable as you look at the cat mummy in the Egyptian Wing. The phone rings. A little sign on it says "If this phone rings, pick it up...." Was it really that dark and empty in the corridor when you first walked in? Where are the tourists? Where are the guards? And anyway, how is a cat mummy even art?
 
Craig Crawford: A Vlog Invite for the DC Prom Top
Join me tonight at the White House Correspondents Dinner for my live Cell Cam Vlog of Washington's ultimate prom date. See my clean tux and other preparations NOW ON YOU TUBE (Click "SUBSCRIBE" on that page for real-time notifications through the night). Craig previews the dinner with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann . . . Craig blogs daily at craigcrawford.com on CQ Politics.
 
Michelle Kraus: Obama Calls for Credit Card Reform By Memorial Day... Top
No not really! Obama's proposed credit card crack down does not go far enough. It certainly is a first step for a beautiful Saturday morning in May, but his team has got to get much tougher on the financial institutions. The reality is that we are in the midst of an unprecedented bailout for these very same financial institutions. Billions are being allocated to stabilize the banks, while consumers continue to be walloped by increasing interest rates for an existing and new debt -- when it can be found. Credit card interest rate are ballooning to 30% interest. So a lucky consumer can refinance their mortgage for 5% interest or even less, but carry credit card debt for 30% interest. This does not make sense. These lucky ones can live in their home, but struggle to pay their credit card bills. Is the American public being punished for the mortgage bailout by these financial institutions? Interest rates have been indiscriminately raised for consumers over the last year, often even for good clients with little notice or purpose. The Obama Administration must develop sweeping policies and regulations to mandate change within our financial institutions. The legislation proposed, known as the Credit Card Holders' Bill of Rights does not even go into effect, if passed in the Senate, for another 12 months except for notification of interest rate increases. Understandably, the banking lobby is up in arms, and we know we must not let our elected officials in the House and Senate, crumble under these attacks. Again, we are poised at another crossroads. Do we allow many more Americans to be pushed over the edge into unfathomable financial crisis? In many cases the use of credit cards is not a matter of living beyond a person's means; rather it is a necessity while salaries have been slashed or jobs lost. If we can mandate the kind of programs to restructure mortgage debt, we certainly must do better than this. More on Bailout Bandits
 
Quincy Jones: Arts Education in America Top
In 1943, the United States Armed Forces Institute published a second edition of War Department Education Manual EM 603 Discovering Music: A Course in Music Appreciation by Howard D. McKinney and W.R. Anderson. The material presented in the book was a reprint of educational material taken from existing standard textbook matter used in American schools and colleges at that time and is significant to this discussion because the text included the following when discussing jazz: Some may start with an enthusiasm for music of the jazz type, but they cannot go far there, for jazz is peculiarly of an inbred, feeble-stock race, incapable of development. In any case, the people for whom it is meant could not understand it if it did develop. Jazz is sterile. It is all right for fun, or as a mild anodyne, like tobacco. But its lack of rhythmical variety (necessitated by its special purpose), its brevity, its repetitiveness and lack of sustained development, together with the fact that commercial reasons prevent its being, as a rule, very well written, all mark it as a side issue, having next to nothing to do with serious music; and consequently it has proved itself entirely useless as a basis for developing the taste of the amateur. The ambitious listener might better start from the level of Chopin's melodious piano music, or Grieg's northern elegiacs or Tchaikovsky's gorgeous colorfulness. Fast-forward 56 years to 1999 where I had the distinct pleasure of contributing to 250 Ways To Make America Better , a collection of suggestions for improving America published by JFK, Jr. and the editors of George magazine. Among my eight suggestions to better the country was: Give utmost attention to at-risk youth, Pay teachers higher wages, and Appoint an American minister of culture (Don't worry - I am NOT rallying for the job. I have a job. I have several jobs!). I cite the text from these two publications because I believe they provide the perfect bookends from which an honest and earnest discussion about the importance of the arts in America can begin. As a musician, and at my core a jazz musician, my natural inclination is to gravitate to my area of specialty where this subject is concerned. But make no mistake, every artistic vocation whether it is music, dance, painting, literature, the moving image or architecture is vitally important to the fabric of our country's history and deserves to be protected, promoted and nurtured. As my friend Frank Gehry says, if architecture is frozen music, then music is liquid architecture. For far too long, dating back to the emergence of Jazz and the Blues, our country has treated its only indigenous music as something unworthy of value because