Saturday, June 13, 2009

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Aaron Keyak: Commemorating 15 Years Since the Death of a Political Legend Top
THIS MONTH marks the 15th anniversary of the death of a Bay Area political powerhouse -- Bert Coffey. You may not know who Coffey was, but Contra Costa locals feel his impact every day. His legacy lives through the candidates he supported, the crucial bond measures he helped pass, and, of course, his family. Contra Costa County would not be the place it is today without Coffey's influence. All too often, when you hear about a man who spent his life as a politician, your cynicism kicks in. You expect him to have made a habit of manipulation and deceit, and you assume that his career had its share of scandal. But Bert Coffey would prove your cynicism wrong. Even when it was not politically popular, Coffey held fast to his ideal of a society in which equal opportunity truly existed. In part because of this, the House Un-American Activities Committee targeted him as young union organizer and hindered his blazing start in the Democratic Party. A half a century ago, Coffey saw that there was too much social and economic inequality in Contra Costa County. At the time, minorities did not have equal access to the area hospitals, colleges, or proper infrastructure. To Coffey, this was inexcusable. From behind the scenes, he helped found the first local public hospital, Brookside, that served patients regardless of race and the Contra Costa Community College District to provide local youth with the opportunity for higher education. He even had a hand in constructing the storm drains in south side Richmond. When it came time to raise funds and organize local volunteers to march in Selma and support Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coffey was the one. Later, as chairman of the California Democratic Party, he led a statewide revitalization and, despite great controversy, he gave his OK for the creation of the first gay caucus in the party. For Coffey, there were never any limits for the cause of equality and opportunity. For decades, the area's aspiring politicians and elected officials sought his counsel. The candidates he helped elect included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. George Miller III, former Speaker of the Assembly Jack Knox, Gov. Pat Brown, state Sen. George Miller Jr., San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, and Rep. Phil Burton and his brother, John, who just became Chairman of the California Democratic Party. Coffey fought for long-lasting reforms that helped the least-fortunate among us. He did so one electoral victory at a time. Despite Coffey's political power, it was his family that mattered most. As he grew older, politicians still sought his advice. However, when they called they had to compete with stories of his children and grandchildren before receiving his counsel. I remember when I visited his house as a child, it was not politics we discussed, but rather if I applied enough sunscreen before I took the deep dive into his community pool. In Coffey's memory, Rep. Miller remarked, "Bert's beliefs were heartfelt and unshakable: a commitment to civil rights and civil liberties that involved him in genuine interracial coalitions two decades before Selma, Montgomery, and the March on Washington. Perhaps it was his Jewish heritage or his admitted leftist inclinations as a younger man, but Bert unflaggingly put himself on the side of the powerless, the disenfranchised, and the oppressed. No man loathed bigotry more." Coffey was called many things over his life: chairman, machine boss, commie, trusted adviser, un-American, political shaman, Godfather, a great patriot. There is no question of Coffey's mastery of behind-the-scenes maneuvering and power-brokering, but the role that he valued most, and the title he held dearest, was the one I gave him -- Grandpa. Keyak is Bert Coffey's eldest grandchild and currently serves as press secretary for the National Jewish Democratic Council. This piece ran in the Contra Costa Times today. More on Nancy Pelosi
 
Don Briggs, Umpire, Ejects Crowd During Baseball Game Top
WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa — An umpire has emptied the stands at a high school baseball game, ejecting the entire crowd of more than 100 fans for being unruly. Umpire Don Briggs said he had no problem with any of the student athletes during Thursday's game between Winfield-Mount Union and West Burlington. He said he had to take action because fans were being unruly, yelling and arguing. However, West Burlington Superintendent James Sleister said he didn't see any unusual behavior and said he thought the umpire overreacted. The game resumed after a 40-minute delay. West Burlington won 12-11. The umpire called police as a precaution. West Burlington police officer Al Waterman says there were no arrests. He says he saw no unruliness himself. More on Sports
 
