Thursday, June 18, 2009

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Cheney's FBI Interview Over Plame Leak To Be Reviewed By Judge Top
WASHINGTON — A federal judge said Thursday that he wants to look at notes from the FBI's interview with former Vice President Dick Cheney during the investigation into who leaked the identity of a CIA operative. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan's decision to review the documents followed arguments by Obama administration lawyers that sounded much like the reasons the Bush administration provided for keeping Cheney's interview from the public. Justice Department lawyers told the judge that future presidents and vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could become available to their political opponents and late-night comics who would ridicule them. "If we become a fact-finder for political enemies, they aren't going to cooperate," Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith said during a 90-minute hearing. "I don't want a future vice president to say, `I'm not going to cooperate with you because I don't want to be fodder for 'The Daily Show.'" Sullivan said the Justice Department must give him more precise reasons for keeping the information confidential than they had in previous court filings. Cheney agreed to talk to FBI agents in June 2004 as they were investigating the leak of former CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to reporters the year before. Her name was revealed after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush administration's prewar intelligence on Iraq. The leak touched off a lengthy inquiry that led to Cheney's former top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, being convicted on charges of obstruction of justice and lying to investigators. During his trial, jurors found that Libby lied to the FBI and a grand jury about his conversations with reporters. Bush commuted Libby's sentence, and he never served prison time. Libby was the only person charged in the case. No one was charged with leaking Wilson's name. In July 2008, the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Justice Department seeking records related to Cheney's interview in the investigation. The Justice Department declined to turn over the records, and CREW filed a lawsuit in August. The group argued that the public has a right to know the role that Cheney played in the leak and why he was not prosecuted. More on Dick Cheney
 
Nelson Davis: I'm a Customer, Damn It! Top
The older I get, the more I enjoy a helpful interchange with people who work diligently for businesses of any size. But, with each passing day, businesses who covet my dollars seem to want me, the supposed customer to do more of their work and to give them money for that privilege! If I'm paying, being treated like a customer would be a fine idea. I think it all began with self service gasoline stations. Not only do I remember .55 cent gasoline, but I recall the days when there were service station attendants who would check the oil and scrutinize the tires while filling your tank. Sadly, those memories are now shrouded in the mists of history. At first it was a charming novelty and a time saver to pump your own gas. They even discounted the price! Now we are the hose handlers, there are no discounts and the only people you see are behind a bullet barrier. In the early 1980s I was an early adopter of an ATM card from my bank. It was both cool and great to be able to replenish my cash supply at times when the bankers were asleep. But as time went on it became obvious that the bankers really wanted us to use the ATM all of the time so they could get by with fewer tellers. In a counter move a couple of years ago, at least one bank began offering concierge service to get a competitive advantage. Supermarkets are now joining in that game with some featuring self-check-out. Do you really want to be behind the person with 40 items in their cart the first time they use that service? I'd rather have to take close up pictures of a rattlesnake! I like what comedian George Carlin had to say on the subject of getting out of a supermarket. "I'm not the cashier! By the time I look up from sliding my card, entering my PIN number, pressing 'Enter,' verifying the amount, deciding, no, I don't want Cash back, and pressing 'Enter' again, the kid who is supposed to be ringing me up is standing there eating my Almond Joy." One of the things we most easily connect with and sometimes yearn for is the sound of a human voice, especially one that is able to respond to your questions. It is OK for me to tell my Blackberry to "call office" and have it do just that, but when I get the office, I want to speak with a real live person. Customers should be warmly greeted and treated with respect. Too many managers and employees loose site of who is really paying their salaries. Everywhere we look, businesses are beating the bushes in search of customers, but the same enterprises are pinching and squeezing on customer service. Yes, it is challenging to find good people and even more so to train them well. Sadly, service from a live and knowledgeable human being is becoming the new luxury, soon to be afforded only by those who demand it and are willing to pay more. You can now book a plane trip, print out a ticket, endure the security screening and be on your way to the destination without anyone paying attention to your needs until they offer to sell you a sandwich on board! And airlines wonder why they are sliding toward post office territory on the scale of experiences we dislike. No, I'm not against progress but I am also a true contrarian. In my own business the phone is answered by live people between 9am and 6pm. We don't ask you to choose languages or have a trap door behind the pound key leading directly to voice mail hell. If I'm dealing with your business as a customer, then I really want to be treated like a customer, not one of your associates who works there and gets paid for it. My money should buy service and the attention of a human being even if fleetingly. Give me a human experience and in return I'll give you loyalty and more business. Anybody can install an automated phone system and other electronic "service" devices. They are now just another commodity. If you want a competitive advantage in this marketplace, bring a human face and voice to what you do. It will be appreciated and we know that can lead to sales and growth. Give me a reason to be a good customer by treating me like a desired customer. That is the true definition of a brand. Be sure to visit www.MakingItTV.com for more entrepreneurial and small business resources. More on Small Business
 
DNA test shows Michigan man John Barnes Not L.I. tot kidnapped in '55 Top
The FBI announced Thursday that DNA testing proved a Michigan man was not the boy kidnapped in 1955 from outside a Long Island grocery store.
 
What To Give Dad? Meaningful Gifts For Fathers' Day Top
Fathers' day is a tricky one. Unlike moms, who are often very receptive to the fool proof formula of flowers or fancy soaps , dads can be a bit harder to please. Most father's day gift guides revolve around a presumed love of golf, or whiskey, or ties. The thing is, not all dads golf and very few are fanatical enough about the sport to appreciate golf-themed paraphernalia. Same goes for whiskey and ties. My dad, for example, is notoriously hard to impress with presents, in part because he is constantly trying to eradicate clutter from his house. It seems like most dads -- and most of us -- could do with a little less clutter this year, a little less stuff . There are so many gifts that you can give your dad that cost nothing or nearly nothing, that will likely please him every bit as much as a cookie-cutter bottle of aftershave. This year, instead of plonking down a hefty sum on designer alcohol or an impractical silky caravate , consider a slightly more off-beat -- dare I say holistic? -- token of your love and appreciation. A few years ago my brothers and I came up with the ultimate gift solution for our dad (who's birthday is in early July, making him a prime candidate for a 2-for-1 fathers' day-birthday gift.) We built raised beds in his backyard and planted him a garden of tomatoes, cukes and herbs, which we we replant each summer with new seedings as his gift. Works a charm! Most likely, anything you give your dad will mean something to him, especially if you tuck in a nice card or even head over to spend the day with him. But here are a few gift suggestions that might mean more to him than something he could pick up himself next time he's in the airport at duty free. It's the thought that counts -- so try and really put some thought into it, and give your dad whatever it is that will make him smile. More on Twitter
 
$500 Billion In Funding For Saharan Solar Project? Top
Desertec seeks to transform Saharan Africa into a solar hub for Europe by constructing a supergrid of concentrating solar thermal plants (CSP) on 6,500 square miles of North African desert. They claim their scheme could eventually meet much of the continent's electricity needs. More on Africa
 
Adjustable Rate Mortgage Impact Could Be Worse Than Subprime Crisis Top
WASHINGTON -- Call it son of subprime. Experts warn that a new wave of mortgage foreclosures may be coming soon and could rival the default rates for subprime mortgages and slow efforts to find bottom in a prolonged national housing slump. Get HuffPost Business On Facebook and Twitter ! More on Real Estate
 
David M. Abromowitz: Stand With Iran in Black and Green Top
Hundreds of thousands of Iranians have courageously taken to their streets to stand up for democracy. Why not millions of us here in the home of free expression? Opposition leader Mousavi has called for Friday to be a day of mourning for those who have died in the govnerment-led violence against protesters. More symbolically, wearing black is a sign of mourning the death of democracy in Iran that appears all too imminent. As Americans, we need not wait for any government leader to give us orders to freely express our beliefs. Whether one feels President Obama has set the right tone, or has fallen short, is beside the point. All of us can join in standing with Iranians willing to face down government agents while chanting ""Death to the dictator!" some chanted. " Where are our votes ?" Imagine if rallies in public spaces sprang up in cities across America as early as tomorrow, the day of mourning in Iran. Last year when the Pakistani judiciary was under attack, bar associations around the country in short order organized rallies in support among lawyers in dozens of cities. It was noticed in Pakistan by the lawyers protesting in their country. How better for Americans to show their condemnation of the Ahmadinejad regime than to hold demonstrations sponteneously organized by average citizens moved to support Iranian voters. All we need do is take advantage of the vast array of social networking means of spreading the word. It should be possible to bring Americans together into our streets, wearing black for mourning, or green as the color of the opposition. Wear a black armband, or a black bracelet. But don't just sit in front of your screen in awe at the flowering of a democratic opposition in the streets of Iran. More on Ahmadinejad
 
