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Andrea Chalupa: A mindful proposal: Can you handle 24 hours of solitude? Top
In our BlackBerried, Twittered, internet-overload culture, our nervous systems are too overstimulated for us to have the time to think. My father, Dr. Leo Chalupa, a neurobiologist and head of research for George Washington University, in 2006 wrote an essay advocating overworked, web-junkie Americans to take 24 hours of absolute solitude. No books, no movies, no texting, no media intake or interaction of any kind. It's just you and your thoughts. For 24 hours. Pretty scary, huh? "Unless you've spent time in a monastery or in solitary confinement, it's unlikely that you've had to deal with this issue," my father wrote. "The only activity not proscribed is thinking. Imagine if everyone in this country had the opportunity to do nothing but engage in uninterrupted thought for one full day a year! A national day of absolute solitude would do more to improve the brains of all Americans than any other one-day program." This week, New York's cover story "In Defense of Distraction" presented some shocking facts about what technology is doing to our brains. "People who frequently check their e-mail have tested as less intelligent than people who are actually high on marijuana," Sam Anderson writes. And although technology has made our lives easier and entertainment cheaper, Anderson writes, pure, unadulterated, distraction-free thinking has become a luxury; what we really need, he argues, is time to think: "This sort of free-associative wandering is essential to the creative process; one moment of judicious unmindfulness can inspire thousands of hours of mindfulness." There is a hope that managing and learning to master all this technology will make our brains adapt and evolve us into super-multitaskers. If anyone knows multitasking, it's my old man: hitting the gym every day by 7 a.m., overseeing a busy laboratory, writing grants and meeting grant deadlines in a competitive environment for science funding, being a babysitting grandpa, cooking, housekeeping, gardening, caring for my aging grandmother, and being a doting husband and dad. The only stimulant he uses to keep up with all these demands is herbal tea. Everything else is good old-fashioned prioritizing, organization, and a zero-tolerance policy on procrastination. (I did not inherit those particular genes.) So I asked my dad, for WalletPop's "Blogtalk Radio Show," how technology is shaping our brains, how to be an effective multi-tasker free of technologies' distractions, and about his radical idea of a daylong period of solitude.
 
James Zogby: What a Difference a Decade Can Make Top
When Benyamin Netanyahu last came to Washington as Prime Minister of Israel the setting was quite different. Back then, President Bill Clinton was distracted, beset by scandals that culminated in his impeachment. Republicans, who had formed a partnership with Netanyahu's Likud party in opposition to both Clinton and the Labor Party-led Oslo Peace Process, were in control of both houses of Congress. And while many American Jews were uncomfortable with Netanyahu's anti-peace posture, there were only faint voices heard in opposition to his policies. What a difference a decade can make. In 2009, Netanyahu met a US President who had won election by a handsome margin, and whose victory helped his party expand their control over both the Senate and the House of Representatives. A popular President, Obama has wind in his sails, and has demonstrated both the vision and commitment to make real change on many issues--including the Middle East. At their White House press briefing last week, Netanyahu may have been stubborn, but Obama, too, held his ground. Addressing his remarks directly to the cameras, the US President lectured Netanyahu about the steps that must be taken: "all the parties involved have to take seriously obligations they previously agreed to," "settlements have to be stopped," "if the people of Gaza have no hope, if they can't even get clean water...if the border closures are so tight it is impossible for reconstruction or humanitarian efforts to take place, then that is not going to be a recipe for [the] peace track to move forward," and much more. But it wasn't only a new and tougher President that Netanyahu ran into last week, it was also a very different Jewish community. A recent poll of American Jews commissioned by J Street, the Jewish pro-peace lobby, found that substantial majorities of American Jews (in the 70% range) support President Obama and support a two-state solution that includes a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem and some limited "right to return." In addition, a strong majority oppose settlement construction and opinion is split down the middle on whether or not to cut aid to Israel if they become an obstacle to achieving peace! It has been clear for many years now that majority opinion in the Jewish community was not represented by AIPAC's hawkish voice. This pro-peace orientation has taken an institutional form, and is now stronger and more vocal than it was a decade ago. Groups like J Street, Israel Policy Forum, Americans for Peace Now and Brit Tzedek v'Shalomare, are active, working not only within the Jewish community, but also in coalition with Arab Americans to change US-Middle East policy. The efforts of this pro-peace lobby were on display this week for Netanyahu to see. Even before the Prime Minister's arrival in Washington, the Israel Policy Forum published full page ads in major US newspapers which urged President Obama to use his meeting with Middle East leaders to insist on a number of steps, including: 1. A freeze on West Bank settlement construction, the dismantling of superfluous checkpoints and illegal settlements, and the cessation of demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem; 2. The immediate reconstruction of Gaza with a focus on civilian needs, and the local economy; 3. The pursuit of a comprehensive peace between Israel and its neighbors, including Syria, using the Arab Peace Initiative as a basis for negotiations. Also last week, a number of the pro-peace groups joined together in support of a congressional letter to the President. The letter was specifically designed to counter an earlier letter circulated by AIPAC which had called on the President to leave the parties to negotiate among themselves without US interference. The AIPAC letter asks nothing of Israel, instead putting stiff burdens exclusively on the Palestinian side, making fulfillment of these a prerequisite for statehood. The letter by pro-peace Members of Congress, on the other hand, was dramatically different in tone and substance. It expressed concern with settlements, "tensions in Jerusalem and other changes on the ground [which] threaten the opportunity for a two-state solution." Since "left to themselves, the parties have been unable to make progress," the peace letter urges the President to become directly engaged in peace-making. And then, in a bold move, the letter notes that while building Palestinian capacity in the economic and security sectors are important goals, "these goals can be effectively realized over time once a Palestinian state has been created." It is clear the AIPAC still remains a powerful lobby with a strong voice and strong support in Washington. The 280 or so congressional signatures on their letter is evidence of that strength. But the fact is that AIPAC is no longer uncontested in Washington, as evidenced by the near 70 (and still growing) list of congressional endorsers compiled by the pro-peace organizations. All this means that Washington is changing. The environment for Middle East peace making is better than it was a decade ago--with a strong President determined to take on big issues and pro-peace groups within the Jewish community working, with Arab Americans, to support the President's efforts. Would that the environment among Israelis and Palestinians were as ripe. More on Barack Obama
 
Les Leopold: Fear and Looting in America Top
Be Happy as Wall Street walks off with Your Money "Our national gloom is real enough, but it isn't a matter of insufficient funds. It's a matter of insufficient certainty. Americans have been perfectly happy with far less wealth than most of us have now, and we could quickly become those Americans again -- if only we knew we had to." --Daniel Gilbert, New York Times op-ed I have a different take on the source of our national gloom: Wall Street crashed the economy. It gambled away our jobs and pensions by creating and trading highly risky, yet profitable, financial instruments that turned out to be junk. Banks and other financial institutions found their books, and their off-book entities, loaded with toxic assets. They became insolvent or nearly so. So the credit system froze pushing us towards the next Great Depression. To save the system, we opened the US Treasury vault and shifted more than a trillion dollars of resources into financial sector. When you add up TARP funds, loan guarantees, no-interest loans and the like you're talking trillions. Meanwhile, what would normally have been a reasonably mild recession turned into economic free-fall when the real economy became starved for lack of credit. Millions of jobs were lost, social services slashed and states had to face crippling deficits. And you wonder why we're not happy campers? I fear that Professor Gilbert's nuanced account of why we crave certainty will contribute to the growing zeitgeist that we must lower our expectations -- that we'd be a lot happier if we simply accepted our lot. We should get used to living with less. And the sooner we get used to that idea, the happier we will be. We shouldn't worry ourselves with things we can't really control or change - like Wall Street looting the economy. We should not worry about crisis-prone financial markets. And we certainly should not worry about the outrageous salaries and bonuses that Wall Streeters got, are getting right now, and will continue to get while we pour public funds into their institutions. No, we should stop whining and accept the new realities.....and then we'll be happy. No thank you. Gilbert, in fact, undercuts this fatalistic argument by reporting on research that suggests basic economic security contributes mightily to our sense of happiness. Of course, you can be economically secure and still be unhappy, but the research he cites implies that economic insecurity undercuts your well-being. He writes that "happiness is greatly enhanced by a few quaint assets, like shelter, sustenance and security." I'll buy that. In fact, I spend nearly all of my time and energy trying to provide that for my family. Clearly, we don't need more boom-bust economic turbulence. Casino capitalism, even at its best, provides economic security only to the super rich. However, in the spirit of Gilbert's focus on happiness, let's look at the brighter side of the crash. Here's a happy thought: Wall Street's debacle proves that our nation has more than enough resources to provide each and every one of us with basic economic security. Instead of allowing lavish profits to accumulate for those who bought and sold fantasy finance derivatives, we could easily finance free higher education at all public colleges and universities (about $50 billion per year.) Had we not been forced to pour trillions into the collapsed financial sector, we could make an enormous down payment on universal health care. Were we willing to shift resources from the bloated financial sector to the real economy, we could provide income maintenance and education for every worker who suffers through layoffs and plant closings. And if we had the courage to put a very small tax on each and every Wall Street financial transaction (see my proposal in Looting of America ), we would generate more than enough funds to wean ourselves from fossil fuels, promote alternative energy, create green jobs and finally slow down global warming. I don't know about you, but if my kids could go to college without accumulating massive debts, be assured access to decent health care, not worry that globalization would continually undermine their livelihoods, and finally see the waning of global warming, I'd be one happy Dad. Les Leopold is the author of The Looting of America: How Wall Street's Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions and Prosperity, and What We Can Do About It. (Chelsea Green Publishing, June 2009) More on Financial Crisis
 
