Tuesday, May 12, 2009

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Former Deputy Sheriff Suspected In Father-Son Bank Robberies Top
WHEATON, Ill. (AP) -- Federal authorities say a 51-year-old man being held without bond for allegedly being part of a father-and-son bank robbery team is a disgraced former DuPage County deputy sheriff who was convicted in 1986 of stealing inmate bond money. Louis Howard Early, who now lives in upstate New York, waived his right to a preliminary hearing on his return to Illinois on May 1. Early and his son, 26-year-old Louis S. Early of Lisle, are accused of stealing about $70,000 from two banks in Naperville and Wheaton two months ago. Louis S. Early is free on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. The father and son face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Their attorneys did not return weekend telephone calls from the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald. -ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
James William Kilgore: Ex-Symbionese Liberation Army Fugitive Begins Parole In Illinois Top
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A former member of the Symbionese Liberation Army has arrived in Illinois to serve his parole from a California prison. Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman Derek Schnapp says James William Kilgore checked in with his parole officer Tuesday morning. Schnapp says he can't say where Kilgore is. Kilgore served a six-year sentence for the murder of a California woman during a 1975 bank robbery. The SLA was known for a string of crimes in the 1970s, including bank robberies and the kidnapping of newspaper heiress Patty Hearst. Kilgore, who is 61, eluded arrest longer than any other SLA fugitive. Kilgore's wife, Teresa Barnes, is an associate professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.
 
Big Tent Brew: GOP Group Launching Own Beer Top
It's a dark beverage with a fruity taste, made with Belgian candy sugar. And it stands for lower taxes and smaller government.
 
Jamie Court: Health Reform Debate Turning Into Bailout Of Insurance Industry Top
It's hard not to read the new US Senate Finance Committee paper laying out policy options for health care reform as anything but a bailout of the HMO and insurance industry. The paper has lots of policy options for the pivotal Committee, the architect of reform, to consider -- like whether there should be a public option to the private market and whether employers should be required to pay for health care. But there's one given for which there's no choice. Every American will have to show proof they have a health insurance policy on their tax returns by the year 2013. Convenient, isn't it, that's one year after the presidential election. Okay, so the starting point for reform is that Americans have to purchase a policy from an HMO industry that has t reated them horrifically . After that, the committee will make choices. Should employers with more than $500,000 have to pay something for coverage? Should Americans have a public health care option to choose from? Should health care benefits be taxed at some level? Initially, though, Senator Baucus, chair of the Finance Committee, t he largest Democratic recipient of HMO money on the Hill , can make the call that individuals will have to pay for a private policy no matter what other choices are made. It's hardly "shared responsibility," it's saving a souless industry on the backs of the American people. Mandatory purchases of private insurance policies without offering a public alternative to the private market is nothing other than a bailout for HMOs -- whose greed, waste and indifference to our health have created the current mess. There's no mention of cost-cutting in the Senate Finance document either -- no regulation of HMO premiums, no limits on how much consumers will have to pay out of their own pocket in co-pays or deductibles. That's what yesterday's charade at the White House with insurers, drug makers, doctors, and device makers was all about. The medical-insurance complex promised to voluntary cut $2 trillion over 10 years from health care costs without any specifics as to how because the bill for the taxpayers' share of the HMO industry bailout is about $1.5 trillion. Take it on faith the industry's efforts fighting obesity, coordinating care, and streamlinig paperwork will save enough money. Isn't that what HMOs promised a decade ago? The Finance proposal laudably expands Medicaid and offers subsidies to lower income individuals to buy private policies. But it doesn't demand anything from the HMOs in return. Those same low income individuals could do much better in a public health plan like Medicare that has 2% overhead rather than 25% for the private market. And taxpayers could save a lot of money avoiding the private market. President Obama said during the campaign that he was opposed to mandatory purchases of private insurance, but new Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebilius said recently the president was willing to consider the mandatory purchase notion. If the White House truly believes the cornerstone of universal health care reform is forcing Americans to buy HMO policies without cost regulation or public alternatives, the fact that individuals won't have to provide proof on their tax returns until 2013 won't save Obama his presidency in 2012. It's time to get tough in Washington on the HMO industry rather than pretending their cooperation is going to get the nation the affordable health care Obama promised during the campaign. Having a health insurance policy today, particularly a cheap one, is no guarantee you will receive health care when you need it. The Senate should focus on making health insurance a real promise of health care before making it mandatory. Next, we understand the Senate Finance Committee is going into closed-door session to debate the options in the policy paper. Perhaps Baucus and his caucus worry that if the details are aired publicly the public might understand the depth of the problems with letting HMOs and private insurers voluntarily make health care affordable and available. There's a moment now to do health care reform right. It's up to the White House to prove that there's another business besides show business in Washington, DC. Otherwise, in the end, the American people will cast their review and it won't be pretty.
 
Oil Prices Rising: Are Speculators Back In Action? Top
Many are asking the question about oil prices: Is this deja vu all over again? Didn't we just go through a several-year run-up in prices based largely not on fundamentals, but on traders bidding them up, ultimately to $147 a barrel? Only then to see them plunge to $32 a barrel?
 