it was born on plantations and reared in jook joints. But the power that it possessed was mighty. From the time that I first traveled abroad as a 19 year-old trumpeter with Lionel Hampton in 1951 to being the music director for Dizzy Gillespie's State Department Tour in 1956 -- the first United States sponsored goodwill tour -- to the unifying power of "We Are The World" in 1985, I witnessed firsthand the transformational effects of our Gospel, Blues and Jazz, and its ability to transcend geographic and cultural boundaries. And without fail, it was and remains America's artistic contributions, especially its music, that is universally embraced by other cultures, pushing aside their own indigenous music and adopting ours as their Esperanto. But today, we sit as one of two Western nations in the world without a Minister of Culture. When Jaime Austria and Peter Weitzner, two New York musicians, took the initiative after hearing a radio interview that I did several months ago to create an on-line petition calling for the appointment of a Secretary of the Arts -- an idea which I had originally suggested more than 10 years ago -- my belief in the power of the arts to bring people together for a common cause was reaffirmed yet again as the petition gained steam across America with an enormous outpouring of support. It is so disheartening to me that today our children have no idea of their country's cultural heritage. For example, last fall while I was in Seattle during the opening ceremony of the performance arts center at my alma mater Garfield High School, a group of students gathered around me and one young man said that he was a musician and wanted advice on how to further his career. I told him "that first he had to really learn and master his craft." Then I asked him, "Do you know who Louis Armstrong was?" He said, "I think I've heard of him." I asked, "Do you know who Duke Ellington was?" He said, "No." Again I asked, "Do you know who Dizzy Gillespie was?" Again he responded "No." "Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk?" I asked, and again he said "No." It tore my heart apart that on this day that my alma mater was naming a building after me, that this young man had no idea who the men were that put me on their shoulders and helped shaped who I was as a young musician. Men who will forever stand at the foundation of popular music, and who I believe in years to come will be regarded as America's Chopins, Griegs and Tchaikovskys. We currently have prestigious institutions tasked with overseeing the promotion and caretaking of our cultural legacy but regrettably, they have been unable to open up the vast treasures of our culture to all segments of our society. In the face of our record business collapsing around the world, I consider it a tragedy on the part of our educational institutions that our children are virtually devoid of their home-grown culture while that same culture is accepted and celebrated all over the world. With the belief that we must first clean our own house in regard to preserving our cultural legacy, I recently hosted a gathering of some of our nation's leaders in music education, the music industry, corporations, foundations and philanthropists to share resources, networks and ideas to make music education an ongoing part of the lives of children in the United States. The objective of this initial consortium will be to identify a 12-month plan of very specific action steps that will serve as the foundation achieving the goals of 1. Creating a program that ensures our children are thoroughly grounded in the history of American music and its importance to the cultural identity of our nation. 2. Increase the percentage of children that are participating in at-school and after-school programs. 3. Increase the quality and number of the most qualified music educators in the United States. 4. Through partnership with the participants, develop shared advocacy and funding initiatives for youth music programs. Our culture is as much a part of and just as important to our American history as Washington's crossing of the Delaware, the invasion of Normandy and the landing of a man on the moon and is just as important to our children's educational development. It has been proven time and time again in countless studies that students who actively participate in arts education are twice as likely to read for pleasure, have strengthened problem-solving and critical thinking skills, are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, four times more likely to participate in a math and science fair, three times more likely to win an award for school attendance, and four times more likely to win an award for writing an essay of poem. Can you imagine what that does for the self esteem of a child? The confidence it instills in them to overcome any obstacle that they are presented with? Every great society from the Egyptians, to the Greek and Roman Empires, has been defined by its cultural contributions. The commercial benefits of the arts not withstanding -- our artistic endeavors are a consistent source of revenue in the United States and our nation's largest export -- can we really run the risk of becoming a culturally bankrupt nation because we have not inserted a curriculum into our educational institutions that will teach and nurture creativity in our children? That when future generations look back our cultural legacy is an age of disposable, vapid pabulum. I am of the mindset that you have to know where