Sunday, June 14, 2009

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Patrick Disney: On Iran, the Power of Obama's Silence Top
"Help us."   That was a comment, translated from Farsi, that was posted on the blog that I manage for the National Iranian American Council yesterday.  It came from a reader in Tehran, imploring that someone in the West do something to stop what he or she calls "a military government" being set up in Iran.  For those watching intently for any bit of information they can grasp, it is a painful waiting game.  Even for those of us who are relatively well connected to Iranians--either through friends or family--it is difficult to find out any really conclusive news.  The mainstream media has largely taken the weekend off from this story--due in part to the government's suppression and intimidation of journalists--leaving the heavy lifting to new media and the blogosphere (which has performed amazingly well over the past 48 hours).  And it is most likely that our government doesn't have much more information that the rest of us, as illustrated by the relative silence coming from the White House and the State Department on the events of the weekend.  Though Obama, Biden, Clinton and Gibbs have all gone on record with brief statements about the election, they have been extremely prudent, preferring to "monitor the situation" and "wait and see"--a stark contrast to some of their predecessors, who jumped on every opportunity to call for uprisings in the Middle East.  In a remarkable display of message restraint, public pronouncements coming out of the White House have made no mention of anything that could even remotely be seen as trying to influence the outcome of the weekend's events.  Given Iran's well-known allergy to foreign meddling--and the hardliners' adept ability to justify their harsh repression by blaming alleged foreign plots--the Obama administration is doing exactly the right thing.  Just as the absolute worst thing the US government could have done in the days leading up to the elections was impose new sanctions to "cripple" Iran's economy ,  the worst thing the administration could do now is take sides in the political infighting before knowing that its help would actually be welcome. Of course, there are some who view this weekend's events as an opportunity for the US to support a particular Iranian faction loudly and clearly; Indiana Republican Mike Pence said that he hopes President Obama will throw his support behind Mousavi by the end of the day.  But these people are playing with dynamite.  At the moment, lectures on democracy and Jeffersonian diatribes against tyranny are the last thing the Iranian people need.  At best, such grandstanding would give the hardliners in Iran a reason to paint the reformist camp as a stooge of the West; at worst, it could incite the crowds even more and risk blowing the top off an already tumultuous situation.   Before we Americans come rushing onto the scene with an offer of help for the process of democratization in Iran, we need to be certain that the parties on the ground actually welcome our involvement, and that it won't in fact do more harm than good.  Human rights defenders in Iran are always the first to speak up in support of greater transparency and political openness in the Iranian system.  Their commitment to their cause is beyond measure, and the events over the next few days will determine just how much progress they have been able to make.  But these brave activists have also made it abundantly clear to policymakers in the West that we have to be very careful about how we get involved in the affairs of their country.  For now, the Obama administration is just taking a step back and assessing the situation, and rightly so--at the moment, the only certainty in this entire ordeal is that the more accurate information everyone has, the better.  But the Obama administration is also making it perfectly clear that, regardless of the outcome of the next few days, they are committed to engage in direct diplomacy with the Iranian government.  At this point, that's the best we, as Americans, can do.  More on Iranian Election
 
David Axelrod On Why He Left Journalism: The Emphasis Went "From Reporting To Receipts" Top
President Obama's senior adviser David Axelrod divulged a few secrets of his college days today as he told 1,300 journalism and other DePaul University graduates to "chase their passions" and not "succumb to the pull of the pull of the practical." More on David Axelrod
 
Mohawk River Plane Crash: At Least Two Dead Top
SCOTIA, N.Y. — A small plane plunged into the Mohawk River in eastern New York with three people aboard Sunday, and at least two were found dead after the aircraft sank in 30 feet of water, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said. The Piper Cherokee went down near Scotia around 2:30 p.m., shortly after taking off from the nearby Mohawk Valley Airport, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said. Scotia is about 20 miles northwest of Albany. The third person's condition wasn't immediately known. Peters said divers were still searching early Sunday evening to see whether anyone else was aboard. A skydiving instructor at Mohawk Valley Airport told the Times Union of Albany he and others who were in the small airstrip's restaurant heard the crash, ran down the airstrip and jumped into the river to help a fisherman drop an anchor to help rescuers find the downed plane. "There's nothing we wanted to do more than get into that plane," said Michael McGuire. The aircraft was registered to Kolath Airlines LLC of Bear, Del., Peters said. A woman who identified herself as Kolath's registered agent said she didn't know about the crash and had been unable to contact anyone with the company. FAA records show the plane, a PA-28R-180 model, was manufactured in 1969. The model is part of the Piper Cherokee family of small planes, made by Vero Beach, Fla.-based Piper Aircraft Inc. It wasn't immediately clear whether Kolath is a commercial venture or a corporate name for an owner's personal aircraft. The telephone rang unanswered Sunday evening at the airport. State police, who were leading the emergency response, had no immediate information.
 