Illinois Meatpacker Recalls 96,000 Pounds Of Beef Top
A northwestern Illinois meatpacker is recalling nearly 96,000 pounds of its ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli. Officials say a recall was initiated after three people fell sick from E. coli in the Cleveland area, and that related illnesses have been reported in Pennsylvania and Illinois. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that meat from Valley Meats LLC of Coal Valley was linked to the Ohio infections. The USDA said the beef was produced in March and distributed in 10-pound to 40-pound packages, sold under brand names including Grillmaster, J&B, Thick 'N Savory, 3S, Klub and Ultimate. All of the recalled beef products bear the establishment number "EST. 5712" inside the USDA's inspection mark. The Ohio Department of Health alerted federal officials last week that a 3-year-old girl, a 24-year-old man and a 71-year-old man were ill from E. coli bacteria with the same genetic fingerprint. Kristopher Weiss, a spokesman for that department, says two of the three were hospitalized and all are now recovered. A message left Friday by The Associated Press with Valley Meats was not immediately returned. E. coli is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors and people with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to food-borne illness. Consumers with questions can contact the company at 309-799-7341. -ASSOCIATED PRESS More on Food
 
Analysts: GM Bankruptcy May Not Be All That Bad Top
DETROIT — With General Motors' long-anticipated day of reckoning a little more than a week away, nearly all signs are pointing to the wounded auto giant limping its way into bankruptcy court, but experts say that might not be as bad as once expected. Car and truck buyers, they say, may not be as fearful of Chapter 11 as once thought, as evidenced by Chrysler's stronger-than-expected sales in the two weeks after it took the dreaded step into court. "I think in this case and in the eyes of the consumer, uncertainty is the enemy," said Jeff Schuster, executive director of automotive forecasting for J.D. Power and Associates. "Once they know what happened, it at least is better than uncertainty." GM has received $15.4 billion in federal loans and faces a June 1 government-imposed deadline to finish restructuring or be forced into bankruptcy court. Restructuring demands from President Barack Obama's administration include cutting labor costs, reducing debt, shedding dealerships and brands, and closing excess factories. The company this week reached cost-cutting deals with Canadian and U.S. unions that still have to be ratified by members, but GM's unsecured bondholders have resisted an offer to take a 10 percent stake in the company to wipe out $27 billion in debt. They say that's too small a stake for the amount they are owed. But even if GM files for Chapter 11, Chrysler's performance since its April 30 bankruptcy filing has made analysts optimistic that GM sales won't "fall off a cliff" as the company's CEO predicted in February. Chrysler's sales to individual buyers are down 40 percent so far this month when compared with May of last year, a little worse than the overall market, which is down around 35 percent, the company has said. Schuster said that's better than he expected, and he predicted that GM might fare even better if it goes into Chapter 11. "Maybe optimistic is a little too strong, but I think there could be potential for, once it's announced and once we understand how it's going to work, the potential for an uptick in the second half of the year," he said. Chrysler is keeping its retail sales up to a large degree by offering rebates and other incentives. The company led major automakers in April with an average of $4,383 per vehicle, up from $3,795 in the same month last year, according to the Edmunds.com automotive Web site. GM was second with $4,107. With the government announcing that it would back GM and Chrysler warranties, people are taking advantage of deals to get cars on the cheap, said David Koehler, a clinical marketing professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "I think consumers right now know cars last for a long time," he said. "What they're looking at is the deals. I don't anticipate the doom and gloom that GM said, that this was going to kill them." GM's tentative labor deals have raised the pressure on bondholders to accept the debt exchange offer, which may keep the company out of bankruptcy. The offer expires on Tuesday, but GM said in a regulatory filing that it would decide Wednesday if it will be extended. Under GM's new capital structure, the government would forgive about $10 billion of its loans and get 50 percent of the company, and the United Auto Workers would own 39 percent for cutting in half the $20 billion GM owes to a union-run retiree health care trust. Given that, bankruptcy experts say it's unlikely that GM can round up enough bondholders to get the debt-reduction to go through. The Treasury Department, which is overseeing GM's government-funded restructuring, has required 90 percent participation, but a committee of some of GM's largest bondholders have said they won't take the offer. "The other bondholders are getting such a poor deal, there's just no way I can see them bringing those bondholders on board by June 1," said Jon Groetzinger, a visiting law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, and 22 House Republicans wrote Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Friday to seek fairness for GM's debt holders. "The proposal seems to favor the rights and claims of the UAW, a political ally of the current administration and a powerful lobbying force in Washington, over the rights and claims of the company's diverse group of bondholders," Hensarling and the lawmakers wrote. A spokesman for the bondholders committee declined to comment Friday. Also in doubt is GM's plan to cut its network of about 6,000 dealers by 40 percent before the end of 2010. GM sent notices last week to 1,100 dealers telling them their franchise agreements won't be renewed when they expire next year, and many dealers plan to fight in court. State franchise laws generally protect dealers, so it's unlikely GM could accomplish the cuts without help from a bankruptcy judge, experts have said. Fear of bankruptcy and the possibility that it could come as early as next week drove GM shares down 49 cents, or 26 percent, to $1.43 Friday, erasing much of the 32 percent gain from Thursday when the UAW agreement was announced. As June 1 fast approaches, there's still an outside chance that GM could somehow pull it all together and complete restructuring out of bankruptcy court, said John Pottow, a University of Michigan professor who specializes in bankruptcy. Since the unions have given concessions and settled, there is pressure on GM's bondholders to do the same or risk becoming the entity that drove GM into bankruptcy, he said. "When they make those concessions, it becomes tougher for you not to make those concessions as well because everyone's doing it," Pottow said, adding that dissident Chrysler creditors gave up their fight as pressure mounted and other stakeholders fell in line. But with thousands of bondholders, it will difficult to get 90 percent of them to agree. "There's no sort of like central negotiating committee of bondholders and unsecured creditors," he said. ___ AP Auto Writer Dan Strumpf in New York and Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.
 
Burris A Hero On United Flight? Twitter User Says He's Lying Top
Earlier today, a United flight to Chicago carrying White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers and a bunch of Chicago Machine Politicians was forced to make an emergency landing in Pittsburgh after the flight experienced a malfunction of "on-air equipment." Sen. Roland Burris was on this flight apparently, and, according to his spokesman, got up to some heroics. Here's what Lynn Sweet was told : Jim O'Connor, a Burris spokesman, said Burris told him that he heard a loud bang at take-off, sometime near 11:30 a.m. One the plane was in the air, the noises became deafening and the plane began to shake, O'Connor said. There was also a great deal of turbulence. The pilot announced to the passengers there was a hydrolic system failure and the O'Hare Airport-bound plane would be making an emergency landing in Pittsburgh. Emergency vehicles met the plane on the tarmac upon landing. Burris helped an elderly woman off the plane. Sounds impressive! But, before Burris runs off to scrawl "SUPER AEROPLANE HERO" on his "Mausoleum of Accomplishments," he'd better get shot of the accusations of another passenger, who says, via Twitter, that Burris is not telling the truth: Obviously, we can't corroborate any of this! But here's a taste of your newspaperless future, where everyone on Twitter is either KEEPING THEM HONEST 140 characters at a time, or, you know...sending sexts to each other, like always. --- POSTSCRIPT: Is it just me or have there been many reports on this that have taken great care to point out that while Desiree Rogers and Roland Burris were on the same plane, they were not -- I REPEAT NOT! -- travelling together! Yes, great! A number of people went through a harrowing mid-air experience today, about which we'd like to know more, but first, BY ALL MEANS, TELL US IF BURRIS AND ROGERS ARE ATTEMPTING TO JOIN THE MILE HIGH CLUB! [Would you like to follow me on Twitter ? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here .] More on Twitter
 
Jim David: Adam Lambert and Homophobia: A Clarification Top
The other day I blogged (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-david/adam-lambert-loses-homoph_b_206154.html) about Adam Lambert's "American Idol" loss being due to homophobia. It got a the biggest response of any HuffPost piece I've written, both positive, negative and outright nasty. In my post, I said, "Go ahead, give me another reason" why Lambert lost. And many posters here proceeded to call my bluff and, indeed, give me a piece of their minds and plenty of other reasons. I see what they are all talking about, appreciate the comments, and I agree that for many it is just a simple matter of taste and has nothing to do with homophobia. I stand corrected. I shall proceed to wrap my body in barbed wire, throw acid in my face, and do penance. I also neglected to properly congratulate Kris Allen on winning fair and square. Congratulations, Kris, if you care. You're my American Idol . Although worshiping you is breaking a Commandment, I will come to your concert and throw my panties at you and say "Awww" when you get all red in the face. Some of the critics of my piece called me a 'typical knee-jerk liberal' playing the 'victim mentality.' To clarify, I am not a liberal. I am a pragmatic moderate. My views are all over the place. For example, I believe in capital punishment, and since I was a former teacher, I believe in starting it at the 8th grade level. But while I am not at all one of those 'knee-jerk liberals' who screams, "homophobia!" or "racism!" when something doesn't go my way, I still believe that homophobia played a part, however big or small, in the Idol results, maybe enough to tip the scales against Lambert. I didn't get this idea all by my lonesome. Some said, "What research do you base this assumption on?" I will now confess to a guilty pleasure/unhealthy obsession: I visit conservative and right-wing websites, read articles, and read posters' comments. I'm a comedian looking for material. I also like to see how people think, especially those completely unlike me. Sometimes reading these threads makes my blood pressure rise to the level of a shell-shocked Vietnam Vet watching a fireworks display. There is a huge amount of unchecked id in the land. One poster, commenting on Wanda Sykes' comedy routine at the White House Correspondent's Dinner, called her a "nignoramus." Clever word, but yeeeeow. On some of these websites, I read nasty comments about Lambert. I will not repeat them, but they were all anti-gay and had nothing to do with him, his artistry or talent. Reading these posts made me naturally assume that there were a good many people out there who don't like him because he's either gay or perceived to be. Some also took me to task for use of the word 'homophobia.' 'Homophobia' literally means 'fear of homosexuals.' Homophobes, especially, resent being called homophobic. One poster wrote, literally, "I'm not prejudiced, but I do not want a gay American Idol . I do not want my children to grow up like him." That, to me, says "fear." But I can see why some reacted negatively to my post. Lambert's loss could be because of anything -- the judges' blatant favoritism, Adam's flair for the outrageous, the Danny Gokey vote, or simple taste in music and performance. One thing is for certain: they guy's a star. We're all wasting our valuable time talking about him. In the end, Idol is just a dumb television show a bunch of us got addicted to, the perfect cure for the downturn blues. It cracks me up how passionate people get about these things, including me. Now that Idol is over, we can all return to our lives and deal with more pressing matters, like Miss California's breast implants.
 
Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi: A Rich Man Learns Dubai is Not the Place to Commit a Crime Top
The accusations of corruption within the ruling Egyptian National Democratic Party (NDP) manifested themselves in two very different ways last summer. In July 2008 an Egyptian court stunned the Arab world when it acquitted NDP member Mamdouh Ismail, the owner of the 35-year-old ferry boat, Salam Boccacio 98, that sank off the shore of Egypt killing one thousand low-income Egyptians on their way back to their home country. Even though a parliamentary investigation found "a wicked collusion" between the boat operator and the Egyptian Commission of Maritime Safety that should have prevented the ferry from operating because it failed to meet minimum safety requirements, no person from either side was indicted. The tragedy was compounded by the fact that most of those who perished were returning with savings that they earned while working abroad; savings that their families were eagerly anticipating to alleviate their poverty. Among the acquitted were three employees of the ferry boat company along with the owner's son who fled Egypt with his father upon hearing the news of the sinking in 2006. Many doubted that the court would find the latter guilty as both the prosecutor and ferry boat owner were officials appointed by the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Among the numerous examples that illustrate how being a parliamentary member of the NDP brings with it many opportunities and windfall profits is the case of Ezz Steel. The Chairman of the company, Ahmad Ezz happens to head the influential NDP's Committee of Organisational and Membership Affairs. The billionaire's company reported a considerable jump in net profits to $191 million in the first half of 2008, up 63 percent from the same period last year despite the fact that fuel prices have increased significantly. This may be due to the fact that the NDP heavily subsidizes fuel to the tune of $11 billion a year, based on the recommendation of the budget committee that is also led by Mr Ezz. The subsidies contribute to the steel giant's hold on 75 percent of the steel production sector, a figure the NDP states is "not considered a monopoly". The list of names of parliamentary officials who have been accused of benefiting financially from their political affiliation in various ways is only growing. In fact, so attractive was the prospect of joining the NDP that the last elections in 2005 saw a rush by scores of Egyptian businessmen to enter parliament on the NDP ticket. Among them was Dr. Hani Surour, an MP and the deputy chairman of the NDP's Economic Affairs Committee in the summer of 2008 was also acquitted of the charges of supplying Egyptian public hospitals with "200,000 contaminated blood bags infected with bacteria and fungi likely to cause cancer and hepatitis". No wonder Transparency International rankings ties Egypt with Burkina Faso and Albania in the corrupt states index. After the 2008 summer acquittals of Mr. Ismail and Dr. Surour, one could be forgiven for forming the impression that NDP membership offers a degree of immunity. That was until one of them crossed the border and allegedly committed a crime on foreign soil where the NDP is unable to pull the necessary strings. The arrest of billionaire businessman Hisham Talaat Moustafa on charges of ordering the murder of the Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai was an unprecedented step forward in the history of the country. So much so that fellow businessmen and NDP members lobbied unsuccessfully in order to keep Mr. Moustafa's immunity from being revoked, perhaps because of the serious precedent it established. The truth is if this heinous crime had taken place in many other Middle Eastern states Mr. Moustafa might not have been indicted, along with the former Egyptian State Security officer Mohsen el Sukkari whom he allegedly paid $2 million to carry out the execution. Dubai Police aren't just any police force after all. Fresh from their investigations into corruption among officials within their own emirate, the Dubai police force put their skills into practice to investigate the murder of Ms Tamim. If the alleged killer and his backer had done their homework they would have learned, for example, that the Dubai Police have been consistently undergoing rigorous training in criminal behavior and strategic planning conducted by the FBI Academy. They would have learned that Dubai Police are the very first in the Arab world to use DNA testing in criminal investigations as well as electronic fingerprinting. And they would have learned to keep their murderous hands away from my country - because in Dubai, crime doesn't pay. Originally published in The National on September 6th, 2008. More on Egypt
 
New Afghanistan Commander Ran Secret "Executive Assassination Ring" Under Cheney Top
Yes, Stanley McChrystal is the general from the dark side (and proud of it). So the recent sacking of Afghan commander General David McKiernan after less than a year in the field and McChrystal's appointment as the man to run the Afghan War seems to signal that the Obama administration is going for broke. It's heading straight into what, in the Vietnam era, was known as "the big muddy." General McChrystal comes from a world where killing by any means is the norm and a blanket of secrecy provides the necessary protection. For five years he commanded the Pentagon's super-secret Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which, among other things, ran what Seymour Hersh has described as an "executive assassination wing" out of Vice President Cheney's office. (Cheney just returned the favor by giving the newly appointed general a ringing endorsement: "I think you'd be hard put to find anyone better than Stan McChrystal.") More on Afghanistan
 
Kal Raustiala: The New Guantanamo Top
Thursday morning Barack Obama defended his decision to close Guantanamo. Coming on the heels of the Senate's overwhelming rejection of funds to close the base, the speech was an attempt at "going public." He aimed to speak over the heads of Congress to the American people, to convince them that -- unlike his predecessor in the Oval Office -- he has a coherent and effective plan to tackle the "war on terror." But his hands are tied. As key advisor David Axelrod told the New York Times , "People don't understand that much of what we're doing is being driven by the courts." How so? Consider the future of Guantanamo -- and the future of the new Guantanamo, Bagram Air Base. Last June the Supreme Court rejected the Bush Administration's claim that Guantanamo is beyond the reach of the Constitution. Once the Court declared that the right of habeas corpus applied -- that the detainees had the right to challenge their detention -- Guantanamo lost one of its major rationales: that it was an offshore "legal black hole." Coupled to the fact that the base long ago became, in President Obama's words, "a symbol that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists," closing it down was the inevitable choice. Indeed, it was even the choice of George W. Bush, who released many more detainees than has Obama and spoke favorably about shuttering the base. Much of the media attention in recent days has focused on the challenges posed by actually closing Guantanamo. Will some detainees move to supermax prisons in the US? Will others be handed over to abusive foreign governments? What has received far less attention is what will be done to future detainees. As the President said today, we remain at war with al Qaeda. That means we will continue to capture and detain suspected terrorists. Where will they go? Many are already held in Bagram Air Base. Bagram, a vast and secretive facility, is hardly a household name. Yet there are at least twice as many detainees there as in Guantanamo. There are no plans to close Bagram. More strikingly, the Obama Administration has taken almost precisely the same stance as the Bush Administration with regard to the constitutional rights of detainees there. Like Bush before him, Obama argues that the Constitution does not follow the flag to Bagram. Whatever its merits, the claim that Bagram detainees have no constitutional rights was rejected last month by a federal judge. Citing last year's Supreme Court decision about Guantanamo, the lower court held that four detainees who were captured elsewhere and brought to Bagram also enjoyed the right of habeas corpus. The lower court ruling does not apply to the vast majority of Bagram detainees, who were captured in and around the Afghan war. Yet even if the decision is upheld (it is currently under appeal) Bagram remains an attractive site for future detention. A successful closing of Guantanamo will only increase its appeal. The President still faces the problem of what to do with the remaining Guantanamo detainees. The Senate amendment just passed bars the use of any funds for the transfer of detainees to the United States--though, pointedly, the amendment excludes Puerto Rico, Guam, and other insular possessions from the definition of the "United States". But it is worth recalling that at least one detainee has already been moved from Guantanamo to detention on the mainland: Yaser Hamdi. (Hamdi was ultimately released to Saudi Arabia). President Bush initiated that move under his own constitutional powers as Commander-in-Chief. Though the political costs will be high President Obama, if need be, can do the same. Whatever happens, future detainees are unlikely to brought to the United States. Instead, they may go to the new Guantanamo we will soon be hearing more about: Bagram. More on Barack Obama
 
