Tuesday, June 23, 2009

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Internal Memo: Nuclear Power Company Could Make A Billion A Year From Climate Change Law Top
Exelon, the nation's largest nuclear power company, stands to rake in roughly an extra $1 billion to $1.5 billion a year if the House climate change bill passes, according to the company's own estimates. The House is expected to vote on the bill on Friday. A memo produced for Exelon by Bernstein Research, and obtained by the Huffington Post, reports that Exelon CEO John Rowe recently told a gathering of investors and senior executives that the energy bill "will add $700 to $750 million to Exelon's annual revenues for every $10 per metric ton (MT) increase in the price of CO2 allowances." Prices will range between $15 and $18 per metric ton, the report estimates, "implying a positive earnings impact of $1 to $1.30 per share." Read the full memo. Exelon, with a major presence in Illinois, was an early backer of President Barack Obama's. "Barack has one of his biggest supporters in terms of funding, the Exelon Corporation, which has spent millions of dollars trying to make Yucca Mountain the waste depository," then-rival Sen. Hillary Clinton noted in a debate in January 2008 in Nevada, a charge PolitiFact deemed "mostly true," noting that in fact Obama, like Clinton, did not in fact support the Yucca Mountain project. Last week, the company announced it was shedding 500 jobs, blaming the sagging economy and saying it hoped to trim $350 million in operating costs. "While we do stand to make money when carbon legislation goes into effect, we've been advocating hard for allocation of free allowances to local utilities," Exelon spokeswoman Kathleen Cantillon said in an interview. Allocating free allowances to utilities wouldn't directly benefit Exelon, said Cantillon, but the company backs them out of concern that prices would rise too quickly otherwise, undermine support for the law and perhaps facilitate a repeal. Nuclear power is among the lowest carbon-emitting sources of energy, which helps to explain Exelon's enthusiastic embrace of a carbon cap. The company officials think that the bill is likely to become law. "Exelon's Executive Vice President for Government and Environmental Affairs, the former FERC Commissioner Betsy Moler, is guardedly optimistic that the Waxman-Markey climate change bill (H.R. 2454) will be passed into law by the current Congress, estimating its chances at 60%," reads the memo. Moler's 60 percent estimate is attributed to Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), a subcommittee chairman pushing for power company subsidies. Rowe, however, gives the bill a two-in-three chance of passing the House, but only a 50-50 chance of getting out of the Senate. The company's leaders, at the recent meeting, declared their admiration for the skill with which Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) moved the bill. "Both John Rowe and Betsy Moler were pleased by the structure of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill (entitled the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, or H.R. 2454), and impressed by the skill with which Chairman Waxman (D-CA) had forged the compromises necessary to pass the bill out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee." The timing is right, according to Moler, in the memo. "Moler believes that there is a sense among Republican Senators that greenhouse gas regulation is inevitable, and that the current weak economic environment provides an opportunity to turn the proposed legislation in a more moderate direction," reads the memo. With that kind of opportunity knocking, Exelon is doing all it can to make sure the door is opened. It's a major player in the Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of business and environmental groups pushing for climate change legislation. Rowe even produced an ad with the aggressive environmental group Environmental Defense. After suggesting viewers check out the plan that Exelon and Environmental Defense have agreed on, Rowe notes to the camera: "You'll be surprised." Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
Ryne Sandberg: Sosa Shouldn't Make Hall Of Fame Top
Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg said his former teammate Sammy Sosa does not belong in the Hall because of integrity issues associated with the steroids era. More on Sports
 
Deane Waldman: You Can't Shine A Meatball. Top
Ever heard that expression? It is a crude update of "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." Whichever is your favorite aphorism, they mean the same: some things are impossible by their nature . "Reform" means changing structure while leaving substance or essence intact. For healthcare, it is its essence that makes it fail. It is the system itself that is broken. Reform would keep it as is with minor modification. In other words, reform does not address the real problem. The healthcare system must be REPLACED, not reformed. Lack of "connection" in healthcare system You do not need a PhD in Economics to understand supply and demand. The seesaw that keeps them in balance is called money exchange. If demand goes up and supply does not, then the price goes up. This dampens demand and balance is restored. If supply is high, the price goes down. When things are cheap, people buy more. That raises demand (to the level of supply) and again you have balance, because the supplier and demander are connected. The fancy phrase for this balancing act is micro-economic connection : supplier (producer or the person who provides service) and demander (consumer or buyer) are connected by money. Once you understand this, you can see why both the President's and the Republicans' reform of healthcare will produce fixes-that-fail. All they are doing, to use another well-worn aphorism, is rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic. (That ship has already sunk; the USS Healthcare is on its way to join her.) In healthcare, who consumes? The patient. In healthcare, who pays? Insurance or government. In healthcare, who drives the cost? The doctor. Question: what connects these people - consumer, payer, and cost-driver? Answer: nothing! Consumer does not pay supplier ( disconnected ). Payer has very strong incentives not to pay the cost-driver ( disconnected again ). Question: who has any incentive to economize and how might he do it? Answers: Consumer has no reason to economize (money is not coming out of his pocket) and has very little ability to do so. Cost-driver (doctor) has contradictory incentives: under fee-for-service, incentives encourage unnecessary tests and procedures. Under HMO control, incentives encourage withholding of necessary tests and procedures. Payers want to enroll consumers (to get premiums) and NOT pay for care because by not paying they make profit. This is as true for government as for private insurance, as long as healthcare payments are considered short-term line cost items instead of the infrastructure investment that it is (or should be). What we have now is unlimited demand with no counterbalance. What has changed is that patient and provider have become competitors (for dollars). What we suffer through are incentives that encourage (by paying for) the very things we do NOT want. How will proposed "healthcare reforms" solve any of these problems? Will a new insurance Program (Democrats) fix this? What about tax breaks and "insurance pools" (Republicans)? Who believes that big insurance can, much less will, cut $2 trillion from national healthcare payments (to them)? Where is organized medicine in all this? Why are they not advocating for us and for what we need: affordable, accessible, quality health care? What the government and the pundits are offering us - so-called healthcare reform - is snake oil , not real solutions. Face it: we need a new system . We need replacement , not reform. We need a transplant, not cosmetic surgery. Healthcare needs replacement , not reform.
 
Judy Patrick: Governor Schwarzenegger's Proposed Cuts Hurt Elderly, Disabled, Hungry Most Top
At noon on Sunday mornings the church I attend in downtown Oakland distributes about 100 bags of food. Those who line up to receive these bags are usually elderly residents and a few homeless men who live in the neighborhood. Last Sunday as I looked at the line forming, it was a starkly different group of people -- many more young people and mothers with their young children. In the end, we packed and distributed 223 bags of food. This very same week our Governor announced his proposed elimination of most major supports for public assistance to our state's poor and disabled residents. He proposed that we eliminate CalWORKS, the program that provides very limited cash support (a maximum of $652 per month for a family of three) to low and no income families with children. This would leave 1.3 million Californians with no cash support, most of whom are single mothers with significant barriers -- access to affordable childcare, disability or domestic violence -- to employment in an economy where it is very difficult for unemployed people with strong skills to find jobs. The Governor also proposed the elimination of Healthy Families, a program that provides health coverage to low income children, and two programs created by Governor Wilson: the Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI) and the California Food Assistance Program. CAPI provides core assistance to about 10,500 mostly elderly Asian women, many of whom immigrated here after the conflicts in Asia. These are the women we see on Sundays at the food pantry because they cannot live on their current income. Women who, despite their advanced age, stand in line for 2-3 hours leaning on their walkers in order to get a bag of food that contains one can of vegetables, one can of fruit, one can of soup, a small can of tuna or chicken, cereal, milk, a grain or beans and on a good day a few pieces of fresh produce. At the end of this wait, they struggle to walk home with food that will last a day or two. If the California Food Assistance Program (state funded Food Stamps for legal immigrants) were eliminated, 23,700 people would lose their food assistance and $30 million would be cut from the economy. That's because these programs are mostly funded by federal dollars. The portion of state funding varies from 10% to 33% of the total expenditure. Ending these programs not only leaves federal dollars on the table but further decimates city and county budgets and creates greater need for nonprofit and faith-based social service programs -- programs that are already under-funded and over-extended. The economic concerns are the least important. How we as a state treat "the least of these" matters the most. As the Governor was announcing his severe cuts he talked about California standing on the edge of a cliff with a gun to its head. It is the Governor who is standing on the edge of this cliff and throwing over the edge poor women, poor children, the disabled, the elderly and the mental ill. Is this the California we want? There are solutions. These solutions, however, demand an increase in State revenues, skillful budget cutting that protects those least able to protect themselves and a legislature that can move from being positional to being true problem solvers. We must communicate to our elected officials that we would be receptive to thoughtful tax increases and that we expect them to stop pointing fingers and digging in their heels. We elected them to be problem solvers, and if there was ever a time when we needed cooperative and creative problem solving it is now. More on Taxes
 
Huff TV: Huffington Post Editor Nico Pitney Questions Obama About Iran During His Press Conference (VIDEO) Top
Nico Pitney, National Editor of The Huffington Post, has been covering the Iranian presidential election and the subsequent turbulence with his extensive live-blog . During President Obama's press conference this afternoon he called on Pitney who asked him a question solicited from an Iranian on the ground in the country. Pitney asked: "Under which conditions would you accept the election of Ahmadinejad, and if you do accept it without any significant changes in the conditions there isn't that a betrayal of what the demonstrators there are working for?" Watch the President's response below. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy More on Barack Obama
 
Dr. David Kipper: Health Care: Why We're One Letter Off Top
We have missed the boat by only one letter in attempting to solve our health care crisis: It's not WHO that should fix it (the HMO's, PPO's, the State, and the Feds) but WHY it fundamentally needs fixing. What is actually broken is the upside-down way we have been looking at this problem. We are trying to fix a costly "reactive" health care system rather than create a cost-saving "proactive" program. We need to immediately initiate a massive preventative health care program in order to truly stop the bleeding of now over a trillion dollars in health care costs. We must utilize our best technology, peer into our individual futures with the newly mapped human genome, and for the first time easily identify those at risk for known chronic, debilitating, and expensive diseases. We'll then be able to maneuver around them with personalized preventative care plans, based on targeted education, medications, and life-style adjustments. And most importantly, incentivize everyone for good behaviors (what if your insurance company actually paid you for losing weight, joining a gym, or cutting your calories in half?). Every one of us, starting at birth, would have access to state of the art diagnostics like endoscopies, heart scans, genetic testing, and exposing biomarkers found in our blood and known to be associated with specific diseases. We can already identify who is at risk for diabetes, Alzheimer's, heart disease, addiction, cancers, and mental illness. Take addiction as an example of what should be done. Less than ½ of 1% of all doctors treat addiction, yet it's the most menacing of health problems, especially in adolescents. In a recent survey of senior medical students, 65 % admitted they felt incapable of treating alcoholism. So the first thing we should do is increase the training of physicians and other health care professionals about this disease. We must educate those at high risk (genetics and environmental cues have been clearly identified to select out those that are vulnerable), address their individual neurochemistry that could potentially drive their addictive behavior, fix that, and monitor their progress until they enter adulthood. The judgment part of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) is not fully developed until we are in our early twenties, making adolescence a vulnerable period in anyone's life for making mistakes and creating behaviors that have long-lasting health implications. Identifying adolescents at risk and intervening early is good insurance for a healthier adult, in any chronic disease. All of this comes at a time when those my age will sit heavily on the health care burden we will all share over the next ten years. Let us pray that someone in the government will vow to "stand on their head" to solve this problem, and finally be able to see the solution from the right direction.
 
