Monday, June 1, 2009

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Former Health Care Reform Foes Tell Obama Of Progress Top
A broad collection of health care interests, who pledged four weeks ago to work together to wring $2 trillion in savings out of the system over the next 10 years, sent a letter to President Obama Monday outlining their progress. After a series of face-to-face meetings and conference calls, the group -- representing unions, equipment makers, insurance firms, doctors, drug makers and hospitals -- has a vague outline of where they might find savings. • Utilization of Care: $150 - $180 billion • Chronic Care: $350 - $850 billion • Administrative Simplification and Cost of Doing Business: $500 -$700 billion At a minimum, that's half of what Obama has called for. At the outer limit, it's still about a quarter trillion short. It's also short on specific cuts and heavy on vague terms like, "streamlining," "innovative approaches" and "providing tools." The group acknowledged a need for further regulation in order to attain real change. "Some of these proposals can be achieved under current law. The success of others will depend upon good public policy," they write. The letter to the president also includes individual messages from each of the parties involved in its writing. The insurance providers, in particular, are adamant that their streamlining and coordination can not be done voluntarily, apparently concerned about possible anti-trust violations. "We are not recommending a voluntary effort, but rather that HHS require the adoption," they said. . Read the individual letters. The joint letter to the president is below. Dear Mr. President: Four weeks ago we came together, representing six different sectors of the health care industry, and pledged: As restructuring takes hold and the population's health improves over the coming decade, we will do our part to achieve your Administration's goal of decreasing by 1.5 percentage points the annual health care spending growth rate - saving $2 trillion or more. Since then, we have been working hard on how to help achieve that goal. We have convened seven all-day meetings and multiple conference calls to discuss what we can contribute, both individually and collectively, to help achieve that challenging goal. We have made solid progress. Individually and together, our organizations have developed initiatives that will help move the nation toward achieving the Administration's goal and we intend to keep working. Our organizations will now pursue these initiatives which, together, will help transform the U.S. health care system. The attached documents describe each sector's commitments, which will have significant and lasting financial impact over time. Each group has identified changes in its sector that will reduce costs, strengthen quality and improve access to care through the following key areas: Utilization of care: Providing clinicians and other providers with the tools to address utilization and to improve quality and safety will help ensure that patients receive the right care at the right time in the right setting and will lower costs. Cost of doing business: Innovative approaches to reducing the growing costs of providing health care services are essential and will benefit all stakeholders in the health care system. Administrative simplification: Streamlining the claims processing system will allow clinicians and other personnel to spend less time and fewer resources on paperwork, lowering costs for everyone. Chronic care: We are identifying significant opportunities to better manage chronic disease, which accounts for 75% of overall health care spending. We are also looking at more effective approaches to health promotion and disease prevention, with a special focus on obesity. Some of these proposals can be achieved under current law. The success of others will depend upon good public policy. We are committed to doing our part to make the system more affordable and effective for the nation. Our initiatives demonstrate that commitment, and we will work very hard to see them implemented. We can and will work together, and with other key sectors of the health care community, to identify further reform opportunities. We will continue to work with you, the Congress and other stakeholders to make reform a reality. Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
Leo W. Gerard: Chutzpah and cheaters partner to keep American tire workers unemployed Top
A group of tire importers that should be competitors banded together recently to ally themselves with China in a trade case. Doesn't sound like they're working for the interests of the United States, does it? No, they're not. They're collaborating with China against American manufacturing in general and American tire workers, represented by the United Steelworkers, in particular. They're opposing the union's petition seeking a limit on the flood of Chinese tires that has so overwhelmed the U.S. market in the past five years that six American tire plants closed and nearly 7,000 American workers lost their jobs. China cheats in international trade. It does so by manipulating its currency and subsidizing its manufacturing, which results in lower prices for its exports. For the tire importers, calling themselves the American Coalition for Free Trade in Tires, China cheating means higher profits. After taking up with China, these companies are not the American Coalition of anything. They're the Chutzpah Coalition. Here's the quote that explains why: "If you impose quotas, you harm American jobs because of the impact on all of the people that work for independent dealers." The Chutzpah Coalition lawyer, Jim Jochum of Jochum, Shore & Trossevim had the lack of insight to say that. What we have here are tire import companies that grew and profited at the cost of American tire plants and American workers now asserting that if they are forbidden from importing limitless tires, then the result will be terribly wrong and unfair because some of their importing jobs might have to be cut. If imports are limited, preserving thousands of American tire workers' jobs, here's what Del-Nat president Jim Mayfield asked at the Chutzpah Coalition press conference, "What's supposed to happen to my company and my workers?" A call to Del-Nat asking for the total number of employees got this response: 68. That's chutzpah. For those unfamiliar with Yiddish, chutzpah is not generally considered a positive attribute. The typical definition goes something like this: A boy kills his parents then seeks the court's mercy because he's an orphan. In dealing with the Chinese and this coalition, there's reason to believe chutzpah can be deadly. Chinese manufacturers are notorious for cutting corners in ways that proved lethal to consumers. Babies, cats and dogs have all died from melamine-laced milk and pet food from China. In another case, the Chinese manufacturer of Aqua Dots substituted a chemical, which when ingested reacted like the "date rape" drug, forcing a recall of the toy after it sickened American children who put the dots in their mouths, and caused at least one youngster to end up in a coma. And then there's the tire case. On Aug. 12, 2006, four Philadelphia carpenters were driving home after work when the treads on one of the Chinese-made tires on their van separated. The rollover crash that followed killed two of the men and permanently impaired a third. An investigation showed that the tires, imported by Foreign Tire Sales - one of the members of the Chutzpah Coalition - did not contain a gum strip between belts necessary to prevent tread separation. Initially, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ordered Foreign Tire Sales to recall the defective tires, the company said it couldn't afford to do that. Foreign Tire said it could pay only 10 to 15 percent of the approximately $80 million cost of recovering nearly half a million tires. Sure, it could profit from importing defective products. But it wasn't prepared to pay to clean up the mess. Later, it decided that only 255,000 tires needed to be returned. Ultimately, Foreign Tire was spared when drivers turned in fewer than 20,000 of those tires - less than 8 percent of the total. Who knows what happened to the remainder of those questionable tires or the people driving the cars they were on. Foreign Tire, the Chutzpah Coalition and China want to continue importing freely - free trade not fair trade. And Chinese officials have taken steps to ensure that happens. Early in May, according to a report in the People's Daily, China's Vice Minister of Commerce met with U.S. Embassy personnel in Beijing "to negotiate on two trade remedy investigations targeting Chinese-made products that U.S. industries recently filed with the U.S. government." After that, the International Trade Commission released a memo revealing that Chinese officials attempted to discuss trade cases in a private meeting - a contact that was improper because other parties in these cases did not have an opportunity to argue their side. The ITC memo said China expressed particular concern about petitions filed under Section 421, the China-specific trade safeguard law that the USW used in the tire case. Here's what is at risk for China and their Chutzpah Coalition allies: in 2004 China sent 14 million tires to the U.S. valued at $453 million. By last year, that had increased to 46 million tires valued at $1.7 billion. The USW wants the U.S. International Trade Commission to limit the imports to the 2005 level, which was 21 million. That number then could rise by five percent the following year, and five percent more the year after that. Congress added Section 421 to the U.S. Trade Act in 2000 to give U.S. industries and workers an opportunity to obtain product-specific relief from sharp increases in imports from China. Section 421 could provide resolution more quickly than a dumping or countervailing duty case. Another good reason to call this group of tire importers the Chutzpah Coalition is that in its news release, announcing its formation, it suggested it represented "thousands of Americans working in the tire industry." Not likely. Two of the six members refused to say how many employees they have - Dunlap & Kyle Co., Inc. and Foreign Tire. But the total employed in the U.S. for the other four together: American Omni Trading Co.; Del-Nat Tire Corp.; Hercules Tire & Rubber Co. and Orteck Global Supply & Distribution Co., is 400. That's hardly "thousands of Americans." But they've cost 7,000 Americans their jobs. And they're fine with that. They're working hard every day to add more to that number. More on China
 
UN Climate Chief: Climate Treaty Draft Represents "Significant" Progress Top
BONN, Germany — Negotiators from 181 countries began work on the first draft of a new global warming treaty Monday, calling it a good beginning despite complaints it was unbalanced and incomplete. Delegates have been brainstorming and arguing over principles for 18 months. The draft includes conflicting proposals pointing to tough negotiations ahead. Among dozens of unresolved issues was whether developing economies must commit to control their greenhouse gas emissions and whether their commitments would be legally binding or voluntary. The U.S. delegation wanted the text to put all countries on a more equal footing, requiring every country to take action to fight climate change according to its capability. Developing countries said the draft failed to take adequate account of their proposals. U.N. scientists warn that unrestrained emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly from fossil fuels from heavy industry and vehicles, will lead to changes in temperatures and rainfall, putting millions of people at risk of more severe droughts and storms, rising sea levels that could flood coastlines and sink entire islands, cause the extinction of plant and animal species and increase health hazards for man. Michael Zammit Cutajar, who compiled the draft from dozens of position papers submitted by countries, acknowledged it was "complex" and "messy," but said he was pleased with the initial reception. The draft "represents a significant new step in the talks," said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. The documents present a range of options on core issues: how much industrial countries must cut carbon emissions; how to raise the tens of billions of dollars needed annually for developing countries to adapt to climate change like shifts in agriculture or coastal erosion due to rising sea levels; and how to compensate tropical countries for slowing the destruction of the rain forests, either from an established fund or from selling credits on the carbon market for avoiding deforestation. Countries were expected to make more additions to the draft before beginning the arduous task of cutting deals, weeding out proposals and sharpening the text into a consensus document. Four more negotiating conferences were scheduled for this year, culminating in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December when the agreement is due to be adopted. Developing countries with rapidly expanding economies like China and India have pledged to curb the growth of their carbon emissions, in exchange for funding and green technologies from the industrial countries. They say the level of funding would determine the commitments they would take on in the Copenhagen agreement. The European Union indicated it was unlikely to come up with specific figures to contribute to a climate change fund before Copenhagen. The Copenhagen agreement would succeed and expand on the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which required 37 industrial nations to cut emissions blamed for global warming by a total of 5 percent by 1990, but which made no obligations on any other country. The United States rejected the Kyoto deal, partly because it excluded developing economies. Reversing that policy, the administration of President Barack Obama has pledged to take a leading role in crafting the next climate deal. More on Climate Change
 