Laurence Leamer: "Join Us, Mr. President!!!" Top
I was the next-to-the-last speaker Saturday at a rally in Washington to build a bold new Peace Corps. Rajeev Goyal, the Morepeacecorps.org national organizer, and I had decided to do this rally only nine days before. It would have been a formidable new task even if we have done nothing else. But we were already working ceaselessly to get the House of Representatives to appropriate the $450 million that would allow the Peace Corps to grow and to reform. We were close to success in the House. Our problem was not only what would happen in the Senate but President Obama. For some inexplicable reason, the most inspiring, most capable leader in generations has not followed through on his campaign promise to double the size of the Peace Corps. He is going ahead and tripling the domestic volunteer corps, and his inaction makes no sense. The administration budget contains only $373 million for the fiscal 2010 budget, enough to keep things the way they are, no money for the 20 new countries clamoring for volunteers, no room for the 25,000 who this year have expressed interest in applying, 40% more than last year. There is no new director and the downtown headquarters is practically moribund, waiting for something to happen. And so we decided to stage a rally, and we worked almost around the clock to make it happen. We had the stalwart support of Kevin Quigley, the president of the National Press Corps Association, who mobilized his troops and whose organization funded the rally for one of its programs. It was amazing how everything came together in Freedom Plaza two blocks from the White House. We had called Anthony Johnson, the Jamaican ambassador, the day before, and he gave a passionate, compelling speech. Former Senator Harris Wofford gave a marvelous talk, putting our movement in historical context. The wonderful musicians performed for free because they believe in a bold new Peace Corps. We stretched out a hundred-feet-long scroll in which rally goers wrote letters to the President and First Lady which we plan to deliver to the White House. Even the weather gods cooperated, holding off on threatened thunder storms. Speaker after speaker made compelling cases for an enlarged, reformed Peace Corps reaching out to the world in powerful new ways. I felt inspired as I stood on that stage before hundreds concerned with the future of the Peace Corps. "The first person we contacted to speak was Tim Shriver, the president of Special Olympics International and the son of Sarge Shriver, the founder of the Peace Corps," I said, standing in front of a great banner for a BOLD NEW PEACE CORPS. "Within hours he said yes. Two days ago we decided that it would be fantastic if we could march to the White House at the end of the rally led by Tim Shriver. It would be incredible. And so I called Tim and he said yes. And he said, 'Larry, I don't care if it's twenty people, fifty people. I don't care. It's about the Peace Corps. It's about this movement. It doesn't matter.' "HEAR US MR. PRESIDENT!! "And so I look out now on this immense plaza and I see a scene I thought I would never see. I see this great space filled to over flowing. I see 195,000 returned volunteers standing proudly in their bold new Peace Corps t-shirts. Up front laughing, jumping up and down with joy, I see Sarge Shriver telling us we are doing the right thing in building this bold new Peace Corps. I see the flags of the 139 Peace Corps countries. I see millions of supporters. I see America. I see the world. "HEAR US, MR. PRESIDENT!! "And I hear them shouting in unison in their great voices. I hear them shouting so loud, so clear, that two blocks away in the White House, the president hears the voices of the Peace Corps calling him to be true to his vision. He hears us and he acts. "HEAR US, MR. PRESIDENT!!! "HEAR US, MR. PRESIDENT!!! "HEAR US, MR. PRESIDENT!!!" Then Tim Shriver got up and gave a powerful extemporaneous speech that was a high point of the rally. To my mind, he is so far the best candidate to become the director that there is no second candidate. Some say he is not a great administrator. That was the same criticism that was made of his father and Sarge was the best director in the history of the Peace Corps. After his formidable speech, Tim led us to the White House behind the flag of the Peace Corps and our banner for a bold new Peace Corps. As we walked up 14th Street, Tim led us in the chant "Mr. President" and "Bold new Peace Corps." We were powerful in passions and belief, and strong in our voices, and we turned as one person and marched to stand in front of the White House and to shout out so loud and so strong that surely anyone inside would have heard us. The son of the founder of the Peace Corps leading our march was one of the most powerful acts of political symbolism I have ever seen. You will read about this here but you will read about it nowhere else. Last week I called newspapers and television news desks and tried to get someone out there, but except for the Washington Post , no one came. The Post did a small story today, writing "dozens rally." That's literally true. So is "dozens march in St. Patrick's Day Parade." When I stopped counting there were over 300 people in our enthusiastic crowd. If we are able to get the righteous appropriation of $450 million through Congress and build and reform the Peace Corps, the traditional media will have missed an important, inspiring story. And if we are successful, the series of stories I have done on Huffingtpost.com will be one of the keys. Posting them on the site is just the beginning. We email the pieces to tens of thousands of our supporters who email them to their friends and lists, and it has helped to build a movement of fervent supporters. Two weeks ago I wrote an "Open Letter to Chairman Lowey" and asked readers to send in their own open letters to Rep. Lowey who is Chairwoman of the House State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee. Lowey has the power to give the Peace Corps the full $450 million in the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill. The response was astounding, hundreds of serious, well conceived, well written letters. We chose 67 letters and turned them into an exquisite, professionally printed book titled WE IMPLORE YOU, CHAIRWOMAN LOWEY. Last week Rajeev and I handed the first copy to Rep. Lowey in her office and told her that every member of Congress will receive a copy. Wednesday the subcommittee is scheduled to meet and on that day we believe it will make history by giving the Peace Corps the full appropriation. Then the struggle moves to the Senate. But, Mr. President, we need you. We know that you heard our united voices Saturday. When we come back, we will march even stronger in number and even louder in voice. We will be shouting, "Join us, Mr. President!!!" You belong with us. You are one of us. And we know that when you finally decide to act, you will build Obama's Peace Corps, an emboldened institution for a new age. More on Barack Obama
 