Larry Coben: Time for the Gigaton Throwdown! Top
Tomorrow in Washington, the Gigaton Throwdown releases its long awaited report on how to remove a gigaton of CO2 from our atmosphere while building an industry to do it. The report presents a potential path to a robust renewable industry and enhanced energy independence and security. The brainchild of entrepreneur Sunil Paul, the report represents energy and environmental policy as it should be made-a well-crafted set of policies designed to achieve a specific goal, not the typical series of vague and amorphous standards and rules from which no potential results are derivable. Some of the recommendations will be well known, some controversial, and some perhaps not feasible. (I was a reviewer of the report). I will not comment on specifics until the report is out, but it will generate much discussion about how serious we are about carbon dioxide reduction and creating a strong renewable industry, and the routes and costs to get there. So check out the report and then we'll talk. More on Green Energy
 
Dick Cheney Memoir Planned For 2011: "I Want My Grandkids...To Be Able To Read It And Understand What I Did" Top
NEW YORK — Former Vice President Dick Cheney has signed a book deal with a conservative imprint of Simon & Schuster and said he hopes readers of all ideologies will be interested in his story. The memoir by Cheney, widely considered the most powerful vice president in history, is expected to be published in Spring 2011, a few months after President George W. Bush's book comes out. Cheney's work is currently untitled and will cover his long career in government, from chief of staff under President Ford to vice president under Bush, from Vietnam and Watergate to the first Gulf War and the Sept. 11 attacks. In a telephone interview Tuesday with The Associated Press, the 68-year-old Cheney noted that he had never written a book about his years in government, which dates back to the 1960s. "I'm persuaded there are a lot of interesting stories that ought to be told," Cheney said. "I want my grandkids, 20 or 30 years from now, to be able to read it and understand what I did, and why I did it." Financial terms were not disclosed. A publishing official with knowledge of the negotiations, but not authorized to publicly discuss, said the deal was likely worth at least $2 million. Cheney's literary representative, Washington attorney Robert Barnett, declined comment. Known for his secrecy while in the Bush administration, Cheney has made it clear since leaving office that he was planning a memoir. He is working on the book _ in longhand and on computer _ at his home outside of Washington, D.C., and in collaboration with his daughter, Liz Cheney. Books by former vice presidents rarely attract a lot of interest unless the author is likely to run for president (Richard Nixon had a best seller in the early 1960s with "Six Crises"), or claims an expertise outside of electoral politics (Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," released in 2006 and the companion to the Academy Award-winning documentary about global warming). But Cheney's influence is like no other vice president's and his side of the story should at least catch the attention of the general public, including the many who don't like him. An architect and aggressive defender of Bush administration policies, from the Iraq War to the treatment of suspected terrorists, Cheney has consistently had low approval ratings, sometimes under 30 percent, but he is deeply admired by those that stand by him. "He appeals very strongly to the conservative side of the political spectrum. That's absolutely true," said Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy. "But what also fascinates me is the sheer breadth of his experience." The book will be published by Simon & Schuster's Threshold Editions imprint, founded in 2005 and headed by a longtime Cheney friend and former aide: Republican strategist Mary Matalin. Threshold has become an unofficial publishing home to the Cheney family, releasing memoirs by Cheney's wife Lynne Cheney and by daughter Mary Cheney. Matalin has not only reaffirmed her Washington connections, but tapped into _ like few others _ the current conservative market. She has published one of the most popular works of 2009, Mark Levin's "Liberty and Tyranny," and recently released "Glenn Beck's Common Sense," which on Tuesday ranked No. 1 on Amazon.com. "A lot of those kinds of books were selling well before, but they've certainly been enhanced by this environment, where conservatives feel a certain urgency; the future of the party feels uncertain," Matalin said. "Cheney's book may play into that _ it can't not, I think. But it will also be about the policies that played out under that philosophy of government, over almost half a century." Cheney said his book will reflect his conservative outlook, but that he has no plans to write "a screed" and sees no reason why liberals shouldn't want to read it, "because it covers some of very interesting and important events in our recent history. "I would hope it has an appeal to anyone who has an interest in these developments," Cheney said. Interest in Cheney can be measured by how many books have been written about him. It is a vast, diverse and mostly unflattering library, from parodies such as "Dick Cheney's Diary" and "Duck! The Dick Cheney Survival Bible" to Barton Gellman's investigative "Angler," in which Cheney is portrayed as a virtual law unto himself in the Bush administration. Cheney said Tuesday that he was aware "there have been quite a few (books) about me as vice president," and added, "A couple of them I have looked at," mentioning Stephen Hayes' sympathetic "Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President," a 2007 release written with his cooperation. Cheney said that he has a "stack of books" by his bedside, accumulated while he was vice president, and "wanted to read at least some of them." Asked if he might have a look at the Gellman book, or another critical take, Cheney said, "I expect I would." He has made sharp comments over the past few months, not just about the Obama administration, but about former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who often differed with Cheney when they served under George W. Bush. But when discussing his book Tuesday, Cheney said, "In terms of carrying grudges or trying to settle grudges, that's not my purpose. If it had been, I wouldn't have lasted very long in politics." "He knows he's called Darth Vader," said Simon & Schuster's Carolyn Reidy. "He's aware of how he's been portrayed. But I didn't feel any defensiveness when I met with him. I remember thinking, `I can see why four presidents gave him very responsible jobs in their administrations.'" More on Dick Cheney
 
Autotuning Athletes: Song Shows Sad Side Of Sports (VIDEO) Top
DJ Steve Porter made the following video using his favorite moment from sports pressers, including Allen Iverson hating on his teammates, Jim Mora hating on his team, and Joe Namath loving up on a reporter, and mashed them all together with an auto-tuner to make a surprisingly fun remix. WATCH: Get HuffPost Comedy On Facebook and Twitter! More on Sports
 
Sanford's Story Questioned: Vehicle Tracked To Airport Top
WYFF News 4 has received exclusive information from sources who say they have information about Gov. Mark Sanford's whereabouts during a mysterious absence over the past several days. [...] On Tuesday, sources told News 4's Nigel Robertson that a state vehicle is missing and was tracked down, not to the Appalachian Trail, but to the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.
 
A. Siegel: CBO gets it wrong on climate legislation Top
The Congressional Budget Offie has come out with an evaluation of climate change legislation that pegs the cost at just $175 per household, per year. This is being trumpeted by legislation supporters as great news. I've got news for you. The CBO is wrong, potentially seriously wrong. And, bill supporters are wrong, potentially seriously wrong. In fact, the CBO excluded so many factors from its analysis that it is almost hard to take it seriously. And, almost without exception, the excluded factors bring benefits to America and Americans. In other words, an honest and full analysis of this bill would not leave it at a cost ... but as a benefit. ACES won't cost US. This energy and climate legislation will benefit the US (and all of us). A quick background re perspective Well, I am (at best) lukewarm on how the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act has evolved. It violates basic principles for climate legislation , unreasonably rewards (and enables) polluters , isn't aggressive enough on clean energy, and isn't strong enough against what is required (and to seize opportunities before us), ... Okay ... with that in mind. Scoring costs but not all benefits ... The Congressional Budget Office has come out with an evaluation that, as the Washington Post reported , Climate-change legislation would cost the average household $175 a year by 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office, far below the figure commonly used by GOP critics of the House bill. The CBO said yesterday that the poorest 20 percent of American households would actually receive a $40 benefit in 2020 from the legislation, which would establish a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions, while the richest 20 percent of households would see a net cost of $245 a year. Supporters of action, of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, are trumpeting this CBO report, highlighting that it proves that it will only cost " a postage stamp a day ". "Americans know that building a clean energy economy has real value, and this CBO analysis proves it," said Rep. Markey. "Low-income American families will see a $40 benefit from using more wind and solar energy and less foreign oil. And f or the cost of about a postage stamp a day , all American families will see a return on their investment as our nation breaks our dependence on foreign oil, cuts dangerous carbon pollution and creates millions of new clean energy jobs that can't be shipped overseas." These advocates are doing a disfavor to the American public. And to the cause of serious action to reduce climate change impacts. In fact, the CBO report is almost certainly overstating the actual costs because it, quite explicitly, is understating the benefits of action. Very simply, if anything, the CBO scoring is overly negative since it doesn't consider systems-of-systems implications. Job creation and, therefore, lowered governmental services demand: not in the calculation. (Trading imported oil for jobs building up an electrified rail network, for example ...) Economic implications of climate change -- and the avoided costs due to reduced pollution: not included. Health care benefits (to federal budget and otherwise) due to reduced fossil fuel pollution: not included. Increased productivity due to better health and better working conditions: not included. The analysis didn't even include the bill's strong energy efficiency provisions, which are direct cost savers. [Note: EPA has analyzed the bill and has lower cost figures than CBO mainly, it seems, because they did include the efficiency elements.] From the House Energy and Commerce Committee : CBO specifically notes that this figure " does not include the economic benefits and other benefits of the reduction in GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions and the associated slowing of climate change." In particular, CBO did not analyze the energy efficiency improvements and resulting savings in energy costs that will result from the ACES Act's investment of over $60 billion in the next ten years in energy efficiency and required improvements in energy efficiency . One outside group, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE), has estimated that the benefits of the energy efficiency provisions in ACES, which generally were not included in the CBO estimate, will save consumers $22 billion in 2020 alone, with cumulative savings of $3,900 per household by 2030. The $175 figure is, if anything, pessimistic. In fact, CBO probably has the sign wrong -- it shouldn't be a negative (in terms of cost) but positive (in terms of returned value for investment). More on Climate Change
 
Joe Peyronnin: "I am Burning" Top
So often historic events are symbolized by a single iconic image. "I am burning, I am burning," were Neda Agha-Soltan's last words as she bled to death from a bullet wound through her heart. Neda was an innocent young lady returning from singing lessons that were conducted "underground" because Iranian women are not allowed to sing in public. "She was so full of life," said a relative, "She sang pop music." Witnesses spoke of hearing the crack of a sniper shot from a Tehran rooftop, then in a split second seeing her body fall to the ground. The bullet intended to snuff out the life of a protester has instead transformed a nation. The video of Neda's death has fueled fires of passion in most Iranians, fanning rage against government oppression of freedoms and human rights. "We have seen courageous women stand up to brutality and threats, and we have experienced the searing image of a woman bleeding to death on the streets," President Barack Obama said in his news conference today. Describing the Neda death as "heartbreaking," he concluded, "While this loss is raw and painful, we also know this: Those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history." Fear and uncertainty runs through a population that is largely young and unaccustomed to the fresh air of freedom. Rumors and disinformation are spreading on social networking sites and word of mouth. But the mullahs, who govern this rigidly Islamic state, are feeling fear and uncertainty as well. Fissures are beginning to appear in the foundations of this nation. Political jockeying has ensued as would-be leaders position themselves for more power. Western nations are being accused of inciting protests by the Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, especially England and the United States. Most Iranians are wary of the U.S. given its long history of meddling in that country. Khamenei would love nothing more than to turn this into an Iran versus the USA showdown. While Obama has been properly cautious up to now, today he appropriately ratcheted up his rhetoric. "I have made it clear that the United States respects the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and is not interfering in Iran's affairs," Obama said. "But we must also bear witness to the courage and dignity of the Iranian people, and to a remarkable opening within Iranian society. And we deplore violence against innocent civilians anywhere that it takes place." If the report is true, it is also deplorable that the Iranian government is charging families of dead protestors a $3,000 "bullet fee." Under orders of the government the family quickly buried Neda's body. There will be no memorial, no service in her memory and no public prayers. Neda's organs will be donated to those in need of a transplant. The former philosophy student and musician, whose name means, "voice," has spoken to the world through her death. Neda didn't have a weapon. She was not a soldier at war; she was not a revolutionary. Neda was a Persian woman. She was a daughter of Iran. She lived her entire life of twenty-six years never knowing total freedom. Her fiancé, Caspian Makan, said, "She wanted freedom, freedom for everybody." Neda's death is a tragedy. But her death has now given voice to an unstoppable movement toward freedom in Iran. More on Barack Obama
 