Jon Burge Won't Testify At Cortez Brown Trial: Judge Top
CHICAGO (AP) -- Former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge won't testify at a hearing for an inmate who wants a new trial and claims he was tortured into confessing murder by Burge's police unit. A Florida judge refused to issue a subpoena Tuesday requiring Burge, who lives in Florida, to testify at Cortez Brown's evidentiary hearing Monday. That's according to Brown's attorney Locke Bowman. A Hillsborough County judge says it's unnecessary for Burge to travel to Chicago and plead the Fifth Amendment. Last month, a Cook County judge said Burge's testimony is needed and requested the subpoena. Brown claims he's innocent of two 1990 murders for which he was convicted. Burge allegedly lied under oath about torture in a civil lawsuit. -ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
Obama's Political Arm Enters Health Care Fray Top
A first shot, of sorts, is being fired in the Obama-era battle for health care reform. Organizing for America, President Obama's political arm, is blasting out an email to its massive list of supporters urging them to join an "Organizing for Health Care" campaign. The message emphasizes Obama's "three bedrock principles" for reform -- reduce costs, guarantee choice, and "ensure affordable care for all" -- and presses the president's "hard goal" of getting a health overhaul passed into law by the end of this year. Read the full email below, authored by Mitch Stewart, the executive director of OFA. * * * * * Monday morning, an unlikely gathering of health care industry and union leaders emerged from the White House, announcing a historic agreement to lower medical costs and save the average family up to $2,500. This kind of broad coalition would have been unthinkable in the past, when the old politics of division and short-term self interest held sway. But this is a new day. Yesterday afternoon, President Obama announced the three bedrock principles that any comprehensive health care reform must achieve: (1) reduce costs, (2) guarantee choice, and (3) ensure all Americans have quality, affordable health care. And he set a hard goal for getting it done by the end of this year. For those determined to oppose reform, the President's announcement means lobbyists are already scrambling across D.C. For the rest of us, it means there's no time to lose. As we speak, Congress is negotiating the details for health care reform, so the first step is showing where the American people stand. Please click below to sign a declaration of support urging Congress to follow President Obama's three core principles for health care reform -- and to enact them before the end of this year: http://my.barackobama.com/OrganizingforHealthcare (The more signatures we have, the more powerful our message will be, so please add your name and then forward this note on to family and friends.) The health care crisis is not new, but it's getting worse. For decades, real health care reform has been blocked by special interest lobbying and political point-scoring. We simply cannot go any further down this dangerous road of delay and denial. But we don't have to. Yesterday's agreement marks only the beginning of the broad coalition we need. The most important reason this round of health care reform will be different is you. Last fall millions of regular people came together and did the impossible. Now, we've got to roll up our sleeves, join hands with those new to our movement, and do it again. Congress is already hammering out the details of the health care package, and it could still go any number of ways. Our representatives need to understand that when the President lays out these three bedrock principles, Americans of every stripe are standing with him. Yesterday's diverse gathering was a powerful start -- and now it's up to us. It's time to stand up. Please sign the declaration of support today: http://my.barackobama.com/OrganizingforHealthcare Reducing costs, guaranteeing choice, and ensuring care for all are ambitious goals, but they are nothing less than what the American people deserve. And passing real health care reform this year is nothing less than what the American people need. Thank you, Mitch Mitch Stewart Director Organizing for America P.S. -- Here are some excerpts from the President's announcement yesterday that lay out the three principles for health care reform and why we need it this year. Please forward this note to people who want to know where the President stands. President Obama: "In the coming weeks and months, Congress will be engaged in the difficult issue of how best to reform health care in America. I'm committed to building a transparent process where all views are welcome. But I'm also committed to ensuring that whatever plan we design upholds three basic principles: First, the rising cost of health care must be brought down; second, Americans must have the freedom to keep whatever doctor and health care plan they have, or to choose a new doctor or health care plan if they want it; and third, all Americans must have quality, affordable health care. "These are principles that I expect to see upheld in any comprehensive health care reform bill that's sent to my desk -- I mentioned it to the groups that were here today. It's reform that is an imperative for America's economic future, and reform that is a pillar of the new foundation we seek to build for our economy; reform that we can, must, and will achieve by the end of this year. "Ultimately, the debate about reducing costs -- and the larger debate about health care reform itself -- is not just about numbers; it's not just about forms or systems; it's about our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. And I understand that. As I've mentioned before during the course of the campaign, my mother passed away from ovarian cancer a little over a decade ago. And in the last weeks of her life, when she was coming to grips with her own mortality and showing extraordinary courage just to get through each day, she was spending too much time worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills. So I know what it's like to see a loved one who is suffering, but also having to deal with a broken health care system. I know that pain is shared by millions of Americans all across this country. "And that's why I was committed to health care reform as a presidential candidate; that's why health care reform is a key priority to this presidency; that's why I will not rest until the dream of health care reform is finally achieved in the United States of America." Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
Shannyn Moore: Sarah Palin Signs Book Deal Top
Governor Sarah Palin has signed a book deal with Harper Collins for a memoir due out in the Spring of 2010. Her fee has not been disclosed. She doesn't want the money to distract from the content. Palin said, "The idea is to focus on the content of the book and what's coming in terms of me being able to tell my story unrestrained and unfiltered." "It will be nice to put my journalism degree to work on this and get to tell my story, Alaska's story. There have been so many unauthorized books and publications that have spoken to somebody else's opinion of who I am, what my family represents and what Alaska is all about," Palin said in an interview earlier today. It was reported she was getting an $11 million advance. She denied the amount. It flies in the face of having a legal defense fund. With last weeks poll number showing a slide and disconnect from Alaskans, Sarah Palin may have to do some journalism to really get to the heart of "Alaska's story." You betcha! Any guesses for a title? Alaska law is clear about outside employment of public employees: "A public employee may not render services to benefit a personal or financial interest or engage in or accept employment outside the agency which the employee serves, if the outside employment or service is incompatible or in conflict with the proper discharge of official duties." Harper Collins will pay her more than the governor's paycheck. Which one will she pick? More on Sarah Palin
 
