Wednesday, July 1, 2009

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Mark Goulston, M.D.: Forget Michael Jackson, Forget Mark Sanford, Remember This Top
This Picture is Worth 1000 Million Words (minimum!) . . We truly take a lot for granted. Forget the football 'heroes' and movie 'stars'. Pass this on so that all may know the price of freedom , More on Michael Jackson
 
Michael Markarian: Down Fur the Count Top
The New Jersey state legislature last week gave final approval to a bill requiring the labeling of all animal fur garments, making it the fifth state -- after Delaware , Massachusetts, New York , and Wisconsin -- to better protect consumers from fraudulent fur selling. It's a major step forward for policymaking on the fur issue, after leading retailers and designers were exposed for advertising "faux" fur-trimmed jackets that actually contained real animal fur, even dog fur imported from China. We are grateful to New Jersey state Senator Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) and Assemblymember Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden) for carrying this important reform through to passage, and we hope Governor Jon Corzine will quickly sign it into law. New Jersey is poised to become the fifth state to pass legislation on fur labeling. It's not only in the public policy arena, but also in the marketplace, where we are seeing major progress on the fur issue. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 3.5 million animal fur garments and accessories were sold in 2005, and today that number has dropped to just more than 1 million annually -- a dramatic decline of more than 70 percent. The struggling economy has had an impact, for sure, on an industry that is peddling an unnecessary luxury product. But it's much more than that, and also reflects a broader shift in consumer attitudes and corporate behavior. Since 2005, a number of major retailers and designers -- like BCBG Max Azria, Calvin Klein, Ed Hardy, Foot Locker, JCPenney, Kenneth Cole, Overstock.com, and Tommy Hilfiger -- have stopped selling animal fur after discussions with HSUS. Others like Andrew Marc, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Rocawear, and Sean John have pledged to stop using raccoon dog fur, curbing the cruel killing of a wild dog species whose faces are remarkably raccoon-like. And still others like Burlington Coat Factory have dramatically reduced the amount of fur they sell, removing up to 80 percent of fur garments from their stores. The label on this garment lists nothing about the animal fur (visible on the left) trimming the hood. These corporate policy reforms have taken a great deal of fur off the market. JCPenney alone had imported more than 1.1 million fur items over the past decade, so the reduction by each individual company is quite significant. There are so many warm and fashionable alternatives to animal fur, and consumers who are increasingly seeking out those options can shop with greater confidence when retailers and designers adopt strong fur-free policies. The marketplace is moving in the right direction, but until the day that all fur is faux, we need to ensure that consumers know what they're getting and have the opportunity to make informed purchasing decisions. It's time for the U.S. Congress to pass the Truth in Fur Labeling Act, S. 1076 by Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and H.R. 2480 by Representatives Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.). Please watch this video and then  ask your federal lawmakers to support the Truth in Fur Labeling Act--fur might be more scarce, but we need a national policy that sets an accurate and consistent labeling standard for all the animal fur garments still found on the racks. More on Animals
 
Patricia Handschiegel: The New Power Girls: Video Series Episode 6 - Award-winning Writer/Director/Author Andrea Buchanan on Switching Platforms Top
One of the greatest gifts in business is not a good lawyer or the coveted lucky break but also the ability to be agile, or in other words the talent to embrace and master new things. Call them change agents or chameleons, these lucky souls are capable of adopting and mastering whatever course is set before them. For Power Girl Andrea Buchanan, this has been television, then film, then author and now speaker -- and she's not stopping there. Her recently released book "Note to Self" is the first of many "products" she's creating around a desire to inspire and motivate women. Like Martha Stewart to home decorating and entertainment, or Rachel Ray to 30-minute meals, Andrea sees a bigger picture and she's going after it. Today's modern women entrepreneurs and executives know how to make big ideas bigger. What it takes is one-part concept, two-parts know how and 100% flexible, fierce ambition. When she wanted to be in television, Andrea moved into television then became an award-winning producer. When she saw a vision in film, she expanded there and gained recognition there. Her book has garnered national attention, her speaking appearances auditoriums full of cheers. What it's credited to in part is without question Andrea's incredible ability to learn and adapt to new business processes and models. This week, fellow entrepreneur and New Power Girls co-creator Meghan Cleary and I sat down with the transmedia talent to get her three top tips for moving and expanding to different platforms in business. Shot at the gorgeous Oceana hotel in Santa Monica, CA (with gifts from Alltop.com, Bliss, Cosabella, Sortingwithstyle.com and John Kelly chocolates), we asked the big question: How she does it. Check out the interview and Buchanan's top tips for expanding to new platforms in business. Share what's worked for YOU with expanding your platform Enter to win the NPG video series gift bag. The New Power Girls how-to video series will be published every Wednesday for the next six weeks and includes great women entrepreneurs like Paige Adams-Geller of Paige Premium Denim, author and writer/director Andrea Buchanan and more. Be sure to check back! Special thanks to Oceana Santa Monica , Bliss , Cosabella , Alltop.com , John Kelly Chocolates , Shoe Therapy: What Your Shoes Say About You , and Sortingwithstyle.com for supporting The New Power Girls!
 
Sarah Newman: I Saw Food, Inc. Now What? Top
It's hard to see Food, Inc. and not be inspired. Okay, so most people might not be selling their house and quitting their office job to become full time farmers, but the movie certainly inspires people to change something in their lives. There's a lot of super simple but highly effective things you can do to transition off of a corn-based diet, lessen your carb(on) food/footprint, support local farmers and choose humanely raised meats. We are thrilled by the deluge of emails we've received from people across the country who are inspired by the film and want to make changes but are looking for some help. Below is a list to some of the most commonly asked questions. 1. Where can I buy organic food? The Eat Well Guide is a handy resource which lists local farmers markets, farms, restaurants and Community Supported Agricultural programs in your area, all of which offer organic and sustainable foods. 2. Where can I buy sustainably raised meat? Eat Wild is a user-friendly resource with listings for grass-fed meat and dairy near you. Do you need some clarification on all of those confusing terms used to describe meat products, such pasture-raised, non-confined or natural? If so, Sustainable Table's wallet-sized glossary of meat production will help you better understand what these each mean. 3. What is the status of Kevin's law? Unfortunately, nothing right now. However, you can support the ongoing work of Barb Kowlacyk and her mom, Pat Buck, for safer food standards nationwide through their organization, Center for Foodborne Illness, Research and Prevention. 4. How can I get in touch with Michael Pollan? Yes, he's a hot commodity right now, but you can chat with him! There will be live-chat with him this Thursday at 3PM PST on Facebook. Click here for details. 5. I didn't see Food, Inc. When is it coming to my town? We're constantly adding new cities and theaters, but if yours isn't listed here, tell your local theater that you want to see it! And, stay tuned for the DVD release date. Assuming these actions whet your appetite, don't forget to check out the official film site which offers lots of juicy resources. The 10 tips will help to jump start some lifestyle changes you can make now. Learn more about issues raised in the film, ranging from workers rights to genetic engineering and connect with organizations leading efforts to reform our industrial food system. The enthusiasm generated by Food, Inc. is evidence that it is helping to galvanize people across the country who are all committed to making sure we all have access to safe, healthy and sustainable foods. Sarah's Social Action Snapshot originally appeared on Takepart.com More on Facebook
 