you come from to get to where you're going. The time has come to make a concerted effort from both the public and private sectors to put in place a system whereby our children and future generations will be aware of our county's rich cultural legacy and contributions to the world. The arts, particularly our music, are the soul of our country. They are an expression of our spiritual ideals and a timeline of the emotional state of our nation... scars and all. It is a disservice to every American not to recognize them in their proper light. Regarding jazz, the War Department Education Manual EM 603 Discovering Music: A Course in Music Appreciation would go on to conclude that: Jazz is too fixed in its limitations and too narrow in the variety and quality of its content to be able to maintain itself long in a world of flux and change. Influential as it has been as a factor in the cultivation of present-day taste, it can hardly be looked upon as a real basis for the development of an American musical idiom. As a jazz man, I'm thrilled that they were wrong. Our country has a long history of discarding and devaluing our cultural resources particularly where music is concerned. And although we have thankfully evolved in this pursuit, we still have much further to go before we can claim that we are diligent protectors of our cultural heritage. In the global landscape that we live in today where ideas are exchanged with the stroke of a send key, what better way to influence nations than by exposing them to the basic belief in freedom of expression that is inherent in our nation and witnessed through our culture. More on Celebs Talk Politics
 
Douglas Maupin Jailed 83 Days For Skipping Jury Duty Top
McKINNEY, Texas — A man arrested for allegedly failing to appear for jury duty was released Saturday after spending 83 days in jail, a length of detention that a judge called "unacceptable." Douglas Maupin was released a day after The Dallas Morning News brought his plight to the attention of a Collin County judge. Maupin, a masonry contractor, was arrested Feb. 15 after police pulled him over for speeding. Police then detained him on a 2003 warrant for failure to appear for jury duty. He wrote a letter to the newspaper about his lengthy jail stay, then said in a jailhouse interview that he, his friends and family could not afford his $1,500 bail. He said his attempt to get a public defender was rebuffed by a jail clerk. District Judge Chris Oldner said he was unaware of Maupin's detention until Friday, even though the case was assigned to his court. The judge who signed the original 2003 warrant had retired, and officials said the case was assigned to the court of his replacement but the offense didn't fall under that court's responsibility. "He should not have spent that much time. This is unacceptable," Oldner told the Morning News. "I don't know why the process failed to notify us." Oldner also said that Maupin should have been allowed to apply for a public defender. Maupin, 34, said he just wanted his day in court. "I do know I have the right to due process and a speedy trial," he said. "I've had neither. It's not right." The judge said he was "disappointed this has happened," and promised to investigate.
 
Karl Frisch: 10 years after Matthew Shepard and media still can't get it right Top
You can follow Karl on Twitter and Facebook . Ten years ago, a gay University of Wyoming student was picked up at a bar by two young men, driven out to the middle of nowhere, pistol-whipped, tortured, robbed, tied to a fence and left for dead. Eighteen hours later he was found -- still alive but comatose -- by a bicyclist, who at first thought the seemingly lifeless body, its face completely covered in blood except for the skin-colored trails left by tears, was a "scarecrow." At the time of the brutal attack that resulted in Matthew Shepard 's death six days later, I was working as finance director for then-Rep. Jim Nussle, an Iowa Republican with a staunchly anti-gay voting record. Back then I'd never told a soul that I was gay. The attack did more than frighten me; it knocked the wind out of me. Raised in Los Angeles but now living in rural Iowa, I was concerned that should my secret ever be found out, I would face a fate similar to that of Shepard. The response from those around me within the conservative movement -- that Shepard was a "fag," that he shouldn't have flirted with the defendants, that he would burn in hell for his sexual orientation -- only sent me deeper into the closet. During the ensuing trial of Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney, the prosecutor argued that the defendants had played gay in order to gain Shepard's trust. Their girlfriends even testified under oath that Henderson and McKinney had planned in advance to rob a gay man. Ultimately, for kidnapping, robbing and murdering Shepard, Henderson and McKinney were each given two consecutive life sentences. Henderson avoided the death penalty in exchange for his guilty plea, and McKinney at the behest of Shepard's parents upon his conviction. In the years that followed, I would slowly come to grips with my sexuality. I came out to friends and family. I abandoned the conservative movement in search of greener, less hateful pastures. I embraced hope and rejected fear. The country was changing right alongside me as public attitudes toward gay and lesbian Americans steadily improved throughout the decade. For all the progress, though, debate over enhancing the current federal