Chad Dobson: Obama's Schooling the Bank on Transparency Top
Co-authored by Rebecca Harris Who would have imagined that transparency, participation and collaboration would be stated goals of any official U.S. government (USG) policy -- and not just in a rhetorical manner, but rather as an invitation for constructive engagement with American citizenry? The World Bank (WB), currently reviewing its policy on information disclosure, could stand to learn a thing or two about openness from the recent efforts of the United States Government. Obama raised the hopes of many with the release of the Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government on his first day in the Oval Office. In it, he acknowledged the relationship between citizen engagement and effective governance and demanded that the Executive government foster participatory policymaking and improve access to information housed within the Federal government. While many applauded the about-face from the previous Administration's penchant for Cold War-levels of secrecy, some were dubious as to the real world implications of what could turn out to be inspired, though toothless, rhetoric. Recent measures by the Obama Administration have demonstrated that the January 21st memo was more than a passing thought, including the launch of the Open Government Initiative in May, a three-pronged approach to increasing the transparency of the U.S. Government, as well as last month's announcement of a taskforce to evaluate levels of government secrecy led by Attorney General Eric Holder, Jr. and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. Additionally, Data.gov launched on May 21st as a means of improving public access to government data sets. While these actions may appear minor when examined in a vacuum, collectively they illustrate a conscious move by the Administration to strengthen transparency and freedom of information within the U.S. Government. The brainstorming phase of the Open Government Initiative solicited public suggestions that were then categorized into five transparency themes (principles, governance, access, data and operations) and posted on the WhiteHouse.gov blog. The opening of the government is a massive undertaking -- practically and symbolically -- as equal consideration must be given to principles of national security, budget, staff capacity, as well as the organizational culture within government departments that does not naturally skew toward an air of public disclosure. Despite these challenges, efforts at improving transparency in the USG are real and underway. Similarly, the World Bank began a review of its Policy on Disclosure of Information this spring, holding civil society consultations in more than thirty locations worldwide. Suggestions for progressive disclosure are often met with resistance from the Bank staff who claim that time, cost, and scale stand in the way of implementation (or consideration) of various tenets of disclosure. One must then ask if the U.S. Government is planning to adopt innovative notions of transparency, why is it too large or too radical of an undertaking for the World Bank? A comparison of the competing approaches illustrates the stark variation between the U.S. Government's surprisingly forward-thinking transparency agenda and that of the World Bank. Currently, the WB offers no timeline or procedural guarantee for timely release of requested documents, while the USG is considering a proposal that involves the invocation of penalties on agencies in non-compliance with the Freedom of Information Act or those allowing excessive delays for public information disclosure. The USG and WB differ when it comes to sharing the raw data and research that is used to craft policies and loan agreements, respectively. As aforementioned, the USG launched Data.gov in May while the WB hoards large quantities of information, charging steep fees for reports produced from publicly-funded research. Within the Bank, Board of Directors meetings are closed to the public, thereby widening the gap in accountability. Citizens of governments receiving WB loans are unable to monitor positions of their Executive Directors on loan agreements or far-reaching policies. Conversely, the USG is considering a proposal to require that all public agency meetings and Federal Advisory Committee Act meetings are webcast, in addition to publishing a list of everyone who meets with the President. Document declassification is another area in which the USG is currently surpassing the Bank's efforts. On May 28th, Obama commissioned a taskforce to examine levels of government secrecy, specifically, how to better share information and streamline the declassification process of government documents. The World Bank, however, has suggested that all documents be declassified unless they fall under certain exceptions, a move which could put the Bank ahead of U.S. policy if the exceptions are written narrowly, which is by no means assured. Over the past five months, President Obama has made great strides in improving transparency within the USG. While implementation and translation of these new principles into policy may prove difficult, he's off to a promising start. Mr. Zoellick and his team of experts over at the Bank could stand to learn a thing or two from the U.S. Government. More on Transparency
 
Jon & Kate Divorce Papers: Lived 'Separate And Apart' TWO YEARS Top
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Kate Gosselin says in divorce papers that she and her husband Jon have lived "separate and apart" for at least two years. Gosselin filed for divorce Monday in Montgomery County Court in Pennsylvania, saying in papers that her 10-year marriage is "irretrievably broken." The star of TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8" also says they have been unable to agree on dividing their assets. The Gosselins had portrayed themselves as happy until the past few months, even renewing their wedding vows in Hawaii last year. The divorce filing was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. The series follows Jon and Kate Gosselin as they raise their eight young children, including 8-year-old twins and sextuplets who just turned 5. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) _ Kate Gosselin says in divorce papers that she and her husband Jon have been living "separate and apart" for at least two years. Gosselin filed for divorce Monday in Montgomery County Court in Pennsylvania, saying in papers that her 10-year marriage is "irretrievably broken." She also says they have been unable to come to terms on how to divide their assets. The Gosselins had portrayed themselves as happy up until the past few months, even renewing their wedding vows in Hawaii last year. The divorce filing was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. The hit TLC series follows Jon and Kate Gosselin as they raise their eight young children, including 8-year-old twins and sextuplets who just turned 5. More on Celebrity Splits
 
Steven Crandell: 8 Minutes that Can Help Change the World -- Sneak Peak of New Video Featuring President Obama Top
There's a new DVD about the most urgent catastrophic threat facing our planet. And it features a leader who is determined to do something about it. As U.S. President Barack Obama says in the video: "This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons." Take a sneak peak. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation created the new DVD. It aims to grow public awareness and involvement in the movement to eliminate nuclear weapons. Called "U.S. Leadership for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World," the 8-minute educational video shows how the US and the world will benefit by moving beyond nuclear weapons. It follows "Nuclear Weapons and the Human Future," the Foundation's first DVD. More than 5,000 copies have been distributed of this first DVD. The new DVD comes at a time of great opportunity for progress toward nuclear disarmament. The United States and Russia, which hold 95 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, are in negotiations to cut their nuclear arsenals and renew the START treaty. President Obama is pushing to strengthen the Non-Proliferation Treaty, to ratify the Nuclear Test Ban treaty and to work internationally to control nuclear materials. In April, speaking in Prague, President Obama laid out the goal in direct language: "Today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." Here are the key points about the new DVD, U.S. Leadership for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World • The DVD is free and can be pre-ordered now , with a projected release date of July 20, 2009. Of course, it can be viewed on-line right now. • On the DVD, people will also be able to view a Spanish-language version as well as the first video "Nuclear Weapons and the Human Future" • The free DVD will be one of the key tools used by the Foundation's volunteer peace leaders around the United States and the world - with these peace leaders showing the DVD in their own communities to inform and motivate their family, friends, neighbors and work colleagues. • "U.S. Leadership for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World" was edited entirely by a volunteer peace leader , Ivan VanWingerden, who is a university student at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. "Political will and US leadership have been the most significant missing elements for achieving a world free of nuclear weapons," writes Dr. David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and a campaigner for nuclear weapons abolition for 27 years. "Now that these elements are in place, we may be surprised by how quickly the planning and implementation process can proceed toward the total global elimination of these unconscionable weapons." Earlier this year, Dr. Krieger led a delegation to Washington, DC to present a petition to the White House seeking new leadership for a world free of nuclear weapons. The special appeal was signed by 70,000 people and 100 organizations. "[President Obama] has taken us a third of the way to the goal by articulating this vision. Now a more detailed plan must be formulated and the plan must be implemented," writes Dr. Krieger. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation wants to help bring such a plan, based on this new U.S. policy, to fruition. See the Foundation's Action Plan 2009-2010 . The Foundation wants to use its extensive educational resources ( www.wagingpeace.org and www.nuclearfiles.org ) to create strong grassroots support for the goal we share with President Obama. The Foundation believes that sensible nuclear disarmament -- multilateral, phased, irreversible, verifiable and transparent -- is an essential part of ensuring the future viability of our precious planet Earth. Anyone who supports the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons can join the Foundation at http://www.wagingpeace.org / Membership is free. Founded in 1982, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan international education and advocacy organization. It has consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is recognized by the UN as a Peace Messenger Organization. . More on Nuclear Weapons
 
Donald Ndahiro: Sustainable Results: Addressing Misconceptions About The Millennium Villages Project Top
Here in Rwanda, Magatte Wade's strange recent Huffington Post blog was received with quite a bit of surprise. Wade's assertions over what she calls "ignorant" and "arrogant" rules for village tourism is wholly off-base. For starters, the community itself began the official tour program--in partnership with a private sector partner--nearly two years ago as a way to manage the significant number of requests to visit the village. As word of Mayange's development successes spread, the number of students, professors, NGOs, and other development practitioners interested in visiting grew as well. In true entrepreneurial spirit--precisely the opposite of Ms. Wade's description--the people living in Mayange saw a way to take ownership over the interest in their work. Thus, far from accurately attacking Professor Sachs or the Millennium Villages Project , Wade has actually (and unintentionally, no doubt) gone after the very Africans that she purports to support! The Millennium Villages Project was not and is not involved in their management nor content. Rather, the community formed a cooperative with nearly 200 members to ensure that tours would be informative and interesting. The community formed this because it did not wish professors or tourists or anyone to be shown their accomplishments without leaving some lasting benefit. Among the co-op's requests was that tourists viewed it as a valuable touristic experience and not "come see the poor and how they live" but rather: "come see how a community that went through hell in 1994 and beyond has developed to become one of the most robust in the country." Nearly 70% of revenues from the tours go into a community development fund. Last year the community decided to use it to build homes for the homeless. It was the community leadership that specifically requested that all visitors be aware of the first rule that Wade found so offensive -- to avoid handouts of candies, pens, or anything else to community members. Their view was that such handouts would inculcate a view by their children that visitors were sources of charity rather than sources of revenue and learning. That's why the tour visits their superb basket cooperative and their farms, schools and health center. The community wants sales and purchase orders! With regard to Mayange's small business development plan, Wade's argument makes it clear that somehow she missed the critical link between the Millennium Village's work and entrepreneurship. The village that she visited in Rwanda was devoid of businesses when the Millennium Village began its work in 2006. The vast majority of the community was suffering malnutrition, and a famine had broken out. There were no health services. School enrollment was minimal. There was no electricity available. Agriculture was disastrous as was the environmental effect of decades of erosion. Entrepreneurship simply could not exist let alone thrive in this sort of environment. It's against that backdrop that the government of Rwanda and community of Mayange chose to be a Millennium Village site. Since then, the project has been entirely Rwandan-run and implemented on the ground. In a short period of time the results have been impressive. From that, the government is now adopting key Millennium Village approaches, under its national Umurenge Vision 2020 initiative, which calls for scaling up to nearly 1 million additional people in the poorest parts of the country. Here is a short list of key results: Farmers across the board are growing 60% more food with some experiencing 2 and 3-fold increases. This means there's more to eat, sell and save. The community now stores vital grains annually in a seed bank rather than relying on hand-outs or humanitarian relief. There is a fully-functioning health center run by Rwandans which delivers more than 85% of the community's babies and provides primary health care. We're proud that it is considered one of the best in the district. School enrollment has gone through the roof with more than 95% of children of age in attendance. Dozens of new cooperatives have taken off and are generating employment and new products. The community leaders frequently comment that weekly funerals of children which were once commonplace just two years ago, have since ceased altogether. In short, the project, which through and through is community-led, has achieved its goal of sustainably reducing poverty in the community, and on that foundation of stability, the community has begun real prosperity-creation projects. As a local, my goal has long been to build dignity and development together. That's the heart of the project here in Rwanda and in all nine countries where the Millennium Villages project currently works. Sharing with my colleagues in Ehtiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Mali, Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal has been an intense and wonderful experience. And while the debate still rages on, we will work tirelessly to meet the goals we have set forth. More on Africa
 
