Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Y! Alert: The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com

Yahoo! Blog Alert
Yahoo! Alerts
My Alerts

The latest from The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com


Patt Morrison: California SOS -- Operators Are Standing By! Top
What's left? What else can California do to yank itself back from the brink, before it hits bottom and finds itself looking up to that perennial last-on-the-list state, Mississippi? Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's telling Californians our wallets are empty, our credit's no good. More billions have to be sliced out of the state budget. What gets thrown out of the sledge next? Prisoners, released early across California? Sick people, cut off from their meds and their doctors? A listener to my KPCC radio program gave me an idea when she pointed out that this is just another kind of California disaster. So why not ask for assistance from our fellow Americans? Sounds to me like telethon time. Save a state! Call 1-800-help-help-help-help-help-help-help. I hope that over the Fourth of July holiday, cable and broadcast channels across the nation could be enlisted to air the marathon telethon as an act of compassion. The world should uplink to the spectacle of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, sweating as the hours pass, pulling at his tie and urging the tote board to go up, up, up, to rescue California from its tsunami/earthquake-sized budget plague. His Hollywood friends could take a turn on TV, helping to pump up the pledge numbers -- singing, dancing, pleading. Americans by the millions, who've been infuriated by California's tanned and prosperous 'tude over the years, would get the immense pleasure of calling up just to drop some condescending change into our begging bowl. Donation -- a few bucks. Smug ''I told you sos'' -- priceless. Perhaps even President Obama could call in to pledge the nation's support, promising to make every federal agency, at home and around the world, in every cafeteria and PX and break room, check the coin returns in their vending machines and donate every last penny they find to help California find its fiscal footing once more. The appeal? Everyone has some reason to save California, from artists eager to keep museums open, to oil company executives anxious to keep the nation's biggest car culture rolling. Children might call and pledge their pennies to save Mickey Mouse's home state. Nigerian businessmen could email confidentially to let California in on hundreds of millions of dollars lying unclaimed in a dead dictator's account, if only we'll send $25,000 to cover expenses. And as the last, desperate hours and minutes of the telethon tick away, I hope we would hear the Gay Men's Chorus and the choir of Rick Warren's Saddleback church joining voices to sing the moving telethon theme, ''You'll Never Surf Alone.'' Thank you for calling -- how much can we put you down for?
 
Christina Bellantoni: White House slogan for Cairo speech: New Beginning Top
First published at WashingtonTimes.com RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - President Obama tomorrow will deliver one of the most anticipated - and lengthy - speeches of his political career. Aides told us reporters traveling abroad with POTUS that the speech tomorrow in Cairo will last between 40 and 45 minutes. They also announced an unprecedented social networking blitz to get the speech out to Islam but also to, in their words, "engage" about what Obama is saying. The first step came this afternoon (evening in this part of the world) with a Tweet from the White House pointing to a Facebook group where people can sign up to talk about the speech and get more info. That nifty new logo in White House signature blue (the budget book had same color and font) appears on the Facebook page . It also notes the event will be livestreamed at about 6 a.m. from  http://whitehouse.gov/live . It's been a whirlwind day we've spent mostly at the filing center in Saudi Arabia, where the high temperature was 110 degrees. We leave tonight at about 2 a.m. local on the press charter. That's the few from my room here at the Marriott, where we've stayed while the president has met privately with King Abdullah at King's Farm, a royal family version of the Camp David presidential retreat. After brief remarks to reporters, Obama closed his remarks with "Shoukran," the Arabic word for "thank you." But the White House also had to deal with a new problem today, Osama bin Laden's latest. Here's my story: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA -- As President Obama arrived here Wednesday for meetings with the Saudi royal family, a tape of Osama bin Laden surfaced to offer a reminder of the high-stakes agenda Mr. Obama is pursuing on his trip abroad -- Middle East peace and regional cooperation with a goal of renewed international goodwill for the United States. Shortly after the new president was greeted by King Abdullah upon his landing, the Sept. 11 mastermind and al Qaeda leader issued a tape criticizing Mr. Obama, who aims to reach out to the Muslim world during his trip. As the Associated Press reported existence of the tape, which published reports say accuses Mr. Obama of continuing former President George W. Bush's policy, Mr. Obama was at King's Farm for a series of meetings with the king and royal leadership. Read the full story here .   I've been Tweeting all about the adventure (and the food) using hashtag #preztrip, so follow me there! —  Christina Bellantoni , White House correspondent,  The Washington Times Please track  my blog's  RSS feed  here . Find my latest stories  here , follow me on  Twitter  and visit my  YouTube page . More on Twitter
 
Paul Rieckhoff: Our Stop-lossed Troops Deserve Their Overtime Top
In March 2004, Sgt. Mike Krause returned home from two back-to-back tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. With his Army contract set to expire in less than a year, Krause could begin to plan his future, starting with earning his college degree. But after just three months at home with their families, Krause and almost 40 members of his unit were stop-lossed. By October 2004, Krause was back in Iraq for a second year-long deployment. In just three years, he spent a total of 30 months in combat. Since 2001, more than 170,000 troops like Sgt. Krause have been held past their enlistment contracts under the military’s “stop-loss” policy.  But it’s not just our servicemembers who have suffered. Their families have also had their reunions delayed, their lives disrupted, and their futures stalled. In March, the Pentagon announced it would begin compensating these servicemembers for their overtime. But unless Congress acts today, thousands of veterans who were stop-lossed before October 2008, like Sgt. Krause, won’t see a dime in back-pay. In no other profession would an employee work overtime and not be compensated, and the same must be true of our military. Given all of the sacrifices that our troops and their families have made, these payments are long past due. In the next 48 hours, Congress is deliberating the fate of a critical provision that would close this gap and provide an average of $5,000 in retroactive payments to troops who have been stop-lossed.   Our veterans are counting on Congress to bring it to the President’s desk-- you can help  make sure that happens. The House and Senate are meeting to work out their differences on the 2009 war supplemental spending bill; currently only the House version includes the retroactive stop-loss payments. The vote on the bill will be happening in the next few days. If the Senate feels the pressure, the provision will be protected. And that will mean a huge impact on the lives of our troops.   Now, more than ever, our servicemembers are relying on our lawmakers to do the right thing.   Call your Senators today , and let them know that you support retroactive payments for our stop-lossed troops. Our nation’s heroes deserve their overtime.   Crossposted at www.IAVA.org . More on Afghanistan
 
Paul Szep: The Daily Szep: Love it or leave it Top
More on Political Humor
 
Janice Taylor: Xtreme Eating Awards 2009: Food Morality? Top
On Tuesday, the Center for Science in the Public Interest , a Washington DC consumer group, announced its 2009 Xtreme Eating Awards. All award-winning dishes were chock-a-bloc with calories, layered with salt, fat, sugar on top of fat, sugar salt, on top of sugar, salt and fat...in other words, bad for you, heavy on the artery-clogging fats. Given that the USA obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions: * 58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese * Eight out of 10 over 25's Overweight * 78% of American's not meeting basic activity level recommendations * 25% completely Sedentary * 76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990 One might wonder. Are these restaurants on a mission to make foods are fattening as possible? Is there no "food morality?" CSPI senior nutritionist Jayne Hurley asks, "Would you like an entree with your entree?" Clearly, she says, "It's a race to the bottom, and there's no end in sight." Please keep in mind the majority of us should limit our food consumption to about 2,000 calories (I'm betting that's an average, because I would gain at that amount!) , 20 grams of saturated fat, and 1,500 mg of sodium per day. The Xtreme Eating Awards go to: * Red Lobster Ultimate Fondue: This retro item is also making comebacks at Olive Garden, Uno Chicago Grill, and at a chain that sells nothing but fondues, The Melting Pot. Red Lobster's Ultimate version, "shrimp and crabmeat in a creamy lobster cheese sauce served in a warm crispy sourdough bowl," is crammed with 1,490 calories, 40 grams of saturated fat, and 3,580 mg of sodium. That's two days' worth of both artery-clogging fat and blood-pressure-spiking sodium. * Applebee's Quesadilla Burger: Here Applebee's inserts a bacon cheeseburger into a quesadilla. Two flour tortillas, two kinds of meat, two kinds of cheese, pico de gallo, lettuce, and a previously unknown condiment called Mexi-ranch sauce, plus fries, gives this monstrous marriage 1,820 calories, 46 grams of saturated fat, and 4,410 mg of sodium. Bonus heart-stopper: Applebee's actually invites customers to top the fries with chili and still more cheese. * Chili's Big Mouth Bites: This is four mini-bacon-cheeseburgers served on a plate with fries, onion strings, and jalapeno ranch dipping sauce. ("Mini" is relative: each one is like a Quarter Pounder.) Like the "sliders" available at other chains, Chili's Big Mouth Bites can be an appetizer or an entree (these numbers are for the latter). 2,350 calories, 38 grams of saturated fat, and 3,940 milligrams of sodium. * The Cheesecake Factory Chicken and Biscuits: Nutrition Action calls it "discomfort food." If you wouldn't eat an entire 8-piece bucket of KFC Original Recipe plus 5 biscuits, you shouldn't order this. But unless you live in a city with menu labeling, you wouldn't know that this dish has 2,500 calories. The rest of the winning -- or rather, losing -- appetizers, entrees, and desserts are in the June issue of Nutrition Action. (Source: CSPINET.org) Knowledge is powerful. Please think hard before you over-indulge, go on a sugar-induced bender and/or clog your arteries. Which tastes better? 2,500 calories of fat, sugar and salt or life? Janice Taylor is a Life & Wellness Coach , the author of Our Lady of Weight Loss and All Is Forgiven, Move On . Visit Janice: Our Lady of Weight Loss Janice's Beliefnet Blog . "Janice Taylor is a certain kind of kooky genius." ~ O , the Oprah Magazine "mindful eating in humorous yet earnest style . . . ." ~ the New York Times.
 
Alex Leo: Chyron Of The Day: A House Derided Top
Oh, I get it. Whereas an "Economic Alert" tells you something incendiary and untrue about the economy on Fox News, an "Ecoonomic Alert" tells you something true but completely stupid. Tim Geithner, like many Americans, is selling his home and unable to find a buyer in a bad market. This, apparently, is not only news worthy but interesting enough for the chyron operator to give you tidbits of information about the house as we scroll through a slideshow of pictures from the inside...Sorry, I just fell asleep for a minute. For yesterday's chyron, click here. More on Fox News
 
Child Raped In South Africa Every 3 Minutes: Report Top
One child is raped in South Africa every three minutes, a report by trade union Solidarity said on Wednesday. More on South Africa
 
OHIO STATE TROOPERS Fight WEIGHT LIMIT Rule Top
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio state troopers _ who face extra poundage for sitting long hours in patrol cars _ are fighting back at a state rule that allows dismissal for those who consistently exceed weight limits. No too-heavy Ohio troopers or sergeants have been fired in recent years, but at least 11 have received verbal or written reprimands since January for weighing too much, Department of Public Safety records show. One trooper was 48 pounds over his allowable weight, while another was 40 pounds beyond the maximum. Union negotiators who began contract talks with the state last month want the rule done away with. "It's basically being fired, with the stipulation that once you make weight, then you can come back," Ohio State Troopers Association President Larry Phillips said of his state's provision for dealing with consistently out-of-shape troopers. "They are just simply out the door. No health care, nothing." Ohio's highway patrol is among just a handful of state patrols that allow punitive measures against troopers and sergeants who fail to meet weight requirements. Union contracts in Alaska and Massachusetts also allow for removing overweight troopers from duty, although that rarely happens, said National Troopers Coalition chairman Mike Eades. The rate of police officers who are overweight or obese has grown along with the general American population in recent years, said Dr. Steve Farrell, who teaches police agencies how to implement fitness programs at the nationally respected Cooper Institute in Dallas. Police officers and troopers may spend most of their workday sitting, either in patrol cars or at desks, but they must be prepared for sudden, extreme amounts of physical effort, such as running after a suspect, Farrell said. Most law enforcement agencies that address the fitness issue have health and wellness programs that give officers time to physically train and allow incentives _ such as extra pay or time off _ for those who lose weight, Eades said. A national task force made up of several law enforcement organizations has recommended that agencies include incentives in their programs, said Rick Weisman, director of labor services at the national Fraternal Order of Police. "If you say to people, 'We're going to punish you,' you're not going to get people to volunteer to comply," said Weisman, a retired Columbus police sergeant. "It doesn't motivate them." Only when agencies begin rewarding for progress can they see more officers and troopers engage in a healthier lifestyle, he said. In Ohio, the troopers' contract does include extra monthly pay for those who meet standards. But the state should focus on offering further incentives, taking more of a corrective approach than a punitive one, he said. "You've got all this money as far as hiring, training, time invested in these people, their experience," he said. What's more, he said, the state's budget deficit makes this an inopportune time to remove anyone because of their weight. Most of Ohio's troopers meet the patrol's height-weight standards, Phillips said. But those who fail their monthly weigh-ins for 24 months straight can be removed from duty, with no pay or pension contributions or other benefits, he said. Those who don't meet the standards can get a pass if they perform well on timed treadmill runs, bench press and other exercise tests given every two years, Phillips said. State Highway Patrol Lt. Tony Bradshaw is one officer up against the limits. He weighs 215 lbs, which is fine for his 6-foot, 2-inch height. And because of his physical fitness level and his low body-fat percentage, he's allowed to weigh up to 224 lbs., said Bradshaw, who is the patrol's spokesman. Because the patrol and the Troopers' Association are in the middle of contract negotiations, no other troopers who have faced the weight issue could be made available for comment, he said. Six Ohio troopers were removed from duty in 2003, including one who was 71 pounds overweight. But no troopers or sergeants have been removed for being overweight in recent months because preliminary contract talks have been ongoing, Phillips said. The patrol's height-weight standards, which also factor in someone's age and gender, were adopted in 1986, and the punitive measures were added during the 1990s, he said. A man who is 5 feet 11 inches tall, for example, is considered overweight if he weighs more than 179 pounds, according to the commonly used body mass index measurement. The current contract expires June 30. The association will try, once again, to remove the provision from their next three-year agreement that allows for punishment for missing weight requirements, Phillips said. Ohio Department of Administrative Services spokesman Ron Sylvester wouldn't comment, because of the ongoing contract talks, on the state's reason for using punitive measures. But he said the state expects troopers to keep themselves in adequate physical shape. ___ Associated Press writer Andrew Welsh-Huggins contributed to this report.
 