hate crimes law by including gay, lesbian, and transgender people among its protected classes rages on -- race, color, religion and national origin have been protected for years. How can it be that 10 years after Shepard's brutal, bias-motivated murder we still find ourselves caught up in the same tired debate? Witness Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina. During a debate over hate crimes legislation that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives, she said : "The hate crimes bill was named for [Shepard], but it's really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills." Foxx's "hoax" comment was made in an effort to bolster her apparent belief that Shepard's murder was the result of a robbery gone wrong. Where on Earth could she have come up with such an idea? Enter ABC's 20/20. In 2004 the long-running network newsmagazine aired a special on the Wyoming hate crime that, as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) put it at the time , attempted to "undermine the notion that anti-gay bias contributed to" the murder. Most damning of all, GLAAD noted that "20/20's piece relies heavily on the perceived credibility of Aaron McKinney, who is now claiming to have lied about the role anti-gay bias played in his decision to target and kill Shepard," and that McKinney's girlfriend "now claims she made up the story about McKinney's homophobic rage against Shepard," which she testified to at McKinney's trial. Among other things , GLAAD also found that 20/20 had ignored "several important sources and pieces of information." There was "no discussion of the details of Aaron McKinney's confession to the police, where anti-gay bias [was] central to his characterization," "[n]o mention of the plea bargain that spared McKinney's life," and no mention of the provision of that plea bargain barring McKinney and his attorneys from discussing the case with the media. Long before finding its way into Foxx's " hoax " remarks on the House floor, 20/20's report provided fodder for those opposed to an expanded federal hate crimes law. Perhaps fearing a hate crimes bill that protects gay, lesbian, and transgender people will soon be enacted -- thanks to a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and the president -- many media conservatives have seen fit to maliciously attack the legislation, just as 20/20 twisted and misreported the events surrounding Shepard's death. During a recent broadcast of his top-rated cable program, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly said of the hate crimes bill , which not only adds gay, lesbian, and transgender people to the list of protected classes but the disabled as well, "[Y]ou could make an argument that a pedophile has a disease, and because the disease is there, he's a target or she's a target." O'Reilly later added that pedophiles could be included because "[d]isability is included. They have a mental disability." He's wrong. Pedophilia is not considered a "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; in fact, the ADA specifically excludes pedophilia. Bringing up "pedophilia" during discussion of gay and lesbian issues is old hat for those opposed to full equality for the LGBT community. O'Reilly wasn't alone pushing this line of attack at Fox News. Sean Hannity, Bill Hemmer, and The Fox Nation website all advanced the false claim that House Democrats voted to "protect" or "defend" pedophiles. On-screen text along the bottom of the screen on Fox quite literally read , "HOUSE DEMS VOTE TO PROTECT PEDOPHILES, BUT NOT VETERANS." When they weren't spouting off nonsense about pedophiles being protected in the legislation, they were busy pushing the false notion that passage of the bill would somehow suppress religious thought or speech. During a segment on Fox News' America's Newsroom, correspondent Molly Henneberg reported without question that religious groups are concerned that "they may be prosecuted for their religious beliefs if they believe that homosexuality is a sin, that it could gag ministers who preach that, or even if a church may not want to marry a gay couple. There is concern that they could face lawsuits as well." Let us be clear: The assertion that this legislation would allow individuals or groups to "be prosecuted for their religious beliefs" is patently false. Section 8 of the bill unambiguously states that "[n]othing in this Act, or the amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to prohibit any expressive conduct protected from legal prohibition by, or any activities protected by the Constitution" -- which, of course, includes the First Amendment's right to free speech and exercise of religion. Reporters, hosts, anchors, and pundits -- indeed, all Americans -- are free to feel and speak as they wish about the gay, lesbian, and transgender community. It's their right, even if they aren't being honest. Unfortunately, too many have chosen to use this freedom with complete disregard for the facts. Fox News and those who parrot its brand of deceptive reporting on this issue have been left behind by an America that continues its centuries-long march toward increased equality. How frightened they must be. Karl Frisch is a Senior Fellow at Media Matters for America , a progressive media watchdog, research, and information center based in Washington, D.C. Frisch also contributes to County Fair , a media blog featuring links to progressive media criticism from around the Web as well as original commentary. More on Bill O'Reilly
 