Humanitarian Worker Returns From Somalia: "Some Of The Worst [Conditions] I Have Ever Seen" (SLIDESHOW) Top
Oxfam Humanitarian Coordinator Hassan Noor has just come back from a field trip in Somalia. The latest fighting around the capital Mogadishu has had a devastating impact on ordinary Somalis who flee the city to seek refuge. Oxfam estimates that over 70,000 people have been displaced in recent weeks because of the fighting. The photos, taken by Hassan Noor, show what Oxfam has been doing to help the newly displaced people in Afgooye. Quotes are from Hassan himself, who has described the living conditions in camps as "some of the worst I have ever seen - I couldn't see a single shelter fit for human beings as thousands of people have nothing to sleep under or protect them from the searing heat and heavy rains." More on Somalia
 
Perez Hilton's Sobbing Video Insanity Condensed To One Crazy Minute (NSFW) Top
Ok, we lied, we couldn't get it down to a minute even though we trotted out every fancy editing trick we knew. It's a minute and a half--a minute and a half of pure crazy--a minute and a half of a self-obsessed, angry, narcissistic, celebutard ranting about a member of the Black Eyed Peas. It's amazing and we knew you couldn't sit through the whole twelve minutes, so we included only the choicest parts. WATCH: Get HuffPost Comedy On Facebook and Twitter! More on In A Minute
 
Kase Wickman: Iran Elections: Quit Turning Your Twitter Avatars Green and Do Something Top
If you've been on the Internet in the last week and a half, you've know: Green is the hot new color. Twitter avatars, Facebook profile pictures, Web site logos...Iran's Sea of Green has taken over the Internet. It's a well-intentioned fad, but a fad nonetheless, and it's time for it to end. The amount of noise generated on the Internet has reached a deafening peak, and, quite frankly, it's about time everyone shut up or did something useful. If you're wondering what useful is not , take a look at your Twitter feed. As painful as it may be to admit, no lives are being saved, and no change is being made by adding a green overlay to your online presence, as made popular by the HelpIranElection.com movement . The site boasts that you can "add a green overlay with 1-click!" and that "over 160,000 people have joined! You can too!" One click is too easy. One click is not one life saved, one dollar donated, not one ounce of difference made. One click is nothing at all. Like the LiveStrong wristbands, the Iran post-election protest has become a fashionable cause, a Miss America-style way of showing that you really, really care, when for the most part, people know nothing about the underlying causes and history of Iran's unrest, who the candidates were, why it's so bad that some dude whose name they can only pronounce by dint of the mnemonic device "I'mADinnerJacket" won the election, or why the numbers the Iranian government is putting out are totally implausible bullshit. At least when people bought those stupid wristbands, a buck went to fighting cancer. Those outside Iran have had a visceral reaction to the images and reports coming out of Iran. Our feelings can best be summed up in the words of a commenter on Jezebel's post of the video of Neda , a young Iranian woman whose horrifyingly graphic death, bleeding out in the streets of Tehran has become a symbol of the movement: "Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck." As President Barack Obama said in his press conference Tuesday, it's a heartbreaking situation. So instead of empty gestures and hashtags, why don't we actually engage in some activism and help, instead of whispering about this like some kind of neighborhood scandal that will never catch up to us because it's an ocean away? There's always the option of an online donation to a relief agency like Red Crescent , for something immediate and helpful. The world runs on money and blood (as the events in Iran over the last week and a half have so morosely reminded us), and America is too far away to donate the blood that the wounded in Iran so desperately need. You can also make donations to those covering the ongoing protests and violence, like Tehran Bureau , which is run by an Iranian-emigre out of a house in Newton, Massachusetts and is in need of financial support to keep the site live and bandwidth plentiful. Reliable information is harder and harder to come by, already 24 journalists have been arrested in Iran , and the majority of the rest have been forced out of the country by expired visas and government intimidation. Don't have cash? There are ways you can help for free without ever leaving your computer. You can create a proxy or Twitter relay to help keep those ever-important Iranian Twitterers connected and informing the world about the situation in Iran. Or change your location and time zone to match Iran , in hopes of tripping up government censors looking for active sources. If you're more diplomatically-inclined, and looking toward the long term, write a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council and urge them to take action on international election standards and protection for citizens. Above all, the thing you must do before any difference can be made is to inform yourself . The term " knowledge is power " wouldn't be repeated so much if it wasn't true. So spend some time reading the news, know what the hell you're talking about, and go out and tell someone else about it, and how they can help. Just, for the love of God, don't think that turning your Twitter avatar green is going to help anything. Originally posted at Air America Media. More on Twitter
 
David Westin: My Response To House Republicans' Criticism Of Our Upcoming Health Care Special Top
The following letter is my response to the members of the Congressional Media Fairness Caucus, who have criticized ABC News' upcoming special on President Obama's health care plan (see below). June 23, 2009 The Honorable Lamar S. Smith Chairman, Media Fairness Caucus Congress of the United States 2409 Russell House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Congressman Smith: Thank you for your letter of today's date concerning our planned coverage tomorrow of health care reform in America. I am pleased that you agree that the subject deserves extensive and careful coverage. This is precisely what ABC News has given healthcare over many years; it is what we plan to continue tomorrow. Unfortunately, you have found it appropriate to criticize a program that has not yet aired. Contrary to your assertions, this will not be "slanted" in any way - much less a "day-long infomercial" or "in-kind free advertising" as you allege. It will be a thoughtful, respectful, and probing discussion of some of the issues raised by the calls for health-care reform. We will include a variety of perspectives coming from private individuals asking the President questions and taking issue with him, as they see fit. We have heard already at some length (on ABC News and other outlets) from politicians and professional health care lobbyists, and there will be ample time to hear from them throughout the policy debate. I can see no reason why we should not hear tomorrow instead from some of the Americans most directly affected by the plans being discussed. Sadly, some inside government and within the private sector see every issue as material for a sort of political high theatre, to be used to gain votes or energize political bases or simply to raise funds. I would have thought that a subject as important as the health care received by the American people would rise above this sorry spectacle. Our citizens need and deserve more. We are proud to be making a serious effort to go beyond mere punditry or stylized, bipolar debate; we are proud to work for a network and a company willing to devote valuable airtime to serious consideration of a subject so worthy. Finally, on a note of personal privilege, I entirely reject your attack on my colleague, Dr. Timothy Johnson. Dr. Johnson has established himself over many years as the foremost medical editor in television news. His knowledge about health care reform is surpassed only by his commitment to the truth and to fairness. As for Linda Douglass, she did indeed cover Congress for ABC News. But she left us nearly four years ago to become a fellow at New York University and to work at the Rockefeller Foundation. I do appreciate your taking the time to express your views, which I will always welcome. Sincerely, David The letter above also appears on ABCNews.com. The letter from the Congressional Media Fairness Caucus: Congressional Media Fairness Caucus Letter To ABC News -
 
Jake Arky: Of Medicical And Marijuana Summer Televison Top
Summer television is in full swing and thank the boob-tube god up above that we have something interesting to watch other than the meltdown of the Gosselin family and people who do not matter putting their two cents into the issue. No, I'm talking about summer television that is fun, edgy, and looks to full capture the essence of summer -- meaningful escapism. Most audiences agree that while they do not like to dumb down their entertainment for the sake of escapism, they prefer it over actually being challenged and having more stress added to their lives. And who wants that during a season where trips to the beach and barbecues are the only thing you have to worry about? Luckily, not all summer television programming has reached a level of mediocrity and at the same time, it does not take itself too seriously either. Much like the friends you made at camp, one is new, one is old, and they are both magical doorways to other worlds for the hot nights between June and September. Weeds I am fully convinced Weeds can and should go on forever. There is hardly ever a rainy day, cool drinks with large straws are always, and Mary-Louise Parker is the perfect summer girlfriend who runs her own business and likes to get into trouble. What I particularly like about the show is how creator Jenji Kohan has not taken the Botwin clan back to the suburbs of Agrestic. It was a little shaky last season when Nancy and her crew showed up in San Diego , but what it proved was that there is more to this woman and all the other characters than just being a soccer mom who sells pot. Nancy Botwin is the new millennium American dream: a drug dealer, a mom, and someone who cannot seem to catch a break even when she is doing the best that she can. As with every season of Weeds , I'm not sure where it is going and I like that. Will Nancy's Mexican drug impresario really kill her once she has the baby? Can Andy prove himself to be just the thing that Nancy needs, even though he's slept with her sister now on several occasions? Are Silas and Shane forever damaged by their mother's actions or does it run in the family? The only thing I do not seem to care for any more -- and it pains me because she was such a fixture on the show for so long -- was Celia's storyline. She was kidnapped and no one would pay her ransom. Great! Funny! And a perfect ending? No, as next week's promo hinted at Celia's return from being south of the border. If the writers can make her an active part of the show and not just a punchline, I'm all for her staying. If not, it's time for Celia to pack her bags and a bowl and get smoked out. Nurse Jackie The last new show I tried on ShowTime did not end so well. This time, I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I'm really enjoying a new program from the ground up. Edie Falco, without a doubt, makes Nurse Jackie work and without her, I doubt it would be as strong of a series. Sure, it's another medical show, but it takes the humor of Scrubs and turns it dark, the episodic feeling of House and gives it structure, and puts doctors on the back burner in order to allow nurses to take center stage. Is it a summer show? Not really, but it gives the emotional kick to summer programming that usually gets lost between the cracks of reality and re-runs. The first episode was so-so, the next one got a little better, and last nights was fantastic was we really got to see Jackie's worlds all come together. Nurse Jackie might not know exactly how to handle its tone and style (the ads make it come off like a whimsical trip to the emergency room), but once it does, I'm certain it will take off beautifully. My suggestion: go darker, meaner, and even further with the humor. All these characters have more darkness to them and the audience needs to see that. So far my favorite character is Zoe Brakow, the student nurse that Jackie both loves and hates, played to perfection by Merritt Wever. I like how she is a perfect counter of light to Jackie's black hole and I look forward to seeing the young sprite either get taken down to a realistic level or fight to remain a nurse with optimism in her tool kit. The sun is shining, the weather is great, and you feel like you have all the time in the world. When you get a chance, though, bring your hot dogs and potato salad inside, crank up the A/C, and turn on your television like the rest of the year. Nancy and Jackie are happy to be your summer flings.
 