ACLU Sues Over "Secretly Created" Federal Prison Unit Holding Muslims Top
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The American Civil Liberties Union sued the government Thursday over the creation of a special unit at the federal prison in Terre Haute, claiming it was created in secrecy and keeps mostly Muslim prisoners in stark isolation. The ACLU says about 40 other prisoners, mostly Muslims, are being held in a "secretly created" Communication Management Unit in which they have no contact with other prisoners, limited contact with the outside world and no physical contact with family members. "Designed to house prisoners viewed by the government as terrorists, they were established in violation of federal laws requiring public scrutiny and today are disproportionately inhabited by Muslim prisoners _ many of whom have never been convicted of terrorism-related crimes," the ACLU said in a news release. Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd defended the legality of the unit and said it did not target Muslims. He said the department was reviewing the lawsuit. Dean said the Bureau of Prisons followed federal rules in creating the special unit to closely monitor prisoners' outside contacts. He said "race, country of origin or religious beliefs" are not factors in who is placed in the unit. In addition to those convicted of terror-related crimes, the unit also is designed to hold certain disciplinary cases and sex offenders who try to contact their victims. The ACLU said unit prisoners cannot have any physical contact with visitors, who can visit only on weekdays and talk by telephone while separated by partitions. Most other federal prisoners can kiss and shake hands with their visitors. Communication Management Unit prisoners also can have only one 15-minute telephone call per week, except on legal matters, and cannot participate in prison programs with non-unit inmates, the ACLU said. The complaint alleged the Bureau of Prisons, in creating the Terre Haute unit in 2006, took steps to avoid public scrutiny that violated federal notice and comment requirements. The ACLU highlighted the treatment of Sabri Benkahla, a 34-year-old Virginia man serving a 10-year sentence for his 2007 convictions for obstruction of justice and lying about training with militants in Pakistan. He was acquitted in 2004 of charges of aiding the Taliban with a U.S. group that prosecutors said trained for jihad with paintball guns. Benkahla cannot even hug his 6-year-old son, according to the lawsuit, filed three days before Father's Day in the Terre Haute federal court. "He's in incredibly restrictive conditions in which anyone would miss his family and opportunities to have contact with the outside world," said David Shapiro of the ACLU's National Prison Project.
 
Christina Patterson: If you don't like food, you don't like life Top
I have never met Alexandra Shulman, but I think I'd like her. Not, alas, because of a shared interest in haute couture (I think £49.99 is rather a lot to spend on a handbag), but because of two much more important things. The first is that as editor of the British edition of the fashion bible, Vogue , she has dared to bite the hand that feeds her. But only (since no one in fashion eats anything) in a metaphorical way, of course. She has recently written to leading fashion houses, complaining that sample sizes are now so "minuscule" that they force fashion editors to use models with "jutting bones". Vogue , apparently, has to retouch photographs to "make the models larger". Make the models larger ! You practically need a microscope to see them now. In real life, they must be like those poems engraved on grains of rice. Which brings me to the main reason I like Alexandra Shulman. She is not like one of those poems engraved on grains of rice. She is like a poem written in calligraphy on a fine piece of parchment. Beautifully turned out, and also solid. She looks as though she might recognise rice, might even have eaten it with a Thai green curry. She does not look as if she would order an egg-white omelette that she would then bury under a pile of rocket. While I wouldn't go quite as far as Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in wanting "men about me that are fat", I share his suspicion of anyone with a "lean and hungry look". Anyone, for example, like Victoria Beckham. The poor girl looks as though she might buckle under the weight of her sunglasses. She looks, in fact, as if a single bean sprout would have her bursting out of her size-of-a-seven-year-old jeans. My friends, like me, and like every woman in the Western world, would mostly like to be thinner. We'd like to be thinner in the way that we'd quite like to win the Booker Prize, or marry George Clooney, or bring about world peace. We'd like to be thinner in the way that once had me devouring The Atkins Diet in the bar at Waterstone's bookshop with a nice glass of Sauvignon and a bowl of Kettle Chips. I read You Are What You Eat in a hotel lounge with a cafetière and a plate of home-made shortbread. I read French Women Don't Get Fat in a café with a banana muffin and a latte. French women don't get fat, if I remember rightly, because they're neurotic, miserable creatures who would rather look like a clothes horse than get a life. Because that's what it's about, this thing called eating, it's about life. Food is fuel, of course, to keep the body functioning, the heart beating, the blood flowing and the brain alert - but it is so much more than that. It's about the tastes and smells and textures of life itself. For me, sharing tapas, or mezze or a smorgasbord with people I love feels like a kind of communion. Last week, the columnist Liz Jones confessed she had "never eaten a whole banana" and spent her entire life wanting to be "like the women in the pages of Vogue ". It hadn't made her happy, she said, but she would "rather be thin than happy". She was flooded with responses, she wrote this week, from people who felt the same way. How very, very sad that so many women - not pre-pubescent teenagers, but adult women - are wrecking their lives in pursuit of such a silly, life-denying goal. And now we know even the "women in Vogue " don't look like the women in Vogue . And neither, thank God, does its editor. More on Fashion
 
Marcus T. Bailey: Man Arrested Mid-Haircut For Dealing Drugs Top
A 25-year-old Evansville man was arrested Wednesday when he stepped out of a South Side barbershop to conduct an apparent drug deal, police said. More on Stupid Criminals
 
Madoff Scald: SEC Inspector-General Meets With Fraudster Top
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Admitted fraudster Bernard Madoff, the mastermind of history's biggest Ponzi scheme, had a three-hour meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission's top watchdog this week, several sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN. More on Bernard Madoff
 
Gildart Jackson: Father, Writer, Actor, Father Top
My wife Melora Hardin and I made "You" with our family. Rory and Piper, our children, are both in it. My parents-in-law (both professional actors), our nanny, our friends... Those friends who don't act helped by giving us locations, pulling cable on set and, most importantly, bringing their signature dishes at lunch and dinner to feed the ravenous cast and crew. The making of this movie was a family adventure. And we quickly found that this was the way we needed to look at it -- and the way we needed to sell it to our family! We are very involved parents but for the 18 days of shooting our lives were taken over by the movie. Rory and Piper got a different taste of family life for that time with 40 people in our house most days and Mom and Dad not able to play CandyLand or read "Curious George" at every request. It was like we were on board a magnificent ship once we had set sail and the first "action!" was called. Then, it was hoisting the mainsail and pumping the bilges, and our needs and desires had to fall in line. Making a film is a wonderful, rigorous, all consuming, intense, frenetic, thrilling voyage and as I look back what made our trip even more wonderful was that we were sailing together as a family. I feel like it was a true gift to our kids to have had this family adventure. Rory and Piper now know that they can set sail, weather the storm, reach their destination and return home. Individually, and as a family. I am proud of this gift. As I am proud of the movie. And now, of course, our kids will always have "You" -- our movie -- to watch, to show their friends as they grow up, to remember what it was like when our family set sail on the high seas. In general being an actor is pretty wonderful job from the point of view of raising children. That is, of course, assuming that you are a working actor and, luckily, my wife is. I don't work as much as she does, but from the family perspective this is a great thing. I get to spend a lot of time with the kids. And, actually, so does Melora even when she's working; she has a trailer and regularly brings the kids to the set. On "The Office," she had a fantastic part but doesn't have to be on set every day, so she is able to be with the kids a lot of the time. Also, actors get paid well so we are fortunate enough to be able to afford a nanny when we both need to be doing other things. I think our lives as actors dovetail very well with our lives as parents. When we made our movie "You," we changed the rules a little bit by putting on more hats. As filmmakers -- Melora directed, acted in and produced the movie, I wrote, co-produced and act in it -- it was a much more intense and difficult juggle when it came to raising our family at the same time. "You" is part of a growing trend in independent films having their debut online. It can now be found on iTunes and Amazon VOD . The film's official site is: http://youthefilm.com/ More on The Office
 
White House: 'The President Is Not Going To Pick A Candidate In The Illinois Senate Race' Top
News of a White House meeting between Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and President Obama fueled speculation that the administration is trying to persuade Madigan to run for Obama's old Senate seat 2010. On Thursday White House press secretary did his best to insist that looks can be deceiving. "The president is not going to pick a candidate in the Illinois Senate race," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters at Thursday's White House briefing, according to the Tribune : "The president has a very long relationship with the attorney general, dating back to their time in the state Senate," he said. "She'd be a terrific candidate, but we are not going to get involved in picking a candidate in Illinois." Madigan met with Obama, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and senior advisers Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod late last week at the White House. Her spokeswoman insisted that Madigan has yet to decide and "talking to the president is an important part" of making up her mind. Madigan has long been interested in running for governor, not the Senate , but as the Sun-Times ' Lynn Sweet writes , "the full court press from Team Obama will be hard to ignore." Should she run, Madigan has two big demands, Sweet reports : Here's the gist put out by a Madigan camper. Madigan is getting more serious but has a few conditions. If Madigan is to get in the Senate race, she wants an endorsement from Obama when she announces and she wants the Democratic primary field to be cleared of rivals. State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who has already raised substantial money towards a run , pushed back against that idea in a statement issued Thursday: Voters in Illinois are facing the most troubling economic times in decades and they want leaders who will solve problems and fight hard every day against the political insiders who have failed us. When Barack Obama ran for this seat in 2004, he was not the choice of the insiders. He became the choice of the people because of the strength of his ideas and his ideals. "Illinois has been ill-served by state party leaders who think they know better than voters. Now more than ever, anyone who seeks this seat must convince voters they have the ideas that will get our economy on its feet and put our people back to work, not just prove that they have the political clout to demand a clear field and win appointment. Madigan's political director said this week that the AG will decide "within four to six weeks" whether to run for the Senate, governor or another term as the state's chief legal officer. Chris Kennedy, the president of a Chicago-based commercial real estate firm and son of Robert F. Kennedy, has been planning a run but not yet announced , nor has embattled incumbent Sen. Roland Burris. More on Senate Races
 
