Monday, June 8, 2009

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Coleman: Cultivate "Grass E-Roots" To Win Youth Vote (VIDEO) Top
"Ethernet" expert and former Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman has some advice for the Republican party: Cultivate grass e-roots . Coleman was in St. Louis last week for the Conservative Heartland Leadership Conference. In a speech to the audience of traditional-values voters, Coleman shared his hi-tech strategy for saving the GOP. We need to cultivate our grass e-roots. Grass e-roots. I heard a little bit about that discussed this morning. That's spelled Grass-space-e-hyphen-roots. We have a new [unintelligible] in American politics called grass e-roots. In this new world, the one with the most cell phone numbers, e-mail addresses and YouTube hits wins. Despite the fact that we had superior tickets and issues in November, we never caught up on the Democrats on the ability to raise funds fast and cheap, and communicate with millions of people in milliseconds. Door-knocking and direct mailing still have a role but e-politics is the name of the game and we have to learn it. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, online social targeting. Conservatives need to manage the communication tools of the 21st century. ... Coleman was in Minnesota Supreme Court earlier in the week, but he did not let the gloomy predictions for his case stop him from pitching his "e-politics" strategy. A videographer from the Minnesota Independent taped the event: WATCH: After the speech, Coleman was seen telling a supporter that the key to Republican success lies in the "ethernet." Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
Paul Loeb: Gutting the Health Care Plan: The Scorpion and the Congress Top
Will serious health reform meet the fate of the scorpion and the turtle? In that fable, the scorpion pleads with the turtle to carry him across a river. The turtle resists, fearing the scorpion's sting, but the scorpion reassures him that he'd do nothing so foolish, since both would drown if he did. Finally the turtle agrees. Halfway across, the scorpion betrays his promise with a lethal sting. As the turtle begins to drown, he asks why he took both their lives. "It's just who I am," the scorpion replies. I fear we're about to get stung again. When people look back at the failure of the Clinton-era health care initiative, they point, accurately, to an opaque process that produced a baroque Rube Goldberg mess that satisfied no one. That happened even before the insurance industry went on the attack with their Harry and Louise ads. But another missing element parallels our current challenge--appeasement of the insurance companies as the plan's centerpiece, and the inevitability that these same interests will betray us again. The Clintons assumed the insurance companies were too powerful to confront, so the plan had to go along with them. But once they assumed any bill had to get the companies' approval, no plan could work, because it had to build in ways for the companies to maintain their profit margins and the immensely wasteful overhead they spend on advertising, processing claims, and turning down as many sick people as they can. Their approach also creates corollary wastes, like the third of the expenses of the average medical office that go toward dealing with insurance company paperwork. Our health care crisis is so dire that the simple single-payer approach, as in Canada, should be at least seriously debated. Compared with us, most Canadians are satisfied with their system, in contrast with a recent US poll where 49 percent said our health system needed fundamental changes and 38 percent said it should be completely rebuilt. Canadians get a full choice of doctors (unlike in the US, where households have to switch doctors when employers change their insurance or insurance companies change their preferred provider lists). Tommy Douglas, the Canadian New Democratic Party leader who pushed through national health care in the mid-60s (replacing a system like ours), was recently voted Greatest Canadian in a recent contest, beating hockey star Wayne Gretzky and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Even if single payer isn't politically achievable yet, there's no reason to take it off the table from the beginning. Doing so means most Americans never get to hear the contrast in cost savings, in allocation ease, in impact on ordinary citizens and their health outcomes. They never get to hear the story that might allow them to overcome current fears about losing the health care they have, being unable to see their preferred doctor, or being condemned to the Purgatory of endless waiting. Maybe we've been so conditioned that we can't quite get the support for a full-fledged switch. A recent Kaiser Foundation poll still gives single-payer a narrow 49 to 47 percent majority, vs 67 percent for including a fully competitive public option, and maybe that isn't enough. But at least we need to tell the story, so the probably inevitable compromise works down from full public coverage, as opposed to considering options that gut even the option of serious public coverage entirely. Instead, because we've accepted the premise that the private insurance companies have to be included, we're now starting to consider including a public option only if it includes poison pills that will doom it to fail, like requiring it be triggered by a set of exceedingly unlikely circumstances deferred to the indefinite future. Or requiring it to play by rules so onerous that it can't achieve its straightforward cost savings. Or turning it over to the states, so Big Pharma and Big Insurance interests can simply, as Robert Reich warns in one of the best summaries of the game, "buy off legislators and officials as they've been doing for years." But why assume that the insurance companies are our friends? Why appease them at all? It's not as if they've played a helpful role in our current system. Rather, they've gamed it in every possible way, leaving our country with the highest health care costs in the world and worst health outcomes of any advanced industrial country. While they've made promises to cut costs, their promises are only that (like the scorpion's), and they're already lobbying with everything they have to gut any seriously competitive public option. Add in examples like former HCA/Columbia CEO Rick Scott. after his company paid a $1.7 billion fine (the largest in US history) for defrauding Medicare, Medicaid, and the program that serves our armed forces, he is now organizing attacks on any public program (hiring the PR firm that coordinated the "Swift Boat" attacks on John Kerry). We need to challenge the insurance companies, not appease them. There's no evidence that suggests they're constructive players, or are likely to do anything except defend their own parochial interest. The insurance companies and other major financial interests are talking a good line of late. They have no choice if they don't want to be cut out of the game. But ultimately, they are who they are, and their behavior reflects this. It makes no sense to embrace a partner who you know will ultimately betray you. Maybe the public private mix is the best compromise we can get at the moment. But we must raise our voices now to demand a full debate on the other alternatives, like single payer, and then if necessary settle for something that gives a public option a chance, under equitable rules, to see how it plays out in efficiency, service, and cost. Trusting the insurance companies and stacking the deck to guarantee that private options will prevail merely assures we continue our dysfunctional system until its human and financial costs drown us all. Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association. His previous books include Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time. See www.paulloeb.org To receive his articles directly email sympa@lists.onenw.org with the subject line: subscribe paulloeb-articles More on Insurance Companies
 
Sen. Bernie Sanders: Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege Top
Let's be clear. Our health care system is disintegrating. Today, 46 million people have no health insurance and even more are underinsured with high deductibles and co-payments. At a time when 60 million people, including many with insurance, do not have access to a medical home, more than 18,000 Americans die every year from preventable illnesses because they do not get to the doctor when they should. This is six times the number who died at the tragedy of 9/11 - but this occurs every year. In the midst of this horrendous lack of coverage, the U.S. spends far more per capita on health care than any other nation - and health care costs continue to soar. At $2.4 trillion dollars, and 18 percent of our GDP, the skyrocketing cost of health care in this country is unsustainable both from a personal and macro-economic perspective. At the individual level, the average American spends about $7,900 per year on health care. Despite that huge outlay, a recent study found that medical problems contributed to 62 percent of all bankruptcies in 2007. From a business perspective, General Motors spends more on health care per automobile than on steel while small business owners are forced to divert hard-earned profits into health coverage for their employees - rather than new business investments. And, because of rising costs, many businesses are cutting back drastically on their level of health care coverage or are doing away with it entirely. Further, despite the fact that we spend almost twice as much per person on health care as any other country, our health care outcomes lag behind many other nations. We get poor value for what we spend. According to the World Health Organization the United States ranks 37th in terms of health system performance and we are far behind many other countries in terms of such important indices as infant mortality, life expectancy and preventable deaths. As the health care debate heats up in Washington, we as a nation have to answer two very fundamental questions. First, should all Americans be entitled to health care as a right and not a privilege - which is the way every other major country treats health care and the way we respond to such other basic needs as education, police and fire protection? Second, if we are to provide quality health care to all, how do we accomplish that in the most cost-effective way possible? I think the answer to the first question is pretty clear, and one of the reasons that Barack Obama was elected president. Most Americans do believe that all of us should have health care coverage, and that nobody should be left out of the system. The real debate is how we accomplish that goal in an affordable and sustainable way. In that regard, I think the evidence is overwhelming that we must end the private insurance company domination of health care in our country and move toward a publicly-funded, single-payer Medicare for All approach . Our current private health insurance system is the most costly, wasteful, complicated and bureaucratic in the world. Its function is not to provide quality health care for all, but to make huge profits for those who own the companies. With thousands of different health benefit programs designed to maximize profits, private health insurance companies spend an incredible (30 percent) of each health care dollar on administration and billing, exorbitant CEO compensation packages, advertising, lobbying and campaign contributions. Public programs like Medicare, Medicaid and the VA are administered for far less. In recent years, while we have experienced an acute shortage of primary health care doctors as well as nurses and dentists, we are paying for a huge increase in health care bureaucrats and bill collectors. Over the last three decades, the number of administrative personnel has grown by 25 times the numbers of physicians. Not surprisingly, while health care costs are soaring, so are the profits of private health insurance companies. From 2003 to 2007, the combined profits of the nation's major health insurance companies increased by 170 percent. And, while more and more Americans are losing their jobs and health insurance, the top executives in the industry are receiving lavish compensation packages. It's not just William McGuire, the former head of United Health, who several years ago accumulated stock options worth an estimated $1.6 billion or Cigna CEO Edward Hanway who made more than $120 million in the last five years. The reality is that CEO compensation for the top seven health insurance companies now averages $14.2 million. Moving toward a national health insurance program which provides cost-effective universal, comprehensive and quality health care for all will not be easy. The powerful special interests - the insurance companies, drug companies and medical equipment suppliers - will wage an all-out fight to make sure that we maintain the current system which enables them to make billions of dollars. In recent years they have spent hundreds of millions on lobbying, campaign contributions and advertising and, with unlimited resources, they will continue spending as much as they need. But, at the end of the day, as difficult as it may be, the fight for a national health care program will prevail. Like the civil rights movement, the struggle for women's rights and other grass-roots efforts, justice in this country is often delayed - but it will not be denied. We shall overcome! To keep up to date on the health care debate in the Senate, sign up for the Bernie Buzz newsletter here .
 
Emmie Twombly: 5 Ways Women Can Make Changes Across Generations Top
The women of Vital Voices are dynamic, bold, daring risk takers, in fact even putting their lives on the line. The five award winners, Global Trailblazer Award winner and the women behind Vital Voices are transforming the notions of women, and most importantly, their connotations with power and leadership. These women were recently honored at the Kennedy Center by Ben Affleck, Candice Bergen, Sally Field and Diane Von Furstenberg because they are defining success on their own terms in their own countries, organizations and families. Each woman is championing her own cause, but the women who graced the stage showed that we are all individuals working together for a common goal. Hillary Clinton stated this goal in 1995 at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, "Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights." After attending such an inspirational event I felt that owed it to other generations to share 5 way women can make changes across generations. 1. Educate Yourself. "Knowledge is power, no one can take education away from you." Sadiqa Basiri Saleem brings hope to Afghanistan and a new generation of women. Sadiqa and three other women pooled their money together after the Taliban fell to found a learning center, which provides uniforms, supplies, and funding for 36 girls to study in an abandoned mosque. Sadiqa said her "dream is to see my sisters well-educated in a peaceful Afghanistan. They should be able to raise their voices to get their rights since I can't stand seeing them tortured and murdered in the name of honor anymore." 2. Be Bold and Brave. Chouchou Namegabe Nabinut and Marceline Kongolo-Bice brought issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the international stage. Chouchou used her powerful voice as a journalist to shed light on women, health and human rights issues. At age 23, Marceline has shown her strength and courage time and time again. At 13 she was imprisoned for refusing a military order to marry a local commandant. She also lost her older brother and father to murderous soldiers and witnessed the use of rape as a weapon of war. She then founded an NGO, SOS Femmes en Dangers to heal and rehabilitate rape victims, and how to empower themselves by knowing their rights so that they can defend themselves, supporting one another so their voices are heard. 3. Invest in Others. Temituokpe Esisi of Nigeria started her own tailoring company to benefit her country's economic empowerment as well as her own. She serves as a role model to leaders across the globe, since she invests in her employees, in their future and in their education. She works to inspire other women throughout Nigeria and beyond with her success. 4. Follow Your Heart. Somaly Mam of Cambodia was forced to work in a brothel, where she endured rape, beatings and humiliation by her bosses and clients. After one of her closest friends was murdered by a pimp, she escaped. She then showed her bravery by sharing her story and rescuing young girls and women from her brothel. She never had an education and just "gave love." She is a visionary who shows that you have unlimited potential by following your heart. 5. Keep Moving Forward. How did these women move beyond the traumatic events and brutal atrocities which the award recipients experienced first-hand? This is a question that has been resurfacing in my mind since I left the event in Washington, D.C. On its face it seems to not make sense that women are still forced to overcome rape as a weapon of war, lack of education and lack of opportunities. The five amazing women who accepted their awards at the Kennedy Center showed that even though they were given significantly fewer opportunities for achieving leadership positions, they still prevailed, and so can the rest of us. More on Women's Rights
 
