Friday, July 31, 2009

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Andy Ostroy: Gates and Crowley Share a White House Beer. President Obama Declares and End to Racism Top
Ya gotta love America. Two weeks ago, when Police Sgt. James Crowley and Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. were screaming at each other like Archie Bunker and George Jefferson, I'm fairly certain the last thing either man thought at that racially-charged moment was that they'd soon be sipping beer together and yukking it up in the White House Rose Garden with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. But that's precisely what they did this week, proving once again that anything can and will happpen in this nutty country of ours. In a storybook ending worthy of Rodney "why can't we all just get along" King, the Massachusetts antagonists posed in what will go down in political history as the cheesiest, most embarrassing and most gratuitously sensational photo-op ever. Crowley, after his highly controversial disorderly-conduct arrest of Prof. Gates in his own home, suggested to Obama, after the leader-of-the-free-world said the Cambridge police "acted stupidly," that the three of them get together for a White House brewsky to kiss and make up. A boneheaded suggestion which the president boneheadedly accepted. With the four men seated at a round table with their frosty mugs of Blue Moon, Bud Light, Sam Adams Light and Buckler's beers, and with Biden and Obama with uprolled sleeves, the picture could not have looked more fake and insincere. What the hell the president intended to get out of this Kumbaya charade is anyone's guess. Neither Gates or Crowley will dislike each other any less, and race relations in America will not be changed one single iota. That Obama felt the need to inject himself into this non-story and take away precious presidential time from pressing economic and health care matters is beyond belief. For an awfully bright guy who usually has laser-like focus on priorities, this time he's bungled it big time. More on Joe Biden
 
6 'Facts' About Historic Figures (Their Enemies Made Up) Top
The truth is like Silly Putty: you can stretch it, mold it and use it to destroy someone's life. Just ask anyone who's ever run a nasty smear campaign; a good, juicy lie or half-truth about someone can not only follow them to the grave, but can echo down through history long after. Just look at how the following "historical facts"--all complete bullshit--have continued to show up in print for centuries after the subject has passed away.
 
Pelosi's Secret Weapon in Health Care Debate: Chocolate Top
The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, unveiled her party's battle plan on Friday for selling major health care legislation during the August recess. Ms. Pelosi, speaking to reporters, acknowledged that Democrats face a steep challenge in explaining the complex legislation to the American public. But she said she was confident that once people understand the plan, they will support it. More on Nancy Pelosi
 
House Health Bill Clears Last Committee Before Floor Vote, Recess Top
After nearly two weeks of delays, a health care bill passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee late Friday night, setting the stage for a full floor vote in the lower chamber -- but not for more than a month, as the House will be on vacation until Sept. 8. The committee passed its reform bill 31 to 28, with five Democrats joining every Republican in voting no. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders said at a press conference earlier Friday that they will spend much of their August recess working to reconcile the Energy and Commerce bill with the stronger bills passed by the Ways and Means and Education and Labor committees on July 17. Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) had been furiously negotiating with warring Democratic factions since negotiations broke down early last week. "Today is a historic moment for the House of Representatives and a defining moment for our country," Waxman said in a statement. "It is a significant victory that all three committees in the House have worked together to pass comprehensive health reform legislation for all Americans. This bill will deliver the results the nation's health care system so desperately needs: lower costs, better quality, and broader coverage. I hope that when we return from recess, the House will act expeditiously to enact this bill into law." The seven conservative Blue Dog Democrats on Waxman's committee stood as the primary obstacles to the bill throughout the past two weeks. The five Democrats who voted against the bill were Reps. John Barrow of Georgia; Rick Boucher of Virginia; Jim Matheson of Utah; Charlie Melancon of Louisiana and Bart Stupak of Michigan. Blue Dogs Mike Ross and Baron Hill (Ind.). With the aid of Obama administration officials, Waxman and four of the seven committee Blue Dogs struck a deal Wednesday that delayed the full House vote past August, weakened the bill's public health care option and cut $100 billion over 10 years, much of it in subsidies for uninsured members of the middle class who would be ineligible for the public plan. Those concessions prompted an outcry from House progressives, 57 of whom signed a letter to House leadership and the three committee chairmen protesting the Blue Dog deal. Waxman struck a deal between the progressives and Blue Dogs early Friday morning that left the public option delinked from Medicare and forced to negotiate its own rates, but restored the middle-income subsidies by shifting funds from existing federal health care programs. The deal also slightly reduced the cost of premiums for the uninsured, from 12 percent of a household's annual income to 11 percent. Alongside that agreement, Pelosi promised a floor vote on a single-payer health care system that would be fully government-run, Waxman told the committee Friday night. After Waxman's announcement, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) agreed to withdraw his single-payer amendment from consideration in the Energy and Commerce bill. Weiner then high-fived Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who with Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Penn.), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) helped cut the deal with Pelosi. Though Republicans were sidelined throughout the private negotiations among Democrats, they managed to briefly delay the incorporation of the intraparty Democratic deals as the committee debate stretched into Friday night. Finally Waxman overrode the procedural complaints of ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) and forced a vote on the Blue Dog agreement. First, however, Republicans expressed disappointment that the Blue Dogs were unable to water the bill down more or cut the public option entirely. "You allowed them to pick the color of the lipstick that's going on this pig," Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) grumbled to Waxman shortly before the amendments were added to the bill. The final Energy and Commerce vote was even closer than the votes in the two other two House committees. Education and Labor passed its bill by a vote of 26 to 22, opposed by all committee Republicans and three Democrats -- Reps. Jason Altmire (D-Penn.), Jared Polis (D-Col.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.). The Ways and Means markup, which includes tax increases, passed 23 to 18. There, too, three Democrats joined the united Republican opposition: Reps. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) and John Tanner (D-Tenn.). While the House has now cleared its last remaining obstacle to a full floor vote, things are moving more slowly in the Senate. Ted Kennedy's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed its bill two weeks ago under the stewardship of Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), but Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters Thursday that he would not have a final version of the Finance bill before the Senate leaves for vacation at the end of next week. Both parties are already sharpening their knives in preparation for each member's monthlong battle for public opinion back home. Republican talking points leaked Friday argue that reform will simultaneously hurt both the insurers and the insured. "During a recession that has seen the loss of 6.5 million jobs, Democrats propose a government takeover of health care that will lead to increased costs, fewer jobs, higher taxes and less health coverage," the Republican memo reads. "Democrats appear ready to leave town for the August recess with a so-called deal in hand. I think it's safe to say that, over the August recess, as more Americans learn more about their plan, they're likely to have a very, very hot summer," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday. For their part, Pelosi and other House Democratic leaders sought this week to unite their party against the insurance companies Pelosi deemed the real "villains." "The glory days are coming to an end to the health insurance industry in our country," Pelosi said at a press conference Friday afternoon, calling the industry's profits "obscene." In a conference call with reporters immediately before the press conference, Pelosi lieutenant Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) condemned the Republican "campaign of lies." The White House is reaching out to help its allies in Congress frame the debate. Senior Obama adviser David Axelrod and Office of Health Reform head Nancy Ann DeParle held a closed-door messaging strategy meeting with House Democrats Friday morning, and Pelosi said Friday afternoon that the president will continue to stump for the forthcoming reform bills during the recess.
 