Some US Soldiers Forced To Steal Water From Private Contractors In Iraq Top
Stories of short supplies for American forces in Iraq, such as inadequate body armor or unshielded Hummers, have been around since the war began. CBS affiliate KHOU-TV in Houston has discovered that some soldiers were forced to ration water, perhaps as little as 2-3 liters per day, because there was never enough. More on War Wire
 
Holly Cara Price: Rubbernecking: Charm School with Ricki Lake, Season Premiere Top
The third season of Charm School is ready to introduce its new students. Loyal viewers of this series (I hate to imagine, but there must be some out there) will recall that the first season of CS was hosted by the bodacious Mo'Nique , who was replaced the following season by Sharon Osbourne . This time the school bell rings with Ricki Lake as the headmistress, and the school deans are now Alani "La La" Vazquez (host of TRL and the reunion shows for Real Chance at Love and Flavor of Love ) and Stryker (host of radio show Loveline ). As in previous seasons, the show's contestants are made up of the loser skanks from other VH1 dating series (for the first time, Bret Michaels ' cast-offs are joined by those who didn't win in Real Chance at Love ). The fourteen contestants are supposed to undergo a transformation, and the one who makes herself over the best into a proper young lady wins $100K after ten weeks. The bus pulls up to Charm School loaded with a plethora of hot messes. We've got Marcia , the lush from Brazil; Natasha , the girlboy; Brittaney Star , the ex-porn star; Beverly , the angry drunk single mother; Brittanya , the girl gang cheek stud babe (who's out on bail for the show); and Ashley , the chesty slutty stripper with the potty mouth. And that's only a few of them. As soon as they possibly can, the girls all head for the open bar set up on the outside lawn and a few of them get sloppy drunk even before the pin ceremony when they formally meet Ricki and the Charm School deans. The thrust of this season is charity work - giving back to society. The first challenge is to donate their clothing to a charitable organization that does work with AIDS patients. The big drama for the first episode is Brittaney Star and Beverly who are oil and water; attacking each other verbally and, in Beverly 's case, physically. After yanking Brittaney 's hair, Beverly is expelled - even before the first elimination. She drunkenly staggers down the hall, out the door, and back to her sorry life. Meanwhile, the girls have a mixer out by the pool - only no one is mixing. The Rock of Love Bus Girls are guzzling down hard liquor and getting loud and crazy. The Real Chance at Love Girls are sitting primly in a corner of the yard, watching the other girls askance. Says Bay Bay Bay , "The Rock of Love girls make us look like angels." The girls each meet with Ricki and the two deans, who then decide who will make Dean's List and who will be in the Hall of Detention. The Dean's List girls are exempt from elimination and the other girls are herded to another room to vote on which of them gets called on the carpet. Long story short, Gia is sent home since she's been slurping the silly sauce for hours and literally cannot stand up. She stumbles outside crying and has pretty much a breakdown outside the building, screaming with mascara streaking all over her face. According to the VH1 blog, this season was far more intense than any previous 51 Minds production for the channel (other shows by 51 Minds are Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love New York, The Surreal Life, For the Love of Ray J, I Love Money ). One girl even said that, rather than go through this show again, "I'd rather eat my own face." Should be a wild ride. So far, besides the above mentioned histrionics, Brittaney Star tells Ricki she wants to empower women by directing porn; Bubbles confides that her deepest wish is to do cartoon voices; and Ashley sagely advises another girl to adjust her boobs so that they literally pop out of the top of her uniform. Charm School is back in session. See Charm School with Ricki Lake on VH1 Monday nights at 9pm. Read more of Holly Cara Price 's ruminations on the slings and arrows of outrageous pop culture at Snoop* Du Jour .
 