James Warren: This Week in Magazines: Bernie, Blago and Betrayal Top
This may be a golden era of betrayal. Bernie Madoff, Eliot Spitzer, Chris Brown, Rod Blagojevich, Alex Rodriguez and Mel Gibson are among the lairs and cheats who've hurt their biggest fans and chums the most. It justifies July Town & Country's "How Could You?" a smart overview of being screwed by those one holds dearest. Lynn Sherr, the former ABC News correspondent, suggests that, historically, most who break the basic bonds of trust are romantic cheats, with certainly many political traitors following behind. And, these days, there are the well-documented practitioners of "corporate greed and personal gluttony," the dominantly male cadre which has counted some good percentage of this magazine's own high-demo readers as their victims. These folks hurt people. The self esteem of the victims plummets. It really is pretty crappy. No wonder what Dante's "Inferno" left the final and worst Circle of Hell for the sin of betrayal, actually after lust and murder. And Sherr herself concedes fury over being shafted by Wall Street and seen her modest holdings vanish, even though she knows she never had a guarantee. She compiles a Betrayers' Hall of shame here. For example, the public figures include Blagojevich (not the strongest choice, since he may be proof of voter stupidity, not victimization), Brutus, Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Marshal Petain (sad to say that most probably don't recognize this Nazi collaborator). A "strange bedfellows" category includes Bill Clinton, John Edwards, former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey and Spitzer. "Turncoats" includes Benedict Arnold, John Wilkes Booth, Alger Hills, Julius Rosenberg and Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano." This opus beckons psychologists, classics scholars and even a country music expert for wisdom. Their contributions include the notion of betrayal commencing with somebody's sense of entitlement and grandiosity; the near certainty that women are victimized more often than men; its centrality in country music simply stemming from its omnipresence; how Greek myths underscore the ways in which virtue is often not rewarded; and the double-edge sword of being able to avoid betrayal only by never taking any risks or trusting anyone. Even Lucy of "Peanuts" fame got into the act, teeing up Charlie Brown's football for four decades, and then grabbing it away at the very end. It leaves Sherr with the conclusion that we should be careful about giving the football "to the Lucy in your life," while also reading your broker's statement every month and, perhaps the toughest thing, "move on when the guy--or gal---does you in." "We've created a system that rewards those who win as opposed to those who care," says one shrink here. "There will always be people who will be betrayers." So, this shrink says, be smarter about how much risk we take and move on as quickly as possible once you get the shaft. Easier said than done. --- Town & Country cover girl Angie Harmon, a conservative diehard who loved the McCain-Palin team, best not read June 22 Time , which gives a platform to Republican consultant Mike Murphy, an adroit practitioner of the television-loving art of the provocative political assessment. In "The Ice Age Cometh, a man who once tagged me (and with some accuracy) "The Unabomber" for a somewhat scruffy (the hair was much longer back then) regular appearance on a CNN political talk show, makes the case that demographic change casts the Republican Party adrift, leaving them (as is well-documented) very white and needing to become more socially libertarian, willing to embrace dissent on abortion and not turn off Latinos via "the Republican congressional jihad on immigration." It's pretty obvious counsel even if it pisses off Rush Limbaugh and the hard core, including that endangered species of gorgeous Hollywood conservative with three kids. Meanwhile, June 22 Business Week wonders, " Time (inc.) For Parting? " with media columnist Jon Fine suggesting that maybe, just maybe, Time Warner might one day spin-off his magazine empire, as he plans to with AOL. That would be a pretty big deal, with Time being the largest magazine operation, with revenue last year of $4.6 billion. It's pretty obvious, though, that there'd be nobody around really interested in buying the whole operation intact, as opposed to picking off certain titles. ---June 13 National Journal is excellent on " Health Care Reform Faces its 'Super Bowl Moment, '" a look at key health industry lobbyists and how they're dealing with the prospects of change and their generally awful public image (notably health insurers). Some have clearly made conciliatory steps and talked the talk of compromise. But the rubber meets the road on a variety of issues, like some government health care plan, with the certainty of losing even more customers than they do amid the recession, rising premiums and an aging population. And if the Democrats and Obama administration employ the legislative tactic known (ironically so) as "reconciliation," bulldozing through a plan, it actually may just not matter what they think. ---June 22 New Yorker is worth "The Secret History---Can Leon Panetta move the C.I.A. forward without confronting its past?" by Jane Mayer, whose "The Dark Side" was a revealing and depressing account of various secret Bush-era anti-terror gambits. Her interview with the CIA boss is hitching post for a tale of instant moral ambiguity faced by Panetta, a longtime congressional fixture with no real intelligence experience and already surrounded by several folks with distinct ties to the Bush era's torture and secret detention and interrogation programs. One may be left wondering whether a very decent fellow, whose prime professional experience was in the compromise-filled legislative process, is tough enough to deal with the sharks both within his organization and those elsewhere in the bureaucracy seeking to undermine him. ---- " The Capitalist Manifesto: Greed is Good (to a point) " by Fareed Zarkaria in June 22 Newsweek weaves ongoing debate about seeming failures of the free market and the need for greater regulation with his own historically-based qualms and, possibly, slight wishful thinking that, partly as a result of unceasing globalization and its essence, the real answers are to be found by all of us, big and small, looking in the mirror: "There's a need for greater self-regulation not simply on Wall Street but also on Pennsylvania Avenue. We get exercised about the immorality of politicians when they're caught in sex scandals. Meanwhile they triple the national debt, enrich their lobbyist friends and write tax loopholes for specific corporations--all perfectly legal--and we regard this as normal. The revolving door between Washington government offices and lobbying firms is so lucrative and so established that anyone pointing out that it is--at base--institutionalized corruption is seen as baying at the moon. Not everything is written down, and not everything that is legally permissible is ethical. Who was the last ex-president to refuse to take a vast donation for his library from a foreign government that he had helped when in office?" "We are in the midst of a vast crisis, and there is enough blame to go around and many fixes to make, from the international system to national governments to private firms. But at heart, there needs to be a deeper fix within all of us, a simple gut check. If it doesn't feel right, we shouldn't be doing it. That's not going to restore growth or mend globalization or save capitalism, but it might be a small start to sanity." ---Issue 65 of the Oxford American , which now comes via the University of Central Arkansas, does really well by "Odes to the Best of the South," or mostly evocative, short essays about small events and places and rituals. Daisy Dodge captures the simple joys of coming home ("Even abandoned and forsaken and forsworn, it will love you"); Ander Monson is fun on a disco golf course in Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Alan Grant makes the case for the simple honesty of southern roads; Lolis Eric Elie on the best pecan pie in New Orleans; and, my favorite, Mark Winegardner on a supposedly legendary toast concocted by a very wealthy businessman (and segregationist): "Confusion to the enemy!" There's much more, including some very nice short fiction, and this would be an issue to take to the beach for some nice, very accessible writing. ----Chilling tale of the week is surely, " Why Did a Small-Town Girl Have Her Family Brutally Murdered? " in June Texas Monthly . It's a nice bit of reporting by Pamela Colloff to piece together the motives in the killing of Penny Caffey, a pianist at a Baptist church, and her two sons, a fourth-grader and a seventh-grader (the father was shot five times but survived). It was all masterminded by the 16-year-old daughter, Erin, with a boyfriend whom her parents didn't like and demanded that she break up with. The boyfriend and another man did the dirty deeds, including burning the family home, and were convicted, and are in prison, as is the daughter. The boyfriend, who tells the magazine that he's not spoken to her since the crime (and is barred from communicating with her again), opines that, "I don't know what's wrong with her head. She needs to have it looked at." Of course, is one surprised that he still claims to love her? Hands-down winner of this week's Journey to the Obscure is "On using the DomWorld model to evaluate dominance ranking methods" by Han de Vries of the department of behavioural biology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. It's found in Issue 146 of Behaviour. Your handy summary: "Recently, the DomWorld model was used to evaluate five dominance ranking methods. The suitability of the DomWorld model for this purpose is however not without question. The characteristic unidirectionality of most dominance behaviour observed in many monkey species is not found in DomWorld. Besides this, the current paper shows that the additive dominance value updating method in combination with the relative win chance, Pij = DOMi /(DOMi + DOMj ), gives rise to unrealistically large changes in win chance after fights among low ranking individuals. It is shown that this can be resolved by replacing the additive update rule by a multiplicative one. Moreover, this combination of relative win chance and multiplicative update rule is equivalent to the combination of a sigmoidal win chance and additive update rule as employed in the Elo-rating method. It is also shown that, contrary to Hemelrijk's recommendation, David's score is to be referred to the average dominance index. The paper concludes with presenting a differentiated list of recommendations on the use of ranking methods that takes into account the required premises and different aims for which these methods have been developed." As my five-year-old says, especially as I'm watching Senate hearings on C-Span, "Daddy, this makes my head hurt."
 