Pot Dealer Busted After Advertising Business On Craigslist Top
QUINCY, Mass. — A man has been arrested after he allegedly placed an advertisement on Craigslist selling marijuana. Police said undercover detectives responded to the advertisement and bought a small bag of pot from 30-year-old Christopher Gray for $45. According to police, Christopher Gray posted the advertisement on the online classified site with the words "420 help is here." The item read "Give me a ring if you need some help," and listed a phone number, which a detective called Friday and arranged for a meeting with Gray in Quincy. The term "420" is believed to stem from the time of day that smokers at a California high school in 1971 would meet to smoke pot. A telephone listing for Gray was disconnected and it was unclear if he had an attorney. ___ Information from: The Patriot Ledger, http://www.patriotledger.com More on Stupid Criminals
 
Russ Baker: UBS or Just Plain BS? Top
The Obama Justice Department has just floated a trial balloon to see if it can drop a legal effort to force the Swiss Bank UBS to disclose the names of 52,000 rich Americans suspected of using the bank to evade US taxes. Back in February, the Justice Department sued the bank in an effort to force it to name names. Now, however, a straight, rather unquestioning article in the New York Times' business section-- likely not to get the attention it deserves--reveals that the whole matter may just disappear. The apparent change of plans is offered to the Times by "a United States official briefed on the matter...The move, which would halt an unusually aggressive effort to force Switzerland to lift its veil of banking secrecy, could happen by mid-July." And the reason for this? An aggressive lobbying campaign. The Swiss bank's central claim is that if it discloses client names it would "violate Swiss financial secrecy laws and open its executives and bankers to prosecution in Switzerland." That seems highly improbable--more an excuse than a true justification for halting the effort to track wealthy Americans who shirk their responsibility to their fellow citizens. If the US successfully compels these Swiss bank officials to provide information about illegal behavior by US citizens, it is certainly a stretch to imagine those bankers being jailed in their own country for being so compelled. Crucial context is missing here. One way to understand the stakes is to study the deeper nature of UBS's relationship with the United States, including a long history of involvement in murky international ventures with all the hallmarks of covert offshore intelligence operations. For more on that, I refer you to material contained in my book, Family of Secrets: the Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces that Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America. More on Taxes
 
Christiane Amanpour: Islamic Revolution Is Why I Entered Journalism Top
CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour joined Lesley Stahl this morning for a wOw exclusive interview, in which these incredible journalists cover topics ranging from reporting on the crisis in Iran to the counterintuitively dominant role of women there to Christiane's Iranian upbringing with her "accidental refugee" family. Read on. More on CNN
 
Cute/Ridiculous Animal Thing Of The Day: Cat Stops Dog From Eating (VIDEO) Top
This hungry cat is not taking any crap from her canine counterpart. When he tries to horn in on some floor food, the feisty feline pushes him away with the flip of a paw. WATCH: Get HuffPost Comedy On Facebook and Twitter! More on Cute Animal Videos
 
AP Uses The Word 'Torture!' (And The Rest Of Your Scritti Politti) Top
So a federal judge has ordered the release of GITMO detainee Abd al Rahim Abdul Rassak , mainly because before he became a prisoner of the United States, he was the prisoner of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Federal prosecutors had thought that Rassak was allied with these forces, until videos found in an al-Qaeda safehouse proved otherwise. In the end, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon found the case for release too compelling to justify holding him any longer: "I disagree!" wrote the judge, adding that U.S. officials are "taking a position that defies common sense." The judge said the government and the U.S. media initially mistook Rassak as one of a number of suicide martyrs, based on a videotape captured at an al-Qaeda safehouse. Further investigation found the tape actually showed al Qaeda torturing him. In a 13-page written decision, the judge heaped scorn on the suggestion that Rassak could be part of the same terrorist organizations that had abused him. Rassak, a Syrian, had admitted to U.S. interrogators in 2000 that he stayed for several days at a guesthouse used by Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, where he helped clean weapons, and then briefly attended a terror training camp. "There is no evidence -- from either side -- as to why he suddenly was suspected by al-Qaeda leaders of spying and was tortured for months into giving a false confession," Leon wrote. "It is highly unlikely that by that point in time al-Qaeda (or the Taliban) had any trust or confidence in him. Surely extreme treatment of that nature evinces a total evisceration of whatever relationship might have existed!" If the prosecution's case was that Rassak had somehow bonded with his al Qaeda captors, maybe Sweden should have to take him into custody, to assist with all that Stockholm syndrome! But here's my larger point. Here's the AP's take: The discovery of suicide martyr videos seemed certain proof that Abd al Rahim Abdul Rassak was part of al-Qaeda. A closer look at his video, though, showed he was actually being tortured by al-Qaeda. "Tortured" by al-Qaeda? Don't they mean "harshly interrogated?" Bullshit Media Watchword Watch : Eric Boehlert notices that WaPo 's Chris Cillizza loves the term post-partisanship, even though it makes for some extremely confused reporting. I have urged Cillizza away from this term before! Courage In Journalism : Yahoo News. Not afraid to confront the tough questions . Step Away From The Social Media : This post, from CJR 's Richard Wexler , purports to demonstrate just how indistinguishable Howard Kurtz's tweets are from those of fake Doonesbury journalist Roland Hedley. But if you ask me, it builds a stronger case for encouraging people who don't add much value to Twitter to stop using it. [Would you like to follow me on Twitter ? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here .] More on Twitter
 
Turkey Lands In Manure Truck, Causes Crash Top
OSWEGATCHIE, N.Y. — A wild turkey landed inside the cab of a manure-hauling tractor trailer, startling the driver and sending the truck rolling into a ditch off a northern New York road. State police said Scott Fisher, 38, was traveling in St. Lawrence County near the Canadian border when the turkey flew in through an open window. As Fisher tried to shoo the bird out of the cab, the truck ran off the road and hit several fence posts and a utility pole before rolling onto its side in a ditch. Fisher wasn't hurt in the accident Monday. Police say the turkey escaped, leaving behind some of its feathers. More on Animals
 
Avital Binshtock: How to Be a Greener Pet Owner Top
Pets are such a source of joy; science has proven that having an animal companion provides many physical and psychological benefits. But America's more than 160 million owned dogs and cats surely impact the environment, so here are four tips about how to reduce Fido's and Fluffy's environmental pawprints. 1. Pound It : When you're looking for a furry friend to bring home, skip the pet stores and breeders and head to the pounds and shelters. The commercial pet trade creates an excess of animals -- and more mouths to feed, which creates more waste -- when millions are already in need of adoption . Plus, the business of selling animals can harm critical ecosystems like rainforests , from which 38 million creatures are removed every year for the retail-pet industry. Shelters stock an excellent selection of breeds (and mutts!) that need "recycling" into a new home, and some animal shelters are even going green . 2. Shop Green : The U.S. pet-product industry fetches $43 billion per year, only $1 billion of which goes to ecofriendly items . Do your part and grow that number by choosing organic pet food (it may sound ritzy but it really does help the earth) and equipment and toys made by eco-minded manufacturers like Scutte , Molly Mutt , and World's Best Cat Litter ; a Google search reveals many more. But buying greener doesn't mean you have to buy more; the best way to reduce waste is to buy less, so ask yourself whether your pet really needs the item you're considering buying. 3. Get 'Em Fixed : Animal overpopulation is an issue not only because up to 4 million shelter animals are euthanized in the U.S. each year , but also because of the environmental impact of too many stray and abandoned animals: they can harm local wildlife, deposit waste, and spread trash. Help curb the problem by having your pet spayed or neutered . 4. Deal With Their Waste : One of the biggest hassles of having a pet is handling their poop. Not only is it inherently unpleasant, but also poses environmental hazards such as water pollution , transmitting diseases to other species, and, if left unchecked in public spaces, causing human resentment toward animals. Do your civic, uh, duty by picking up any business your pet leaves behind using a biodegradable bag or a Skooperbox . Other ways to dispose of the stuff greenly include flushing it, composting it , and burying it. There are also plenty of eco-friendly kitty litters out there. More on Animals
 
WalletPop And Huff Po Living Discuss 'How We're Living Now' Top
The key to thriving in the new economy is understanding why we do things, not just knowing how to do them. That was one of the takeaways of a panel last night at the Morrison Hotel Gallery featuring WalletPop contributors Jason Cochran, Zac Bissonnette, and Bruce Watson; Huffington Post editor-at-large Russell Bishop; and "The Happiness Project" founder Gretchen Rubin. WalletPop's Andrea Chalupa moderated.
 
Man Caught Driving Drunk On Highway...In A Golfcart Top
RICHFIELD, Wis. — A South Milwaukee man was accused of driving drunk after trying to use a golf cart to drive home nearly 40 miles away from the golf course where he had been drinking beer. The Washington County Sheriff's Department said in a release Monday that the 47-year-old man told deputies his relatives had left him behind at the Kettle Hills Golf Course in Richfield Saturday. So, he got in a golf cart and headed for home on Highway 167. Someone called the sheriff's department to report an intoxicated man on a golf cart driving on the highway. Deputies caught up with the man about a mile from the golf course. He told investigators he had consumed 10 beers, but didn't think he was intoxicated. ___ Information from: WKOW-TV, http://www.wkowtv.com More on Stupid Criminals
 