Frances Beinecke: Reports Show Global Warming Already Hurting America; Fighting It Will Heal the Economy Top
I have received many briefings from climate scientists over the past 10 years. At first, most were based on modeling and projections, but more recently, they have included an alarming element: empirical evidence that global warming is interfering with America's water supply and agriculture right now. The report released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other federal agencies came to the same conclusion. The study outlines current signs of global warming across the United States. It also includes the most urgent language about climate change ever to be issued by any White House. I am relieved that the Obama administration grasps the pressing nature of this crisis. Even among proponents of climate action, many still view global warming as a future threat. This report makes it clear that when it comes to the impacts of global warming, it's not about maybe or later. It's about definitely and already. We can debate the policy of global warming, but we can no longer debate the scientific reality that global warming is hitting us today. To find out how climate change is altering your region, click here . And to find out what these changes might do to the American economy--including food production, health-care costs, and transportation disruptions--see this post on the Green, Inc. The Silver Lining: New Reports Find Significant Job Potential But if you are looking for some good news in the midst of these climate clouds, take a look at two other reports that came out this week. The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean Energy , prepared by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at UMass and the Center for American Progress, found that the combined impact of the stimulus package at the American Clean Energy and Security Act could serve as a foundation for bringing total clean-energy investments in the United States to $150 billion per year. This public spending and private investment would produce a net gain of 1.7 million new jobs. The second report , released by the PERI, NRDC, and Green for All, shows that shifting from traditional fossil fuel to clean energy will improve the standard of living for millions of Americans across all skill and education levels, especially among lower-income families. Climate Urgency Plus Economic Opportunity Equals Immediate Action I am glad these three reports came out in the same week. The administration's report reveals the severe threat posed by unchecked global warming. The PERI reports illustrate the many economic benefits that will arise from combating climate change. Taken together, the message couldn't be clearer: we can solve global warming, and doing so will create American jobs and prosperity. I am also glad these reports were released when leaders in both the White House and Congress are willing to take the bold action needed. Within weeks, the House will be debating the American Clean Energy and Security Act. Click here to tell your representative that you support this effort to create jobs, protect the planet, and restore America's leadership. This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard blog . More on Stimulus Package
 
FBI Found Child Porn On Holocaust Museum Suspect's Computer Top
Authorities discovered child pornography on a computer used by James W. von Brunn, the 88-year-old white supremacist accused of killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum last week, according to court documents filed by the FBI.
 
John DeBellis: The Human Bomb (Happy Father's Day?) Top
I didn't wake up to birds chirping, or to the soft sunlight drifting through my blinds. I woke up to my eyelids being stretched over my headboard. And to "I-t's m-o-r-n-i-n-g!!!" being spit through my eardrums with enough force to send my wife flying off the bed, if she wasn't already weighted down with another potential human bomb. Yeah... I'm a father. I should have known that being a dad wasn't going to be all the fun it was cracked up to be when the joy of hearing my (now ex) wife shout in pain ended with the arrival of a slimy ball of flesh, which had I found in a field I'd have called the SPCA in to destroy it. Then the Doc said, "Isn't she beautiful?" Sure, if you like bald toothless things that leak on your clothes. Actually, it was an emotional moment for me. I couldn't believe that fluids from two people in halfway decent shape could make something so damn uncoordinated. Then the inevitable, "The baby looks just like you." Sure, I haven't slept in four days; I've eaten only candy bars that are so old the machine was built around them. I have bags under my eyes that on an airplane would be considered carry-ons. My skin resembles four-year-old white bread, my hair looks like it spent the night in a bucket of eels, and my lips could be mistaken for two pieces of moon rock. That's one good-looking baby I've got. By the time the baby is ready to leave the hospital the mother has now inherited the baby's "wonderful" disposition not to mention thirty pounds of loose flesh that can tell you which way the wind is blowing. My ex nursed the baby, which is good for the baby and makes it easier for the father. It gives your wife something to do while you make plans to abandon her. Personally, if I were a woman I wouldn't breast-feed a child. I don't think they're emotionally mature enough to appreciate it. One of the most important things for a baby is sleep. Unfortunately, the baby puts little importance on the value of sleep for his or her parents. Actually, I've come to the conclusion that the baby only enjoys its sleep when it's taking it away from you. It's amazing how a baby can sleep silently for eighteen hours a day yet manage to keep you awake for twenty. The inability for one to stay a sleep with a baby in the house soon affected other living things in our home. My dog at the time was seriously ill and the vet came to our house and decided the dog had to be put permanently to sleep. I was jealous, until the dog woke up four hours later. Before I had my first child I didn't know much about kids. I grew up an only child. My parents knew when to leave "bad" enough alone. I decided a long time ago that I would never have an only child. Disrupting your parent's life is too much of a burden to put on one child. A kid has feelings. If he's not causing his folks to have a nervous breakdown it's going to make him feel inadequate. The last thing I want to do is raise an inadequate kid. I want a kid who'll have a great self-image that will someday be torn down by his children. Kids need challenges. It's only when a kid has no one at home to destroy that he starts looking outside for trouble. Serial killers have parents with such low self-esteem that the kids out of frustration turn to ruining the lives of small animals, then later adults whom they are not related to (hopefully before they have kids). Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against serial killers, (I don't want to offend any serial killer activist group), but they might contribute more to society if they practiced a little more self control and restricted their killing to undesirables like politicians, lawyers, and fertilization experts. With babies there's so many things to learn. Over the years I picked up a few tricks; like how to change a diaper. The key is waiting till the diaper gets so full (sometimes days) that you can just shake the kid over a pail and the diaper will fall in. Then you hold the kid in the toilet and flush it, the force of the water wipes the kid clean without you ever having to touch his soggy bottom. My parents didn't believe in the restrictions of diapers and allowed me to walk around naked on newspapers. If your having trouble getting your kid to walk, I have an easy solution. Stand him in front of a puddle in new shoes. He'll be walking in minutes. Another tip. Don't hit your children. Why use all that energy on something that heals so fast. If you still haven't gotten the picture of what being a father is really like, imagine yourself sitting in your office. You come up with an idea that'll make you rich and cure every decease that's known to man and just before you can write it down your adorable child enters screaming non-stop, "Can I have a c-o-o-k-i-e!!!!" And suddenly that cookie takes precedent over an idea that will save the world. That's being a responsible parent! They say having a kid stretches you as a person. Sure it stretches you. You have to bend all kinds of new ways to avoid them. It's also been said that people on their deathbeds say, "I should have spent more time with my kids." They're only saying that because if they'd spent more time with their children there's a chance they could have given their children the same fatal decease, and with the kids faster metabolism they wouldn't be alive to disrupt their final and only peaceful moments. Don't get me wrong, I love my children more than life itself, especially since having kids I have less time for life. For you people out there still considering having children, I have a better idea. Adopt an old person. They do the same things as babies and they'll be dead before you have to worry about college.
 