Yoani Sanchez: Brazilian Soap Operas Shape Cuban Realities Top
Some day the history of our last decades will have to be told through the Brazilian soap operas that have played across the small screen. We will hear specialists establishing parallels between the quantity of tears spilled in front of the TV and the degree of resignation or rebelliousness embraced in real life. Another area for study will be the hope created in us by some character--from the television soap operas--who managed to leave misery behind and realize their dreams. This likely analysis will have to include, without a doubt, the stormy drama of The Slave Isaura . This mixed-race woman who escaped from a cruel master paralyzed our country to the point that on one occasion the passengers of a train refused to board, staying in the station while the final episode aired. It even served us as a source of analogies between the slave's mistress who refused to give her servant freedom and those who acted like our masters, controlling everything. In these same years my mother's friends divorced en masse, guided by the independent character of Malu , who raised a daughter alone and didn't wear a bra. Then came 1994 and the " maleconazo "* forced the government to accept certain economic openings, which materialized as rooms for rent, private taxis, and private restaurants. At that time we had the plot of a production from Rio de Janeiro that directly influenced the naming of these new circumstances. Cubans baptized restaurants run by common people " paladars ," or palates, after the food company created by the protagonist of the show Vale todo . The story of the poor mother who sold food on the beach and ended up founding a large consortium seemed to us like that of the newly emerging "self-employed," who fixed up the living room of their house to offer dishes that had been extinct for decades. Then things started to get complicated and we saw serials where farmers were reclaiming their land, fifty-year-old women made plans for the future, and reporters from an independent newspaper managed to attract more readers. The scripts of these dramas have ended up being--on this Island--the keys to interpreting our reality, comparing it with others, and critiquing it. Thus, three days a week, I sit in front of the television to read between the lines of the conflicts that surround each actor, because from them arise much of the attitudes that my countrymen will adopt the following morning. They will have more hopes or more patience, in part "thanks to" or "as the fault of" these soap operas that come to us from the south. Translator's note: Maleconazo: A spontaneous riot on August 5, 1994, along Havana's waterfront boulevard and seawall. Yoani's blog, Generation Y, can be read here in English Translation. More on Cuba
 
Diane Francis: Canada's disgusting seal hunt should be outlawed Top
The needless slaughter of baby seals in Newfoundland every year is an embarrassment and disgrace. Canada must outlaw the seal hunt. Canadian politicians have been in capable of ending this primitive practice - the largest killing of marine mammals in the world - even as damage to the country's reputation, some businesses and the image of the 2010 Olympics grows. Animal-rights activists have elicited condemnations from the U.S. Senate, President Barack Obama and the European Union which just imposed a ban on seal imports. Ottawa is appealing the ban to the World Trade Organization at a cost of taxpayers of $10 million. This waste to backstop an unjustifiable and puny business of $1 million a year to Canadian seal exporters who sell baby seal pelts to European fashionistas. The battle to save the seal babies escalates as Canadian leaders reneg The Human Society of the United States, and global affiliates, are now promoting the boycott of all Canadian seafood. "Why seafood? Because seal hunting is an off-season activity conducted by fishers from Canada's East Coast," reads the Society's website. "They earn a small fraction of their incomes from sealing--primarily from the sale of seal pelts to European fashion markets. But the vast majority of the sealers' incomes are from commercial fisheries. Canadian seafood exports to the United States contribute US$2.4 billion annually to the Canadian economy--dwarfing the few million dollars [estimated $1 million this year] provided by the seal hunt. The connection between the commercial fishing industry and the seal hunt in Canada gives consumers all over the world the power to end this cruel and brutal slaughter. Click here to learn more." More ammo against Canada for doing nothing Another group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is targeting the Olympics. "Every year, the Canadian government allows sealers to beat and skin hundreds of thousands of seals, many of whom are only weeks old. These baby seals are shot or bludgeoned to death. Veterinarians and Fisheries and Oceans Canada officers have found that the young seals' skulls are often not adequately crushed, which can lead to a prolonged death," reads its website. A year ago, the group approached U.S. Airways to plaster its airplanes with the "Olympic Shame" message. The airline rejected the proposal. In January, it unveiled a violent parody of the Vancouver 2010 Inukshuk logo, battering a blood-soaked baby seal. In June, it unveiled a campaign portraying the Vancouver Games mascots - Miga, Quatchi and Sumi - as savage seal killers. This week, PETA approached the Vancouver Olympic Committee to buy some of its surplus billboard, noting that it is having difficulty selling advertising space in the Lower Mainland. It pledged to buy $38 million worth of space, but the recession has meant $12-million remains unsold. This will be rejected by the committee which will become an issue around the world. And it's all unnecessary. Canada should outlaw this slaughter immediately. It is not some third-world nation. Even abattoirs are required to euthanize painlessly which makes this abuse intolerable to anyone who understands it. Enough already. More on Canada
 
Defense Department Releases Air Force One Manhattan Flyover Photos Top
At the Pentagon's Web site, you can click through an entire run of photographs (in pdf) taken last spring on that ill-fated, rather freaky, public-relations stunt by the backup Air Force One that flew over Manhattan and all its landmarks. The Pentagon released the full set of 146 photographs in response to Freedom of Information requests, it seems. Around photo 82, the jet begins flying over the Statue of Liberty, and then later, does a return rip above the landmark. The Defense Department also released a redacted flight manifest, which, frankly, doesn't tell you much.
 