David Vines: MLB Draft Preview - Part III Top
The final portion of the draft's first round is where most of the big spenders have their draft choices. The Angels, Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs all hold picks between twenty-one and thirty-two, and if a big bonus seeking high schooler drops into this range, the drama begins. Several premiere prep players, headed by Jacob Turner, Max Stassi, and Matt Purke, could drop into the latter part of the first round due to signability concerns and rake in record-breaking money if one of the big-market teams is willing to comply. * Denotes a compensation pick. 21. Houston Astros - Bobby Borchering, 3B, Bishop Verot HS (FL) The Buzz: Right now, the Astros' farm system is a disaster and they have to focus on taking the best player available. Borchering fits that description as a big switch hitter with good power who has the ability to play third base. 22. Minnesota Twins - James Paxton, LHP, Kentucky The Buzz: A British Columbia native, Paxton possesses a blazing fastball and a sweeping slurve that sits around 80 and can keep opposing hitters off balance. His results have been up and down this year, but I still see him landing near the middle of the first round. 23. Chicago White Sox - Jared Mitchell, OF, Louisiana State The Buzz: Mitchell was a football and baseball star at LSU and is considered the top college athlete in the draft. Because of the time spent playing football, Mitchell is naturally a little more raw than most college players, but his tools are all there and the White Sox would be glad if he fell to them at twenty-three. *24. Los Angeles Angels - Everett Williams, OF, McCallum HS (TX) The Buzz: Following the best college athlete is one of the best prep athletes in Everett Williams. He is slightly undersized, but he's got a very well developed bat and is the kind of athletic do-it-all player that the Angels organization craves. *25. Los Angeles Angels - Kyle Heckathorn, RHP, Kennesaw State The Buzz: Heckathorn stands at an imposing 6-foot-6 on the bump and flaunts a fastball that has been clocked as high as 99 mph on the gun. He backs his heater up with a sinking two-seamer, a strong change-up, and a slider. He has not had as much success as he would like during his junior season, but his stuff alone should keep him in the first round. 26. Milwaukee Brewers - Chad Jenkins, RHP, Kennesaw State The Buzz: Wouldn't that be something? Two righties from Kennesaw State going back-to-back in the first round. Jenkins has outpitched his teammate Heckathorn to the tune of a 2.54 ERA and has only allowed opponents to hit .229 off him. The Brewers have a lack of pitching prospects in their organization, so Jenkins seems like a sound choice. *27. Seattle Mariners - Eric Arnett, RHP, Indiana The Buzz: With their second pick of the first round, the Mariners will likely look for pitching if they do indeed spend their first pick on North Carolina's Dustin Ackley. Arnett is a imposing righty with a fastball averaging in the mid- to high-90s, and he is putting a solid junior year together after a slow start to his collegiate career. 28. Boston Red Sox - Tony Sanchez, C, Boston College The Buzz: If any of the potential big bonus babies such as Jacob Turner, Max Stassi or Matt Purke fall this far, Boston will look to snatch them in an instant. However, if they are all off the board, look for the Red Sox to select a player like Tony Sanchez with this pick. After 201 at bats, Sanchez has hit 14 homers and is getting on base at a .450 clip for Boston College. *29. New York Yankees - Mike Trout, OF, Millville HS (NJ) The Buzz: The story about the bonus seekers applies here as well with the Yankees. If they can't nab one of them, they may look towards a local in Mike Trout who possesses great tools highlighted by top-notch speed and a "gritty" style of play. 30. Tampa Bay Rays - Wil Myers, C, High Point Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC) The Buzz: With one of the top farm systems in baseball and a young and talented major league squad, the Rays have few organizational weaknesses aside from catcher. Myers has a well developed bat and the versatility to play other positions on the field if need be but would likely stick to catching if he gets chosen by Tampa. 31. Chicago Cubs - Rich Poythress, 1B, Georgia The Buzz: Poythress has seen his draft stock slip since the season began, but in a draft which is so shallow on collegiate power hitters, he may still see his way into the first round. Although his performance may have not reflected it this year, he still has potential to be a legitimate power hitter at the professional level. *32. Colorado Rockies - A. J. Pollock, OF, Notre Dame The Buzz: The Rockies have taken college players with their first pick in each of the last four drafts and Pollock's well-developed skill set may cause them to make it five in a row. With three of the first thirty-four picks, the Rockies are on a budget and will also be intrigued by Pollock's signability. More on Sports
 
Nigerian Voodoo Forced-Prostitution Ring Leads To 23 Arrests In Spain Top
Spanish police Friday arrested 23 people in multiple cities for their involvement in a Nigerian human trafficking operation that forces women into prostitution with the threat of voodoo, the New York Times reports. From The Times: The traffickers lured their victims with promises of a better life in Europe and took them to a voodoo priest before departure, the police said in a statement. The traffickers then smuggled them to Spain, where they told the victims they had to repay a hefty debt for their journey through prostitution or face the wrath of voodoo spirits. Once the women were in Spain they began their work as prostitutes but were not allowed to keep any of the money they made, as it was required to pay their travel debt. According to the Telegraph : All the money which the women earned was kept by the ring until they had paid off the debt they incurred to make the trip to Spain, which typically amounted to 50,000 euros (£44,000), police said. The Telegraph report also notes another case earlier this month, in the Netherlands, that dealt with 11 accused of using voodoo threats to traffic Nigerian women and girls as prostitutes. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter! More on Africa
 
Craig Newmark: Memorial Day: A Sacred Trust Top
 
NO CANNES 'DO: Bad Hair At Cannes (PHOTOS) Top
The Cannes Film Festival has had its fashion hits, but it's also had its misses. See the hairstyles that fall under the latter below, then tell us which you like the least. Or check out our slideshow of Cannes Fashion: 11 Award-Worthy Looks . Visit the Cannes Big News page. More on CANNES
 
Alan Schram: Are Credit Markets Back to Normal? Top
The credit markets have markedly improved since the March bottom of the S&P 500. This development is significant because it is likely to boost banks' profits, helping them to exceed analyst expectations in the coming quarters and to raise capital independently. That in turn will enable the Treasury department to start withdrawing its TARP money from the banking industry. There are several signs of this improvement: One, secondary market liquidity has improved. The TALF program triggered an increase in debt issuances and caused their spreads to tighten. Second, TED spread has compressed (see chart below). TED spread is the price difference between 3-month T bills and 3-month Eurodollars. It is a historical indicator of credit risk: as default risk is decreasing, the TED spread declines because T bills are considered risk free while the Eurodollar reflects the credit ratings of corporate borrowers. Note that from a peak of 4.6%, the spread is now down to a typical, pre-panic level of 0.6%. This is a positive sign that credit markets are functioning normally again. Third, high yield bonds are rallying, as shown in the chart of high yield bonds below, another sign of liquidity and confidence returning: Another noteworthy point: the S&P 500 five year average earnings yield is now about 4 percentage points higher than the yield of ten year government bonds. The difference between the earnings yield and the bonds yield has historically been a good benchmark for value, because of the constant trade off between them (if you can get a better return by owning guaranteed government bonds, you wouldn't buy stocks, which are not guaranteed but do grow their earnings over time). That difference was the largest (7%) at the market's bottom in March (meaning S&P 500 stocks were cheapest compared to bonds), and it is now still much larger than other major bottoms, including the generational bottom of October 1974. Credit markets may not be completely healed, but they are in much better shape than they were three months ago. Alan Schram is the Managing Partner of Wellcap Partners, a Los Angeles based investment firm. Email at aschram@wellcappartners.com. More on Financial Crisis
 
Kenneth C. Davis: Three Uneasy Questions About Torture Top
President Obama's semi-surreal and disconnected "debate" on Thursday with former Vice-President Cheney over Guantanamo, torture and national security provides an opportune moment to pose Three Good Questions for our times. Actually, the questions were asked by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967: "What happened? Why did it happen? What can be done to prevent it from happening again and again?" Johnson's questions came during the announcement of the Presidential commission to investigate the racial violence and riots that tore through urban America in the "long, hot summer" of 1967 - the year before Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. The inquiry would be known as the Kerner Commission after its chairman Governor Otto Kerner, Jr. of Illinois. Unfortunately for the country's future, most of the Commission's wisdom was tossed into the wastebasket with Richard M. Nixon's arrival in the Oval Office. The Kerner Commission's call to create new jobs, construct new housing, and put a stop to de-facto segregation was not a priority under Nixon and the Republican Party's new "Southern Strategy." But today, LBJ's "Three Questions" still resonate as the nation grapples with the accusations of torture in the interrogation of suspected terrorists during the Bush/Cheney Administration. They were the very same questions that the country had to ask after Watergate. And during the Church Committee's investigation of abuses by the CIA and FBI in the 1970s. And by the Tower Commission probing Iran-Contra during the Reagan years. And again, most recently, by the 9/11 Commission. It is also worth noting that the formation of each of these commissions or investigations usually ran up against the same sort of brick wall of objections now being raised to any kind of full-scale investigation of torture as official American policy. In his National Archives speech addressing national security issues , President Obama said: "I can stand here today, as President of the United States, and say without exception or equivocation that we do not torture, and that we will vigorously protect our people while forging a strong and durable framework that allows us to fight terrorism while abiding by the rule of law. Make no mistake: if we fail to turn the page on the approach that was taken over the past several years, then I will not be able to say that as President. And if we cannot stand for those core values, then we are not keeping faith with the documents that are enshrined in this hall." What the President would not say is that the country needs to address the Three Questions when it comes to the Cheney's euphemistic "Enhanced interrogations." The problem with the President's "turn the page" stance is that it fails to look at what was written on the page. This approach it is just as foolhardy as it is wrong. In pure political terms, the torture question has all the looks of the mythical Hydra -- cut off one head and two grow back. The Pelosi-CIA storm . The photographs that were set to be released and then held back . Count on it--there will be new revelations. These stories are not going to go away. A President who came to office promising unprecedented transparency should know much better -- nasty things grow when they fester in the dark. The torture controversy will only continue to spread its tentacles. Leaks, the Internet and enterprising reporters all but guarantee that. LBJ's "Three Questions" lie at the core of the rigorous self-examination that fans of the popular HBO series In Treatment know are the essence of personal transformation. They are hard and often painful questions. But sometimes they bring clarity and healing. A healthy, functioning democracy must go through the same sort of intensive therapy when confronting unpleasant realities. Such a reality includes the revelations of the official sanction of torture, a policy that does not fit into this nation's fundamental, founding principles. In a very different time in America, George F. Kennan, the architect of America's Cold War "containment" policy, once said : "The worst thing the Communists could do to us and the thing we have most to fear from their activities is that we should become like them." He probably wasn't even thinking of falling so low as to borrow techniques, like waterboarding, used by the Communists during the Korean War. And Kennan might well disagree with Vice-President Cheney's assertion in his " rebuttal" to Obama's speech: "No moral value held dear by the American people obliges public servants to sacrifice innocent lives to spare a captured terrorist from unpleasant things." There is, of course, a large difference between torture and "unpleasant things." And once we become so frightened of exploring those differences and finding the truth that we -- the media, our elected officials and the public at large -- cease to be willing to confront the Three Basic Questions, we increase the grave risk of becoming "like them." That can hardly be the "change" President Obama had in mind. More on Barack Obama
 