Marissa Moss: Would Allen Ginsberg Like Twitter? Top
Every person -- especially every creative person and particularly those of us driven by words -- is facing a modern day conundrum: what means you, Twitter? Let's get this out of the way. I don't have a Twitter page, nor have I ever tweeted (correction: I had a Twitter page, subscribed to Maureen Dowd and my friend Esther's feeds, and then quickly deleted my account). I have a Facebook page. Actually, I have skeleton of a Facebook page -- last Thursday, late, in a fit of identity panic, I deleted all vaguely personal information such as groups, pages, and particularly invasive photos. My thought -- networking, OK. I can handle that. This is the age we're in. But if I haven't seen you in five years, I don't want you to define me by the fact that I am a fan of Barack Obama, some clever jazz musician I saw once and felt compelled to follow, and the book written by my friend's boss -- whom I've never even met? That internet representation of me, the me it should take time to know and listen to and hear complain and rant and laugh, that's not me. That's not even a well thought-out advertising icon of me. The general consensus among artists, at least ones I know, seems to be that blogging, Twitter and Facebook -- maybe social networking in general -- is going to be the death of the well-written word. Ask most poets if they are on Facebook, and they scowl. Old school journalists on blogging? Maybe you get an eye roll, a deep sigh, a resigned Iknowiknow I should, but Idontwanna (even as a contributor to Huffington Post and other web sites, I still treat each blog as an article, proofed and reread.). Twitter? Well, that's for Lindsay Lohan. Maybe you'll get them to admit it's been good for Iran. Maybe. As a writer but also a communications professional, I've been struggling with what to make of social networking ever since my first James Bond-esque espionage journey through Friendster (my page exists out there somewhere, I don't know where, floating around in cyberspace like a lost apparition). To me, when my colleague persuaded me to finally join Facebook, it seemed like yet another version of these virtual high-school reunion substitutes, where everyone indulges their narcissism, people with children are seemingly required to include a profile picture either of their kid and/or with their kid, and nothing much actually happens. I posted a couple photos (where I look good, naturally). I linked to a couple of my articles (god forbid my friends live another day without reading my witty yet incisive interviews or commentary). I had an internal debate on the etiquette of allowing ex-boyfriends into my Web-based life. Once and a while, I told Facebook what I was thinking (example: "Marissa Moss Is heading to the Shenandoah Valley after a night at the Bluegrass Inn," written leaving Nashville on my recent cross-country drive). I tended to write updates of things I'd want to remember, like little moments for a clip reel of my life or notes for a scrapbook. Then Twitter came around, and I started to get a little scared. You want to know what I'm thinking, all the time? My god. I've known for a while I couldn't simply dismiss technology. I've always thought it kind of base to say you are above these sorts of things, like the ways I've always considered myself agnostic instead of atheist, because while I may not believe in god, who the hell am I to think I know what the truth is at twenty-something? Same with technology. Anyway, every great writer or artist uses the blood of their times to breed new life, not hack at the corpse of ideas past, memorialized yet rotting away in the graveyard of books or ideas or poems. But this stuff is new. This stuff is different. Right? Cut to last Thursday. Late night, DC hotel, too much work, too little company, fair amount of wine. I had shifted the focus from my day-to-day responsibility to working on my novel (speaking of rotting away...). I try to practice a lesson I learned in college, the idea of justwriteitalldown and cut later, just get whatever is in your head in the easiest and quickest route possible. After all, I've written my best work this way, and have always idolized and tried to tap into that frame of being that Allen Ginsberg coined as spontaneous mind, as "first thought, best thought," as art as immediate, the blink of the eye and not the sight that comes after. Tried being the operative word. First thought, best thought. Improvisational jazz, poetry slams and music jams, Ginsberg, Kerouac. First thought, best thought. Holy hell. Is that Twitter? I started to think about the possibilities that one little line could hold. Could I spontaneously "tweet" poems to the entire world? Could I not only nurture this idea of first thought, best thought, but actually have a record of it? Would Twitter be the secret to unlocking that nasty habit of re-read, re-type, edit, delete, that's kept my writing locked away in that sad virtual manila folder called "work in progress" that sits idly on my computer desktop all day and all night, unopened, unshared? Would Allen Ginsberg tweet? The point is, I don't know. The destructive qualities of the Web are apparent and sometimes seemingly endless, but have we really, truly explored its creative qualities? Not to simply tell each other what we're doing, but what we're creating? I think we've all seen this past week, as tweets poured in from Iran, the potential power of this vehicle. We need to at least think, explore, wonder. Man, there's no boundary line to art. Charlie Parker said that once, and it's true. By ignoring technology, are we willingly caging ourselves in? Again, I don't yet know. But I think we owe it to ourselves to play around a little, to question what works for us and what doesn't. You can't absorb it all and you can't reject it all until you've given it a fair trial by jury. It's a daily battle for me, but feel free to join. More on Maureen Dowd
 
Jeff Madrick: The inflation and debt hawks are back and dangerous Top
The intellectual and political forces that kept the U.S. from having a more complete economic recovery during the Great Depression have not disappeared. And they are jeopardizing the current recovery and future prospects once again. They are the familiar faces who warn us at every opportunity that inflation will return, that the amount of debt taken on is a catastrophe that will cost the nation's children, that government deficits are evil, that intervention in free markets will undo the capitalist machine--and on. They were out in force in the 1930s, challenging Roosevelt where they could. Some of us who haven't looked at the history very closely may think they failed back then, but they did not. They kept the government from spending more--deficits never got high enough to turn the economy up rapidly. They basically forced Roosevelt to fund Social Security through a payroll tax to make it appear as if workers were paying their own way. (It is a pay-as-you-go system like every social or defense program.) They stopped national health insurance. They convinced Roosevelt, who had a bit of their boil in his blood to begin with, that inflation might come back in 1937, so he cut federal spending amid tax increases, and sent us into another severe recession. The same thinking led the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates then. Unemployment rose back almost to twenty percent. They are still saying inflation is just around the corner. They are still here. They pass on their heritage to the next generation, and the next. Today, the Wall Street Journal, a proud child of the heritage, issued one of its unthoughtful and willfully biased broadsides at Ben Bernanke for having said early in the crisis not to worry about the lower dollar or inflation. In its remarkable insularity, the WSJ editorialists (not the new desk) assume without even bothering to make the point that inflation is on its way and that the lower dollar is a hindrance. What a fool Bernanke. Of course, Bernanke was completely right and they completely wrong. But they will have their influence. Down the road if not right away, America will hesitate to stimulate the economy adequately. It will forgo public investment and social programs and healthcare reform for fear of budget deficits. People not merely like the myopic WSJ editorialists but those who are more thoughtful and seek a broader outlook will argue that we paid a too high a price with all our debt. This, they will say, is the work of Keynesians, unionists, government lovers, New Dealers, and so on. The debt taken on to save this economy, however, is the direct consequence of the outsize bonuses given mindlessly to Wall Street players that induced them to take on absurdly unjustified levels of risk for their own selfish gain. A government bailout was necessary or 15 percent unemployment and 12 percent drops in industrial productions were on the way. The WSJ editorial writers would probably be out looking for jobs. We are not by any means on the way to a self-sustaining recovery. It will need a lot of help. Given the strength in numbers and the disposition of the press and some economists, that help may well be withdrawn long before it should be. The forces will claim, if there are some bright spots in the nation's sales, the economy never needed much help and that inflation is the great nemesis. We can make our own future. Unfortunately, the wrong people may ultimately get the influence. They are the nation's perennial grinches. It may be likely they will. More on The Recession
 
Lesley Stern: How To Live On $0 A Day: Taking Your Life Back From Creditors Top
Say you've been paying citibank/chase/amex/bofa 700.00 a month for the past eight years. Despite the fact that you've charged nothing on the card since 1999 and have paid them over twice the original debt, your balance has essentially remained the same. Say you wake up one morning and decide that in keeping with the new austerity, you're going to stop wasting your entire unemployment check on the mindless hedonistic pleasure of protecting your precious credit rating (like it's not shot already). This month, you're going to try eating, and maybe splurge on something crazy like health insurance. So you stop paying your credit card bills. Now they're calling you eight to ten times a day and you're cowering in the corner every time the phone rings because you know they'll threaten to ruin your life by denying you the dream of home ownership and deeper debt. It'll go on your record forgodsakes. You'll be a pariah. Probably even in the afterlife. You're doomed. Okay....take a deep breath. Take a moment to appreciate the irony. Your caller is probably on their third bailout with 33% of the money you made when you were making money and you're begging them not to ruin YOUR credit rating? Time for an attitude re-adjustment. While your predators may appear bigger and stronger with their fancy phone banks in Asia to torment you, their position is as precarious as yours. Sure, you may feel like the hunted, but what's really going on is a waiting game --who will go down first, you or them? So next time they call, answer the phone. While you're on hold, use the time to brace yourself with steely reminders that you're the boss, not them. Try to ignore the fact that they've got you listening to "I will survive" on muzak even though they called you. Keep a clear head. When a human finally comes on, remember they're just doing their job. They have a college degree and the only reason they're working at a phone bank harassing people is to earn enough money to avoid being harassed themselves. Once they've listed your payment options, politely but firmly tell them you're giving them one last chance to make you a FAIR offer. Otherwise, they won't get a cent and you'll be referring the case to the Attorney General and Department of Thrift. Suggest that if citibank/chase/amex/bofa has been banking on you paying them 10 grand a year for the rest of your life only to pass on the same debt you started with to your successors, maybe you can get a package deal on chapter 11 lawyers. Keep repeating this to the 29 people you get transferred to (think of it as an audio tour of Asia). After several hours and dozens of repetitions, you'll finally get someone who will put your ever growing interest rate, penalties and phone calls on hold while they delve into your history and try to find a resolution. That gives you a couple of days to cash in your remaining assets, acquire a new identity, and get out of town. More on Satire
 
Swine Flu Shuts Down Philippines Government For 5 Days Top
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- The Philippine House of Representatives suspended operations for five days after news that the country's first H1N1 flu-related fatality worked at the legislature. Australia reported its second swine flu-related death, the third for the Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong elementary schools and kindergartens cut the school year short, and Malaysia shuttered another school in efforts to contain the spread of the pandemic flu virus. Philippine House Speaker Prospero Nograles ordered the suspension of the legislature Tuesday after officials confirmed the 49-year-old woman with the flu, who died Friday, worked for a congressional committee. The legislature building will be sanitized, said Mr. Nograles. Ramon Ricardo Roque, the House deputy secretary-general for administration, said the woman had attended a committee seminar June 15 and 16. She also traveled to northern Kalinga province on June 11 to 14. A second House employee, a man, is recovering from the virus, Mr. Roque said. Many Philippine lawmakers were already away, because the House is in recess until July 27. However, the suspension shuts down committee hearings and closes staff offices open during the recess. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said some relatives and co-workers of the woman, who died of heart failure but also was infected with the virus, were in quarantine. The Philippines confirmed 28 more infections, bringing the country's total to 473. In Australia, a 35-year-old man with a range of medical problems died in a Melbourne hospital Saturday after seeking help for a flu-like illness Friday, an official said. Swabs were taken and later tested positive for swine flu, said Rosemary Lester, acting chief health officer for Victoria state. On Friday, a 26-year-old man with multiple ailments including the H1N1 virus died at a hospital in the southern city of Adelaide. Authorities aren't certain in either case that swine flu was the main cause of death. Australia had 2,733 confirmed cases of swine flu by Tuesday. Malaysia's Health Ministry said it closed a third school as 10 new cases were reported. The new patients raised the total number of victims to 68. Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai said a private school was shut down after an infected student who had returned from Australia transmitted the virus to another student. Copyright © 2009 Associated Press More on Swine Flu
 
Can Red Yeast Rice Help Your Cholesterol Levels? Top
Now a new study suggests that an over-the-counter dietary supplement sold at pharmacies and health-food stores may be a workable alternative for people who have statin-related muscle pain. More on Wellness
 
Booty-Baring Swimsuits At Sao Paolo Fashion Week: Hot Or Not? (PHOTOS, POLL) Top
It's Sao Paolo Fashion Week in Brazil, and you know what that means: skin is in! See some of the scantiest swimsuits below, and vote on whether you think the creation is hot or so over-the-top it's not.
 