Karin Kloosterman: Swine Flu Prompts Israel, The PA, and Jordan Authorities To Spring To Action Top
The 2,000-mile border between Mexico and the United States is nothing compared to the short distances of about 100 miles between the major cities in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Borders, distances and how we cross them have taken on new significance lately with the latest outbreak of swine flu, or the H1N1 flu, a global epidemic. Especially severe in Mexico where it is thought to originate, the virulent virus knows no borders, and is a potential risk for people everywhere. While it might seem that Israelis and Palestinians would have a difficult, if not impossible mission of working together to diagnose and contain H1N1, the reality is far from the truth. Without knowing it, they were preparing for what could become a pandemic, already last September. The story starts six years ago, when nine top health officials from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and nearby Jordan formed a league - the Middle East Consortium on Infectious Disease Surveillance (MECIDS), to stop the spread of food borne illnesses such as salmonella, across borders. MECIDS is supported by the Search for Common Ground non-profit organization, the Global Health and Security Initiative, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Making the most of friendships With three officials from each region taking part in MECIDS, rather than open up yet another organization to tackle avian flu in 2005 when the epidemic became a global concern, MECIDS officials from the respective Ministries of Health and Agriculture decided to add the new flu to their initiative. "We decided to take the infrastructure of MECIDS with its people and friendships," says Dr. Alex Leventhal, director of Israel's Health Ministry Department of International Relations, who is a MECIDS member. Academic research from Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority is now part of the collaboration. The members all agreed that influenza -- even more than food-borne diseases -- does not respect national boundaries and that international planning against it would be essential. Even after the threat of avian flu went away, the group continued working together and last September held a joint meeting and exercise to simulate how the governments would act if faced with another flu epidemic. Fully prepared with standardized diagnostic equipment, this past Friday MECIDS officials met in Jerusalem for a five hour meeting to plan how it will monitor and tackle swine flu should it continue to spread. Increasing the efficiency in their laboratories was one concern. Egypt, which recently called to cull all its pig population, was also invited to join the meeting, as were reporters from Al Jazeera invited by the Palestinian representative Assad Ramlawi, the Palestinian director of public health services, who is now the chair of MECIDS. Pandemic drills last September "The idea behind MEDICS is that everybody is equal. So when I decided to be chairman of the group, I suggested it would be a rotating chair," says Leventhal. "This isn't part of the culture in Arab world," he says. "Last September we had an exchange between the three parties and everyone was explaining what would be the national plan for a pandemic," says Leventhal. What each party would do at each stage and what each country is going to do is now drafted in the plan. Jordan and the Palestinian Authority now has the proper equipment to test for the H1N1 flu, but still, Israel has offered its lab services at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center - as backup or in the case where a second opinion will be needed, says Leventhal. There is a common interest among members of this group, he explains. "For instance we have decided we have to upgrade the lab capabilities of the three countries. The organization has bought machinery for diagnostic equipment for the PA and Jordan and we've studied together. Now the same machine [for testing H1N1 flu] will be used in all three countries," he says. "If one country is stronger, the others will get more in order to harmonize," says Leventhal, about the partnership. A continued alliance to fight pandemics "The Jordanians are checking anyone who comes in from Israel. We in Israel only hand out information pamphlets, we aren't conducting tests based on the assumption that the chances of someone coming from Mexico to Jordan and then to Israel is low. We told them that if the need arises, the laboratory at Tel HaShomer is at their disposal," Leventhal said in a previous news story. He adds that the group is scheduled to meet again in two weeks. At present, there have been no confirmed cases of the flu strain in either Jordan or the Palestinian Authority. The lack of confirmed cases, however, does not rule out that cases do not exist there. It may be a question of education about the virus, and a citizen's willingness to get checked. "We decided we have to do some work together and will meet in the second week in May. If they want our help we can help provide the answers," says Leventhal, offering Israel's services. At the time of posting this report, there were seven confirmed cases of H1N1 virus in Israel, with none in the Palestinian Authority or Jordan. So far Jordan, and the PA report no cases, while Egypt (even after it's controversial pig cull inflaming religious tensions ) confirms one case. ### Karin Kloosterman is a Canadian-Israeli journalist and blogger living in Jaffa, Israel. This article is reprinted with permission from ISRAEL21c - www.israel21c.org . She also blogs on Middle East green issues at Green Prophet , and at TreeHugger . More on Swine Flu
 