Hassan Hussein Bin Alwan, Al Qaeda's Biggest Financier In Saudi Arabia, Arrested In Yemen. Top
SAN'A, Yemen — Yemeni security forces have arrested a Saudi man suspected of financing Al-Qaida cells in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, an Interior Ministry official said Sunday. The official said that authorities captured "the biggest and the most influential" money provider for al-Qaida in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Hassan Hussein Bin Alwan, a Saudi, was financing attacks in the two neighboring countries, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press. The Yemeni embassy in Washington added in a statement that bin Alwan was captured on Friday in the eastern province of Marib. "Bin Alwan's arrest will be instrumental in understanding the system of global terrorism financing," the statement said. The announcement indicated that al-Qaida and other Islamic extremists are still actively attempting to destabilize the Saudi monarchy that holds a quarter of the world's proven oil reserves, as well as neighboring Yemen, the region's poorest nation. Bin Alwan has been charged with forming a terrorist group in Yemen and financing its activities. Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, had long been a haven for Islamic militants and was the scene of the October 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors. Yemen is also the Arab world's poorest nation _ and one of its most unstable _ making it fertile territory for al-Qaida to set up camp.
 
Credit Card Firms' Weak Security Measures Enable Hackers Top
Every time you swipe your credit card and wait for the transaction to be approved, sensitive data including your name and account number are ferried from store to bank through computer networks, each step a potential opening for hackers.
 
Hearing to air VA mistakes with hospital equipment Top
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A congressional panel is pressing the Department of Veterans Affairs to disclose on Tuesday whether non-sterile equipment that may have exposed 10,000 veterans to HIV and other infections was isolated to three Southeast hospitals or is part of a wider problem. "Somebody is going to have to take responsibility," said U.S. Rep. Phil Roe of Tennessee, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs' oversight and investigation subcommittee. The subcommittee scheduled Tuesday's hearing in Washington to discuss mistakes involving endoscopic equipment used for colonoscopies and other procedures at its hospitals in Miami, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga. with top agency officials and to receive a yet-unreleased report by the VA's inspector general. Roe said he had not yet seen the report but was told in a briefing Friday that the VA's inspector general conducted a random check on 42 VA locations. VA officials have said problems discovered at more than a dozen other VA facilities did not warrant follow-up blood tests for patients. Roe, who is a private physician, has questions about whether the problems were isolated to three hospitals or were more widespread. "I think this was an institutional breakdown," Roe said. The VA since February has been warning about 10,000 former patients, some who had colonoscopies as long ago as 2003, to get blood tests for HIV and hepatitis. The VA's chief patient safety officer, Dr. Jim Bagian, has said no one will ever know if the patients with HIV and hepatitis were infected because of improperly operated or cleaned endoscopic equipment used in colonoscopies at Murfreesboro and Miami _ and to treat patients at the VA's ear, nose and throat clinic in Augusta. Bagian has also said all the mistakes were human error. As of Friday, the VA reported that six veterans taking the follow-up blood checks tested positive for HIV, 34 tested positive for hepatitis C and 13 tested positive for hepatitis B. All but 724 affected patients have been notified of test results. VA spokeswoman Katie Roberts did not respond to repeated requests for comment Thursday and Friday. The initial discovery of an equipment mistake at Murfreesboro led to a nationwide safety "step-up" by the VA at its 153 medical centers. Since then, the VA says the problems have been discussed with staff at all VA hospitals and with representatives of the equipment manufacturer, Olympus American. Roe said he believes the VA has been open and trying to keep former patients and the public informed since discovering the mistakes in December. "These people did not intentionally do anything wrong," he said. That is not always the case when private-sector hospitals discover mistakes, according to Barbara Rudolph, director of The Leapfrog Group, which promotes quality health care. She said private hospitals also have spread infectious diseases with non-sterile equipment, but requirements on reporting such problems vary by state and there's no national regulation requiring disclosure. "Some hospitals have become very open and have made a commitment to be transparent about things like that," she said. "There are a number of hospitals who would not have gone as far as the VA has gone." Michael Sheppard, a Nashville lawyer who represents dozens of veterans among the affected VA patients, wrote in a June 3 letter to the committee that it was "hard to describe the upheaval and injury this has caused innocent veterans." "Some no longer trust or have confidence in the VA medical facilities and feel betrayed, misled and ill-informed," Sheppard wrote, adding others may avoid colonoscopies for fear of HIV or other infections. A spokesman for the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Dr. David A. Greenwald, said in a telephone interview from the Montefiore Medical Center in New York that although the VA patients recently tested positive, they could have had the viruses for years _ and before the VA treated them _ without showing symptoms. Greenwald said the positive tests for HIV and hepatitis C reported by the VA are far below the frequency of positive tests reported from studies of other groups of veterans. He said the same is likely true of the hepatitis B cases. "Probably all of the infections that are being reported are infections people already had," Greenwald said. Megan Longenderfer, a spokeswoman for Olympus America, said from the equipment maker's vantage point the VA "has been diligent and transparent in its investigation and corrective action."
 