Campbell Brown Ratings Hit 2009 Low Top
CNN's "Campbell Brown" hit a new ratings low for 2009 on Friday, June 19, when she averaged just 516,000 total viewers. Brown's previous 2009 low had come Monday, June 15, when a total of 548,000 viewers tuned in to her 8PM show. On Friday, June 12, Brown recorded an all-time low with an average of 69,000 viewers in the adults 25-54 demographic , while averaging 591,000 total viewers. Brown's show has recently undergone a rebrand in the wake of her return from maternity leave earlier this month. The show had previously been called "Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull." In spite of the name change, CNN maintained that Brown's show would "continue to stand for no nonsense, hard-hitting interviews and lively debate from all points of view." Brown, who despite her ratings woes was recently named a potential breakout star by Forbes, is not alone. Both ABC's and CBS' evening news programs suffered all-time ratings lows last week . Ratings for the month of June and the second quarter of 2009 are due out next week.
 
Simon Cowell, Sir Philip Green Team Up To Create Global Entertainment Company Top
Simon Cowell, one of the world's biggest TV stars, has joined forces with Sir Philip Green, the British retail billionaire, to form a global entertainment company that will create and own television content on both sides of the Atlantic.
 
Peter A. Ubel: Tiger Woods and Health Care Reform Top
American presidents have been trying to reform our health care system since at least the Nixon era, but with only limited success. Past reform efforts have failed for many reasons. For starters, the U.S. health care system is complex, with the medical industry making up almost 1/6 of our economy. But perhaps the biggest obstacle to reform is a psychological one: thoughts of health-care reform too often trigger images of putting for bogey instead of putting for par. I am referring to the psychological power of loss aversion, a phenomenon that behavioral economists have been studying for several decades now. Most of us, you see, seek to avoid losses with greater fervor than we seek to achieve equal gains. If given a 50-50 chance of either winning or losing $100, we decline. The $100 loss looms larger than the $100 gain. For similar reasons, most people express greater interest in surgical procedures that carry 90% survival rates than in ones that carry 10% mortality rates, even though these procedures are identical. Thinking about mortality triggers loss aversion. This week we even learned that loss aversion influences putting behavior among professional golfers. When putting to avoid a bogey, golfers are more aggressive than when putting for birdie, and consequently are more likely to make their putts. Few things are more motivating than the desire to avoid losses. Which brings us back to health care reform. When President Clinton attempted an overhaul of our health care system in the 90's, his administration correctly recognized the need to control health care costs. Without cost containment, they knew it would be impossible to expand health care insurance to the millions of people who lacked such coverage. So the Clinton administration looked for ways to increase the number of Americans enrolled in managed care plans, which at that time had achieved some success in controlling health care expenditures. The problem with the Clinton approach was that it made Americans feel like they were losing their traditional health care. Managed care was infamous for saying no -- for denying people health care services and for limiting their choice of doctors. By taking things away from people, managed care triggered loss aversion. Consequently, the American public never supported Clinton's reform efforts. The Obama administration is steeped with people knowledgeable about behavioral economics, who hope to keep the public from slipping into a state of loss aversion. Not surprisingly, then, the administration has enthusiastically embraced research out of Dartmouth University, demonstrating huge regional variations in medical expenditures that have not been accompanied by any variation in health care quality. According to this research, some cities in the US spend twice as much per capita on health care as other cities without experiencing any discernible improvement in health. Obama's people hope that Americans will perceive health care reform as a win-win opportunity, with lower health care costs through the elimination of waste and inefficiency, accompanied by more stable and secure health care coverage. But even if the administration succeeds in assuaging the fears of the general public, they face a much stiffer challenge with the health care industry. Any success they have in controlling health care costs will, after all, create losers. If we spend less money on health care in the US, then someone in the health care industry is going to take a financial hit. One person's waste is another person's income. No surprise, then, that both the insurance industry and the AMA have begun pushing back against elements of the Obama plan. These groups stand to lose money under health care reform. Hospitals are likely to lose money too, as are drug companies, medical device companies, and other powerful parts of our vast health care industry. All of these groups will be motivated to fight health care reform. The Obama administration has made a point of distinguishing its behavioral approach to economics from the more traditional approach embraced by the Bush administration. Ironically, though, it is the Bush administration that understood how to pass health care reform without triggering loss aversion. When George W. Bush decided to push for a Medicare drug plan, he recognized that the pharmaceutical industry would wield its powerful lobbying strength against his efforts if they feared a loss of income. So he crafted a plan that benefited the drug industry. Politicians on the left criticized these concessions to industry, but it is hard to imagine the drug plan passing without such concessions. Obama should draw a lesson from his predecessor. If he causes the health care industry to perceive his health plan as a threat to their incomes, his plan will face stiff resistance. For health care reform to succeed, people in the health care industry need to keep making exorbitant sums of money for awhile. Over time, the government can gradually ratchet down health care costs. But initially, Obama needs to reduce the number of people who perceive health care reform as a loss. The cost will be steep. But the alternative will be more costly. We cannot afford to make reform feel like a health care bogey. Peter Ubel is author of Free Market Madness: Why Human Nature Is at Odds with Economics -- and Why It Matters (Harvard Business Press, 2009), and Director of the Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan.
 
Antwerp's Diamond District Suffers In Recession Top
Huge decline in the gem trade is affecting a small, ethnically diverse district in Belgium More on Europe
 
Michael B. Laskoff: Iran's Martin Luther Moment -- The Problem of Fixing Elections Top
To state the obvious: I'm not a religious scholar. Nevertheless, the political evolution of Martin Luther -- as I understand it -- is very relevant to what's going on in Iran at the moment. Luther was irked by the practice of selling indulgences -- a sort of pre-paid forgiveness for people planning to sin. It was a marvelous way for the Catholic Church to raise money but the blatant hypocrisy of the practice made Luther cringe. Luther demanded that the practice stop, and the Holy See responded with all the wrath and indignation it could muster. In doing so, it did not stop the rise of Protestantism; on the contrary, it radicalized the movement and mobilized more people than anyone would have though possible. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Politically, Mousavi seems a lot like Martin Luther. Mousavi didn't start out very radically. In fact, he was a rather strident president during the early days of the Iranian Islamic Republic. Moreover, he started out this race with many foreign policy issues that are identical to those of Ahmadinejad. And yet, like Luther, he has become much more reform minded so as to clearly distinguish himself from the incumbent administration. So when Senior Ayatollah Khamenei rhetorically asked how 11 million ballots could be tampered with so quickly, Mousavi was ready with the observation that you cannot count 40 million paper votes in just a few hours. That's not the language of submission, and the country's Guardian Council of theocratic oligarchs has had to admit that in at least 50 cities there were more voters than votes. Of course, the powers that be aren't just going to step aside; they're willing to beat, shoot, arrest and intimidate so long as they can hold on to power. In so, doing they are surely radicalizing the very movement that they seek to repress. Revolution, however, is not imminent. The "haves" are well armed, organized and not afraid to shoot (murder). But in the process of winning the day, the powers that be have: credentialed an opposition figure who will likely become more liberal; energized a population that can no longer deny the authoritarian nature of its regime; and, most strikingly, aligned religion with oppression. Over time, these are huge indictments against the very idea of an Iranian Islamic republic. Had Ahmadinejad the skills to manage the economy none of this would be an issue. He didn't, which is why he did such a bad job stealing the election. Had Khamenei not made the mistake of backing the wrong horse, he could have gotten back to the business of protecting his turf. Instead, he's confronted from trying to save the whole system from collapsing. Perhaps that why the current government seems more like the Shah and Mousavi more like Luther. More on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
 
Supreme Court OKs Dumping Mining Waste In Lakes Top
WASHINGTON — A mining company was given the go-ahead by the Supreme Court on Monday to dump waste from an Alaskan gold mine into a nearby 23-acre lake, although the material will kill all of the lake's fish. The court said that the federal government acted legally in declaring the waste left after metals are extracted from the ore as "fill material" allowing a federal permit without meeting more stringent requirements from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Water Act. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called the decision "great news for Alaska" and said it "is a green light for responsible resource development." The Kensington gold mine 45 miles north of Juneau will produce as many as 370 jobs when it begins operation. But environmentalists feared the ruling could lead to a broader easing of requirements on how companies dispose of their mining waste. "If a mining company can turn Lower Slate Lake in Alaska into a lifeless waste dump, other polluters with solids in their water can potentially do the same to any water body in America," said Trip Van Noppen, president of Earthjustice, which had participated in the litigation. By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court said a federal appeals court wrongly blocked on environmental grounds the Army Corps of Engineers' waste disposal permit for the mine project. The Alaska mine, which had been closed since 1928, now plans to resume operation and will dump about 4.5 million tons of mine tailings _ waste left after metals are extracted from the ore _ into the lake located three miles away in the Tongass National Forest. The court, in its majority opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, said that the Army Corps was correct in agreeing with the mining company that the waste should be considered "fill material" and not subject to the more stringent EPA requirements. The 2005 permit was issued three years after the Bush administration broadened the definition of fill material so that waste, including some contaminated materials, can be dumped into waterways. "We conclude that the Corps was the appropriate agency to issue the permit and that the permit is lawful," wrote Kennedy. He said the court should "accord deference to the agencies' reasonable decision" on the matter. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said it is "neither necessary or proper" to interpret the waterway protection law "as allowing mines to bypass EPA's zero-discharge standard by classifying slurry as fill material." She argued the lower court had been correct in concluding that the use of waters as "settling ponds for harmful mining waste" was contrary to the federal Clean Water Act. Environmentalists said dumping 200,000 gallons a day of mining waste water _ containing aluminum, copper, lead, mercury and other metals _ has dire implications not only for the Alaska lake, but possibly other lakes and waterways. Rob Cadmus of the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council said there were better ways to dispose of the mine waste such as dry land storage. But the mining company argued that the alternative would have been to put the material into nearby wetlands, which it maintained was more environmentally harmful. Officials of the Idaho-based Coeur d'Alene Mine Co., owner of the Alaska mine, said the decision was the last hurdle to building the tailings facility so that mining activities can begin. The court ruling "confirms that this thoroughly studied permit and plan is the best environmental choice" for disposal of the mine's waste, said Tony Ebersole, the company's director of corporate communications. Company lawyers said in court arguments that after mining activities are halted the lake will be restocked. "The lake will be as good or better as a fishery than it is today," Ebersole said. The waste deposits are expected to raise the lakebed 50 feet to the current lake surface level and eventually triple its size to 60 acres. The lake contains a variety of common fish that are not expected to survive, according to court documents. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, welcomed the court ruling and said it "resolved the most significant obstacle to the creation of hundreds of direct and indirect jobs and a major boost for the economy of Juneau and Southeast Alaska." The disposal plan had been approved by various state agencies. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in 2007 blocked the permit. Joining Kennedy in approving the disposal plan were Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito Jr. In addition to Ginsburg, dissenting were Justices John Paul Stevens and David Souter. ____ On the Net: U.S. Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov Southeast Alaska Conservation Council: http://www.seacc.org Coeur Alaska Inc.: http://www.kensingtongold.com More on Supreme Court
 