Jean Lipman-Blumen: The Valuable Inconvenience of Leadership: A Message for the Class of 2009 Top
As graduation season rolls around once again, it is time to ask the new crop of bright and eager graduates to consider an important challenge. The immense problems the world faces require every graduate to engage in what I call "the valuable inconvenience of leadership." Class of 2009, will you accept this challenge? Let me explain: Old knowledge is continuously giving way to new understandings, and we must be ready to rethink what we thought we had learned. Then, we must be courageous enough to act on that new knowledge. One quick example: Recently, scientists discovered that our familiar picture of the heart as a four-chambered organ was incorrect; a heart is actually one long muscle band wound into a double twist. This one discovery forces us to rethink completely our current ideas and methods for preventing and treating coronary artery disease. As a scientist or physician trained to believe in the four-chambers, how willing will you be to rethink the treatments that you have so carefully learned? That is, indeed, inconvenient. To have the power and strength to challenge the wisdom of the day, new graduates need to become the leaders of the future. Before they do, however, they need to recognize that leadership means more responsibility, less privilege. Good leadership calls for more character, less charisma. Some leaders promise to keep us safe and provide whatever we need. All we have to do is accept unquestioningly their vision, their values, their beliefs, and their strategies. These toxic leaders insist that they will do all the heavy lifting while we go about our more pleasurable business. Good leaders won't promise to handle everything while we pursue our dreams. More often, good leaders ask us to set aside the activities in which we are happily immersed to take on our fair share of the leadership burdens. They don't offer us free lunch. Rather, they expect us to cook the meal and clean up, as well. I challenge today's gradates to become good leaders. But it won't be easy. They will need to engage in the "valuable inconvenience of leadership." There is an inconvenience in being challenged to move in new directions. It's tempting to avoid those extra chores of running for city council, serving on juries, and volunteering at the voting stations. Let someone else do it, you might say. Yet, blindly following leaders who promise to do the hard work for us is a dangerous choice. Besides, simply accepting those illusions -- for that is what they are --of protection, happiness, and ennoblement keeps us from meeting our own responsibilities as leaders. Good leaders challenge us with other inconveniences, as well. They urge us to matriculate in what the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkergaard called the "school of anxiety," where we learn and grow in ways we never could if we remain cocooned in the false safety of illusions. The process is painful both for leaders and constituents. In fact, these leaders may insist upon shattering even those illusions we create for ourselves. Still, it must be done if we are to make progress. The "valuable inconvenience of leadership" also makes us face life head on. It calls us to live authentically. Only when we are living on the verge of uncertainty, making our best judgments as we venture out into the unknown, into that unfinished world where what we think we know changes in the blink of an eye, shall we avoid a greater danger. Goethe called that the danger of living too safely, wrapped in the blanket of our illusions. The "valuable inconvenience of leadership" requires us not simply to put our knowledge and strengths to the test, but to put them at the service of others. The graduating Class of 2009 has been privileged to learn in great American colleges and universities. As they leave the stage, diplomas in hand, these new graduates have a life-determining choice to make: Either they can take this privilege and use it solely to enhance their own lives and those of their dear ones. OR they can use it primarily in the name of a larger, less privileged majority, who exist around the globe. Using the learning symbolized by their diplomas and the unanticipated knowledge the Class of 2009 is bound to encounter, our graduates can help to move this unfinished world several steps forward. By accepting the "valuable inconvenience of leadership," they may also address the challenge laid down by the renowned educator Horace Mann, who said: "Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity." Happy graduation, Class of 2009!
 
Noah Levine: Sid - The Rebel Saint - Part III - Top
(con't from Part II) He realized that when he really looked through the lens of concentration and then opened himself to mindful investigation, examining who was experiencing the moment and what the nature of his self was, he eventually could see that even the self is impermanent. He concluded that there is not a separate, solid self. Memory, consciousness, feeling, and perception exist, but there is not one solid, separate aspect that knows all of those experiences--that is, there is no independent entity or soul that remembers, is conscious, feels, or perceives. There are only memories, feelings, and perception. These are only experiences that are, as it were, experiencing themselves; there is not a separate, solid self experiencing them. Because there is memory, one remembers experiences; because of awareness one is aware of experiences--but in each case it is just awareness being aware of memory and experiences. This battle with the Mara-mind and these three revolutionary insights brought about Sid's fi nal transformation. He was no longer asleep; no longer subject to identifi cation with greed, hatred, or delusion; no longer subject to rebirth. Sid was awake, the Buddha. After the Buddha gained liberation under the Bodhi Tree-- so called because he attained bodhi, or enlightenment, there--he said, in effect, What now? He was free. He had learned to accept pleasure as pleasure, pain as pain. He had seen through Mara's tricks and the ego's control and did not resist or attach to anything. He radiated care for the suffering in the world, but suffering no longer existed for the Buddha. So what now? One important note: Pain does still exist. Nirvana is not a state of constant pleasurable bliss. Suffering and pain are distinctly different. Many spiritual practitioners have the idea that if we are in pain we are doing something wrong and that spiritual practice, properly conducted, will make life pleasant all the time. According to Buddhist teachings, that was not the Buddha's experience. He went on to teach for forty-fi ve years, and he had a bad back toward the end. His back hurt and he said so. That was the truth of that experience. He got injured and sick. He still had a human body, but he had no aversion, no attachment, and did not suffer because of his human body. Even more important, the Buddha still had a human mind. Although he was free from the dictates of and misidentifi cation with Mara as personal or powerful, Mara continued to visit the Buddha. Mara came back regularly to see if the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha had prevailed. Fear, desire, and doubt still arose in the enlightened Buddha's mind. The difference was that he responded every time with, "I see you, Mara." He did not take Mara's visitations personally and did not feel that he had to act on them; he saw fear, desire, and doubt as they were and did not react, but responded with care and understanding. After attaining enlightenment, the Buddha was not sure what to do next. He spent many days continuing his meditation, refl ecting on his newfound freedom and the path that had led him to deliverance from all forms of suffering and confusion. He refl ected on the fi ve factors that had led to his spiritual awakening and labeled them faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom (which encompassed compassion). The factor of mindfulness he broke down further still, into four distinct levels: body, feelings, mind, and the truth of experience. Then he formulated all of what he had learned and experienced into four universal truths consisting of twelve main factors, a formulation that later was referred to--and still generally is referred to--as the four noble truths and the eightfold path. We'll take a look at these teachings in a bit. With the path of awakening fully understood and comprehended, the Buddha considered sharing his insights with others, but he was hesitant because his revolutionary insights were so contrary to the common teachings and views of his time. He was pretty sure they would not be understood or accepted by the masses, because they are so subtle, so simple, and so contrary to the natural human instinct. To ask people to accept pain and a spiritual liberation that does not include bliss all of the time seemed crazy. He was unsure if people would be willing to do the work necessary to free themselves from attachment to and craving for pleasure. Buddhism is often referred to as an atheistic tradition, but that isn't an accurate description. The Buddha acknowledged the existence of celestial beings or gods, and in fact he later recounted that a god named Brahma came to him and implored him to teach. Perhaps God, like Mara (who could be seen as the devil), is just another aspect of our minds, God being the wise aspect and Mara being the unwise aspect. It would be more true to say that real Buddhism is nontheistic. While the Buddha acknowledged gods, he concluded that they did not have the power to free us from suffering, and thus they were not part of his formulation. They were the benefi ciaries, though: the Buddha is often called the teacher of humans and gods, because the gods are suffering as well and the Buddha can and did teach the gods the path to freedom. The god Brahma saw that the Buddha was hesitant to teach the Dharma--the truth of his enlightenment--and implored the Buddha to reconsider. There are some who will understand this teaching, Brahma explained. The Buddha replied that it was a freedom that was very diffi cult to attain. He characterized it as being counterinstinctual to human beings: the natural human instinct is to resist, avoid, or meet with aversion all things that are unpleasant, and to grasp at, hold on to, and crave all things that are pleasurable. He explained that his experience along the whole spiritual path was one that went "against the stream" of ordinary human consciousness. The Buddha felt that the masses would never be willing to practice the kind of renunciation, mindfulness, concentration, and morality that it takes to become free. Brahma agreed with the Buddha, but he insisted that there would be some in every generation that were not completely asleep, that had only a little dust in their eyes. The Dharma, as experienced and taught by the Buddha, Brahma insisted, could clear away that dust and allow those who chose to undertake this training to awaken. The Buddha refl ected on Brahma's plea as he was sitting next to a lotus pond. He saw that most of the lotus plants stayed stuck in the mud, beneath the surface and the light of day, and some were barely breaking the surface, but there were a few lotuses that had broken forth into the sunlight and blossomed. The Buddha likened humans to the lotus fl owers. Out of the deluded mud of human existence, fi lled with greed, hatred, and delusion, in a world where wars, oppression, and lust rule the masses, there are those who can and will rise above the muck and emerge victorious against suffering. Being convinced that it would be a worthy endeavor to start a spiritual revolution, the Buddha decided that he must offer the path to freedom to all who cared to follow it. He thought of his homeless homeys he had been practicing with in the forest and thought that if anyone could understand this radical teaching it was them. So the Buddha set forth to teach the Dharma. Noah currently teaches at his meditation center in Los Angeles. Against The Stream Buddhist Meditation Society is located in a historic building in East Hollywood, one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the city. 4300 Melrose Avenue Los Angeles CA 90029 http://www.againstthestream.org
 
Nina Petraro Bastardi Heckled By Angry Mob Of GOP Diehards (VIDEO) Top
Nina Petraro Bastardi, a Republican-turned-Democrat who is running for New York's Nassau County Legislature, was heckled by a mob of rabid Republican demonstrators Wednesday as she announced her candidacy for the local legislative seat. Bastardi and a group of supporters were gathered outside the local GOP headquarters to make the announcement when a deafening mob of agitators began to shout insults. Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi was listing Bastardi's achievements as a summa cum laude student when someone in the audience yelled out, "She's dumb as a rock!" From there, the verbal assault escalated to vague threats and sexist insults. When Bastardi tried to speak, the troublemakers drowned her out with chants of "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" At one point, a protester threw a tea bag at Bastardi's group, a nod to the recent spat of GOP sponsored anti-tax, Tea-party events. The Republican candidate for the Nassau seat, John Ciotti, was not present, but the Long Island newspaper Newsday reported that the chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee, Joseph Modello, had this to say about the incident: "They think they can come with impunity into our house and cause trouble. They can't walk all over us... We'd never pull that kinds of stunt. They come to us, they're going to have to take their risks. They got what they deserved today. They tried to make light of what we stand for in the Republican Party, and we gave it back to them." WATCH: Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter! More on New York
 