5 Tips For Dealing With The Common Relationship Issues That Plague John And Kate Top
Although it may have been Jon and Kate Gosselin's unusual family that landed them a reality show, it is their marital problems--to which much of their audience can likely relate--that have made them a household name in recent weeks. During the previous four seasons of TLC's Jon & Kate Plus Eight, the couple has bickered, eye-rolled, and jabbed its way through adventures in rearing now 9-year-old twins and now 5-year-old sextuplets. In this past Monday's record-breaking fifth-season premiere (9.8 million viewers), Jon and Kate finally addressed the very topic that has kept them on tabloid covers for weeks: Their marriage is on the rocks. More on Health
 
Gael Greene: Letter to a 10-Year-Old Restaurant Critic Hopeful Top
I received a letter from a 10-year-old named Oscar telling me he wanted to be a restaurant critic. Here's my response. Dear Oscar, You write that you are 10 and want to be a restaurant critic when you grow up. It's definitely a plus for you that your parents love to cook and you love to eat everything and anything. I see from your email that your favorite foods are oysters, canard confit, sushi, your Mum's 8 hour lamb with rosemary gravy, crunchy potatoes cooked in duck fat, and your Dad's fish pie. That's very impressive for a start. You make it all sound so delicious. Are you sure you want to wait till you're grown up? Ten is the perfect age to start being a restaurant critic especially if you have an aggressive mother who will push your claim -- the press loves child prodigies. Are you short for your age? That helps too because people will think you are even younger than 10. It looks from your email like you're from Australia where there are many fine restaurants with world class chefs. And you need to taste the best, as well as your folks' cooking, to develop your taste memory. Taste memory is what your tongue stores in your brain if you're paying attention. Experiment! Taste weird things in ethnic restaurants. Taste everything you can, even if it makes your parents faint and fall under the table. You don't have to pretend you actually like tripe or pig's feet although you get points if you do. Remember to make notes. Learn to write under the table so the waiter doesn't notice. That's what you need to do when you become a professional critic because a critic should try to be anonymous, unnoticed, invisible. Tell your mother to call you by a different name every night so people don't realize there is a new critic named Oscar. If the family budget is tight, start saving up now. Sell your own cupcakes door-to-door or invent a new computer game so you can afford great restaurants and overseas travel. Save for summers in France and Italy, spring break in Hong Kong. Read up on truffles. If you can figure out how to grow white truffles in your backyard, you won't ever need to worry about money. Maybe you already take notes at restaurants when you go out with your folks. Possibly you already have a professional outlet -- a newsletter or magazine aimed at young people or the teen page in your local newspaper. Plan to spend the next ten years intelligently prepping for food world stardom...it's good you asked now. In America, 12-year-old "restaurant critics," are already food blog darlings. Maybe your mom has a cousin who knows Rupert Murdoch. You can send him a jar of your own gooseberry jam. Start cooking now. The more you know about what's right, the more you'll know about what went wrong when you taste it. You don't really need to speak and write perfect French, Italian, Chinese, Spanish but you should be able to translate a foreign menu and say "How is this cooked?" in the major cuisine languages and hopefully understand the answer by the time you're 12. When you're 12 or 13 you might get a "stage" in a famous chef's kitchen. That means you work a few months without pay in a great kitchen peeling carrots and onions while secretly writing down everything the chef knows. Don't count on getting rich as a restaurant critic, especially if, as seems likely, most magazines and newspapers eventually fold and only the blogophere remains. Still you could become a Food Network star with many cookbooks and your own salsas in jars. Watch the star chefs on TV. See how they talk. Short sentences. Maybe even funny. That's what's known as "a sound bite." You want to speak in clever sound bites in case you get famous or become a judge on Top Chef Series 102. Try imitating Mario and Emeril or Bobby in front of the mirror everyday. Or maybe you're more of a Julia Child type. Ask your Mom. You might also consider apprenticing yourself at 18 or so, if not immediately, to a seasoned critic. Do you think you could copy my writing style so I could escape from my computer for a few weeks? Perhaps not all this advice will fit your current situation but the basics are here: Taste. Eat. Cook. Study menus. Read cookbooks. I read Joseph Wechsberg's Blue Trout and Black Truffles for inspiration. Get a funny hair style so you don't look like just any other 10-year-old boy. Maybe wear a hat. Remember: tattoos are permanent. Break an egg. Gael Greene More on Food
 
"The Anti-Tesla:" Bland $45,000 Electric Sedan By Coda Top
This is a bland 4 door sedan, but intentionally so. It's aimed right at heart of the masses. It's the anti-Tesla. It will cost $45,000 pre-tax breaks, and will get 100 miles per charge. It will take 6 hours to charge, which means in 2 hours it will be good for 40 miles. Says Miles CEO, Kevin Czinger, 100 miles will cover 90% of the drivers needs. More on Cars
 
Iran Nuclear Assessment May Have Been Tainted By Iranian Intelligence "Ruse" Top
WASHINGTON, Jun 3 (IPS) - A report on Iran's nuclear programme issued by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month generated news stories publicising an incendiary charge that U.S. intelligence is underestimating Iran's progress in designing a "nuclear warhead" before the halt in nuclear weapons-related research in 2003. That false and misleading charge from an intelligence official of a foreign country, who was not identified but was clearly Israeli, reinforces two of Israel's key propaganda themes on Iran - that the 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran is wrong, and that Tehran is poised to build nuclear weapons as soon as possible. But it also provides new evidence that Israeli intelligence was the source of the collection of intelligence documents which have been used to accuse Iran of hiding nuclear weapons research. The Committee report, dated May 4, cited unnamed "foreign analysts" as claiming intelligence that Iran ended its nuclear weapons-related work in 2003 because it had mastered the design and tested components of a nuclear weapon and thus didn't need to work on it further until it had produced enough sufficient material. That conclusion, which implies that Iran has already decided to build nuclear weapons, contradicts both the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, and current intelligence analysis. The NIE concluded that Iran had ended nuclear weapons-related work in 2003 because of increased international scrutiny, and that it was "less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005". The report included what appears to be a spectacular revelation from "a senior allied intelligence official" that a collection of intelligence documents supposedly obtained by U.S. intelligence in 2004 from an Iranian laptop computer includes "blueprints for a nuclear warhead". It quotes the unnamed official as saying that the blueprints "precisely matched" similar blueprints the official's own agency "had obtained from other sources inside Iran". No U.S. or IAEA official has ever claimed that the so-called laptop documents included designs for a "nuclear warhead". The detailed list in a May 26, 2008 IAEA report of the contents of what have been called the "alleged studies" - intelligence documents on alleged Iranian nuclear weapons work -- made no mention of any such blueprints. In using the phrase "blueprints for a nuclear warhead", the unnamed official was evidently seeking to conflate blueprints for the reentry vehicle of the Iranian Shehab missile, which were among the alleged Iranian documents, with blueprints for nuclear weapons. When New York Times reporters William J. Broad and David E. Sanger used the term "nuclear warhead" to refer to a reentry vehicle in a Nov. 13, 2005 story on the intelligence documents on the Iranian nuclear programme, it brought sharp criticism from David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security. "This distinction is not minor," Albright observed, "and Broad should understand the differences between the two objects, particularly when the information does not contain any words such as nuclear or nuclear warhead." The Senate report does not identify the country for which the analyst in question works, and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff refused to respond to questions about the report from IPS, including the reason why the report concealed the identity of the country for which the unidentified "senior allied intelligence official" works. Reached later in May, the author of the report, Douglas Frantz, told IPS he is under strict instructions not to speak with the news media. After a briefing on the report for selected news media immediately after its release, however, the Associated Press reported May 6 that interviews were conducted in Israel. Frantz was apparently forbidden by Israeli officials from revealing their national affiliation as a condition for the interviews. Frantz, a former journalist for the Los Angeles Times, had extensive contacts with high-ranking Israeli military, intelligence and foreign ministry officials before joining the Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff. He and co-author Catherine Collins conducted interviews with those Israeli officials for "The Nuclear Jihadist", published in 2007. The interviews were all conducted under rules prohibiting disclosure of their identities, according to the book. The unnamed Israeli intelligence officer's statement that the "blueprints for a nuclear warhead" - meaning specifications for a missile reentry vehicle - were identical to "designs his agency had obtained from other sources in Iran" suggests that the documents collection which the IAEA has called "alleged studies" actually originated in Israel. A U.S.-based nuclear weapons analyst who has followed the "alleged studies" intelligence documents closely says he understands that the documents obtained by U.S. intelligence in 2004 were not originally stored on the laptop on which they were located when they were brought in by an unidentified Iranian source, as U.S. officials have claimed to U.S. journalists. The analyst, who insists on not being identified, says the documents were collected by an intelligence network and then assembled on a single laptop. The anonymous Israeli intelligence official's claim, cited in the Committee report, that the "blueprints" in the "alleged studies" collection matched documents his agency had gotten from its own source seems to confirm the analyst's finding that Israeli intelligence assembled the documents. German officials have said that the Mujahedin E Khalq or MEK, the Iranian resistance organisation, brought the laptop documents collection to the attention of U.S. intelligence, as reported by IPS in February 2008. Israeli ties with the political arm of the MEK, the National Committee of Resistance in Iran (NCRI), go back to the early 1990s and include assistance to the organisation in broadcasting into Iran from Paris. The NCRI publicly revealed the existence of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in August 2002. However, that and other intelligence apparently came from Israeli intelligence. The Israeli co-authors of "The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran", Yossi Melman and Meir Javeanfar, revealed that "Western" intelligence was "laundered" to hide its actual provenance by providing it to Iranian opposition groups, especially NCRI, in order to get it to the IAEA. They cite U.S., British and Israeli officials as sources for the revelation. New Yorker writer Connie Bruck wrote in a March 2006 article that an Israeli diplomat confirmed to her that Israel had found the MEK "useful" but declined to elaborate. Israeli intelligence is also known to have been actively seeking to use alleged Iranian documents to prove that Iran had an active nuclear weapons programme just at the time the intelligence documents which eventually surfaced in 2004 would have been put together. The most revealing glimpse of Israeli use of such documents to influence international opinion on Iran's nuclear programme comes from the book by Frantz and Collins. They report that Israel's international intelligence agency Mossad created a special unit in the summer of 2003 to carry out a campaign to provide secret briefings on the Iranian nuclear programme, which sometimes included "documents from inside Iran and elsewhere". The "alleged studies" collection of documents has never been verified as genuine by either the IAEA or by intelligence analysts. The Senate report said senior United Nations officials and foreign intelligence officials who had seen "many of the documents" in the collection of alleged Iranian military documents had told committee staff "it is impossible to rule out an elaborate intelligence ruse". Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in 2006. Read more from Inter Press Service. Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter! More on Iran
 
Jason Notte: Why I Wear the Penny: A Planned Parenthood Clinic Escort's Reaction to the Tiller Murder Top
The sun was out and the temperature was already in the mid-60s by the time I arrived for my early shift at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts 's Boston branch two weeks ago and put on my purple clinic escort penny. I'd volunteered as an escort for only three months, but learned early that clear weather meant more protesters. At 7:45a.m., there was a small group reciting the rosary and another similar-sized contingent of college students receiving their orientation from a member of an anti-abortion group. By 10 a.m. they were several dozen, carrying signs featuring crucified baby dolls pierced with forceps and dripping entrails to the base of the cross. They stood with their toes on the yellow line that marks the state-mandated 35-foot buffer zone between themselves and the clinic's entrance. It prevents them from moving closer, but not from bellowing phrases including "They're killing babies in there," "You know what murder looks like," and "A heart filled with sin will never know love" at clients as they enter the clinic. At any sign of confusion or hesitation by the individual entering the facility, the bellows became screams. I'm not there to confront protesters or prevent them from speaking their minds or engaging the clients. As an escort, I can accompany the client only when asked. I'm told my mere presence brings them comfort, but amid the hymns, the yelling and the posters of mangled fetuses or fresh-faced newborns that say "Choose Life," I sometimes wonder what purpose I serve. When Dr. George Tiller was killed this past weekend , I remembered why I spent a year on a waiting list to put on that penny in the first place. I have a sister who is a year and a half younger that I am and who moved to Boston just before I did. She bakes me cookies when I am sick, makes me mixed CDs when I turn a year older and makes me feel like the best writer on Earth when my topics are as mundane as morning coffee. In many regards she is my best friend. She is also a grown woman who, at some point, may need one of the many services Planned Parenthood has to offer: Be it blood pressure screenings, cervical cancer or breast exams, contraception or abortion. She is entitled to all of these services under the law and, if she felt that someone might try to deny her access to these services, I would like her to know that her big brother will always be there to clear a path. Though many women who come to Planned Parenthood neither have nor want such assistance, I and my fellow escorts present an option for those who feel threatened. And, despite Dr. Tiller's murder, we're not going anywhere. My fellow escorts vary in age, but many had volunteered their services long before John Salvi killed two receptionists in 1994 at clinics in Brookline, Mass. -- which is directly across the street from the Boston Planned Parenthood. They remember when women in our state were denied not only abortions, but also simple contraception. In our three-hour shifts together, I've learned that not only are the veteran escorts unmoved by anti-abortion violence, but incensed that anyone would believe such actions would make them abandon rights they've worked their whole lives to attain and protect. I am under no illusions that my presence or that of any other escort could have prevented Dr. Tiller from being killed. I also know that, in the same year Salvi committed his murders, an anti-abortion activist named Paul Hill killed both a doctor and a clinic escort in Pensacola, Fla. However, I also know that my sister recently married, and that her father-in-law loves tending the garden that surrounds his Brookline home. He is, of late, a grandfather twice over and will often take his grandson into the backyard to play among the meticulously kept bamboo shoots and dollar plants. He tends to both his plants and his family with the same gentility he uses when delivering babies as the head of pediatrics at an area hospital. Two years ago, he told us that his name was on the watch lists of several anti-abortion groups for having preformed the abortion procedure throughout his career. That anyone would want to do to he or my sister what was done to Dr. Tiller erases any doubts about where I will be when my name comes up on the escort schedule in a few weeks. I'll be in the clinic, saying a prayer for Tiller and my family before lacing up my penny and standing sentry outside. I'll be there to help, and I won't be alone .
 