Senate Stalemate Begins To Hurt Towns Around New York State Top
As the stalemate in the State Senate stuttered through its fourth week, a crucial deadline came and went: June 30. It was the expiration date of more than a dozen statutes that authorize local governments to carry out their everyday duties, from planning budgets to collecting taxes.
 
Isha: Romance: Myth or...? Top
Romance. The ultimate dream, especially if Hollywood has anything to do with it. The best thing that can ever happen to you: finding your dream partner, with whom you may live happily ever after. Happily ever after. Hmm. Anyone actually managed that? I managed happily ever after for about six weeks, sometimes a little more. Then the judgements would start to kick in. Why doesn't he put the lid on the toothpaste?! If he really loved me, he would pay me more attention. Illusions are soon shattered with the passing of time, because as we look more closely at our partner, we begin to see things we don't like... Or, in other words, we begin to see ourselves. There lies my question... How can you love another if you do not love yourself? The answer is, you can't, at least not completely. You cannot love someone unconditionally until you love yourself unconditionally, because ultimately, you will judge them the same way you judge yourself. You will not accept the things in them that you do not accept in you. This does not mean that all relationships are in vain, or that we should give up on even trying, but it does mean that we need to pay attention to the most important relationship we have in our lives: our relationship with ourselves. Our relationship with ourselves tends to be the one we leave for last. We often have our needs on the bottom of the list, after everyone else's. We think that loving ourselves is selfish. Yet until we learn to love ourselves, our relationships will be filled with need and codependency. Need is what leads to attachment. When we feel we need someone -- or something, in order to be happy, we become attached. And with attachment, comes control. We feel we must control our attachments, because our happiness depends on their presence. We must control our partners, make sure they behave in the way that satisfies our need -- our need to feel loved. Control leads to manipulation; all of the little games we learn in order to get the other person to do what we want. But where is the love in all of this? Manipulation and control do not come from love; they come from fear. The irony is, our partners are doing exactly the same thing. We play these games, modifying ourselves in order to please the other, abandoning what we really feel out of fear of rejection. We all live in limitation and dissatisfaction, thinking that if we allow ourselves to be exactly as we are, we will be rebuked by those we love. But they are doing the same too! When you love yourself, your relationships become honest and transparent, because you lose the fear of loss. You allow yourself to be real, to show yourself exactly as you are, and in doing so, you give your partner the freedom to do the same. This honesty builds trust, which is the basis of a truly loving relationship. With self love, you lose the fear of rejection and the need to control. All behaviors that create separation and judgement fall away in the light of self love; as we embrace ourselves, we are able to embrace our partners with freedom, holding them in their greatness instead of trying to control and manipulate them. When we feel complete within ourselves, we no longer feel the absence of the other when they are not present, so the need to control them disappears naturally. With this comes great freedom, and the ability to truly enjoy each others presence. We think that when we let go of the attachment we have to our loved ones, we will lose them, but actually quite the opposite is true. When you love without conditions, even if the other is not by your side, you will feel closer to them than ever before. For you will have found them within yourself. You can receive notice of this blog every Wednesday by clicking on "Become a Fan" at the top of this page. Isha's latest book and movie, Why Walk When You Can Fly? explains her system for self-love and the expansion of consciousness. More on Relationships
 
Joe The Plumber Wins Countdown's "World's Best Person" For Best Advice From God (VIDEO) Top
Joe the Plumber won the "Countdown" award for "World's Best Person" after he received advice from God telling him a run for political office was inadvisable. Asked by the conservative website WorldNetDaily if he would ever consider running, Joe replied, "I hope not. You know, I talked to God about that, and he was like, 'No.'" Sage advice. It should be noted that Joe recently won the "Countdown" award for "World's Worst Person" for "fomenting violence against elected officials." So, congrats Joe, you're on both sides of the coin now. WATCH: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy
 
Alex Storozynski: The Fiasco of July 4, 1777 Top
On the first anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Army regiment stationed at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York was drunk with freedom, swilling rum and celebrating their liberty. Little did they realize, that the British Army that had marched down from Canada was slowly surrounding them on nearby hills. Col. Thaddeus Kosciuszko warned his fellow American officers that they were making a huge mistake by not arming nearby Sugar Loaf Hill that overlooked their fort. But the Continental soldiers ignored their foreign recruit - a mistake that they would later acknowledge. The next morning, woozy American soldiers awoke to see Redcoats mounting cannons on that very hill. The British soon began firing down into the fort. The rebels were sitting ducks as cannon balls landed in and around the fort. U.S. Gen. Arthur St. Clair ordered an evacuation after dusk. As the Americans began sneaking out of Fort Ticonderoga under cover of the night, French General Matthias Alexis Roche de Fermoy rose from a drunken stupor, and ignoring the order for lights out, set fire to his quarters illuminating the night sky like a fireworks display. The fermented Fermoy thought burning the barracks would keep them out of the hands of the British, but the flames he set highlighted the silhouettes of American soldiers creeping away from the fort. The British set out in hot pursuit, and the Americans put Col. Kosciuszko in charge of covering the rear during the retreat. He and his men cut down trees to block the escape route and rolled boulders to reroute streams to flood roads so that British supply wagons could not follow them. As a result, it took the British 22 days to travel 20 miles. The Continental Army got away. One participant in the campaign, Major John Armstrong wrote: "In retreat of the American Army, Kosciuszko was distinguished for activity and courage and upon him devolved the choices of camps and posts and everything connected with fortifications." Knowing that the British would eventually catch up, Gen. Horatio Gates ordered his troops to make a stand near the Hudson River in Stillwater, N.Y. As the troops pitched camp on an indefensible lowland meadow along the river, Kosciuszko rode up on his horse to Col. Morgan Lewis who was settling in and said, "From Yonder Hill, on the left, your encampment may be cannoned by the enemy or from that on our right they may take aim at your shoe-buckles." Kosciuszko convinced Gen. Gates to move the American Army up to Bemis Heights, which would force the British to march up hill if they wanted to attack. With the river to the east, and thick woods to the west, this tactical decision was the deciding factor in the victory at the Battle of Saratoga, which was the turning point of the American Revolution. American historians have given credit for this victory to the colorful Benedict Arnold, who rushed down the hill after Continental Army snipers took out the British high command. Yet soldiers who took part in the campaign, such as Gen. Gates, and Colonels Morgan Lewis, Udney Hay and James Wilkinson all gave credit for the victory to Kosciuszko's strategy. Even George Washington acknowledged Kosciuszko's impact. After the battle, Washington suggested that he be promoted to General, writing, "the Engineer in the Northern Army, (Cosieski, I think his name is), is a Gentleman of science and merit." Washington spelled Kosciuszko's name 11 different ways until he got to know him. The Commander in Chief put Kosciuszko in charge of designing and building West Point, which he called, the "key to America." After Washington inspected the impressive fortress of 13 separate forts and redoubts on various hilltops that Kosciuszko had built to protect the Continental Army, the Commander in Chief made it a point to correctly spell the name of his best military engineer. West Point was so impressive, that the Redcoats were afraid to attack. Instead, the British bribed Benedict Arnold to steal Kosciuszko's plans for West Point. Luckily, Arnold was caught, and went down in history as the most infamous traitor of all time. Kosciuszko proved invaluable to the American cause, and he is but one of the unsung heroes of our history that have been overlooked by historians and media. So as we celebrate our national day of independence, we should remember the contribution that the peoples of all countries have made to this great melting pot that we call the United States. And remember, always cover the high ground -- and always take the high road.
 