Miss California Carrie Prejean Lingerie Modeling Footage (VIDEO) Top
Miss California Carrie Prejean and Donald Trump emphasized her beauty and successful modeling career at Tuesday's press conference , and now E! has uncovered some footage of her pre-scandal days from their own network. Last year Prejean modeled lingerie for the network's pre-Oscar "Countdown to the Red Carpet." Dressed in a bra, underwear and stilettos, Prejean shared the screen with Ben Lyons, Debbie Matenopoulos and Kim Kardashian. WATCH: More on Miss California
 
Christina Bellantoni: Sen. Boxer to Obama: Nominate a woman Top
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs opined a bit today on President Obama's Supreme Court selection, telling reporters it is a decision "he alone will make," adding he doesn't think the the lobbying of interest groups will help and might even be "counterproductive." But this afternoon, Sen. Barbara Boxer urged her political supporters via Twitter to sign a petition asking Obama appoint a woman to the post. (Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican, also co-signed a letter with Boxer to push for a female nominee.) "We need a Supreme Court that is more representative of all Americans, so that its decisions better reflect the diversity of life experiences and points-of-view in America," the Boxer petition reads . "Please nominate a well-qualified woman to take Justice Souter's seat on the Court." Gibbs also said press speculation about Obama's so-called "short list" for the Supreme Court nomination doesn't include everyone he is considering for replacing retiring Justice David Souter. "The president does take some heart in knowing that in all of the lists that have been seen and produced, there hasn't yet been one produced with the totality of names by which -- under which are being considered," Gibbs said. Gibbs said Obama does not want "to drag names through and vet names through the public," and suggested the process would be as secretive as the vice presidential selection was handled over the summer. The president will host several key senators at the White House tomorrow to discuss the nomination process, and Gibbs said he wasn't sure if Obama would run his preferred names by them. He did add that some lawmakers have asked Obama to consider specific candidates.   —  Christina Bellantoni , White House correspondent,  The Washington Times Please track  my blog's  RSS feed  here . Find my latest stories  here , follow me on  Twitter  and visit my  YouTube page . More on Supreme Court
 
Kevin Smokler: The Shelf Talker: Butterscotch, and Prairie Home Companion Top
Welcome to the Shelf Talker, a regular rundown of news, gossip and recommendations from and about authors on tour. Send alerts, utterances and passed notes to TST@booktour.com . Or glance at 140 characters on Twitter ( @book_tour ). On the road: ( New format this week. Don't panic ). Book: Notes on Sontag , a collection of short essays on late, great public brain, Susan Sontag . Part of Princeton University Press's New Authors on Authors (aka Orgasms on Buttered Toast) Series. Author: Philip Lopate , essayist, poet, professional smart person and object of TST's unbridled envy. Whereabouts: : Mr. Lopate will be doing a respectable sweep of hamlets (NYC, Chicago, DC, Boston, LA) and college towns (Princeton, Bennington, VT) through May and June, landing primarily at bookstores of some renown ( Politics and Prose , Book Soup ) and libraries. His appearance at the ALOUD series in Los Angeles is butterscotch atop this pile of literary catnip. Why Go: How does literary catnip sound to you? TST is still dizzy from chasing its tail across the kitchen. Book: The Servant's Quarters (novel). Concerns a 20-year love affair between the daughter of a fallen South African aristocrat and the nephew of a disfigured WWII pilot, who has taken up with the daughter's mother. Blurbs from Amy Tan and Anne Lamott . Author: Lynn Freed . Six novels in and still incapable of producing work that isn't elegant, wise, and ridiculously sexy. Ms. Freed once called TST "darling" at an event. I believe we fainted soon after. Whereabouts: Sticking mostly to California this tour, Ms. Freed's got an errant date in St. Paul, MN at Common Good Books on June 4th, which we hope to double as an effort to naughty up Prairie Home Companion . Why Go: Never mind TST would watch Lynn Freed read the back of a soup can. Give her 10 minutes and she'd have that soup can speaking Dutch and flirting with a bag of soda crackers. Simply one of the classiest acts in contemporary literature. Makes you feel smarter just hanging around. Book: The Great Perhaps , novelistic biography of a very weird Chicago family. Set immediately after the opening shots of the Iraq war. Author: Joe Meno . Chicagoan, Raconteur, Professor . Used to write a bunch for the dearly departed Punk Planet , who published his first novel ( Great Perhaps is his fifth), which means he's cooler that we'll ever be. Meaning he doesn't need to know that TST just bought tickets to see Night Ranger this summer (too late). Whereabouts : Meno's doing one of those quick-hit-at-ultra-awesome bookstore jaunts in LA, Portland, Seattle and NYC next month. We missed this tour's debut at Quimby's in Chicago, the bookstore we curl up with when falling asleep. Seeing Meno there is probably like welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem. If Jesus wore a T-shirt of a band you've never heard of, a band we're naming To Walk on Water with Anger. Why go : TST's never read Meno but feels like he's one of the rare authors who'd be interesting to know before reading him. Unlike another Chicagoan like Saul Bellow, simultaneously a genius, a dreadful bore, and probably a worse dresser than Joe Meno. Never mind Meno and Bellow rhyme. We know who we want to trade vinyl with. Overheard: This edition brought to you by the literary treatlets of the city of Los Angeles, where TST just spent a lovely weekend with friends and family. EsoTouric : "intelligent, unpredictable rides into the secret heart of the city we love" the gang behind this bus tour guide company described themselves. That includes mouth watering literary excursions like John Fante's Dreams from Bunker Hill , a pair of outings about Raymond Chandler and (stop it right now), a one-in-a-while-tour called "James Ellroy Digs L.A" with the author himself aboard the bus. Fainting again. Inside the Story: a new series "founded by culture fanatics who were unhappy with the ever dwindling number of exciting and thought provoking cultural programs in the Los Angeles area." So they've set out to offer what they hope will be an "an amazing array of classes and events in literature, music, film history and the visual arts with top scholars in their fields." And they may only last one season because we've just married all three of them. Zocalo Public Square : The rock and rollier Inside the Story. Public conversations and debate on culture and important civic and political issues. All videod and podcasted to high heaven which means we can worship from afar. A lecture junkie's smack. And we just found a free vain. Overlooked: TST needs another book about how great reading is and how little time we have to do it like we need a case of athlete's foot. Under our eyelids. Which is why we were so pleased to make the acquaintance of Tanya Egan Gibson and her second novel, the wicked, sassy How to Buy a Love of Reading . To our understanding, its a send up of the cultural gravitas and puffery we attach to books, seen through the story of a teenage girl whose wealthy parents commission a novel about her in order to land grant her bibliophilia. Hilarity ensues. If it isn't obvious already, TST believes that if you truly love books, you allow them the dignity of being taken less seriously. Or regard them as sites of hedonism, playfulness, and joy. We don't know if this was Ms. Gibson's intention but we're eager to visit her ( May and June in New York and Northern California ), then read and find out.
 