Zorianna Kit: Movie Review: Aliens in the Attic Top
There has been lots for the kiddies at the multiplex this summer from another Harry Potter to Ice Age and Transformers sequels, to G-Force to Up . Some of those were excellent and some were down right terrible. This weekend's 20th Century Fox's Aliens in the Attic falls somewhere in the middle. Completely bearable for mom and dad while totally enjoyable for the kids, this live-action/CGI film contains bits and pieces of films parents will recognize from their youth like National Lampoon's Vacation , Gremlins , Goonies and Monster Squad . Except the whole thing has been smartly updated for the video game generation as the kids in Attic are all about the X-Box and Wii and have never seen a rotary telephone before in their lives. The film centers on kids - siblings and cousins - battling aliens who've invaded their summer home in an attempt to take over the world. Meanwhile, the adults around them are clueless as to what's going on and assume the youths are just playing around. So while dad has taken them on a family Vacation , the kids have their own Goonies adventure with pesky aliens, but one little green guy is actually good, like Gizmo in Gremlins , and the whole thing culminates in a Monster Squad battle. Oh yeah, did I mention this all takes place in one day? The cast is filled with youngsters who are no doubt current or future Teen Beat and Bop Magazine pin-up favorites, including High School Musical 's Ashley Tisdale as Bethany, the eldest of the group. The adults are all familiar comedians including Kevin Nealon (channeling Clark Griswold) and Gillian Vigman as the parents, Andy Richter as the uncle, Doris Roberts as grandma and Tim Meadows as the local sheriff. Though they are not the focus of the film, they are clearly there to keep parents firmly in their seats. Much of the comedy is derived from a device the aliens have: a high-tech mind-control chip they shoot in humans' skulls to take over the body and control it with a video game-like joystick. The one caveat is that it only works on adults, not kids. That's how the youngsters quickly find out Bethany's boyfriend, Ricky (Robert Hoffman), has been lying about his age when the 18-year old becomes the first victim. Since the kids all hate him anyway, when they steal the controlling device from the aliens, they have their own fun torturing poor old Ricky. When Grandma becomes the second victim of this chip, it's kids vs. aliens with their respective joysticks as Ricky and Grandma have a Matrix-style battle in the home. It's pretty amusing to watch an elderly lady like Roberts twirling through the air in slow-motion like a Samurai. After seeing Betty White give it all she's got in The Proposal , Roberts shows she's still in the game as well. The most gifted newcomer here turns out to be Hoffman, whose comedic skills - no doubt much of it improvised - are on full display when his body is taken over by the device. Playing the abducted Ricky, one can only imagine what it took for him to film some of those hilariously self-abusive scenes over and over again during the production while keeping a straight, robotic face. Stay for the end credits and there are plenty more outtakes featuring him slapping himself and doing other goofy antics. Though Aliens in the Attic is far from being a classic like most of the aforementioned films it borrows from, it fun enough to sit through for the kids without torturing the folks.
 
Robert Rodi: Mad Cow by Moonlight: Mucca Pazza Enchants Evanston Top
Ah, summer in Chicago! You can scarcely go out for a quart of milk and a Redeye without being serenaded by live music from street fairs, ethnic fests, block parties, and concerts-in-the-parks. If you time it right, a leisurely stroll around your 'hood can be a crash course in western tonalism, from Monteverdi down through Moby. And of course, wherever you go out of doors, your quadrupedal pal can follow. Which is a great boon to those of us who are both music lovers and dog lovers: we can indulge the former without abandoning the latter. So a few nights ago I packed my eighty-pound collie, Harley, into the backseat of the car and drove to the lagoon at Evanston's Dawes Park, where we joined a respectably but not oppressively large crowd of revelers (including a sizable canine contingent) for an hour of Mucca Pazza. For those of you who haven't seen it, the lagoon is man-made, a stadium-size oval with two circular platforms projecting into the water from either end. The southern platform is a thickly landscaped arcadia; but the northern is left empty to form a open stage, with stone terraces providing seating around its perimeter, much like the arenas of ancient Athens. It's a happy choice of venue for Mucca Pazza, because this band is as much about theater as it is about music. Formed by bandleader and composer Mark Messing, Mucca Pazza (Italian for "mad cow") bills itself as a marching band that thinks it's a rock band. Accent on the "bills itself." This is where the levels of postmodernism begin to make your head hurt. Consider: If you broadcast that you're something that thinks it's something else, obviously you don't really think that. It's an elaborate pose; elaborate because the admission of the pose is itself a pose. Okay, I'll stop now. (This is the kind of stream of consciousness that results from too much time with only a dog for company.) I think the truth is somewhere more along the lines of, Mucca Pazza is post-ironic deconstruction of the whole concept of a marching band. First of all, they don't march. They move around a lot, sure--darting off in different directions and weaving themselves into the crowd so that the sound comes from within the audience, behind the audience--and in fact they're so rootless an ensemble that I gave up trying to count them. It was like trying to tally up baby chicks. There might've been 18 altogether, or as many as 23. They were mainly horn players, of course (a full range of those), and drummers, but there was also an accordionist, a guitarist, even a violinist. Not to mention three cheerleaders whose uniforms and pom-poms didn't match. In fact, no one's uniform matched anyone else's; I got the impression these were leftovers from student band days. But none of this milling around could pass muster as marching; it was too sinuous, too serpentine, too driven by animal impulses that would horrify a proper Sousa crew. See, the role of the marching band used to be one of reassurance: crowds would watch them sail by in lockstep, and the exactitude and rigor of their uniformity offered a vision of supremely confident organization--a reflection of the indomitable competence in which the onlookers, as a society, took such pride. That was fine for the Victorians, or Eisenhower's America; but we don't much believe in that kind of world anymore--we've seen how easily it cracks to pieces. These days we're more interested in fluidity, individuality ... surprise. And that's what Mucca Pazza offers: an entire program of tunes--some original, others plucked from far and wide across the canon--that express playfulness and joy, that embrace the unexpected. Their influences run riot from middle-eastern rhythms to alt-rock headbanging. (The Chicago Reader calls them a "gypsy punk-rock marching band," which is as on the money as anything else I've heard.) The paradox, of course, is that this seeming chaos is achieved only through backbreaking discipline; there's improvisation here, sure, but at times the dizzying meticulousness of these musicians can't help bursting through, as in a dizzyingly long fermata just before the concluding measure of Shostakovitch's Trio in E-flat, during which each player remained poised for the next note, which, tantalizingly, just kept ... on ... not ... coming. Soon the audience was roaring and clapping and happily hooting (recalling Oscar Wilde: "The suspense is terrible; I hope it will last")--till after more than two minutes (I was timing it with my iPhone stopwatch) they suddenly they plunged back in with absolutely military precision, and ended the piece. During a few of the tunes, various members of the band (including guest conductor Jeffrey Thomas, facetiously introduced as a student) spilled off the stage and into the lagoon itself (which, as it turns out, is only ankle-deep). By the end of the set, nearly fifty audience members were doing the same, splashing around blissfully as the sun wobbled low in the sky. People seem to have come prepared to partner the band in whatever innocent anarchy they undertook; early in the set a young man near me spent twenty minutes dutifully working a hula-hoop. (I say young man; but not, I think, young enough. Twenty minutes of hula-hoop is a very long time. I had to get up and move Harley, who likes kids well enough, but does not take to the average manchild.) My friends Henry and Julie, who live in the area, joined me partway through the set and swiftly became fans. They bought a t-shirt and snagged a handful of buttons. "What do they make off this stuff?" Henry asked about the swag, possibly because I'm in a band myself and might reasonably be expected to know. I of course have no idea. Henry ventured that the shaggy conduct of the ensemble was either the result of, or inspired by the effects of, dope; but I think that was just wishful thinking on his part. He'd probably say the same thing about a joint session of Congress. (Though a little ganja might actually help matters there.) After the band dispersed we walked into town to have a drink courtesy of a nearby restaurant's outdoor seating. Harley took a dump on the way, which I picked up in a plastic bag and carried with me. "You're such a good citizen," Henry said with something less than complete approval. When a block passed with no sign of a trashcan, he tried to persuade me to leave it on top of a mailbox. I held out for a receptacle. As we drank we derided the widespread insistence of major corporations on maintaining a Twitter presence even when there's nothing to Tweet about. We were aware that we sounded terribly, terribly old. Our waiter was kind enough to bring Harley a tin tray of water, but when we left he told us not to bring him back because it was against health regulations. Julie said, "Evanston isn't Paris," which at that point in the evening struck me as startlingly profound. Mucca Pazza's website is mucca-pazza.org . You can also check them out on YouTube and Facebook .
 