Terry Sanders: Fighting For Life on Memorial Day Top
This Memorial Day Weekend, 75% of PBS stations across the U.S. will broadcast Fighting For Life , a feature documentary I made about military medicine, the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, and the wounded. The film focuses on the incredible skill, compassion and dedication of military doctors, nurses, medics and medevac teams, and the heroic "fight that begins when the battle ends." As one nurse in a combat support hospital says in the film, "It's a great mission to be on the life-saving end of things." Though Memorial Day is traditionally a time to remember and honor those killed in war -- and the ongoing hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in over 5,000 American dead -- it is equally important on this day to remember and reflect on the fact that for every soldier or marine killed, there are 10 who were wounded and survived, many with profound and devastating disabilities. And there are tens of thousands of others who have suffered the hidden wounds of post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. The current revolution in body armor and battlefield care has greatly reduced battlefield fatalities, with soldiers now surviving what previously would have been fatal wounds. Stabilized downrange, seriously wounded soldiers are evacuated on C-17 flying intensive care units to the U.S. military hospital in Germany where they are further stabilized and flown to hospitals in the U.S. The care is superb, but the wounds are often heart-breaking -- many young men and women with missing body parts -- some with triple amputations. In filming Fighting For Life , we were tremendously impressed with the courage, dignity and determination to heal of the wounded. As Lt. Col. Paul Pasquina, medical director of the Walter Reed Amputee program says in the film, "The thing that keeps us going is the attitude of our patients. The way these soldiers feed off one another, motivate one another, and push the limits of medicine and rehabilitation is incredible to see." For Spc. Crystal Davis, the tough, spirited 21 year-old who lost a leg below the knee in an IED blast, and whom we were privileged to follow from Iraq through to Walter Reed, "It's all a mind game. If you let it get the best of you, you won't survive. But if you keep your head up high, and you set goals for yourself to achieve, and you achieve those goals, then you'll make it." I'm happy to report that Crystal is definitely making it. Out of the Army now, and living in Augusta Georgia, Crystal has a 3 month old baby son and is studying to be a Physical Therapist Assistant, planning to work directly with amputees. I came away from filming "Fighting For Life" with a hope that the lasting legacy of the documentary would be to help remind us of our obligation to the wounded. I fear that 15 years from now, they may be forgotten. And that would be truly tragic. Col. Pasquina says in the film, "I remind my folks, all the time, that many of our soldiers coming back injured are 19, 20, 21, young individuals who will have these disabilities or impairments for the rest of their lives. We need to be committed to care for them, not just today or tomorrow, but for the next 20, 30, even 50 or 60 years." It's a sobering and important thought for Memorial Day. Here's the trailer for Fighting for Life :
 
Dr. Jon LaPook: Do I Really Want to Know If I Have Alzheimer's? Top
The answer is "yes." An estimated 5.3 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer's Disease, the majority -- 5.1 million -- over the age of sixty five. Research suggests that less than 35 percent of people with Alzheimer's or other dementias are properly diagnosed. Early diagnosis is crucial for many reasons, including: 1) There are medications available today that can reduce symptoms in many people -- at least temporarily -- and improve the daily lives of patients. There are also trials of new drugs that researchers hope will slow or stop the underlying processes that cause Alzheimer's in the first place. 2) Knowing what's going on can lessen anxiety and allow for planning -- not only for patients but for their families, friends, and caregivers. 3) Although Alzheimer's causes 60-80 percent of dementia in patients over 65 , there are other causes that need to be considered, especially potentially reversible ones due to medications, alcohol, low thyroid, low B12, depression, and infections. Dementia can also be caused by tumors, increased pressure, blood clots and other abnormalities within the head itself that can be detected by a CT or MRI of the brain. And patients with "vascular dementia" due to problems such as multiple small strokes (that may not have caused any other symptoms) can be treated with measures that include medications and lifestyle adjustments to lower their cardiovascular risk. The Alzheimer's Association is a terrific resource for information about Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. Its website includes ten warning signs for Alzheimer's Disease.
 
Red Stag: Jim Beam Rolls Out Flavored Bourbon Top
CLERMONT, Ky. — Bourbon drinkers have been mixing Jim Beam for years. Now, the maker of the world's top-selling bourbon is too. Part of Illinois-based Fortune Brands Inc., Beam is preparing a national rollout of Red Stag, a specialty whiskey that infuses natural black cherry flavors into 4-year-old bourbon. Even brand ambassador Fred Noe, a great-grandson of Jim Beam, sees the tinkering with a time-tested Kentucky tradition as a positive way to lure new customers. "The bourbon purists might think it's a little too sweet," Noe said during an event touting Red Stag at Beam's Clermont distillery in central Kentucky. "But for somebody who is not a big fan of bourbon, this may be an opportunity for them to enjoy bourbon in a little different way." The 80-proof Red Stag by Jim Beam, as the product is formally called, is being billed as Beam's biggest rollout since the launch of Jim Beam black label bourbon more than a decade ago. Shipments start June 1 after about a year and a half in development. Chuck Cowdery, an American whiskey writer and author of "Bourbon, Straight," likes the taste. "I think the quality of the infusion, the depth of the flavors is pretty sophisticated," he said. "It doesn't taste like they threw some flavor house cherry flavor in there." The product could appeal to younger consumers who may prefer bourbon in cocktails rather than straight up, he said. Beam joins other Kentucky bourbon makers that already flavor their standbys. Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc., which plans to mix honey flavoring into its popular Evan Williams bourbon and call it Evan Williams Honey Reserve, come September, has offered Evan Williams Holiday Egg Nog in season since the early 1990s, spokesman Larry Kass said. Wild Turkey's American Honey, a liqueur blended with honey and Wild Turkey bourbon, has been gaining sales the past couple of years, said Eddie Russell, Wild Turkey's associate distiller. But he said it's premature to predict a craze. And Adam Graber, senior brand manager for Jim Beam, agreed. "There's probably one or two other flavors that make sense in that category," he said, not divulging those other flavors. `But I don't see it exploding like a flavored rum or a flavored vodka." Graber said Beam will be "fairly conservative" marketing Red Stag, with the biggest promotional push a sponsorship of Kid Rock's summer concert tour. Red Stag has a suggested retail price of $17.99 for a 750-millileter bottles.
 
Stephen Herrington: To Detain or Not o Detain Top
An epic test of will has been on the brew and the ferment is nearly complete. Fear is the long suit of the Republicans. Former Vice-President Dick Cheney has been particularly hysterical of late. His motives may be viewed as simply as what he says. He thinks you should be afraid of the terrorist under your bed. In his fervent entreaties to your fear, he assumes you will trust those that have always fed that fear for gain. Odd. Lost in the meaningless hyperbole of Cheney and an afterthought fifth point on Thursday's Obama to-do list on GITMO, is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to discuss, in the light of day and with some hope of reaching a Constitutionally reconcilable consensus, just how do you treat a terrorist slash soldier of a new order of conflict, a war waged by a tiny group of radicals on a global population, and the United States in particular? The initial rationale for GITMO was to detain "enemy combatants", prisoners of a war that did not fit any model of adversary more than terrorist. Much has been lost sight of and confused by the miss match of honorable adversary of war, worthy of Geneva Convention guarantees, and the loathsome terrorist who is somehow still a soldier in a global war. On the one hand, it is internationally permitted to detain the soldiers of an adversary in a declared war. It is only permitted to try them for crimes if they have committed crimes over and above the dealing of death to soldiers of the opposition. There are many instances of crime in war, from terror bombing to collateral casualties. What constitutes a crime is, effectively as always, a matter of the will of the public to proscribe such behavior going forward. The actions of the Bush administration confused and befouled the waters of international legal thought on the issue so much that it has rendered the current state of argument futile. The prisoners the Untied States holds in detention are neither soldiers nor proven terrorist criminals, but are merely in legal limbo. They can't be successfully prosecuted and public fear of them has been whipped up to the extent that freeing them would be political suicide. A wise man picks his battles, when and where he fights. Obama did not want to fight here, there is much too much else to do and so much more wrong to undo than what wrong has been visited on the detainees of GITMO. But here it is. Cheney picked the fight along with his unwitting allies on the left. We now have a nation in peril of financial meltdown, healthcare drought and fiscal collapse that is distracted by the issue of whether or not GITMO can be closed without endangering a single American hair follicle. So be it. Let ten thousand children perish from lack of diagnosing illness while wringing our hands over GITMO closing. Cheney loves this stuff. He was made for this, because he does not care. Application of existing law is sufficient to deal with all this, as Obama has pointed out. The problem has been, and is, that existing law was not applied for seven years. Those detained might all be released under our Constitution for lack of a speedy trial. The consequences of that are serious, and the blame for it does not lie with the current Administration that did not so screw up the prosecution of justice that justice cannot now be served. Cheney is now threatening to blame Obama for a problem that he created along with his Oval Office stooge. "Mess" is right. Now, from the left, justice must be served. That it has not been served to date is not an issue. If Obama's fifth category of persons dangerous to the U.S. and likely to do harm is real, and it probably is, does it not serve the best interest of the public to continue to detain them as prisoners of war, even though that war is undeclared? To a public suffering from the hangover of seven years of right wing propaganda it probably seems like an imperative to keep these people in custody, foolish to let them go. If that does not square with the law, then the more myopic of the public are likely to conclude that the law and the courts serve them not. President Obama did well today in explaining the truth and consequences of undoing the misdeeds of Cheney and his Oval Office stooge. His fifth category troubles us all. Not criminals in any traditional sense, such fifth category persons are nevertheless on the same the side of international issues as avowed and convicted terrorists. If for that reason they are assumed to be more likely to commit acts of terror in pursuit of their like interests with those known to commit acts of terror, they still cannot be detained as criminals. There is nothing for which to try them except sympathies. Sympathies are not unlawful. It is a monumental test of the will of civilization to live by the rule of law. We may, from time to time, find that the rule of law prohibits actions that we might find reasonable were it not for the reasonableness of the law itself. Absent an internationally recognized and declared war, no one can be detained as a POW, or "enemy combatant", for the duration. Such a war has no end and there is no duration of a non war. Tricky. So do we turn our backs on all the very useful and civilizing work that has been done to subdue the atrocities of mankind's history and resort to the brute rule of might makes right? That is the question. A fifth category of GITMO detainee seems unlikely to contain anyone now there. It seems likely that all will be tried and convicted or released. This fifth category can only exist if some one of them is found to be in it. It is not a problem until we see the arguments for and conditions for including someone in that category. What it is right now is a political balm, a promise to be exhaustive in dealing with detainees, a last resort into which no one can be subjected without suspension of the rule of law or extraordinary revision or interpretation of the law. Witness the context of protracted discussion of the role of congress and the courts in oversight in Obama's speech. If it is to be done in even one case, it will be done by the law, nationally and internationally. But at this point it is a riposte to Cheney and the Republicans and nothing else. More on Guantánamo Bay
 