New HELP Bill Covers 97 Percent Of Americans, Costs $600 Billion Top
WASHINGTON — Democrats on a key Senate Committee outlined a revised and far less costly health care plan Wednesday night that includes a government-run insurance option and an annual fee on employers who do not offer coverage to their workers. The plan carries a 10-year price tag of slightly over $600 billion, and would lead toward an estimated 97 percent of all Americans having coverage, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and Chris Dodd said in a letter to other members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The AP obtained a copy. By contrast, an earlier, incomplete proposal carried a price tag of roughly $1 trillion and would have left millions uninsured, CBO analysts said in mid-June. The letter indicated the cost and coverage improvements resulted from two changes. The first calls for a government-run health insurance option to compete with private coverage plans, an option that has drawn intense opposition from Republicans. "We must not settle for legislation that merely gestures at reform," the two Democrats wrote. "We must deliver on the promise of true change." Additionally, the revised proposal calls for a $750 annual fee on employers for each full-time worker not offered coverage through their job. The fee would be set at $375 for part-time workers. Companies with fewer than 25 employees would be exempt. The fee was forecast to generate $52 billion over 10 years, money the government would use to help provide subsidies to those who cannot afford insurance. The same provision is also estimated to greatly reduce the number of workers whose employers would drop coverage, thus addressing a major concern noted by CBO when it reviewed the earlier proposals. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Dodd, D-Conn., circulated their letter a few days before lawmakers return from their July 4 vacation, with the Health Committee one of several panels expected to take action on health care legislation that President Barack Obama has placed atop his domestic agenda. Kennedy, the committee chairman, was diagnosed with a brain tumor more than a year ago and has been absent from the Senate for weeks, although he and his aides have been heavily involved in the deliberations on a health care bill. Dodd, the next senior Democrat on the committee, has presided at committee sessions and taken an increasingly public role. With its government option, the proposal is unlikely to gain any bipartisan support in the committee. Separately, Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee are at work trying to reach agreement on an alternative that calls for creation of nonprofit cooperatives to sell insurance in competition with private industry. Agreement has been elusive on that and other issues, and it is not clear whether a deal is possible before Democrats opt for a more partisan approach. In their letter, Kennedy and Dodd said the Congressional Budget Office "has carefully reviewed our complete bill, and we are pleased to report that CBO has scored it at $611.4 billion over 10 years, with the new coverage provisions scored at $597 billion. ...The completed bill virtually eliminates the dropping of currently covered employees from employer-sponsored health plans. "In addition, our bill, combined with the work being done by our colleagues in the Finance Committee, will dramatically reduce the number of uninsured _ fully 97 percent of Americans will have coverage, a major achievement." Three committees in the House have been at work for weeks on a plan expected to come to a vote by the end of July.
 
Terry Krepel: What's WorldNetDaily Hiding on Obama Birth Certificate? Top
As the saying goes: When you have nothing to hide, you hide nothing. By that standard, WorldNetDaily is clearly hiding something. WND's desperate campaign to demand that Barack Obama prove he's a "natural born citizen" -- even though he already has -- is one long trail of falsehoods presented as facts, dishonesty about its agenda, and a lack of transparency about its own actions. As I've already detailed , to make the claims it makes now, WND must contradict its own original reporting on the subject, which asserted that the birth certificate released by the Obama campaign in mid-2008 is "authentic" and that a lawsuit filed by Philip Berg on the matter in part "relies on discredited claims." WND has never retracted this article, yet WND editor Joseph Farah has falsely claimed that WND never made the assertions it contains. But that's not the only thing WND is curiously afraid to tell its readers about. Among the others: Who signed WND's birth certificate petition? Who's donating to WND's billboard campaign? Why won't WND address the repeated debunkings of its birth certificate-related claims? What's WND's relationship with Orly Taitz? Why won't WND tell the truth about Taitz or the intra-birther lawsuit? Why won't WND pay $10,000 to Sarah Obama? Why does WND think it can lie to its readers about Obama? For the answers, click here to read the full version of this column. More on Barack Obama
 