Blago Spoke To Durbin About Appointing Lisa Madigan To Senate: AP Top
CHICAGO (AP) -- Just two weeks before his arrest on corruption charges, then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich floated a plan to give President Obama's former Senate seat to the daughter of his biggest political rival in return for concessions on his pet projects, people familiar with the plan told The Associated Press. Blagojevich told Sen. Dick Durbin he was thinking of naming Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to the seat, according to two Durbin aides who spoke on condition of anonymity. A Madigan appointment would have been a political shocker because the governor had been warring politically with her father, powerful Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, on and off for Blagojevich's two terms in office. Last November, Madigan said the chance was "less than zero" the governor would offer her the seat, adding that she did not believe she was even being considered. She is a likely contender in the 2010 governor's race. It was already known that Blagojevich thought of her as a possible pick for the Senate seat but this conversation, unreported until now, provides details and shows he went as far as discussing the idea with at least one high-ranking fellow Democrat. The 10-minute conversation took place Nov. 24 as Durbin was in his car using his cell phone, according to the aides. One aide said Durbin considered the idea an "innocuous compromise" and offered to help, but was told by the governor to "do nothing," and never heard more on the matter. "He said he was struggling with it morally," one of the aides said of the governor, adding that he did not understand why. The aides spoke on condition that their names would not be used out of respect for the custom that Senate aides most often allow their bosses to be quoted. They gave their account in response to questions as reports circulated as to exactly what was said by Blagojevich and others on tapes made by FBI agents who wiretapped Blagojevich's home and campaign offices last fall. Blagojevich also said he wanted a deal in which the elder Madigan would allow a long-stalled capital construction program through the House and take action on a Blagojevich-backed health care plan in return for his daughter's appointment to the Senate seat, the aides said. Blagojevich attorney Samuel E. Adam declined to comment Monday and Durbin's office would offer no further comment. Mike Madigan's spokesman Steve Brown did not immediately return a call and a spokeswoman for Lisa Madigan said she did not have any immediate comment. According to the Senate aides, Durbin was delighted to hear that Blagojevich was thinking of naming Madigan to the seat. He believed she would be a popular figure in Illinois and stood perhaps the best chance of holding the seat against a Republican. Durbin volunteered to call the attorney general or the speaker to get the ball rolling and possibly broker an agreement, the aides said. And that, as far as they know, was the end of the matter, the aides said. Blagojevich was arrested Dec. 9 and faces racketeering, fraud and other charges in connection with allegations that he sought to sell or trade the Senate seat, and that he used the political muscle of the governor's office to pressure people for campaign money. He has pleaded not guilty. He was impeached and thrown out of office in January. The aides said the Nov. 24 conversation was the only one between Durbin and Blagojevich last fall and that Durbin had been trying for 10 days to reach the governor before the two finally connected by telephone. Wiretaps made public previously show Blagojevich discussing a number of possible appointees, including one believed to be Obama confidante Valerie Jarrett, now a senior White House adviser. Lisa Madigan's name surfaced early in connection with the Senate seat. She's believed to be "Senate Candidate 2" in the federal criminal complaint, which describes Blagojevich telling an aide to float her name to a newspaper columnist as a possible appointee in a ploy to send a message to the Obama administration. Blagojevich ultimately appointed former state official Roland Burris to the seat. Last week, a federal judge released another tape in the corruption investigation. It was of a conversation between Burris and Blagojevich's brother Robert, who is also the head of the Friends of Rod Blagojevich campaign fund. On the tape, Burris repeatedly asks for consideration for the Senate seat. Burris also agonizes over whether to raise funds for Blagojevich, saying he would like to help but fears it would backfire politically. He finally vows to "do something." In charging the governor, federal prosecutors released an affidavit that quotes extensively from the wiretapped conversations, including ones in which the governor described the Senate seat as "a golden thing" and said he expected something for himself in return for an appointment. Among other things, he mentioned a possible Cabinet post or high-paying job for himself or his wife, Patti, or in lieu of that, a large amount of campaign money. -ASSOCIATED PRESS More on Rod Blagojevich
 
Why Do We Lie? Top
Nearly any adult will tell you that lying is wrong. But when it comes to avoiding trouble, saving face in front of the boss, or sparing someone's feelings, many people find themselves doing it anyway. In fact, more than 80 percent of women admit to occasionally telling what they consider harmless half-truths, says Susan Shapiro Barash, author of Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets: The Truth About Why Women Lie (St. Martin's Press, $15, amazon.com). And 75 percent admit to lying to loved ones about money in particular. The tendency to tell tales is "a very natural human trait," explains David L. Smith, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy at the University of New England, in Biddeford, Maine. "It lets you manipulate the way you want to be seen by others." To pinpoint how people stretch the truth from time to time and the potential fallout from it, learn the six most common ways that people mislead. More on Relationships
 
Sarah Leah Whitson: A Record That Can't Be Ignored Top
All eyes and ears will be on President Obama on June 4, when he delivers his first address from an Arab country. Will he focus on preserving a close relationship with Arab governments, whatever their shortcomings, or will he gear his message to Arab citizens, suppressed for decades by authoritarian leaders? While the new administration has signaled that promoting respect for human rights will not feature publicly in its bilateral relationships, ignoring Egypt's abysmal record will further stall reforms in that country and further undermine US standing in the region. In many ways Egypt is a natural choice for this speech: it remains the cultural capital of the Arab world, however faded its political importance. It also has the closest relationship with the United States among Arab countries, as the second-largest recipient of American economic and military largesse, to the tune of $1.6 billion dollars annually (only Israel receives more). Egypt has been dutiful in its commitments -- keeping the peace with Israel, preventing African migrants from crossing into Israel, and keeping Gaza's border at Rafah sealed (if less successful at blocking smuggling tunnels). It has cooperated closely with US counter-terrorism policies, even profoundly unlawful ones such as torturing suspects sent to Egypt on Washington's behalf. And when Washington wants something from the Arabs, it typically turns to Egypt to broker the deal. A decent return for the U.S. investment, some foreign policy wonks say. But then there is the reality of the Egyptian government's heavy-handed relationship with its own citizens, whom it has ruled by "emergency laws" for most of the past 42 years. While the "war-time" justification for the suspension of rights and freedoms under these emergency laws has long ended (Egypt signed its peace treaty with Israel in 1979), their convenience as a tool for controlling and intimidating government opponents, including non-violent ones, has not. The government continues to restrict Egyptians' speech and their press freedom, jailing critical journalists, writers and bloggers alike. It has used the emergency laws to detain thousands, mostly Islamists, without charge, some of them for decades. Competition for political power is strictly limited, with the National Democratic Party dominating a rubber-stamp parliament following elections that don't come close to meeting the fairness test. The security establishment is overstuffed with agents who apparently have plenty of time on their hands to monitor and menace ordinary citizens engaged in "suspicious" activities, like advocating for housing rights, or for medical assistance for those who undergo the torture that is pervasive in police stations. Courts that issue judgments contrary to the government's wishes are routinely ignored. Egypt may be a more tolerant, moderate country, with some modicum of political dissent, compared with some other countries in the region. But freedom has a very short leash in Egypt. Washington's support for this repressive government has been a cause for anger and resentment in Egypt and the region. Many see the United States as complicit in Egyptian government abuses, effectively aiding and abetting routine mistreatment of ordinary people. Whatever the benefits of this alliance for the U.S., this cost must be factored in. While the Bush administration's failures in the region were legion and catastrophic, it did earn credit for its willingness, however briefly, to insist publicly on the need for reforms in Egypt. The public pressure helped push the government to allow demonstrations criticizing the government, tolerate increased press freedom, and even allow a contested presidential election in 2005. But following large gains by the Muslim Brotherhood in parliamentary elections later that year, the Bush administration abandoned this agenda. Egypt returned to its nasty ways, jailing the opposition presidential candidate Ayman Nour, cracking down on the Muslim Brotherhood and jailing journalists. But Bush -- and the Egyptian government -- proved that public diplomacy could help achieve practical, important reforms. Today, there's debate in the Obama administration about the appropriate role of human rights advocacy in its bilateral relations with other countries. America's standing to raise issues of human rights, in the wake of the Iraq war, Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, is significantly impaired. But where the US has special relationships with governments, tied by billions in military and financial aid and close security and political cooperation, it doesn't have the luxury of ignoring its partner's human rights record, both as a matter of principle and of self-interest. There's much to welcome in America's newfound humility and willingness to listen. But it's no cover for the need for straight talk with the rulers in Cairo. More on Egypt
 
Mike Papantonio: Falwell's Legacy Haunts Liberty University Top
Two weeks ago, leadership at Liberty University in Virginia told young Democrats that they were no longer entitled to recognition as a sanctioned organization on campus. Only young Republicans are welcome there. Jerry Falwell was founder of Liberty and its clear that his legacy lives on. At Falwell's funeral, flowery praise was heaped on Falwell by Republican politicos. Read some of those praise speeches and you might conclude that Falwell's soul was heading north at the end of that day. But the more you learn about Falwell and his creepy university, the easier it is to believe that his spirit could have just as easily taken a more southerly course. Falwell was a perfect example of the holy mouth political operatives that have done so much damage to Christianity. For eight years we heard the Falwell bunch ignore the gospels and the Beatitudes. Instead, we could usually count on the Falwell Liberty-type scholars to deliver recycled G.O.P. political hate speeches directed at liberals, abortion doctors, stem cell researchers, intellectuals, minorities, and virtually anything that did not fit neatly into their judgmental, regressive view of humanity. Christianity suffered because of that. That spirit is still flourishing at Falwell's University. If those young Democrats who lost their organization status at Liberty followed Falwell's money trail, I'm sure they would gladly move their club registration and their student registration to a less loathsome institution. Part of that money trail takes us back to a time when Falwell receieved millions of dollars from Sun Myung Moon in order to keep the doors open at Liberty. Moon you may recall is the barely five foot tall North Korean, immigrant, felon who launched the "Moonie" movement worldwide. Moon came to America after he had been convicted of stealing from Japanese widows who were paying Moon to release their husbands' souls from Hell after death. It's not clear how many souls Moon helped escape from Hell, but one thing is clear: Moon is part lunatic and part fraud. Falwell knew it and took his money anyway. Falwell also knew that Moon had a long time, very personal, relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jon Il, and in fact pledged almost $400 million to North Korea's dictatorial regime. With all those Liberty scholars walking the halls at that "university" that still teaches creationism, it seems like somebody would have known about the incendiary quotes by Moon where he tells us that he is actually the incarnate Messiah, and that the world should remove the crucifixion cross from their walls. Moon proclaimed that Christian symbol to be satanic. Those kinds of quotes were just fine with Falwell if the Moon money was big enough. It didn't seem to bother the Liberty faculty that this tiny, delusional Korean had been sentenced to 18 months in a U.S. prison for tax fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. When you look closely at the history, you're left wondering whether Falwell was a Moonie, or whether Moon is a Christian. And you certainly have to wonder why a group of teenage Democrats have been told that their kind are not welcome at Liberty, a campus that was built in part from the money of Sun Myung Moon. More on Gay Marriage
 