Youth Radio -- Youth Media International: 'Post-Race America' or Recovering Racist? Top
Originally published on Youthradio.org , the premier source for youth generated news throughout the globe. By: King Anyi Howell I'm hearing the phrase "Post-Race America" a lot. Just because the president of the United States is African-American, it is far too early to label this era as one of a "Post-Race America." I believe America can be personified as a recovering racist. America acknowledges its problems and is taking steps to address them, but still has racist relapses every now and then. Friends of mine still experience racism at work and in other areas of their daily lives, and while racial bias is extremely difficult to prove in a court of law, there's no disputing its prevalence if you listen to people of color talk anectdotally about their experiences. In the past month, I have been pulled over three times, not for violating traffic, but for "looking suspicious". It can't be the Cadillac I drive that's suspicious, otherwise GM wouldn't have manufactured it. It's my physical appearance from the chest up (the only body part visible from my position in the driver's seat) that prompts law enforcement to scrutinize me, and then disengage, as though "just doing their job" entails investigating people who are not breaking any civil or traffic laws. Also, within the past month, I was arrested in front of my home and placed in jail over the weekend because I resembled someone police were after. Proof of my innocence was ignored and I was met with comments like, "Oh, let me guess, it was some other tall black guy with a hoodie on." They would learn on Monday that it was another black guy, and I would learn from a witness/person of interest that I looked nothing like the actual burglary suspect the police were after. I wish I could say that the past experiences were my only encounters with racial profiling, but the truth is, I've made a career of writing about them. I've earned a living writing stories about the racial profiling I experienced while walking on foot, to the point where my journalism efforts were able to afford me a nice (not super nice, but nice enough) vehicle. Now that I get pulled over in that vehicle all the time for no real reason at all, it gives me more insight to write about racial profiling even more. I've realized, in a sense, I capitalize from racism. I also realized this might make my views and outlooks on racial progress biased. I had to ask what other people thought of the notion of a "Post-Race America" Here's what I received. Rick Well, race may be a construction but. . . so is San Quentin but I wouldn't want to live in it. To see race politics in action today, watch the attacks on Sotomayor -- all the white commentators trying to act like white is just the default reality, like white = neutral; instead of recognizing that white male prejudice has always dominated the Supreme Court. It's a public seminar on how race politics plays out in the US today. Belia Race is still deeply relevant in America- because the institutions that shape our lives and our society are designed to privilege white people. Yeah, sometimes people get through- Obama, Sotomayor, Cosby, etc., but the fact that they are still often portrayed as 'beloved exceptions' points to an unspoken assumption about what "the rest" of black and brown people are naturally like. The "Post-Race" claim means that we are taking an extremely uncomplicated view about the ways that class privilege provides some people of color with access and resources that other POC do not have. Keep it trill (as the youngstas say :) Obama's mother was a white woman with an extremely high level of education. This does NOT mean that he's not Black, or that he doesn't deserve the immense success he's achieved- but he did have some privileges that we have to acknowledge before we claim to be Post-Race anything. Kelley Race is hella relevant; I wouldn't want to live in a society that ignores race. I love having our cultural differences out in the open where people can appreciate/ask questions about whatever they want. ClifSoulo (via Twitter) In all walks of life in our society. entertainment, workforce, social settings. may not be clear to some, but it's always present TheHomeyNolte (via Twitter) yo son... it's RELEVANT I say, we will know we have reached a post-racially polarized nation when people stop using the word "race" at all. Until then, I'll keep writing about it. Youth Radio/Youth Media International (YMI) is youth-driven converged media production company that delivers the best youth news, culture and undiscovered talent to a cross section of audiences. To read more youth news from around the globe and explore high quality audio and video features, visit Youthradio.org More on Twitter
 
US Journalists Arrested, Kidnapped Abroad (ROUNDUP) Top
The trial and sentencing of American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee to 12 years in a North Korean work camp prompts the question: what other American journalists have been detained or kidnapped abroad? According to Freedom House, 2008 [PDF] , the last year to be analyzed, saw a decline in press freedom worldwide, with the absolute worst countries being Burma, Cuba, Eritrea, Libya, Turkmenistan and, of course, North Korea. Here is a look back at other Americans who have been captured while trying to report on war, conflict or closed societies. Daniel Pearl Wall Street Journal South Asia bureau chief kidnapped and brutally murdered in Pakistan in 2002 while investigating links between "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, al Qaeda, and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) A foundation now exists in his name. Jill Carroll Christian Science Monitor reporter kidnapped and eventually freed in Iraq between January 7 and March 30, 2006. Afterwards she wrote a series of stories on the experience. Barry Bearak New York Times correspondent detained in Zimbabwe for five days during April 2008 for alleged inadequate press credentials during Mugabe's crackdown. David Rohde New York Times correspondent, formerly with the Christian Science Monitor , who according to Adnkronos International was kidnapped in Afghanistan and is still missing. Rohde's won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for his reporting of the Srebrenica massacre. During his investigation he was detained by the Serbian government and interrogated for ten days. Roxana Saberi Reporter arrested in Iran in February 2009, charged with espionage, sentenced to eight years in prison, and then later freed on appeal on May 11, 2009 amid international media attention. Euna Lee Laura Ling Al Gore's Current TV reporters, based out of San Francisco, who were detained in March 2009 for "hostile acts" while they were in China to interview North Korean defectors living on the Chinese side of the border. The were sentenced Monday to 12 years in a work camp. We know there are plenty of other American journalists who we've missed. Please help us fill in the gaps in the comments section below... Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter! More on Roxana Saberi
 
Mohamed Elshahed: Egyptian Commentator: "We Shouldn't Be Talking Directly With Our Enemy" Top
In the aftermath of Obama's speech in Cairo this past weekend, a guest on a television show of political commentary complained that President Barrack Obama's demeanor was "self-centered" and that he read from the teleprompter the entire time. She expressed xenophobic ideas and proclaimed, "We should not be talking directly to our enemies." This may sound like a Fox News appearance but it was not. This was a talk show on Dream TV, an Egyptian Satellite network. The woman was a middle age heavyset veiled columnist who sprinkled her comments with Quranic references. The main difference between her and her conservative counterpart on a Fox News show is that she was faced with the wrath of other guests on the show and viewers who called in. Callers unanimously came to the defense of the American President and called the columnist things that ranged from "ignorant" to "victim who is afraid of help when it comes." The response to the veiled columnist can easily be described as liberal, not in the American sense but certainly in the Egyptian context. By Sunday morning and after watching talk show political pundits spill their views on the speech it was clear, Egyptians are in love with President Barrack Obama. Conservative critics are already loosing the battle. When one of the other guests reminded the TV host that Obama was here to extend a hand, the conservative columnist responded "he extended a hand for us to kiss it," a gesture associated locally with begging. Phone calls flooded the studio. One caller said "your views are abnormal and evil." Amr Adeeb, the popular host of "AlMasri AlYoum" ("Today's Egyptian"), hailed the success of the speech and the security and urban beautification that took place and only requested that flowers that were planted in the president's route not be removed and that it should not take a visit by the American president for local authorities to clean streets and organize traffic. More on Egypt
 
iPhone 3.0: Apple Drops Price To $99 Top
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Apple Inc. slashed the entry price for an iPhone in half and rolled out new laptops for $300 less than previous models Monday, the company's first dramatic price cuts since the recession began a year and a half ago. Apple unveiled two new models of the iPhone -- the 3G S -- that will sport a faster processor and sought-after features like an internal compass, a video camera and an improved photo camera. A 16-gigabyte version of the 3G S will cost $199 and a 32-gigabyte model will be $299. The 8-gigabyte iPhone 3G, which came out last year, will be cut to $99 from $199. The iPhone news highlighted a two-hour presentation by Apple executives at their annual conference for software developers. Despite anticipation that he might make a cameo, Apple CEO Steve Jobs did not take the stage. He is due back from his medical leave at the end of this month. The newest iPhones go on sale June 19, just as two-year contracts for the buyers of the original models are expiring and Apple's phone faces tougher competition from the likes of Research in Motion Ltd. and Palm Inc. Shares of Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple were down 90 cents, 0.6 percent, at $143.77 in afternoon trading. Lowering the price of the least expensive iPhone could be risky for Apple -- a bet that the new versions have enough appealing features to keep higher-priced models selling briskly. AT&T Inc., the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the U.S., said Monday it's confident its wireless profit margins will hold steady overall. AT&T shares were down 3 cents at $24.53. Apple might also be banking on expanding the profits it reaps from taking 30 percent of the revenue from downloadable applications on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. In the updates to the MacBook line, Apple showed off a MacBook Pro laptop with a 13-inch screen that starts at $1,200. A 15-inch model sells for $1,700 and up -- both $300 less than existing similar models. The company also lowered the price on its ultra-thin MacBook Air to $1,500 from $1,800. Jessica Mintz reported from Seattle.
 
Bringing Women's Stories Into The Abortion Debate Top
Since Dr. George Tiller was killed on Sunday, the abortion debate has returned to the limelight. Pundits and public officials discussed when life really begins and whether late term abortions were ethical. But is something missing from this debate? What about the many women who have made the difficult decision to have an abortion -- shouldn't they be included in the discussion? We think so, and we would like to hear your stories. When did you get an abortion, and what were the circumstances? How do you feel about it now? Stories can be emailed to living@huffingtonpost.com . Please include your age, location, and a name that you'd be willing to have appear on the site. We'll put a selection stories together in a future post.
 
Benevolent merchant cited in drug sweep Top
SHIRLEY, N.Y. — A New York convenience store owner who made headlines after showing mercy on a would-be robber has been accused of selling drug paraphernalia. Shirley Express owner Mohammad Sohail's (so-HAYL) store on Long Island was one of seven businesses cited Tuesday. He's accused of violating state business laws. Prosecutors say undercover officers bought bongs and pipe screens at the store three times in recent weeks. Sohail said Thursday he did not know the items were not permitted to be sold. It's not a criminal charge and is punishable by a fine of up to $30,000. The merchant got attention this week when it was revealed that he gave an intended robber $40 and a loaf of bread if the man agreed never to steal again.
 
Jackie O's Half-Brother Faces Child Porn Investigation Top
Last October police found what they describe as graphic child pornography at the home of Ashland resident James Auchincloss, half-brother to the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Police believe the photos of naked or partially clothed prepubescent boys are evidence that Auchincloss, 62, may have committed two felonies by "encouraging child sexual abuse," according to police statements in search warrant papers obtained by the Ashland Daily Tidings.
 