Rick Horowitz: After New Haven: Random Ruminations on Race Top
At some point, the surgeon has to pick up the knife. When that time comes, the only thing that matters -- or more precisely, the only thing that should matter -- is whether the surgeon knows his stuff. Or, for that matter, her stuff. The surgeon's gender, the surgeon's skin color: irrelevant -- of no more importance than the surgeon's eye color, or hometown. Cast the widest possible net to locate undeveloped talent, to encourage it, to nurture it. Give that talent every reasonable opportunity to emerge. But at some point, the surgeon has to pick up the knife. The fire captain has to send his people into the burning building. They need to know what they're doing. If the hiring test doesn't measure what the job actually requires, why give the test? Why rely on the test? If the hiring test does measure what the job actually requires, why ignore the test? White victimhood is highly overrated. Which doesn't make it impossible. Consider a sliding scale, with two assertions paramount: "Anyone can do this job." And "If somebody messes up, it's no big deal." To the extent these assertions are true about a particular job, then the more acceptable it ought to be to use hiring decisions to promote other laudable social goals -- equality, diversity, community. To the extent these assertions aren't true -- that everyone do that job, and that messing up has serious consequences -- then you've got to go with skill. Anyone who thinks that this is a simple case of either/or -- "Either you've got the talent, or you're a minority" -- hasn't been paying attention. Anyone who hasn't been paying attention needs to ask himself why. When a particular field of employment is historically populated by people of just one type -- one race, one gender, one ethnic group -- it may not be simply a matter of coincidence. It may not even be simply a matter of skill, or interest. If may be, instead, that people tend to hire people who remind them of themselves. It may be the lack of plausible role models. Or it may be something else. Is a decision to hire someone, to promote someone, to admit someone to college, a reward for past performance? A prediction about potential? If it's the former, the people who start out behind will almost always be left behind. That's unfair. If it's the latter, somebody's stellar record will almost always be passed over. That's unfair. Consider the "level playing field." The playing field has been tilted so far in white folks' favor -- in my favor -- for so long, and in so many ways, that we've grown used to thinking of that tilt as the real horizontal. We've reset our internal compasses accordingly. So anytime somebody tries to rebalance things even a little, we're convinced -- or at least we pretend to be convinced -- that the playing field is being tilted hard in the other direction. The people arguing for pure meritocracy in all things will have a much stronger case the day the boss's no-account son doesn't take over the business when the boss retires. The day the college admissions office stops making room for the quarterback and the Canadian, for the alumna's daughter and the big donor's nephew. It's never been only about "merit." Besides, there are all kinds of merit. Difficult? Incredibly difficult -- and we've barely begun the conversation. After all the years, and all the progress, race is still our true grand canyon. Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist. You can write to him at rickhoro@execpc.com. More on Civil Rights
 
Wall Street Pay Approaches 2007's Record Highs Top
Financial markets are recovering and the jostling for talent is intensifying as securities firms once again are making money -- and they look set to spread the wealth with their employees should the good times continue. Based on earnings forecasts for 2009, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is on track to pay out $20 billion this year, or about $700,000 per employee. That would be nearly double the firm's $363,000 average last year, and slightly higher than the $661,000 for the average Goldman employee in fiscal 2007, according to analyst estimates reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. More on Financial Crisis
 
Peter Schwartz: Applesauce Top
Steve Jobs returned from exile on September 16, 1997. Since then, Apple Inc.'s stock price has risen nearly 2,500 percent. Revenues have jumped from $7.1 billion to $32.5 billion. In 1997, Apple lost $1 billion. In 2008, the company netted profits of nearly $5 billion. Today, Apple is the most renowned consumer products company in the world. Steve Jobs is widely viewed as the most brilliant and visionary businessman of his generation. What secret to this applesauce? Not any single product or marketing decision. Not the sleek MacBook, the sexy iPhone, or the iconic advertisements. The secret sauce is Jobs's tart disdain for his customers. Apple succeeds because it violates every large-company, mass-consumer convention. Other companies reach out to their customers and design their products to measured and varied consumer needs. Apple stands apart from its customers, shaping its market, not shaped by it. Consumers worship Apple because the company is aloof and arrogant. Apple's products are totemic because they emerge fully formed - designed from a singular, unitary, secretive vision. Jobs scorns focus groups. As he told Business Week, "A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them." Indeed. Let's consider Mac and PC. The PC is inexpensive and suffers from efforts to be all things to all people, and hence very little to any one person. The PC's architecture is transparent, yet graceless. It invites customization, but thereby shears down the wall between its designers and its consumers, leaving all befuddled. The PC suffers because it honors free choice - the more of it the better - as the foundation of commercial enterprise. The Mac is different. By definition. The Mac is expensive because it means to be exclusive. It possesses a unitary, proprietary blend of hardware and software, designed to work hand in glove. Its guts are elusive and mysterious, plug and play but hidden away. Apple cleanly separates its customers from its products, and defines the relationship between the two in terms of that separation. It is that simple. The Mac and the iPod are what they are. There is no choice. You either buy them, and embrace them. Or you don't. It's that simple. More on Apple
 
Tasha Gordon-Solmon: Alternate College Rankings Top
This month US News/ World Report has released the 2009 edition of its famous College Rankings . As studious high school students everywhere make lists, accusations of unfairness abound. Because, as with any evaluative model, great schools that don't quite confine to the assessment criteria often get lost in the shuffle. So, as high schoolers embark on college visits this summer, and fret about ever-dwindling admission rates and financial aid, let me suggest an alternative list. These three schools offer world-class educations, but have significantly decreased in popularity in the last decade. This makes them (relatively) easier to get into than schools of equal caliber. Alternate Ivy: Stansbury University Stansbury is known as "the Harvard of the West". It is a highly competitive school with an elite student body. The secret of Stansbury is that all you need to get in is a high SAT score. If you're a student who has slacked for four years and but scored a 2350, you're a shoe in. Stansbury also gives a number of full scholarships to promising athletes. In recent years, the school has been accused of coasting on its (allegedly declining) reputation, as a relatively low number of students who are admitted actually choose to attend. In fact, no current students could be found to participate in this survey. Famous Alumni: No famous graduates, but Zachary Morris and Albert Clifford Slater were both accepted and considered attending. Best State School: University of California at Sunnydale Matriculation rates at UCS have gone way done in the past few years, due to the relocation of the campus when the town of Sunnydale collapsed into the mouth of Hell in 2003. But USC is still offers strong academics, include a highly experimental Psychology Department and the option to design one's one curriculum. Socially, UCS is known for its huge fraternity/ sorority scene, but there is also a more alternative crowd with whom the black arts are quite popular. Students call Sunnydale a "sink or swim" school. The transfer rate is high and the death rate is higher. But if you can make it through, you'll be well prepared to take on anything. Famous Alumni: Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer and Willow Rosenberg, Witch (neither of whom completed degrees) Best Liberal Arts College: Worthington University Worthington University is one of the best liberal arts colleges in the country. It's also famous for having some of the most luxurious dorm rooms. However, its failure to break into the top 50 of any ranking system has brought Worthington's admission rates way up in the past few years. Worthington is also known for admitting the students of celebrity parents who are prepared to give sizable donations. The professors at Worthington are young, sexy and happy to engage in inappropriate flirtations with students. A Professor Wilder is particularly popular in the English Department. While sports and extracurriculars are strong, students say the social scene revolves around the city of Boston. Famous Alumni: Josephine Potter, Editor and Audrey Lidell, back up singer for John Mayer and daughter of Hollywood actress Kay Liddell.
 