Kathie Kane-Willis: The Real Road to Recovery: My Journey from Heroin Addiction to Helping to End the War on Drugs Top
There are many reasons why I believe that treatment is better than prison for those who use drugs. Research demonstrates that people who receive treatment are far less likely to commit crimes than people who don't receive it. Recidivism drops and public safety is improved when individuals with substance use disorders are served by treatment rather than prison. I have learned this as a researcher from studying the "literature." But I have also learned that treatment is effective from my own life, from my own experiences. When I was 19, I tried heroin for the first time when I was at college in New York. It was a tough period for me. I was depressed and suicidal. Before I tried heroin, I sought help on my college campus, but no help was given to me. I was told to live with one of the deans, but I received no treatment. I attempted to get psychiatric treatment on my own at a New York Hospital. But I was turned away. Within six months of trying heroin, I left school. By the time I was 20, I was a heroin addict. I tried many times to try to overcome my addiction. I learned that quitting heroin is physically very painful. I remember that a doctor once told me that that it was like a bad cold, but my experience was much worse than a cold. I remember the insomnia, the nausea, the vomiting, the cramping, the inability to sit still, the horrible, horrible anxiety. What was much worse than these physical symptoms was the knowledge that at any time, my withdrawal symptoms would go away if I took another dose of heroin. I tried to stop on my own and found that I couldn't do it. My addiction escalated. At one point I was homeless, squatting in an abandoned building. I committed crimes to support my habit. I learned to scam and shoplift. I was arrested and convicted. But I was never offered treatment when I came into contact with law enforcement officers. I believe that when I went in front of the court, to plead guilty to my crime, that I was given different treatment -- better treatment -- because I was white, a woman and because I had a lawyer. I learned when you are a drug user, people don't see you as a person, people only see you as a problem. A problem for which the only solution is jail. And sometimes drug users believe that about themselves -- that they should be punished, that they are deserving of the worst punishment. I personally believe that most people who are addicted to drugs are already suffering; are already being punished. There's a misconception that people use drugs because they are fun to do. I still do a good amount of field research, and nearly without exception, people who have substance use disorders will tell you how awful it is. How they would like to find a way to solve this problem but don't know how to do it. It's hard to get treatment when you don't have a phone or a place to live, when the only thing that seems real to you is the next bag of heroin or rock and where you are going to get it. Treatment seems like something far away. Something that might not be attainable. And often it is not. Jail, however, will come and find you. Every day that you suffer from an addiction to an illegal drug is a day that you may get arrested. I learned how to kick heroin cold in jail. In jail, they usually don't give you anything for withdrawal symptoms. That part was difficult. But what was much more difficult was the realization that simply getting clean is not the same as getting treatment. Because I went right back to using. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to be addicted, but I didn't know how to stop, or how to cope. Finally,after many calls, and tries and stops and starts, I found treatment that worked for me. According to the literature, methadone treatment is the most effective form of treatment for heroin addiction. I could give you statistics about how individuals who are treated with methadone use less drugs, are less likely to contract blood borne pathogens, and are far less likely to commit crimes. Methadone treatment, in and of itself, would not necessarily have been effective for me. Some treatment providers will discharge a person who relapses, even though the literature tells us that relapse is part of recovery, that relapse is part of the disease of addiction. I was lucky -- blessed -- to find a provider, the Center for Addictive Problem -- a program that practiced a harm reduction approach, and allowed me to stay in treatment even though I did use a few times. It took some time for me to get better even with methadone. I saw a psychiatrist. Now I could cite statistics about how women have very high rates of co-occurring disorders (that is an underlying psychiatric condition), or I could tell you what I found out from my own experience. I was diagnosed with a panic disorder by my therapist. I learned that in some ways my heroin use was partly a way of medicating myself so that I could feel better. I learned that I used a potent painkiller because I was in so much pain. That my pain was so intense in 1988, that at the height of the AIDS epidemic, I picked up a needle and began to shoot heroin. Perhaps if I had received help when I had asked for it, I might not have started using drugs. When I think of the individuals who cycle in and out of Illinois' prisons for drug offenses, I wonder about what pain they have experienced. What lies beneath their drug use? I wonder whether they will ever be given the opportunity to get treatment or will they be destined to cycle in and out of prison for the rest of their lives? Or will these individuals be given a second chance at life, at hope, at the possibility of making a fruitful and hopeful life that might contribute to society? Then I go back to the statistics and crunch the numbers. The largest group in our prisons is drug offenders. The majority of these people are African American. I admit my bias for treatment over prison. But perhaps I am not so biased, because treatment is effective. As a researcher I have studied these issues and the literature tells me this is true. Perhaps we can find another way to deal with people with drug problems. Perhaps we can give these individuals the opportunity of treatment. Perhaps these individuals will learn how to not use drugs, to get an education, to find a mate, to have a child, to find meaningful employment. Perhaps. But only if we take our drug policies in a new direction. Maybe then individuals with substance use disorders will be allowed to make a contribution to society instead of being thrown away, locked up or left out. Recently, the new Drug Czar called for the end to the war on drugs, acknowledging that the war on drugs has become a war on people. I think it's partly because when we talk about drug use, we see the drugs and not the people. We see the needles, HIV, the hepatitis, the corners where drugs are sold. But we don't see that the casualties of this war -- the human potential that is lost each and every day; the contributions that won't happen because we are so focused on our fears -- and not on the fact that drug users are not just "junkies" and "crackheads," but are also our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, our family members. We live among you. You just don't always notice us. You might ask yourself, why is she telling her story at this time? I ask myself this too. I wonder. Partly I am telling my story at this time because I feel as though the tide is finally turning. I hope and pray that I am right about this feeling -- that the war on drugs really might be coming to an end. That this social justice movement is gaining strength and I want to add my voice, my story, and my face to it. Perhaps it's because when I was 30 I was diagnosed with a chronic liver condition that I was told might kill me by the time I was 40. I was the mother of a 2 year old. I turned 40 two weeks ago. My daughter is now 12. Perhaps when we acknowledge this reality, we can actually treat people who use drugs as people. Maybe we can move addiction back into in the realm of health, where it actually belongs. So, I stand here before you as a "junkie", a convicted felon, a daughter, a mother, a wife, a friend, a teacher, a researcher, an advocate. And the last reason why I am doing this, in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt: " You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing that you fear the most. " And today, that is what I have done.
 
WorldFocus.org: Argentina's Farming Crisis Worsens Under President Kirchner (AUDIO) Top
The debate over agricultural policy in Argentina could pave the way for political transformation. The country was once the world's biggest exporter of beef and was known as the "bread basket" of South America. But Argentina may be forced to import beef next year, and many of the country's farmers blame government restrictions on exports. In recent months, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has refused to lower hefty export taxes despite continued protests. She and her supporters may struggle to retain power in this month's Congressional elections, with an approval rating of roughly 30 percent. Read Worldfocus blogger Peter Eisner's commentary: Argentina's president faces uphill battle as economy tightens. Tensions have been exacerbated by the looming economic crisis and a severe drought, the worst in some 70 years, which has devastated crops. Watch the Worldfocus signature story "Farmers, drought and taxes cripple Argentina." Some farmers are now planning to run for election, hoping to leverage public support and pave the way for a new congressional majority that could lower taxes. Worldfocus.org's weekly radio show explored the state of Argentina's farms and what the future holds for the country's economy and leadership. Worldfocus anchor Martin Savidge hosted a panel of guests. Cristian Harris is an assistant professor at North Georgia College and State University. His research focuses on the impact of international trade on the formation of domestic political divisions, as well as trade policy and development in Argentina and Latin America. Marcelo Regunaga is a former secretary of agriculture for Argentina and the vice chairman of the International Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council. Now a professor, Marcelo has consulted for several organizations, such as the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank. Marie Trigona is a Buenos-Aires based writer, radio producer and filmmaker who reports on labor struggles, social movements and human rights in Latin America. She formerly worked for the Buenos Aires Herald and now contributes to Free Speech Radio News and other independent news sources. Listen: Get HuffPost World On Facebook and Twitter! Read more on President Kirchner's handling of the situation here. See more at WorldFocus. More on Argentina
 
Greenpeace Spoofs International Herald Tribune Top
BRUSSELS — Greenpeace published a spoof edition of the International Herald Tribune on Thursday to highlight environmental issues and draw attention to the Copenhagen climate change conference in December. The Paris-based International Herald Tribune, global edition of the New York Times, complained and, as the spoof also appeared on the Internet, said it had asked the environmental group immediately to remove any fake IHT Web pages. A statement from the newspaper rejected Greenpeace's argument that it used the brand to praise the IHT for its climate change reporting. "To have our name and image (misused) as a politically motivated publicity stunt is wholly contrary to our values of independence and accuracy," the newspaper's statement said. The eight-page spoof, dated Dec. 19, 2009, was meant to "show world leaders ... the future we all might have if they do right by the planet at the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December," Greenpeace spokeswoman Elsa Lee said. Greenpeace printed 50,000 copies of the spoof, of which 35,000 were distributed in Brussels where European Union leaders were meeting. About 15,000 copies were distributed in 16 European countries plus Canada, China, India, Mexico, the United States and Brazil, Greenpeace said.
 
Trip Van Noppen: Historic Fight In Congress For Our Clean Energy Future Top
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are considering legislation that could set in motion a prosperous economy powered by wind and sun with millions of new clean energy jobs ...the kind of future voters envisioned when they swept President Obama into office, and that Earthjustice has worked towards for years through major legal and legislative efforts. The legislation could shift government spending into clean energy alternatives, creating many of those jobs, while significantly reducing pollutants that harm people and the planet. Promising as the legislative goals sound, however, the fossil fuel industry is lobbying hard to gut this effort to shift our country's energy priorities. The future they envision - and are working hard in Congress right now to ensure - is on a timetable that fits their business plans, ignores the urgency of global climate change and shunts aside the great economic potential at hand of investing in alternative, sustainable energy. Our goal is clear -- to break their dirty energy monopoly --and we are making progress. But, as these examples illustrate, the struggle is fierce: - Coal and utility companies want to keep using and building coal-fired power plants without restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. By contrast, Earthjustice is striving to keep intact the full power of the Clean Air Act to reduce emissions. Using this potent law, we have made great progress in curbing smog and soot, and we won't be satisfied until climate pollution is also under control. - We are pushing for massive investment in clean energy and energy efficiency - necessary to create a level playing field with fossil fuels -- but this threatens the subsidy stream coal and oil have enjoyed for decades, and the industry is fighting to keep every cent. The American economy could grow by more than 80 percent if the government helped fund green energy and embarked on a rigorous program of energy efficiency and conservation - We are determined to obtain immediate reductions in climate pollution, but the industry wants business as usual, without emission limits, for many years more, no matter what the climate consequences are. - The coal industry wants the freedom to continue blowing the tops off of ancient mountains and burying streams with the rubble. Ending this practice is one of our top priorities, but creating incentives for more coal-fired power takes us in exactly the wrong direction. With so much at stake, Congress has a chance to seize this historic moment and steer our country towards a new kind of economic prosperity - one that builds without destroying. Future generations should not have to look back upon this moment and mourn the road not taken.
 
Obama's Financial Reforms: 8 Reasons It May Not Work Top
What is the essence of the problem with our financial system -- what brought us into deep crisis, what scared us most in September/October of last year, and what was the toughest problem in the early days of the Obama administration?
 
Obama Can't Win Going After Fox News: Columnist Top
But just because you're right doesn't mean you're well-advised to go around saying so. Obama, who lectured Ailes in person at a secret meeting last summer, may think he can browbeat Fox into being nicer to him. He can't. Fox made its bones on the notion that it, alone among TV networks, is not part of the Liberal Media Conspiracy. For Obama to single out Fox for censure only confirms that impression. Not to mention that Obama's complaining about Fox's darts while gratefully basking in MSNBC's equal-but-opposite tilt sounds suspiciously like whining. More on Fox News
 
Kang Nam: US Navy Monitoring North Korean Ship, Say US Officials Top
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Navy is monitoring a North Korean ship at sea under new U.N. sanctions that bar Pyongyang from exporting weapons, including missile parts and nuclear materials, U.S. officials said on Thursday. More on North Korea
 
Forrest Claypool Not Running For County Board President Top
In a major political surprise, Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool has decided not to run for County Board president in next year's election.
 