Peggy Drexler: The Supreme Court: why women matter Top
While the media wallowed in the mush-brained nattering over a few out-of-context statements said to reveal Judge Sonia Sotomayor as "racist", something interesting was happening over at the place where she aspires to work. We saw a quick glimpse of why her gender is every bit as important to the Supreme Court as her heritage. Given the stubborn issues still facing women today, perhaps even more so. In a case brought by four women against AT&T, the Court ruled that decades-old pregnancy leaves taken under old pension rules do not have to be counted in calculating pension payouts. It was a small case, with limited immediate impact. Business won and women lost - by a vote of seven to two. One of those dissenting was the lone woman on the Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Justice Ginsburg, who says her tireless support of workplace equality was shaped by her own professional struggles, wrote: "Certain attitudes about pregnancy and childbirth throughout human history have sustained pervasive, often law-sanctioned, restrictions on a woman's place among paid workers and active citizens." The question is: does that kind of gender identification have a place in the land's highest court? Simple answer: yes. Even though the Court refutes it, and Judge Sotomayor was attacked for saying it, the Court does make policy. Just ask all the retirement-age women who will see each pension check for the rest of their lives reduced by the length of their long-ago pregnancy leave. Whether they are made, affirmed or changed, national policy must reflect the fact that the community the Court directs and protects is 50.7 percent women. Those women still feel the pull of centuries of lesser-citizenship, where the first meaningful equal-pay legislation is just months old, and where one seated Justice is there largely because of a viscous smear campaign against a woman who questioned his moral fitness to serve. We are not talking about symbolic diversity. We are not talking about role models and success stories. We are talking about bringing a kind of life perspective to the court that will not find its way there on its own. Women like Justice Ginsberg and former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who have fought their own battles against workplace inequality come out of those battles with a unique appreciation for the pain. The same is true for gender's judicial flashpoint. If men got pregnant, reproductive choice would be in the Bill of Rights - if not a sacrament. Yet, we were are a vote or two shy of limiting or denying that choice. Women will see that threat as no man possibly can. Perspectives impact rulings. A recent study of federal appeals court judges by academics at Northwestern University and Washington University found that female judges are 10 percent more likely to rule in favor of women bringing sex discrimination suits. And when female and male judges hear a case together, the male judges are 15 percent more likely to rule for the plaintiff then when the judges are all men. The Court recently heard arguments in a suit brought by a 19-year old woman who, as a 13-year old honor student, was strip-searched by school nurses who were looking for prescription-strength Ibuprofen (none was found). The male justices treated it as trivial - even amusing. Justice Stephen Breyer said: "In my experience, when I was eight or 10 or 12 years old, you know, we did take our clothes off once a day, we changed for gym, OK?" Reports of Justice Ginsberg's obvious exasperation during the arguments were followed by a USA Today interview, where she said of her fellow Justices: "They have never been a 13 year-old girl. It's a very sensitive age for a girl. I didn't think my colleagues, some of them, quite understood." Understanding other lives is not the forte of homogeneous groups. In the same 2001 speech where she praised the decision making ability of a "wise Latina", a remark that so inflamed the right, Judge Sotomayor also said something that has gone largely unreported. "I accept the thesis," she said, "of... Professor Steven Carter of Yale Law School...that in any group of human beings there is a diversity of opinion because there is both a diversity of experiences and of thought." As the court grapples with issues that can change the lives of tens of millions of women, those female experiences and thoughts must have a place in the debate. And the only path to securing that place is through more women on the Court.
 
Emmie Twombly: 5 Ways Women Can Make Changes Across Generations Top
The women of Vital Voices are dynamic, bold, daring risk takers, in fact even putting their lives on the line. The five award winners, Global Trailblazer Award winner and the women behind Vital Voices are transforming the notions of women, and most importantly, their connotations with power and leadership. These women were recently honored at the Kennedy Center by Ben Affleck, Candice Bergen, Sally Field and Diane Von Furstenberg because they are defining success on their own terms in their own countries, organizations and families. Each woman is championing her own cause, but the women who graced the stage showed that we are all individuals working together for a common goal. Hillary Clinton stated this goal in 1995 at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, "Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights." After attending such an inspirational event I felt that owed it to other generations to share 5 way women can make changes across generations. 1. Educate Yourself. "Knowledge is power, no one can take education away from you." Sadiqa Basiri Saleem brings hope to Afghanistan and a new generation of women. Sadiqa and three other women pooled their money together after the Taliban fell to found a learning center, which provides uniforms, supplies, and funding for 36 girls to study in an abandoned mosque. Sadiqa said her "dream is to see my sisters well-educated in a peaceful Afghanistan. They should be able to raise their voices to get their rights since I can't stand seeing them tortured and murdered in the name of honor anymore." 2. Be Bold and Brave. Chouchou Namegabe Nabinut and Marceline Kongolo-Bice brought issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the international stage. Chouchou used her powerful voice as a journalist to shed light on women, health and human rights issues. At age 23, Marceline has shown her strength and courage time and time again. At 13 she was imprisoned for refusing a military order to marry a local commandant. She also lost her older brother and father to murderous soldiers and witnessed the use of rape as a weapon of war. She then founded an NGO, SOS Femmes en Dangers to heal and rehabilitate rape victims, and how to empower themselves by knowing their rights so that they can defend themselves, supporting one another so their voices are heard. 3. Invest in Others. Temituokpe Esisi of Nigeria started her own tailoring company to benefit her country's economic empowerment as well as her own. She serves as a role model to leaders across the globe, since she invests in her employees, in their future and in their education. She works to inspire other women throughout Nigeria and beyond with her success. 4. Follow Your Heart. Somaly Mam of Cambodia was forced to work in a brothel, where she endured rape, beatings and humiliation by her bosses and clients. After one of her closest friends was murdered by a pimp, she escaped. She then showed her bravery by sharing her story and rescuing young girls and women from her brothel. She never had an education and just "gave love." She is a visionary who shows that you have unlimited potential by following your heart. 5. Keep Moving Forward. How did these women move beyond the traumatic events and brutal atrocities which the award recipients experienced first-hand? This is a question that has been resurfacing in my mind since I left the event in Washington, D.C. On its face it seems to not make sense that women are still forced to overcome rape as a weapon of war, lack of education and lack of opportunities. The five amazing women who accepted their awards at the Kennedy Center showed that even though they were given significantly fewer opportunities for achieving leadership positions, they still prevailed, and so can the rest of us. More on Nigeria
 
Emmie Twombly: 5 Ways Women Can Make Changes Across Generations Top
The women of Vital Voices are dynamic, bold, daring risk takers, in fact even putting their lives on the line. The five award winners, Global Trailblazer Award winner and the women behind Vital Voices are transforming the notions about women, and most importantly, their connotations with power and leadership. These women were recently honored at the Kennedy Center by Ben Affleck, Candice Bergen, Sally Field and Diane Von Furstenberg because they are defining success on their own terms in their own countries, organizations and families. Each woman is championing her own cause, but the women who graced the stage showed that we are all individuals working together for a common goal. Hillary Clinton stated this goal in 1995 at the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing: "Human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights." After attending such an inspirational event I felt that owed it to other generations to share 5 way women can make changes across generations. 1. Educate Yourself. "Knowledge is power, no one can take education away from you." Sadiqa Basiri Saleem brings hope to Afghanistan and a new generation of women. Sadiqa and three other women pooled their money together after the Taliban fell to found a learning center, which provides uniforms, supplies, and funding for 36 girls to study in an abandoned mosque. Sadiqa said her "dream is to see my sisters well-educated in a peaceful Afghanistan. They should be able to raise their voices to get their rights since I can't stand seeing them tortured and murdered in the name of honor anymore." 2. Be Bold and Brave. Chouchou Namegabe Nabinut and Marceline Kongolo-Bice brought issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the international stage. Chouchou used her powerful voice as a journalist to shed light on women, health and human rights issues. At age 23, Marceline has shown her strength and courage time and time again. At 13 she was imprisoned for refusing a military order to marry a local commandant. She also lost her older brother and father to murderous soldiers and witnessed the use of rape as a weapon of war. She then founded an NGO, SOS Femmes en Dangers to heal and rehabilitate rape victims, and how to empower themselves by knowing their rights so that they can defend themselves, supporting one another so their voices are heard. 3. Invest in Others. Temituokpe Esisi of Nigeria started her own tailoring company to benefit her country's economic empowerment as well as her own. She serves as a role model to leaders across the globe, since she invests in her employees, in their future and in their education. She works to inspire other women throughout Nigeria and beyond with her success. 4. Follow Your Heart. Somaly Mam of Cambodia was forced to work in a brothel, where she endured rape, beatings and humiliation by her bosses and clients. After one of her closest friends was murdered by a pimp, she escaped. She then showed her bravery by sharing her story and rescuing young girls and women from her brothel. She never had an education and just "gave love." She is a visionary who shows that you have unlimited potential by following your heart. 5. Keep Moving Forward. How did these women move beyond the traumatic events and brutal atrocities which the award recipients experienced first-hand? This is a question that has been resurfacing in my mind since I left the event in Washington, D.C. On its face it seems to not make sense that women are still forced to overcome rape as a weapon of war, lack of education and lack of opportunities. The five amazing women who accepted their awards at the Kennedy Center showed that even though they were given significantly fewer opportunities for achieving leadership positions, they still prevailed, and so can the rest of us. More on Women's Rights
 