Staten Island Ferry Crash Injures 14 Top
NEW YORK — A New York City ferry boat with about 800 passengers aboard has hit a pier while docking, injuring 15 people. The injuries are minor. The hard docking at the St. George ferry terminal in Staten Island happened Wednesday night at the end of rush hour. Witnesses say the ferry went into the dock slip quickly after its power failed. They say there was an announcement from the pilothouse to "hang on" and riders scrambled to the back of the boat. The fire department says the passengers were removed from the John J. Marchi (MAR'-kee) ferry after the incident. The U.S. Coast Guard says drug and alcohol tests have been ordered for the ferry crew. The St. George terminal is where a 2003 ferry crash killed 11 people in one of the city's worst mass-transit disasters. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. NEW YORK (AP) _ Fire department officials say a New York City ferry boat has hit a pier while docking, injuring 14 people. The injuries are minor. The fire department says it appears the boat lost power before hitting the Staten Island dock Wednesday night. There's no damage to the boat but some damage to the pier. The Staten Island Ferry has nine vessels that carry commuters between Staten Island and lower Manhattan. The 5-mile, 25-minute ride is free. In 2003, a Staten Island Ferry boat with about 1,500 people aboard crashed into a pier at full speed, killing 11 people. The ferry's pilot had been taking painkillers and was suffering from extreme fatigue.
 
Anna Kelner: Joseph Massad's Tenure and its Implications for Columbia's Liberal, Jewish Student Body Top
On Monday, when Columbia University granted tenure to Joseph Massad -- the professor of Modern Arab politics whose alleged intimidation of pro-Israeli students likely doomed his first tenure bid in 2005 -- the University jeopordized its long-standing commitment to cultivating and supporting its Jewish student population. The University has long managed to balance the often-opposing beliefs of its famously pro-Palestinian Middle Eastern Studies department and its substantial Jewish population. The department is currently home to supporters of Palestine such as Rashid Khalidi, Hamid Dabashi, Nadia abu El-Haj, and George Saliba; Edward Said , one of the most prominent American scholars in support of Palestine, taught English and Comparative at Columbia from 1963 until his death in 2003. The Middle Eastern Studies department thrives in the midst of a student body that Hillel deemed the sixth most Jewish of all those in American private universities. Located a mere four blocks from The Jewish Theological Seminary (where students can complete a double-degree and cross-register for courses), Columbia's Jewish community boasts a thriving Hillel, a Jewish literary journal, and an active chapter of AEPi, the Jewish fraternity. Cafeterias feature extensive kosher options, and it is not uncommon to see throngs of students donning kippahs migrating across campus. The Jewish community of alumni and current students has previously exercised its will and sheer manpower to prevent anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli opinions from gaining University support. In 2006, Jewish students successfully prevented Ahmadinejad, the famously anti-Semetic Iranian dictator, from speaking, and in 2007, they again protested his visit. Many believe that alumni efforts to prevent the Palestinian anthropology professor Nadia Abu El-Haj at Columbia affiliate Barnard College from receiving tenure caused the University to deny her bid (in her book, Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society , Abu El-Haj casts doubt on archaeological evidence used to legitimize Israel as the Jewish homeland). Some believe that Massad previously failed to receive tenure due to his unflattering portrayal in the student film Columbia Unbecoming (2004), which "gives voice to students who have experienced incidents of academic abuse and intimidation at Columbia University" as a consequence of expressing pro-Israeli sentiment. In the film, Massad calls Israel a "Jewish and a racist state," and a student describes how he once demanded of an Israeli student, "How many Palestinians did you kill?" at a public lecture (the film's website notes that although Massad has publicly stated that he never taught or met the student in question, he also has never denied the claim). The film's fervor can only faintly forecast the outrage the Jewish community could exhibit come fall. There can be little doubt that many at Columbia, Jewish and otherwise, will be incensed at the newest addition to the tenured faculty. The prospect of lending greater support to a professor who some claim bullied students -- although Massad claimed that he has "been the target of a political campaign by actors inside and outside the university" and successfully proved that "The Ad Hoc Grievance Committee Report suffers from major logical flaws, undefended conclusions, inconsistencies, and clear bias in favor of the witch-hunt that has targeted me for over three years" -- is nonetheless unsavory. Regardless of the legitimacy of the complaints lodged against Massad, the insensitivity exhibited in some of his scholarly work could create an irrevocable rift between him and the many Jews, Zionists, Israel supporters, and students who simply believe that Israelis do not deserve to be called anti-Semites, all of whom he is hired, in part, to educate. Massad does not just critique Israeli policy in Palestine, or even question the legitimacy of Israel's right to exist. Rather, he attempts to redefine the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by removing terms like anti-Semitic, Nazi, and Jew from their historical context. In his book, The Persistence of the Palestinian Question , and in various articles for publications like The Electronic Intifada and Al-Ahram Weekly Online , Massad argues that the Zionist movement betrays colonialist underpinnings that draw from anti-Semitic rhetoric. He claims that this influence, coupled with the Zionist urge to "transform European (and later other) Jews into European Christians culturally, while continuing to call them Jews", caused a "historical process by which it was to metamorphose Palestinian Arabs into Jews in a displaced geography of anti-Semitism" and to transform "the Jew into the anti-Semite". Massad similarly likens Israelis to their one-time oppressors by comparing Israeli actions in Gaza in 2009 to those of the Nazis during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, and by claiming that former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was similar to Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. As a student just entering my second year at Columbia, I have no means to evaluate the academic legitimacy of his argument. Clearly, Massad is a distinguished scholar. However, as a student just entering my second year at Columbia, I can evaluate the effect that his inflammatory claims could have on the student body. By reassigning the term "Jew" to the very people who tirelessly fight to eradicate the world's only Jewish state -- putting aside questions Israel's right to statehood -- Massad flagrantly disregards the ethnic, cultural, and religious sensibilities embedded in that term. It is entirely possible that, in many instances, Palestinians are the victims of Israeli military action, but no amount of theorizing can make them Jews : .2% of the world's population who, despite Western prominence, have experienced inestimable persecution. Similarly, by calling an Israeli an anti-Semite or a Nazi, Massad shows disrespect for the years of oppression the Jews suffered under the Nazi regime. Hypothetically, the Israelis could be racist or tyrannical , but to deem them anti-Semitic Nazis is to fail to appreciate the Holocaust's lasting impact both on Israel and on the wider Jewish community. These words cannot be simply re-appropriated, no matter what the cause; they connote long-lasting and painful memories. Undoubtedly, Massad is well aware of his argument's implications both for Israel and the Jewish people. While his novel terminology may win him points in the academic world, he will not deliver his lectures to an empty room. Students will fill those seats, and students do not come tabula rasa. Most have grown up hearing stories of oppression from parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, be it in Vietnam, Lebanon, or Nazi Germany. For these students, a professor's disregard for historical memory transcends mere difference of opinion. On a simple, human level, I, and many others, may accept or appreciate Massad's point, but cannot respect the means with which he makes it -- outside, and according to some, inside the classroom. Such polarizing methodology creates an irrevocable divide between the professor and the students he educates. At Columbia in particular, such disregard for a religious minority's past undermines the institution's longstanding commitment to diversity and tolerance. In sharp contrast to peer institutions like Princeton or Yale, Columbia lies in the heart of a gritty, vibrant, sometimes-violent city, and its student body reflects New York's diversity. One of the first universities to abolish quotas for Jewish students , Columbia currently boasts 50% students of color in its most recent incoming class . By granting tenure to one professor -- admittedly a talented, accomplished professor -- Columbia will not erase that history. Its students, Jewish and otherwise, will simply have to remember that even in Manhattan, even at Columbia, Jews and liberals do not reign supreme. We must fight, just as Joseph Massad did, to retain our voices. More on Israel
 