Michael Jones: 'In the Loop' a Must-See Movie Top
It was after my "I have to remember that line to tell people" software crashed from too many great lines to remember and my grin-o-meter clicked over to four hundred in a half hour that I realized that I was watching a seriously good movie. A seriously good, topical, deadly satiric, tell-all-your-friends-immediately-to-go-see-it, extremely funny movie. Good enough in its writing and dialogue delivery to make me think of His Girl Friday . Pay attention when you see it, the words are spoken at warp speed. The great knife of satire, sharp as a Hattori Hanzo blade, slices and dices the political classes of London and Washington with special attention to the media and its manipulators. Unfortunately named, especially for Chicago, the movie title is the only "off" thing associated with In the Loop . It's a British take on the run up to the Iraq war filmed as if a documentary. But, it is much, much more, putting the moviegoer in the midst of the action as ambition and character are tested by events great and small. Small steps, the movie indicates, are all that are needed to go from getting face time on camera to making decisions that could lead to thousands of deaths. And, it is all too believable. As is oftentimes said, never sit too close to a ballet and never ever watch sausage being made. In the Loop is a cautionary tale, a morality play by way of "The Colbert Report." It is, among many other things, the best Iraq War movie yet made. Its tone so insanely sardonic and so inclusively insulting that, whether pro- or anti-war, you'll laugh rather than chalking up political points to argue. Democrat or Republican, you will know in your heart of hearts at movie's end, that this is, indeed, how great events play out in real time. It's told, for the most part, from the point of view of a feckless, spineless, British Cabinet member who flutters toward the media's bright light like a moth on steroids. Then there is his PR staff, and the PM's PR guy, and Americans aplenty: State Department bureaucrats clawing each others eyes out in an endless contest for access and positioning, a corpulent Army general playing both sides against his rather substantial middle, and an English view of the White House, a house they will remind you they burned to the ground on a whim, that is so caustic and funny that it must be true. The easy to believe venalities of political access and power displayed with such style and fun are but part of the masterful plot and screenplay. The British system, the American system, the clueless UN, the A to B of how easily the press becomes but a pawn, the power politics of getting things done, love and lust, ambition and angst, bombast and betrayal, whoosh...and the movie seems over before you settled in your seat. Fantastic performances all around with Peter Capaldi playing an incendiary PR fixer working directly for the prime minister, trying to control all messaging in a world of "all media all the time," dominating every scene he is in. His character's ongoing diatribe against anything in his path is the greatest display of invective in movie history. His is a Niagara Falls of insults, as he attempts to herd cats toward the government's approved "strategy." First movie ever to use Frodo in an alliterative put down (think 'f' with a 'ing') and that, in itself, is worth the price of admission. There were hints throughout of a recent great, overlooked movie as well: Tristam Shandy, A Cock and Bull Story . The same cinema verite style, the moving camera making the viewer part of it all, the behind-the-scenes vibe...very Cock and Bullish. The great Steven Coogan, who played Tristam, in a minor role here, as the action veers from the March to War to a constituency problem back in Merrie Olde. Maybe it was just the uber-literate script that connects the two, yes, the spirit of Tristam was somewhere there. I looked up In the Loop on IMDb and the director, Armando Iannucci, did the BBC television program The Thick of It on which this movie is loosely based, but also I'm Alan Partridge with Steven Coogan as Alan. I have read previously that Tristam owed a lot to the pseudo realistic style of that BBC show. So in an odd way, all roads lead back to Mr. Parsons. A friend texted me after she saw the movie: Run don't walk to see this movie! It was great advice. I pass it on to all Huffington Post readers.
 