Jameer Nelson, Orlando Magic Guard, Will Play In NBA Finals Top
ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Magic players say Jameer Nelson will play in the NBA finals, even though the All-Star point guard and his coach remain publicly pessimistic. Nelson participated in a full team practice Tuesday for the first time since tearing the labrum in his right shoulder Feb. 2. While Nelson and coach Stan Van Gundy still said the point guard's status won't be determined until game day, players said Nelson looked "terrific" and expect him to be on the court against the Los Angeles Lakers. "I expect to see him out there at some point in the series," backup point guard Anthony Johnson said. Nelson had what was then called season-ending surgery Feb. 19. Nelson's rehabilitation was supposed to take at least another two months. Game 1 of the finals is Thursday night in Los Angeles, and healed or not, Nelson wants to play. "I'm not saying I'm any tougher or stronger than anybody, but I've been known to do some amazing things sometimes," Nelson said Tuesday, again lobbying for playing time. Magic general manager Otis Smith had repeatedly said Nelson will not play again this season. But he recanted his comments Monday and said a quicker recovery and the chance of winning a championship has forced him to at least take a look at Nelson "It's still no in my mind," Smith said. "There's a very smidgen of a chance he can play." That "smidgen" seems to be growing. Nelson has been playing full-court games and practicing in non-contact drills for the last two weeks. Tuesday, he participated in every drill. Players said Nelson wasn't in his All-Star form, but even not completely healthy, he was better than most NBA point guards. "He was terrific," Magic forward Mickael Pietrus said. "Hopefully, he will play and can help us win." Starting point guard Rafer Alston expressed similar optimism. "I was going to try to run him ragged out there, but I didn't want to cross him over," Alston said. "He did cross me over a couple times." The Lakers are preparing as if Nelson will play _ and for good reason. Orlando was 2-0 against Los Angeles this season. Nelson was Orlando's leading scorer in both those games, averaging 27.5 points. And with the Lakers' troubles guarding point guards in the postseason, they're not taking any chances. "He's a terrific player. He's really come on a lot in the last year as a player," Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "Someone's got to play that position and we have to match whatever happens there. He has the speed and intelligence to play that position very well for that team." Nelson has been trying to convince the Magic for a chance at playing since the playoffs began, with each round the team advances the idea _ and the talk _ of him returning growing. For the Lakers, Nelson is just one more offensive weapon they have to worry about. "They add another scorer," Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant said. "They have a team full of them, but he is another player you're going to have to deal with on defense." The Magic's title hopes seemingly took a major hit after Nelson was injured. A trade-deadline deal that brought Alston from Houston largely saved the Magic's season, allowing the rotation to remain the same and Johnson to continue to provide solid play as Alston's backup. The Magic are hoping Nelson can only add to that success. Van Gundy, perhaps trying to keep his coaching strategy a secret, again expressed doubt Tuesday whether Nelson could seriously return for the finals. But he also said that even if Nelson doesn't play in Game 1, he could play later in the series. "He was OK," Van Gundy said, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll have to wait until and see." ___ AP Sports Writer Beth Harris in Los Angeles contributed to this story.
 
David Murray: Chicago For Dummies: What Our Newest Residents Can Expect Top
Summer's here, which means Chicago is filling up with young Midwestern college grads, looking for work and adventure. I hope the lads and lasses aren't reading the Huffington Post for advice, but just in case they are, I have a cautionary tale to tell about the city as I found it when I was their age -- and as it found me. I moved to Oak Park fresh out of Kent State University, back in 1992. The economy wasn't great then either, and so the adventure came easier than the work. Especially as dumb as I was. For instance, I assumed there were only two kinds of El trains: the To train, and the Fro train; boy, was I surprised when I got on what I thought was the Fro train but which turned out to be a third train entirely, headed for destinations unknown. The trains proved to be a test of savvy that I failed again and again. Once on the Lake Street line I drunkenly lost my watch to a man in a shell game. Another time I became hopelessly and sheepishly stuck in an El-platform turnstile, with my golf clubs. My attempts to find work also demanded more judgment than I had acquired. I was shocked and frustrated by Chicago's disinterest in my shiny bachelor's degree in English. After being told by my advisor that I was one of the best poets at Kent State, I was turned down for a job at Bowler's Journal on Michigan Avenue because I didn't have much bowling experience. Another interviewer for some kind of advertising job asked me, "How'd you like to make a million dollars this year?" I left, because I honestly did not want to make a million dollars that year. I was initially grateful to land a minimum-wage job as the "night waterman," in charge of irrigating an area golf course from dusk until dawn. Night after night spent under what I remember to be a bare light bulb, staring into the slightly deranged eyes of my partner, a sad laid-off accountant, relief turned into horror. I didn't finish out the first week. And then there was the "marketing" position that I interviewed for, out in a far west suburb. Dozens of interviewees and a five-minute interview during which it was ascertained that I had two eyes, a nose and a mouth. On the strength of those qualifications, I was told to report at 7:00 the next morning for an all-day "tryout" for the job. The next morning I showed up in the only business attire I owned, an unfortunately chosen camel's hair coat my dad had bought me on my last day in Ohio. It was already 75 or 80 degrees. I was introduced to the young marketing executive who would serve as my guide for the day. Hector greeted me warmly and asked for my help in packing cargo from a small warehouse into the back of his blue Ford Escort. Pink and light blue stuffed bears on this side, boxes full of black genuine plastic folders with built-in calculators on that. As we drove toward the city he didn't get into the secrets of marketing. He talked a lot about the power of positive thinking, the importance of never giving up, the need not to take no for an answer. I was open to all of it, and listening so intently to my new marketing mentor that by the time he parked the car on a gritty street, we might as well have been in Memphis for all I knew. (Much later I would later learn we were in Berwyn, within walking distance of my apartment in Oak Park.) Without ceremony, Hector opened the hatch and handed me an armful of stuffed bears and a box of the plastic folders. He took some bears and folders for himself and we headed into the first storefront we found open. Barbershops, shoe stores, florists, taverns, gas stations, greasy spoons -- proprietors, customers, mail carriers happening along -- Hector tried first to sell them a bear, and if they weren't interested, he offered a folder. But often -- amazingly often, I thought -- they were interested. And many of them were interested in each of the disparate items. Three bears for my grandchildren -- two pink and one blue -- and a folder for my nephew. (Can I interest you in a unicycle?) The early-morning boozers bought bears out of guilt, the frustrated young bowling-alley operator fed his ambition a folder. Hector did all the marketing, I humped the stuff and learned. By 11 a.m. it was 90 degrees. I was melting in that camel's hair jacket, and trying to figure out how I would break it to Hector that although I very much admired his positive attitude, I didn't think I was cut out for this work. I was too negative a guy, I told him over a hot dog and fries. He seemed to take it well at first, but after lunch he pointed at a Dunkin' Donuts across the street from his car and coldly told me to wait there until he sold the rest of the carful. By now it had dawned on my Eliot Ness that this was some kind of pyramid scheme, and that Hector had lost out on a commission by failing to inspire me to become a marketing executive like him. And I was sorry I had let him down. But I still hadn't the foggiest idea where in Chicago's vast reaches I was, and I had no idea how I might find out. So I spent the afternoon staring hard at the blue Escort, needlessly afraid Hector would jump in and drive off, leaving me to fend for my utterly helpless self. My summer-long festival of foolish trust and misplaced mistrust finally came to an end when, I found a job at a publisher named Ragan Communications , and went to work for a guy who understood naive young writers. In a memoir, Larry Ragan wrote about his own first job. Just out of the service, in the middle of the post-war boom year of 1946, he went to work for the U.S. Dental Co., in the triangular Coyote building at North, Milwaukee and Damen. "This company sold false teeth by mail," Ragan begins. "I worked there as a sales correspondent. There is no other way to put it: I was dumb. What blindness prevents us from avoiding such dumb decisions...." Dear dummies: Welcome to Chicago. It's good to have you here.
 
Deepak Bhargava: Reform Immigration for America Top
This week, all around the nation, the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign is being launched. The goal is to fix our broken immigration system. The campaign brings together labor, faith, civil rights, pro-immigrant, business and law enforcement communities in an unprecedented alliance to win the legislative battle expected to begin later this year. As I write, over 800 allies, advocates and activists are converging on Washington, DC for three days of lobby visits, strategy sessions and the national town hall on immigration reform. Though vast majorities of Americans agree that we need comprehensive immigration reform it's worth taking a moment to reflect on some of the reasons why this is such an urgent task. The economic urgency has only become greater during this deep and painful recession. Immigration reform is right not only from a moral, human rights perspective, but also from an economic perspective. Undocumented workers, who contribute to our economy, are unable to advocate for fair wages or humane working conditions. Without the protection that legal status affords these workers, employers can engage in a race to the bottom in wages and can exploit this ever-present underclass of labor. That hurts all American workers, whose wages and conditions would be raised across the board with the level playing field under comprehensive reform. After 8 years of enforcement-only policies and divisive scare tactics under the Bush administration, an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country live in a state of perpetual fear. Our policies have created an entire sub-class of people who live and work in the shadows. And while there are extremists who love to shout "illegal is illegal", the truth that most Americans don't understand is that our system is so broken that there is virtually no legal way for immigrants to come to our country -- there is no line to stand in. Many of the currently undocumented immigrants in this country have come in legally, then were bogged down in the slow, bureaucratic labyrinth of backlogs, visas and status adjustments. Victimized by the system, their only hope is a comprehensive overhaul of the broken laws that violate their civil and human rights. Take Jason Ng for example. Jason arrived in the United States in 1992, immigrating with his family with hopes of a better life. Nearly 15 years later, he found himself married to a US citizen, raising two US-born children and... facing an indefinite prison sentence. During his last interview for a green card, Jason was informed he had overstayed a visa years before and was promptly arrested and thrown into an immigrant detention center. While in detention, he began experiencing excruciating pain and was largely ignored by prison staff. On August 12, 2008, Jason died while in detention, his body eaten away by cancer. Jason's story may be extreme, but it highlights one reason why this country so urgently needs comprehensive immigration reform. No budget restructuring or state-level legislation would have saved Jason's life. Only a complete overhaul of the system, from a legal pathway to citizenship to decriminalizing what should be a civil violation, would have given him a fighting chance. Comprehensive reform would also help keep families together. Recently, while reading about the one year anniversary of the immigration raid in Postville, Iowa, I saw a video of a child interviewed after his parents were arrested. Fighting back tears, he said: "We're not criminals, my Mom and Dad came here so I could get an education... Now I want to be a lawyer, so I can help people like us. Now I want to help people who have the same fate as me. Because now I know how it feels." Our country is only as strong as our families and our communities. We cannot continue to separate children from their parents and families from their loved ones. Just ask the folks in Postville . President Obama has committed himself to immigration reform and now is the time that we should hold him, members of congress and ourselves accountable for getting this critical legislation done this fall. Why is this different than the push for immigration reform in previous years? Not only has this campaign been built from the bottom up -- over 44 local launches of the campaign took place across the country on Monday -- but it is a uniquely diverse and strong collection of folks working for a cause that a majority of the American public supports . Everyone from Rahm Emanuel to Alan Greenspan to the Police Foundation have come out in support of comprehensive immigration reform. The labor movement and the immigrant rights movement are united. Opposition to reform is increasingly the lonely province of a small but vocal and powerful group of extremists whose messages becomes more and more hateful by the day . Now is the time. This is the year. Reform Immigration for America. For families. For the Economy. For workers. If you want to join the fight, text "JUSTICE" to 69866. You will receive action alerts and RI4A campaign updates in the fight for reform. More on Immigration
 
Mark Konkol and Todd Fooks: Keeping Score In Chicago Episode 12: Parking Torture Top
Fook and Konkol strike back with an interview with Chicago's own radio terrorist, Mancow Muller, who discusses his controversial and headline making waterboarding. Then Mick Dumke from the Chicago Reader gets inside what is making every driver in the city see red: the parking meters from hell, and what's being done to stop them. And make sure to catch the brand new, rapid-fire SPEED SCORE. Be sure to check out Keeping Score in Chicago for more information and previous episodes.
 