Hermene Hartman: Michael's Magic Top
Awesome. In a single word, he was truly awesome. It still has to settle in for me that Michael Jackson is dead. He is a true American icon. The words awesome and icon are used so loosely these days, but these are the perfect words to describe him. He was a genius entertainer. Energetic. Creative. Innovative. Special. He had his own beat and he created his own style from age five to 50. If you ever saw him, you will forever remember the performance. He was a miracle. He couldn't read music. He never had a dance lesson or a singing lesson. He was simply gifted. His talent was his curse as well as it was his blessing. He grew up humbly in Gary, Indiana, with his eight brothers and sisters. His father, Joseph, nurtured the talent of all his children and molded them for the entertainment industry. Michael was his golden child. Father Joe made him rehearse and make music all of the time. And so his life followed the childhood course his father established. He missed his childhood and searched for it for the rest of his life. He crafted himself as a modern day Peter Pan who looked as if he was wandering in Wonderland. His talent grew. He was sweet and maintained a childlike innocence. His album, Thriller , produced by Quincy Jones, is the all-time best seller. Upon the world announcement of his death, his records sold out and mp3 and iTunes sales skyrocketed. He is legendary. He crossed over. He was international. He appealed to all ages, races and genders. To salute him upon his death, they danced in the streets in London and in the Philippines, even prisoners did the "Thriller" dance routine. If Michael's music didn't make you move, you were unmovable. It's as simple as that. His productions changed the course of entertainment history and were extravaganzas with all the dazzle that you could imagine. While you couldn't ignore his talent, you also knew something was quite different about this man-child. Everything he did became controversial. He married Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis, and you wondered about it. He had three children, and you wondered how. If you have watched him over the years, you saw his medium brown skin lighten. You saw his kinky hair straighten. You saw his broad nose narrow. It did not matter. His talent superseded his weirdness. Music was his passion. Undoubtedly, he was a genius; we gave him a celebrity pass. I came in contact with the Jackson 5 on October 1, 1971, while working with Richard Thomas and the late Pete Long (of the Apollo) on the Black Expo at the International Amphitheater with Rev. Jesse Jackson. It was the third expo, and it was the best one. At the time, black artists were limited to only a few record labels. The label was Motown. For the evening shows, we had the entire Motown family -- to include, Marvin Gaye, Gladys's Knight, The Miracles and all of the top black talent of the day. The other label was Stax Records. Berry Gordy insisted that we take this new group, the kids out of Gary. Rev. Jackson did not want the "kids" interfering with the main shows, and we went back and forth in negotiating the talent package. Saturday was reserved for the kids. We had the then-popular Sesame Street onstage Saturday morning. It was suggested that we take the kids, the Jackson 5, for Saturday afternoon. It was the perfect compromise. Done deal. Everybody won. The truth of the matter was, we didn't know who the Jackson 5 were. The Amphitheater had huge steel doors constructed for cattle. While the Jackson 5 was not a household name, black girls from 8 to 12 years old knew who they were. We had more concert attendees than we knew what to do with. There were about 100,000 kids, mostly screaming black young girls. The steel cattle doors were going down. We had a crowd control problem and had to call the police. We could not get the young men from Gary into the theater. We had to think quickly and had them brought backstage by an ambulance. No one knew. I will never forget the magic of the moment when they took the stage and Michael, the little boy, went to work. The crowd exploded. It was total bedlam, chaos. He worked it like a pro: high energy, the beat, and the screams. He controlled the room, and we watched in amazement. This was my introduction to Michael Jackson. Spellbinding. He was magic with his bubblegum love songs and dance steps that were his own with a spin or two from Jackie Wilson and the stage presence of James Brown. He commanded your attention even then. I have watched him ever since. His career was amazing as it grew. He was a stellar talent and perhaps the very best America has ever produced. His pure talent overwhelmed, but he was not the average American boy. He missed the simple things of life like the walks through the park and bicycle rides. He paid a dear price for his fame and fortune but, again, his talent always overrode his strange behavior. We have lost a real treasure. He gave us joy and he took the pain. I hope he gets his long sought after peace as he permanently rests. Michael Jackson will never be forgotten because his legacy is enormously rich. At the end of the day, I hope his works will judge his life as he moonwalks right on into heaven. More on Michael Jackson
 