Comcast Worker Impaled On Iron Fence After Fall Top
AURORA, Ill. (AP) -- Suburban Chicago fire officials say a Comcast Corp. worker has suffered at least three puncture wounds after falling 10 feet from a ladder onto an iron fence. Aurora Fire Department officials say the antique four-foot-tall fence had to be cut away so the man could be extracted. They say the fence's 8-inch-long stakes drove through the man's legs. Asst. Fire Chief John Lehman says the man was working alone in the backyard of a house when he fell. He says police were nearby and came quickly. Lehman says the man was conscious when he was taken to a hospital with injuries. He says the man is lucky because he could've landed in many different ways. -ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
Alfred W. McCoy: Confronting the CIA's Mind Maze Top
Crossposted with TomDispatch.com America's Political Paralysis Over Torture If, like me, you've been following America's torture policies not just for the last few years, but for decades, you can't help but experience that eerie feeling of déjà vu these days. With the departure of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney from Washington and the arrival of Barack Obama, it may just be back to the future when it comes to torture policy, a turn away from a dark, do-it-yourself ethos and a return to the outsourcing of torture that went on, with the support of both Democrats and Republicans, in the Cold War years. Like Chile after the regime of General Augusto Pinochet or the Philippines after the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, Washington after Bush is now trapped in the painful politics of impunity. Unlike anything our allies have experienced, however, for Washington, and so for the rest of us, this may prove a political crisis without end or exit. Despite dozens of official inquiries in the five years since the Abu Ghraib photos first exposed our abuse of Iraqi detainees, the torture scandal continues to spread like a virus, infecting all who touch it, including now Obama himself. By embracing a specific methodology of torture, covertly developed by the CIA over decades using countless millions of taxpayer dollars and graphically revealed in those Iraqi prison photos, we have condemned ourselves to retreat from whatever promises might be made to end this sort of abuse and are instead already returning to a bipartisan consensus that made torture America's secret weapon throughout the Cold War. Despite the 24 version of events, the Bush administration did not simply authorize traditional, bare-knuckle torture. What it did do was develop to new heights the world's most advanced form of psychological torture, while quickly recognizing the legal dangers in doing so. Even in the desperate days right after 9/11, the White House and Justice Department lawyers who presided over the Bush administration's new torture program were remarkably punctilious about cloaking their decisions in legalisms designed to preempt later prosecution. To most Americans, whether they supported the Bush administration torture policy or opposed it, all of this seemed shocking and very new. Not so, unfortunately. Concealed from Congress and the public, the CIA had spent the previous half-century developing and propagating a sophisticated form of psychological torture meant to defy investigation, prosecution, or prohibition -- and so far it has proved remarkably successful on all these counts. Even now, since many of the leading psychologists who worked to advance the CIA's torture skills have remained silent, we understand surprisingly little about the psychopathology of the program of mental torture that the Bush administration applied so globally. Physical torture is a relatively straightforward matter of sadism that leaves behind broken bodies, useless information, and clear evidence for prosecution. Psychological torture, on the other hand, is a mind maze that can destroy its victims, even while entrapping its perpetrators in an illusory, almost erotic, sense of empowerment. When applied skillfully, it leaves few scars for investigators who might restrain this seductive impulse. However, despite all the myths of these last years, psychological torture, like its physical counterpart, has proven an ineffective, even counterproductive, method for extracting useful information from prisoners. Where it has had a powerful effect is on those ordering and delivering it. With their egos inflated beyond imagining by a sense of being masters of life and death, pain and pleasure, its perpetrators, when in office, became forceful proponents of abuse, striding across the political landscape like Nietzschean supermen. After their fall from power, they have continued to maneuver with extraordinary determination to escape the legal consequences of their actions. Before we head deeper into the hidden history of the CIA's psychological torture program, however, we need to rid ourselves of the idea that this sort of torture is somehow "torture lite" or merely, as the Bush administration renamed it, "enhanced interrogation." Although seemingly less brutal than physical methods, psychological torture actually inflicts a crippling trauma on its victims. "Ill treatment during captivity, such as psychological manipulations and forced stress positions," Dr. Metin Basoglu has reported in the Archives of General Psychiatry after interviewing 279 Bosnian victims of such methods, "does not seem to be substantially different from physical torture in terms of the severity of mental suffering." A Secret History of Psychological Torture The roots of our present paralysis over what to do about detainee abuse lie in the hidden history of the CIA's program of psychological torture. Early in the Cold War, panicked that the Soviets had somehow cracked the code of human consciousness, the Agency mounted a "Special Interrogation Program" whose working hypothesis was: "Medical science, particularly psychiatry and psychotherapy, has developed various techniques by means of which some external control can be imposed on the mind/or will of an individual, such as drugs, hypnosis, electric shock and neurosurgery." All of these methods were tested by the CIA in the 1950s and 1960s. None proved successful for breaking potential enemies or obtaining reliable information. Beyond these ultimately unsuccessful methods, however, the Agency also explored a behavioral approach to cracking that "code." In 1951, in collaboration with British and Canadian defense scientists, the Agency encouraged academic research into "methods concerned in psychological coercion." Within months, the Agency had defined the aims of its top-secret program, code-named Project Artichoke , as the "development of any method by which we can get information from a person against his will and without his knowledge." This secret research produced two discoveries central to the CIA's more recent psychological paradigm. In classified experiments, famed Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb found that he could induce a state akin to drug-induced hallucinations and psychosis in just 48 hours -- without drugs, hypnosis, or electric shock. Instead, for two days student volunteers at McGill University simply sat in a comfortable cubicle deprived of sensory stimulation by goggles, gloves, and earmuffs. "It scared the hell out of us," Hebb said later, "to see how completely dependent the mind is on a close connection with the ordinary sensory environment, and how disorganizing to be cut off from that support." During the 1950s, two neurologists at Cornell Medical Center, under CIA contract, found that the most devastating torture technique of the Soviet secret police, the KGB, was simply to force a victim to stand for days while the legs swelled, the skin erupted in suppurating lesions, and hallucinations began -- a procedure which we now politely refer to as "stress positions." Four years into this project, there was a sudden upsurge of interest in using mind control techniques defensively after American prisoners in North Korea suffered what was then called "brainwashing." In August 1955, President Eisenhower ordered that any soldier at risk of capture should be given "specific training and instruction designed to... withstand all enemy efforts against him." Consequently, the Air Force developed a program it dubbed SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) to train pilots in resisting psychological torture. In other words, two intertwined strands of research into torture methods were being explored and developed: aggressive methods for breaking enemy agents and defensive methods for training Americans to resist enemy inquisitors. In 1963, the CIA distilled its decade of research into the curiously named KUBARK Counter-intelligence Interrogation manual, which stated definitively that sensory deprivation was effective because it made "the regressed subject view the interrogator as a father-figure... strengthening... the subject's tendencies toward compliance." Refined through years of practice on actual human beings, the CIA's psychological paradigm now relies on a mix of sensory overload and deprivation via seemingly banal procedures: the extreme application of heat and cold, light and dark, noise and silence, feast and famine -- all meant to attack six essential sensory pathways into the human mind. After codifying its new interrogation methods in the KUBARK manual, the Agency spent the next 30 years promoting these torture techniques within the U.S. intelligence community and among anti-communist allies. In its clandestine journey across continents and decades, the CIA's psychological torture paradigm would prove elusive, adaptable, devastatingly destructive, and powerfully seductive. So darkly seductive is torture's appeal that these seemingly scientific methods, even when intended for a few Soviet spies or al-Qaeda terrorists, soon spread uncontrollably in two directions -- toward the torture of the many and into a paroxysm of brutality towards specific individuals. During the Vietnam War, when the CIA applied these techniques in their search for information on top Vietcong cadre, the interrogation effort soon degenerated into the crude physical brutality of the Phoenix Program, producing 46,000 extrajudicial executions and little actionable intelligence. In 1994, with the Cold War over, Washington ratified the U.N. Convention Against Torture , seemingly resolving the tension between its anti-torture principles and its torture practices. Yet when President Clinton sent this Convention to Congress, he included four little-noticed diplomatic "reservations" drafted six years before by the Reagan administration and focused on just one word in those 26 printed pages: "mental." These reservations narrowed (just for the United States) the definition of "mental" torture to include just four acts: the infliction of physical pain, the use of drugs, death threats, or threats to harm another. Excluded were methods such as sensory deprivation and self-inflicted pain, the very techniques the CIA had propagated for the past 40 years. This definition was reproduced verbatim in Section 2340 of the U.S. Federal Code and later in the War Crimes Act of 1996 . Through this legal legerdemain, Washington managed to agree, via the U.N. Convention, to ban physical abuse even while exempting the CIA from the U.N.'s prohibition on psychological torture. This little noticed exemption was left buried in those documents like a landmine and would detonate with phenomenal force just 10 years later at Abu Ghraib prison. War on Terror, War of Torture Right after his public address to a shaken nation on September 11, 2001, President Bush gave his staff secret orders to pursue torture policies, adding emphatically, "I don't care what the international lawyers say, we are going to kick some ass." In a dramatic break with past policy, the White House would even allow the CIA to operate its own global network of prisons, as well as charter air fleet to transport seized suspects and "render" them for endless detention in a supranational gulag of secret "black sites" from Thailand to Poland. The Bush administration also officially allowed the CIA ten "enhanced" interrogation methods designed by agency psychologists, including "waterboarding." This use of cold water to block breathing triggers the "mammalian diving reflex," hardwired into every human brain, thus inducing an uncontrollable terror of impending death. As Jane Mayer reported in the New Yorker , psychologists working for both the Pentagon and the CIA "reverse engineered" the military's SERE training, which included a brief exposure to waterboarding, and flipped these defensive methods for use offensively on al-Qaeda captives. "They sought to render the detainees vulnerable -- to break down all of their senses," one official told Mayer. "It takes a psychologist trained in this to understand these rupturing experiences." Inside Agency headquarters, there was, moreover, a "high level of anxiety" about the possibility of future prosecutions for methods officials knew to be internationally defined as torture. The presence of Ph.D. psychologists was considered one "way for CIA officials to skirt measures such as the Convention Against Torture." From recently released Justice Department memos, we now know that the CIA refined its psychological paradigm significantly under Bush. As described in the classified 2004 Background Paper on the CIA's Combined Use of Interrogation Techniques , each detainee was transported to an Agency black site while "deprived of sight and sound through the use of blindfolds, earmuffs, and hoods." Once inside the prison, he was reduced to "a baseline, dependent state" through conditioning by "nudity, sleep deprivation (with shackling...), and dietary manipulation." For "more physical and psychological stress," CIA interrogators used coercive measures such as "an insult slap or abdominal slap" and then "walling," slamming the detainee's head against a cell wall. If these failed to produce the results sought, interrogators escalated to waterboarding, as was done to Abu Zubaydah "at least 83 times during August 2002" and Khalid Sheikh Mohammad 183 times in March 2003 -- so many times, in fact, that the repetitiousness of the act can only be considered convincing testimony to the seductive sadism of CIA-style torture. In a parallel effort launched by Bush-appointed civilians in the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave General Geoffrey Miller command of the new American military prison at Guantanamo in late 2002 with ample authority to transform it into an ad hoc psychology lab. Behavioral Science Consultation Teams of military psychologists probed detainees for individual phobias like fear of the dark. Interrogators stiffened the psychological assault by exploiting what they saw as Arab cultural sensitivities when it came to sex and dogs. Via a three-phase attack on the senses, on culture, and on the individual psyche, interrogators at Guantanamo perfected the CIA's psychological paradigm. After General Miller visited Iraq in September 2003, the U.S. commander there, General Ricardo Sanchez, ordered Guantanamo-style abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. My own review of the 1,600 still-classified photos taken by American guards at Abu Ghraib -- which journalists covering this story seem to share like Napster downloads -- reveals not random, idiosyncratic acts by "bad
 
Sessions Worked Behind Scenes To Get Palin Reinvited To GOP Fundraiser Top
In another sign of the sway that Sarah Palin and her supporters in Palin Nation hold over the GOP, NRCC chief Pete Sessions is working behind the scenes to get Palin reinvited to the big GOP fundraiser tonight, GOP sources say. More on Sarah Palin
 
Andy Borowitz: Gingrich Accuses Sotomayor of Faking Broken Ankle Top
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich accused Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor today of faking a broken ankle in order to get sympathy votes during her Senate confirmation. "She's only wearing that fake cast to help her rack up votes," Mr. Gingrich said. "The minute she's confirmed, she'll whip it off and start dancing a jig." While Ms. Sotomayor reportedly broke her ankle while rushing to catch a plane, the former House Speaker said, "The fake-ankle-cast thing is the oldest trick in the book." Mr. Gingrich said that if Ms. Sotomayor was counting on arousing the empathy of Republican senators by faking a broken ankle, she was "sorely mistaken." "Ms. Sotomayor needs to brush up on her law," he said. "Last time I checked, empathy was unconstitutional." Read more here . More on Sonia Sotomayor
 
Eat Your Garden Weeds Top
When we acquired this five-acre farm in 1992, with its disintegrating historic farm house, the fields had returned to their roots, so to speak, and were heavily populated with weeds, both native and imported ones. The Johnson grass, originally introduced to feed cattle, we've managed to banish to the edges of the farm, but the native plants that are edible by humans have earned our respect over the years, and we protect them where we find them. More on Food
 
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: Peaceful Revolution: Affordable Autism Treatment for Children Top
Autism affects more American children than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined. It's a heartbreaking disease that approximately 29,400 children in every corner of New York suffer from. Despite autism's far reach, insurance companies still don't provide comprehensive coverage for effective treatments, and parents are paying the price - up to $6,000 a month for their child's treatment. Last week in Washington, I unveiled a plan to provide quality autism treatment that's affordable for families. Please take a look. What a video about Senator Gillibrand's Plan on Autism First, I'm pursuing a mandate on insurance companies to ensure they provide affordable, quality treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders. We must make sure families can get the treatment their children need, through insurance coverage they can afford. Second, I'm authoring new legislation to provide military families with affordable treatment. My new legislation, the Uniformed Services with Autism Heroes Act or the "USA Heroes Act," will require TRICARE, the military health insurance program to cover the full cost of autism treatment. Currently, TRICARE caps autism coverage at $3,000 a month - about half the treatment a child needs for effective therapy. What's worse, thousands of military families are forced to the bottom of long waiting lists for autism specialists each time they are relocated. Families that fight our wars and defend our freedoms should not face bankruptcy for trying to get the medical care their children need. And as the third step in my plan, I'm calling for a portion of the $10 billion that was given to the NIH under the President's Economic Recovery plan be dedicated toward autism research to give scientists and laboratories the resources they need to reach the next breakthrough. A Peaceful Revolution is a blog about innovative ideas to strengthen America's families through public policies, business practices, and cultural change. Done in collaboration with MomsRising.org , read a new post here each week. More on Autism
 
Should Kids Go To School Year-Round? Top
At their Alexandria public school, my kids have learned how to sail, designed entire cities in cardboard, built skyscrapers with toothpicks and marshmallows, performed in a musical and built and set off rockets on the front lawn. They've created passports and had them stamped after "visiting" countries around the world. They've learned CPR, calligraphy, Japanese, rollerblading and how to make art like Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock. My daughter was in kindergarten when she came home bubbling about Picasso's Rose period. In Spanish.
 