Corazon Aquino Dead: Former Philippines President Dies At 76 Top
MANILA, Philippines — Former President Corazon Aquino, who swept away a dictator with a "people power" revolt and then sustained democracy by fighting off seven coup attempts in six years, died on Saturday, her son said. She was 76. The uprising she led in 1986 ended the repressive 20-year regime of Ferdinand Marcos and inspired nonviolent protests across the globe, including those that ended Communist rule in eastern Europe. But she struggled in office to meet high public expectations. Her land redistribution program fell short of ending economic domination by the landed elite, including her own family. Her leadership, especially in social and economic reform, was often indecisive, leaving many of her closest allies disillusioned by the end of her term. Still, the bespectacled, smiling woman in her trademark yellow dress remained beloved in the Philippines, where she was affectionately referred to as "Tita (Auntie) Cory." "She was headstrong and single-minded in one goal, and that was to remove all vestiges of an entrenched dictatorship," Raul C. Pangalangan, former dean of the Law School at the University of the Philippines, said earlier this month. "We all owe her in a big way." Her son, Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, said she died at 3:18 a.m. Saturday (1918 GMT Friday). Aquino was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer last year and confined to a Manila hospital for more than a month. Her son said the cancer had spread to other organs and she was too weak to continue her chemotherapy. For the past month, supporters have been holding daily prayers for Aquino in churches in Manila and throughout the country. Requiem Masses were scheduled for later Saturday, and yellow ribbons were tied on trees around her neighborhood in Quezon city. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is on an official visit to the United States, remembered Aquino as a "national treasure" who helped lead "a revolution to restore democracy and the rule of law to our nation at a time of great peril. "She picked up the standard from the fallen warrior Ninoy and helped lead our nation to a brighter day," Arroyo said, referring to Aquino' husband, opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., who was assassinated in 1983. She said the Philippines will observe 10 days of national mourning. The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it would accord full military honors during Aquino's wake, including gun salutes and lowering flags to half-staff. TV stations on Saturday ran footage of Aquino's years in power together with prayers while her former aides and supporters offered condolences. "Today our country has lost a mother," said former President Joseph Estrada, calling Aquino "a woman of both strength and graciousness." Even the exiled Communist Party founder Jose Maria Sison, whom Aquino freed from jail in 1986, paid tribute from the Netherlands. Aquino's unlikely rise began in 1983 after her husband was gunned down on the tarmac of Manila's international airport as he returned from exile in the United States to challenge Marcos, his longtime adversary. The killing enraged many Filipinos and unleashed a broad-based opposition movement that thrust Aquino into the role of national leader. "I don't know anything about the presidency," she declared in 1985, a year before she agreed to run against Marcos, uniting the fractious opposition, the business community, and later the armed forces to drive the dictator out. Maria Corazon Cojuangco was born on Jan. 25, 1933, into a wealthy, politically powerful family in Paniqui, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Manila. She attended private school in Manila and earned a degree in French from the College of Mount St. Vincent in New York. In 1954 she married Ninoy Aquino, the fiercely ambitious scion of another political family. He rose from provincial governor to senator and finally opposition leader. Marcos, elected president in 1965, declared martial law in 1972 to avoid term limits. He abolished the Congress and jailed Aquino's husband and thousands of opponents, journalists and activists without charges. Aquino became her husband's political stand-in, confidant, message carrier and spokeswoman. A military tribunal sentenced her husband to death for alleged links to communist rebels but, under pressure from U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Marcos allowed him to leave in May 1980 for heart surgery in the U.S. It was the start of a three-year exile. With her husband at Harvard University holding court with fellow exiles, academics, journalists and visitors from Manila, Aquino was the quiet homemaker, raising their five children and serving tea. Away from the hurly-burly of Philippine politics, she described the period as the best of their marriage. The halcyon days ended when her husband decided to return to regroup the opposition. While she and the children remained in Boston, he flew to Manila, where he was shot as he descended the stairs from the plane. The government blamed a suspected communist rebel, but subsequent investigations pointed to a soldier who was escorting him from the plane on Aug. 21, 1983. Aquino heard of the assassination in a phone call from a Japanese journalist. She recalled gathering the children and, as a deeply religious woman, praying for strength. "During Ninoy's incarceration and before my presidency, I used to ask why it had always to be us to make the sacrifice," she said in a 2007 interview with The Philippine Star newspaper. "And then, when Ninoy died, I would say, 'Why does it have to be me now?' It seemed like we were always the sacrificial lamb." She returned to the Philippines three days later. One week after that, she led the largest funeral procession Manila had seen. Crowd estimates ranged as high as 2 million. With public opposition mounting against Marcos, he stunned the nation in November 1985 by calling a snap election in a bid to shore up his mandate. The opposition, including then Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime L. Sin, urged Aquino to run. After a fierce campaign, the vote was held on Feb. 7, 1986. The National Assembly declared Marcos the winner, but journalists, foreign observers and church leaders alleged massive fraud. With the result in dispute, a group of military officers mutinied against Marcos on Feb. 22 and holed up with a small force in a military camp in Manila. Over the following three days, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos responded to a call by the Roman Catholic Church to jam the broad highway in front of the camp to prevent an attack by Marcos forces. On the third day, against the advice of her security detail, Aquino appeared at the rally alongside the mutineers, led by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos, the military vice chief of staff and Marcos' cousin. From a makeshift platform, she declared: "For the first time in the history of the world, a civilian population has been called to defend the military." The military chiefs pledged their loyalty to Aquino and charged that Marcos had won the election by fraud. U.S. President Ronald Reagan, a longtime supporter of Marcos, called on him to resign. "Attempts to prolong the life of the present regime by violence are futile," the White House said. American officials offered to fly Marcos out of the Philippines. On Feb. 25, Marcos and his family went to the U.S.-run Clark Air Base outside Manila and flew to Hawaii, where he died three years later. The same day, Aquino was sworn in as the Philippines' first female leader. Over time, the euphoria fizzled as the public became impatient and Aquino more defensive as she struggled to navigate treacherous political waters and build alliances to push her agenda. "People used to compare me to the ideal president, but he doesn't exist and never existed. He has never lived," she said in the 2007 Philippine Star interview. The right attacked her for making overtures to communist rebels and the left, for protecting the interests of wealthy landowners. Aquino signed an agrarian reform bill that virtually exempted large plantations like her family's sugar plantation from being distributed to landless farmers. When farmers protested outside the Malacanang Presidential Palace on Jan. 22, 1987, troops opened fire, killing 13 and wounding 100. The bloodshed scuttled talks with communist rebels, who had galvanized opposition to Marcos but weren't satisfied with Aquino either. As recently as 2004, at least seven workers were killed in clashes with police and soldiers at the family's plantation, Hacienda Luisita, over its refusal to distribute its land. Aquino also attempted to negotiate with Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines, but made little progress. Behind the public image of the frail, vulnerable widow, Aquino was an iron-willed woman who dismissed criticism as the carping of jealous rivals. She knew she had to act tough to earn respect in the Philippines' macho culture. "When I am just with a few close friends, I tell them, 'OK, you don't like me? Look at the alternatives,' and that shuts them up," she told America's NBC television in a 1987 interview. Her term was punctuated by repeated coup attempts – most staged by the same clique of officers who had risen up against Marcos and felt they had been denied their fair share of power. The most serious attempt came in December 1989 when only a flyover by U.S. jets prevented mutinous troops from toppling her. Leery of damaging relations with the United States, Aquino tried in vain to block a historic Senate vote to force the U.S. out of its two major bases in the Philippines. In the end, the U.S. Air Force pulled out of Clark Air Base in 1991 after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo forced its evacuation and left it heavily damaged. The last American vessel left Subic Bay Naval Base in November 1992. After stepping down in 1992, Aquino remained active in social and political causes. Until diagnosed with colon cancer in March 2008, she joined rallies calling for the resignation of President Arroyo over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption. She kept her distance from another famous widow, flamboyant former first lady Imelda Marcos, who was allowed to return to the Philippines in 1991. Marcos has called Aquino a usurper and dictator, though she later led prayers for Aquino in July 2009 when the latter was hospitalized. The two never made peace. ___ Associated Press writers Jim Gomez and Oliver Teves contributed to this report.
 