Paul LeGendre: A Place for Human Rights at the U.S.-Russia Summit Top
In a week, President Obama will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The agenda items of the summit in Moscow are of course numerous and complex, but it would be a mistake to let human rights concerns get lost in the mix. High among those concerns is the troubling rise in hate crimes in Russia, the government's inadequate response to this trend, and increased harassment - including at times murder - of human rights defenders. These and other outstanding human rights issues could make Russia a far less reliable partner in addressing economic, security, and other issues. During the past five years there has been a sharp increase in the number of racist and other bias-motivated attacks in Russia, a rise of about 15 percent per year. In 2008, there were nearly 100 such reported murders in Russia - by far the highest incidence of such serious violence in Europe. This problem has been compounded by a lackluster governmental response to these heinous acts. Russia's deeply-flawed antiextremism legislation has been used to silence government critics, rather than to thoroughly investigate and prosecute the cases of increasingly brutal violent hate crimes. In recent years, human rights activists have also been the targets of aggressive attacks by neo-Nazi and other groups. In a letter to the President, Elisa Massimino, the CEO and Executive Director of Human Rights First explained: "We believe, as you stated in April, that respect for human rights and the rule of law is the bedrock of a more constructive relationship between the United States and Russia. You also said then that 'it is time to get down to business and translate our warm words into actual achievements of benefit to Russia, the United States, and all those around the world interested in peace and prosperity.' Your attention to Russia's efforts to combat racist, xenophobic and other violent hate crimes and to strengthen and protect human rights organizations and civil society will help the move from words to deeds by making clear that the United States considers progress on these issues essential to building a strong bilateral relationship with Russia in the future." In his upcoming meetings with President Medvedev, President Obama must: * Express concern about the sharp rise in violent hate crimes in Russia and the so far inadequate response of the Russian authorities to this most pernicious form of discrimination, while making clear the common interest of the United States and Russia in combating violent hate crime throughout Europe and North America through developing shared solutions to the problems. * Encourage a regular dialogue between the U.S. Department of Justice and the Russian Interior Ministry and prosecutorial officials to improve responses to hate crime. * Show support for Russian human rights and other civil society groups by meeting with them in Moscow. HRF's letter to President Obama was sent on the same day the organization submitted testimony in conjunction with a United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) hearing examining the realities of "the Medvedev thaw." In those remarks for the record, HRF called on the Commission to encourage the Obama Administration to set the tone to the new relationship with Russia by welcoming some of the positive steps taken by President Medvedev since he assumed the presidency, while consistently raising continuing human rights concerns. My organization has put together a sign-on letter if you would like to lend your voice to this debate, urging President Obama to raise human rights concerns in his upcoming meeting with President Medvedev. Take Action: Tell President Obama to raise human rights issues with Russian President Medvedev! Paul LeGendre is the Director of the Fighting Discrimination program at Human Rights First . Join them at facebook.com/humanrightsfirst and twitter.com/humanrights1st More on Russia
 
Jim Jaffe: Why Wal-Mart Backs Mandatory Health Coverage Top
Wal-Mart's endorsement of a requirement that employers offer workers health insurance is a reminder that while most employers may resist such a law, those employers who pay most workers already offer insurance and can thus painlessly support the principle. About half of America's workers are employed by a firm with more than 500 workers - the percentage rises over time - and nearly every one of them is offered an opportunity to buy insurance. Only about six percent of them are uninsured. As firm size shrinks, the insured population grows, reaching 30 percent among those who have fewer than nine colleagues at work. The big employers comprise less than one percent of all employers, but have ample political clout. They find an increasing number of reasons to find mandatory coverage attractive and the upcoming debate may further fray their already deteriorating relationship with the Republican Party. Here's why: 1. It creates a more level playing field, imposing costs on their competitors who aren't now offering health insurance. That's why American Airlines took a similar stance more than a decade ago. 2. It lowers their costs. Insofar as the uninsured run up costs for care that are then shared by the insured population, any move toward universal insurance provides relief for those now providing coverage. 3. It solves a problem they have little confidence they can solve and decreasing enthusiasm. In an era where businesses are concentrating on what they do best and outsourcing ancillary tasks, fretting over keeping health insurance costs down is a distraction they have decreasing patience for. Business groups that once thought they could fix the system have decided the problem is simply bigger than they are. 4. It buys them a seat at the table. There are many ways to design a health reform program. Chances of influencing a design they'll ultimately be comfortable with are better if they are helping construct the new system rather than opposing it. For reasons both practical and political, small business owners continue to be wary of such a mandate. At best, it will exclude them while making it more difficult to recruit workers who'll increasingly expect health insurance as part of an employment package. At worst, it will impose complex and costly new responsibilities. While both parties continue to genuflect toward small business as a sparkplug of the American economy, this issue indicates a growing split within the employer community between the bigs, who are comfortable dealing with other big institutions and complying with a growing rule book, and small firms who are struggling. If the health debate concludes with the American people seeing Wal-Mart -- which offers convenient in-store clinics, discount prescriptions and health coverage for its employees while championing such protection for all -- as the good guy and their neighborhood store that offers less selection and higher prices along with service from an uninsured workforce as simply old-fashioned and out-of-step, that could have a big impact on our politics in the years ahead. More on Wal-Mart
 