Andy Plesser: The New York Times Has 60 Million Mobile Views Per Month...2 Million iPhone Apps Downloaded Top
Consumption of news on mobile devices is on the rise. At The New York Times, there were 60 million mobile views in April, nearly double the number from April 2008. The paper gets about 20 million views per month on the iPhone alone, a Times spokesperson told Beet.TV . These are internal traffic numbers. According to The Nielsen Company, there are 53.4 million mobile Internet users in the United States with 22.3 of them using their mobile to access news. New Nielsen numbers find CNN is by far the biggest player with 11.6 million unique mobile users. Second is msnbc.com with 3 million, The New York Times with 2.4 million, the Wall Street Journal with 1.7 million and the Washington Post with 700,000. (Nielsen reports just uniques not total views.) Last week at the Mediabistro Internet Week event, I caught with Rob Samuels who heads mobile products for The New York Times Company. In this interview, Rob said that the Times Wire, the real time feed of Times headlines, is now on the mobile device. He said that the Times iPhone application has had nearly 2 million downloads. Mobile as an Advertiser Platform The Times has several advertisers including the campaign for Microsoft's Bing search engine, Cisco and the State of Pennsylvania. Does mobile advertising work? On Friday I spoke by phone with Maria Mandel, Senior Partner, Executive Director Digital Innovation Ogilvy about the value of mobile advertising. She said that with about 20 percent of mobile users accessing the Internet, it has become a viable environment. She predicts that the percentage of mobile users who access the web will soon reach 30 percent. This is a milestone which says will put the medium in a "whole other world." The iPhone may be a big game changer for mobile news consumption. Maria says that 80 percent of iPhone users browse the Web. She says that the click through rates for mobile advertising is 2 percent compared to .2 percent for Web banner ads. She says that SMS is "ready for primetime" with some 60 percent of mobile users texting these days. The big change is lifestyle, she says: increasingly, consumers are using mobile at home and other places as their primary Internet access device. We reported on Saturday that The Times will be one of the first news organizations to have an application for the new Palm Pre. You can find this post up on Beet.TV More on iPhone
 
Juliet Linley: Mamma Mia! Top
"Of course I'm nursing my baby, I'm a mammal," became the standard reply of Carrie, a Rome-based American mother, to the umpteenth local who marvelled that she was nursing her 4-month old. Ah, breastfeeding. By no means a red-hot conversation topic in Roman circles, it appears to be snubbed by Italian mothers. Also a rather controversial issue in central and southern parts of the country, where hardly any woman nurses until six months, for one or more of the following reasons: a) not enough milk b) far too painful for her c) milk consistency not nourishing enough d) child didn't gain enough weight after feeding e) artificial milk was easier Why oh why in a land famous for its family values, for its child-friendly waiters, and for blessing the world with expressions like "Mamma Mia!" and "Ciao Ciao Bambina' is something as natural as breastfeeding often judged difficult, uncomfortable or simply unnecessary? In most Western countries, the trend toward breastfeeding for at least the first six months of a baby's life has been growing since the '70s. Nudged on by the Nestle scandals (babies dying in poor countries because mothers mixed artificial milk with contaminated water) and the acknowledgement by the medical world that nothing is comparable to the perfection of mother's milk -- it's pretty widely accepted by now that a mother provides baby with the best possible start in life. But my Sicilian pediatrician says Italian mothers are a generation behind. Many still cling to the hackneyed belief that what comes from a factory is as good as what comes from a human gland. According to a Roman midwife I was talking to recently, young mothers in Italy are also more likely than in other countries to live at close-quarters with their mothers or mothers-in-law. That means that rather than reading child-rearing books or researching information online, they are bombarded with information from their relatives -- and often the artillery is out-of-date. I personally blame the pediatricians for not making enough of an effort to convince mothers to nurse. Alina, a Canadian mom here in Rome, says that when she told hers that she was still breastfeeding her one-year old the doctor was furious -- insisting it was crucial that Alina immediately switch to cow's milk. Guess who turned on her heels and walked straight out of that office? Mammal Mia! indeed. More on Italy
 
Mitchell Bard: The Bush Hangover: Guantanamo Undercuts Our Protests of North Korea Top
George W. Bush has been out of office for more than four months now, but I fear that the damage done during the Bush years has inflicted serious injury to the American psyche and reputation, and it will take years, if not decades, to recover. Why am I bringing this up now? I woke up this morning to the chilling news that two American journalists had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor by a North Korean court for the "crimes" of illegally entering the country and committing "hostile acts." We can only hope that the reclusive, bizarre and barbaric leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il (or those working for him), is putting on a show to get the attention of the rest of the world, and the two Current TV reporters, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, will be allowed to return home soon. The two journalists have clearly committed no crimes (as such a term would be understood in any rational section of the world), and the international community has to stand against the heinous actions of the North Korean government. Clearly, the United States should be at the head of such international action. But today, I also read about Lakhdar Boumediene, and the truly disturbing story of what happened to him after the 9/11 attacks. An Algerian man living with his wife and two children in Sarajevo, Bosnia, he was working for the Red Crescent in October 2001 when he was arrested and charged with conspiring to blow up the American and British embassies in the city. An investigation revealed no evidence of his involvement in any plot, so a Bosnian judge ordered him released, but the Bush administration intervened, and in January 2002 he was shackled and flown to Guantanamo Bay. He was the name plaintiff in the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case that, in a rebuke to the Bush policy, found that detainees had a right to challenge their detention in court, and a federal judge (a Republican appointed by Bush) later found that the evidence against him was a "thin reed" and ordered his release. France agreed to accept him, and he is now living as a free man in that country, reunited with his family. In the end, Boumediene was held for 7 1/2 years in Guantanamo, during which time, he says, he was tortured. He says he was kept up for 16 days straight, beaten, "stretched" (pulled up from under his arms while his feet were shackled to a chair) and forced to run while chained to guards, and if he could not keep up, he was dragged until he was bloody and bruised. After he began a hunger strike, he had food tubes put up his nose and, he claims, soldiers would purposely poke IV needles into the wrong parts of his arm, just to induce pain. But the one thing that was not done to him? Nobody asked if he was involved in a plot to blow up the U.S. and British embassies in Sarajevo. Rather, all he was repeatedly asked was about his connections to al-Qaeda and Osama bin-Laden (he insists he had no connection at all to the terrorist group). But there was one thing in the article that not only amazed me but brilliantly illuminated why the U.S. should never torture, and why it is so important that we repudiate what happened during the Bush years and chart a clear and unequivocal new path forward, one that reflects the country's traditional values. Boumediene said: "I thought America, the big country, they have CIA, FBI. Maybe one week, two weeks, they know I am innocent. I can go back to my home." In other words, Boumediene had faith that a country like the United States could not possibly keep an innocent man prisoner with no way to contest his guilt. His view of America is one that many in the world shared before the Bush years (as I discussed two weeks ago , an America that believes in democracy, freedom and due process, and an America that does not torture). That is supposed to be the difference between a country like North Korea and a country like the United States. North Korea can seize two innocent journalists, put them through a bogus, private, star-chamber trial, and then sentence them to 12 years of hard labor, all without any justification. The United States I grew up in, the United States that fought wars from World War I to the Cold War defending democracy and freedom against repression, could never engage in such conduct like the North Koreans did. And yet, there it is, for all to read , that we took a man like Boumediene and locked him up without a trial for 7 1/2 years, torturing him while in our custody, even though two courts, one in the U.S. and one in Bosnia (one before his detention and one after), found insufficient evidence to charge him with any crime. While we clearly have a more open and democratic society than North Korea does, for Boumediene, his experience with us was no better than what the two American journalists are now going through in North Korea. That is why it is essential the we, as a country, do not try and brush the abuses of the eight years of the Bush administration under the carpet like they never happened. We have to recognize that Bush, Cheney and the rest of the gang did real damage to core American ideals, and that this damage is still being felt, both at home and abroad. Simply put, we have to stand up and reclaim our country as a place where we will not be ruled by fear, and where our values of due process, freedom and respect for the rule of law are sacrosanct, not easily sacrificed at the first whiff of danger. It really is possible. After all, the idea of the U.S. as a beacon of freedom for many in the world is still a powerful one. Boumediene, even after all he went through, said he doesn't blame the American people, but rather just the "stupid" people in command that caused his plight: "Myself, I try to forget Guantanamo, I can't forget the four or five people, they are stupid, they are very, very stupid. I can't forget them." He even recognized the fear of the American people and the possibility of making mistakes after a tragedy: "The first month, okay, no problem, the building, the 11 of September, the people, they are scared, but not 7 years. They can know who's innocent, who's not innocent, who's terrorist, who's not terrorist. ... I give you 2 years, no problem, but not 7 years." Boumediene's ordeal is also a prime example of the failures of ruling based on fear. He noted about his captivity: "If I tell my interrogator, I am from Al Qaeda, I saw Osama bin Laden, he was my boss, I help him, they will tell me, 'Oh you are a good man. But if I refuse? I tell them I'm innocent, never was I terrorist, never never, they tell me. 'You are, you are not cooperating, I have to punch you.'" Think the Bush administration wasn't using fear to change what we as a country would accept and not accept from our government? Two weeks after Boudemiene's arrest, Bush, in his State of the Union address, said: "Our soldiers, working with the Bosnian government, seized terrorists who were plotting to bomb our embassy." At best, this shows how wrong it can be to base policies that violate our core values on fear of an attack based on faulty intelligence. At worst, it shows how people like Bush and Cheney can manipulate or invent threats to help push along their agenda. Either way, it can't be the way we, as a country, make policy. We can't rule out of fear. We must rule out of reason. Otherwise, what are we as a nation? We would be no better than the countries we (correctly) criticize and oppose. So as we all hope for the safety of the two American journalists being held in North Korea, and as we support actions to help secure their release, let us not forget that what makes the United States the country we are all proud to live in is that we stand for the very freedoms not available in North Korea, and that we oppose the kind of abuses that nation is currently perpetuating on two of our innocent citizens. The next time you see a Republican defend torture or Guantanamo, think of what is going on in North Korea now and what Lakhdar Boumediene went through at Guantanamo, and ask yourself, What kind of country do you want to live in? More on Guantánamo Bay
 
Non-Profit Loophole Lets Lobbyists "Honor" Politicians And Buy Influence Top
On a mild evening last September, Citigroup lobbyists mingled with South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn at a rooftop reception -- complete with miniature putting greens -- as the company hosted a party to honor the third most powerful Democrat in the House and raise money for one of his favorite golf charities.
 
Police Draw Machine Guns On Unarmed Men Opening Bank Account Top
Skokie police had guns drawn and surrounded a Bank of America Monday morning on two men who just wanted to open an account. More on Bank Of America
 
"Rachael Ray" Renewed For Two More Seasons Top
Daytime syndicated talk show "Rachael Ray" has been renewed through the 2011-12 season after the ABC Owned TV Stations inked a deal to pick up the Emmy-winning show for two more seasons.
 