Jeffrey Feldman: Congress Needs to Wake Up on Healthcare Top
Every time I tune-in to the "debate" on health care, it amazes me how utterly asleep Congress and the media are with respect to this issue. They, are, clueless. Supposedly, the health care debate is between one group of people who make fortunes via the insanely profitable insurance and pharmaceutical industries and another group of people who want to make sure everybody in American has access to "affordable' health care. How do we do that? How can we twist and tie enough pieces together so that the health care needs of the many are balanced out by the concerns of this vast economic sector that employs countless people all across the country and generates a substantial portion of our gross national product? Pushed to their political extremes, these two groups take turns shouting "socialism!" and "greed!" at each other in the vain hopes that the larger and louder will win persuade the public, nudge a majority of Senators, coax the White House, and win the day. There is only one problem: health care should not be a technocratic debate about "affordability." It should be a conversation about solutions to the fear that cripples a vast segment of the American public. This fear has been with us for so long that "debate" is obscene by comparison to just stepping up and solving the problem. Consider this simple fact: The number of Americans without health care coverage is so big, and has been growing for such a long time, that we can now simply say that the United States is a country with a systemic lack of health care for its citizens. Now, answer this: Does it sound like a good thing to be a country with a "systemic lack of health care" or a bad thing? Is that something you want or something you do not want? Obviously, it is bad. But why is it bad? What does a systemic lack of health care do to a country? It may not seem obvious at first, but that question is the starting point of the kind of productive conversation that Congress and the media should be leading about health care. The answer is: a systemic lack of health care (1) divides a nation and (2) cripples it with fear. In a nation with a systemic lack of health care, there is a radical divide between the haves and the have-nots. Those with health care live in a world that is radically different from those who live in a world without it. The haves are able to treat their health like any other good or service in the economy. Because health care is a privilege of income, the haves can go out and buy health care whenever they want, even to the point of excess. And so health care becomes not just a means to feeling better, but a luxury good to be consumed with lavish abandon. Because the private system thrives or dies on the profitability of health care providers, a nation with a system lack of health care orients its health goods and services towards those that yield the highest profit margin. Pills, treatments, operations, machinery, clinics -- all become health care "offerings" to be packaged and sold in a competitive market. This approach transforms health care into a market full of incredibly high quality, modern, and expensive procedures with fewer and fewer clients and customers to purchase them. Meanwhile, because prevention is a less profitable business, it becomes a bottom shelf item. Those without health care, by contrast, live in a much different world. For the have-nots, appetite for procedures and pills in the health care market is replaced by constant concern about a future health crisis or incident. Life without health care becomes a constant game of odds making: I if I spend X dollars on this procedure, will I be able to afford Y and Z 18 months down the road? How long, at my age, would it be wise to go uninsured? Can I risk coverage for my children, but not for myself? Is 5 years too long to go without getting a full physical? How about 7? If the lump in my breast does not hurt, can it be that bad? And so on, and so forth. What happens when millions of people spend decades without health care is so shocking and so heartbreaking, that anyone who thinks about it would be instantly offended by the current Congressional debate. During the presidential election, CBS ran a piece about an American relief organization called Remote Area Medical (RAM) that ignores the health care "debate" and sets about doing what is right. RAM sets up free emergency clinics in Latin American and African jungles, but which had recently started setting them up in urban America. I have spoken to countless friends and colleagues about this 60 Minutes spot, and each time I do I always say the same thing: I bet you cannot watch this short video without being moved to tears and without being utterly appalled at the selfishness and callousness of those who would deny Americans the right to health care -- the right to live without fear. I will throw down that same challenge here: That is America, right there -- the good and the bad. Those people in Knoxville, TN, are in desperate need of medical care, and they are getting it via the generosity of a few selfless doctors, volunteers, and philanthropists. But we cannot stop by patting ourselves on the back. We must see that the people who turned out in the middle of the night, who stood in line for hours -- these are people living with constant, crippling fear. It is a fear caused by a "debate" that has denied them health care for decades. Moreover, these Americans are not just in Knoxville. There are more than 50 million people in this country living without any or adequate health care coverage and 50 million is a number far too vast to imagine. They, are, everywhere. Wherever there are people, wherever you are, in cities or in the suburbs -- you are standing near people without health care. To debate such a thing is folly. It is akin to debating which mode of production produces a better boat while sipping brandy on the deck of the sinking Titanic. Instead we should be making a list of every possible way to lift people out of these health care dead zones -- zones devoid of health care for decades -- such that they are able to live lives free from crippling fear. A "public option" for health care is not the only solution to the fear on the faces of the have-nots that turned out for to the RAM clinic in Knoxville. Nonetheless, a public option is one solution and for that reason alone, it should not be thrown out of a Congressional health care plan. For the Congress or the White House to toss out the public option because they cannot win the debate would be to ignore the true goal of reform: ending fear. Congress needs to sit down and watch the CBS spot about Remote Area Medical. Congress needs to see the fear on the faces of those good people in Knoxville and see it vanish when they are given the health care they need. Congress needs to wake up and do what is right on health care -- what is right for people, not what is right for debate. More on CBS
 
Multinationals Going Shopping For Lithium Below Bolivia's Salt Desert Top
Stand in the middle of Salar de Uyuni, the world's greatest salt desert, and the first word that springs to mind is ­nothing. As far as the eye can see, ­nothing. Not a shrub or tree, not a hill or valley, just an endless expanse of white.
 
Bruno Dialogg: Digg Turns Tables On Bruno, Will Host Q&A Top
Digg will be accepting questions from readers for an interview with Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen's satirical gay Austrian fashion aficionado and host of the fictional television show "Funkyzeit", as part of its Digg Dialogg interview series. Questions can be submitted at http://digg.com/dialogg/bruno_1 through Wednesday, June 24. Once submitted, the most dugg questions, as decided by the Digg community, will be posed to Bruno in an interview, which will be posted on Tuesday, June 30 at 10AM PT. The interview will be the seventh installment in the Dialogg series, which has in the past featured Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others. An archive of past interviews can be found here .
 
Ensign Interns Want Out Top
It would appear that the interns in Sen. John Ensign's (R-Nev.) office either aren't pleased with their boss's philandering ways or are worried about what kind of future they have in his office.
 