Andrea Chalupa: Internet: Friend or Foe? Top
Internet: can too much of it make you sick, keep you from having meaningful relationships and conversations, and prevent you from writing the next The Brothers Karamazov ? "People who frequently check their e-mail have tested as less intelligent than people who are actually high on marijuana," Sam Anderson writes in New York Magazine 's cover story this week, In Defense of Distraction. Spring has sprung and there's no better time than now to push for a national No Internet Day. Meet the Rest, a new online news show, took to the streets to find out if people could handle no email, Twitter, BlackBerry, cute YouTube videos for one day, by swearing off the world-wide-web.
 
Joseph A. Violante: Honoring Our Nation's Veterans Top
Each year on Memorial Day we come together as a nation to pay tribute to the men and women who paid the ultimate price to protect our freedoms by laying wreaths at cemeteries, visiting memorials and participating in the national moment of remembrance. In addition to honoring our fallen service members, we must also honor those who have returned home from conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere bearing the physical and mental scars of war. One way to honor our veterans is to ensure they receive the care they were promised and deserve by enacting legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health car funding system. President Obama proposed a strong $5.4 billion increase for veterans' health care in his budget request, which should be enough to meet the expected health care needs of America's 24 million veterans. While great strides have been made to increase the level of funding for veterans' health care, there continues to be significant delays in receiving those funds. Congress must act now and pass legislation that would provide these resources in a timely, predictable manner. As National Legislative Director of the 1.2 million-member Disabled American Veterans and a disabled veteran myself, I know well the challenges VA medical directors face when they don't know the level of funding they will receive or when they will receive it. Unable to hire new staff and medical personnel without a budget in place, VA health care facilities are often short-staffed, causing veterans to wait longer to schedule appointments, wait longer to see medical personnel and have shorter visits with health care providers. Late budgets also delay facility maintenance, equipment replacement and technological upgrades. The funding delays have become chronic. In fact, VA's budget has been late 19 out the last 22 years. Personnel shortages could be prevented, new equipment purchased and building maintenance and modernization projects completed efficiently if Congress simply delivered the VA's budget on time every year. In February, a bipartisan coalition of Senators and Representatives introduced the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, legislation that would authorize an advance appropriation for veterans medical care programs. Simply put, an advance appropriation allows Congress to decide how much money to allocate to veterans health care one year before VA needs and receives those funds. This no-cost solution would allow VA administrators and directors sufficient time to plan ahead, knowing in advance when their budget will arrive and its amount. On Thursday, this critical legislation cleared a major hurdle when the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs unanimously approved it. The House Veterans Affairs Committee is expected to take up the bill next month. And we are encouraged by President Obama's support for the proposal, which he reaffirmed in public comments last month. We believe that one of the best ways to pay tribute to those who have fallen this Memorial Day is to properly care for the living. Looking ahead, we encourage Congress to do its part and pass the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act this year.
 
Robert Naiman: NYT: Taliban Offer Afghan Peace Plan Top
With the passage of the war supplemental by the Senate, President Obama and Congress are "doubling down" on war in Afghanistan. Are we - and the Afghan people - doomed to endure many more years of war? There is no reason that we need be, according to yesterday's New York Times , which reports that talks between Taliban leaders and Afghan government representatives have accelerated since Obama's election, and that Afghan officials say they have the tacit blessing of Washington for the talks. Furthermore, the demands being put forward by the Taliban in the negotiations appear, on the face of it, to be eminently reasonable. Daoud Abedi, one of the intermediaries in the talks, told the Times he had hammered out a common set of demands between the Taliban and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's group. The groups agreed to stop fighting if those conditions were met, Abedi said. The first demand was an immediate pullback of American and other foreign forces to their bases, followed by a cease-fire and a total withdrawal from the country over the next 18 months. Then the current government would be replaced by a transitional government made up of a range of Afghan leaders, including those of the Taliban and other insurgents. Americans and other foreign soldiers would be replaced with a peacekeeping force drawn from predominantly Muslim nations, with a guarantee from the insurgent groups that they would not attack such a force. Nationwide elections would follow after the Western forces left. Is there anything here which appears unreasonable on its face? - Pullback to bases: this was a demand of the Iraqi government, which the US eventually agreed to a version of. - Cease-fire: a standard element of any peace plan. - Timetable for US withdrawal - in Iraq, the US agreed to a timetable for withdrawal. - Transitional government including insurgent leaders: another standard feature of peace agreements. - Replacement of Western troops by peacekeepers from Muslim nations: eminently reasonable. Note that many Muslim nations who might be willing to contribute to such a force have very close relations with the United States. - Guarantee from insurgents not to attack such a force: obviously, a pre-condition of such a force being deployed; Muslim nations wouldn't deploy their forces unless they believed such guarantees were credible, and if the Taliban reneged on such a deal, it would hurt them very badly politically. Moreover, the Taliban have adhered to similar agreements made in the past, mediated by Pakistan. - Nationwide elections after departure of Western forces - who could be against that? A standard principle of UN decolonization is that elections should not take place under the auspices of occupying powers. The Taliban also demand the end of US drone attacks in Pakistan. But since even counterinsurgency expert David Kilcullen says the drone attacks are doing the US more harm than good , and since according to Pakistan they are killing more civilians than militants, it's hard to see why this should be a deal-breaker. The talks are significant because they suggest how a political settlement may be able to end the eight-year-old war, the Times says. Of course, all this is one-half of the negotiation: the Taliban demands. What's missing for an agreement are the US demands. The US is sure to demand, at the very least, a guarantee from the Taliban about Afghanistan not being a base for attacks on the US; past statements from Taliban officials suggest that such a guarantee might not be very hard to obtain in the context of an agreement. But in any event, the fact that the Taliban are making reasonable demands ought to focus attention on the need for the Obama Administration to get serious about supporting inside-Afghanistan diplomacy. The signaled position of the Obama Administration has been: we're not in any hurry for talks, because we want to bloody the Taliban first, so they'll be more flexible in negotiations. But if the Taliban are already being flexible, perhaps we could skip over the bloodying part - given that for every bloodied Taliban, there are going to be fifty bloodied Afghan civilians - and move straight to meaningful negotiations. More on Afghanistan
 
Edwin D. Hill: Making Sure Green Jobs are Good Jobs Top
With more than $50 billion in federal stimulus money going to training and investment in the renewable energy sector, green-collar jobs look to be a bright spot of growth amidst stunningly high unemployment. According to one study , green jobs are expected to grow at an annual rate of 1.3 million through 2030. This could be great news for our economy and the American worker, but the reality is there's no guarantee that green jobs will automatically be good jobs. Even before the current economic crisis, our country endured more than 20 years of the Wal-Mart model of job growth - low-wage, low-skill and no-future jobs that contributed to the mess we're in now, expanding the gap between the very rich and the rest of us. A job in the new green energy economy can't just be another dead-end "McJob" that keeps our economy stuck in the past, especially in today's recession. We need to build careers that can expand opportunity, drive economic recovery and rebuild a middle class devastated by declining wages and plant shutdowns. And we can't do it on the cheap. Whether we are talking about installing solar panels, wiring wind turbines or retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency, green power requires a highly-trained electrical work force that can do the job professionally and safely. Unfortunately there still exists a culture in both corporate America and on Capitol Hill that prioritizes short-term profits over paying their employees a decent wage or investing in educational and training opportunities that would increase productivity over the long run. The financial support President Obama and Congress have thrown behind green-job training is an important first step in the right direction, but it's only the beginning. If we want to lay the foundation for economic recovery and a renewed middle class, while positioning ourselves as leaders in the new energy economy, we need to make sure we are investing in the men and women who will make the green-collar revolution happen. For nearly a decade, my union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers , has taken the lead on renewable energy, providing the curriculum, instructors and facilities necessary to train a generation of green-energy workers. As the same time we provide the best training in the industry to our members, we are also making sure green-collar workers and their families can find a place in the middle class by guaranteeing good wages, benefits and retirement security in exchange for their hard work. Green energy offers our country not only the opportunity to lower our carbon footprint, but a chance to resurrect the economic model of shared prosperity that built our middle class in the first place. Political leaders from Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have already seen up close what our training centers and union can offer the renewable energy sector and working families. Our doors are open to anyone who wants to see it for themselves. More on Green Energy
 
Cow Dung Bricks: Indonesia's Greener Building Solution Top
The Indonesian organization was set up earlier this year to tackle the problem of excessive waste in farming areas. From this, the ecological and economical solution of the Cow Dung Brick was born. There's no visible difference between a traditional brick and the dung brick--and before you ask, there's no smell either. More on Animals
 
Israel Planning Nasrallah Assassination: Hezbollah Top
Everyone in Lebanon has been noticing how Hezbollah's rhetoric has been heating up lately. More on Lebanon
 