Tom Christopher: A Colorado Watershed Top
Constituents had been complaining, state senator Jim Isgar says. Water shortages are chronic throughout most of Colorado, so that municipal delivery systems have trouble satisfying demand. Yet collecting the storm water running off your roof to irrigate a garden or supplement the household supply made you a criminal. Enforcement personnel weren't seeking out offenders, Isgar insists, but if you were cited, a rain barrel set beneath your downspout could earn you a $500 fine. Two barrels, two fines. As chair of the Agriculture, Natural Resources & Energy Committee and a rancher, Isgar has experienced both the public and private aspects of this issue. He concluded that such a blanket ban on storm water harvesting didn't make sense. Legislation he sponsored and helped to pass this spring, Senate Bill #80, will make collecting storm water legal, at least in some situations. With carefully defined limitations, residential users who do not have access to a public water supply may now supplement or substitute such harvested water for the amount that state regulations would allow them to draw from a private well. This may seem like a minor victory, but it is one environmental activists have been demanding for some time. They've ridiculed the ban as evidence of entrenched greed and bureaucratic backwardness. In fact, it is better understood as a legacy of Colorado's system of water regulation, in which individuals and corporations can own rights to a certain amount of flow from a reservoir, stream or aquifer. These rights can be bought and sold, even leased or rented, and in most areas of the state, the flow is oversubscribed - when the Colorado Water Conservation Board began working to preserve the flow in environmentally sensitive streams and rivers, it had to purchase water rights in the marketplace. Harvesting storm water was prohibited because it was viewed as robbery. Your runoff nourishes a stream or aquifer, was the thinking, and if you divert that water, you're depriving someone downstream of the full flow to which they are legally entitled. One key to the success of Senate bill #80 it that it respect this concept of water as private property. It limits the harvesting of storm water is to residential users only and even then the water obtained in this manner can be used to supply only defined purposes, such as fire protection, watering livestock or irrigating not more than an acre of lawn. A plan of any proposed harvesting system must be submitted to state engineers for approval before installation, and local authorities have the right to restrict storm water harvesting in their jurisdiction if they feel it necessary. Another critical piece in the passage of this bill was a study commissioned by a number of water districts in Douglas County, midway between Denver and Colorado Springs. This found that on average only 3 percent of the moisture deposited by snow and rain actually reached streams or aquifers, and that the rest, 97%, was lost to evaporation. Bills passed by the state legislature more or less concurrently with Senate #80 have established pilot programs in various regions to determine at each site how much moisture storm water harvesting will actually divert from the public supply, with the plan that storm water harvesters will be required to feed an equivalent amount back into streams and aquifers at appropriate seasons. A notable aspect of this very public battle over water use has been the hostility directed by citizen and environmental groups nationwide toward Colorado's system of water law. Owners of water rights have been branded as "water buffaloes" and a great deal of ink and bytes have been devoted to disparaging their monopolization of a resource that literally falls from the sky. This seems outrageous, but arguably, it has had a beneficial effect. The tug of war over who owns what water has forced Coloradoans to face a fundamental truth. Water is not only a limited resource, but also a dynamic one that is always on the move throughout a vast cyclical web through the landscape, underground reservoirs and sky. The water buffaloes are correct in maintaining that wherever you tap this web, you diminish the flow throughout. Too often in other regions of the country, the various water sources are treated as discrete. When a local water utility restricts landscape irrigation to protect the public supply, homeowners drill wells, pumping down the aquifer so that streams and rivers run dry. The test of Colorado's new right to water harvesting will be if the beneficiaries understand that what they have won is the right to become stewards of the public supply. Supporters of storm water harvesting rejoice that as many as 300,000 homeowners in Colorado will now have the use of the precipitation that falls on their roofs. If this water is used responsibly, it could provide real benefits. For example, it could be substituted in firefighting or essential household uses for some of what is currently being sucked from the state's oversubscribed aquifers and streams. If, however, all these homeowners tap their harvest to plant the acre of lawn to which the new law entitles them, that will be an environmental tragedy. Turf grass cannot survive without constant irrigation in this arid region; maintaining 300,000 new lawns will drain trillions of gallons every week throughout the summer. As the water buffaloes could tell the new stakeholders, that water comes from somewhere and what you take, someone else, or the ecosystem, cannot use. Water may fall from the sky, but it's never free
 
Senate Guru: Sonia Sotomayor, George Tiller, and Republican Responsibility Top
Republican Party elected officials, former elected officials, and other leaders, from James Inhofe to Tom Tancredo to Newt Gingrich to Rush Limbaugh, have accused Judge Sonia Sotomayor, be it implicitly or quite explicitly, of being a "racist." When CNN's John King asked Senate Republican "Leader" Mitch McConnell, now the most powerful elected Republican in America, whether he thought aggressive rhetoric like Gingrich's and Limbaugh's went too far, he responded : I've got better things to do than to be the speech police over people who are going to have their views about a very important appointment. Speech police, huh? Well, I'll come back to that in a moment. In July 2008, a psychopath went on a shooting rampage at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. Following the tragedy, the shooter wrote a four-page note explaining why, according to his demented thought process, he did what he did : Know this if nothing else: This was a hate crime. I hate the damn left-wing liberals. There is a vast left-wing conspiracy in this country & these liberals are working together to attack every decent & honorable institution in the nation, trying to turn this country into a communist state. Shame on them.... This was a symbolic killing. Who I wanted to kill was every Democrat in the Senate & House, the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg's book. I'd like to kill everyone in the mainstream media. But I know those people were inaccessible to me. I couldn't get to the generals & high ranking officers of the Marxist movement so I went after the foot soldiers, the chickenshit liberals that vote in these traitorous people. Someone had to get the ball rolling. I volunteered. I hope others do the same. It's the only way we can rid America of this cancerous pestilence. Conservative blowhard Bernard Golberg's book, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America," was part of this madman's perverted inspiration. This person hated liberals and Democrats and "volunteered" to do what was necessary to "rid America of this cancerous pestilence," using Goldberg's book as a motivating force. At rallies for the 2008 Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin, supporters used increasingly violent rhetoric aimed at then-Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama. McCain and Palin were criticized for not doing more to rebuke such troublingly violent language from their supporters. Throughout 2009 so far, Fox News' Sean Hannity has used rhetoric which has included imagery of varying degrees of violence, from hangings to armed rebellion , to provoke response in his right-wing viewership. By now, you most likely have already read about Dr. George Tiller's assassination yesterday. Dr. Tiller was the subject of assassination attempts, violence, and, by definition, terrorism in the past. Even in the wake of his assassination, some on the far right wing gleefully extolled the murder. In the years leading up to Dr. Tiller's assassination, Bill O'Reilly's rhetoric likening Dr. Tiller to Adolf Hitler was not subtle . Those on the far right wing fringe use dangerously violent rhetoric to get a point across - a point that sometimes tragically comes with violent action. This fringe is a key element of the listenership, viewership and readership of right wing media personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, and Bernard Goldberg. To increase their ratings and their book sales, they look to provoke their followers in a variety of ways. Occasionally and, again, tragically, this leads to violence, even to domestic terrorism. Certainly, this rhetoric condones and even encourages utter hatred, something disturbingly and violently on display at those Fox News-hyped Tea Parties. So, back to our nation's most powerful elected Republican, Mitch McConnell, and the "speech police" sentiment in response to increasingly aggressive rhetoric against Judge and Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the latest example of the far right rhetorically igniting a situation as far as it will go, good sense and intelligent discourse be damned. Mitch, you don't need to wear a badge and call out every conservative who says something not nice about a liberal. But we have seen a marked increase on the far right of hatefully aggressive and even violent rhetoric. This very rhetoric is employed by leading right wing media personalities and Republican Party leaders. And this very rhetoric has directly led to acts of violence and domestic terrorism. So, Mitch, do you have anything better to do than to serve as a role model and a standard bearer for your Party, calling out the seeds of violence when you see and hear it in the rhetoric of your Party's most visible spokespeople, protecting America and preventing acts of terrorism? No, Mitch, I would suggest that you most definitely do not have anything better to do than that. I'd further suggest that the more aggressive and more violent the rhetoric of the far right wing becomes, the greater the responsibility of elected Republican leaders becomes to publicly and forcefully rebuke such language, rather than passively condone it. Mitch, I think you can make the time. And if you and your fellow elected Republicans don't make the time to rebuke such violent rhetoric, you will get lumped together with those espousing the rhetoric, and you will be voted out of office. More on Sonia Sotomayor
 
Madeleine M. Kunin: Gingrich and Limbaugh: Poor Privileged White Men Grappling with Sotomayor Top
The cries of distress about "identity politics" which have issued from Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh over the nomination of Sonia Sotemayor to the Supreme Court make me almost feel sorry for them. Poor privileged white men. Their stranglehold on power is slowly being loosened. Strangely, they have lost sight of their own identity as white males. Do they not bring their own life experiences into decision-making, whether they serve on the Supreme Court, a corporate board, or in the U.S. Congress? Could it be that the white male model has been the template for so long that any American who deviates from this assumed norm is threatening to bring "identity" politics into their decisions? Or, have they simply forgotten—or worse never considered—that identities different from their own have a rightful place in the power structure of a democracy? Limbaugh went so far as to call Sodemayor a "reverse" racist for claiming that sometimes a strong Latina woman may be better than a strong white man. Hasn't their assumption been that a white man is almost always better than any woman, indicated by the fact that Sotemayor, if confirmed, would be the third women in history to serve on the court, compared to two black and hundreds of white men? But what we are talking about is not just ethnicity, which is significant by itself, but more importantly, we are talking about bringing a radically different kind of life experience to the Supreme Court. Her white male critics delude themselves into thinking that they have not brought their relatively privileged life experiences into their spheres of influence. We see the world through the lens of all our experiences; that is a fundamental part of the human condition. The fact that I was brought up by a single mother, came to this country as a child, has influenced my views. How could Sotemayor's experience of being brought up by her mother, of being the first person in her family to go to college, of having vaulted over the hurdles of poverty and discrimination to get there not influence her? Better yet why shouldn't it? Life experience is not something to be denied, but to be celebrated. Yes, decisions must be in keeping with the law, but the law has always been, and will continue to be, open to interpretation. We need only look to Sandra Day O'Connor who was highly respected by both conservatives and liberals. When she left the court she was lauded for her practical interpretation of the law. She had the unusual ability to see what impact legal decisions had on everyday lives. During a case regarding search and seizure, she questioned the impact of forcing people out of a car if there was a pregnant mother in the back seat who had to get out in the rain? Who else could imagine a pregnant mother, a poor mother, a struggling student, or understand discrimination, but a strong Latina woman whose parents came to the United States when Puerto Ricans were looked down upon in the same way as many Mexicans are today? Nothing in Sotemayor's brilliant record indicates that she would rule on a case by ethnic identity alone, but everything in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court indicates that the search for perfect justice will be better served by validating her life experiences--which reflect the life experiences of so many Americans. This was originally posted at Chelsea Green . Madeleine M. Kunin is the former Governor of Vermont and was the state's first woman governor. She served as Ambassador to Switzerland for President Clinton, and was on the three-person panel that chose Al Gore to be Clinton's VP. She is the author of Pearls, Politics, and Power: How Women Can Win and Lead from Chelsea Green Publishing . More on Sonia Sotomayor
 
Why Binging On Celebrity Weight Battles Isn't Healthy Top
When Oprah Winfrey realized she was the dreaded 2-0-0, she wrote in the January issue of her magazine: I'm mad at myself. I'm embarrassed. More on Oprah
 
Barbie Survives Recession: Store Opens In China, The First Of Its Kind (VIDEO) Top
China's economic resilience during the global downturn is attracting a growing number of American companies. One of them is the toymaker Mattel, maker of the Barbie doll, which has opened the world's first ever Barbie store in Shanghai. Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan reports from the Chinese city. WATCH Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter! More on China
 
Raymond Leon Roker: Eminem's MTV Fit Not a Stunt Top
Personally, I was TIVO'ing my way through most of the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. I just couldn't get into it (In comparison, this year's Oscars were so, so much better). Although mostly the same awards show we expect from MTV (lots of SNL humor and teen screaming), LeAnn Rimes singing a rendition of host Andy Samberg's "Jizz In My Pants" and Forest Whitaker's "Dick In A Box" were cringingly funny highlights. But clearly the WTF moment of the night was Sasha Baron Cohen teabagging Slim Shady on national television. So, was it staged? Was it real? I will turn the speculative essaying over to my colleague and URB editor Josh Glazer : By now, everyone's seen this clip of Sasha Baron Cohen as Bruno putting his famous man muffin on Eminem's chin and the rappers subsequent storming out on the MTV Movie Awards. And while Cohen and MTV were obviously in on the joke, I kinda doubt Eminem was playing along. It's not that I doubt the lengths to which stars will go to get attention by acting the fool. It's that having grown up just a few miles from the actual Detroit suburb where Eminem was raised (10 Mile, to answer your obvious question), I've known enough folks like Marshall Mathers to know that you can take the kid out of Warren, MI, but you can't take Warren, MI, blah, blah, blah... Detroit, like so much of the Midwest, is rife with the sort of reactionary, humorless, impatient and aggressive characters that Eminem has come to embody in the American psychy. Sure, Em has played up that character—Slim Shady being the ultimate id of such personalitiy orders. But that doesn't mean it's not real. If anything, Marshall has emphasised the realness of this metality in his own life. The troubled upbringing—real. Having your best friend killed at an actual club on 8 Mile—real. Responding to fame by sinking into a years long pill stupor—real, and the entire basis for his long awaited comeback album, Relapse . With all this realness, why are so many quick to jump on the belief that the anger shown by Em (a career homophobe, Elton John or not) would be staged? Obviously, we've gotten so used to celebrity misbehavior that we imagine there must be an element of self-awareness to the tomfoolery. There can't be that many accidental nip slips. And then there's the fact that despite everything, Eminem was is a major talent whom we want to embrace, but without facing all the unpleasent hang-ups, many of which we share with the protagonist. I frankly don't want Bruno's taint on my neck either. It's easier to assume this is a character act then acknowledge that we like the highly unlikeable person that is Marshall Mathers. But I know in my gut that his anger is real, having spent way too many days of my youth with folks like Marshall Mathers—hard, fronting, unpleasent, prejudice, homophobic, blue collar, hip-hop loving white boys—to shrug it off as stagecraft. And even if I'm wrong. Even if Eminem was in on the whole thing, the character he plays is the real thing all over the country. He even said it himself: "And every single person is a Slim Shady lurkin He could be workin at Burger King, spittin on your onion rings [*HACH*] Or in the parkin lot, circling Screaming 'I don't give a fuck!' with his windows down and his system up" ("The Real Slim Shady") Huffpo contributor Brandon Perkins reviews Em's Relapse This editorial was originally published on URB.COM More on SNL
 