Gregg Hurwitz: What Made Von Brunn Do It? Top
After James von Brunn went beserk inside the Holocaust Memorial Museum last week, several articles referenced the gunman's contentious email correspondence with novelist Tom Clancy. Reading the accounts of von Brunn and his .22 caliber, I wondered--as most of us do in the wake of an atrocity--what the hell makes someone do something like that. And also, how did a bestselling thriller writer get sucked into the conversation? As a thriller writer myself, it is my job to dream of mayhem. I suppose it's the job of any author of crime fiction--to see the loose screw on the airplane, the off-kilter gas truck, the meticulously groomed gentleman in line at the post office whose jacket is bulky and his smile screwed on a little too tight. These thoughts were never unsettling to me. That's how my brain works, and these scenarios can be delightful places to pass the time when I'm under the dentist's drill or waiting for a train. But is there a responsibility that we have, as creators of fictional destruction, to our readers and to the public at large? And by this I mean a responsibility beyond crafting a compelling story? A responsibility not to give ideas to people who might imitate or emulate the violence we set down in print? My answer would be: No. I've yet to source the quotation, so it may be apocryphal, but Stephen King (a favorite of mine and just about everyone else's) once cracked wise about killers who draw their inspiration from novels. He (perhaps) remarked that authors should sue for plagiarism. Flippancy is an underrated tool when parrying idiocy. In all the tired discussions about media influence and violence, I've not once heard someone remark, "If I'd seen that movie/read that book/played that video game, I would have gone out and killed someone as a result." No, the good-hearted concern is always, charitably, for others. Youth. The mentally ill. Folks of lower IQ who breath through their mouths. Them's the ones who'll get whipped into a froth-mouthed frenzy after a viewing of A Clockwork Orange and want to cane-smash oldies to the strains of the Ninth. I won't say that certain events don't give me pause. I've noticed that after 9/11 and having kids and perhaps even leaving my twenties and thereby outgrowing immortality, I've been more judicious in my use of written violence. It's more real to me and I tend to shy from its superfluous use in my novels (this acquired sensitivity has yet to extend to my comic-book writing). More violence in my books takes place "off camera." But this has been due to my natural education as a human and a writer, not because of fear that a scene of mine will prove the straw that breaks some citizen's sanity. And yet time has proven that psychos model behavior from books and movies. A few weeks ago in the UK, a knifeman inspired by The Shining lured two paramedics to his flat where he attempted to slash them up, Jack Nicholson style. The Telegraph reports, "They...cowered in fear of their lives as the 45-year-old repeatedly plunged the blade through the door while shouting [the] famous line 'Here's Johnny!'" (Talk about Anxiety of Influence). Oldboy is one of my favorite films, a South Korean thriller, and--some have claimed--a piece of the inspiration behind the Virginia Tech mass murder (Cho Seung-Hui filmed himself enacting several poses from the film on the day of the murders). Fallout from that horrific day reignited debate over whether violence in entertainment leads to real-life violence. But the notion that a film or book would be the impetus to a mass murder (rather than merely providing sick-minded stylistic flourishes) seems to me inane. Does anyone among you believe that you shouldn't see Oldboy in case you suddenly feel compelled to murder thirty-three innocents? One of my favorite lines on this topic was delivered by A.M. Homes. Her brilliant novel, The End of Alice, depicts a girl being stabbed to death. When asked by a reviewer how she would feel if her book was found in the house of someone who murdered a child, Homes replied, "That's like asking somebody who makes steak knives how they would feel if their knife was found in the home of someone who murdered someone." Are we to believe, if we regard the constellation of illnesses and influences that turned Seung-Hui into a mass murderer, that Oldboy was a major one? Or even the precipitating factor? Clearly not. But there is another related topic at hand here beyond the issue of simple influence. How about pop-culture consumers who are already looking for knowledge to bring to bear on some criminal act? While I don't believe that stories cause someone to commit violence, I do believe that as a creator, I have a responsibility not to provide a game plan for criminals shopping for information. One of my duties as a storyteller is to come up with fresh and compelling premises. And so often I find myself digging around for something--some bit of horrific potential--that hasn't been used before. My latest thriller, Trust No One, opens with a SWAT team bursting into the apartment of my everyman protagonist, Nick Horrigan. Half-naked, he is grabbed from bed and dragged to a waiting helicopter. A terrorist has seized control of the nuclear power plant at San Onofre. And the only person he'll talk to is Nick. But here's the worse news. The terrorist has targeted not the reactors, which are ostensibly reinforced to sustain damage from an airplane crash. But rather he has targeted the spent-fuel ponds. Few people know about these, and this is why I plucked the idea from my research. (How weary are we of the suitcase bomb, the airborne virus, the serial killer who lives in mom's basement?) Spent-fuel rods are stored in high-density water, and some of these pools house ten times more long-lived high-penetrating radioactivity than a nuclear plant's reactor core. A single pool can hold more cesium 137 than has been deposited by every atmospheric nuclear test ever conducted in this hemisphere. And here's the kicker: these spent-fuel pools are far less guarded than the reactors, and multiple reports have been issued pleading with the government to shore up security around these sites. These are all harsh truths. In writing about this significant and relatively unknown hazard, I am laying bare this vulnerability to anyone with access to a bookstore or library. The same argument can be made that is often leveled against types of investigative journalism; in bringing a national security issue to light (and here for mere--ptooey--entertainment), one is trumpeting said tune not only to the authorities and responsible citizenry, but also to men in caves in that rugged border region. So here's how I sleep at night. Part of my job, as I see it, is to streamline my stories. Pacing is key. I don't get into every specific; I pick and choose only what's relevant, interesting, and, well, cool. I have little interest in producing a narrative version of The Anarchist's Cookbook, nor is it in the interest of my story for me to lay out extensive instructions, recipes, and blueprints. The research I undertake forms the portion of the iceberg beneath the surface; what bits make it into the novel are only that tip poking up into view. My research had been substantial; I've flown in stunt planes, blown up cars on demolition ranges, and gone undercover into mind-control cults. I rely quite often on experts who range from criminalists to former spies to Navy SEALs, and one of the inviolable aspects of any of those relationships is my respect for when a consultant needs to go off the record. Nothing I'm told off the record makes it into print. A lot of good comes out of brainstorming, and I've found that experts do well to sort through various scenarios in order to help me find some real-world detail to match the plot point to which I'm trying to lend that ring of verisimilitude. They often need the freedom to run through a range of ideas to explain a point, and they'll do so only if at the end, they can backtrack and take a few off the table. A demolition breacher friend has helped me design many an explosive and when we've worked it all out, we go back and change an element. Or three. I get a few emails from know-it-all separatists about flaws in my bomb design, but after all, what doesn't bother those folks? Likewise for my spent-fuel pond. It exists, sure. But the design, location, placement in a facility, and surrounding security? Well, those are anyone's guess. After all, those elements don't drive the narrative any more than ones that I can dream up.
 
Michael Sucsy: Inspiration in Squalor: How I "Rebuilt" Grey Gardens Top
Last weekend, I was at home in Los Angeles and got a call from Jessica Lange. "Michael, I can't find the house," she confessed. "I'm out in East Hampton with Sam, and I want to show him the garden, but I can't find the damn house!" She was referring to Grey Gardens, the former home of "Big Edie" Bouvier Beale, whom Jessica played in the recent film that I produced, co-wrote, and directed. I laughed, told Jessica where she had taken a wrong turn, and assured her that Big Edie would be pleased that she was checking up on things. I spent six years making Grey Gardens , and, although I'm thrilled with the results, I'm also glad I didn't know how long it was going to take when I first started... Having grown up spending summers in Long Island, for years I was aware of the lore surrounding Jackie O's eccentric relatives living in squalor in their Long Island summer home, and had even biked past the house, but it wasn't until February 2003, a year after "Little Edie" (played in the film by Drew Barrymore) died, that I finally watched the Maysles' 1975 documentary for the first time. The documentary lulled me into a kind of trance. Like so many other viewers before and after me, I couldn't turn away from this fascinating mother-daughter duo. The film had ended but the spell wasn't broken. I wanted more. I wanted to know how they fell from grace and why. There was another movie in just that story -- I knew it. I was inspired I immediately re-watched the documentary, this time armed with a yellow legal pad on which I jotted dozens of questions: who was "Gould"? What happened to Mr. Beale? What about the sons, where did they go, and why didn't they help? Why did Edie come back from NYC, and how long was she gone? It was these questions and others that would form the basis of my extensive research. I quickly exhausted the limits of the internet (at the time, there were only a few articles on GG, only a smattering of interviews with Edie and only one or two fan sites) and soon turned to library archives, digging through old microfilm and microfiche as well as books on the Bouvier family, but it was the discovery, by way of public records, of Little Edie's death certificate that lead to the real jackpot. Through Edie's estate attorney, I tracked down her nephew, Bouvier Beale, to whom I wrote a passionate letter about my plans for a biopic about his aunt and grandmother and why I was the man to tell it. Bouv, in turn, referred me to his then sister-in-law, Pamela Beale, as she had recently unearthed a cardboard box containing years of Edie's journals, piles of her poetry, scores of family photographs, and dozens of typed and hand-written letters including correspondence between her mother and her father, between Gould and Edie, and between her cousin Jackie and Edie's brothers, as well as a first-hand description of how Big Edie had decorated Grey Gardens in its heyday. I flipped out. This was a truly incredible find. I now had access to Edie's most inner thoughts! After an initial meeting with Pam in Los Angeles, I packed up my life and headed north to San Francisco for the summer where the descendants now lived and where Edie's papers were being sorted. I hadn't yet worked out a formal agreement with the family and was, therefore, unable to remove any of the papers from the archives. So by day, I would dictate certain diary entries, letters, or poems into a tape recorder and then faithfully transcribe them by night. One of the most stunning discoveries that I made while pouring through Edie's papers was an affair she had with a married man. The name "Cap" appeared in many places such as in a short poem in which she wrote, "Ah, my angel, Cap. I won the thorn but not the rose," along with a death date: March 26, 1970. When interviewing a friend of the Beales' deceased attorney, I inquired about this mysterious "Cap." This person said that it could perhaps be a man named Julius Krug. I searched online and was directed to the historical website for the Truman administration. Matching the death date in the poem with that of one of Truman's cabinet members, I discovered that Edie had carried on an affair with the former Secretary of the Interior from about 1948 to 1952! I knew this had to be part of the reason Edie was forced home by her mother. Big Edie refers to him in the documentary ("That married man was not going to give you any chance at all.") and Little Edie specifically cites July 29, 1952 as that day she "checked out, got on the train, came back, and was never able to get back [to New York.]" These letters, poems, and journals were becoming the Rosetta Stone to the mysteries of what happened to the Beales. I was committed to uncovering their story and weaving it into a narrative script. Eventually, I worked out a life-rights agreement with the heirs to exclusively option Edie's archives and then spent the next month or so interviewing other family and friends (including a cherished "pen-pal" relationship with Little Edie's elderly, best childhood friend, Eleanor, and Big Edie's friends Lois and Doris), all of whose anecdotes became extraordinarily helpful in painting a picture of their lives both before and after the Maysles shot their documentary. While I had considered optioning the rights to the documentary, I didn't have the requisite funds, nor the clout to do so, so I was determined to write a script that didn't structurally or dramatically hinge on the documentary. A few months into actually writing the script for Grey Gardens , I learned of plans to make the documentary into a Broadway musical. Panic set in. How could two people more or less simultaneously have the idea to re-imagine a 30-year old cult film? Once the fear subsided, I realized that there was "enough story to go around" and decided to just keep my nose to the grindstone and work on my version of the story. Upon returning from San Francisco, another kind of panic set it -- financial. I was pretty much hemorrhaging money not having worked all summer save some odd jobs cobbled together from friends and acquaintances; commercial directing had slowed down to a mere trickle, and freelance production jobs offered no security. Forced to face reality, I took a position working for an entertainment attorney. The hours were predictable, the pay was stable, and the job offered much needed health insurance, which allowed me to have the peace of mind not to fret about making the rent each month and the opportunity to concentrate on writing my script. Every morning I would wake up at 5am, write for three hours, then head to my "day job." Since being lucid at such an early hour was important, I skipped the Hollywood nightlife and just worked and worked and worked. In early summer 2005, a script for Grey Gardens was ready to make the rounds (I think the very first draft had been some 203 pages -- over-length by about 40-50%. This one was the appropriate 105-120 pages.) With a quirky, renowned, illuminating, dark, inspiring, and captivating story, the script, luckily, immediately became a "hot summer read." Soon I was sheepishly making excuses to my boss about why I needed a two-hour lunch or why I had been in the conference room on my cell phone for thirty minutes and not answering his calls. It was everything I had wanted to happen, but a surprise, nonetheless. My producer warned me that things were happening "lightning fast" by Hollywood standards and not to expect things to necessarily continue at this pace. Jessica Lange agreed to play the role of the reclusive mother, Big Edie, and several months later, Drew Barrymore signed on to play her daughter, Little Edie. With two amazing producers, Lucy Barzun Donnelly and Rachael Horovitz, at my side, a front-page announcement in Variety (February 21, 2006), the rights to the documentary now under option in addition to the life-rights, and with me attached to direct, it was time to seek financing. HBO, excited by the subject matter and the casting, stepped up. While we were all set to begin shooting that fall, HBO wanted to do further script development both to hone the scope of the story and to whittle down the budget (which is when co-writer Patricia Rozema was brought on), so instead of shooting that fall, it wasn't until late October 2007 that principle photography finally began in Canada. In the intervening year, I intermittently rewrote, supervised rewrites, worked with the prosthetic designer on perfecting the old-age make-ups (both Edies age 40 years in the film), and built a virtual replica of the house using the original blue prints for Grey Gardens and a computer architectural program -- all of which was enormously helpful as the official "prep" for the film was eventually a mere seven weeks. The film wrapped just before Christmas 2007 on-time and under-budget. Post-production concluded late the following year, and Grey Gardens debuted on HBO to great acclaim in April 2009, just over six years from my initial conception -- truly a passion project through and through. "Anything worth anything is difficult to achieve," my father used to say in an effort to keep me motivated as a kid when frustration would set in. Looking back on the six years that it took for me to make Grey Gardens , I know now that his advice sunk in because I never gave up. Making a movie takes a lot of things: money, talent, timing, luck, and most of all -- patience. There were many, many times when I thought that the project would fall apart, and if it had, I feared I would, too. As much influence as a director has on a movie, there's still so much he can't control. Ultimately, things happened in the right order and on their own schedule. Tomorrow Jessica Lange and I will be in Sicily where Grey Gardens will be screened at the Taormina Film Festival. It's funny how the "recluses" are getting to travel these days. "Sapphire," Big Edie might call the color of the Mediterranean Sea, which the beautiful outdoor amphitheater in Taormina overlooks. Edie would probably warn us against the advances of Italian men with a flirtatious glint her eye. Making Grey Gardens has truly been the most wonderful experience of my life. I was asked recently what would be my dream project. I paused and then answered, "Honestly? I already made it..."
 