Fareed Zakaria: The Capitalist Manifesto Top
A specter is haunting the world--the return of capitalism. Over the past six months, politicians, businessmen and pundits have been convinced that we are in the midst of a crisis of capitalism that will require a massive transformation and years of pain to fix. Nothing will ever be the same again. "Another ideological god has failed," the dean of financial commentators, Martin Wolf, wrote in the Financial Times. Companies will "fundamentally reset" the way they work, said the CEO of General Electric, Jeffrey Immelt. "Capitalism will be different," said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. More on Economy
 
How A US Passport Is Made (VIDEO) Top
From the State Department's YouTube channel: "Under Secretary for Management Patrick F. Kennedy and State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack discuss the production process for creating a passport and its security features." [WATCH] More on Video
 
Huff TV: Arianna Discusses Iranian Presidential Election, Sarah Palin On CNN (VIDEO) Top
Arianna appeared on CNN along with conservative columnist Tony Blankley to discuss the turbulent Iranian presidential election and the recent events surrounding Governor Sarah Palin. [WATCH] Embedded video from CNN Video More on Iranian Election
 
Pakistan Taliban Leader Allied With Al Qaida Faces Challenge From New Islamic Militia Leader Top
A new Islamic militia leader has emerged in Pakistan to openly challenge al Qaida-affiliated warlord Baitullah Mehsud for the first time from within his own tribe, marking the start of a bloody confrontation in the wild Waziristan region that could have profound consequences for both Pakistan and the West. More on War Wire
 
Rob Cohen: I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here Episode 7 Recap: Hitting Its Stride Top
Something weird happened as I watched Thursday night's episode of I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! I enjoyed myself. Don't get me wrong, it's still terrible, disgusting, and demeaning even to the rest of reality television. And for the record, most of my previous recaps have pointed that out. I couldn't even get through Wednesday night's episode without a few beers. OK, more than a few. Too many to count. But Thursday night, for the first time, I think I'm A Celebrity found its stride. I still can't stand half of the celebrities, but I couldn't tear my eyes away, either. The conflicts may be fake (planned and encouraged by the producers), but now they're so real (inherently dramatic). It may be a fluke--I'm perfectly ready to go back to hating the show and everything it stands for--but Thursday night, I was pleasantly surprised. Here are some highlights: Janice's "extended" big-break story was excellent. I know it was probably edited to make it look worse and taken out of context, but I don't care, it's brilliant. Good work, editors. It is pretty amazing that Patti Blagojevich recognizes that the reason she's famous and on this show is because of something terrible. Not amazing enough for me to feel any sympathy for her, but amazing, and surprising. It's funny that they get to lounge on inflatable rafts in the river. The celebrities don't get any food other than rice and beans but the producers have provided a giant inflatable whale? Fantastic. These Skype phone calls are surprisingly enjoyable. Seeing Rod Blagojevich at home with his kids is interesting. It's weird that everyone else in camp is watching them, though. But these people were home two weeks ago! They must've left home for more than two weeks before! Lou even said his kid looked like she got bigger. What? And Daniel Baldwin was home just a few days ago--could his wife's stomach really have gotten noticeably bigger? But the best part has to be the hosts struggling to get through the lines they were fed while keeping a straight face: "Some incredibly emotional stuff right there." You wish. Nice job. Sanjaya breaking down while calling Lou Diamond Philips a father figure is causing a visceral reaction in me... it's not a positive reaction, but it's intense, and if reality television can do that, it must be good, right? It's sad that Daniel is going home, only because I enjoyed when he and Stephen would gang up on Janice. Speaking of Janice, why was she yelling "Say no to Prop 8!" as Daniel was hugging everyone and saying goodbye? And why did no one else react? And why did they not show her on camera at all while she was screaming? Something fishy is going on. I don't understand. But at least it's intriguing. Also, the fact that Janice is exempt again for medical reasons from the next challenge is ridiculous. But I do want to come back for more... More on NBC
 