David Ormsby: GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Dan Proft Proposes Income Hike for State Lawmakers, Grabs Crackpot Crown Top
Each political party usually possesses its own crank or crackpot. In Illinois, the Democrats had, until recently, Gov. Rod Blagojevich. And the Republicans apparently now have gubernatorial wannabe Dan Proft. On Wednesday, Fitch Ratings downgraded the rating on $19.1 billion general obligation bonds of the State of Illinois to 'A' from 'AA-'. The reason, according to MarketWatch : "Analysts cited the failure of the state to enact a budget that addresses its spending needs and structural deficit." Cue the crackpot. In reaction to the Fitch move, GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft issued a flame-throwing press release laying the downgrade at the feet of state lawmakers and proposing as punishment that lawmakers be paid in state bonds. But that, in effect, would raise their income. "Rather than advancing system change ideas, if the Springfield political class believes increasing Illinois' bond debt is sound fiscal policy, then I propose that state legislators be compensated in state bonds," Proft said. However, as the public relations consultant cum candidate himself explains-- without noting the paradox of his presumed punitive proposal: "Instead of pursuing a fiscally-responsible, conservative reform agenda, the Springfield political class decided to pile another back-door tax increase on Illinois taxpayers who will now be forced to finance higher interest payments on the state's outstanding debt." Hmm. Higher interest payments on bonds. More money for bond holders. Duh. Like most of Proft's public policy pronouncements, this one is nonsense. It is designed only to colorfully illustrate some ideological or political or policy point. But it also exposes Proft's feeblest of holds on the fundamentals of public policy governance in general and public finance in particular. If Illinois were to compensate lawmakers with state bonds in the bizzaro world of a Governor Proft, even the most chuckle-headed legislator would agree. That's because the bonds would be a boon to their income due to the higher interest rate. Anyone who holds high-interest Illinois bonds would earn more money tomorrow than yesterday. Apparently stung by the exposure of his own unique chuckle-headedness by that observation regarding his bonds-for-compensation idea, Proft continued to dig a deeper hole -- and wiped away any doubt that the GOP crackpot mantle had found its home. "Does [David] Ormsby think, in our current fiscal and economic climate, that a politician would accept as payment a bond that pays a high rate of interest, but also has a high probability of default? Do the people who issue these bonds truly believe that they will be redeemed at full value? If so, let's put it to the test." Let's. Fitch Ratings itself is unaware of any state that has permanently defaulted on its general obligation bonds or tax-backed debt since the Civil War -- or of any extended default on a local general obligation bonds since the Great Depression. In fact, on January 8, 2009, Wall Street Journal reporter Brett Arends noted in a report, "Among states, only Mississippi really defaulted -- and that was long before the Civil War [1838]. During the depression, Arkansas renegotiated some highway bonds." No state default in 171 years. Proft's nonsense idea fails his own test -- a pretty mean feat. However, Proft's punitive paradox may be just enough of an incentive to energize overwhelming bi-partisanship behind the former Cicero spokesman's Quixotic gubernatorial campaign. Heck, they're thinking, "we might get a raise out of this guy." And perhaps Proft will be successful. After all, the Illinois governor's office has been a welcoming place for crackpots. More on Rod Blagojevich
 
Dr. Brendan Murray: Will the Current Health Care System Cause You to Have A Hip or Knee Replaced? Top
Health care has been a huge topic in the news lately. The potential cost for health care in the future looks like it could bankrupt our economy. There have been many articles in the Huffington Post that have mentioned that the old system of medical care must change. Our health care system is based on trying to control the problem once it presents itself. Initially this was acceptable, but not any more that is why there is more and more research going on to finding out what causes these diseases. In my earlier blog I wrote that eventually arthritis is going to effect most people and will likely cause some limitation to there lifestyle. An example of this is the rise in hip and knee replacement. It has been estimated that in the next 20 years that hip replacement surgeries will increase 174% and knee replacement 673% . These staggering numbers were presented at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons annual meeting in 2006 . One of the concerns in this article on Web MD was that there will not be enough surgeons to keep up with the demand in the future. Hip and knee replacement surgery are very effective, and significantly increase people's quality of life. But if the projected rise in hip and knee replacements comes to pass what will the fiscal impact be on the health care system especially if the medicare system goes bankrupt? Could something be done 10 to 15 years earlier to prevent significant arthritic changes that lead to hip and knee replacements? In an article in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases May 2006 it was shown that patients who have degenerative changes in the low back, a decrease in the joint space between the vertebrae (bones in the back), had a four fold increase in knee degeneration. Low back degeneration was also associated with a two fold increase in hip degeneration. The literature has shown that if one area of the body becomes arthritic it will have a negative effect on other areas leading to more degenerative changes. The longer we just ignore and accept some arthritis here or there the bigger the problem becomes, much like we have learned with most diseases, example of cholesterol on heart disease. A study in Arthritis Research and Therapy 2007 the authors were able to create arthritic joints in just 1 month. What they found was if you created an unstable joint, with regular use it produced arthritis. They showed that if you altered the way a joint moves and add repetitive normal motion, such as walking, it will create changes in the cartilage over time (1 month) which will lead to arthritis. The purpose behind this study was so that better medications could be produced for arthritis sufferers. The medical community and the pharmaceutical companies are preparing for future generations need for controlling the pain associated with arthritis. Medical science has been able to recreate arthritic joints in the lab. If we can create arthritis then we should be able to stop it from occurring in the first place. We can, you do not have to be doomed to suffering like many before you. It is not just another part of getting old! It has been proven in the literature that if your joints don't move normally either from some old injury, or from surgery, or from sitting all day at your computer they will deteriorate and become arthritic. If a lack or abnormal joint motion changes them for the worse re-establishment of movement corrects them. Controlled exercise will help maintain normal joint motion. So how do you correct the abnormal joint movement? If you have had some type of injury or surgery then you probably have been doing rehabilitation so continue and make sure that you restore normal movement and strength. As I stated earlier joint changes in one area does affect the areas above or below. If you haven't had any injuries but you know your joints are restricted have then evaluated and re-establish there motion. An example of abnormal motion is can you move your joints equally in all directions? In the hip does it flex forward as much as it goes back, does it turn in as much as it turns out. Most people can turn their leg more in one direction that the other. The larger the discrepancy the more likely the joint is restricted and could become problematic. Can you turn your head equally side to side, forward and backward? Are they the same or is it more difficult or even slightly painful in certain directions. For most people they can notice some difference but they won't pay attention to it until it becomes painful. What I usually hear in a patient's history is I have the normal tightness and stiffness. That is a signal the body is giving you try to stretch or get up and move around. If you find that no matter what you do it stays stiff or restricted have it evaluated by a physical therapist, chiropractor, or your M.D... The goal is to get and keep your joints moving. Part of your doctor or therapist job is to teach you how to keep everything moving the way it is designed not just treat you and send you on your way. This may mean working with a trainer, your yoga, or a pilates instructor. If you are not much of a work out person your doctor or physical therapist should be able to teach you simple exercises which re-teach you how to control the joints that need help. You will be required to do a little work but the amount of time and money it will save you in the future is significant. If you can do a few simple exercises in the day and it will save your hip or knee in the future isn't it worth it? Imagine if 50 to 60 % of the people who would have had a joint replacement don't need them.That is a significant savings to the medical system and these people won't have to go through the pain and suffering that lead to the joint replacement. This is just one example of diseases that significantly impact many people's lives today that can be avoided or have minimal impact. Our battle cry going forward should be what can I do to maintain my health not be reactionary and hope you can fix your health later. The cost to maintain good health is much cheaper than trying to regain it.
 