Clara Hemphill: Whatever happened to the neighborhood high school? Top
Only in New York do seventh graders have a summer reading assignment like this: the 600-page New York City High School Directory. It's the first step in year-long odyssey that includes seven summer workshops, [http://schools.nyc.gov/ChoicesEnrollment/High/Calendar/default.htm] fall tours, interviews, exams, and auditions that will determine which of the more than 400 high schools these kids will attend in fall 2010. If you're lucky (or talented) you may wind up in a great school. But, as a new report [http://www.newschool.edu/milano/nycaffairs/publications_schools_thenewmarketplace_thirdarticle.aspx] (disclosure: I am one of the authors) shows, if you have bad luck or bewildered parents you may wind up at a school you hate that's a 90-minute commute from home. Whatever happened to the good old zoned neighborhood school? In lots New York City neighborhoods, the zoned schools have been a disaster for decades. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has closed most of them down and opened 200 new small themed schools in an effort to expand school choice and make the system more equitable. He thought, quite rightly, that poor kids shouldn't be automatically assigned to failing zoned schools. Now all students, not just those applying to selective schools, must fill out an application for high school in the fall of their eighth grade year. Klein has had some success, and there are more options for kids than there were before. But the report by the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School http://www.newschool.edu/milano/nycaffairs/default.aspx] shows the pitfalls to this approach. For one thing the process is unbelievably complicated. Look at this road map from the report: [PDF]ROAD TO HIGH SCHOOL Download file Something this complicated almost guarantees that kids who don't have activist parents will wind up in the worst schools. School choice isn't an answer for these kids. Fixing neighborhood schools is.
 
Roger I. Abrams: Drip, Drip . . . Sosa . . . Drip, Drip Top
Baseball's saga of sorrow continues. The latest hero to be toppled from his pedestal is Sammy Sosa, the joyous Dominican who, together with Mark McGwire, brought baseball back from the edge of despair with their home run derby in the 1998 season. That was a glorious season that reminded us why we love this game. Sammy's trademarkable jump after connecting with a dinger brought him fans nationwide. His career total of 609 home runs paved an expressway through the New York State backwoods to Cooperstown. Of course, we have now learned it was only an artificial game of fantasy baseball. The recent disclosure that he was among the remaining 103 names on the list of positive drug testers was another punch in the stomach. By now, baseball fans may have developed an immunity to further insults such as this revelation. The Sosa disclosure has spawned a debate whether the time has come to lay out all the remaining 102 names on the list and get on with the post-steroid era. Yet, the curious Manny Ramirez suspension suggests that we may not be done after all. No one seems to have acted upon my suggestion in an earlier blog that Major League Baseball and the Players Association create a bipartite Truth and Reconciliation Commission to clean up those aging matters. Those who argue against full disclosure remind us that the players had been promised complete confidentiality when they took the tests in 2003. That promise seems so flimsy in retrospect that players who relied upon it were naïve. Nothing remains sacred anymore, not even a person's word. Who then is disclosing the information about the 2003 tests? The list is in the possession of the U.S. Attorney's Office which would have no apparent motive to feed the press this information drop-by-drop. Of course, these leaks are in violation of a court order. Certainly a complete data dump would result in a contempt citation, so we are left with this periodic waterboarding. Having read Professor John Yoo's memos, I know that this is not torture. It only seems that way. Perhaps we can make these periodic disclosures into a game of sorts. Who will be the next drip? Check the Mitchell Report for the usual group of suspects. Email in your choices. We'll set the odds. The payoff is the usual with these matters. Nothing.
 
Paul McRandle: Where to Watch TV? LED Monitors vs. LCD TV Screens Top
TVs have been focus of American living rooms for fity years, but with Hulu, You Tube and other online sources bringing programing to our ever larger computer screens, is it time to bid the TV farewell? And is their any environmental benefit hanging in the balance? To narrow the question, we took a look at LED monitors and LCD television screens to see which is smarter and greener. Read the full article... More on Green Living
 
Jimmy Choo To Design Shoes For H&M Top
On the heels of Matthew Williamson's boldly printed summer line, H&M has announced its next high-end collaboration with star-favorite accessories brand Jimmy Choo.
 
Anthony Tjan: Can the VC Model Help Cure Alzheimer's? Top
Legendary venture capitalist and Chairman of Greylock , Henry McCance, is a co-founder in Cure Alzheimer's Fund . Incorporated in 2004, the fund uses a venture approach to disease research. The results have been nothing short of extraordinary as their work linking new genes to Alzheimer's has been named by Time as one of the top ten medical breakthroughs of this past year. Their message and approach continues to widen awareness as two of their researchers, Dr. Rudy Tanzi and Dr. Sam Gandy, joined music celebrities in this month's GQ Magazine feature and photo spread on the " Rock Stars of Science ." I have been fortunate enough to have Henry McCance as a mentor, friend, and investor. Last month we sat down to talk about Cure Alzheimer's Fund and specifically how he has applied lessons from 40 years plus of venture capital experience into an inspiring non-profit model. Here are some excerpts from that conversation. A video of the conversation can be found below as well. Tony Tjan: Take a step back for us and describe how large the Alzheimer's problem is and why it's so important to get breakthrough research now? Henry McCance: I knew nothing about Alzheimer's disease until it touched my family personally. It was discovered just over one hundred years ago and the only fool proof diagnosis is an autopsy of the brain. There's no blood test or MRI scan one can take. There are about five million Americans with the disease and it costs the country about $100 billion of Medicare and Medicaid expenditures annually. Not captured in that figure is the price tag of the stress and burden of the caregivers or spouses. Estimates suggest by the time we reach 2050 there will be 16 million people in the U.S. with Alzheimer's disease with someone developing the disease every 33 seconds. Between now and 2050 -- unless we find a cure -- the cumulative expenditures of Medicare and Medicaid will be nineteen trillion dollars. HM: Like a lot of ventures, it started with sketching some things out on paper with like-minded people coming together somewhat serendipitously. In 2004, Cure Alzheimer's was started by three families: venture capitalist, Jacqui Morby, whose mother had Alzheimer's, and her husband, Jeff; the Rappaport family of Boston, and our family. TT: Describe the exact model you are using for Alzheimer's research and how it is applying best practices from the VC industry? HM: A successful VC is proactive about finding the most interesting markets and fields and providing growth to the world-class leaders therein. We try to do the same. We were exceptionally fortunate to recruit Dr. Rudy Tanzi of Mass General Hospital, who would be our chief visionary, develop a world-class research consortium around him, and finally to find Tim Armour, HBS '75, who just left the JASON Foundation as executive director, to join as our CEO. TT: What made Dr. Tanzi standout so much for this new Fund? HM: I've spent my whole career as a venture capitalist, studying and analyzing entrepreneurial talent, and when I met Rudy, I knew that he was a world class research talent in his field. He was smart, charismatic and could explain complex subjects simply. TT: Let's get back to that VC model approach - how else did it manifest itself? HM: The most important way it did was in our mission: we are daring to be great. VCs don't seek 5% improvements; they try to invest in things that will be transformational, like Google, Cisco, Red Hat, and others. We wanted to apply the same upside-seeking strategy to Alzheimer's research. We looked at the way research was traditionally done and said we needed a much more entrepreneurial and VC mindset towards funding projects that could move us more rapidly to a cure. When we hosted a dinner for some leading neuroscientists, we learned that they spend a disproportionate amount of time, 30 to 35%, filling out bureaucratic forms to receive research grants from the NIH or other well-meaning organizations. The worst part is that the grant making peer review process is so risk adverse resulting in incremental progress. That kind of funding is the equivalent of a one-yard plunge by a full back from the New England Patriots, a far cry from the breakthroughs we wanted to fund. The scientists told me that they don't have any funding available for the twenty and thirty-yard pass kind of research. This was like the early days of VC when some very talented entrepreneurs did not have good funding sources for big ideas. After that, I was convinced that there was a role for Cure Alzheimer's Fund. TT: What kind of monitoring or evaluation systems do you have for the research you fund? HM: We're taking a higher risk set of research projects and hopefully we are doing it in a more sensible way with checkpoints on the way so we're not going to waste the dollars. It's very important to define the projects in a way you can see tangible evidence in a relatively near term. To date we've funded about $8.25 million in research and are very pleased with the outcomes. TT: On that note, Cure Alzheimer's Fund had a terrific past year. Can you comment on some of these wins including being named a top ten medical breakthrough by Time Magazine? HM: When I first met Dr. Tanzi, he explained that there was a manageable, very important project we could tackle right away. As a geneticist, he was convinced that the funding of an Alzheimer's Genome Project (AGP) was critical towards rapid research advancement. The goal of establishing this project was to identify and map the full set of disease risk factors so that better therapies could be better developed. The project was picked by Time as one of the Ten Medical Breakthroughs of the Year for publishing details of a subset of seventy new genes linked to the disease. Prior to 2006, the time we started the research, virtually all the work being done on the genetics of Alzheimer's was done around four genes. We recognize that there is still a lot of work to be done, but at the same time are incredibly proud of the progress we helped make happen. This article first appeared on Harvard Business Publishing on June 15th, 2009.
 