Colorado Third Grader Organizes Rally For Gay Marriage (VIDEO) Top
A few days ago, I posted on the latest advertisement from anti-gay Mummenschantz troupe National Organization for Marriage, which suggested that the children -- THE CHILDREN! -- were all terribly confused by gay marriage, maybe because the adults trying to explain it them were the people from the National Organization for Marriage, maybe? Who liken gay marriage to tornadoes that threaten small businesses and priests, or something? Yeah, I'd be confused, too! I saw this video of Ethan McNamee, a third-grader from Denver, Colorado, who organized his own rally in support of same-sex marriage, and if you ask me, he comes across as pretty coherent! Here's McNamee's story, via the local ABC News affiliate : Ethan McNamee arranged the rally as an independent class project. He was concerned about the issue after hearing about anti-gay remarks on the playground and then learning about a same sex couple in his neighborhood that couldn't get married. "Everybody is different in a good way," he said. Ethan believes that if two people love each other that is the only issue to be considered. Ethan took it upon himself to arrange the rally and line up the guest speakers. He admitted it was more work then he thought it would be, but adds it was fun. [WATCH] [Would you like to follow me on Twitter ? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here .] More on Video
 
Obama Signs Law Curbing Surprise Credit Card Fees Top
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama warned overeager shoppers and greedy credit card companies alike on Friday to act responsibly as he signed into law a bill designed to protect debt-ridden consumers from surprise charges. The White House staged a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden, an indication of the legislation's importance to Obama. Though opposed by many financial companies, the bill cleared Congress with broad support. Obama made clear that he didn't champion the changes with the intention of helping those who buy more than they can afford through "reckless spending or wishful thinking." "Some get in over their heads by not using their heads," the president said. "I want to be clear: We do not excuse or condone folks who've acted irresponsibly." And yet, he said, for many of the millions of Americans, trying to get out of debt has been made difficult and bewildering by their credit card companies. Nearly 80 percent of Americans have credit cards and half of those carry a balance, according to the White House. The Federal Reserve estimates the nation is some $2.5 trillion in debt, a figure that does not include home mortgages. Obama said many people have gotten "trapped" because of the downturn in the economy that has turned family budgets on their heads. But, he said, "part of it is the practices of the credit card companies." He criticized policies that allowed for confusing fine print; the sudden appearance of unexplained fees on bills; unannounced shifts in payment deadlines, interest charges or rate increases even when payments aren't late; and payments directed to balances with the lowest interest rates rather than the highest. "We're here to put a change to all that," Obama said. One part of the bill Obama did not publicly celebrate at the signing, a gun amendment. The measure by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., allows people to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges. The addition of the amendment to the bill _ and Obama's acceptance of it _ was viewed as a bitter disappointment for gun-control advocates. They watched gun-rights supporters gain a victory from a Democratic-controlled Congress and a Democratic president that they couldn't achieve under a Republican Congress and president. Many blamed the National Rifle Association, which pushed hard for the gun law. Democrats lawmakers and aides said they didn't have enough time to send the bill to the House-Senate conference committee _ where the gun provision could have been removed without a vote _ and still get the bill to Obama by the Memorial Day weekend as he requested. The new credit card rules, which go into effect in nine months, prohibit companies from giving cards to people under 21 unless they can prove they have the means to pay the debt or a parent or guardian co-signs. A customer also will have to be more than 60 days behind on a payment before seeing a rate increase on an existing balance. Even then, the lender will be required to restore the previous, lower rate if the cardholder pays the minimum balance on time for six months. And consumers also will have to receive 45 days' notice and an explanation before their interest rates increase. Despite being touted as a victory for consumers, financial experts said the bill could have unintended consequences as credit card companies look for ways to make up for potential lost revenue. Those measures could include more cards with annual fees and the loss of a grace period before interest accrues, which would affect even those consumers who pay off their balance each month. Last year, the Nilson Report estimated that more than 700 million credit cards were in circulation in the United States. That's more than two cards for every man, woman and child. The president noted that nearly half of all Americans carry a balance on their credit cards, and that their average balance is more than $7,000. Obama decried the "uneasy, unstable dependence" that a minority of card users have on credit. "So we're not going to give people a free pass, and we expect consumers to live within their means and pay what they owe," Obama said. "But we also expect financial institutions to act with the same sense of responsibility that the American people aspire to in their own lives." More on Barack Obama
 
Janet Murguía: Historic Credit Card Legislation: First Step in Meaningful Credit Card Reform Top
This afternoon, President Obama signed a credit card bill to end abusive practices by credit card companies. This is an historic moment in our nation, since this is the first credit card reform legislation that has ever been passed by our government. It is a victory for Americans, a drop of hope in a pool of significant financial losses that we've suffered. NCLR commends lawmakers and the President for standing up for American families with a strong and meaningful credit card reform bill that protects consumers from the credit card industry's traps and tricks. Credit cards are not the first thing that you think of when considering civil rights, yet this is an issue of incredible importance to the Latino community in the U.S. In today's tough economy, hardworking families are relying on their credit cards more than ever, and Latinos are no exception to this trend. For Latino households, it's not about keeping up with the Joneses anymore, it's about making ends meet. Many Hispanic Americans depend on credit cards to cover unexpected expenses that could cripple a family's well-being, such as emergency trips to the pediatrician for a sick child or, car repairs that allow workers to commute and earn a living. And for those who have lost their jobs in this brutal economy, credit cards may be the only tool left to help families to put food on the table. Today's new law takes on some of the credit card industry's most unfair practices that have kept many Latino families in cycles of debt. The law prevents credit card companies from arbitrarily raising interest rates and from raising rates on existing balances when a consumer has been late on other, unrelated bills. Although this is a great first step, we must be clear that this law alone will not solve all of the credit card industry's issues. Credit cards were intended to be instruments to build credit history and manage household debt, not deceptive tools that compound and sustain financial loss. We need to encourage the credit card industry to build new systems that restore credit cards to their original purpose: providing a bridge to build credit and supplying families with more options. While this law is expected to change the way credit cards do business, many Latino card users still struggle to access credit. Credit cards frequently introduce people to the world of credit, and often define credit profiles for a lifetime. For example, if a consumer new to credit, such as a student or immigrant, receives a subprime card as their first credit card, they become branded as "subprime." Other subprime card issuers will actively solicit their business, while companies offering the best-priced cards will overlook them. One subprime card common among Hispanic consumers, referred to as a "fee-harvester," offers low limits and is usually billed as a market-entry card. Few users realize, however, that introductory fees eat up more than half the balance before a purchase is even made. Barriers and challenges notwithstanding, credit cards are an important financial tool. Families use cards to build their credit history and open the door to large asset purchases, such as a car or a home, that have the potential to improve the household's financial security. Other families rely on cards to make ends meet or cover emergency expenses. As credit card companies rethink their product offerings to accommodate the new law (set to go into effect in February 2010), NCLR challenges card issuers to create products that truly help borrowers establish a sound credit history and a secure financial future. For more information, visit http://www.nclr.org. More on Interest Rates
 
Brazil Approves Extradition Of Israeli Rabbi Accused Of Burning Toddlers Top
BRASILIA, Brazil — The Brazilian government can extradite a fugitive rabbi to Israel where he is accused of burning and cutting toddlers as part of a purification ritual, the Supreme Court said Friday. Elior Noam Hen and several followers allegedly used knives, hammers and other instruments to abuse children 3 and 4 years old. He faces charges of child abuse, violence against minors and conspiracy. The Court found there was cause for Hen to stand trial for allegedly subjecting eight children to "intense physical and mental suffering because they were supposedly possessed by the devil." It voted unanimously late Thursday to grant the Brazilian government's request for his extradition, which is expected to be approved by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Attorneys for Hen could not immediately be reached. But the Court rejected defense arguments that Israeli courts do not have jurisdiction since the alleged crimes took place in the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit in February and March 2008. Judge Carlos Ayres Britto said Israel has jurisdiction under current treaties between Israel and the Palestine Authority. Hen's lawyers argued the treaties have expired and their client should not be handed to Israeli authorities. Hen, who allegedly acted with four other people, was arrested in Brazil in June 2008 after a 45-day manhunt. Police did not say how or when he and his family arrived in the country. The rabbi allegedly hit the children in the head and face and burned their hands, the court said. One child sustained permanent brain damage and is in a vegetative state. More on Israel
 
Drew Peterson Offered $25,000 To Have Wife Killed: Prosecutor Top
JOLIET, Ill. — Drew Peterson tried to hire someone to kill his third wife because he thought a pending divorce settlement would financially ruin him, then just months later she was found drowned in her bathtub with a gash to the back of her head, prosecutors said Friday. Will County State's Attorney James Glagow, who made the allegation at a hearing over a request to reduce Peterson's $20 million bond, told the judge that Peterson offered someone $25,000 to kill Kathleen Savio. Judge Carla J. Alessio-Policandriotes refused to reduce the bond for the suburban ex-cop, who is charged with first-degree murder in Savio's 2004 death. Peterson also is a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson. He has maintained his innocence in Savio's death and Stacy Peterson's disappearance. Glasgow said Peterson told a fellow police officer in late 2003 that he would be financially ruined by a pending divorce, and his life would be easier "if she was just dead." Glasgow said Savio's body was found in her bathtub three weeks later. Peterson hung his head as he left Friday's hearing, and got into a van to go back to jail. Glasgow told the judge that Peterson was a flight risk because he knew how to disappear and understood the seriousness of the charges. Peterson attorney Joel Brodsky said he wanted the judge to reduce his client's bond to under $500,000, arguing that since police named Peterson a suspect in Stacy Peterson's disappearance in late 2007, he has traveled to such places as Mexico, California and Florida without ever trying to flee. Brodsky said that he had heard talk about Peterson hiring someone to kill Savio, but said it was "nothing substantive." He added that they would investigate the prosecutor's allegations on the murder plot.
 

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