Diane Ravitch: Obama Gives Bush a 3rd Term in Education Top
The great mystery of education policy today is why the Obama administration is embracing the Bush program. I recently wrote in Education Week (June 10) that it is time to kill the Bush-era No Child Left Behind program. The overwhelming majority of teachers agree with me. Those who educate our kids know that NCLB is a failed program that is not improving our schools but rather turning them into test-prep factories and dumbing down our kids. Bush's main advisor Sandy Kress reacted with outrage on the website of Education Week, and Tom Vander Ark on Huffington Post called me an "edu-curmudgeon" for speaking plain truth. Let me say it again: It is time to kill the Bush-era No Child Left Behind program. This is a program in which the federal government requires every state to test every student from grade 3-8 in reading and math every year. If states do not make "adequate yearly progress" towards 100% proficiency by 2014, then the schools face a series of increasingly onerous sanctions, ending with their being closed down. Vander Ark thinks that this punitive approach to school improvement is swell. I don't. If judged solely by test scores, the only coin that the NCLB crowd understands, the law has been a dud. Kids today are making less progress on national and international tests than they did during the Clinton administration years. While our kids focus endlessly on preparing to take their state tests in reading and math, they are not learning science, history, geography, foreign language, the arts, or anything else but how to find the right bubble on a standardized test. A California study in Science magazine predicted that by 2014, nearly 100% of all elementary schools would be deemed failures because of NCLB. This would unleash a flood of sanctions: closed schools, fired staffs, public schools handed over to private management (a remedy that has recently been proved ineffective in Philadelphia, among other places), and public schools handed over to state control (another ineffective remedy). Now Secretary Arne Duncan promises to close 5,000 low-performing schools. The thought of closing 5,000 schools thrills today's so-called "reformers," although none of them has any idea how to make them better. Where will Duncan find 5,000 new principals? Is there an army of great teachers waiting to staff those 5,000 schools? The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965--which is the original law onto which No Child Left Behind was grafted--had none of these punitive features. It was premised on the belief that the federal government could help schools by sending more money. In fact, the federal government never sent much money, never more than 10% of overall spending, and often much less than that. No one today could visit a typical inner-city school and complain that its biggest problem was that it got too much federal money. But with this leverage, the new mandarins of education want to control all of American education. For some reason, first the Bush people and now the Obama people believe they know exactly how to fix American education. (Chicago, their model, is one of the lowest-performing cities in the nation on national tests, and Texas was never a national model for academic excellence.) Their answer starts with testing and ends with data and more testing. If children were widgets, they might be right; but children are not widgets, they are individuals. If reading and math were all that mattered in school, they might be right, but basic skills are not the be-all and end-all of being educated. A recent study by Common Core (Why We're Behind: What Top-Performing Nations Teach Their Students But We Don't) shows that the top-ranking nations do not spend endless hours preparing for tests of basic skills. Instead, in nations such as Finland and Japan, there is a balanced curriculum of science, history, geography, the arts, foreign languages, civics, and other studies. Meanwhile our children are learning to guess the right answer on a multiple-choice test! The amazing thing about American education today is that the Obama people--who promised revolutionary change--have no ideas other than to tighten the grip of President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind program on the teachers and children of the United States. Diane Ravitch
 