Steven Weber: It's Art's Time Top
As everyone knows, the corporate behemoths who for years drove this country's prosperity are foundering. Credit for this has ranged from the brazen profiteering on the parts of CEO's and their upper echelon political associates, having let greed consume them like late stage cancer, to years of unregulated activity and a rapidly changing global business paradigm. And there are probably many more relevant reasons which can be elucidated by economists and philosophers with great pith and insight. But whatever the explanations of the current economic crisis the reality that our educational system is also similarly melting down is often seen as a minor concern and, even less astute, as totally unrelated. With the drop-out rate increasing and schools and students becoming progressively less competitive with its international counterparts the failure may lie not just in the adaptation of the corporate approach toward, well, everything, but also because they are overlooking a crucial, neglected element, one which would re-establish balance, increase the prospects of recovery and ensure future stability: Art. Or, how the portion of the brain which delights and thrives in active imagining and creative expressions of the most basic human ideas, dreams and desires. Officially marginalized in our schools and practically vestigial in the anatomy of our systems of education and business, art---its creation and enjoyment---is in need of rediscovery and reapplication within those systems. Without art as a functioning, practical and living concept, the ideas upon which our society has of late built itself are brittle and disposable and have the briefest of shelf-lives. Art is the connective tissue between our brains, bodies and souls, giving character to blandness, hope to hollowness. Without art the overseers of the failed approach toward sustaining a national economy or a healthy, thriving workforce are themselves slaves to souless corporate conceptualizing which in theory is meant to supply humanity with the means to attain happiness but which in reality prevents that from ever happening. Literally throwing money at the problem in the form of zillion dollar bailouts may have an initially resuscitating effect but is a band-aid at best. The permanent establishment and integration of arts in the earliest stages of a student's development is crucial. Actually, it's less a question of integration and more an imperative to allow a person's natural tendency to create and express that creation, giving them and it the chance to flourish, encouraged and unencumbered. During our decades-long addiction to overwork and underpayment in the vain pursuit of champagne wishes and caviar dreams, art has been branded as a milksop conceit, one which elicits smirks and is deemed wholly unnecessary to the betterment of society by the macho tough guys who epitomize the Gordon Gecko "greed is good" credo. But history (along with myriad scientific studies) disproves that hypothesis. And right now, those macho tough guys are staring glassy-eyed at their computer screens, wondering where their hedge funds have gone and why their gadget saturated lives are on "low battery". And it can also be said that every great leader has held a deep appreciation for the arts, intensely apparent in the quality of their leadership and in the devotion of their admirers. Most of our founding fathers were schooled in Shakespeare and had overall knowledge of classical arts, as well as in music. This supplemented and enriched their already impressive grasp on, shall we say, the more mundane disciplines required to run a small country. For, without a full and rich appreciation, a nation, a business, a concept, a life is bereft of a leavening agent, a perspective which rounds out and more clearly defines the world which we inhabit for so brief a time and in which we would like to leave a trace of our existence, of our humanity. Integration of art and arts programs into every level of schools and business would provide a progressive and experiential approach to the otherwise hollow pursuit of profit, the fruits of which this country---and the world---is suffering mightily from. Doing so would virtually ensure not only greater understanding but wider participation from a wider range of engaged citizens and thus---wait for it---greater profits. That's right, corporate behemoths: you'll make more money! It's the sensible thing, business-wise, to incorporate (ahem) an awareness of concepts once deemed negligible into the stale, broken paradigms of conducting commerce. But to do that, you start at the grassroots---you start in the schools. To ignore art as an essential component to happiness and productivity amounts to, oh say, being willfully ignorant about the environment or fearing other cultures or denying adequate health care or disregarding the wisdom of our elders or waging radical extremist jihads or allowing fringe fundamentalist religions to ride roughshod over common sense. Oh wait. We know how that turns out.
 
Gordon Brown - Resign Now: Charlie Falconer Top
The Labour Party is disunited. The events surrounding the Cabinet reshuffle over the past few days could not have illustrated that more graphically. As a result we are weakened and distracted, facing the twin crises of the economy and the reduction in public trust in our parliamentary system. More on England
 
17-Year-Old Thinks She's Getting Into Photography Top
EUGENE, OR--After wasting an afternoon taking pictures of a broken tricycle, moss on trees, and the shadow of a wrought-iron fence, Churchill Alternative High School senior Jessica Ivers falsely informed family and friends Saturday that she was getting into photography. More on The Onion
 
Carl Pope: The Empire Strikes Back Top
Americans hate Big Oil and Big Coal, and they disapprove of bailouts for even their iconic car companies. But we tend to have a soft spot for our local public utilities -- and that is turning out to be a very dangerous thing. For it's the political clout of Big Power (not all of it, but a swath of monopolies like AEP, Duke, and, above all, the mighty Southern Company, ruling over its empire from Peachtree Street in Atlanta) that is one of the biggest threats to our health. These utilities provide the muscle and the enforcement power to keep Capitol Hill in the bailout business for the coal and nuclear suppliers of their fuel, and their influence was on spectacular display last week. The empire made its second strike against the newly reformed EPA and its engineer-turned-top-cop, Administrator Lisa Jackson. (The first came when the House Commerce Committee agreed to limit the EPA's ability to regulate carbon dioxide pollution from power plants in its compromise Climate Bill -- a bright-line rule that environmentalists must get fixed before final passage of any climate legislation.) The second was launched when Senators Kent Conrad and Sam Brownback began circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter to other senators telling Administrator Jackson that they oppose regulation of coal ash as a hazardous waste, which would require a permit from the EPA based on federally enforceable standards. Instead, Senators Brownback and Conrad want coal ash -- a highly toxic mix including massive quantities of heavy metals -- treated like ordinary household garbage. If the EPA regulates coal ash as a non-hazardous waste, we'll continue to have a national patchwork of various (and likely inadequate) coal-ash disposal practices, and the residents of communities impacted by coal-ash disposal will likely have no input into the decision-making process. This would effectively preserve the status quo that contributed to the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal-ash slurry spill last December. Perhaps even more insidiously, it would preserve a structure that allows the slow leaching of contaminants such as arsenic and selenium into the waterways of dozens of communities around the country -- communities that now suffer from higher rates of cancer and other diseases. We need to act quickly to educate members of the Senate that coal ash is a hazardous substance and should be regulated as such. (It's also a great opportunity to highlight the message that the "coal industry has no shame.") Oddly, Senator Brownback comes from a state that doesn't produce any coal. In fact, Kansas produces natural gas, coal's competitor. But the utility empire has its outposts in Kansas as well, and it was able to persuade Senator Brownback to carry coal's message that, in spite of the disaster at Kingston, coal waste is -- well, simply a more abundant version of table scraps. Utility muscle was also on display in the Senate Energy Committee when, on a long series of votes, a proposed renewable electricity standard was repeatedly watered down -- to the point where Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman made it clear that he would work to strengthen the bill on the Senate floor. Bingaman had started from a very disappointing target -- 15 percent by 2021 (including up to 4 percent from efficiency, so really only 11percent), which is business as usual or less. And new nuclear power had already been counted against a state's renewable target as a concession to the Republicans. But then Republicans offered a series of weakening amendments to include coal if its carbon is sequestered as renewable and to allow governors to opt out of the target altogether. Even worse amendments were beaten back, this time with help from Senators Dorgan and Brownback. More on Green Energy
 
US Negotiating With North Korea Over Journalists Top
The Obama administration is working "through all possible channels" to secure the release of two young women journalists sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea, the White House said Monday. The two were found guilty of a "grave crime" against North Korea and of illegally crossing into the reclusive nation's territory, according to North Korea's state-run news agency. More on North Korea
 
Barney Frank On His Boyfriend, The Bailout, And Arlen Specter Top
He's not a small-talk kind of guy. There's not even a hello or a handshake when I walk in. There is no acknowledgment of any kind. He's at his desk, shuffling through papers, doesn't even look up. I stand there a while, foolishly, then take a seat in front of his desk. Still nothing. He takes a call, hangs up. Doesn't look up once to make eye contact. I wait. More on Arlen Specter
 
Marshall Goldsmith: The Person We See and the Person They See Top
As a Ph.D. student at UCLA in the early 70's, I had a self-image of being "hip" and "cool". In my mind I was deeply involved in topics such as deeper human understanding, self-actualization, and uncovering profound wisdom. Early in my Ph.D. program, I was a student in an interesting class (with twelve other people) led by a very wise teacher -- Dr. Bob Tannenbaum. Bob had invented the term "sensitivity training," published the most widely distributed article in the Harvard Business Review, and was a full professor. He was a very important person in our school. In Bob's class, we were encouraged to discuss anything we wanted. I started out by talking about people in Los Angeles. For three full weeks I did a monologue about how "screwed up" people in Los Angeles were. "They wear these expensive sequined blue jeans...drive gold Rolls Royces around...they are plastic and materialistic... all they care about is impressing others -- they really do not understand what is deep and important in life." (It was easy for me to be an expert on the people of Los Angeles. I had, after all, grown up in Valley Station, Kentucky.) After listening to me babble for three weeks, Bob looked at me quizzically and asked, "Marshall, who are you talking to?" "I am speaking to the group," I answered. "Who in the group are you talking to?" "Well, I guess that I am talking to everybody," I replied, not quite knowing where he was headed with this line of questioning. Bob then commented, "I don't know if you realize this, but each time you have spoken you have looked at only one person. You have addressed your comments toward only one person. And you seem interested in the opinion of only one person. Who is that one person?" "That is interesting. Let me think about it," I replied. Then (after careful consideration) I said, "You?" He said, "That's right, me. There are twelve other people in this room. Why don't you seem interested in any of them?" Now that I had dug myself into a hole, I decided to a little deeper. I said, "You know Dr. Tannenbaum, I think a person with your background can understand the true significance of what I am saying. I think that you appreciate how 'screwed-up' it is to run around and try to impress people all the time. I believe that you have a deep understanding of what is really important in life." Bob looked at me and said, "Marshall -- is there any chance that for the last three weeks all you have been doing is trying to do is impress me?" I was amazed at Bob's obvious lack of insight! "Not at all!" I declared. "I don't think you have understood one thing I have said! I have been explaining to you how screwed up it is to try to impress other people. I think you have totally missed my point and frankly, I am a little disappointed in your lack of understanding!" He looked at me, scratched his beard, and concluded, "No. I think I understand." I looked around and saw twelve people scratching their faces and thinking, "Yes. We understand." I had a deep dislike for Dr. Tannenbaum for six months. I devoted a lot of energy into figuring out his psychological problems and understanding why he was confused. After 6 months it finally dawned on me that the person with the issue about impressing other people wasn't him. It wasn't even the people in Los Angeles. The person with the real issue was me. I finally looked in the mirror and said, "You know, old Dr. Tannenbaum was exactly right." Two of the great lessons that I began to understand from this experience were: 1) It is a whole lot easier to see our problems in others than it is to see them in ourselves and 2) even though we may be able to deny our problems to ourselves they may be very obvious to the people who are observing us. As human beings there is almost always a discrepancy between the self we think we are and the self that the rest of the world sees in us. The lesson that I learned (and that I strive in my professional work to help others understand) is that the rest of the world often has a more accurate perspective than we do. If we can stop, listen, and think about what others are seeing in us, we have a great opportunity to learn. We can compare the self that we want to be with the self that we are presenting to the rest of the world. We can then begin to make the real changes that are needed to align our stated values with our actual behavior. I have told this story hundreds of times and I have thought about it more frequently than that. Often when I become self-righteous, preachy, "holier than thou," or angry about some perceived injustice, I eventually realize that the deeper issue is usually not with them. The deeper issue is usually in me. Today most of my work is with executives in large organizations. I provide them with confidential feedback, which allows them to compare their behavior (as perceived by others) with their desired behavior. I try to help them deal with this feedback in a positive way, learn from it, and (eventually) become a better role model for the desired leadership behavior in their organizations. The lesson that I learned from Bob Tannenbaum has not only helped me in my personal life; it has also helped shape the course of my professional life. What really bothers you about the "rest of the world"? Is there a chance that some of your concerns may be a reflection of your problems, not theirs? How can honest feedback from others help you in aligning your values with your behavior? Readers - I am looking forward to connecting with you in the future! Any reflections or comments from you will be greatly appreciated.
 
iPhone 3.0: Apple's New Device Has Competition Top
When Apple Inc. launched an updated iPhone at its annual gathering of software developers last June, its biggest competitor was the iPhone that Apple had introduced the year before. That won't be the case at this year's conference, which opens Monday. Now the next version of Apple's touch-screen phone has to outdo a slew of rival gadgets -- including one that comes out this weekend -- that emulate or improve on some of the iPhone's best features. More on iPhone
 
Stormy Daniels Admits Senate Run Sounds "Ludicrous" (VIDEO) Top
Adult film star Stormy Daniels talked with Fox News on Monday about her possible run for Senate against current Louisiana Sen. David Vitter. Daniels announced the formation of an exploratory committee in May, but she hasn't officially decided whether or not she will run for office. Daniels was drafted to run by a group of citizens who were unhappy with Vitter's leadership. She told Fox News that she realizes the idea of a porn star running for Senate does sound "ludicrous," but she says she's using the opportunity to promote causes she's been supporting for a while -- like internet safety -- while learning more about the issues facing Louisiana. The aspiring politician is being realistic about her chances for success, and readily admits there might be someone else better suited to the job. ...They dislike David Vitter so much that they think I'm the best person for the job ... I mean, that's kind of scary. I've said before, maybe I'm not, and perhaps me bringing attention to the issues at hand and the state of the Senate in Louisiana, maybe I will encourage someone else to step up and really give him a good challenge. Daniels is adamant that if she decides to run, she wants her campaign to be substantive, and not a publicity stunt. "If I'm the person to do that, then I'm willing to do everything I can in my power to make it to make it legit, and like I said, the best that I can do," she said. WATCH: Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
Detroit Shopowners Court Fiat Executives With Italian Goods Top
June 8 (Bloomberg) -- Some people in Birmingham, Michigan, can't wait for the Italians to take over Chrysler LLC. Karen Daskas, owner of a women's fashion shop called Tender, said she carries Chrissie Morris high-heeled sandals -- original price $1,595; now $795.50 -- that might appeal to Italian expatriates from Fiat SpA. A few doors away, jeweler Gary Astreins said that "new blood" should bring new jobs to an ailing economy. Next year, students at a local public high school may be able to study Italian.
 