Stuart Whatley: Iran Uprising: Is Mousavi Becoming Irrelevant? Top
As demonstrations continue in Iran despite harsher government crackdowns, the future of the opposition movement remains very much in question. And central to this question is the movement's de facto figurehead, presidential candidate Mir-Hussein Mousavi. With the Guardian Council refusing to annul the disputed June 12 election, and with increasing threats of violence or arrest against opposition provocateurs from government officials, the stakes are higher now than ever. Mousavi's enduring appeal as an uprising leader could be a crucial factor in the protests' continuation. But it remains unclear how much the movement depends on Mousavi, despite his active and emboldened leadership of its ranks. Mousavi, having risen phoenix-like from history's dustbin, now finds himself leading the charge against the very system that he helped create. His face (and now the face of the slain woman, Neda Agha Soltan) adorns protest posters throughout Iran as the central figure of what is known as the "Green Wave", derived from the color of his presidential campaign (it also happens to be a sacred color in Islam). However, Mousavi has been described by many as an accidental hero--a convenient vehicle for a larger reform movement long in the making. Suzanne Maloney, an Iran expert at the Brooking Institution's Saban Center, describes him as an "unlikely hero" whose "longstanding association with the current system seemed to suggest that he would be a poor candidate to lead an uprising against it." And indeed, as many have pointed out, Mousavi's newfound role is rather ironic when one considers the darker side of his political diptych. Serving as Prime Minster from 1981 to 1989, Mousavi may have had a hand in some state actions that would give many of his contemporary supporters pause, especially in the West. By Robert Baer's account, writing in Time , much evidence exists to censure Mousavi for at least some involvement in the 1983 truck-bombings in Lebanon against the US embassy and US marine barracks. And previously, in 1981, following the Iran hostage crisis that many believe may have sunk President Jimmy Carter's re-election, Mousavi gave an interview wherein he touted his revolutionary, hard-line credentials, saying "It was the beginning of the second stage of our revolution. It was after this that we discovered our true Islamic identity. After this we felt the sense that we could look western policy in the eye and analyze it the way they had been evaluating us for many years." Mousavi's tenure in Islamic Revolutionary officialdom ended in 1989 when the constitution was amended to abolish the prime minister post. His premiership was characterized by clashes with then-President Ali Khamenei, who became Supreme Leader that year, as well as with Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is now one of his allies. Following his soft ousting from politics, Mousavi spent the next two decades as an artist and a teacher, during which time he apparently transformed into a moderate reformer. The vast pro-Mousavi coalition that is now in open defiance of the government ban on protests has a diverse composition ranging from liberal students, and youth and women activists to more traditional, conservative veterans of the 1979 revolution, such as Rafsanjani. However, this begs the question: who is running the show? Is Mousavi really guiding the movement on the streets, or is the street guiding Mousavi? According to Ali Akbar Mahdi, an Ohio Wesleyan University sociologist and expert on Iran, it is the latter. "Mousavi is being transformed. Events have affected him and it is hard to assume that he would give up easily," Mahdi tells the Huffington Post, "However, I do not think that Mousavi has the guts to carry on too far, especially if this movement is drawn out and its objectives go beyond cancellation of the election." The extent to which Mousavi is calling the shots for this coalition could prove vital to the movement's trajectory, especially if the popular will extends beyond the election re-do he is willing to fight for (such as the cries of "death to the dictator" would indicate). If he is indeed defining the course and strategy of the uprising, the possibility that his personal intentions will fall short of the more radical calls from many of his supporters becomes a problematic (for him) possibility. Though Mousavi is willing to challenge the Islamic Republic's leaders, he has never shown any inclination to topple or replace the system itself. Sensing this, Maloney implies that the current coalition could unravel if the natural divisions of its aggregate parts reemerge, noting that "any concession by Mousavi could undercut the commitment of the protestors." And for his part, Mahdi is not alone in thinking that Mousavi may be more or less winging it, not completely sure yet how far he is even willing to go. Speaking at the ninth National Iranian American Council (NIAC) conference in Washington, DC last week, Iranian-American journalist and author Hooman Majd pointed out Mousavi's lack of charisma to highlight the peculiarity of the architect-cum-candidate's newfound role. However, Majd does give Mousavi more credit than Mahdi insofar as an operational overseeing of the streets is concerned. For example, Mousavi has consistently issued statements through his website, Facebook, and more tacit means that then spread through the social networking matrix in Iran. His openly defiant calls for further protests are regarded as rather uncharacteristic, suggesting he is emboldened by his perceived vast support. However, Mousavi's statements sometimes adopt the movement's causes, rather than decide them. For example, his Facebook message Tuesday calling for Thursday protests to commemorate the uprising's martyrs--such as Neda--came after a synonymous announcement from his reformist ally Mehdi Karroubi. Earlier this week, Mousavi--again with Karroubi--reacted to the regime's recent threats with a strategy shift towards civil disobedience, by calling for a national strike. Mahdi sees potential in a strike if it is effective enough to reach key state economic levers, namely the oil sector. However he also foresees the eventual need for a new leader with no connection to the ruling religious elite if the uprising continues beyond a certain point. The degree to which Mousavi matters operationally, as opposed to symbolically, could become more apparent from the success or failure of the strike, but it remains unclear which initiatives are really his, as opposed to more organic causes he simply catches wind of and adopts along the way. How far Mousavi is willing to either lead or ride the Green Wave remains a salient question. When rumors circulated that he had declared his willingness to be martyred for the cause, his office quickly and awkwardly refuted the claim. If he does reach his limits, or if the regime succeeds in squelching him, can the reform movement survive without its original raison d'ĂŞtre? The increased role of other reformers suggests that it perhaps can. And yet, Mousavi remains the candidate of choice for the opposition, and surely would enjoy mass support if ever there were another election. To that end, most experts agree that pressure must be exerted on the regime from the top as well as from the streets, namely in the form of Rafsanjani, who openly loathes Ahmadinejad and warned of election fraud in an open letter to Khamenei three days prior to voting. According to Majd, Rafsanjani is the second-most powerful figure in Iran. He heads the Assembly of Experts which elects and, technically, has the power to remove the Supreme Leader. "In the short run, my hope for stabilization relies on [Rafsanjani]. If the bloodshed continues, he may convince enough clerics to put pressure on Khamenei to back off," says Mahdi. And indeed, such a culling of clerical support in Iran's upper echelons may have already begun. Maloney reports that Rafsanjani is quietly looking for other Ahmadinejad foes who will join his cause to, "persuade Khamenei that a public discrediting of Iran's representative institutions poses a more serious risk to the survival of the system than does reversing course on the election." Given the course of events in Iran since the election, Mousavi is perhaps becoming increasingly irrelevant. He and the movement itself may still be mutually reliant on one another. But as the outrage continues, especially in the face of harsher state action, uniting elements like Neda may supplant Mousavi as the Green Wave's central symbol. And many will look instead to the movement's allies in high places to pull the needed levers inside the regime. Only time will tell, but it's possible the leader who started the movement may not be all that necessary to see it through to its end--whatever that end may be. Read more on the situation in Iran from Stuart Whatley : Iran Uprising: Experts Weigh In On What's Happened And What It Means Iran Uprising: Why Do So Many Want Obama To Turn Iran's Protests Into A "Teabag Party"? More on Iran
 
Robert Siciliano: Celebrity Social Media Identity Theft Hits MLB Coach, but Can Happen to Anyone Top
Unfortunately, we live in a world that forces us to be cautious about when and how we give out our personal information. Citibank's funny but true commercials say it all: the scourge of identity theft knows no boundaries. It can happen to anyone by anyone: rich, poor, good credit, bad credit. Victims include children, the elderly, celebrities and politicians, even the dead. Identity theft may include new account fraud, account takeover, criminal identity theft, business identity theft and medical identity theft. Most of these result in financial loss. As an industry leader we have to be on the frontlines of emerging consumer trends and challenges so we can develop solutions. One of the latest forms of identity theft that is particularly damaging to the victim's reputation and becoming more prevalent is social media identity theft . Social media identity thieves have various motivations. The most damaging type of social media ID theft occurs when someone poses as you in order to disrupt your life. This disruption can take on many forms. They may harass and stalk you or your contacts, or they may steal your online identity for financial gain. The New York Times reports on Facebook's recent offering of customized Web addresses like facebook.com/RobertSiciliano . On the first day of Facebook's offering, 9.5 million people rushed to grab their name. And as predicted, there are a lot of people upset that their own name is gone, in some cases it is simply due to people sharing the same name, but increasingly we're seeing cases where social media identity theft occurred. In the case of St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, someone created a Twitter account in his name. La Russa is suing Twitter, claiming the impostor Twitter page damaged his reputation and caused emotional distress. The lawsuit includes a screen shot of three tweets. One, posted on April 19, read, "Lost 2 out of 3, but we made it out of Chicago without one drunk driving incident or dead pitcher." Apparently, La Russa has had a drunk driving arrest and two Cardinals pitchers have died since 2002. One pitcher died of a heart attack, the other in a drunk driving accident. There is no limit to the damage someone can do by using your name and picture in order to impersonate you online. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an 18-year-old student was accused of posing as a girl on Facebook, tricking at least 31 male classmates into sending him naked photos of themselves, and then blackmailing some of these young men for sex acts. Social media websites were created with the intention of bringing people together in a positive way, but we are beginning to see these sites being used in very sinister ways. The root of the problem is the fact that social media sites are all based on the honor system, with the assumption that people are honestly setting up accounts in their own names. There are few checks and balances in the world of social media, which means that you need to adopt a strategy to protect yourself. There are hundreds or even thousands of social media sites, including Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube. Even your local newspaper's website has a place for user comments, and most people would prefer to register their own names before someone else has done so on their behalf. As we spend more time online, meeting people, posting photos and offering glimpses into our personal lives, here are some action steps to keep Social Media Identity Theft at bay: 1. Register your full name and those of your spouse and kids on the most trafficked social media sites, blogs, domains or web based email accounts. If your name is already gone, include your middle initial, a period or a hyphen. It's up to you to decide whether or not to plug in your picture and basic bio, but consider leaving out your age or birthday. 2. Set up a free Google Alerts for your name and get an email every time your name pops up online. Go to iSearch.com by Intelius and search your name and any variations of your name in what would be a screen name. 3. Set up a free StepRep account for your name. StepRep is an online reputation manager that does a better job than Google Alerts does of fetching your name on the web. 4. Consider dropping a few bucks on Knowem.com or submitinme.com . These online portals go out and register your name at what they consider the top social media sites. Their top is a great start. The user experience is relatively painless. There is still labor involved in setting things up with some of them. And no matter what you do, you will still find it difficult to complete the registration with all the sites. Some of the social media sites just aren't agreeable. This can save you lots of time, but is only one part of solving the social media identity theft problem. 5. Start doing things online to boost your online reputation. Blogging is best. You want Google to bring your given name to the top of search in its best light, so when anyone is searching for you they see good things. This is a combination of online reputation management and search engine optimization for your brand: YOU. 6. If you ever stumble upon someone using your likeness in the social media, be very persistent in contacting the site's administrators. They too have reputations to manage and if they see someone using your photo or likeness they would be smart to delete the stolen profile. 7. Despite all the work you may do to protect yourself, you still need the Intelius Identity Protect service I'm working with and recommend coupled with Internet security software. More on Twitter
 
Go Green With Your Bikini Wax Top
Instead of succumbing to painful, environmentally-taxing waxing treatments, we've got a couple of tricks to make your coiffing experience green and pain-less (that would be less pain, as opposed to painless--important detail).
 

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