Yoani Sanchez: Cubans Wait Uneasily Through Power Cuts and Food Shortages, Their Dreams Deferred Top
I'm thirty-three with two gray hairs. I've spent at least half my life wishing for a change on my Island. In the summer of 1990, I peeked out the shutters of my house at the corner of Lealtad and Lagunas, when people's shouting made me think of a revolt. From there I saw rafts carried on shoulders to the sea and saw the police trucks controlling the nonconformity. The anxious faces of my family foretold that soon the situation would evolve, but instead the problems became chronic and solutions were postponed. After I had my son, between blackouts and calls of "don't despair," I understood that it would only happen if we ourselves could make it happen. This June has begun very similar to those dark years of the Special Period.* Uneasiness, power cuts in some neighborhoods, and a general sensation that we are going downhill. I'm no longer that fearful and passive teenager whose parents said so many times, "Go to bed, Yoani, today we have nothing to eat." I'm not inclined to accept another era of slogans and empty plates, of a city stopped by lack of fuel and stubborn leaders with full refrigerators. Nor do I think of going anywhere, so the sea will not be the solution in my case for this new cycle of calamities which is starting. The restless seed of Teo will soon fertilize a woman to create another generation that waits. I refuse to believe that there will be adults looking out the window hoping for something to happen, Cubans full of dreams deferred. Translator's note: Special Period: FIdel Castro called the extremely difficult era after the fall of the Soviet Union and the loss of its monetary support for Cuba, "A Special Period in a time of peace." Yoani's blog, Generation Y, can be read here in English translation. More on Cuba
 
Jose, Maximo Colon Turn Tables On NYPD With Videotape Top
NEW YORK — When undercover detectives busted Jose and Maximo Colon last year for selling cocaine at a seedy club in Queens, there was a glaring problem: The brothers hadn't done anything wrong. But proclaiming innocence wasn't going to be good enough. The Dominican immigrants needed proof. "I sat in the jail and thought ... how could I prove this? What could I do?" Jose, 24, recalled in Spanish during a recent interview. As he glanced around a holding cell, the answer came to him: Security cameras. Since then, a vindicating video from the club's cameras has spared the brothers a possible prison term, resulted in two officers' arrest and become the basis for a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. The officers, who are due back in court June 26, have pleaded not guilty, and New York Police Department officials have downplayed their case. But the drug corruption case isn't alone. On May 13, another NYPD officer was arrested for plotting to invade a Manhattan apartment where he hoped to steal $900,000 in drug money. In another pending case, prosecutors in Brooklyn say officers were caught in a 2007 sting using seized drugs to reward a snitch for information. And in the Bronx, prosecutors have charged a detective with lying about a drug bust captured on a surveillance tape that contradicts her story. Elsewhere, Philadelphia prosecutors dismissed more than a dozen drug and gun charges against a man last month when a narcotics officer was accused of making up information on search warrants. The revelations in New York have triggered internal affairs inquiries, transfers of commanders and reviews of dozens of other arrests involving the accused officers. Many drug defendants' cases have been tossed out. Others have won favorable plea deals. The misconduct "strikes at the very heart of our system of justice and erodes public confidence in our courts," said Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson. Despite the fallout, authorities describe the corruption allegations as aberrations in a city where officers daily make hundreds of drugs arrests that routinely hold up in court. They also note none of the cases involved accusations of organized crews of officers using their badges to steal or extort drugs or money for personal gain _ the story line of full-blown corruption scandals from bygone eras. Peter Moskos, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, agrees the majority of narcotics officers probably are clean. But he also believes the city's unending war on drugs will always invite corruption by some who don't think twice about framing suspects they're convinced are guilty anyway. "Drugs are a dirty game," Moskos said. "Once you realize it's a game, then you start playing with the rules to win the game." Just ask the Colon brothers. ___ The brothers' evening started much like any other. Max's friend worked at a bodega down the street from Delicias de Mi Tierra, where they'd sometimes drink and play pool in the evenings. This night, the pool table was closed. They instead sat at the bar. Security cameras ended up filming their every move. The brothers barely moved from the same spot for about 90 minutes as the undercovers entered the bar and mixed with the crowd. Moments after the officers left, a backup team barged in and grabbed six men, including the brothers. Paperwork signed by "UC 13200" _ Officer Henry Tavarez _ claimed that he told a patron he wanted to buy cocaine. By his account, that man responded by approaching the 28-year-old Max, who then went over to the undercover and demanded to pat him down to make sure he wasn't wearing a wire. Max collected $100 from Tavarez, the report said. The officer claimed to see two bags of cocaine pass through the hands of three men, including Jose, before they were given to him. Jose was released after a court appearance. His brother was shipped off to Riker's Island until he could make bail. "I was scared," Max said of his time at Rikers. "I don't get into trouble, and here I am with real criminals." ___ The moment Jose walked out of the holding cell, he made a beeline for Delicias and asked for a copy of the security tapes from the night they were arrested, Jan. 4, 2008. "I knew it would be the only way to defend myself, because I knew the police would not believe me," he said. The owner of Delicias queued up the tapes and the two waded through an entire day's worth of surveillance _ until they found the two hours the men spent in the club that night _ supposedly selling drugs. Jose quickly got the tape to defense attorney Rochelle Berliner, a former narcotics prosecutor. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I almost threw up," she said. "Because I must've prosecuted 1,500, 2,000 drug cases ... and all felonies. And I think back, Oh my God, I believed everything everyone told me. Maybe a handful of times did something not sound right to me. I don't mean to sound overly dramatic but I was like, sick." What the tape doesn't show is striking: At no point did the officers interact with the undercovers, nor did the brothers appear to be involved in a drug deal with anyone else. Adding insult to injury, an outside camera taped the undercovers literally dancing down the street. Berliner handed the tape over to the District Attorney's integrity unit. It reviewed the images more than 100 times to make sure it wasn't doctored by the defense before deciding to drop all charges against the brothers in June. Six months later, Officer Tavarez and Detective Stephen Anderson pleaded not guilty to drug dealing and multiple other charges that their lawyers say were overblown. Anderson's attorney has described him as a seasoned investigator who had no reason to make a false arrest. Tavarez, his attorney said, was a novice undercover merely along for the ride. ___ Life quickly deteriorated for Max and Jose after their arrest. They owned a successful convenience store in Jackson Heights, but lost their license to sell tobacco, alcohol and lottery tickets. The store closed a week before their case was dismissed. "My life changed completely," Jose said. "I had a life before, and I have a different existence now. ... Now, I'm not able to afford to live in my own house or care for my children." Jose has found construction work, while Max commutes two hours to Philadelphia to work at a relative's bodega. They stay away from the old neighborhood, where they say ugly rumors about them persist. The brothers have filed a $10 million false arrest lawsuit against the police department, the officers involved and the city. "I'm angry because, why'd it happen to me? I know a lot of people ... they don't go the right way and they can get away with it," Max said. "I'm young and I try to go the right way and boom, this happened to me. So I'm angry with life, too." More on Crime
 