Cell Phone Ban May Follow Boston Trolley Crash Top
BOSTON — The head of the Boston-area transit authority said Saturday he'll ban all train and bus operators from even carrying cell phones on board after a trolley driver told police he was texting his girlfriend before a collision Friday. About 50 people were hurt in the underground crash in downtown Boston, though none of the injuries was life-threatening. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority already bans operators from using cell phones and recently ran an internal ad campaign featuring a poster of an open cell phone that warned employees not to drive "under the influence." But general manager Daniel Grabauskas said Saturday the temptation obviously was too great for some. "I want to remove any temptation by one or two people stupid enough to think a moment of convenience is worth the lives of the people they're transporting," he said. "I'm not going to wait for someone to die to institute a policy whose time I think has come." Grabauskas said the new ban would apply to anyone working on a train or bus. He said he hopes to have the policy in place within a week. The proposal won quick support from Steve MacDougall, president and business agent of the Boston Carmen's Union, Local 589, which represents most of the MBTA's roughly 6,000 employees MacDougall said it was clear that Friday's accident could have been "far, far worse than it was." He said he expects some resistance to the policy from union members who believe they're being punished for the irresponsibility of one employee. But he said he believes most workers eventually will embrace the change. "When it comes to public safety and operating public transportation vehicles, a line has to be drawn," he said. State Transportation Secretary James Aloisi Jr., chairman of the MBTA Board of Directors, said accidents like Friday's have become too common, citing a train accident last year in California in which 25 people were killed. An engineer involved in that crash was found to have sent and received dozens of text messages, including one sent 22 seconds before the crash. Aloisi said he doesn't know of any policy nationwide as tough as what the MBTA is planning. Friday's accident happened about 7:20 p.m. in a tunnel between the Green Line's Park Street and Government Center stations. A two-car train was stopped at a red signal, waiting to enter Park Station, when it was hit by another two-car train. About 100 people were removed, including some who had to be extracted from the trains, and 49 were taken to area hospitals. The worst injury was a broken wrist suffered by the 24-year-old operator, who officials say admitted to police that he was sending a text message at the time of the crash. The MBTA did not release the man's name, but he was identified as Aiden Quinn, of Attleboro, by a person close to the investigation who was not authorized to release the name and spoke only on condition of anonymity. A telephone listing for Quinn could not immediately be located, and he couldn't be reached for comment. Grabauskas said the trolley operator would be fired, assuming the preliminary findings of the investigation are borne out. Criminal charges against the driver are being considered by the transit police and the local district attorney's office, Grabauskas said. The Green Line remained closed Saturday as a National Transportation Safety Board team investigated the scene. Grabauskas said he hoped the line would be running by day's end Saturday. The current MBTA policy increases penalties for workers each time they're caught using cell phones on board. Under the new one, a worker would be fired the first time he or she carried a cell phone on board. Workers have been allowed to use cell phones off the trains and buses while between trips. Buses are equipped with global positioning systems in case the radios fail, and most trolley riders have cell phones, which could be a backup if a radio malfunctions on a train, Grabauskas said. The MBTA also has a system that allows family members to inform employees of problems at home and the MBTA to send new drivers, without using cell phones. Grabauskas said Friday's accident leaves no doubt the change is needed. "There's no rationale, no excuse for this," he said.
 
Huff Radio: Left, Right & Center: From Stress Tests to Jack Kemp Top
Alert the media -- banks need money! Who's stressed and who's reassured by the government's test of the banks' capitalization? Can we muddle through the morass of the walking wounded institutions and come out the other end stronger? Will taxpayers ever get their money back? Whose shoulders should the burden fall on? Pakistan's in serious danger, Afghanistan's hardly a model of an emerging democracy. Their leaders are in Washington; what will the United States' role be? Is President Obama falling for the trap of terrorism or should the focus on aid focus solely on nuclear weapons? Maine legalized same sex marriage: is it still the political football it once was, or is this a human rights issue? Is it true, as Bob says, that state's rights have become the vehicle for progressive causes? And what is Obama's true position? Plus we remember Jack Kemp. More on Barack Obama
 

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