David Sassoon: Climate Bill Earmarks $500M for Clean Coal 'Admin Expenses' Top
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) has been trying for the past year to get Congress to set up an independent corporation dedicated to clean coal development. He introduced the Carbon Capture and Storage Early Deployment Act (HR 6258), which provoked some hearings in 2008, but it went nowhere and died. So this spring he reintroduced the bill, virtually unchanged (HR 1689). What happened next is further proof of the enormous leverage Boucher wields as a coal state Democrat in shaping national climate legislation. His bill was incorporated wholesale as pages 52-75 into the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), the climate bill Reps. Henry Waxman and Ed Markey are shepherding through the House. It fills section 114 of the Clean Energy Title of the Waxman-Markey bill, and it is a giant gift to the utility industry. It would create the Carbon Storage Research Corporation and funnel $10 billion to support the corporation over the next 10 years, with up to $500 million designated simply for "administrative expenses" to be spent at the discretion of its officers. The most curious part is where all that money is going to come from. The answer: from every ratepayer who uses electricity, in the form of an almost invisible tax that would average 50-cents-a-month, conveniently referred to as an "assessment." Republican opponents of climate legislation have been telling the public that a cap-and-trade bill would impose a "light switch tax." It was a witty and effective slogan used to scare voters during a recession. The political irony is that Boucher, together with 20 co-sponsors including Republican climate-bashing Reps. Joe Barton and John Shimkus, have imposed a light switch tax of their own, with 100% of the proceeds earmarked as an enormous hunk of pork for coal-fired utilities. "This is every industry's dream -- to have the proceeds of a monopoly tax dedicated entirely to your interests," said Dan Greenwood, a professor of corporate finance and law at Hofstra University's School of Law. "The money doesn't need to be re-appropriated every year, all of it is dedicated to your industry, and your industry gets to decide on how the money is allocated." The purpose of the Carbon Storage Research Corporation is to "establish and administer a program to accelerate the commercial availability of carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies and methods" through "competitively awarded grants, contracts, and financial assistance." The corporation would be empowered to collect and spend $1 billion every year, and the bill says that "up to 5 percent of the funds collected in any fiscal year ... may be used for the administrative expenses of operating the Corporation" (see page 62). That's $50 million a year in administrative expenses authorized for 10 years for the corporation, which for governance purposes is to become "a division or affiliate of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) ." EPRI is a non-profit that conducts research and development on electricity generation. Its members represent more than 90% of the electricity generated and delivered in the United States. EPRI's 2007 financial statements report total assets of $185 million, which would increase more than 25% with the addition of $50 million in administrative expenses. With the annual addition of the full billion dollar allocation over the next 10 years, the American Clean Energy and Security Act would increase the size of EPRI's assets more than 50-fold. There is no parallel provision in the Waxman-Markey bill to set up a federally created corporation within an existing non-profit or industry organization to support solar or wind energy development at such an astonishingly generous scale. Less than a week after the Waxman-Markey bill was successfully voted out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, EPRI announced the formation of a National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC). Palo Alto, Calif. (May 27, 2009) -- The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) announced today that it has joined with Southern Company, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and four other companies in forming the National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) for the development and testing of advanced technologies to capture carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants. The NCCC is located at the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF), a research and development complex south of Birmingham, Ala., and will be managed and operated by Southern Company. Companies that will initially participate in the project also include American Electric Power, Luminant, Peabody Energy, and Arch Coal; others are expected to join the initiative as work progresses. Adjacent to the PSDF is Southern Company's subsidiary Alabama Power's Plant Gaston, a coal-fired power plant that went into service in 1960 . It will house new post-combustion testing and evaluation facilities of the center. The Carbon Center would be a prime candidate to receive support from the Carbon Storage Research Corporation, which must distribute 50% of its billion dollar funds to early movers -- "electric utilities that had, prior to the award of any grant under this section, committed resources to deploy a large scale electricity generation unit with integrated carbon capture and sequestration or conversion applied to a substantial portion of the unit's carbon dioxide emissions." A call placed to Bryan Hannegan, EPRI's VP quoted in the NCCC press release, was returned by Jeff Brehm of EPRI's press office, who said that he didn't know of "any expressed or implied connection" between section 114 of the Waxman-Markey bill and the new Carbon Center, and that he was "not aware of any discussion specific to that, either internally or externally." The Waxman-Markey bill sets minimum assessments per kilowatt-hour from various sources of fossil fuel that will provide the source of the annual billion-dollar Carbon Storage Research Corporation budget (see page 65). Coal .................................................................... $0.00043 Natural Gas ......................................................... $0.00022 Oil ....................................................................... $0.00032 Since the average American uses 13,635 KWh of electricity a year (2005), the minimum assessment for coal-fired power would add less than $6 to an average person's annual electric bill, less than 50 cents a month. A family of four would see a rise of less than $24 a year. As the Waxman-Markey bill makes its way into the House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over taxation and finance, section 114 is not expected to undergo any review, according to a Congressional staff member speaking on background. The provision was structured for the Energy and Commerce Committee -- where Boucher is a member -- and no plans are in place to direct similar small assessments with huge cumulative impact to accelerate the development of solar, wind or other renewable sources of energy. Technically, the assessments the Corporation would be authorized to collect are not a tax. That is because in order for the Carbon Storage Research Corporation to get set up, it must receive approval from two-thirds of the electricity generators in the country, who must agree to pay the assessments. Opposition is highly unlikely. So in the eyes of the law, the collection of money looks like an industry self-assessment approved by a vote, but section 114 further stipulates (on page 72) that the utilities cannot be prohibited from recovering costs from ratepayers. A distribution utility whose transmission, delivery, or sales of electric energy are subject to any form of rate regulation shall not be denied the opportunity to recover the full amount of the prudently incurred costs associated with complying with this section, consistent with applicable state or federal law. If this program makes it through Congress and gets up and running without alteration, ratepayers will likely see a small new charge on their utility bills, called something like "federal clean energy assessment." See also: Clean Energy Climate Bill Gives Coal a Competitive Future Climate Bill Wins Enough Votes to Pass, But at What Cost? Utilities, Coal-State Dems are Wrecking Our Last Chance on Climate Change Coal Stocks' Surge Mirrors Climate Bill Concessions Greenpeace: We Cannot Support This Climate Bill More on Green Energy
 
Kristi York Wooten: The Sachs-Moyo-Easterly Aid Debate: An Activist's Perspective Top
In reading and participating in the exchange about aid to Africa (in particular, the one that began with the ONE campaign's critique of Dambisa Moyo's book, Dead Aid , soon after its release back in March), I'm glad to see so many folks up in arms over the subject. Congratulations to Ms. Moyo for stirring the pot. And kudos to Jeffrey Sachs for continuing to defend his position so vehemently. I'm not an economist, and I don't pretend to have any authority on financial matters involving huge sums of money between governments. Yet, as someone who's spent a few years advocating for the world's poorest people -- many of whom live in Africa -- what the ongoing debate between economists Jeffrey Sachs, Dambisa Moyo, and William Easterly says to me is that, no matter whose side you're on, you can't ignore the elephant in the room: extreme poverty in Africa is finally the hot topic we activists have wanted it to become for a long, long time. Although neither Sachs nor Moyo is a household name, their sparring (along with Easterly) here on the Huffington Post and in other news outlets has drummed up so much interest in the aid topic that even regular folks like me are chiming in with our two cents around the water cooler or trading foreign-aid tidbits with our neighbors as we unload groceries from our SUVs. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but everything from The Charlie Rose Show to The Colbert Report has featured Moyo and her book in recent weeks, with repercussive effects in print and online. In one of Sachs' recent Huffington Post retorts, " Aid Ironies ," he begins with the line, "The debate about foreign aid has become farcical." I know what he means, especially in the context of the rest of the article, which basically refutes Moyo's assertions that aid to Africa is an enabler, perpetuating much of the continent's struggle for economic rise. Still, I wouldn't say that the debate itself is farcical. If anything, all the back-and-forth about GNPs, geographical adversity, and microfinance is giving middle America a vocabulary lesson about aid to Africa and other parts of the developing world -- and that's a good thing. As for jumping into the action, I, for one, am on Sachs' side -- if for no other reason than the numbers don't lie: Only around 50,000 people were receiving lifesaving antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS in Africa in 2002, compared with 2.1 million people in 2007. And what about the increase in the number of children enrolled in school in Africa since 1999 (up 34 million) -- would aid have anything to do with those results? But it seems to me that the real fire behind the debate -- to aid or not to aid, or even how to aid -- isn't really based in numbers; it's grounded in the belief that Westerners are all too adept at imposing their ideas upon parts of the world that are both geographically and culturally distant from their own, while manipulating their (or should I say, "our") seemingly wealthy governments' aid to implement plans. Often, corruption impedes these plans, depending on where the money trail leads, and to this point, Easterly makes a valid plea in his latest post about the effectiveness of aid: "Make sure that aid reaches poor people, which usually means it should not go to poor governments." While popular culture, including films such as 2006's Blood Diamond , is doing its part to expose the truth about neo-imperialist attitudes, nuanced examples of the relationship between the industrialized West and Africa (including Matt Charman's new play, The Observer , about a British woman sent to Western Africa to monitor elections in a fictitious country) are bubbling to the surface, raising more questions, and thus furthering the discussion. So far, my favorite quote about the aid debate came early on, in Michael Gerson's April 3rd Op-Ed piece in the Washington Post , which granted Moyo a slight concession while hitting home the core of Sachs' argument: "If Moyo's point is that some aid can be bad, then it is noncontroversial. If her point is that all aid is bad, then it is absurd. The productive political agenda is to increase the good while decreasing the bad. The productive academic debate is distinguishing between them. Instead, Dead Aid ...proposes a 'world without aid' on a five-year timetable. Moyo does not detail the possible outcomes. But we can reliably predict one of them: [Without aid], many now alive would be dead." Gerson's last line is so true, because even though Moyo's book makes some interesting points, there's no time to sit back and see what happens to Africa in a "sink or swim" situation. While we're all busy arguing over aid, poverty and disease are killing people every day. Go ahead and call me a misguided Westerner if you like, or even a bleeding heart; I much prefer those titles to "bystander" -- innocent or not. More on Africa
 
Ari Melber: New Media Moguls: Trust and Twitter Can Save Journalism Top
"Trust is the new black," declared Craig Newmark at a new media summit on Wednesday, predicting that more reliable, fact-checked journalism will excel in the new media environment. As the founder of Craigslist, of course, Newmark is often blamed for sinking American newspapers by decimating their classified ads -- a charge he dismissed as an "urban legend" -- but he says he is very concerned about the state of journalism. "We need tough-minded journalism to survive and do well as a democracy," he said, speaking on a panel of Internet entrepreneurs and journalists at NYU's Journalism School, one of the more high profile events at "Internet Week" in Manhattan. Nick Denton , the Internet mogul behind Gawker and a raft of profitable blog sites, was more bearish on the prospects for traditional newspaper journalism. While it would be "tempting" to hire laid off journalists to blog, he said, "a lot of those people don't adjust well to working online." Instead, Denton expects that Internet niche media will continue to flourish, as the value of targeted, original reporting rises. Turning to the ultimate niche "media," the Wall Street Journal 's Alan Murray credited Twitter as his key news source. "As a news consumer," he said, Twitter is a "much more satisfying way of filtering news" than aggregation sites like Huffington Post or the Drudge Report. (Murray also relayed his employer's frustration with the ultimate aggregator, Google, for shortchanging media content providers, even saying that "maybe" the Journal would sue Google, in response to a question.) One of the brains behind Twitter was on hand to hear about the site's media footprint, which turned out to be a surprise. Co-Founder Jack Dorsey volunteered that he had not expected the site would play a big role in journalism. Twitter has swiftly emerged as a reporting and promotion tool, from providing crowdsourced reporting to virally spreading articles. (For a fascinating account of how citizens shared real-time information on last year's Mumbai terror attacks, check out this Times article by Noam Cohen and Brian Stelter.) Dorsey said those trends, just like "reply" and "search" features on the site, simply bubbled up from the user community. And Denton made Twitter sound like a competitive edge, noting that smart young journalists on his staff, like Gabriel Snyder , have swapped RSS feeds for Twitter to see stories and trends moving in real time. Finally, Murray argued that social sites like Twitter have not only shifted reporting and promotion, but upended how journalists understand their relationship with their readers. "Reporters who are good at this understand that they have to cultivate" their own audience," he said, which is actually the "biggest change in journalism." Ari Melber writes for The Nation, where this piece first appeared. He Twitters politics here . More on Twitter
 