Sarah Palin Book Deal: Memoir To Come Next Year Top
NEW YORK — You knew it was coming: Sarah Palin is ready to tell her side, agreeing to publish a memoir with HarperCollins. The book comes out in Spring 2010 _ the year she is up for re-election. "There's been so much written about and spoken about in the mainstream media and in the anonymous blogosphere world, that this will be a wonderful, refreshing chance for me to get to tell my story, that a lot of people have asked about, unfiltered," the Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate said during a brief telephone interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. Palin's memoir, currently untitled, will cover her personal and political life, from her childhood in Alaska and last year's campaign to her political beliefs and her family life, including the pregnancy of her teenage daughter, Bristol Palin, who gave birth in December to a baby boy, Tripp. (She and the baby's father, Levi Johnston, have since ended their relationship.) "In fairness to my family, this is going be a good opportunity for them, too, because there have been so many misperceptions out there about who we are and what we believe in, and I'm excited to get to put my journalism degree to work and tell my story as it relates to my family," said Palin, 45, who in 1987 graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in journalism. Palin declined to name any specific misunderstandings and avoided detailed comments about her family, her political aspirations or about the divide in the Republican Party between moderates and conservatives, a divide her vice presidential run helped widen. A Palin book has been rumored virtually from the time the election ended. Although Republicans Sen. John McCain and Palin were easily beaten by Democrats Barack Obama and Joseph Biden, Palin emerged a favorite among conservatives, an object of tabloid gossip and _ as the only candidate in the race who had never written a memoir _ a natural for a publishing deal. The book will be co-released by the HarperCollins imprint Harper and, for the Christian market, by the HarperCollins-owned Zondervan, which publishes "The Purpose Driven Life" author Rick Warren, among others. A memoir (or two) have become a virtual requirement for White House seekers, especially after Obama's "The Audacity of Hope" and "Dreams From My Father" established him as a stylist and storyteller with a vast following. Although Palin denied any presidential ambition during Tuesday's interview, she did pick the most presidential of literary representatives, Washington attorney Robert Barnett, to handle negotiations. Barnett's clients include Obama and former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. As he did when arranging a publisher for memoirs by Bush and Clinton, Barnett did not solicit competing bids, but chose to negotiate only with one publisher, HarperCollins, which Barnett praised for being "first and fervent in pursuing this project." Financial terms were not disclosed, but Palin was widely expected to get a multimillion-dollar contract. Barnett and Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham both declined to offer details. Palin's book will address, and complicate, the push-pull between home and public life. With the release date just one year away, the governor will have to work quickly. Barnett said that the governor has formed an outline in her mind, but has yet to start writing. Burnham said Palin did not submit any writing samples when she met with HarperCollins executives in Washington, earlier this year. She will work with a collaborator, to be determined. "She's obviously going to be engaged in the whole process of the book," said Burnham, adding that the role of the collaborator would depend on who was chosen. "Every word of the book will be her words," Barnett said. Palin and Burnham said the memoir will emphasize Palin's Alaskan upbringing, and the governor will talk about her "unpretentious" lifestyle. Burnham described the book as the story of an Alaskan encountering a national audience, "the soccer mom and the political operative, and how one became the other." Palin has never written a book and her critics, noting her disjointed CBS interviews with Katie Couric, have questioned whether she could. Two years ago, Palin told PBS' Charlie Rose that her favorite writers were C.S. Lewis ("very, very deep") and a Runner's World columnist, Dr. George Sheehan. Asked Tuesday about her reading, Palin mentioned that she "really enjoyed" Katharine Graham's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Personal History" and cited works by Obama, McCain and Bill Clinton, whose "My Life" she read "just recently." "Being a voracious reader, I read a lot today and have read a lot growing up. And having that journalism degree, all of that, will be a great assistance for me in writing this book, talking about the challenges and the joys, balancing the work and parenting, and, in my case, work means running the state," Palin said. "I've read a variety of books, and that helps shape my opinions and my views." More on Sarah Palin
 