Michael Fauntroy: The Republican Party is a Mess Top
The Grand Old Party is in bad shape. From humiliating defeats in the last two national elections and its recent outburst of internecine warfare, to a new party chairman who has gotten off to a rocky (to be charitable) start to the sexist, to its racist response to President Barack Obama's selection of Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to succeed David Souter on the Supreme Court, and beyond, the "Party of Lincoln" is consistently showing that it is flying in the face of the future of America. The consistent, and accurate, Republican narrative is that the party is too conservative and too homogenous to be attractive to the next generation or so of American voters. While party leaders keep trying to convince us that America is a conservative country, Republican candidates are getting their brains beat out at ballot boxes all over the country. Recent evidence shows that the GOP is simply out of touch with the rest of the country and, barring Democratic overreach, has a very long way to go to regain relevance in American politics because it's lost college graduates and minorities. The first piece of evidence can be found in the November 2008 presidential election results. According an analysis from National Journal and the Cook Political Report, the Republicans hold on highly-educated voters has disappeared. The Republicans' rocket ship ride to political dominance occurred when it was able to meld its traditional base of the upwardly mobile economic and social supporters with religious and social conservatives. The first part of that marriage could be seen in the how Republicans performed in America's 100 most-educated counties (those with the highest percentage of over-25 adults with college degrees). In 1984, Reagan carried 82 of today's 100 most educated counties. George H. W. Bush carried 64 of those counties four years later. The Republican shared of these counties has been in decline in each presidential election ever since. John McCain, the 2008 GOP standard-bearer, won just 22 of these counties. In a political whiplash-inducing shift, college educated voters, once the lynchpin of the GOP, are leaving the party in droves. The second piece of evidence is perhaps more devastating to the GOP. According to the Census Bureau, the United States will be a "majority-minority" country by 2042. One would think, given this reality, that the GOP would redouble its minority outreach efforts in an effort to have access to the votes of the future majority of the country. Quite to the contrary, the GOP appears to be pushing minorities out of the Party. And a recently released Gallup Poll confirms the suspicion that the Party is getting whiter while the Democrats, Independents, and the rest of the country are not. According to the poll, 89 percent of Republican voters are white, and that 63% of White Republicans identify as conservatives. Meanwhile, 64 percent of Democrats are White, about half of whom describe themselves as moderate or liberal. Given Census Bureau projections, this may be all you need to know about where the GOP is heading if it doesn't get its act together. This evidence reveals structural problems for the GOP, not the liberal media spin they have been offering since the last election. How will the party be able to raise money as before without its college educated base? Indeed, to the extent that the media play a role, it's in giving attention to people like Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, who are only making things worse. Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University and author of Republicans and the Black Vote. More on Arlen Specter
 
Bill Chameides: GM Declares Bankruptcy Top
The end of an era, to be sure. But how did this happen? The result of meddling by " pointy-headed busybodies " or the inevitable march of time? I'm sure you've heard the news: General Motors has filed for bankruptcy. Some are pointing fingers, blaming government regulators, environmentalists, and safety mavens for handcuffing Detroit and rendering the mega-horsepower "muscle" cars of the 1950s on which Detroit built its dynasty a thing of the past. (See P.J. O'Rourke's " The End of the Affair ," WSJ , 5/30/2009 and Daniel Henninger's " Obama vs. The Beach Boys ," WSJ , 5/29/2009.) There undoubtedly are many reasons for Detroit's breathtaking fall and I would not rule out a re-emergence of a new, more competitive Detroit in the years to come, but I'd be willing to bet that market forces, chief among them the specter of oil shortages, and national security concerns have a lot more to do with the gas guzzler's demise than, in the words of author O'Rourke writing in Saturday's Wall Street Journal , the "pointy-headed busybodies of the environmentalist, new urbanist, utopian communitarian ilk." Can We Get Real? Not everything is rosy when it comes to our cars and the um "open road." While it may make for good copy to wax nostalgic about the romance of pedal-to-the-metal power -- likening the acceleration of a Pontiac GTO to spurring hundreds of horses into action -- and to lament the end of the " muscle car ," a little reality would help. So here's this pointy-headed guy's dose of same. Let's not forget that the rise of the automobile did not all good things bring. "Pollution from cars and trucks accounts for about one-third of all the U.S. air pollution in the United States, and one-fifth of all carbon dioxide emissions." (Source: NIH ) And that air pollution does not just mean hazy skies. Air pollution kills -- some 70,000 each year according to epidemiological studies from around 2000, though more recent studies suggest the actual numbers may be two to three times higher (see here , here , and here ). There are also the grim statistics [pdf] of road fatalities. And did I hear anyone say "traffic jams"? Don't Forgot That Oil Thing Remember what George W. Bush said in 2006? "America is addicted to oil." One might even argue that Detroit and GM in particular were the enablers of our addition: building big, gas-guzzling cars and SUVs and then bombarding us with ads to convince us that those were the kinds of "cars" we wanted. Was it just a coincidence that selling us those SUVs made it possible for car companies to make an end-run [pdf] around federal automobile emissions standards ("light trucks" having different requirements even as they became an obvious personal vehicle choice like a car) and bloat their profits? Market forces, and not government tinkering, ended the American affair with gas guzzlers. Rising gasoline prices have led consumers to seek out smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. Toyoto's successful marketing of these fuel-efficient car is one large reason it overtook GM as the world's biggest carmaker in 2007. (Ironically, Toyota's own investments in SUVs and trucks is now coming home to roost for the Japanese automaker, as well.) Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with long commutes in stop-and-go traffic have led increasing numbers of Americans to move back to the city or to seek out mass transit. Taking the Long View Though time has marched on and technology has advanced, we still cherish our American icons of yesteryear. Yes, America has been a car culture for decades. But time was when we loved the Pony Express, and who can forget the days when the railroad was king? O'Rourke decries the loss of freedom that comes with the changing vehicle. But truth is the changing automobile landscape doesn't mean a loss of freedom -- it simply opens up the possibility for a new symbol. Though the Pony Express ceased its "fast" mail-delivery service once the transcontinental telegraph piped into action in the 1860s, its emblematic power of uniting far-flung places lives on. In its place came a new symbol of America's traveling freedom. It was the freedom previewed in the 1830s by the Best Friend of Charleston passenger train and brought to fruition in 1869 with the transcontinental railroad . The rails ruled for almost a century, remaining Americans' transportation of choice through the 1930s. "Rail travel tripled between 1896 and 1916, and trains carried '95 percent of all intercity transportation through 1910.'" (Source: Duke University, " Brief History of the U.S. Passenger Rail Industry ") After World War II, when air travel began to take off and car sales increased, it was apparent another big transformation was in the works. But how did that occur? One might argue that, among a number of forces, a set of "pointy-headed busybodies" really did a play a role. Time was when the rails were king. A number of forces helped them lose their crown, and the story is a little-known slice of American history. (Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library) It turns out that we became a nation of cars in part through antitrust activity on the part of GM, Firestone, and a handful of other companies, including some oil companies. First they invested in a holding firm (National City Lines, Inc.) that bought up more than 100 electric surface-traction systems in cities such as Los Angeles, Tulsa, Jackson, and Detroit. And then National shut them down and replaced them with GM buses. And slowly but surely the American landscape transformed from one crisscrossed with rail lines (anyone remember "The City of New Orleans," Steve Goodman's railroad song that Arlo Guthrie made famous?) into one strewn with highways and dotted with private automobiles. And so began our love affair with cars. (For more information see Jonathan Kwitny, " The Great Transportation Conspiracy ," Harpers Magazine , February 1981, sub req'd. Also, Jeff Swenerton, " When Trains Ruled the East Bay ," Oakland Magazine , and United States v. National City Lines, Inc. , 334 U.S. 573 (1948)) For a while the big sedan with those large tail fins was symbolic of that love affair. Or was it the Mustang convertible? More recently it was the SUV. It would appear that those symbols have become anachronistic. Don't cry over spilled oil, America. Time for a new symbol. More on Wall Street Journal
 
Sharon L. Camp: Statement On The Murder Of Dr. George Tiller Top
The Guttmacher Institute joins the reproductive health community in expressing our shock and sadness at the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a Kansas physician who dedicated his life to providing abortion care to women in need--including later-term abortions to women in the most difficult of circumstances. Dr. Tiller did so despite decades of harassment, vandalism, threats and violent attacks by antiabortion activists. The number of U.S. abortion providers has been declining for many years; as a result, a growing number of women have difficulty obtaining abortion services in a timely manner. The overwhelming majority of abortion providers offer services in the first trimester, when nearly 90% of abortions occur. But at later gestations--when abortions due to fetal anomalies and threats to a woman's health or life are more common--only 2% of all abortion providers offer the procedure, leaving women in need of later term abortions with very few safe, legal options. The death of Dr. Tiller is a senseless tragedy. Dr. Tiller risked his life on a daily basis to ensure that women had access to safe, legal reproductive health services. For the women he helped over the years, as well as those who will now have nowhere else to turn, this is an incalculable loss.
 
World In Photos: June 1, 2009 Top
Here is the HuffPost's selection of photos of today's news and events from every corner of the globe. Check back Monday through Friday for this HuffPost World feature. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter! More on Brazil
 
M. Tracey Brooks: Brave Reproductive Health Care Providers Will Continue Dr. Tiller's Legacy Top
Sunday's events in Wichita are a stark reminder of the ongoing sacrifices made by thousands of women and men who provide and protect reproductive health care in this nation. Yesterday, Dr. George Tiller, a provider of reproductive health care, including abortion, made the ultimate sacrifice with his life. All across this country, brave men and women have dedicated their lives and careers to women's health care. And, they do it with grace and courage, just as Dr. Tiller did. Volunteer escorts stand at the doors of health care centers to ensure patients' safe passage. Health care providers and ancillary staff provide a full range of reproductive health care services to patients, including abortion. Dr. Tiller once said his life story will be told through the women whose lives he saved. His story also will be told through the health providers who will continue to go to work every day to serve women and families. Caring staff offer sex education, contraception, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and other preventive health care for women. They conduct their work every day in the face of anger and hatred, because they believe that women should make their own decisions about whether and when to have a child. Dr. George Tiller provided abortion care to women for many years. He and his staff offered help to women facing some of the most difficult medical circumstances, often late in their pregnancies. He was continually harassed by abortion opponents for much of his career--his clinic was burned down, he was shot by a health center protestor, and he was recently targeted for investigation only to be acquitted by a jury just a few months ago. None of this stopped George Tiller from his commitment to providing women and their families with compassionate care that others were unwilling to offer. His death is an enormous loss for our movement, and for women and their families across America. Having come to know some of the many people who provide and protect reproductive health and justice, I know that this heinous act will not dissuade them from doing what they believe is right. Reproductive health care providers are a tenacious group of professionals and activities who make sacrifices every day to keep women and families safe and healthy. It takes special people to subject themselves to the ugly and harmful rhetoric and acts of the opposition for the unselfish assurance that reproductive health care is available to all regardless to race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or socio-economic status.
 