Kamran Pasha: A Muslim Shopkeeper, A Robber, and the Power of Faith Top
On the eve of President Barack Obama's historic address to the Muslim world from Cairo, I wanted to take a moment to highlight a small but poignant story - of a Muslim shopkeeper, the man who tried to rob him, and the common bond of faith and humanity that they ultimately shared. The Associated Press reported the story of Mohammad Sohail , owner of the Shirley Express convenience store about 65 miles east of New York City. A bat-wielding robber broke into the store, but was apprehended by Sohail, who confronted him with a rifle. There are many predictable ways that this story could have ended. What actually happened was so improbable, that you might even call it a miracle. The shopkeeper demanded to know why the man, no street punk but an older gentleman in his 40s, was stealing from his store. And then the would-be robber broke down and started crying. He was out of work and desperate to feed his family. And Mohammad Sohail lowered his gun and forgave him. The shopkeeper handed the desperate fellow $40 and a loaf of bread, and told him to go and steal no more. The robber was so stunned that he did not immediately run out. He stayed and engaged the the shopkeeper and asked him why he let him go. Sohail responded that he did so because that is was what his faith, Islam, required of him. Mercy. And the robber then stretched out his hand and made the Muslim testimony of faith. There is no god but God and Muhammad is His Messenger. He had come in seeking to find food for his family. He left having found faith. This news report, so simple and yet so compelling. is spreading like wildfire through the Muslim world. And it is being hailed by many in America as an example of the best that our country represents. The United States is and always will be the home of the second chance. As a person of faith, I know that every one of our religions and communities has stories like this, of how small acts of compassion and love transform people's lives. Every day, in churches, synagogues, mosques and temples, and in homes and stores and street corners, tiny acts of faith are being performed that reveal the true glory of the human spirit, which is ultimately the purpose of religion. One of my favorite stories from the Bible is that of Jesus and the woman who was to be stoned for adultery, recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter 8. Jesus saves her life by shaming her persecutors with the famous words. "He that is without a sin among you, let him cast the first stone." Those words resonate across the divide of time to shake up the human heart, and are as fresh today as they were two thousand years ago. But for me, what is just as important, are the words that Jesus, the Messiah of both Christianity and Islam, said afterward to the terrified woman. "Go, and sin no more." Faith can resurrect the human heart, but each individual still retains the responsibility to stay on the right path after they are born anew. Jews and Christians are of course familiar with such stories and parables in the Bible, but most probably do not know that such stories are just as important in my own faith of Islam. In my novel, Mother of the Believers , I highlight some remarkable stories from the days of Islam's birth that reveal the power of faith to completely alter a human being's life and destiny. Stories like that of Umar, a brutal Meccan leader who was on his way with a sword to kill Prophet Muhammad when he heard a verse from the Qur'an and converted on the spot. Or that of Hind, the infamous Meccan queen who cannibalized the Prophet's uncle Hamza on the battlefield, only to embrace Islam at the end. Or that of Zaynab bint al-Harith, a woman of Khaybar who poisoned Prophet Muhammad's food, killing his companions. When she was caught, the Prophet asked her why she had done this. And she responded that it was to avenge her tribe, which had been defeated by the Muslims in battle. The Prophet forgave Zaynab and let her go. Stories like these transcend doctrines and rituals and touch the human heart directly. No religion has a monopoly on compassion and wisdom. Regardless of what faith one professes, these stories move the human heart and reveal something beautiful deep within our souls. Mercy is the common bond that makes us human. So as President Obama prepares to speak to the Muslim world, at a time when a clash of civilizations threatens to destroy all of us, let us remember the central truths of our various faiths and traditions. That despite our differences, we are all brothers and sisters. We can sin. We can repent. And most importantly, we can and must forgive each other. And begin life anew. Kamran Pasha is a Hollywood filmmaker and the author of Mother of the Believers , a novel on the birth of Islam as told by Prophet Muhammad's wife Aisha (Atria Books; April 2009). For more information please visit: http://www.kamranpasha.com More on Barack Obama
 
Carl Pope: Doubling Down on Green Jobs Top
Washington, DC -- Last August, then-candidate Barack Obama declared that, if elected, he would create five million new, green jobs. He's pushed that promise hard, with his stimulus package, appointments, and support of an ambitious climate-protection bill. But since he made the promise, more than five million Americans have lost their jobs. The fossil-fuel monopolies of the past -- coal and oil -- have mounted a vicious counterattack, hoping to strangle the clean-energy recovery before it can gain momentum. And Congress -- ever inclined to water things down and split the difference -- is showing more and more signs of missing the point: We need to do something BIG. So, at this week's "America's Future Now!" conference, I urged the audience to raise our ambitions for green jobs, and start demanding not five million, but ten million new livelihoods for Americans who want to build a new energy future. I warned that while Obama has indeed been clear that he wants to move fast into the clean-energy economy: "There is something peculiar in the acoustics between the White House and Capitol Hill, something that deadens the trumpet peals of vision, disrupts the harmonics of urgency, and muffles even a clarion call to arms." Scale, scale, scale. It is all about scale. Increasingly, wind entrepreneurs and union leaders alike are alerting us that unless we do renewable energy at a big-enough national scale, the supply chains that build solar and wind technologies won't be built in the U.S., with the jobs and prosperity that would bring, but instead will be shifted to Europe and Asia. We're betting tens of billions on the U.S. auto companies leading the world into an electric future, but we're making only a fraction of the investment in new battery technologies that the Chinese are. And we know that it's doing things big that transforms labor markets and ends unemployment. Yes, ten million new clean-energy jobs sounds like a lot -- but if it enabled us to end our imported-oil habit, which costs us $700 billion a year, we could pay every one of those new workers $70,000 a year. In World War II, we sent half our work force into the armed forces but still quadrupled industrial production by using the urgency of high demand and big goals to turn sharecroppers' wives into Rosie the Riveter. That, in turn, laid the foundation for our post-war prosperity. It is time to double down.
 
Mike Alvear: The Secret To Meeting And Attracting Hot Gay Men Top
Gay men have a reputation for having a three-word philosophy: Anything That Moves. There's a perception that we can have whomever we want whenever we want for whatever we need. Not true. We throw a look or a smile and if we get it back, SCHWING! But if we don't get it back -- and trust me, mostly we don't... the wheels come off. We're as threatened by beauty, tongue-tied by crushes, and paralyzed by fear as straight guys when they see a beautiful woman. That's why the reaction most gay guys have when they see somebody at a party or a bar goes something like this: • Who's the cute guy in the corner and why isn't he looking at me? • I can't go over there and say something unless he looks at me, I just can't • If he were interested he'd look back • Damn, he's not looking • I wouldn't know what to say, anyway • I'm lonely • How am I supposed to go on a date if I can't even meet somebody? • God, he is so cute • This is ridiculous, just go talk to him! • But he's not looking • The last time I got the nerve to say something the guy just turned his back on me • WHY WON'T HE LOOK AT ME? • How come I always have to be the one to approach somebody? • What's wrong with me? • I'm tired of going home alone • LOOK AT ME, DAMMIT! • I'd say something to him but I can tell I'm not his type • He's probably got a boyfriend • If he were interested he'd come over and talk to me • How come my best friend goes home with the cutest guy in the place and I go home alone? • Here's why this is such a typical reaction: It takes more than a look and a line to get the guy you want. People assume it's easy for gay men to meet guys they're attracted to, but it's not. Some of us are in the closet, some of us are recently out -- with no experience in dating or hooking up. Some of us are in a long dry spell, or just getting out of a relationship. Some of us are shy, some of us can't get over our ex-boyfriend, some of us simply don't know what to do. We're all pretty much intimidated by good-looking men. That's why the most common question I get in my nationally syndicated sex and relationships column has nothing to do with sex and relationships. It's "How do I meet guys I'm attracted to?" The answer is simple: Overcome "Hot Guy Phobia," (the fear of approaching handsome men who aren't noticing you), develop fun, non-threatening ice-breakers, use body language to draw him to you, learn the art of "threading" the conversation so you have a bottomless well of topics, build rapport and close the deal. Next! Yeah, right. While those are the necessary steps to hooking up with or dating somebody who isn't paying attention to you, it's an art form that escapes most gay men. Straight guys can look to people like Neil Strauss and Mystery to show them inventive ways to meet and attract women, but would their tactics work on gay men? Maybe. The national tour of my seminar answers that very question. In the meantime, gay guys have to deal with the fact that where we meet, how we meet and even what we want has changed dramatically. We've gone from lurking in bathhouses and public restrooms to checking out bars and parties; from anonymous scrumping to emotionally resonant sex; from fleeting liaisons to meaningful romances, and from fake marriages with women to real ones with men. Gone are most of the venues where you could meet guys with a sexually charged glance, nod or smile. Discos? Raves? Circuit parties? Gone or going. Bathhouses? Sex clubs? Dead or dying. They've been replaced by what gay guys derisively call "S&M" bars -- Stand & Model. Bottom line: Our options have changed but our methods have not. We're still almost completely dependent on the old cruisy ways of meeting even though our venues make them increasingly less effective. It's a classic case of trying to solve new problems with old ideas. My prediction: There's going to be a run on books showing gay men how to meet and attract each other. Neil Strauss and Mystery created a whole new publishing segment ("Attraction") for straight men but nobody's stepped in to, ahem, fill the gay hole. Is that because it isn't necessary or because nobody noticed? The two questions every gay guy you hit on thinks about
 
Gov. David A. Paterson: The Moment for Public-Private Partnerships Is Now Top
Can the United States recover from the current economic crisis and compete in the 21st century? Of course we can. We have the brightest minds, the best universities, the most dynamic companies, and a thriving tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship. To regain our economic competitiveness, however, we must face up to a hard truth: our infrastructure is falling apart. Ever since the 1970s, public investment in infrastructure has been steadily declining. And today, we are paying the price -- with traffic-clogged roads, rusting bridges, delayed trains, canceled flights, overcrowded classrooms, outdated hospitals, failing water and sewer systems, and an obsolete energy grid. Here's another hard truth: just as America's infrastructure is falling apart, our competitors are strengthening theirs. China, for example, plans to build 55,000 miles of highways -- more than the entire length of the American interstate highway system -- and 7,500 miles of high-speed rail between now and 2020. The good news is that we already possess the technology and expertise to build a world-class infrastructure. The bad news is that it will be expensive -- and state and local governments, which traditionally finance infrastructure projects, lack the necessary resources. (While President Obama's economic stimulus plan has been successful in putting people back to work, it is, by design, a short-term solution that represents only a small fraction of the long-term investment we need.) Therefore, if we are to finance and build a world-class infrastructure for America, we must seek new solutions. And a promising solution is at hand: public-private partnerships. By combining government oversight with private-sector efficiencies, we can build more projects; we can build them more quickly; we can improve services for our citizens; and we can lower costs for taxpayers. And by infusing billions of private-sector dollars into infrastructure, public-private partnerships would also put millions of Americans back to work. Rigorous accountability measures are a necessary part of any public-private partnership. Private-sector companies given the privilege of designing, building or operating public facilities must be held to the same thorough standards as public agencies -- including strict labor and environmental standards. When these accountability measures are in place, public-private partnerships work. An increasing number of highways -- including the new I-595 in Florida -- are being designed, built and operated by private companies. New York City is building better schools at a lower cost by constructing them as part of larger mixed-use real estate developments. California has passed legislation to expand use of public-private partnerships in conjunction with stimulus spending. In Pennsylvania, the city of Pittsburgh is using public-private partnerships to expand parking in the city center. And this week, New York's Commission on State Asset Maximization released a report recommending 26 pilot projects statewide -- from high-speed rail to wind power on the Great Lakes -- where public-private partnerships can move projects forward faster and at lower costs. The moment for public-private partnerships is now. Our nation's infrastructure needs to be repaired and expanded. With 10 million Americans out of work, we need to create jobs. And, due to the recession, states and local governments are facing large deficits, limiting our ability to build. Additionally, there is great demand among the private sector for these partnerships. Infrastructure assets generate stable, inflation-protected returns that are largely shielded from market volatility. That's why -- despite the overwhelming capital and liquidity constraints facing the global economy -- equity infrastructure funds continue to grow rapidly. We strongly encourage our fellow governors and mayors to explore these types of partnerships. And we encourage the federal government to help states and local governments advance public-private partnerships. President Obama, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Congressional leaders have already shown a promising interest in public-private partnerships -- and we encourage them to do even more. For example, in the upcoming federal transportation bill, Congress should streamline bureaucratic processes and allow states and localities greater flexibility in seeking innovative approaches to infrastructure financing. If you happen to be stuck in traffic, stranded at an airport, or crowded into a tiny classroom, our infrastructure crisis may seem insurmountable. In fact, it's a problem we can solve -- but only if we have the courage to seek new solutions. Public-private partnerships must be a part of that mix. They will help unlock the resources we need to build a world-class infrastructure -- and restore America's competitiveness for decades to come. More on The Recession
 
Michelle Madhok: So That's Why Porn Stars Have Such Good Skin Top
What: The Spermine Facial (Which we couldn't find a photo of, but we think this one is better anyway.) We're sorry to report that this is exactly what it sounds like. According to Fashionista (via New York Magazine ), scientists have developed a wrinkle treatment using spermine, a component of human sperm. And to answer your next question, no, the spa does not obtain its specimen "naturally;" it's synthesized in a lab. Why: Dear lord we wish we knew. We have so many questions. Who came up with this idea, and what was their inspiration? Did somebody notice that girls in XXX movies who got, er, facials needed less botox? How desperate would you have to be to try this? Has everybody lost their minds? Pondering these questions is making our heads hurt. We'll quit trying to find the answer and hope a little preventative medicine, like Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Anti-Wrinkle Anti-Blemish Cleanser ($7.50), will keep us from ever needing to know.
 