Peter M. Shane: Protecting U.S. Attorneys From At-Will Discharge Top
The week's revelations about Karl Rove's hand in the firing of U.S. attorneys make clear that the time has come to protect U.S. attorneys, by statute, from at-will discharge. Like other quasi-independent law enforcers - members, for example, of the Federal Trade Commission - they should be subject to discharge only for good cause, such as malfeasance, neglect of office or incapacity. The rule of law depends on the public's confidence in the evenhanded administration of justice. The Bush White House proved that such confidence may well be unwarranted under the current system. It has long been executive branch folklore that the President is constitutionally entitled to fire U.S. attorneys at will. This is not true. The Supreme Court correctly held in Morrison v. Olson that Congress is entitled to insulate officers of the United States from at-will political discharge unless that insulation would disable the President from executing his own constitutional functions. As revealed by Morrison v. Olson - and a cursory review of U.S. history - the President has no Article II entitlement to policy control over the federal prosecutorial function. If he did, then Morrison v. Olson , which upheld statutory provisions limiting the President's capacity to fire independent counsel, would have had to come out the other way. History supports the Court's conclusion. The first draft of the Judiciary Act of 1789 originally provided for the judicial appointment of district attorneys. Although the provision was ultimately changed by Congress, which authorized the President to appoint such attorneys, there is no evidence that the change was perceived as a matter of constitutional compulsion, rather than a pure policy choice. Indeed, the early functioning of United States attorneys - who received from the Secretary of State, not the Attorney General whatever little central direction they got - fails to substantiate any expectation that the President would provide some unifying supervision. As then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote: "Prosecution was decentralized during the federalist period, and it was conducted by district attorneys who were private practitioners employed by the United States on a fee-for-services basis." Another piece substantiates the original understanding: Federal courts have always been regarded as having the power to appoint prosecutors to bring criminal contempt actions. This practice is an obvious breach of executive control over prosecution. State evidence regarding the founding generation's likely perceptions regarding criminal prosecution and its constitutional status is both consistent and telling. States had prosecutors, and state practice in the late eighteenth century shows that there was no late eighteenth century expectation that criminal prosecution was an inherently executive function, to be conducted solely by gubernatorial appointees and under exclusive executive supervision. Indeed, there appear at least five states in which the Attorney General was an appointee of either the legislature or the courts. None of this is surprising. In England, criminal prosecution was still largely a private function. There was a degree, now enlarged, to which the English Attorney-General could supervise criminal prosecutions. In making prosecutorial decisions, however, the Attorney-General was regarded as an independent officer, personally accountable to Parliament, whose judgments were not controlled by the Crown or by the Prime Minister. There was no reason for Americans to revise the constitutional assumptions underlying this system. It may be objected, of course, that a new President ought to be able to bring a new team and that some measure of political allegiance to the incumbent Administration is not inappropriate. If Congress is so persuaded, here is a cake you can eat and still have. Section 541(c) of Title 28, United States Code, now reads: "Each United States attorney is subject to removal by the President." It should be amended to read: "Each United States attorney is subject to removal by the President, provided that no President may remove a United States attorney whom he or she has appointed, except for malfeasance, neglect of office, or incapacity to fulfill the duties of the position." Case closed. (I posted this entry originally with ACS Blog .) More on Karl Rove
 
Joel Tenenbaum: Jury Awards $675,000 In Boston Music Downloading Case Top
BOSTON — A federal jury on Friday ordered a Boston University graduate student who admitted illegally downloading and sharing music online to pay $675,000 to four record labels. Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., admitted in court that he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. The only issue for the jury to decide was how much in damages to award the record labels. Under federal law, the recording companies were entitled to $750 to $30,000 per infringement. But the law allows as much as $150,000 per track if the jury finds the infringements were willful. The maximum jurors could have awarded in Tenenbaum's case was $4.5 million. Jurors ordered Tenenbaum to pay $22,500 for each incident of copyright infringement, effectively finding that his actions were willful. The attorney for the 25-year-old student had asked the jury earlier Friday to "send a message" to the music industry by awarding only minimal damages. Tenenbaum said he was thankful that the case wasn't in the millions and contrasted the significance of his fine with the maximum. "That to me sends a message of 'We considered your side with some legitimacy,'" he said. "$4.5 million would have been, 'We don't buy it at all.'" He added he will file for bankruptcy if the verdict stands. Tenenbaum's lawyer, Harvard Law School professor Charles Nesson, said the jury's verdict was not fair. He said he plans to appeal the decision because he was not allowed to argue a case based on fair use. The Recording Industry Association of America issued a statement thanking the jury for recognizing the impact illegal downloading has on the music community. "We appreciate that Mr. Tenenbaum finally acknowledged that artists and music companies deserve to be paid for their work," the statement said. "From the beginning, that's what this case has been all about. We only wish he had done so sooner rather than lie about his illegal behavior." Tenenbaum would not say if he regretted downloading music, saying it was a loaded question. "I don't regret drinking underage in college, even though I got busted a few times," he said. The case is only the nation's second music downloading case against an individual to go to trial. Last month, a federal jury in Minneapolis ruled that Jammie Thomas-Rasset, 32, must pay $1.92 million, or $80,000 on each of 24 songs, after concluding she willfully violated the copyrights on those tunes. The jury began deliberating the case Friday afternoon. After Tenenbaum admitted Thursday he is liable for damages for 30 songs at issue in the case, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner ruled that the jury must consider only whether his copyright infringement was willful and how much in damages to award four recording labels that sued him over the illegal file-sharing. In his closing statement Friday, Nesson repeatedly referred to Tenenbaum as a "kid" and asked the jury to award only a small amount to the recording companies. At one point, Nesson suggested the damages should be as little as 99 cents per song, roughly the same amount Tenenbaum would have to pay if he legally purchased the music online. But Tim Reynolds, a lawyer for the recording labels, recounted Tenenbaum's history of file-sharing from 1999 to 2007, describing him as "a hardcore, habitual, long-term infringer who knew what he was doing was wrong." Tenenbaum admitted on the witness stand that he had downloaded and shared more than 800 songs. Tenenbaum said he downloaded and shared hundreds of songs by Nirvana, Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins and other artists. The recording industry focused on only 30 songs in the case. The music industry has typically offered to settle such cases for about $5,000, though it has said that it stopped filing such lawsuits last August and is instead working with Internet service providers to fight the worst offenders. Cases already filed, however, are proceeding to trial. Tenenbaum testified that he had lied in pretrial depositions when he said his two sisters, friends and others may have been responsible for downloading the songs to his computer. Under questioning from his own lawyer, Tenenbaum said he now takes responsibility for the illegal swapping. "I used the computer. I uploaded, I downloaded music ... I did it," Tenenbaum said. __ Associated Press writer Jeannie Nuss contributed reporting from Boston.
 