Subprime Prosecution Stops Foreclosures But Lets Goldman Sachs Off Hook Top
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley won a victory against the Goldman Sachs Group Monday, forcing the financial firm to cut a $10 million check to the state and pony up $50 million to help around 700 homeowners pay subprime mortgages. "Goldman Sachs is pleased to have resolved this matter," says Michael DuVally, a Goldman spokesman, declining to comment further. They were also pleased, no doubt, by the terms in the settlement that allowed Goldman to avoid admitting any wrongdoing. Letting Goldman off excuses what could have been criminal behavior, but it also brings relief to hundreds of homeowners and offers a roadmap to some sort of law-enforcement-driven solution where lawmakers have come up short. Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he wouldn't "second guess" Coakley's decision to settle short of criminal convictions. "I don't know what other avenues she had available, but I will say this: Getting significant relief for 700 people is very important, both for them and for the economy. Now, that's a legitimate consideration in getting it done more quickly than waiting for a couple years to go through the criminal procedure," he tells the Huffington Post. Rep. Bill Delahunt was a Massachusetts District Attorney for 23 years. He said balancing immediate justice for victims with bringing the white-collar criminals to justice can be difficult. "You almost have to judge those on an ad hoc basis. There's no formula," he says in general, adding that he didn't know enough about Coakley's investigation to comment on her specific course of action. "Clearly, there's a preference to pursue them criminally because I think that creates deterrence," he says. "You know, it's difficult to deter a kid who's going to rob a 7-11 store for 25 bucks but for people who are purportedly educated, or at least sophisticated, who defraud others, they're more susceptible to being deterred." But the most sophisticated they are, the more they can drag out a prosecution. By the time they're found guilty, half the victims may be out on the street, their homes foreclosed. "It's not always a perfect world and you can't always secure the perfect justice," says Delahunt. "It would appear that our attorney general did some good work that resulted in a very significant sum of money for redress by their behavior." Frank agrees. "I can't tell exactly what the considerations were, but I'm inclined to think the value of getting immediate relief for 700 people and saving their homes, yeah, I'd trade off a little for that," he says. Goldman Sachs was not accused of originating the subprime loans in question, but rather investigated for facilitating the process by buying them and bundling them into securities without regard to whether the borrowers would be able to pay them back -- or whether the borrowers or originators had followed reasonable lending practices or filed the appropriate paperwork. "We will continue to investigate the deceptive marketing of unfair loans and the companies that facilitated the sale of those loans to consumers in the Commonwealth," Coakley said in a statement. (Coakley's press office did not return a call.) The state attorney general's office has previously pulled in more than $75 million from settlements with UBS, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, and Merrill Lynch, all related to the financial crisis. But the U.S. attorney general would have a hard time making a similar case nationally. Coakely relied on stricter rules on subprime lenders who make "unfair" loans under state law. Congressional Democrats hope to give the federal government the power some states now have. Last week, the House passed anti-predatory lending legislation that Coakley helped Frank's committee draft. "What we do in our bill is to go beyond any set of state laws," says Frank, citing a requirement that five percent of the loan portfolio be kept by the company that originates the loan. Having that amount of skin in the game, he hopes, will persuade a lender to take a loan seriously. The bill is now, like much else, stalled in the Senate. Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) says that subprime lending reform is a lesser priority because the credit freeze has inadvertently dried up the business. "That's true right now but we cannot count on that being true forever," says Frank. "You couldn't count on getting a non-predatory loan a little while ago and it is true that the freeze has helped some. That's true in some other areas as well. There aren't a lot of credit default swaps being written." But, says Frank, the financial industry won't have forgotten how to write a bad loan once the market thaws. "It is important to get laws on the books, because this de facto moratorium isn't going to last forever," he says. Ryan Grim is the author of the forthcoming book This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter! More on Goldman Sachs
 