Anneli Rufus: Wiggly Coffee Wows Japan Top
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this. Is it gross -- or is it the yummiest idea since Mystic Mints? Going on sale today at Japanese Starbucks is the Coffee Jelly Frappuccino. "Jelly" is British for Jell-O. We're talking gelatinous coffee, served in tremulous cubes and as a spread and as a dessert ingredient throughout Asia. It's made just as our moms made those brightly colored molds for potlucks, by dissolving sugar and powdered gelatin in liquid -- in this case coffee -- then chilling it to jiggliness. According to Japan Today : "This frappuccino, developed in Japan, combines the Coffee Frappuccino with Starbucks' original quality coffee jelly. It debuted last year for a limited time only, but due to its popularity, will join the beverage lineup again this year. For the coffee jelly, Starbucks exclusively uses select Arabica coffee beans.... The iciness of the frozen coffee and the unique texture of the coffee jelly strike a brilliant balance, creating a harmonious blend of the two distinct textures for all to enjoy. Starbucks will be holding an online poll for the customization of the Coffee Jelly Frappuccino.... Starbucks baristas, totaling 20,000 nationwide, will propose several customization ideas for the new Coffee Jelly Frappuccino, which will be posted on the Starbucks website (http://www.starbucks.co.jp) from June 15 - June 28. Visitors will be able to vote for one of these ideas to ultimately decide the most popular customization. The result will be posted on the website on July 1 as well as in all Starbucks stores." Customization, eh? Always culinarily edgy -- which is good in the sense of open-mindedness but bad in the sense of eating endangered species such as bluefin tuna and whales -- Japan is the country that produces such intriguing ice-cream ( aisu ) flavors as eel, crab, octopus, wasabi, soy sauce, chicken-wing, fermented soybean ( natto aisu ), horsemeat ( basashi aisu ) and ... well, whale. Gelatinous coffee might be just the thing on a scorching summer day. Food innovations have to come from somewhere. A lot of what we now eat willingly would sound horrifying if we really thought about what it is. I mean ... cheese? Hate Starbucks? Don't live in Japan? (And even if you do -- those wobbly babies are priced at upwards of 460 yen, which translates to nearly US $5 each.) Heck, scavenge your own cheap homemade version using coffee you've brewed yourself. Or super-scavenge it by using free coffee (as dispensed from urns in many banks, offices, and other semi-public places) and free sugar (from packets, also available in said places). Unless you have access to free animal connective tissue, you'll have to pay for the gelatin, but probably not much. (And if you're a vegan or vegetarian, as I am, you'll probably have to get clever with pectin.) (Because I'm a scavenger, and because I'm the coauthor of The Scavengers' Manifesto , people tend to expect me to be gross. Although I am not personally so gross, -- and although I'm not entirely convinced that gelatinous coffee is gross -- I think it's well worth scoping out some of the grossest things around the world as this can inform us, intrigue us, inspire us to change things, and/or at least freak us out.) More on Food
 
Eric Margolis: Playing Chicken with North Korea Top
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who seems the primary voice in US foreign policy these days, just warned the US will not allow North Korea to become a nuclear power. North Korea's efforts to develop nuclear capabilities threatens the entire globe, Washington insists, even though it has some 10,000 nuclear warheads deployed at home and abroad, 28,500 troops permanently based in South Korea, and large contingents in Japan, Okinawa and Guam. Not to be out-threatened, North Korea warned back that if attacked, it would turn South Korea's capitol, Seoul, into `a sea of fire' and bombard Japan. Dire threats and angry hot air always characterize poisonous relations between isolated, Stalinist North Korea and the US, Japan and South Korea. Their recriminations have become a form of ritualized kabuki theater in which snarls and grimaces replace actual violence. After much angry posturing, the US, Japan and South Korea usually pay off North Korea's `Dear Leader,' Kim Jong-il, to stop making trouble. One wonders how Secretary Gates intends to prevent North Korea from having the nuclear devices it already possesses. The Pentagon has run out of troops and borrowed money, and is reluctant to tangle with North Korea's tough, 1.1-million man army. Ever since Vietnam, the US has preferred to use its military only against small nations with limited defense capability, like Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq. But after North Korea's second small nuclear test last week, there is real danger this usually harmless kabuki could turn lethal. US and South Korean forces are on high alert and North Korea says it has torn up the cease-fire that supposedly ended the Korean War. US war planes and naval units are converging on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea's few nukes are not a danger - at least not yet. The North has 800 inaccurate medium-ranged missiles aimed at South Korea and Japan, but they only have conventional high explosive warheads. North Korea is not believed to have yet mastered miniaturizing or hardening nuclear warheads for delivery by missile. There are suggestions it may be working on a long-range missile. Pyongyang's blood-curdling threats notwithstanding, its infant nuclear force is primarily defensive. North Koreans have had to literally eat grass to pay for their nukes. When eventually deployed, Kim's nuclear armed missiles are designed to deter potential US nuclear strikes on North Korea by threatening counter-strikes on South Korea, Japan and US bases on Okinawa and Guam. North Korea would be unlikely to initiate a nuclear war with a major nuclear power that would result in its immediate obliteration by US nuclear retaliation and vaporization of the Kim dynasty. But after this week's nuclear test, a new danger has emerged. The US has renewed threats to stop and search North Korean freighters on the high seas that might be carrying `weapons of mass destruction,' missiles or military components to the Mideast. South Korea and Japan will do the same, but only in their coastal waters. North Korea warns, quite correctly, that such a high seas arrest would be an act of war. The plot thickens. Israel worries that North Korea, desperate for hard cash, will sell more missiles, technology and spare parts to the Arabs or Iran, and in the future, nuclear warheads. Washington frets North Korea may sell a nuclear device to anti-American extremists. Israel's American lobby has put intense pressure on the Obama administration to stop any flow of North Korean weapons to the Mideast. The White House responded by threats of a maritime blockade of North Korea. North Korea says it will retaliate militarily for any high seas seizures, either in its disputed coastal waters against South Korean naval forces, or by attacking US ships and spy aircraft that routinely shadow North Korea's coast and occasionally overfly North Korea. If this happens, the US would likely respond by missile strikes and air attacks. North Korea would then riposte with barrages of heavy artillery and long-range rocket batteries along the DMZ against South Korea's capitol, a mere 25 miles distant. Attacks on US bases in South Korea by North Korea's large numbers of Scud missiles could follow. The Obama administration is playing with fire by threatening an act of war against North Korea which has so many American troops in its gun sights. If Kim Jong-il refuses to back down, Washington will be left with the nasty choice of either taking some sort of military action that is certain to prove indecisive, or lose face with its allies and foes, and listen to Kim crow. Kim Jong-il is happy to play chicken with Washington because this dangerous game boosts his stature at home and makes him a hero to some Koreans, both North and South, who even see Kim as the authentic Korean leader for defying the mighty US and refusing to give in to its threats - a sort of Korean Saddam Hussein. North Korea has long accused South Korea of being an American colony under US military occupation, and North Korea as the only `free, independent Korea.' Like his late father, Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il has repeatedly vowed to reunite the Korean Peninsula before he dies. Time is running out for the ailing Kim. His pledge should not be taken lightly. This latest crisis must thus be seen as a function of the inner-Korean struggle for unity - under the Kim dynasty, of course. The Dear Leader faces internal challenges over plans to name one of his three sons North Korea's next dynastic leader. The latest nuclear test and America's threats will help Kim. Another of his foes, South Korea's conservative, pro-American president, Lee Myung-bak, is now under siege by his own people after the tragic suicide of former president, Roh Moo-hyun, who favored reconciliation with North Korea. If the North Asian nuclear crisis intensifies, Japan and South Korea may be forced to deploy nuclear weapons which both can do quickly. Japan can produce a nuclear weapon in less than 90 days. The Obama administration, which is now involved in two wars and has provoked a volcanic upheaval in Pakistan, should proceed with caution. This latest crisis with North Korea is clear proof that America's world power has already reached its limits.
 
Pohanka Chrysler Dodge One Of Many Dealerships Forced To Sell Entire Inventory Top
The affected dealerships are not only furiously trying to sell off their inventory; at the same time, they are trying to figure out what they will do once they stop selling new Chryslers, and how they can save the jobs of their employees. Pohanka will focus on service and used-car sales, or maybe switch to another brand; Dulles will focus on the two other brands they already sell, Subaru and Kia.
 
Feinstein Denies Report That She's Fully Opposed To EFCA Top
Senator Diane Feinstein's office is denying reports that the California Democrat is firmly and completely opposed to the union-backed Employee Free Choice Act. On Wednesday, the station KHTS-AM reported that , during a meeting with the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, Feinstein told attendees that she would not support EFCA -- which would allow for more avenues to unionization -- regardless of how the measure was watered down in negotiations. "She will not vote for the bill," John Shaffery, the vice president for the SCV Chamber Board of Directors, was quoted as saying. "And she will not support any modification allowing the process to bypass secret ballots, and she believes that now is not the right time for this type of legislation given the downturn in the economy." The business community trumpeted the news, with the Workforce Fairness Institute blasting the story out to a list of reporters. But was the victory lap a bit premature? Reached on the phone, an aide to Feintstein said the report was not accurate. "This guy John Shaffery does not speak for the Senator," said the Senator's main spokesperson, Gil Duran, who added that a statement clarifying the remarks would be issued this afternoon. Speaking on background, a confidant of the senator went a bit further. "This must be [Shaffery's] first rodeo because the story hasn't changed much. It has been the same: She is looking for a compromise. And anyone who says otherwise is engaging in some wishful thinking." The labor community, for what it is worth, is not panicked. In fact, in one respect, they are pleased. "It's pretty ironic that the net result of the Chamber meeting, and email blasting, is they resulted in Sentor Feinstein putting out a statement saying she DOES support major labor law reform," emailed one union official. Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
DePaul Pitches Major Lincoln Park Expansion Plan Top
DePaul University wants to add a 140-room hotel, dorms and 44,000 square feet of retail space to its Lincoln Park campus, on the corner of Fullerton and Sheffield.
 
MySpace More Popular Than Facebook Among US Teens: Study Top
MySpace and YouTube are more popular than Facebook among American teenagers, at least according to a new global study conducted by Habbo, a popular youth-aimed virtual world. More on Facebook
 
Rick Perry: "God Bless Rush Limbaugh" (VIDEO) Top
The conventional wisdom surrounding Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court is that elected Republicans will tread lightly in their critiques, lest they burn their already weak bridges to the Hispanic community. Along these lines, comments from Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich (who has since recanted his remarks) and others calling Sotomayor a racist were deemed the GOP establishment as counterproductive, especially for GOPers in states with large Hispanic populations. But maybe not. This past Friday, at the apex of the conservative movement's anti-Sotomayor rhetoric, Limbaugh was bestowed the title of "honorary Texan" by the state's governor, Rick Perry, during an event in Houston. "You said something on your radio station that you thought you ought to pack up and move to Texas," said Perry. "Well when you get here brother you're an honorary Texan... God bless Rush Limbaugh!" Perry, of course, is a dyed-in-the-wool conservative who has built his political career by appealing to his party's most ideological elements. Hence his recent talk of secession . But the governor is also facing an incredibly difficult primary challenge from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson . The Hispanic population in his state -- one of the largest in the countries -- could play a major role in who gets the nod. And the extent to which Limbaugh can serve as a political prop or foil (even within the Republican Party) could be put to an early test. Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter! More on Rick Perry
 
More Charter Schools Allowed Under New Law Top
Advocates for charter schools [Tuesday] celebrated legislation that would allow for 120 charter schools in Illinois, 40 of them in Chicago.
 