Katie Couric: My Speech To Princeton's Class of 2009 Top
This morning I gave the Class Day address at Princeton -- I was selected by the students and it was quite an honor, although slightly daunting to follow in the footsteps of Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart and Jerry Seinfeld. At the precise moment I got up to walk to the podium after being introduced by Neil Chen, Class Vice-President, a hawk dropped its half-eaten lunch (a dead bird) in front of me -- it landed with a thud. I didn't know whether it was a thoughtful gift or a weird omen -- paging Tippi Hedren! The student speakers were incredible. Jackie Bello and Jason Gilbert had the crowd eating from the palms of their hands and were a tough act to follow. My producer Tony Maciulis cried. President Shirley Tilghman and the other speakers were great, too...this generation came of age during 9/11 and are entering the world at a very difficult time, but I have no doubt their intelligence and ambition will see them through. Good luck to all of them -- and please excuse some of the racier jokes -- I was encouraged to be saucy and sassy! Remarks as prepared for delivery: Thank you, Neil, for the kind introduction, and thank you for inviting me today, Madame President, Deans, and most of all Graduating Class of 2009. It's a tremendous honor to be part of your Class Day. When Princeton called to invite me I was thrilled. It also gave me a perfect excuse for turning down Harvard and Yale - my safety schools! And since I've been called a cougar lately in the tabloid press – today I'm very happy to be an honorary tiger! Coming here was a real no brainer! After all, I can see New Jersey from my house! But a funny thing happened on my way to Class Day... I was pregaming in the Slums when there was a "noise complaint" and P-Safe busted me and took my Prox. Luckily I wasn't McCoshed, so I headed to the Street, where I tried to complete a Prospect 10...but was sidetracked playing ROBO at T-I. Very savage! Then I headed to Hoagie Haven and enjoyed a Fat Lady...and polished it off with a donut from the WA. Boy, you Princetonians really know how to live! But, actually, I do have a bone to pick with you. I have discovered I am the first female Class Day speaker in Princeton's history. OMG, WTF [Thanks for the LOL] All these years, and only one woman? Now, I understand this isn't Lilith Fair and there are plenty of great men out there...... but you actually asked Bradley Whitford of the West Wing BEFORE you had a woman? I understand the concept of casting a wide net...but great women like Madeline Albright, Sally Ride, Mother Teresa, Ellen Degeneres all bested by a fake political advisor to a fake president!? And then you had Stephen Colbert, a fake TV anchor? Actually, Stephen could be a REAL anchor...with just a little more product in his hair! I must say, I'm shocked you didn't invite Doogie Howser this year, a fake doctor and graduate of Princeton Class of 83. Or maybe you did, but he was too busy on the set of "How I Met your Mother." Or as we call it, My Favorite MILF. So, I'd like to officially welcome Princeton to the 21st Century. You've embraced the female gender at the perfect time...because it's been quite a year for women. After all, a Latina has just been nominated to the Supreme Court...only the third woman in history. And I heard she graduated summa cum laude from a little school in New Jersey! Hillary Clinton was the first serious female presidential candidate and made 18 million cracks in the ultimate glass ceiling. And then of course, there's Carrie Prejean, Miss California. No one has done more to motivate gay rights activists since Anita Bryant. [Your parents know who she is.] In any event, it is an honor to be here and I am moved to be sharing this special moment with parents and professors who may have woken up to me on the Today show....and with students who MAY wake up in time for the CBS Evening News. Although based on the average age of our viewers, I think you're probably watching "Shot at Love with Tila Tequila" instead. But seriously, thanks for inviting me, and congratulations to you on your graduation....or, more appropriately, your commencement....because the fun is just beginning. I'm sure you don't need a newsflash that getting a job is no stroll down Nassau Street. I read a study recently that said only 20 percent of graduates who've applied for jobs have one right now. That's down from 51 percent in 2007. In this economic climate, graduates of the Wilson School might actually have to get a job in Government! There may be some opportunities in the Republican Party. They're still looking for an effective spokesman, and the only person they can find so far is Rush Limbaugh....and he won't take the job because he doesn't want to give up his prescription plan. But as you head out into this daunting job market, at least you have many illustrious alumni lighting the way. Like The First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama. She was class of 1985, and now she's wowing them in Washington. Or...Queen Noor of Jordan, who has traveled so far and done so much in the name of humanitarian causes since her days here on this campus. The prolific and brilliant writer, Joyce Carol Oates, now a Princeton Professor. Wendy Kopp - Princeton '89 - founder of Teach for America, who has placed 20,000 teachers who have impacted the lives of more than 3 million students in this country. And for 200 please Alex - who is Larissa Kelly? The third all-time jeopardy winner - Class of 2002! There are a few noteworthy men who were proud to go to Princeton as well...a list that reads like a who's who of American History. James Madison, John Foster Dulles, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Malcolm Forbes, James Baker....and Lyle Menendez, who's currently serving a life sentence at the Mule Creek State Prison in California. Hey, you can't win 'em all! I would also like to salute notable Princeton grad...Mayor McDaniels...of South Park. An impressive number of technology giants have also graduated from Princeton. From the father of modern computing, Alan Turing, to Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, to EBay founder Meg Whitman. And I understand Amazon's Jeff Bezos is offering to replace the Firestone Library with a Kindle. It really makes you wonder why they even built Stanford! Also doing his part to advance Princeton's impressive technology footprint--Class of 82's David Duchovny, who is single-handedly supporting a major segment of the on-line industry. Apparently, these days Agent Mulder is really into the Triple X Files. And topping off the list, there's former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Given his status as client number nine, it seems particularly fitting that he's a graduate of "Woody Woo." Yesterday you heard from another impressive graduate... General David Petraeus who earned his PhD here in 1987. He's the architect of the U.S. counter-insurgency strategy and has had a brilliant career in the US military. And I understand Class of 54's Donald Rumsfeld has been charged with guarding the Big Cannon. I don't want to say he's taking his job too far, but he's reportedly been telling President Obama there are Weapons of Mass Destruction hidden at Rutgers. There certainly ARE many successful graduates of Princeton. And now...it's your turn. More than ever in my lifetime, this nation needs some big, bold thinkers. We need innovators. We need people who look beyond a paycheck and see possibilities. You've got your degree. NOW, you're about to enroll in a new kind of learning experience. There are plenty of lessons along the way...if you keep your heart and your mind open on the journey. First, success only knocks on your door if you win the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. All the rest of us have to work for it...hard. There's that old joke...How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. That's a major point Malcolm Gladwell makes in his book "Outliers." He writes that to truly master something, you need to spend at least 10-thousand hours doing it. Take Bill Gates, for example. He dropped out of Harvard and he still became Bill Gates...by devoting his every waking moment to building and understanding computer codes. The Beatles might have seemed like an overnight sensation, but they played together more than a thousand times before that famous appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. For them, it really was a hard day's night...night after night after night...for four years! I'm no Beatle or Bill Gates, but I've learned the importance of hard work, as well. I was a desk assistant at ABC News in Washington where my major responsibilities were Xeroxing (hey, it was the dark ages!) and making coffee. When I moved to what my network colleagues referred to as Chicken Noodle News in 1980, I finally got a chance to do some reporting...and the President of CNN said he never wanted to see me on air again. It could have been demoralizing; instead I found it motivating! And rather than let the turkeys get me down... I just kept practicing. And I actually got better. Even today I spend hours preparing for interviews that sometimes are edited down to only a few minutes. It takes a lot of effort...to make things appear effortless. This year I had the privilege of interviewing Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the man who successfully landed a flight on the Hudson River after birds knocked out both engines. He saved all 155 lives onboard. While his story is about heroism, it's also about experience and hard work. He said to me: "For 42 years, I've been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience, education, and training. And on January 15th, the balance was sufficient so that I could make a sudden large withdrawal." In other words, practice, practice, practice. It always pays off. Next, don't be a hater. Princeton has taught you to think critically, to approach things with a healthy dose of skepticism...and that's a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say. But you really must guard against the cynicism and nastiness that are so pervasive today, particularly on the internet. It can be a wonderful, powerful and equalizing tool, but it's also populated by haters and trolls. People think they can say or do anything online under the cloak of anonymity. Don't get sucked in...In his book, entitled "Snark", David Denby writes, "Snark often functions as an enforcer of mediocrity and conformity. In its cozy knowingness, snark flatters you in assuming that you get the contemptuous joke. You've been admitted or re-admitted to a club, but it may be a club of the second rate." Rise above the collegial nastiness and instead....celebrate excellence. The joy of reveling in someone else's success is much sweeter than the bitter vitriol of sites like Juicy Campus. By the way, Juicy Campus RIP. Shutting that website down, in my view, was a huge victory for civility. Third, I have a message particularly for all you young women here today...or as Beyonce might say, all the single ladies. John Lennon, once wrote "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." I'm sure you are all graduating with big career goals. You may also have a dream of being married and having a family, and at some point the career may take a backseat. There is no more challenging, rewarding or important job than being a mom. I just want to say this--sometimes dreams of domestic bliss are interrupted by reality. People get divorced. People die. You need to protect yourself. I was very happily married to a wonderful man. He was diagnosed with colon cancer and nine months later, he was gone. I was a single mom with two very young children. This was not part of the plan. Luckily, I had a career and therefore the financial independence to support my children. Many women in my situation are not nearly as fortunate. And while I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer, I want you all to be prepared for the unexpected and approach some of the big life decisions you'll be making with your eyes wide open. And another thing you probably need to realize: It's not all about you. As you venture out into this big bad world, I hope you each find a way to make it better. As anchor of the Evening News, I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan. I was there for a matter of days...not months or years. No matter what your opinion may be about the wars this nation is fighting, the men and women of the military are making sacrifices every day...and deserve our respect and support when they're deployed...and when they come home. But there are many ways to serve. When my husband Jay died, I felt I needed to do something. I needed to educate Americans about colon cancer, the second leading cancer killer of men and women in this country...I needed to help them understand that this cancer can often be prevented entirely if people get screened. I didn't want others to experience the pain my family had endured. So, I did what any self-respecting journalist with a built in bully pulpit would do...I had a colonoscopy on national television. At one point, loopy on anesthesia, I believe I told the world that I had a pretty little colon. I was fortunate to be able to reach a large audience, and colonoscopy screenings increased by 20 percent. Researchers called it "The Couric Effect." I think it's the Katie and Jay effect. There are people I may never meet who are now living healthier lives...with emphasis on LIVING...simply because I helped bring colon cancer out of the closet. And I was so gratified to be part of a team that helped organize Stand Up 2 Cancer, which raised over 100 million dollars to fund the unsung heroes of this countries...scientists who work day in a day out...without fame or big checks so many more people can live with cancer and not die from it. There are smaller, quieter ways to serve...that are just as important. I recently interviewed two adorable sisters for a series we're doing called "Children of the Recession." They are nine and five...their parents both lost their jobs and the girls ended up walking the streets and riding the trains of Chicago with their mother. Then an organization called "Safe Families" stepped in and now they're being taken care of by a wonderful couple until their parents can get back on their feet. I met many families who opened their homes and hearts to kids in distress. THAT...is service. So is tutoring a child. Working at a soup kitchen. Driving an elderly neighbor to the grocery store. Never underestimate the contribution you can make. Its been said: "If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito." So give something back. After all, you're graduating from Princeton! You are so lucky. And do me a favor...thank your parents or whoever helped you achieve this goal. Then, transform your gratitude into action...and give back to a world that has already given you so much. When President Obama announced he was choosing Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court it was a reminder that the American Dream is alive and well...that a young Puerto Rican girl who grew up in a housing project in the Bronx could earn a seat in the highest court in the land. She congratulated the single mother who raised her to be a judge and her brother to be a doctor. Parents, your children, too, can achieve anything because you gave them strong shoulders to stand on and the tools they'll need to succeed. Remind yourselves of this when they ask if they can come home and live with you while they look for work! But maybe the silver lining of these tough economic times is that it may be the wake up call helps recalibrate our values. The eighties -- thank GOD -- are long over. Luckily none of you remember
 