Scott Mendelson: Bill Maher on Barack Obama: "Hoping for a bit more audacity." Top
Just remember... this stuff, it's more important than reelection. Scott Mendelson More on Barack Obama
 
Steve Parker: Peugeot diesels win 24 Hours of LeMans Top
There's no greater test of cars, drivers, teams, technologies ... and race fans. Peugeot broke Audi's five-year domination at the 24 hours of LeMans this weekend, winning the overall victory of the world's most important sports car race for the first time for the French company in 16 years. Marc Gene, David Brabham of Britain and Alexander Wurz of Austria completed 382 laps in 24 hours, one lap more than the second-place Peugeot No. 8 driven by French trio Sebastien Bourdais, Franck Montagny and Stephane Sarrazin. Bourdais is best-known in the US as a former Indy Racing League champion and Indy 500 competitor. He was born and raised in the small town of LeMans near the Circuit Sarthe, the track which 77 times counting this year has combined public and purpose-built roads to create the legendary super-high speed racing venue. Peugeots placed 1-2 in the 2009 24 Hours of LeMans, which, along with the Indy 500 and Monaco Grand Prix, is one of the world's most popular racing events Both the Peugeot and Audi LMP1-class cars, the fastest and most-exotic on the near-eight-mile long track, were powered by V12 turbodiesel engines producing some 600-horsepower in whisper-quiet, fuel-efficient fashion. LeMans is closely-watched by even casual sports fans in Europe, Asia and South America, all areas where diesel-powered cars and trucks are major sellers. Over 60% of all vehicles sold in Europe have diesel engines; a diesel winning at LeMans is a terrific marketing tool for the car's manufacturer. Indeed, because of Audi's recent LeMans wins with their TDI diesel powerplants, "clean diesel" engines are now sold in Audi and Volkswagen models in the US; similar models fro Peugeot are expected in the US within five years. Unfortunately, because the ex-Detroit Three have not embraced clean diesels, mostly for economic reasons, the technology is still not well-known in this country. 2009 was the swan song for the once-dominant C6R factory Corvette, a car greatly developed in part by Canadian road racer Ron Fellows; Johnny O'Connell did double driving stints of several hours each, due to a co-driver's overnight illness, to help bring home this #63 'Vette to its final win in class Chevrolet won the GT1 class in the final appearance of their C6R Corvette two-car race team at LeMans, a poignant but victorious coda to years of success which saw the Chevy bowtie command the class. There were several spectacular and frightening shunts during the event, which covered over 3,000 miles in total, but none resulted in serious injury to drivers. Several crashes were testament to, "Why we race;" demonstrating the safety of these cars which can be nearly-destroyed after crashing at over 200 miles per hour yet see the driver walk away, safety advancements which will ultimately trickle-down to our own street cars and trucks. The two winning Peugeots were challenged by Audi's No. 1 car until the 21st hour. That Audi had to pit twice within the space of a few minutes, first by Allan McNish of Britain to change a steering wheel and then by driver Rinaldo Capello to fix an engine problem. An Aston Martin-powered Lola race car shows the exotic nature of the entries in the world's most-prestigious sports car race Defending champions McNish, Capello and Tom Kristensen of Denmark finished third, six laps behind Peugeot No. 9. The Corvette No. 63, driven by Jan Magnussen of Denmark, Antonio Garcia of Spain and Johnny O'Connell of the United States, completed 342 laps to finish 15th overall but first in the GT1 class. A total of 55 cars started this 77th edition of the French endurance race, but 21 failed to finish. There were nine drivers from the US in the event, which has been won in the past by Americans including Dan Gurney, AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti and Carroll Shelby. Honorable mention: Heck of an end to the NASCAR Lifelock 400 at Michigan today. Though lots of fans showed-up dressed as empty seats, leaders Jimmy Johnson and Greg Biffle put on a great show, ultimately both running out of gas on the race's final lap, allowing "The Kid," 50-year old Mark Martin, to win his third Sprint Cup event of the year in his Rick Hendrick Chevrolet. Martin started the race in 32nd place. Second-place Jeff Gordon started 43rd, dead last, and should remain in the Sprint Cup points lead; Martin should move into the top five. Mark Martin is the oldest regular competitor in NASCAR Sprint Cup and has a real shot at winning his first series title this year, in what was supposed to be his farewell season where he'd be driving just part-time; he got a full-time ride and continues as the best driver to never win the title - yet SPEED TV provided near flag-to-flag live coverage of the event, bringing viewers the drama, excitement and flashes of humor of the race. A team anchored by SPEED's Formula One announcers including Bob Varsha and David Hobbs provided credibility, experience, history and vast knowledge to viewers. Kudos to SPEED (but not for keeping me up until 6:30am Sunday, Pacific time, as they manage to do every year). More on Cars
 