Famous And Fired: Seinfeld, Bloomberg (VIDEO) Top
Jerry Seinfeld, Michael Bloomberg, and The Office star Rainn Wilson. What do they have in common? Each of these celebrities have been fired. (And you thought only regular folks lost their jobs) Jason English of Mentalfloss.com appeared on CNN today to talk about the fired famous. Check out the full video: Embedded video from CNN Video
 
Obama Gets Frustrated At Handlers, Five Guys Crowd Goes Nuts As He Arrives (VIDEO) Top
President Barack Obama was greeted with cheers last week when he stopped by Capitol Hill burger joint Five Guys. The president was joined by NBC anchor Brian Williams and a crew that was filming a behind-the-scenes "Inside The White House" special. The NBC footage shows Obama and Williams en route to the eatery, Obama with his feet up on the opposite-facing limo seat. When Williams asks whether Obama watches debates about his presidency on cable TV, Obama says, "I have to say, I generally don't... It feels like WWF." When they arrive at the eatery, Obama -- impatiently knocking on the locked door of the car -- is told that he must wait for the press. He responds by saying, "Why do we have to wait for the press?" Personal aide Reggie Love then opens the car door and says, "Hold on one second, Mr. President," to which Obama responds "I don't want to hold on." And out the door he walks to a crowd of cheering customers. The clip offers a glimpse of one of the most frustrating elements of the president's job: the demanding group of handlers and security officials who constantly surround him. Once inside, President Obama orders "one cheeseburger and one fries for me" and pays for the food with money from his own pocket. WATCH: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter! More on Barack Obama
 
Michelle Obama And Bo Give Brian Williams Tour Of The East Wing (VIDEO) Top
As part of his NBC special "Inside The Obama White House," Brian Williams got a tour of the White House's East Wing from first lady Michelle Obama. As the two looked out a window, she told Williams "This is a beautiful home. It's a public museum, but there are definitely spaces and places to enjoy your privacy." Once they were in her East Wing offices, Mrs. Obama arrives to taping with Bo the puppy, toward whom Brian Williams immediately got pretty cutesy, cooing "Who's a good doggie?" He then added "I don't mean to not pay attention to the first lady of the United States." He also talks to her staff, including press secretary Katie McCormick Lelyveld, who says "every day has pinch-me moments." WATCH: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy More on Michelle Obama
 
Obama's Cairo Guestlist Includes Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian Dissidents Top
They are some of the most sought-after tickets in Cairo this week: Tickets for Obama's speech tomorrow at Cairo University. More on Obama Mideast Trip
 
Swine Flu: 4th Illinois Resident Dies From H1N1 Virus Top
CHICAGO (AP) -- A second Chicagoan has died from complications of swine flu, bringing the number of Illinois deaths related to the virus to four. Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold says all the victims have had other medical problems. The department has reported 1,268 confirmed cases of swine flu in the state. Most cases have been in Chicago and suburban Cook County. Three other Illinois deaths have been reported. A 22-year-old Chicago man died May 24. The death of a female from northwest suburban Cook County was announced May 27. And a 42-year-old Kane County man died May 28. -ASSOCIATED PRESS More on Swine Flu
 
Obama Mideast Trip Exposes The Secret Muslimness Of Brian Williams (VIDEO) Top
Sweet Golly Goshens but does Matt Drudge have the scooplet of the century! He's got a picture of NBC Nightly News anchorman Brian Williams -- who was recently up at the White House shooting the latest edition of MSNBC: Cribs! -- doing the unthinkable! BOWING TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. In the tank! In the tank! Now: what should you infer from this? Duh! How about you infer "the worst"? If you cast your mind back, you'll no doubt remember that President Obama once bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia . That means, by the transitive theory of asininity, BRIAN WILLIAMS IS NOW BOUND IN SERVICE TO SAUDI ARABIA. Why won't the birthers immediately impanel one of their Citizen Grand Juries to indict BriWi for treason? Also, did you hear that President Obama used the word "shukran" which means "thank you," in Arabic, to say "thank you," to an Arab? HMMMM. JUST WHAT IS BARACK OBAMA'S GAME, HERE? As Ben Smith points out , saying "shukran" is something "he wouldn't have done on the [campaign] trail." Yes! It's almost as if President Obama encountered mainly Americans on the campaign trail! OH NOES! It seems that they've gotten to brave old General David Petraeus, too ! Obviously, for your own protection, you should burn the internet after reading this. [WATCH] RELATED: David Petraeus IS A SECRET MUSLIM [The Washington Independent] [Would you like to follow me on Twitter ? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here .] More on Barack Obama
 
Gerald McEntee: Taxing Health Benefits Could Kill Health Care Reform Top
In recent days, two generally progressive commentators have written in favor of taxing all or part of the value of employer provided health benefits as a way of paying for some of the costs of health care reform. They've suggested that AFSCME might "kill" health care reform because of our opposition to taxing the value of benefits. Of course we reject that characterization of our efforts. In fact, AFSCME plays a leading role in the effort to pass real health care reform . Our stand against taxing benefits is grounded in a conviction that regressive taxation cannot cure our health care ills. Just as importantly, we are concerned that linking an unpopular tax to health care reform could kill our efforts to provide health care for all. The argument in favor of taxing benefits centers on two points. First, like all tax exclusions and deductions, the exclusion of health benefits from taxation is worth more to higher income individuals who are in higher tax brackets. Second, the federal government foregoes $145 billion annually by shielding employer-sponsored health care benefits from taxation. Fair enough. But there are real risks that come with a tax on health benefits. They include the likelihood that employer-sponsored insurance will be destabilized at a time when it should be reinforced; the disparate impact a change in policy will have on people who are older, sicker or in higher cost areas; the disproportionate burden a change will have on children and families ; and an erosion of benefits and shifting of risk to individuals. Some argue in favor of a compromise that would tax only "Cadillac" or "gold-plated" health insurance plans. But that won't work. Just last month, The Commonwealth Fund reported that "many so-called "gold-plated" health benefit premiums are high only because insur­ance costs vary according to the size of the firm, the geographic region in which it is located, and the com­position of the employer's risk pool." Establishing a universal cap in today's insurance market, they noted, "will have a disproportionate impact on workers in small firms, high-cost areas, and expensive risk pools." In addition, we need to consider the wisdom of taxing health benefits in light of the alternatives. For example, according to the Senate Finance Committee, the favorable tax treatment afforded to Capital Gains and Dividend income costs the government $178 billion per year. However, unlike the tax treatment of health benefits which goes to a broad swath of the American public, a very narrow economically privileged slice of taxpayers benefit from this favorable treatment. This begs the question: why levy a tax on working people when this inequitable favorable tax treatment, primarily available to the wealthy, remains in place? Many of the same progressives who advocate taxing health benefits have rightly railed against rising income inequality and the dangers it presents to robust economic growth. Why not fund health care, mostly for low income underinsured and uninsured people, while simultaneously addressing one of the biggest causes of wealth inequality? The introduction of the health benefits tax could well be the death knell for health care reform. In the historic 2008 election campaign, then Senator Barack Obama campaigned hard against the taxation of benefits, a key component of John McCain's health care policy. President Obama recognized the taxation of benefits is unacceptable to the American public and made it a centerpiece of his campaign. He spent tens of millions of dollars on advertisements slamming McCain on the issue. If anything, public opposition to a tax on benefits is growing. Recent polling indicates that 80 percent of likely voters oppose taxing the value of benefits while only 17 percent support it. Strong majorities oppose a health care tax without regard to political affiliation. AFSCME opposes the health benefits tax because it could "kill" health care reform. Is there any better way to give Republicans cover to protect the insurance industry and their right wing cronies, and vote against reform, than to let them frame the issue as opposing a very unpopular tax? Do we hear Republicans campaigning in favor of taxing health benefits? Sometimes, progressives must be saved from themselves. That's what we are doing when we stand clearly in opposition to taxing benefits that America's working families earn on the job.
 
Brad Balfour: Japanese Film Departures--Winner of 2009's Foreign Film Oscar--Illuminates Asian Rituals of Death Top
One thing people haven't quite figured out is how to escape death. Oh they try, and have many ways to prolong life before the inevitable occurs. We have certainly developed endless religions and mythologies to contend with what happens after death. But one thing's for sure, death happens and the dead occupy a large part of life. Every culture on the planet has its own unique and elaborate rituals for dealing with those who die--especially when it happens to be one of us.  Now, when it comes to ritualization, the Japanese are the ultimate fetishists. And they show no exception when it comes to the matter of death and developing elaborate rituals for dealing with the dead--though it has never been much of Nipponese cinematic subject (unlike say, the Irish where there seems to be a funeral or wake in nearly every other film made about people of Gaelic descent)--that is, not until the film Departures was made. Telling the tale of Daigo Kobayashi, a classical cellist who has lost his job and his way, the film details his return with his young wife to his hometown where he find his new job--preparing the dead for burial--and himself. Apparently, the film's universal message and the tender way in which "encoffining" is handled by director Yojiro Takita and its star, Masahiro Motoki so affected one important audience--the nominating committee for the Foreign-language Film Academy Award--that the film not only got nominated this year but won the Oscar, much to the surprise to many of those familiar with the other choices.  With that accolade in place, the film made its U.S. premiere at this year's Tribeca Film Festival and finally opened for general audiences at the end of May 2009. In order to properly enlighten the journos invited to meet with director Takita and star Motoki, a lengthy interview session was conducted. Q: Winning the Academy Award must have had a huge impact on the film's box office receipts in Japan? It had a very sizeable Japanese audience before the Academy Award but the box office has more than doubled [to over $60 million] after the Academy Award, yet there's a part of me that wishes it wouldn't take an Academy Award for it to get that big. MM: The other phenomenon is that in Japan, the DVD release date had already been set in anticipation of a certain kind of theatrical run. But because of the Academy Award, the theaters continued to remain packed even though the DVD was already out, so that's very unusual. Also, we're starting to see people coming, especially older people who haven't been to a movie theater in 30, or 40 years. So we're really finding a fresh, new audience.  Q: You both have very unique backgrounds, and have followed somewhat unconventional paths to the Oscar. Motoki, you started out in a boy band in Japan. And Takita, you were directing pink films [softcore porn] in Japan. How surreal that must have felt, having reached the pinnacle of your profession by going from there to the Oscars?  YT: For me, it's been a very straightforward journey. It may look a little strange to you, but I think most filmmakers are a little strange anyway! I think the only thing that never varied was my love of filmmaking, and my efforts to stay true to the film that I'm making. That has never varied throughout my career, and I hope that will stay true from now on.  MM: It's true, I did start out my career initially in a pop band [as an] idol singer. But I doubt that my singing skills were such that if I had stayed a singer, I would have wound up with a Grammy. I don't think that was in the cards for me! I'm very fortunately to have become an actor, because film can be such a universal language, and through that medium, my work was able to be appreciated by people outside of Japan.  But on the other hand, there was a larger sense of fate that carried me to that [Oscar] stage, because an actor has to find the right material, and the material has to jive with the times and the zeitgeist and the ethos, and all of that came together in a very organic way. Q: What were the circumstances that led you to the book you studied, Coffin Man , and what helped you find a film in this material?  MM: I actually didn't know anything about encoffining. I initially read about it in a book about 20 years ago. It seemed that a complete stranger cleaning and handling a corpse before sending it off into the next world would make a fantastic film. As I read the book, it really played out for me in a cinematic way--I could really see it as a film. You know, the profession of encoffining was entirely new to me. I had seen corpses displayed or laid out in a coffin, but I had no idea how a corpse gets to that place, or that there was an actual ritual around that whole process. It actually ultimately started when I traveled to India in my 20s and had seen a cremation ceremony on the bank of the Ganges River. It was a very fresh scene for me, because in the same moment, the past and the future co-existed, and it seemed like the same was true of the encoffining ritual. By openly acknowledging death, it ends up having a life-affirming impact on the living. So I wanted to share this and not just keep it for myself. Q: What acting methods did you use during the film and how did you develop the character?  MM: The film of course is very delicately themed, so I was very mindful of that as an overall guidepost for my performance in terms of observing and respecting the very quiet, still atmosphere. The director is very skilled in eliciting and capturing the comedy in human folly, even in the midst of all this sadness.  But overall, in terms of technically, I needed to accomplish two things: I needed to be able to perform on the cello as though I looked like a professional performer, and I also spent about two months apprenticing with an encoffiner because I needed to look like a professional at [that]. Q: What is Takita like as a director? MM: He has a longtime, loyal crew, so they work very, very efficiently. In Japan, it's very easy for people to get caught up in the day and end up with a lot of overtime. But his crew was very efficient, which was very much appreciated!  One of Mr. Takita's great skills as a director is that he finds comedy in very ordinary human behavior, and he enjoys finding the comedy of everyday life and flushing it out. I know that the theme this time is a very quiet and delicate theme, but his belief is that the more earnest a human being is, the funnier it looks from a little bit of a distance. So he definitely directed me very specifically towards that direction. Q: Can you give any examples? MM: I tend to underplay and be subdued in my reactions as an actor. But because the quiet moments are already there, he really pushed me to--in my definition--overact a little bit. In the scene where they're making the video about how to encoffin and I had to wear some adult diapers, he really pushed me to do what I would consider "overacting." He's just saying that the director sees a certain approach to a 'double-take,' and the director's always concerned that the audience understand it, and that it not be left up in the air.  Q: There was some struggle to get the film released after it was made, and it took almost 13 months to release it.  YT: It took 13 months for the film to be released because the film deals with death, and even after the film was completed, it was a kind of mystery to a lot of people as to how this film could find its audience--even in Japan--as well as how to market it to reach that potential audience.  Q: Did you study death rituals in other countries andnd how did this research inform your approach to Departures ? MM: I [not only] read about the Japanese encoffining procedure in Coffin Man , I certainly did read about other cultures and how they send off the dead. I know in Tibet, they have the "bird funeral" where they surrender the corpse directly to the birds in the mountains.  In the West, cremation is less popular than it is in Asia, and you have the custom of directly burying the body in a coffin in the earth. I also did learn that the whole embalming technique especially evolved through the Vietnam War, [with] the need to send home fallen soldiers back to the States in the best possible shape.   Also, there's a fascination with the profession of undertaking--judging from the popularity of the HBO show Six Feet Under here. Each culture is concerned in their own way with respecting and addressing the dead. But ironically, learning about those different customs made me appreciate our Japanese ritual all the more.  YT: I didn't have a concrete understanding of death and the various procedures around it, so I did read a lot to prepare for the film. Of course, I was interested in this question of embalming. We don't actually have it for a number of reasons in Japan, including that we don't actually have a military. But I was interested to learn that embalming is very respected as a technical profession [here], which is not true in Japan.  But the story itself, as you know, is a deeply Japanese film--and a very Japanese subject--and I knew that I could afford to be as authentically Japanese as I wanted to, because the universality of death would help the film to find its international audience.  Q: Do you have any friends who are encoffiners?  MM: Actually, I don't. But while I was training for the film, I met many different encoffiners. I was surprised to discover how many young people there were, as well as women, who were choosing this as a profession. By the way, because this movie is such a hit in Japan, job applications for encoffining are now up three times, or so they say! Q: The film's original score by Joe Hisaishi was essential to the story.