Owen Fiss: The Example of America Top
President Obama should support providing legal remedies to those who were victims of torture. Such a stance would provide a measure of justice to the victims of torture and lend credence to President Obama's lofty rhetoric about the future. It would also bring to light constitutional abuses of the past eight years, and enable the public to confront and acknowledge the violations of the Constitution committed in their name. The President should support the judiciary in declaring -- in bold and clear terms -- hat the constitutional ban on torture applies to American officials and their instrumentalities wherever they act and against whomever they act. A special test of these principles is now pending before the Second Circuit. It involves Canadian citizen Maher Arar, who was taken into custody by U.S. officials at JFK airport in September 2002, and then transferred to Syria for interrogation under conditions of torture. At issue is the legality of the practice known as extraordinary rendition, the transportation of individuals suspected of terrorist activity to foreign countries for interrogation, sometimes torture. After a panel of three judges refused to reach the merits of Arar's claim, twelve judges of the Second Circuit, sitting en banc, reheard the case. They are expected to rule soon. And they should stand up for our constitutional values by making the judgments that the panel before them was unwilling to make. One reason that the three-judge panel avoided judgment was that Arar asked for monetary damages and a declaratory judgment that the law had been broken. On the first claim, the panel ruled that it did not have congressional authorization to give damages. Such a ruling seems odd in the extreme. It is not clear why Congress, a political body, must give the judiciary authorization before allowing damages for the violation of a constitutional right. More importantly, even if the panel's unwillingness to award damages is sound, the declaratory judgment claim remains unaffected. A declaratory judgment simply declares what the law is. It requires no congressional authorization and does not penalize any past act. It is an exercise of the core judicial function. It enables the judiciary to remove any lingering uncertainty as to the legality of extraordinary rendition, and thus to restore the sovereignty of the Constitution. Here, too, the Second Circuit three-judge panel hesitated and dismissed the declaratory judgment claim, this time on the theory that Arar lacked standing, the legal right of an individual to bring a lawsuit. To my mind, Arar suffered sufficient harm to meet the constitutional standing requirements. We all suffer when someone is tortured, because the basic law of the nation is compromised. But the victim of the rendition suffers in a distinct and very particularized way. His personal suffering constitutes an injury in fact and as such should entitle him to invoke the power of the federal judiciary. Arar has every incentive to make certain that the contentions of law and fact are vigorously presented. Moreover, the claim tendered -- that the government acted in violation of the Constitution -- respects the inherently legal function of the judiciary: to say what the law is. The declaratory judgment does not contain the material component of a damages award, but much like a damages award, it speaks both to the world and to the victim. It says to the world that the government violated basic norms of the legal order -- the Fifth and Eighth Amendments, which prohibit, respectively, deprivations of rights without due process and cruel and unusual punishment. It also addresses the rendition victim and tells him, in a direct and personal way, that he has been wronged -- high American officials violated the basic law of their nation in sending him to Syria for interrogation under conditions of torture. Such a statement may have as much meaning to the victim and give him as much satisfaction as an award of damages. It helps restore his self-worth. It speaks to his soul, not his pocketbook, but there is nothing in the Constitution that prioritizes the material over the spiritual. To read or listen to the lecture upon which this article is based, click here . More on Barack Obama
 
Tea Party Sequel Planned By Republican Governors Mark Sanford And Rick Perry Top
Hoping to recapture the grassroots energy of last month's "tea parties," Republican Govs. Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Rick Perry of Texas will host a tele-town hall Thursday that's being dubbed "Tea Party 2.0." The Republican Governors Association said it is expecting 30,000 people to participate in the town hall, which will take place roughly one month after the much-publicized anti-tax tea party rallies held in hundreds of locations across the country on April 15, the tax filing deadline. More on Rick Perry
 
Mari Gallagher: It's Not That Easy Being Green Top
At least, according to Kermit the Frog's woeful tune. Come hear an alternative viewpoint at Chicago's Green Festival at 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 17 in the Community Action Pavilion at Navy Pier in Chicago when I present "Green Solutions to the Food Desert." We will share our latest Chicago findings on food access and health, and talk publicly for the first time about how a few powerful Chicagoans unsuccessfully tried to pressure us into excluding findings on race from our publications. Truth in data for the public good means releasing honest and timely information, even when it is uncomfortable or inconvenient to do so. Even if you feel sad or alone, the way Kermit does when he sings his little song. My goodness -- you're thinking -- what kind of provocative information did they seek to suppress, anyway? Well, for example, African Americans, on average, travel twice as far to reach a mainstream grocery store as they do a fast food restaurant. After controlling for other key factors, we found that they are more likely to suffer and die prematurely from diet-related diseases, and that the relationship is statistically significant. If we care about the health and welfare of all people, about developing local markets, about access to goods and services, about quality of life -- isn't this worth knowing? Relative Distance in Chicago to Grocers and Fast Food By Block By Race Copyright Mari Gallagher Research & Consulting Group Regarding the violent deaths of so many Chicago Public School children, isn't it worth knowing that the vast majority are African American boys? There's more to talk about, but that's enough on race for now. Back to color, or more specifically, the environment. Kermit can breathe a sigh of relief because, these days, it's a lot easier being green. Everyone can do something. We can plant a garden, like Michelle Obama, or maybe just a tree or two. We can use products that are kind to the earth. We can recycle instead of throwing everything in the landfill. We can give away the usable stuff we don't want anymore and stop buying so much new stuff that we don't really want or need to begin with. We can turn off the lights when we are not using them. We can even tug on the old heartstrings and use guilt when necessary. When my husband leaves the lights on in an empty room, I say softly: you made Mother Nature cry. At the National Center for Public Research, we are printing more publications online, and when we do use a printer, it's a green one. It costs more money, sure, but it saves money, too, because we're printing less and reducing waste and pollution. It's better for everyone in the long run. Like Kermit, you might still feel that it's not that easy being green, and many times perhaps it's not, but it's becoming more and more necessary. Consider all the hidden costs. And consider all the hidden costs tagged on to the otherwise cheap "fringe food" that people are eating in the food desert. The high fat, high salt, high sugar foods with little if any nutritional value. These costs are borne directly by the food desert residents themselves, and indirectly by the health care industry, by employers, by government agencies, by taxpayers, and by others who take on the burden of pre-death treatments. Many of these diseases can be moderated and in some cases prevented entirely by a healthy diet. Which reminds me - what else was it our friend the frog used to say? Was it "time flies when you're having fun" or "time's fun when you're having flies"? Not sure. Anyway, that makes me wonder: would Kermie's outlook pick up if he improved his diet? See you at Green Fest. (3pm, Sunday, May 17th, Community Action Pavilion, Navy Pier. More details here ) More on Food
 