Candy Spelling Bails On Granddaughter's First Birthday Top
Hoping to end their ongoing feud, Tori Spelling invited her estranged mother Candy to daughter Stella's first birthday party this past Saturday in Encino, Calif., sources tell Usmagazine.com. Candy's camp RSVPed yes, but she never showed up (despite complaining in many interviews that she has never met her granddaughter). More on Celebrity Kids
 
Patrick Sauer: An Interview With Alexis Ortega, A Director of the National Marriage Boycott Top
A few weeks back, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek piece about how I would be getting an (Un)legal Divorce until same-sex marriages becomes the law of the land. I was contacted by Alexis Ortega, a student at Stanford and a director of the National Marriage Boycott. The organization calls on President Obama to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and encourages straight married couples to wear an "equality ring" as a sign of support. Here is an email exchange I had with Ortega. 1.) Please explain the NMB and what it hopes to accomplish... The National Marriage Boycott is a student-driven movement to urge President Obama to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Participants pledge on to boycott marriage until DOMA is repealed. This movement is inclusive: members of the LGBT community, allies, and even heterosexual married couples, have signed the pledge and now wear an equality ring on their left ring finger. The equality ring serves not only as a symbol of the pledge, but also to increase visibility of the marriage equality issue. Married couples participating in the National Marriage Boycott have shown their support by either replacing their wedding rings with an equality ring, or by wearing the equality ring next to their wedding band. 2.) How did it get started? The National Marriage Boycott was created in November 2008 at Stanford University in response to the passage of Proposition 8. Recruitment of other schools began in the spring of 2009. We currently have chapters forming at more than ten other institutions including: UCLA, UCSB, University of Idaho, UCSD, SDSU, Pomona College, Columbia, Wesleyan, Boston University, Williams, and several high schools. 3.) How does this differ from Levi's "White Knot" movement, or any of the other AIDS-ribbons/Livestrong bracelet types that are out there? The fundamental difference between the "White Knot" and the National Marriage Boycott is that those boycotting marriage are making a personal sacrifice by refusing to participate in a discriminatory institution. Additionally, the National Marriage Boycott, although open to anyone willing to fight for LGBT rights, is a student-driven movement. We are campus-based and hope to be the platform from which student voices can be heard. Although there are some differences, both the "White Knots" and National Marriage Boycott movements do the important work of creating visibility for the marriage equality issue, and we look forward to working with them in the future. 4.) This seems like something college kids would support because marriage isn't imminent. What kind of feedback have you gotten from straight married couples? The straight married couples in support of LGBT rights, whom we have spoken to, have been excited about this campaign. The main reason is that the National Marriage Boycott provides a space for allies to take an active role in working towards LGBT rights. Although we only launched in the spring of 2009, notable boycotters already include former California congresswoman Sally Lieber and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" activist Lt. Dan Choi. 5.) A lot of people I know don't even take off their wedding bands to shower, work out or sleep. Does it seem realistic to expect people to remove the one item that means so much to them, even if they support the cause? Ultimately, many married couples have told us that their marriages have been tarnished by the way the institution is currently being used to blatantly discriminate against members of the LGBT community. Married couples, including same-sex couples, have been showing their support and dedication to LGBT rights by either replacing their wedding ring with an equality ring or by wearing the equality ring next to their wedding ring. 6.) Wouldn't it be more effective to have another symbol--say a bracelet--that has the same message? That seems to send a more pro-marriage-equality message along the lines of everyone should be able to wear wedding bands... The most recognizable symbol of marriage is a ring worn on the left ring finger. A ring is also a symbol of a serious commitment, which is exactly what marriage boycotters are making. Finally, a ring placed where a wedding ring is traditionally placed is a great conversation starter. 7.) Although California recently had a big setback, same-sex marriage is moving along elsewhere. Why not leave it up to the states? There are currently 1,138 federal rights associated with marriage that are denied to same-sex couples, even if they can get married at the state level. Furthermore, one's right to visit a spouse in the hospital should not change when one crosses a state border. This is our country and we oppose discrimination written into federal laws. 8.) If Obama were to go forward on repealing DOMA, it would cause him major headaches politically. Why should he take on the cause now, with the economy, two wars, environmental policy, healthcare, etc. In the words of President Obama: " I support the complete repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) - a position I have held since before arriving in the U.S. Senate. While some say we should repeal only part of the law, I believe we should get rid of that statute altogether. Federal law should not discriminate in any way against gay and lesbian couples, which is precisely what DOMA does. " - Presidential candidate Barack Obama, 2008 This issue is bigger than marriage equality. According to the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organization, gay (and questioning) youth are four times more likely to commit suicide than the national average. The repeal of DOMA is one step of many in moving towards social change, and it can't wait. We hope that by creating a visible, nation-wide movement committed to marriage equality, not only will our voices will be heard, but also, we hope that our strong, visible support will produce an environment where these kids feel safer and more supported. 9.) Have you gotten any negative feedback from the gay community? It seems like asking moderates to remove their wedding rings could cause more harm than good... We have encountered little explicit negative feedback from the LGBT community. Not participating in the National Marriage Boycott in no way precludes a person from being an LGBT rights supporter. Rather, the National Marriage Boycott serves as an avenue for members of the LGBT and allied communities who want to do more than just vote on ballot initiatives; participants in the National Marriage Boycott are taking a more visible and active role in this movement, something that we've learned is necessary in the wake of the passage of Prop 8. 10.) Why black? It's the color of death, funerals, vampires and Goth kids...Couldn't you at least have gone with purple? Our selection process for the marriage equality ring was based on a number of factors, but most importantly, we wanted a ring with a neutral appearance that participants would feel comfortable wearing regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or age. For more information, or to join the NMB, check out the organization's website . Top photo appeared in Time , bottom photos courtesy of NMB. More on Barack Obama
 
Joshua Glazer: Jazzy Jeff Booted From Kansas City Club For Playing Hip-Hop Top
There's been a lot of fury riled up in the past 24 hours since Jazzy Jeff posted on his Twitter : "HOW DID THEY KICK ME OFF STAGE IN KANSAS CITY FOR PLAYIN HIP HOP...I'M A 25YR LEGEND...THIS IS SOME BULLSHIT." The event, part of the national Bacardi B-Live tour, took place at The Kansas City Power & Light District , a public-private entertainment venture supported in part by tax dollars, with a history of racial controversy, including dress code issues . It makes you wonder what the heck is going on in KC. Jeff later talked to the Kansas City Times to give a more thorough version of the story, claiming: "My road manager walked up to me and said they were having problems with the music I was playing. I played three more songs and he comes back. I knew something was wrong. They said I had to kick [touring rapper] Skillz off the stage, change the format of the music I was playing or quit. They said if I continued playing they had 30 cops ready to come escort me offstage. So I stopped." The venue, of course, tells a completely different story , claiming the show was shut off due to sound levels and Jeff's management refusing to turn it down. As anyone who has ever worked at a club can tell you, things get pretty confusing when stuff like this goes down in a loud venue where folks have been drinking. A game of telephone can easily commence between the management of a venue, the management of the artist and the final message that gets to the DJ. So it's probably safe to assume the truth falls somewhere in the middle. But regardless of what precisely occurred on this particular night, this story is a good reminder of the sort of conflicts that still arise between private sector business interest, public funding, the arts, race and a whole slew of other factors. We must remain diligent without becoming hysterical. More on Press Freedom
 
Marty Kaplan: Health Care Scare Top
We're about to find out whether Americans are as suspicious of the right's anti-health care reform propaganda as Iraqis are dismissive of America's lame hearts-and-minds campaign in Iraq. "These commercials are boring, poor and annoying," Noor Sabah, an engineer in Fallujah, told the Washington Post 's Ernesto Londono . Thanks to George W. Bush, over the past six years the U.S. has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on a TV, radio, billboard, pamphlet and faux-newspaper media barrage in Iraq. But its "morning in Iraq" message is almost universally ridiculed by Iraqis. Back at home, a lobby called Conservatives for Patients Rights (CPR) is spending tens of millions on a multimedia ad and infomercial campaign to kill Obama's plans to fix the health care mess. The public relations firm coordinating it is the same one that spread the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" lies about John Kerry, and the mastermind behind it, CPR chairman Richard Scott , ran the largest - and most crooked - health care company in the world. In one of the TV ads, Scott warns of "government control over your health care choices.... Not only could a government board deny your choice in doctors, but it can control life and death for some patients." That scary board, CPR says, was smuggled into the economic stimulus bill. The ads contend that Obama intends to impose British- and Canadian-style socialized medicine, where bureaucrats ration treatment. But the ads don't say that Obama - to the dismay of some of his supporters, including me - won't even let advocates of a single-payer healthcare system have a seat at the policy-making table. Nor do they say that no plan under consideration would force Americans to leave their doctors or leave their insurers or join a public health insurance program. They don't say that though the Canadian doctor who appears in the ads is critical of the Canadian system, his Web site - as the Annenberg Public Policy Center's respected factcheck.org points out - "praises the health care systems of countries like Switzerland, Austria, France, Belgium and Germany, all of which have nationalized health care." The ads don't say that the "innocent-sounding board" in the stimulus bill that supposedly puts us on the road to healthcare serfdom is actually a research council with zero legal authority over insurance coverage, reimbursement policies, or clinical guidelines for payment, coverage or treatment. The council's only job, factcheck.org notes, is "something the government has funded since the late '70s... scientific research into which medical treatments are most effective and, in some studies, which are most cost effective." Is research into medical effectiveness and cost effectiveness dangerous? Not nearly as dangerous as the Medicare time bomb ticking in our future. Nor, of course, do these ads tell the colorful story of Richard Scott. As The Century Foundation's health beat blogger Maggie Mahar documents in her book, Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Healthcare Costs So Much , Richard Scott, a mergers and acquisitions lawyer from Dallas, was asked in the late '80s by Texas financier Richard Rainwater "to join him in 'doing for hospitals...what McDonald's has done in the food business and what WalMart has done in the retailing business.'" Scott rose to the challenge, ultimately becoming CEO and chairman of the for-profit megachain Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. Columbia/HCA's business plan was to destroy the competition. One of Scott's tactics was to buy out the other hospitals in a community and shut all of them down but one: his. Teaching hospitals and children's hospitals, whose operating costs are highest, couldn't compete with Columbia/HCA's cost-cutting: cheap medical supplies, downsized nursing staffs, admissions triage. "Do we have an obligation to provide health care for everybody?" Scott asked. "Where do we draw the line? Is any fast-food restaurant obliged to feed everyone who shows up?" In other words, today's health care Paul Revere, warning of rationed care and lousy care, turns out to be the architect and advocate of exactly that strategy. In 1997, the FBI busted Columbia/HCA for the most massive healthcare fraud in history: stealing billions from state and federal healthcare programs, while giving kickbacks and perks to doctors who funneled patients to its hospitals. Three Columbia/HCA executives were indicted, the company pleaded guilty to 14 felonies and it paid an unprecedented $1.7 billion in criminal and civil fines. Shocked, shocked to find that fraud was going on in here, the company's board ousted Scott, though not without a $10 million severance package and 10 million shares of stock then worth more than $300 million. Today, among the propaganda tools in Conservatives for Patients Rights' arsenal is a 30-minute infomercial that ran after Meet the Press a few weeks ago on the NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C. It's hosted by Gene Randall, whose face is likely to be familiar, and reassuring, to audiences; he's a former CNN correspondent. As ConsumerWatchdog.org explains, "Scott must have seen what Randall did in his expensively produced 30-minute video for Chevron, meant to counter a real 60 Minutes report on the lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador, where predecessor company Texaco left behind a toxic stew in the rainforest." If you don't pay close enough attention, you might think the CPR hit job on health care reform is the news. "'The millions spent on this is wasted money,' Ziyad al-Aajeely, director of Iraq's nonprofit Journalistic Freedom Observatory, said as he flipped through a recent edition of Bagdad Now," a psychological warfare Arab-language newspaper supported by your tax dollars. "Nobody reads this." Other words Iraqis are using to describe the American multimedia campaign: "childish," "ineffective," "crude." They liken it to Saddam Hussein's propaganda, which they also mocked. I wonder whether Americans will be equally as skeptical about Richard Scott. This is my column from The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles . You can read more of my columns here , and e-mail me there if you'd like.
 