Jennifer M. Granholm: After GM and Chrysler Bankruptcies -- What Now? Top
Despite this morning's wrenching news about GM filing for bankruptcy, my state should not be the object of pity. Michigan should be the subject we study as the president leads an energy economy revolution. We will not be victims: we intend to lead the country in a move from 20th century rust to 21st century green. Predictions are that by the end of this decade, due to the collapse of the nation's automotive and manufacturing sectors, Michigan will have lost almost one million jobs. Let me say that again: one million jobs lost in ten years in just one state. Good paying, middle class jobs. Jobs that have defined our state's identity and prosperity. Jobs that created communities, large and small. Gone. We've had enough. We've gone through all the stages of grief and loss: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, just maybe, acceptance. With GM's bankruptcy filing today, we know we're finally starting to hit bottom. While many of us have not been supportive of the bankruptcy strategy, we are bound and determined to climb out of this decade-long tunnel of darkness. My fellow governors often offer their sympathies. "When I feel depressed about my state's situation," one recently said to me, "all I have to do is look to the manufacturing sector in Michigan to feel better." Hmmm. I'm not sure we want to provide the means of comfort to others in that way. We don't want anyone to feel sorry for us. We are resolute, determined, and focused on the fix to our situation. Key to that fix is using Michigan's expertise in manufacturing products to achieve our nation's goal of energy independence. It is old news that with globalization, U.S. manufacturers move production to low-wage countries. But when it comes to manufacturing green products, it's time to change direction on offshoring. And here's why: in short order, the U.S. will have enacted a national commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and end our dependence on foreign oil. This new energy policy will have defined a critical national need for the U.S. to become energy independent. My point is this: we can't become energy independent by becoming dependent on energy products made by other countries. We either have the means to control our energy future, or we have to rely upon products made elsewhere to do it. Great nations do not relinquish their ability to make the products that will lift them to greatness. This is the moment for our nation to make green products here and export them, rather than the other way around. In Michigan, we're not waiting around. Now and for the past five years, we are laboring to position ourselves to help lead the green industrial revolution. We adopted our own energy policy to create demand for renewables. We restructured utility incentives to deploy efficiency. We enacted tax incentives and grants for production of green products and created venture capital for green start-ups. We changed regulatory policy to invite producers of alternative energy products. We restructured our workforce training to provide the skills for green jobs. We are targeting our competitive strengths. And, now, we're no longer going it alone. We have a president whose energy policies will put Michigan's efforts on steroids. Today, the advanced batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles are made in Asia. Tomorrow, they will be made in Michigan. Today, the wind turbines used in much of America's wind farms are made in Europe. Tomorrow, they will be made in Michigan and in states across America. We have the technology, the workforce, the machining knowhow, the universities, the factory capacity, the infrastructure for transporting these products...and we will have federal policies that drive demand for those products researched, developed and produced in America. So, three major opportunities exist to turn the destruction of bankruptcies and job losses into the creative reconstruction of America's manufacturing economy: President Obama's commitment to free us from dependence on foreign and carbon-based fuels; the imperative that those green products be made in America to create that true independence; and a talented manufacturing sector hungry for work. The moment is now to use our lean, retooled American manufacturing sector to build the green cars, batteries, a smart electric grid, wind turbines and solar panels that will lead us to energy independence. It's a time of dramatic, historic, national transformation. And despite today's devastating news, Michigan is ready to lead. More on Bankruptcy
 
Journalists Traveling With Obama Warned By Saudis: Report Only On Obama Or Else Top
TIME's Michael Scherer, who will be accompanying President Obama on his trip to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, reports that he has been warned by the U.S. State Department that, while in Saudi Arabia, he is not to report on anything except the President's visit lest he "risk arrest and detention by Saudi authorities." Scherer writes that "by agreement between the Obama Administration and the Saudi government, the White House press corps will be severely restricted while in the country," and he shared with readers the instructions sent to him by the State Department: The Saudi government is permitting journalists accompanying President Obama entry into the country without a visa or the usual customs procedures. While in Saudi Arabia, therefore, journalists are expressly prohibited from leaving the hotel or engaging in any journalistic activities outside of coverage of the POTUS visit. Those who do so risk arrest and detention by Saudi authorities. In February, the State Department's 2008 Human Rights Report on Saudi Arabia discussed at length limitations on freedom of the press in that country: The Basic Law does not provide for freedom of speech or the press, and the government generally did not respect these rights in practice. Several major media outlets were owned by members of the royal family, and individuals were not permitted to criticize the royal family publicly. The government actively impeded criticism and monitored citizens' political activity. In rare cases, individuals criticized specific government bodies or actions publicly without repercussions. According to the Basic Law, the media's role is to educate the masses and promote national unity. Media outlets can legally be banned or publication temporarily halted if they are deemed to promote "mischief and discord, compromise the security of the state and its public image," or if it "offends a man's dignity and rights." The government continued to restrict freedom of speech and press by interrupting publication and dissemination of news sources critical of the royal family or of Islam. Authorities prevented or delayed distribution of foreign print media, effectively censoring these media and publications. During the year media discussions took place that tested the boundaries of permissible topics for media coverage, including political and social reforms, actions of government ministries, domestic and child abuse, rights of women and human rights, corruption, drug and alcohol abuse, crime rates and violence, trafficking in persons, HIV/AIDS, and the religious police. More on Saudi Arabia
 
Jim Lichtman: "High and Tight, Mediocre Cheese" Top
On Monday, February 10, 2009, Alex Rodriquez's life changed forever. The highest-paid player in baseball, called the greatest player in the modern game, also called Mr. Clean by some, because he was never directly tied to drug use, finally came clean (after reporter Selena Roberts broke the news in Sports Illustrated ), when he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs and lying about it for six years. I've written about Rodriquez before ( Deconstructing the Champ ), and Roger Clemens ( Dear Roger ) when he testified before Congress in his in-your-face denial of drug use inspite of Brian McNamee, his own trainer, sitting three-feet away telling a different story. Although I believe steroid use is a whole different league of cheating, cheating is still cheating; which is why I was surprised and disappointed in reading a report about cheating by one of my own heroes, Mickey Mantle. The story is told by Jim Price, former catcher for the Detroit Tigers of how he and pitcher Denny McLain conspired to give the Mick a "going-away gift." "A few weeks from retirement and tied with Jimmie Foxx with 534 career home runs," writes Alan Schwarz for the New York Times, ("May 9, 2009, The Day the Tigers Tipped Pitches for the Mick ) "Mantle came to the plate in the eighth inning with the Tigers comfortably ahead, 6-1. Detroit had already clinched the American League pennant... and McLain had already won his 30th game. "Price, a second-year reserve who was playing to give [first-string catcher] Bill Freehan a rest, walked out to the mound to give the 9,063 fans in Tiger Stadium one last chance to pay their respects. "When I got there," Price told a reporter in a phone interview, Denny said, 'Hey, big guy, should I let him hit one?' "I said it was a great idea. Mickey was always nice to me. So I went back behind the plate and Mickey, like he always did, was tapping the plate with his bat when I said, 'Want us to groove one for you?' "Mantle apparently didn't believe Price, but when he saw McLain nodding on the mound, he understood what was going on. "High and tight, mediocre cheese," Mantle told Price. "McLain served up a few that were apparently not gift-wrapped quite as neatly as the Mick preferred," the Times report said. "But then came exactly what Mantle was looking for, and he hit a rocket into the upper deck in right field, the next-to-last home run of his career. "Tipping pitches," signaling hitters of a specific pitch to opposing players in return for tipped pitches, is just one of the claims made by Selena Roberts in her new biography of Rodriquez. However, Price questions this notion. "That blows my mind," Price said. "I've watched hundreds of games. I don't see how that could happen, I'm sorry. That sounds pretty far-fetched to me." What "blows my mind" is how easily Price justifies the tipped pitch to Mantle. "What we did was a gesture to a great player at end of his career," Price said. "It was offered by the pitcher -- it was his suggestion and Mickey went along with it. We'd already clinched the pennant. I don't feel that I did anything wrong at all." But you did, Jim! In fact, you did three things wrong. First, you tricked all the fans watching, listening or reading about the game into thinking that Mickey genuinely hit a homerun. Second, while the Tigers may have clinched the pennant and McLain won 30 games, you cheated baseball enthusiasts into thinking Mantle legitimately hit homerun number 535. Finally, you cheated Mickey out of reaching the goal on his own . Inspite of both injuries and age, he hit another home run a few games later to end with a total career of 536. So, does one "gimme" at the end of Mickey Mantle's career make him a fraud? Probably not. However, I'd like to believe that all the homers in Mickey's career were legitimate, but with Price's revelation, I'll never really know. As soon as Mantle hit his going-away gift, "McLain was clapping as Mickey was rounding the bases," Price said. "And when he crossed home plate, Mickey thanked me. The next batter was Joe Pepitone, and he said, 'Give me one, too.' And I go, 'No way, you're not Mickey Mantle.' " Jim Lichtman has been writing and speaking on ethics since 1995. His latest book is entitled, "What Do You Stand For? Stories About Principles That Matter." More commentaries can be found at www.ethicsStupid.com .
 