Joseph LeDoux: Guns, Germs, and Squeals Top
I learned what a brain was by digging bullets out of them as a kid in my father's meat market in Eunice, Louisiana. In those days, cows and pigs were killed by a 0.22 caliber right between the eyes. Sounds barbaric, but was probably pretty quick and painless in the end. Since customers didn't like chomping down on lead while enjoying their sautéed sweetbreads (brains and visceral organs), my job was to trace the bullet holes with my small fingers and pry the lead out. That was before mad cow disease, when most people thought cow brains were a tasty delight rather than a source of a horrible medical condition that rots your brain (karmic isn't it that eating brains kills brains). It was also before the USDA started, in the 1970s, enforcing stricter standards to protect people from eating tainted meet. It's true that the conditions at the slaughter house, located at our farm three miles out of town, were not super-sanitary. It was a cinder block building with no air conditioning, but the high ceilings seemed to keep it from being too hot, even those blistering summer months. After being processed (gutted, skinned, and hosed down), the sides of beef and pork would hang in the cooler (this had proper chilling) until it was time to bring the meat into town. Today, most people are aghast to find out that the meat was shipped in the back of a pickup truck with nothing but a tarp draped over it, the country air and dust whipping underneath the tarp as the truck zipped down Highway 190. In spite of those conditions, I never heard of any complaints of people getting sick from the meat. If anyone did get sick, the problem would have stayed local because the meat was processed, sold, and consumed in town. Nothing that my father or any other small butcher could have done could have affected more than a small number of people. Today, there are hardly any small butchers left. My parents used to complain about being driven out of business by the big meat packing companies and the supermarkets that were being supplied by the packers. It was hard to compete with the efficiency and economies of scale that the big companies had. And only they were really able to afford the new kinds of facilities being required by the USDA. But it all seemed part of the natural progression of things. Big business should mean fresh, safe food on a mass scale. I remember my parents beings relieved when they decided to retire. My father, Boo, was in his early 60s, and was pretty much ready. He had his horses out at the farm to occupy him full-time. My mother, Pris, was younger but was happy to have the time to fish. It was clear by then that I was not destined to follow in my father's steps and take over the meat business the way he had done. So rather than convert their cinder block slaughter house into a stainless steel palace at great expense, they sold the store and turned the old building into a saddle repair shop. It was the best move they ever made. It was 1975 or so, and the next year they took off on a wagon train adventure as part of the Bi-Centennial celebration. Afterwards, they thrived on the fame. Boo became a local legend, traveling around to rodeos and crafts shows telling stories of having been a bull rider in Madison Square Garden in the depression, a wagon master for the Bi-Centennial, and a saddle craftsman and horseman forever after that. Back to meat. Big business is organized and efficient, and indeed much less should go wrong. But about the time my folks sold their business, the Peter Principle was becoming a popular concept. If something can go wrong it will. Indeed, each year we hear about the discovery of harmful pathogens in meat. If e. coli gets into the hamburger meat of a major meat packer that ships their product to the far reaches of the country, and perhaps internationally, people all over the world can be affected. Epidemiologists have been talking about the problems created by raising lots of animals in small confined places, as is done by major meat producers. In a recent article in the Huffiington Post, "Swine Flu Outbreak -- Nature Biting Back at Industrial Animal Production?," David Kirby notes that US companies set up farms of this type in Mexico, where the labor is cheap and access to Latina American markets easier. He goes on to say that "scientists around the world have worried that large-scale, indoor swine 'factories' would become breeding grounds for new pathogens that could more easily infect humans and then spread out rapidly in the general population -- threatening to become a global pandemic." There is indeed a swine factory, presumably with squealing pigs packed in tight quarters, near the suspected source of the recent swine flu outbreak. Whether this factory was the origin of the outbreak is not known at this point. I'm currently in Cambridge, England, where they are far ahead of the US in thinking about living lean, green and clean. Sometimes I think they go overboard, as when they have a knee-jerk response to any kind of genetic manipulation of crops or in the ultra-radical animal rights activities of some. But for the most part the British commitment to recycling and awareness of the importance of keeping small producers of food in business is impressive. I try to shop as much as I can from the farmer's market store on the corner of Lensfield Road, near where I live. It features fresh products from small local producers. When I go back to New York I'm going to take much more advantage of the outdoor farmer's market at Union Square. Sometimes you have to go away to appreciate things you have at home. That brings us to the song of the day: "The Green Green Grass of Home" by Tom Jones. Just kidding. Way too cheezy. The song of the day is actually "Green Onions" by Booker T and the MG's. Green onions, or scallions, are an integral part of any Cajun meal. I actually never ate brains, but I imagine that they would have been garnished with green onions had I eaten them. More on Swine Flu
 

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