Quinn Renews Income Tax Hike Push, Warns Of Consequences Top
CHICAGO (AP) -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn continues to warn that there'll be dire consequences if lawmakers don't raise state income taxes to fill budget holes. Quinn visited the Chicago Food Depository on Monday to highlight the cuts to human services that may be made if lawmakers don't send him a new balanced budget by July 1, when the fiscal year starts. The Democrat has made repeated appeals to lawmakers to raise income taxes. He's slated to meet with legislators Tuesday in Chicago. Quinn says lawmakers should examine their consciences. He says he's optimistic that some will change their minds about increasing taxes. Lawmakers have passed a budget that keeps government running. But some say it could force $7 billion in cuts. -ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
F. Kaid Benfield: Village Green: Revitalizing Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine (Part 2 - the neighborhood's assets) Top
Last week I wrote the first installment of my miniseries about Cincinnati's remarkable Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.  As I wrote then , this distinct and historic quarter adjacent to Cincinnati's downtown is full of promise but bears considerable scars from decades of disinvestment, having declined in population from over 40,000 at its peak to under 10,000 today.  Much of its splendid 19th-century architecture has suffered serious decay, and it has had all the problems of poverty and crime that plagued too many of our inner-city neighborhoods in the late 20th century.  The good news, though, is that I believe OTR can become a nationally significant model of inclusive, green revitalization if everything falls into place.       One of the main reasons that I have much hope for Over-the-Rhine is that it has some tremendous neighborhood assets to build a recovery upon, starting not just with historic architecture but also with a resilient existing community of residents.  My impression when visiting last month was that, poverty and problems notwithstanding, OTR feels like a real neighborhood and a real community.  It will be critical that the neighborhood's restoration includes these residents at every step.  As the city's comprehensive plan for the neighborhood notes: "The committed residents and businesses that remain in the neighborhood today will be the backbone of the revitalization . . . [But] Making people feel respected, welcomed, valued and connected is a tall order." No doubt.  But the success of Old North St. Louis in approaching a very similar situation gives me a lot of hope that this can be done in the right way. Let's continue with a close look at OTR's geography.  As I noted last week, the neighborhood sits right between the central business district and the uptown University district, the region's two largest concentrations of employment.  That's a terrific location, one that all the current urban trends suggest is highly favorable to recovery.  Moreover,  the neighborhood's 19th-century architectural scale, along with block sizes manageable for humans as well as for cars, make it ideal for walking.    In the satellite image above, three of OTR's most striking physical assets are marked with (virtual) push-pins.  In the center-north, the yellow pin marks the historic and lively Findlay Market, Ohio's oldest.  In the south, the blue pin identifies lovely Washington Park, with its old bandstand.  And just to the west of the park is the fuchsia pin, marking the location of Cincinnati's enormous baroque Music Hall, where the symphony and opera perform.  Look closely (or click on the image for an enlargement) and you can also see marks identifying various churches, schools, parks, markets, and eateries sprinkled around the neighborhood.  (Google Earth is amazing; I had a lot of fun doing this.)  We'll get to the light blue lines later in the post.       The Findlay Market is an old-fashioned public market that has been in continuous operation since 1858.  According to its website, the Market is open year-round Tuesday through Sunday, hosting about two dozen local and regional merchants selling meat, fish, poultry, produce, flowers, cheese, and ethnic foods. In addition, on Saturdays and Sundays from April to November Findlay also hosts a farmers market, dozens of additional vendors, street performers, and special events.  The website claims that it "routinely attracts perhaps the most socially, economically, racially, and ethnically diverse crowds found anywhere in Cincinnati," and I don't doubt it.       That the Market has remained economically healthy and is only becoming more robust is a great sign for the neighborhood.  The website contains all the latest news and a wonderful short video that gives you a great sense of both the Market's history and its current place in the community (highly recommended).     My own walk through OTR began with Washington Park .  I found the park, filled with trees and neighborhood-sized public spaces, to be only slightly worn for the wear.  Kevin Lemaster writes on Building Cincinnati that the park will be getting its own renovation, expanding to the north, and getting an underground garage.  I'm not sure why such a walkable, under-populated and transit-served neighborhood needs a new garage, but expansion onto what is now paved former school property is a great idea.  I think the current park is pretty darn nice, so I hope the renovation is done sensitively.  (I have no reason to believe it won't be.)  I know lots of neighborhoods, city and suburban both, that would love to have a park like this.     There's a photo of the park's old bandstand just above, with the amazing Cincinnati Music Hall in the background.  To the right is a separate photo of the Music Hall, which sits just across the street from the northwest corner of the park.  Finished in 1878, the Hall's main auditorium seats 3500 people, and also includes a 20,000-square-foot ballroom, used for both performances and meetings, as well as assorted other gathering places.  One has to be struck by the contrast afforded by the presence of such a bastion of highbrow culture in a neighborhood beset with poverty, but I see the Hall as a huge plus, keeping OTR connected to its larger region and important potential sources of investment.  Not to mention the architecture.  Go to the website of the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall for some wonderful old pictures and a video of the installation of the Mighty Wurlitzer organ in the ballroom.            Those three are big-time assets for a revitalizing neighborhood, or any neighborhood.  And I was also struck by the number of churches in Over-the-Rhine.  While I was told that the neighborhood's population decline has meant that not all of them are still operating, many of them are.  In many places institutions of faith can be important community building blocks, and I think their presence is another plus for OTR. To top it all off, remember the light blue lines on the Google Earth image above?  They mark the likely route of Cincinnati's almost-real new streetcar , which if all goes as planned will run continuously through the neighborhood.  Earlier this year, the city council approved the streetcar , but there are still route details (beyond OTR) to be worked out, and my understanding is that the funding has not yet been fully assembled.  This could be a huge boost to economic development in the neighborhood.  The experience in Portland , where a modern streetcar was introduced earlier this decade, has been that ridership has far exceeded expectations and that the service has been a major catalyst for nearby walkable development and reduced vehicle emissions.  Go here to watch enthusiastic Cincinnati developer-turned-advocate John Schneider (with whom I shared breakfast one morning) make a persuasive case for the Cincinnati streetcar. In the next, concluding installment, we'll look at the progress so far and the prospects for making it green. Kaid Benfield writes occasional "Village Green" commentary on HuffPo, and (almost) daily about community, development, and the environment for NRDC's Switchboard site.  For more posts, see his Switchboard blog's home page .    
 
Where Members Of Congress Unwind Top
When Congress is in session, members are in Washington Mondays through Thursdays -- Fridays on a bad week -- and they need a place to be when they're not actually working. For a lot of members on a lot of nights, that place is a bar or a restaurant within walking distance of the Capitol. Democrats have their spots, and Republicans have theirs. Only occasionally do the two groups converge.
 
Tony Awards Ratings Highest In Years: 7.45 Million Watch Top
NEW YORK — Tony Awards organizers can be pleased about a winning night at the television turnstiles. Broadway's big night was seen by 7.45 million people. Nielsen Media Research says that's a 19 percent increase over last year's awards show, which had 6.27 million viewers. Elton John's show "Billy Eliot" won the Tony Award for best musical, and the three young men who play the lead role will share the best actor prize. Neil Patrick Harris was the host of Sunday's show, which was held at Radio City Music Hall. Angela Lansbury, Marcia Gay Harden and Geoffrey Rush also took home trophies. Nielsen said it was the biggest audience for the Tonys in three years, the second biggest since 2003. More on CBS
 
Arianna Huffington: Five Word Webby Speech: Coming Down to the Wire Top
On Friday, I asked for suggestions for the 5-word acceptance speech I should give at tonight's Webby Awards. Your response has been tremendous: over 1,000 suggestions so far. We are still debating which one I should use. Here are some of our favorites. Let me know which one you prefer -- or, if you think you can do better, add a new suggestion of your own. This will be a game-time decision! The Revolution has been digitized. - theinternetisnotatruck Words can change the world. -- proudprogressive Dick Cheney, please shut up! -- submitted by macspack Journalism isn't dead; it's online. --shoutingatmytv Where'd all our money go? --Quixotic1 Greek chorus, 21st Century style. -- ElectronoftheOne Cheney: you lost. Now, leave. -- rtolmach Blogs: Weapons of Mass Instruction. -- Michael Pastore Do ask, do tell. Do. -- ourmoro 2009: Finally, a step forward. -- tomtopspin Al Franken: seat him now. -- madrediterra News media needs more cowbell. -- BobEvansZombie Justice Sotomayor... sounds good, right? -- StrongHeart All voices should be heard. -- lostpl8 Many voices, making a difference -- think4urself Rush, Newt, Cheney: Epic Fail -- BobEvansZombie They said it wouldn't last. -- QueenCeleste
 
Taibbi: Henry Paulson's No Hero Top
So here's the letter I wrote to the Wall Street Journal after reading Evan Newmark's paean to Hank Paulson last week: More on Goldman Sachs
 
Attack On Sotomayor's Political Ties Ignores Roberts' Link To Bush Top
A new line of attack against Judge Sonia Sotomayor holds that the Supreme Court nominee lacks impartiality because she has been a public supporter of President Barack Obama. But Sotomayor is not the only nominee to the court who has publicly supported a sitting president. The conservatives criticizing Sotomayor seem to have forgotten Chief Justice John Roberts' close association with President George W. Bush. Ed Whelan, president of the Ethics & Public Policy Center and one of Sotomayor's fiercest critics, declared in a post on The National Review last week that the Supreme Court nominee lacked the judicial objectivity for the job. "In a speech that she delivered to the Black, Latino, Asian Pacific American Law Alumni Assocation on April 17, 2009 -- two weeks before news of the Souter vacancy broke -- Judge Sotomayor made a number of references to President Obama that seem surprisingly and disturbingly partisan coming from a sitting federal judge," wrote Whelan . "Canon 2 of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges provides that a judge 'should act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.' Sotomayor's public cheerleading for Obama seems clearly to violate that ethical obligation." Among the series of hits on Sotomayor, this one seems likely to fall in the category of throwing mud against the wall and seeing what sticks. After all, if impartiality and ethics obligations on the court are Whelan's chief concern, he would have howled in protest to Roberts' pre-Supreme Court resume. The current chief justice and pride of the conservative judicial movement was a member of Lawyers for Bush-Cheney, DC Lawyers for Bush-Quayle '88, and the Republican Lawyers Association -- an organization affiliated with the RNC. Roberts also donated $1,000 to the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign and started his career in a Republican administration, as special assistant to the U.S. Attorney General William French Smith during the Reagan years. The most serious charge of overt partisanship, though one never established, was that Roberts informally advised then Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in his handling of the Florida recount effort during the 2000 election. Reviewing this record for a host of publications during Roberts' confirmation battle in 2005, Whelan focused not on the political ties, but on the history of "judicial constraint." At one point he joked about his own gushing over Roberts' record, posting a joking article on the National Review titled "John Roberts Is A Saint" - a reference to the actual, Welshman St. John Roberts. Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter! More on Sonia Sotomayor
 
BNP Party Picks Up Two Seats Top
The UK's international reputation has suffered "real damage" as a result of the British National Party gaining their first seats in the European Parliament, politicians, unions and race relations groups said today. Labour MEP for London Claude Moraes said that a threshold had been crossed after the far-right party won two seats yesterday. More on England
 

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