José Miguel Vivanco: OAS Should Not Welcome Back Cuba Top
In a crucial vote this week, the Organization of American States could decide whether to lift Cuba's almost 50-year suspension from the key regional body. OAS secretary general José Miguel Insulza wants to bring the issue to a vote as early as June 2 at a General Assembly meeting. Such a move would be bad for civil society in Cuba and bad for the OAS. Cuba was suspended from participating in the OAS in 1962 because its Marxist-Leninist government was deemed "incompatible" with the inter-American system. But recently, a growing number of Latin American countries--among them not only Cuban allies like Venezuela but also influential players like Brazil--have called for revoking the suspension. With the only public opposition coming from the US and Canada, there is a realistic chance that the suspension may soon be lifted. At best, proponents of Cuba's return to the OAS fold suffer from wishful thinking. At worst, utter denial. For the denial argument take Insulza, who said in an interview earlier this month that "there are other countries in America with problems of democracy, not just Cuba." The suggestion is that Cuba's "problems" are not so different from those of its neighbors. But such an assertion directly contradicts the findings of the OAS's own monitor, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights, which found in a report released three days before Insulza's interview that: "Restrictions on political rights, freedom of expression and dissemination of ideas have created, over a period of decades, a situation of permanent and systematic violations of the fundamental rights of Cuban citizens." Cuba is the only country in the region that represses nearly all forms of political dissent. For decades, the Cuban government has enforced political conformity using criminal prosecutions, long- and short-term detentions, physical abuse, and surveillance. This abysmal record has not improved since the handover of power from Fidel to Raul Castro. The wishful thinking argument holds that welcoming Cuba back into the fold will open a new space for dialogue. However, the Castro brothers have left little doubt of what they think of the OAS. In April, Fidel Castro condemned the OAS as "the hateful tool of the superpower," and dismissed its principles and aspirations as "delirious dreams." His brother Raul has said the institution should disappear. Nor do Cuba's official exchanges with the OAS inspire much confidence. The OAS charter encourages ongoing diplomatic efforts with suspended members. Yet for decades, Cuba has responded to all reports by the Inter-American Commission with the same letter rejecting the institution's legitimacy. These reports address serious rights violations, such as the groundless prosecution and imprisonment in March 2003 of 75 journalists, labor leaders, and human rights defenders, 54 of whom are still in jail. Those who think revoking Cuba's suspension might make the government more open to engagement would be wise to look at Cuba's non-cooperation with the UN Human Rights Council, which it joined in 2007. The Cuban government continues to ignore the requests for visits from independent UN experts on freedom of expression and religion, and in February submitted a report for its Universal Periodic Review that denied the existence of political prisoners. One of the most compelling arguments for not inviting Cuba back into the OAS is the extent to which other member states have progressed, as opposed to Cuba. When Cuba was suspended in 1962, Guatemala was run by a military junta brought to power by a CIA-sponsored overthrow, and Haiti by the brutal dictator, "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Over the span of a few years, coups toppled governments in Bolivia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and El Salvador. These days, most leaders in the Americas come to power through the ballot box rather than the gun. Surely, serious problems persist. The same OAS report that recently criticized Cuba also denounced the lack of an independent judiciary in Venezuela and attacks on human rights defenders in Colombia. On the whole, though, the region is making incremental progress toward establishing the rule of law. In 2001, OAS members signed the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which not only affirmed their commitment to democratic principles, but also established a collective responsibility to actively defend them. To readmit Cuba would make a mockery of these commitments. It would reward a government that has failed utterly to improve its abysmal human rights record, and thereby weaken rights protections throughout the region. It would be a step towards tacit acceptance--not constructive engagement. Instead of lowering the region's bar to accommodate Cuba, the OAS should push Cuba to raise its respect for human rights to meet a higher collective standard. Leaders from the North and the South should work together to forge a targeted, multilateral strategy that will pressure Cuba to curb its systematic abuses. This will not be easy, and will not happen overnight. But to think that simply welcoming Cuba into the democratic club will dismantle the government's repressive machinery may be--in Fidel Castro's own words--the most "delirious dream" of all. More on Brazil
 
Tancredo PAC Backs Staffer Charged In Racist Assault Top
I just talked to Bay Buchanan, the co-chairman of Team America PAC and president of the American Cause, who is sticking by executive director (of both groups) Marcus Epstein after this weekend's revelations about his 2007 arrest for karate-chopping a black woman while yelling a racial epithet. More on Sonia Sotomayor
 
'Jon & Kate' Kate Gosselin's Bikini Vacation Top
We caught up with Kate flashing some skin in the surf at Bald Head Island in North Carolina. Unfortunately, no sign of hubby Jon. More on Jon & Kate Plus 8
 
Stephen Elliott: Talking to the Graduating Class About Jobs That Matter Top
It's graduation time, and thus also the time of the graduation speech, that strange ritual when someone important stands at a podium and bores the hell out of thousands of students and parents. The platitudes are endless, and who cares; every one knows the real message is an unspoken one, directed to the parents - a soothing assurance that if the university has the pull for such a famous speaker, their money these past four (or more) years was well spent. So why would I read Paul Hawken's address to Portland University's class of 2009 when it was sent to me via Internet? Just to impress the cute girl who forwarded it . You should read it because it finally does what speeches are supposed to: simultaneously slaps at your heart and kicks your ass. Hawken, environmentalist, author, inventor of the cool patio chair, exhorts those gathered to eschew the bank and the law firm and instead take a job with Mother Nature herself. "The earth needs a new operating system and you are the programmers and we need it within the next few decades." Only the rare cliché here - okay, he uses the word Challenge twice. But he has no use at all for that graduation mainstay, Potential. "Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required...Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after..." ** Stephen Elliott is the editor of The Rumpus
 
Miranda Kerr Naked On Rolling Stone For Environment, "Specifically Koalas" Top
Rolling Stone's "green issue" is a real attention-getter. Australian model Miranda Kerr -- you may have seen her as a Victoria's Secret angel or on fiancé Orlando Bloom's arm. According to news.com.au, "She says she decided to go "au naturel'' to raise awareness of the environment, specifically koalas." Here's the cover: More on Celebrity Skin
 
5 Incredible Underdogs Who Triumphed Against All Odds Top
Jason McElwain, a teenage boy with autism, had always loved basketball. At his Rochester high school, he was responsible for helping out the varsity players as team manager: taking care of their equipment, getting fresh towels, and taking on other odd jobs to ensure that the team had everything they needed at their practices and games. During his senior year in 2006, McElwain's coach decided to add him to the team roster for the last game of the season, and give him an opportunity to play on the court for the first time ever. No one expected much from him, but McElwain proved that he knew his stuff: During three minutes on the field, the game's surprise hero sank six three-pointers and an additional shot, scoring 20 points for his team. Although McElwain's amazing play wasn't enough to win the game, that didn't matter. The crowd went wild for the game's unlikely star, and McElwain's teammates carried him off the court in celebration of his amazing victory. For McElwain, the basketball game was about more than sports--it helped him prove what he was capable of to the world. "This is the first moment Jason has ever succeeded (and could be) proud of himself," his mother, Debbie McElwain, told CBS News. "I look at autism as the Berlin Wall, and he cracked it." Check out the amazing video of his play below. More on Susan Boyle
 
Gotham Chopra: Sign the Petition to Free Laura Ling and Euna Lee Top
By Gotham and Mallika Chopra Pay attention, please. It matters.  Please take the time to review, contemplate, and sign the following petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/free-euna-and-laura This Thursday, June 4 th (Wednesday Night in the US), Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two American journalists will go on trial in North Korea. They have been detained by North Korean authorities since March 17 th, charged with hostile acts against the DPRK. Conviction could result in 5-10 years “re-education” in notorious labor camps.   From the very few accounts from those that have either escaped or survived the camps, they echo the infamous Soviet gulags of decades past. At the trial Laura and Euna will not have the benefit of lawyers, witnesses, family members, nor - if prior accounts are to be believed - even translators, who may help them fully understand the proceedings.   It is not entirely clear if the trial will be the 24 hour kind endured by Roxana Saberi, the Iranian-American journalist detained, imprisoned, charged, convicted, and released in Iran just a few weeks ago for similar sounding “crimes,” or the interminable type put forth by American authorities against various “enemy combatants” identified and rounded up since 9/11/01. The lack of clarity is because there really isn’t any precedent for what Laura and Euna are about to endure.  No American has ever gone through the North Korean judicial system. According to various online groups, over 100 journalists are being detained by assorted governments and regimes around the world.   Laura and Euna just happen to be amongst the most well known, if only because their situation is entangled with greater geo-political and global security matters.   Just this past week, the North, in defiance of the United Nations, conducted a nuclear test, flexing their military muscle for all the world to see.   Global condemnation soon followed, further backing a defiant North Korean regime into a corner and the isolation they have become accustomed with. For 1 minute, forget the politics. Forget the fact that no one in the world really has any moral authority left to stand on. When the US and others condemn the North for detaining Laura and Euna on such charges, they are reminded of their own questionable judicial tactics. We need look no farther than the current crisis still ongoing in Guantanamo, Cuba. When the UN condemns North Korea for its nuclear testing, they are quickly reminded that well over 90% of the thousands of nuclear weapons sitting in various depots around the planet belong to the 5 members of the United Nations Security Council. The truth is everyone is always right from their own point of view. Self righteous morality is a tale as old as time. To claim idealism while not practicing it all the time (a virtual impossibility) is a fatal flaw.   Totalitarianism cloaked as imperialism or colonialism - vague terms, that throughout history, have ended in the same somber graveyard of failed idealism. For this moment, just know that Laura and Euna are sisters, wives, daughters.   Euna is also a mother.   This week, you will hear from their families, their muzzles removed by the US State Department that has had little success up until this point in negotiating their release.   They now agree that you should know what’s going on.   You will hear stories of these two women as compassionate, intrepid, committed journalists, and more importantly, as caring, thoughtful, and passionate people. No doubt, many of the dozens of other reporters around the world – whose names we don’t even know – have the same sorts of family situations, personalities, and passions. The other sad truth for us is that we are only writing this post, because we know Laura Ling as a close friend. Until her predicament, similar sorts of situations endured by others have just been passing headlines. There’s no way to defend such laziness or indifference.   When the story becomes personal, you pay attention to every minute detail, and grasp any piece of information.   The urgency to pray for compassion and clemency from people you have no way to reach out to becomes your only hope. Our hope is that in signing this petition, we as global citizens can ask that individuals lives can be separated from global politics.   That these two women have faced enough fear and suffering.   And that no matter where we come from, no matter what ideologies we possess, we can find compassion and humanity for our fellow human beings. That matters. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy Gotham and Mallika Chopra regularly blog at www.intent.com More on North Korea
 
Baucus Battered By Voters For Health Care Stand Top
Sen. Max Baucus got some not-so friendly advice from his Montana constituents last week as he works to reform the health care system: You're doing it all wrong. Baucus, the chair of the Finance Committee and the leader of reform efforts in the Senate, scheduled 20 town hall meetings with constituents across the state to talk about the future of health care. The Senate was out of session, but Baucus, a Democrat, didn't personally attend. Instead, he sent staff and a video-recorded message. "I really want to hear from all of you," Baucus said on the video, according to local media. "You're my employers. You're my bosses. You're the people I work for. I'm just the hired hand. I want to hear what you want to see in any legislation we pass in Washington, D.C." He got what he asked for. Five separate accounts of the meetings, published in four different local papers, show Montana voters were downright hostile to Baucus' reform proposal. Baucus has been a staunch opponent of single-payer health care, a system in which the government would provide universal coverage. Baucus has kept single-payer advocates out of negotiations and has yet to endorse a compromise proposal by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) that would give Americans the option of buying into a publicly run plan that would compete with private insurers. That stance put his staffers up against a wall, facing angry constituents fed up by what they viewed as a lack of courage in Washington. " Majority wants single-payer health care ," headlined an account in the Helena Independent Record. At several of the events, Montanans' ire was directed at Baucus chief of staff Jon Selib, who defended the employer-based coverage system that he estimated covers 150 million Americans. "A lot of people like that," Selib said. When the time came for questions, [self-employed consultant Steve] McArthur stood up and asked a simple question. Looking across a standing-room-only crowd of about 275, he asked how many were happy with their employer-based health insurance. Fewer than 10 people raised their hands. "The [argument] is bogus," McArthur said. "It's not working for 95 percent of us." In fact, any mention of single-payer health care insurance brought raucous cheers and clapping. Any other solution to health care reform - including Baucus' "balanced" plan that would create a mix of public and private plans - was received more coolly. The bitter questioning led Selib to break some news at the meeting. "If you think your insurance company is screwing you ... then you'd have the option of going to the public plan," Selib said. "Senator Baucus is fighting tooth and nail to include that in any final deal." Then he asked the standing-room-only audiences for comments -- and got an earful, mostly on the whys, hows and whats of national health insurance as the preferred option. Baucus' staff repeatedly argued that 60 votes are needed to move a bill through the Senate and that single-payer, or an otherwise bold reform, simply wouldn't pass. That wasn't what they wanted to hear, said a story in the Missoulian, "Single-payer health care: Baucus keeps getting an earful." PABLO - Sen. Max Baucus' insistence that consideration of a national single-payer health plan at this point will squander a golden opportunity for health care reform in the United States continues to be met with stiff resistance from many of his constituents. "The word 'insurance' does not equal health care," Janelle Kuechle of Polson said at a meeting here Thursday. "If I have to pay a $900 premium to have health insurance with a $10,000 deductible, that is not health care." "Congress ought to be representing us instead of the insurance lobby," said retired school teacher John Oberlitner of Polson. "Max Baucus has stated it's not feasible to pass a single-payer health plan, but one year ago people were saying it was not feasible that Obama could be elected our president." Voters in Livingston weren't much warmer, recorded the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. But many in the audience grilled a Baucus staffer on why they wouldn't allow single-payer advocates to participate in roundtables held to form his plan. Several doctors were arrested for protesting that point in Washington two weeks ago during a Baucus-led discussion. Judy Moor of Bozeman asked whether the big campaign dollars Baucus has received from the insurance industry was reason for suspicion. "Single-payer advocates not giving up the fight," observed the Great Falls Tribune . Proponents of single-payer showed up en masse at the most well-attended meetings in Missoula, Hamilton, Anaconda, Dillon and Livingston to urge Baucus -- the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee -- to consider single-payer universal health care. Single payer -- a system in which the government provides health insurance to all Americans -- has been declared "off the table" by Baucus, Congress' leading man on heath care reform. Baucus isn't pushing hard enough, said a Helena business owner, summing up the statewide wisdom. "Max is really making me mad now because he's not really trying to change the system, he's just trying to tweak it."
 