 YT: I had worked with Hisaishi before when I made a samurai film, and I knew from the way he had read the music into the script for that film that he's somebody who can really generate a world of music that's commensurate to the film. This time, I was thrilled when he said yes to composing the music, and, because the story is about a cellist, we agreed before doing it that there would be almost no music besides the cello used in the film.  Of course, it was impossible to just have the cello be on the soundtrack, so there were some other music elements. But ultimately, the main theme at the end is played with 13 cellos. In a discussion before we started filming, he was able to envision and compose the main theme, so we were able to play that during the filming, and it really helped to inspire the actors.  MM: Practicing for this film was the very first time I'd ever touched a cello. The cellist told me that the timbre and tone of a cello is, of all the string instruments, the closest to the human voice, so it reverberates very, very organically to the human body. I think that wound up adding a layer of nuance to the film, although technically it was a huge challenge for me to perform the cello convincingly.  But for me as an actor, it was very inspiring to be able to work with that instrument. And I also felt that there was a very lovely, metaphorical connection, since the cello is originally inspired by the human form--especially the female form--so I start out embracing the cello, which is based on the human body, and then I [begin to] embrace the human body directly, in the form of a corpse.   Q: When Daigo's wife and friends find out that he's an encoffiner, they reject him and deem him "unclean." Is there a cultural stigma in Japan that's related to this profession?  YT: Yes. In Japan, for a long time, there has been a sense that death--and the people who have to deal with death--definitely [has] a stigma. Death is considered impure or tainted, and so we have long denied death, and that kind of prejudice certainly existed within the wife, which initially drove her far away. But what I was trying to portray in the film was not the prejudice itself, but her ability to articulate it as being the first step towards reconciliation for them. So, I really see her role as being someone who is still immature, and the film's story is the story of maturation.  Q: Since the film is very specifically Japanese, do you think audiences here in the United States will miss something because they're not Japanese?  YT: Actually, I'm sure they will understand the film. I'm not really worried. If anything, I'm more interest in knowing what the American reaction is, and I'm not worried that they'll miss any specific elements. I'm very curious to hear about the American reaction, and to learn more about my film from hearing their reaction!
 
Brett Neely: Merkel Goes Off the Deep End Top
Imagine Barack Obama -- or even George W. Bush for that matter -- telling a crowd that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was doing a terrible job, that the Fed has it all wrong and its policies will lead to doom. Even if you thought that, you'd never say it aloud for fear of undermining trust in one of the most important financial institutions in the world. Such a speech would probably be front page news in the U.S., if not worldwide. It would definitely be controversial. Not so in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel said just that about the Fed, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England in a speech yesterday. German papers barely noticed the speech. "What other central banks have been doing must be reversed. I am very skeptical about the extent of the Fed's actions and the way the Bank of England has carved its own little line in Europe," Merkel was quoted by the Financial Times as saying. She went on to criticize an ECB plan to pump more liquidity into the still-frozen European banking system. Her reason: The plan might worsen inflation in the future even though the latest data show deflation to be a bigger concern. What's interesting, and worrying, about Merkel's speech is how out of character it is. The ECB was designed to be insulated from political influence -- at the insistence of the Germans, who feared that other countries, particularly France, would want to manipulate interest rates for short-term gain. Now, with a tough re-election campaign coming up, Merkel has decided that bashing the ECB could offer a political advantage ahead of European Parliament elections this weekend. After an expensive bail-out of Opel, Merkel's trying to show the German public how committed she is to fighting inflation, a national obsession thanks to the hyperinflation of the 1920s . Rather than bashing the ECB, Merkel might be better off asking why, despite the lack of a property bubble, is the German economy going to shrink twice as much as the U.S. economy? One reason is an obsessive emphasis on exports . The other reason, a refusal to deal seriously with a banking sector almost as sick as the American one. With just under four months to go before September 27th national elections, it will be interesting to see what other taboos Merkel will break in order to win. More on Germany
 
Dan Froomkin: Celebrity Journalism at the White House Top
What would you do if you -- and your 32 camera crews -- were granted unparalleled access to the White House for a day? And then you had two full hours of prime-time TV to fill? There are many mysteries you might try to explore. How does President Obama actually make decisions? What if anything changes his mind? What blows his cool? How does he settle disputes among his advisers? Who is the last one to whisper in his ear? How does he treat his staff? How furious is the competition for his attention? Who wins? Why is he so sure, so confident, that thinking big is the solution to every problem? How do he and his staff really feel about the mess Bush left them? How does the former constitutional law professor reconcile his devotion to civil liberties with a handful of recent decisions that have horrified civil libertarians? Does he have second thoughts? But sadly those were not the sorts of things that seemed to interest anchor Brian Williams and the more than two dozen NBC News producers responsible for the " Inside the Obama White House " special showing last night and tonight, a show that treats Obama like a celebrity rather than a president. Part of the problem, most assuredly, was that the White House had the ultimate say in what the cameras were allowed to record, and what they weren't. As Williams says at the show's outset: "Our job is to show as much as we can of the inner workings, especially of the West Wing. The job of the White House is to show us what they want us to see." And yet what seems to fascinate Williams the most is what everyone is eating. There are, it turns out, apples and M&Ms all over the White House. In fact, the show devotes a whole montage to people pouring, throwing and consuming M&Ms. And the high point of the day, the centerpiece of the hour-long show last night, what Williams calls Obama's "brief shining moment," is a hokey, obviously staged burger run to Five Guys. The cameras literally languish over greasy paper bags full of french fries. It's the kind of substanceless fawning that leads some to conclude that the press is soft on Obama. But this show wasn't about his politics or his policies. It was a celebration and amplification of the star power of the presidency in general, and of this president in particular. Simply showing him eating a burger they apparently consider great television. And tonight, we're promised an interview with Bo the dog. Here's the Five Guys lunch scene: The NBC crews were at the White House on Friday. Williams notes that the messages of the day were about cybersecurity and hurricane preparedness -- but he doesn't tell us what those messages were, not to mention share any insight into how they were arrived at and whether they were sound or not. That was also the day that the White House reversed course on a comment by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor that her critics had seized upon. In its full context , Sotomayor's quote -- "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life" -- struck me as simply an acknowledgement of the fact that members of oppressed groups could sometimes be more sensitive to injustice than members of the privileged classes. The White House had defended the quote for several days until Friday afternoon, when -- in an interview with Williams, no less -- Obama suddenly walked it back, saying that Sotamayor regretted her choice of words. "I'm sure she would have restated it," Obama said. In last night's show, Williams makes a great to-do about what happened and his own role in it. He shows how acutely aware the White House's press operation is of the chatter on the morning shows and the cable networks. But he doesn't explore the actual, quite fascinating decision to change course -- which (like everything of substance that day, it appears) happened off camera. I suspect that top White House advisers came to the conclusion that in today's political media culture, which subsists on quick sound bites like the one in Sotomayor's speech, the arguments in defense of her comment was simply too complicated to sustain. So they chose a quick strategic retreat. But is that what actually happened? And did Obama or anyone else actually talk to Sotomayor before speaking on her behalf? Those questions are left unanswered. And Williams is apparently uncurious. All we see is the how, not the why. There are some amusing moments in the show, such as seeing Obama -- on his way out to Five Guys -- taking orders from his aides and asking: "You want fries?" And White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, constantly in motion, either breezing by or shooing away the omnipresent cameras, comes off as quite the cock of the walk -- or maybe more of a bantam rooster. And Obama gets to do a little media criticism. Asked by Williams about his television watching habits, Obama says he doesn't generally watch the cable news shoes: "Mainly because I don't find most of the cable chatter very persuasive. I've used this analogy before, it feels like WWF wrestling. Everybody's got their role to play.... [E]verybody's got their set pieces and, so, I don't feel as if I'm learning anything from the debate." When Williams trots out the hoary criticism that Obama has taken on too much, Obama responds -- correctly -- that the public doesn't think so, just the media. "What exactly would you have me give up?" he asks. And over on the MSNBC Web site, there's a really cool interactive map of the White House. But there's almost nothing of substance here. This presidency, more than most, is more than just the sum of its photo ops. You just wouldn't know it from this show. Williams tells The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz the experience exceeded his expectations: "We were pretty stunned at how much we were able to record and how natural events seemed to be," he tells Kurtz. "To be in the hallway when the president walks by with a handful of M&Ms, popping them in his mouth as he goes to visit his chief of staff -- it was unbelievable. I don't think the expression 'took up residence' is hyperbolic." And the Chicago Tribune's Mark Silva has a preview of tonight's installment: "Sum up this guy," Williams said of Bo, the Obama family's Portuguese water dog, as President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their interviewer stood by the first pup. "Let me see if he does the whole ..." Obama said, leaning to get a robust, white-pawed shake from the shaggy black pooch. "See, I taught him that ... that's what I'm talking about," exclaimed the president, playfully growling at his puppy for NBC's cameras. (This essay originally appeared on the Nieman Watchdog Blog .)
 
Eric C. Anderson: Selling T-notes to China Top
Washington is engaged in a seemingly hopeless mission--convincing our creditors that Treasury notes are still a good investment. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner found himself in the unenviable position of executing this mission during his recent trip to China. Unfortunately, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's 3 June congressional testimony has probably reduced Geithner's sale pitch to little more than a consumption of time and oxygen. Geithner's adventures in Beijing are a classic case of perceptions management. In his 1 June speech at Peking University, the Treasury Secretary confessed Washington was "going to have to bring our fiscal deficit down to a level that is sustainable...roughly 3% of gross domestic product (GDP)." He also vowed "we will resolutely maintain the policy framework necessary for durable and lasting sustained non-inflationary growth." Not surprisingly, the Chinese were unimpressed. I suspect the Chinese know the federal budget deficit in 2009 is expected to reach 13% of GDP--and that the planned expenditures for 2010 and 2011 are likely to keep that figure in the double-digit range. How skeptical are the Chinese? When asked about the long-term security of Beijing's investment in U.S. Treasury notes following his speech, Geithner's response--the "assets are very safe"--drew laughter from the student audience. China's leaders have been expressing concerns about their approximately $1 trillion investment in our debt for months. It now appears their constituency was listening. This skepticism did not deter the Treasury Secretary. Speaking with reporters on 2 June, Geithner declared the Chinese had a "very sophisticated understanding" about why the U.S. needs to run large budget deficits over the coming years. He also argued the Chinese retain "a fair amount of confidence" in the strength of the U.S. economy and Washington's "capacity not just to solve this crisis, to get growth back on track, [and] to go back to living within our means." I have to ask, what constitutes "a fair amount of confidence" and what does this mean for Beijing's future interest in purchasing our national debt? In order to fund Washington's spending, we are going to have to sell almost $4 trillion in Treasury notes. That clearly is not going to be an easy task--particularly after Ben Bernanke's 3 June testimony. According to the Federal Reserve Chairman, Washington's "elevated level of borrowing" is going to "leave the debt-to-GDP ratio at its highest level since the early 1950s, the years following the massive debt buildup during World War II." Furthermore, Bernanke told his audience "recent projections from the Social Security and Medicare trustees show that...Social Security and Medicare outlays will increase from about 8.5% of GDP today to 10% by 2020 and 12.5% by 2030." A situation that caused Bernanke to conclude, "With the ratio of debt to GDP already elevated, we will not be able to continue borrowing indefinitely." No kidding. With this kind of reporting coming from the Federal Reserve Chairman the Chinese skepticism certainly appears warranted...and a harbinger of change. Consider the following quote from Yu Yongding, a former adviser to China's central bank. Speaking with a reporter from the New York Times , Yu observed, "If the U.S. can find a way to protect China's assets, America's standing here will increase." However, Yu continued, "We are not going to return to the good old days of 2006. We are going to promote the creation of a new world order." I caution against reading too deeply into Yu's remarks. The Chinese have been well-served by the existing international system...and there is little sign Beijing wants to fundamentally rewrite the rules. What the Chinese really want is for Washington to get its act together. The first step, dramatically reduce the federal government's deficit spending. Ben Bernanke came to a similar conclusion--"spending and budget deficits [must] be well controlled." And Tim Geithner told the Chinese we plan to "cut our fiscal deficit"...once "we recover from this unprecedented crisis." As best I can tell, Beijing is not impressed with these vague promises. There is a sense of impatience in China....and Washington is not scratching the right itch. When Vice Premier Wang Qishan feels compelled to inform the Treasury Secretary that "What is important to me is the issue of our investments in U.S. debt," we are being put on notice. The solution is to lay out a specific plan for getting the U.S. budget back in line--a plan that should include dates and accurate expenditure estimates. This kind of data may serve to reassure our largest foreign creditor and could facilitate a further sale of Treasury notes in China. In the interim, Washington is on the hot seat. This means we will continue to witness the embarrassing spectacle of American officials wandering the globe in an effort to explain our fiscal irresponsibility to foreign governments who are looking to invest in more secure options. The U.S. Navy has a saying--"if you're explaining, you're losing." I'm afraid this statement is an accurate characterization of Tim Geithner's latest trip. Let's hope it does not apply to similar adventures in the future. More on Timothy Geithner
 

CREATE MORE ALERTS:

Auctions - Find out when new auctions are posted

Horoscopes - Receive your daily horoscope

Music - Get the newest Album Releases, Playlists and more

News - Only the news you want, delivered!

Stocks - Stay connected to the market with price quotes and more

Weather - Get today's weather conditions




You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.

No comments:

Post a Comment