Ozzie Guillen On Wrigley: 'I Puke Every Time I Go There' Top
The White Sox's series with the Cubs is two days away, but manager Ozzie Guillen had no problem warming up for his dreaded visit to Wrigley Field. More on Sports
 
Blagojevich Mocks Himself Onstage In "Rod Blagojevich Superstar" Top
CHICAGO — Ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich doesn't seem to mind being the butt of a theatrical joke. Blagojevich got in on the joke Saturday evening, appearing as himself in a comedy show that lampoons the rise and fall of his own political career. He opened The Second City's "Rod Blagojevich Superstar," a parody of the rock opera "Jesus Christ Superstar," standing on a chair with his arms raised as if he were being crucified. The show _ which portrays Blagojevich as greedy, tactless and hair-obsessed _ opened in February and was supposed to end June 14. But production officials extended it to Aug. 9 due to constant sold-out performances. A full house cheered as Blagojevich, who was removed from office in January and has pleaded not guilty to wide-ranging federal corruption charges, appeared on stage wearing a suit and tie. "Where were you when I was impeached?" he asked the audience. Blagojevich is accused of scheming to sell or trade President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat and using the muscle of the governor's office to get campaign donations. He has denied any wrongdoing. Before the nearly hourlong show _ which includes duets with an actor portraying U.S. Sen. Roland Burris _ the ex-governor told the audience he hadn't seen the production before, but assured them it was a "fictitious account" of his life. Blagojevich also worked in an endorsement of his wife, Patti, a contestant on NBC's reality show "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" He asked people to vote for her to remain on the show, which asks viewers to decide which quasi-celebrity should leave a Costa Rican jungle. NBC had wanted the former governor to compete. But U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel, who is presiding over Blagojevich's corruption case, refused to let him leave the country, so his wife joined the cast instead. "In the tradition of Chicago politics, you can vote ten times," Blagojevich joked. "Vote early and often." As soon as Blagojevich left the stage, cast members launched into a song that asks, "What kind of idiot sells a Senate seat?" In the show, Patti Blagojevich was portrayed as cutthroat and foul-mouthed. One of the songs was an expletive-laden version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him." The former Illinois first lady, who has not been charged with wrongdoing, was famously labeled a "potty mouth" after the FBI said it recorded profanity-laced rants against critics of her husband. When Blagojevich returned to the stage for the improv portion of the show, he was asked what he thought of the rock opera. "It's b-------," he said, grinning. Blagojevich told stories of his time in office. In one, he claimed that while he was governor, he liked to call the Chicago Cubs coaching staff to offer pitching advice. Actors then used the stories as prompts for skits while Blagojevich watched them unfold. Blagojevich spokesman Glenn Selig has declined to say how much the former governor would be paid for Saturday's appearance, but said Blagojevich will make a donation to Gilda's Club, a cancer support organization founded by Gilda Radner, a comedian and Second City alumna. Actor Joey Bland, who portrayed Blagojevich by wearing a black turtleneck and helmet-like black wig, called it "the most surreal day of my life." A few audience members guffawed as Blagojevich earnestly thanked the cast for making people laugh, but he assured them he was being serious. ___ On the Net: http://www.secondcity.com/ More on Rod Blagojevich
 
Megan Fox's Open Thigh Snake Dress (PHOTOS) Top
Megan Fox arrived at the German premiere of 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' in Berlin on Sunday in a crimson dress with a jeweled snake entwined on an open side and a slit up the leg. Fox has also shown off her tattoos and flawless figure in the past week at the South Korean premiere and Japanese premiere of the film. PHOTOS: More on Celebrity Skin
 