Huff Radio: Left, Right & Center: Wall St. Bonuses, Health Care Deal, China and the Beer Summit Top
Andrew Cuomo discovered that $33 billion in bonuses were paid by Wall Street firms during the height of the meltdown and the public bailout. Where's the outrage? The real economy vs. mainstream media's good-news reportage... what about that 1.86 trillion dollar deficit? Has Henry Waxman really gotten the Blue Dog Dems on board with a health care reform plan? Arianna says it's not reform without a public plan; Matt says that insurance exchanges can move group coverage to a place beyond employer-provided insurance; while Tony explains what French strategic thinking is - and likens it to Obama's tactics in fighting this battle badly. China lectured the US about its debt; communist capitalism appears to be growing at 7 or 8% while our GDP "only dropped" by 1 percent... And was it race or class conflict? What kind of teachable moment can we get out of the beer summit at the White House between the President, the Professor and the Policeman? More on China
 
Gates Sends Flowers To Woman Who Called The Police Top
BOSTON — Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. has sent flowers and a note to the woman who unwittingly sparked a national debate on race by calling police to report what she thought might be a break-in at Gates' home. Wendy Murphy, the lawyer for Lucia Whalen, called the flowers a "gesture of gratitude." She declined to say what was in the accompanying note. Whalen's 911 call drew police to Gates' Cambridge home on July 16. The subsequent confrontation between Gates, who is black, and Sgt. James Crowley, who is white, ended in Gates' arrest for disorderly conduct, a charge that was later dropped. Whalen found herself vilified by critics who accused her of racial profiling. The subsequent release of the 911 tapes showed she never described Gates or his driver as black.
 
Mary Pitcher: Pitcher Park: To Fill a Hole in Our Hearts Top
It has been a little over a year since my sons Stephen (19) and Vincent (21) Pitcher drowned on July 15, 2008 while on a camping trip with their father and a few friends . No matter how hard we try to fool ourselves, life will never be the same for our family. Although we have tried to make the best of holidays and their birthdays, nothing seems right because half of us aren't here anymore. Initially, it was extemely difficult for my other two sons, Jonathan (27), Brady (25) and myself to be around each other. My heart broke for them as they lost their two little brothers. They hurt inside for me because they know all of my sons were my whole life and at the same time we were all grieving that two, beautiful young men were not going to be able to live out their lives. There is a hole in my heart that will be there until the day I die, but I have to learn to live with this very hollow, empty feeling. What choice do I have? God spared me from being on the scene that day, but the dreams were so real. The dreams were so maddening. For over a year, I saw their eyes open under water. Their mouths screaming for help. Then they peacefully drifted down, slowly, away from me in the deep dark water, holding onto each each other tight, as they were found together. Some how just knowing they were together allowed me to wake up every day with a sense of warmth. Once these dreams stopped, my sons came to me with smiles on their faces and told me they were fine and they were still together. They looked wonderful! I hugged them tight and literally woke up sobbing immediately, but I felt very peaceful. I had been waiting so long for that dream. That dream finally gave me relief knowing that they are together and ok! Through that dream, I know they didn't want me to only see the horror of their demise, but they wanted me to remember their amazing spirits & zest for life and the love that they had for each other,our family and their many friends. They, themselves will guide me through the rest of my life's journey, without them. I found a way to honor their zest and zeal for life and to help our community, through starting a grass roots effort to build a skate park and donate it to our community. Since September of 2008 it has brought many still grieving people together to turn this tragedy around and do something positive. The Pitcher Park Memorial Skate Park web site www.pitcherpark.com went up one page at a time, one day at a time and activities to raise funds and bring friends and families together began. Wiping away our tears, pushing up our shirt sleeves, holding meetings, and doing creative activities side by side for Pitcher Park, has saved many people from extensive therapy. Our common goal to honor Vincent & Stephen has brought our community spirit back, stronger than ever before, as we too are holding onto each for help and reaching out to the world to stand by us and our project for the future children and young adults in our community, so that they too may feel the strong bond of brotherly love that Vincent and Stephen shared until the end. Through the hard work and passion shown by many residents of a town that is less than one mile sqaure mile, Dormont, Pennsylvania and many friends and strangers have raised in less than a year over $20,000.00 for this skatepark in their honor. We have had a prelimary design drawn up for a beautiful, concrete skate park that could compete with the best of them. Pitcher Park is now searching for grants, funding and in-kind donations of material for it's $500,000.00 - 16,800 sq ft dream skatepark for everyone to enjoy. It became very apparent that social media venues such as Twitter. Face Book, the Huffington Post and My Space have become an important aid for a small community like ours to spread the word about our efforts and seak out those who are willing to help from all over the world. This mother went from a stay-at-home mom, caring for the needs of her sons to a novice social media maven and it is getting me out of bed every day! Face Book has given me the opportunity to share how I feel each day with my 600 friends. Simply by writing 140 characters has allowed @PITCHERPARK on Twitter to accumulated over 3800 friends from all around the world who are all trying to spread the word & help in any way they can. From celebrities to other moms through out the United States, from Malaysia to Australia, the out pouring of on-line compassion, support, and friendships formed has been amazing and very comforting to me.. The Huffington Post was the first place that allowed me to verbalize my feelings about my sons tragedy and my initial dream about building a skate park in their honor. Writing that blog helped me to realize that Pitcher Park was such an important project not only to honor my sons, not only as a way to help the community, but to show other parents who have suffered losing a child, that together with supportive people around them, this may be a way for them to turn their grief and feelings of despair into something positive in their lives and the lives of others. The loss of two precious sons is still very hard to deal with every day but along with praying daily, I am humbly trying to do my best to survive what has happened to my family and this project seems to be a way for me to do that. I've come back to the most powerful of social media blogging spots, The Huffington Post to ask for everyone's support for the first big grant for Pitcher Park. Coming from a small town, I need the help of the WORLD to vote for Pitcher Park. Our community project is in line for It's first grant from Markham Vineyards, a Napa Valley winery. The winery's Mark of Distinction program awards two $25,000 grants each year to "inspired and passionate people nationwide to assist them in executing powerful, tangible projects in their neighborhoods." Pitcher Park was chosen as one of 10 national finalists, on the merit of my 300-word essay. Online voting at www.markhammarkofdistinction.com , will continue through Aug. 24. The two leading vote-getters will each receive a $25,000 grant. Every email may vote once a day, everyday. We are also holding the first annual Pitcher Park Music Festival at South Park Amphitheater here in Pittsburgh on August 8, 2009 . The old saying, "If music be the food of love, play on" means a lot to the fifteen groups who have all volunteered to perform, feeling compelled to honor their friends, Vincent and Stephen who both loved all types of music. Hosting a music festival is an interesting feat for an over 50 mother whos favorite music is from the 70's but with the variety of music, a Pro-Team of Skateboarders from One Up Skate Shop, a magic show with the talented Castle Blood TV crew, some excellent food, good friends and new friends that we will meet, no one might notice if I get up on stage and do the bump or some disco and embarrass myself, right? The help, the comments of support and prayers from around the world, are still flowing into my heart..This and the loving people that surround me have given me the strength and fortitude to forge onward. Without everyone involved now in our lives, as a family, we would remain broken. My sons meant the world to me, but now, as their mother I realise that Vincent and Stephen still mean a lot to the world living around me. More on Twitter
 

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