Melissa Rycroft To Be "Good Morning America" Summer Contributor Top
LOS ANGELES — Melissa Rycroft is becoming ABC's go-to performer. Rycroft will add "Good Morning America" to her network credits, which already include "The Bachelor" and "Dancing With the Stars." According to a person with knowledge of the deal, Rycroft will make eight appearances as a "Good Morning America" contributor. She will do fun, lighthearted pieces beginning next week, and she'll also travel for the show, the person said Thursday. The person, who was not authorized to discuss the hiring, asked not to be identified. Rycroft's experience on "The Bachelor" ended badly when she was jilted by Jason Mesnick, but she ended up a finalist on "Dancing With the Stars." Rycroft, a 26-year-old sales rep from Dallas, dropped a coy posting Wednesday on Twitter, asking, "Guess who just got a job with Good Morning America???"
 
David Letterman, "Tonight Show" Ratings Race Closest Since 2005 Top
NEW YORK — David Letterman's squabble with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave his "Late Show" a ratings boost last week, but new NBC rival Conan O'Brien retains the upper hand after two weeks as "Tonight Show" host. Overall for the week of June 8, "Tonight" won in total viewers as well as among such demographic groups as adults 18-49 and 18-34, according to Nielsen Media Research figures released Thursday. Even so, CBS' "Late Show" scored total-viewer victories on three nights last week, as controversy (and viewer interest) heated up following Letterman's racy joke about a Palin daughter. The joke was delivered as part of Letterman's June 8 monologue. Last week's Tuesday, Thursday and Friday editions of "Late Show" edged out "Tonight" in viewers. "Late Show" also edged out "Tonight" in household ratings, 2.7 vs. 2.6 for the week. (A ratings point represents 1,145,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation's estimated 114.5 million TV homes.) For the week, "Late Show" had 3.67 million viewers, separated from front-runner "Tonight" with its 3.77 million viewers by just 100,000 viewers. For "Late Show," it was the closest competitive position to "Tonight" since December 2005, Nielsen said. Until longtime host Jay Leno departed "Tonight" on May 29, the NBC late show had been the traditional ratings leader at 11:35 p.m. ___ CBS is a division of CBS Corp. NBC is a unit of General Electric. ___ On the Net: http://www.cbs.com http://www.nbc.com More on David Letterman
 
Cow Escapes Massachusetts To In New Hampshire Mud Top
NASHUA, N.H. — Two wayward cows decided to abandon their Massachusetts farm and walk at least five miles into New Hampshire, generating 911 calls from drivers. Nashua Deputy Fire Chief Michael O'Brien said he and his partner spent 45 minutes with ropes in hand trying to chase down the cows Tuesday, WMUR reported. One of the adolescent heifers was finally captured, found up to her neck in mud. The farmer's daughter and son-in-law in Dunstable, Mass., are still searching for the second cow. ___ Information from: WMUR-TV, http://wmur.com More on Animals
 
Cute/Ridiculous Animal Thing Of The Day: Otter Plays Piano (VIDEO) Top
Meet Dua, an Asian small-clawed otter who enjoys eating fish, swimming and playing the piano. Her dislikes are mean people and things that eat otters. WATCH: Get HuffPost Comedy On Facebook and Twitter! More on Cute Animal Videos
 
Cher On Chaz Bono Sex Change: "Although I May Not Understand I Will Strive To Be Understanding" Top
Now that Chaz Bono (formerly known as Chastity) has gone public with his sex change, his mother, Cher, is opening up about how she feels about the news. "Chaz is embarking on a difficult journey, but one that I will support," she tells PEOPLE in an exclusive statement. "I respect the courage it takes to go through this transition in the glare of public scrutiny and although I may not understand I will strive to be understanding. The one thing that will never change is my abiding love for my child."
 
Pelosi On Fed: People Want To Know The "Secrets Of The Temple" Top
As President Obama proposes expanding the power of the Federal Reserve, the movement against its closed process continues to grow stronger in the House of Representatives. The Ron Paul-sponsored bill to audit the Fed picked up another dozen cosponsors over the last several days, with Rep. Louis Slaughter (D-N.Y.), chair of the Rules Committee, marking the 234th signer -- 16 more than needed for passage -- and the 67th Democrat. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reflected on the growing anxiety people feel about the Fed at her weekly news conference Thursday. "The fact is that the American people want to know more of the secrets of the temple," said Pelosi, referring to the William Greider book. ("It was required reading in my day," she said.) Pelosi recounted that when Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke came to Congress to tell its leaders that American International Group needed $80 billion, they wondered where the money would come from. "Many of us were, shall we say, if not surprised, taken aback when the Fed had $80 billion to invest -- to put into AIG just out of the blue. All of a sudden we wake up one morning and AIG has received $80 billion from the Fed," she said. "So of course we're saying, Where's this money come from? 'Oh, we have it. And not only that, we have more.' So a balance has to be struck as to what is required to run the Fed in a responsible way, but what transparency there should be so that as the Fed even assumes more power, as indicated by what the president had to say, that the American people have more knowledge about it." It's House leadership's willingness to confront the Fed -- or at least continue to say they'll confront it -- that has persuaded Paul, a Republican from Texas, not to file a "discharge petition" that could force a vote on the House floor. "People are bugging me -- my supporters are mad at me because I haven't pushed the discharge position," Paul told the Huffington Post on Thursday afternoon. He had no immediate plans to do so, he said, because Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is continuing to work with him. And a major financial regulation reform package coming from the White House could also be a vehicle to include his measure, he said. "Some hearings [are scheduled for] next Wednesday and following that there may be some more and there will be a big reform bill. And I think they're open to my suggestions," he said. "The other side of the coin is the powers to be don't want it. They'll put a lot of pressure on both Republican and Democratic leaders. They'll probably try to get the political benefit of supporting my efforts, while at the same time putting some loopholes in there where we'll not find out what the Fed's really doing. The Fed's powerful," he concluded. Pelosi, while sympathetic to Paul's bill, added that she wasn't familiar with the details. Paul said he'd take care of that. "I might catch her up to date," said Paul, smiling and heading back on to the House floor to look for the speaker. Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter! More on Nancy Pelosi
 
Robert Pattinson Hit By Taxi In New York While Running From Fans Top
Rob Pattinson is quickly learning the hazards of filming a movie in New York City - he was hit by a taxi cab on Thursday while running away from hysterical fans!
 
Barbara Boxer: Call Me 'Senator' (VIDEO, POLL) Top
Yesterday at an EPW hearing, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) asserted herself. A military officer testifying began to respond to one of her questions by calling her ma'am. But Boxer interrupted: "Do me a favor," she said, "could you say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?' It's just a thing, I worked so hard to get that title, so I'd appreciate it, yes, thank you." Fox news actually reported out this story by calling up an Army spokesman to ask if it was disrespectful for the officer to call Boxer ma'am. Their conclusion: no big deal! What do you think? Watch it here and scroll down to take our poll. More on Video
 

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