Gregory Weinkauf: The Secret Policeman's Film Festival: Be There -- With Balls On! Top
June 2009 marks the 30th anniversary of the pioneering Secret Policeman's Ball series of benefit shows for Amnesty International. The anniversary is being saluted with a major film festival in Los Angeles and New York: June 11 - July 31. Huffington Post bloggers are providing extensive coverage of the festival. It's easy to grow exhausted, or at least confused, at the notion of a film festival - as Terry Gilliam responded when I once asked him about judging at Cannes, "You can't leave, and you're not allowed to sleep" - thus with surprise and delight I declare myself a great fan of Martin Lewis' Mods & Rockers Film Festival, which is now celebrating its tenth year. I love a lot of film - and film festivals - this is true. And yet: Unspool before me your Wonderwall, Woodstock and Wattstax ; bring to me your real live Monkees and Monterey Pop -sters; let me revel in Baez and Beatles and Bowie - and yeah, I find it all ambrosial. Remember that Sunday afternoon in July '03, dedicated to the then-recently-passed Maurice Gibb, wherein both Cucumber Castle and Melody were screened? I was there, and loved every second of both. I show up for stuff I love. Now what you may not know is that I was an '80s kid, raised very, very happily on '80s music and comedy (Oh, Young Ones , how I adore thee). I'm no Boomer - in fact, in general, they tend to annoy me. But one fateful morning in July, 1985, I sat down to watch "my" MTV - and I literally watched it all day long. The event: Live Aid . The effect on my life: Immeasurable. The primary notion of that glazed-eyed, dewy me of yesteryear: "Wait! I'd been told life was boring! You can help people with music ? You can do this? And who the hell are Status Quo ?" Of course, most phenomena have their precedents, and for Live Aid the inspiration was, and thirty years on still is, the series of benefit shows collectively known as The Secret Policeman's Ball , staged not for famine relief but in support of global human rights, specifically for the then woefully unheralded organization known as Amnesty International. As a youth with his own Betamax and a passion for Python (hold your comments), I was well aware of the Secret Policeman and his fanciful friends, due to the 1982 American film (the first hit for Miramax) featuring highlights of the veddy British "mock 'n' roll" institution. This, dear readers, was no Hee-Haw . But how did it all fit together? How was this bridge between Boomers ("Them") and Gen-X ("Us"), between Limeys ("Them") and Yanks ("Us"), built? And for what purpose? A screen-grab of the 1982 TV spot featuring Monty Python's Graham Chapman as the head of The ORAL Majority - calling for the banning of the "Secret Policeman's Other Ball" movie. Ironically, the TV spot itself was banned by US networks - a ban that contributed to the huge success of the movie. Click here to see the banned TV spot. Deeply curious about this - and of course because he invited me - I boldly rode the L.A. Rapids to the opening night festivities of Ball-producer and fest-founder Mr. Lewis and his ready-to-Ball cohorts, and before my eyes in the foyer of Hollywood's historic Egyptian Theatre, the generations elegantly interwove; the barriers ceased to be. As we munched the customary little beige fried things and some nursed the donated German beer (which our Master of Ceremonies defined as "War reparations"), I saw over here pretty young "hot" people, in between some confounded Gen-Xers such as myself and my director friend Paul Todisco ( Freak Talks About Sex; One Day Like Rain ), and over there seasoned geniuses such as John Altman, musical arranger for The Secret Policeman's Ball extravaganzas and Monty Python's Life of Brian - the John Altman of the embarrassingly huge C.V. including work with some of the coolest dead guys ever, including Nick Drake, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley. (Later in the evening at a special private gathering, Altman would whip out his soprano sax - alongside Wings guitarist Laurence Juber and composer-pianist Nick Glennie-Smith -- and proceed to blow all our minds. And I don't even like the saxophone! Bravo, Maestro!) But what's it all about? What are these Balls? To answer, I turn to a quote from Pete Townshend (whose All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes essentially never left my turntable in '82, btw), who was the first rock musician to play a Ball (in '79), and who clarified, via the evening's documentary, "One of the aspects of human energy is that we can get together, join hands, and say, This is not right! " I like that. Very clear. Likewise, a guy named Paul calling himself Bono (shown during his ÜberMullet days): "Some people have suggested to me, 'Can we not just get this over, this charity business?' But we're not going back to sleep! " Likewise. Now me, I looove going back to sleep. But the Bono guy sums it up: Amnesty. Representing Amnesty at the evening's gala was lovely Sandee Borgman, veteran UNICEF coordinator and music manager, and Director of Entertainment Relations for Amnesty, whom I got to interview on the fire escape in the warm night air of June -- which was all-in-all a nicely saucy way to learn what Amnesty is actually doing: "What we want to do is carry the torch on from this - as we look at this, thirty years ago, and it was amazing, you saw it - it's our job to get the music program going again." She cites State Radio, a Boston band represented at our soirée, who have, "taken violence against women and the death penalty under their belt, and delivered them to Senator Kerry's office." For the first time this year, Borgman and her crew will be taking Amnesty to the huge Warped Tour (via Fallout Boy, et al). Genuinely curious, I asked about the practical applications of Amnesty, and came Borgman's reply: "It's not like the U.N. organizations; with Amnesty, it's a grass-roots organization. It's not so much about mobilizing money; it's more about mobilizing public opinion. We need manpower, we need public opinion, we need to change things from the ground up. That's how we change it to be better for tomorrow." Our Master of Ceremonies for the evening (and the whole fest, in both Los Angeles and New York) was, of course, Martin Lewis - co-creator/producer of the Secret Policeman series and the festival, and a trustee of the American Cinematheque. "I'm fortunate to have been one of the folks, who, along with John Cleese - Monty Python's John Cleese being the prime instigator - who started the Secret Policeman's Ball shows, way back in the 1970s. In L.A., of course, we're always caught between pride and vanity. Vanity means that you always have to be much younger than you actually are, so by vanity I would say I'm thirty-three years old, which means I never could have produced these films. My pride trumps vanity because I'm so proud of the work that I did to help Amnesty - and the work that everybody in these films did - so... pride trumps vanity," he concluded. "Yes, I was involved with these shows." (By all appearances, that's putting it mildly!) With the history lesson covered, Lewis then brought guest of honour Neil Innes (Bonzo Dog Band; The Rutles; The Seventh Python ) to the fore, and the two proceeded to interview the living hell out of each other! This was purely wonderful. Friendship is always splendid to behold - friendship between and among absurdly talented men moreso. A couple of favorite exchanges: Lewis: "I'd like to ask the first question." Innes: " Why? " Lewis: "I'm asking the questions here, young man! Do you remember how you first got involved involved in Amnesty International, how it came about that you performed in that great production back in 1976?" Innes: "Well, the long answer is that someone called Alexander Graham Bell invented the--" Lewis: "Can we have the short answer?" Innes: "Cleese rang me." Neil Innes and Martin Lewis conducting some Pythonic business to the amusement of the crowd. ...and ... Innes: "Moving on, to when we went to Drury Lane, it was you that coined the name 'The Secret Policeman's Ball' - you see, I've learnt a thing or two: Make the question so long he can't really say anything - but you actually introduced the big rock stars into the Amnesty thing, so how did you go about that? How did you pull that off? Lewis: "That really came about because John Cleese, alone among the Pythons, was not a rock music fan. Cleese liked John Williams playing classical guitar. And for the 1979 show, he invited John Williams. And I said, 'Would it be okay to have something a tad more contemporary as well?' And John just said, 'It's not my cup of tea. If you want to organize that, you go do that.' And I was like a kid in a candy store! I knew Pete Townshend a little, and I phoned him up and asked if he would do the show - and at first he was very circumspect. He said he was nervous, and this didn't make any sense to me; this guy played at Woodstock in front of half a million people. But he said to me, 'No, that's with The Who. It's easy to be in front of half a million people when you've got Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon and John Entwistle alongside you.' So he was nervous, but he did do it. What Townshend also did was to set an example for others. When it came to the 1981 show, I phoned up Sting - I only had to get as far as saying 'Secret Pol-uh--' and Sting said, 'I'll do it!' Same thing with Phil Collins and Eric Clapton. All these other musicians wanted to do it, because they'd seen an example set by someone they respected. The ultimate example of the effect of the shows was the case of Bob Geldof. I got him to perform in the 1981 show, and he then took the concept of using music as an instrument of consciousness raising far bigger than any of us had dreamed of. So I think it's a wonderful success story, that these performers saw others and it inspired them to do something themselves." And do something they did - and do. O! M! G! Words really cannot express the massive buffet of comedy and music contained in this three-decades-plus tradition. Opening night of the fest, we beheld but a sampling - but the juxtaposition of Python alums and say, Lou Reed playing with Peter Gabriel, or some guy called Hugh Laurie doing a rather convincing English accent with his pal Stephen Fry, or Sinead O'Connor and Radiohead and French & Saunders and Steve Coogan and Emo Phillips (who, it bears mentioning, attended the gala, and posed wildly). Oh: And Kate Bush. Oh, Kate Bush, Kate Bush, Kate Bush... However, since I really cannot put my thoughts in order whilst Kate Bush is singing, or even whilst considering the very concept of Kate Bush...as I am now... hmmm...ni-i-ice ...erm...Oh: I was in a way grateful that her performance in the anthology film was limited to a snippet - although to hear her singing Running Up That Hill live over the temple-like Egyptian's mighty sound system as I first entered the cinema was, for me, admittedly dreamlike. Yum. Fortunately, helping to take my mind off how much I still want Kate Bush every single second of every single day and night and I shall not be satisfied until she is mine forever Amen -- our guest of honor Mr. Innes showed up at the after-party, positioned himself at the keyboard, and thoroughly rocked off our socks! Whew. Delivering glorious renditions of "Run Away" (a fun call-and-response number - originally recorded for - but cut from Monty Python and the Holy Grail ) and a plaintive, stirring new Ron Nasty tune "Imitation Song". Innes effortlessly reminded us that he's a grade-A songsmith and one of the greats. And, shortly after he fled the scene (he'll be back), Mr. Lewis went wildly anachronistic, wowing the room with a booming, quasi-Shakespearian recitation of "A Hard Day's Night" we won't be forgetting any time soon (that's our Martin). MORE ON HUFFINGTON POST ABOUT THE FILM FESTIVAL • Having a Ball for Amnesty... (includes ultra-rare film clips) • Having a Secret Policeman's Ball • • And Now Fo Something Completely Different: The Secret Policeman's Film Festival • Monty Python & The Holy Grail... of Human Rights OFFICIAL FESTIVAL WEBSITE • The Secret Policeman's Film Festival -- Official Website
 