Giles Slade: Eebs: A History of Future Publishing Top
Few people have noticed, but the competition over e-Book formats between Google-Sony et al, and Kindle-Amazon has introduced two tiers into the emerging market for electronic books. Google is now going to make all of its 1.5 million titles in the public domain available in various formats, establishing it as the premier source of golden oldies. If you want and electronic version of Moby Dick or Leaves of Grass , you know where to go. But today, as Google "celebrate[s] bygones... I project the history of the future." In the world of digitized music, the iPod-Apple ecosystem occupies the luxury end of the consumer spectrum. Steve Jobs took the initiative early to guarantee uniformity, quality and sleek design for high-end consumers. Then, he began working assiduously on his back-list, making history when The Beatles songbook became available on iTunes. Apple makes money on the device, and the songs. Apple's control of the market is obvious. Just as all photocopies are Xeroxes, a podcast is a podcast even if it's recorded in MP3. As the competition drives innovation, Apple brings out newer, cooler models -- like the nearly invisible, Nano Air -- and makes more money. By not competing with its competitors, Apple avoids a race to the bottom line. It competitors cannot do this. Checkmate. In the emerging world of e-Books, Kindle-Amazon will increasingly occupy a position similar to the iPod while Google (a collector and purveyor of e-Books) together with its partner Sony (a manufacturer of e-Readers) will forever be positioned at the lower end of the e-Book market along with several other manufacturers. This too, resembles the structure of the digitized music industries. The Sony reader is less imaginative than the Kindle. It's cheaper, uglier, less functional, less popular, and its ecosystem is not as fully developed. While it is true that other applications spread Googles' inventory onto mobile devices, notice the vagueness of the term 'mobile device' itself. The Stanza, eReader and 'iKindle' applications are all add-ons for existing machines that have small screens and are mainly valued for other functions: phoning, messaging or mobile Internet connectivity. While electronics manufacturers constantly dream of designing, building and selling an all-in-one personal electronic doodad to 6 billion people, still no Swiss Army Knife will never replace a good corkscrew, a good screwdriver or a good pair of scissors. Feature creep harms the quality of any tool, but, most important, it obscures a manufacturer's ability to market it. The Kindle, on the other hand, is what you keep at home or take with you on vacation to relax into. It is for the book-lover who might occasionally buy a first, a signed or a special edition. It is lingerie. It is a box of chocolates or a bottle of double-malt. Especially well-timed for the recession as a luxury item that keeps on giving by allowing you to 'save' on cheaper electronic editions, it's now here to stay. Competition will drive it to adapt and compete, of course. That's only natural. Stanza, for example, has many attractive features that Kindle now needs to copy. It will. According to the current growth curve, electronic books will dominate world-wide book sales by 2018. (This is the book industry's own prediction, and is extremely 'safe.' It does not anticipate a watershed or 'tipping point'). In any case, Kindle-Amazon and Google will continue to make good money. Traditional print media will continue to lose money as long as they stumble around wondering how to accommodate themselves to what happened yesterday. In desperation, print news publishers will soon seize back their own material from Google, but Google does not have the financial problems of print news publishers. Its universe is mainly a young generation of screen readers who have little loyalty to Rupert Murdoch (much as I love him) or the Wall Street Journal. When its current news sources dry up, Google will join with online media sources and develop its own instant eReportage. Newspapers will continue to wither and die. Of course, the big winners will be the Taiwanese device makers themselves. Freescale Semiconductor, for example, makes processors for many e-readers including the Kindle and Sony. Another Taiwanese eBook powerhouse is Netronix, a contract device manufacturer, partly owned by display-maker Prime View International (PVI). A conglomerate of print publishers could probably still guarantee themselves survival and success by investing heavily in the manufacturing-end of ePublishing. But this presents enormous logistical challenges. A entire generation of news and publishing executives would have to reeducate themselves and then work out a massive compromise. The Klingons would have to join the Federation and then buy out the Borg. I do not anticipate this happening. Netronix now owns the worldwide patents for e-ink/e-paper. They manufacture several models of an eReader called Mentor in much the same way that Sandisk (and many others) make good, usable MP3 players that nonetheless do not compete with Apple's iPod. In the future, no matter which brand of e-Reader you choose, your device will undoubtedly contain many components manufactured by PVI-Netronix as well as a processor made by Freescale. What I am eager to see, however, is not the dominance of any one format, device or publisher, but a qualitative change in the actual use of the technology. From the history of technology we know that early on, every device or tool imitates the technology it replaces. The earliest pottery has beautiful geometric designs that are derived from patterns of the woven baskets that pottery supplemented and replaced. The creation of early movies too, was described by its practitioners as a 'camera-stylo' [a fluid camera-pen] which made writing a model for a bold new technology that quickly surpassed the printed word. What I want to see is an e-Book that is no longer a simulacrum of a printed work. Soon, when people begin writing exclusively for eBooks, book metaphors like pagination will lose their functionality and fall away. But I also want the new medium to develop brand new possibilities. Maybe then, we will stop calling them e-Books and simply call them 'eebs.' The Kindle feature of reading itself aloud is a good beginning in expanding this new medium. In the future, I foresee hyperlinks that will break the reader out of the printed page and take him or her on a roller-coaster ride across the Internet during an accelerated and compressed 'knowledge-journey' [nahjer?] that would be impossible in a printed work. I don't know how long this will take, but I know it has to come. Describing an unknowable future he would never experience, Pablo Neruda once wrote: Other days will come, the silence of plants and planets will be understood, and so many pure things will happen. Violins will have the fragrance of the moon. More on Apple
 
Bill Burton Defends Obama Reaction To Honduran Presidential Coup On "O'Reilly Factor" (VIDEO) Top
Deputy White House Press Secretary Bill Burton faced an outraged Juan Williams, sitting in for Bill O'Reilly, on "The O'Reilly Factor" tonight. Williams demanded to know why President Obama was supporting exiled Honduran President Zalaya, who had been removed from the country in a military coup, when he had stayed "silent" on the turbulence in Iran. At the end of a long introduction to his question, Williams finally splutters, "What is President Obama doing?" Burton replied that the President was following American principles, which don't involve "taking someone out of their home in their pajamas and putting them in another country in order to swear in another president. It means going through elections and the democratic process in order to have changes in leadership." Watch the exchange below. More on Honduras
 
Dave Johnson: Did Free Trade Cause The Recession? Top
For many years the world has suffered under a "free trade" regime that eliminates good paying jobs in every country, sending the work to countries that keep wages low and restrict workers' ability to organize for a better life. The profits went to an already-wealthy few and the inequities increased, wealth concentrating massively at the very top. And now consumers around the world have run out of money. This is not a surprise. Did these "free" trade policies cause the recession? Imagine a company in South Carolina that makes 20,000 pairs of shoes a week and distributes them to stores. Now, imagine that the company closes its South Carolina plant, opens a plant in a low-wage country, ships all the machines and raw materials there, ships back 20,000 pairs of shoes each week and distributes them to the same stores. Is that "trade?" Are the raw materials sent out of the country an "export?" Are the shoes brought back into the country an "import?" The only thing that has been "traded" in this scenario is American jobs traded for huge executive bonuses. The workers in the low-wage country are not paid enough to buy any remaining American-made products. And, as the economic collapses as a result of shenanigans like this, American workers are no longer able to buy shoes so the executives won't be getting bonuses next year. I submit that nothing in this example is "traded" except that our standard of living has been traded away. And this exchange brings little benefit to the workers in the low-wage country. This is exploitative trade, not free trade , and we need to protect our workers, the workers in other countries and the world's economy by demanding that our trade partners provide living wages and benefits. We can enforce this demand by attaching import tariffs at a level that makes our own goods competitive. This removes the advantage gained by exploiting workers - and the revenue reduces our own tax burden to maintain our competitive infrastructure. It is an incentive to pay their workers enough so they can reciprocate and buy the things we make here. Instead of the race to the bottom that led to this recession such tariffs create an incentive to raise standards of living around the world. Lets have national policies that prevent exploitation of workers and the environment and that share prosperity. This is a choice between lifting each other up or continuing a spiral to the bottom. More on The Recession
 
Huff TV: HuffPost's Sam Stein Joins "Ed Show" Panel To Discuss Mark Sanford, Health Care Reform Prospects (VIDEO) Top
HuffPost reporter Sam Stein joined an "Ed Show" panel, along with Laura Flanders, host of Grittv.org, and John Feehery, GOP strategist, to discuss the political fallout from South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's affair, and if he should step down, and the prospects for health care reform now that the Democrats have reached 60 votes in the Senate (including two Independents who regularly vote with the Democrats). Part 1 (panel starts at 6:35) Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy Part 2 Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy More on Video
 

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