The 3 Ways Obama Can Pressure Israel. Each Is Incredibly Difficult: Slate Top
Since the first stirrings of the Arab-Israeli peace process after the Yom Kippur war, America's relations with Israel have been characterized by a paradox. Those presidents regarded as the least friendly to the Jewish state have done it the most good. Its strong allies have proven much less helpful. More on Barack Obama
 
The Rise Of The Shareholder: Washington Post Top
Count on it: This proxy season, investors will not be shy about giving company management a piece of their mind. More on Financial Crisis
 
Chicago Moves To Legalize Surfing Despite No Ocean Top
The Windy City is one of America's sports meccas: home to the Bears and the Bulls, the Sox and the Cubs, and, Chicagoans are only recently willing to admit, the Blackhawks. But can it become Surf City, U.S.A.? More on Sports
 
Antonio Castro Caught In Internet Love Sting Top
One of Fidel Castro's sons carried on an eight-month flirtation over the Internet with a person he believed was a Colombian woman. Surprise! The woman was actually a Miami man. More on Cuba
 
Funniest Press Release Ever: Senator Howell Heflin And Pink Panties Top
But there are some artifacts that you come to realize are real treasures. Like my favorite press release of all time. It is dated July 19, 1994, and was issued by then-Senator Howell Heflin's office. That morning, the Senator had been dining in the Capitol with some Alabama reporters, and suddenly felt a sniffle coming on. The reporters were aghast when the Senator reached into his pocket, pulled out a bit of fabric and began to wipe his nose with ... a pair of ladies underwear. Hence the following:
 

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