Cheryl Saban: Lazy, Loaded and Laid -- NOT. Top
Though this is a slightly naughty title for a piece about high school students, I'm hoping it got your attention, because it's not at all what I witnessed at West Adams Preparatory High School in Los Angeles. It may be typical for kids of this age-group to socialize, hook-up, and alter their sense of reality from time to time, but the L-word descriptors in my title aren't the L-words I associate with the students I met. These students, who all wear uniforms by the way, are being listened to, loved, and liberated, in an atmosphere of respect. They were engaging and engaged, enthusiastic and pro-active, and I was thoroughly impressed. West Adams Prep High School was constructed using architectural creativity not usually afforded school buildings, and only after the input of numerous community focus groups to truly suss out the needs of the community. It resembles a college campus more than a typical high school setting, with its huge well-groomed track, socializing spaces, and wise use of light, space, and color. The outstanding curriculum that encourages entrepreneurial attitudes, is focused around six different 'schools' -- the School of Business & Enterprise, the School of Performing Arts & Literature, the School of Science & Technology, the School of Invention, Design, Engineering & Architecture, the School of Education & International Studies, and the School of Media, Film & Art. The students - a couple of thousand of them, are learning and living an educational experience that most of us would crave, and which will serve these young people well; a recent Gallup survey released by the non-profit organization, Junior Achievement, stated that employers and managers dubbed entrepreneurial attitudes as important in any field of endeavor. This relatively new, huge and innovative community high school is run by MLA, a nonprofit organization whose mission is improving schools and empowering neighborhoods in some of LA's most disenfranchised communities. It's an ambitious quest, particularly during the current economy. However, this year, West Adams Prep is poised to graduate their first senior class, and already the accomplishments of this school, these students, their teachers, and the committed pioneers of MLA are palpable. For most of the graduates going on to college, they will be the first in their families to do so. I was invited to the school to talk to a couple of classes about my new book, What is Your Self-Worth, A Woman's Guide to Validation . The students I visited had already started reading my book as part of a class exercise. I was touched by their attentiveness and eager participation. They were extremely enthusiastic about having an author visit their classroom, and especially happy that I was going to sign their books. The 50 or so young women I spoke to were in a cheerleading class, which in itself presents an enormous hurdle for many of the girls in this community to leap over. To say that self-worth for girls in an area of town that is often troubled by poverty, disrepair, and gang activity can be fragile, is an obvious understatement. But the fact that they are in a school that in all ways -- from the surroundings and high quality of its educators, to the sports programs and hands-on learning experiences, treats them with respect and constantly reinforces their potential, will certainly help them to discover, and ultimately to express their self-worth, despite the outside influences and challenging life circumstances many of them cope with. I felt honored to speak to these courageous and spirited young women. I became one of West Adams Prep High School's biggest fans, and can't wait to visit them again. I liked the 'vibe' there. As one of the women I quote in my book, What is Your Self-Worth, stated, "...treat everyone as though they have worth; giving someone their dignity is never a mistake." I wholeheartedly agree.
 

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