FBI: Crime Falls, But Small Town Violence Rises Top
WASHINGTON — Cities in the United States got safer in 2008, while small towns grew more dangerous, according to FBI data released Monday. The FBI says violent crime nationwide dropped by 2.5 percent last year. Property crimes also fell, by 1.6 percent, according to the preliminary data collected by the FBI. Cities with more than 1 million people saw murders fall by 4.3 percent; cities with 500,000 to 1 million people saw murders fall by nearly 8 percent. Yet in towns with fewer than 10,000 residents, murders rose 5.5 percent, rape increased 1.4 percent, and robbery 3.9 percent. The latest data shows violent crime fell for a second straight year, after increases in 2006 and 2005. Those two years, the crime rate began to rise after historic lows that began during the Clinton administration and continued into President Bush's first years in the White House. Nationwide, murder and manslaughter dropped 4.4 percent in 2008. Aggravated assault declined 3.2 percent, forcible rape decreased 2.2 percent, and robbery dropped 1.1 percent. The country also saw a huge drop in car thefts _ more than 13 percent. The western region of the country saw the biggest declines, with a 4.2 percent drop in property crime and a 3.4 percent drop in violent crime. The Northeast saw a slight increase in property crime, which rose by 1.6 percent. ___ On the Net: FBI Crime Statistics Report: http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june09/ucr_statistics060109.html More on Crime
 
Sarah Palin: Tiller Murder A "Tragedy" Top
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin released a statement Monday responding to the murder of Dr. George Tiller, a doctor in Wichita, Kansas who performed late-term abortions. Gov. Palin has a staunchly pro-life record. She opposes abortion in all cases , including rape and incest, except when a mother's life is in danger. Her statement on the Tiller murder was posted on her personal website: "I feel sorrow for the Tiller family. I respect the sanctity of life and the tragedy that took place today in Kansas clearly violates respect for life. This murder also damages the positive message of life, for the unborn, and for those living. Ask yourself, 'What will those who have not yet decided personally where they stand on this issue take away from today's event in Kansas?' Regardless of my strong objection to Dr. Tiller's abortion practices, violence is never an answer in advancing the pro-life message." Governor Sarah Palin Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter! More on Sarah Palin
 
Suu Kyi Trial: Burmese Protest With Small Signs Of Defiance Top
YANGON, Myanmar — The spray-painted demands appear overnight: "Free Aung San Suu Kyi" read the scrawls on walls across this city _ only to be whitewashed by security forces as soon as they are discovered. Since the trial of Myanmar's pro-democracy leader began two weeks ago, these small signs of defiance hint at the undercurrent of anger over the treatment of a woman considered to be a living icon by many of her compatriots. But out in public, under the watchful gaze of the military regime, supporters feel helpless to do more as the trial winds to an end, with closing arguments scheduled for Friday. There is little sign that private anguish will explode into the mass protests _ all violently suppressed _ that have marked the history of Myanmar, also known as Burma, since the military began its rule in 1962. "I'm so upset about what has happened in my country," said Zin, a 28-year-old housewife who, like most Burmese, won't give her full name for fear of retaliation. "People are angry and people are sad, but we can't do anything for her. We have no power." Suu Kyi, 63, a Nobel Peace laureate, is being tried on charges of violating her house arrest after an American, John W. Yettaw, swam uninvited to her lakeshore home and stayed for two days. She has already been held in detention for 13 of the past 19 years, including the past six. Closing arguments have been delayed until Friday, but expectations are high that she will be found guilty since Myanmar's courts operate under the command of the ruling military. Lawyers for Suu Kyi met Monday to prepare for the trial's closing arguments, said Nyan Win, one of her defense team and a spokesman for her National League for Democracy party. "We are very confident that we will win the case if everything goes according to law," Nyan Win said. The defense has not contested the basic facts of the case, but argues instead that the relevant law has been misapplied by the authorities. The trial has drawn condemnation from the international community and Suu Kyi's local supporters, who worry that the military junta has found an excuse to keep her detained through elections planned for next year. But with memories of the government's bloody crackdown against the Buddhist monk-led uprising in 2007 still vivid, few people are willing to challenge a regime with no qualms about using violence against its own citizens. At least 31 people were killed that September, including a Japanese journalist, the U.N. says. Aung, a 55-year-old businessman who witnessed the military's response to the protests two years ago, said the Burmese learned a bitter lesson from that experience. Thousands were detained in the aftermath of demonstrations that drew 100,000 people into Yangon's streets. Hundreds of activists were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. "The person who becomes involved in protests, their whole family is persecuted. If you want to be brave, OK, but do you think all your family must be brave too?" he said. "Nobody wants to risk that now." Longtime observers say it is unlikely that major public demonstrations will follow Suu Kyi's sentencing. "If Suu Kyi is found guilty and jailed, there will be much popular anger, but it won't make a real difference because (the government) is well-equipped and experienced in dealing with the people's protests," said Donald Seekins, a Myanmar expert at Japan's Meio University. Seekins said the regime has already posted soldiers throughout Yangon, the largest city, "and can suppress demonstrations with little difficulty." For a nation still recovering from the devastation of Cyclone Nargis last year, which left at least 138,000 dead, the ongoing economic hardship makes coping day-to-day _ not politics _ the priority for many Burmese, said Aung. "People are so disturbed, so angry" about Suu Kyi, he said, clenching his fist for emphasis. "But Nargis was a big hit. Everybody's suffering and when people suffer, they don't have time to think about anything." In the streets of Yangon this past week, there was little evidence of heightened tension, with businesses operating normally. However, increased security could be seen around Suu Kyi's gently decaying lakeshore home as well as near her party's headquarters as a key anniversary was marked _ 19 years since Suu Kyi's party won a landslide victory at the ballot box but were prevented from taking office. A few political stalwarts have still managed to keep the faith. At a small celebration Wednesday attended by foreign diplomats, senior party members wore T-shirts calling for Suu Kyi's freedom and then released a total of 64 doves and balloons into the air at the dilapidated party offices. She will turn 64 on June 19. Meanwhile, several dozen faithful, including 80-year-old former political prisoner Win Tin, have been holding daily vigils in the rain outside the gates of Insein prison, where Suu Kyi is being held, despite the presence of plainclothes security videotaping their movements and recording their identities. Acknowledging the difficulties faced by regular Burmese, Win Tin said last week that "everyone is angry, but people are concerned with earning their daily bread. They are afraid, and there is no leadership." Even if people wanted to talk about the incarceration of "The Lady," as Suu Kyi is known, the dangers of criticizing the ruling regime too openly are known to everyone, said Thein, a 48-year-old English teacher. Instead, he said, political discussions are reduced to furtive whisperings in neighborhood teashops and small gatherings in private homes. "People have been frustrated a long time," Thein said. "We don't trust anything. We don't trust each other. Always we think, 'Is he a spy?' The rule is: 'Don't talk politics.'" More on Aung San Suu Kyi
 
John Altschuler: It's Hard to Write Goode Top
I was talking to a friend of mine a few years ago who was distraught. She had bought an expensive hybrid and had just found out that it actually got less gas mileage than a similar model that ran completely on gas. I'll never forget the deep sadness in her eyes as she looked up and said "It's so hard to be good". That struck a chord with me. We are all trying really hard to be good these days but we always seem to come up short. Like my wife, who helps run the eco-friendly, non-homophobic, Jane Goodall-founded, semi-scout group at our son's school called "Roots and Shoots" -- whatever she does is never good enough (usually pointed out by a helpful parent: "Gee, you know you really shouldn't let them have bottled water on the hike" or "Wow, you sure used a lot of plastic bags when you organized the street clean up.") When I talked to my friends I realized I was not alone. There was a lot of guilt out there and a lot of people eager to point out your shortcomings. I took this idea to my writing partner, Dave Krinsky, and our producing partner Mike Judge and they started kicking in personal stories about their experiences. It seemed that, no matter how hard we tried, none of us were "good enough." And that was funny. And that could be a TV show -- the flip side of our current show King of the Hill -- a way for us to grapple with all the complex and awkward social issues that are bubbling up all around us. So out came The Goode Family , an animated series about a loving family that tries so hard to be good but always feels like they are falling short. We were very gratified by the critical response from sources as diverse as major newspapers, CNN and Fox News, and most importantly to us in entertainment, Daily Variety . What surprised us was how our show became a political football before it even aired. Some conservative commentators were grasping desperately at the show because at last someone was making fun of liberals. While other conservative bloggers thought we were making fun of flag pin wearing Christians. The left jumped in and "questioned " (translation: were appalled by) the motives and timing of a show that made fun of people who are trying to make the world a better place. One of the most disappointing was from Gina Bellafante of the New York Times , who panned our repeated jokes about power generated by windmills. This was a head scratcher because there weren't any jokes about windmills in any of our episodes. Then a journalist friend pointed out that she probably fast forwarded through the episodes and saw the main title sequence twice -- which is a colorful depiction of the Goode Family's perfect world (which includes wind generated power). I'm not saying she did that, but the other option is that the New York Times has a writer reviewing TV who doesn't know what a main title sequence is. It's like she would be upset with the creator of The Mary Tyler Moore Show " because she feels he thinks it's funny that every week she throws her hat in the air. It's that sort of knee-jerk dismissive attitude that make it very difficult to deal with any subject matter that is truly relevant. So, blogs and forums are buzzing with declarations about whom our show was making fun of and why we should be stopped or applauded. But the question that ran through most of these debates is "whose side are we on?" This brought me back to a conversation I had with Matt Stone of South Park fame who told me once that the most frustrating thing about dealing with society's sacred cows is that you are always being asked "what side are you on?" I feel that's a reason why so much TV is irrelevant and often unwatchable -- the creators are too worried about being on the correct side and not worried enough about taking a critical look at the world around them. I noticed a lot of people who were very comfortable with us dealing with the foibles of a Southern conservative family on King of the Hill got very uncomfortable when we turned the tables and looked at people more like ourselves. A side? Do you know how much easier my life would be if I actually were on a side? I hope people keep watching so they can tell us what side we are on with regards to animal rights, football culture, lesbian class war, and a problem that plagues many of us in Los Angeles -- how can you socially consciously hire a gardener?
 
Bar Refaeli Naked And Painted For Esquire (PHOTOS) Top
Esquire is taking the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue approach to magazine sales, as they have a naked, painted on Bar Refaeli on the cover of their July issue. The Israeli beauty sexes up fiction and has the magazine's contents scrawled across her body, with a new Stephen King short story teased on her arms. PHOTOS: More on Celebrity Skin
 
Why Obama Chose Cairo Top
Some are questioning President Obama's decision to deliver a much-anticipated address to the Muslim world from Cairo on June 4. Egypt is governed by an autocratic ally of the United States that faces strong internal Islamist opposition. More on Egypt
 

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