Thursday, August 27, 2009

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Nimmi Gowrinathan: "We Don't Want Development, We Want Our Rights!" Top
The message shouted from an elder woman inside Zone 2's internment camps in Sri Lanka was clear as she angrily harassed a humanitarian worker attempting to install latrines that would signal a longer, more permanent, residence in unlivable internment camps . It's a message that is perhaps best directed at the United Nations and donor countries who, in the case of Sri Lanka, have chosen "access" to hundreds of internally displaced civilians over "advocacy" in their best interests. With small pockets of civilians uprooted by a bloody end to Sri Lanka's protracted civil war resettled in their home districts, the majority of the 300,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) from the minority Tamil population remain in sprawling internment camps with dwindling supplies of fresh water, quickly spreading communicable diseases, and up to three families in one tent . The camps are, however, equipped with ATM machines -- reinforcing within the camps what has become obvious outside of the camps. Those with money have power. The actors with money: The Government of Sri Lanka (2.5 billion US$ wealthier after the approval of a recent International Monetary Fund loan), the UN, and donor countries (primarily China). Since they have neither the money nor the representation to influence their own destiny, Tamil civilians must rely on the UN as their voice. It is an option many in the camps trust less than the promises of a militaristic regime responsible for their captivity. Most of the animosity is directed at Secretary General Ban Ki Moon- who was notably silent as their loved ones perished in the final days of fighting. In a leaked memo, Norwegian Deputy Ambassador Mona Juul says of Sri Lanka, "the Secretary-General's moral voice and authority have been absent." Why the silence? Perhaps because discussions in the Security Council of Tamil civilian lives were relegated to the basement of the UN, as opposed to Darfurian lives which are allowed consideration on higher floors. Perhaps because Sri Lanka was never an item on the Security Council Agenda, despite having the votes necessary. Some speculate it is the hardline position of the Secretary General's advisors, bolstered by a Human Rights Council debate deeming the Sri Lankan war an "internal matter". Officially, the UN laments that its lack of leverage on behalf of the affected civilians is derived from the growing influence of China and India on the island. In broad macroeconomic terms the Asian powers, capitalizing on the ill-gotten gains of peace, are certainly engaged in a fiscal duel for dominance in Sri Lanka. However, in development aid, most of their funds are dispersed through the UN - and a quick survey of any of the camps will reveal that UN tents far outnumber those provided by the Chinese government. The omnipresence of UN staff on the ground should imply a natural mandate in the debates around resettlement, but it is a power the organization has been hesitant to embrace. It must be noted that in these internment camps there are sympathetic government soldiers (one lieutenant reportedly consistently siphons off food from rations to ensure children in his care are well-fed), and committed local UN staff -but all are beholden to a leadership which seems deaf to their concerns. While outside humanitarian groups are not (are never) entirely innocent, in Sri Lanka they too have been subsumed under the dominance of the UN (recently accused of not sharing crucial information). What is the message being conveyed by the actions of power players at the UN? That in a "post-conflict" environment, only a victor's justice is available to a marginalized constituency. Talking heads and a growing number of colored rubber bracelets have tried to convince us that "development" will solve all problems, ethnic or otherwise. But what happens when in order to maintain a presence in a country, and access to displaced civilians, the largest outside "development" actor forgoes its responsibility to advocate for rights guaranteed in the Geneva Convention? While the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are no longer the focal point for Tamil nationalism, separatist sentiments remain high among a population who will no longer accept the exchange of humanitarian aid for political rights. The assassinated Sinhalese journalist Lasantha Wickrematunga predicted in January of this year, "A military occupation of the country's north and east will require the Tamil people of those regions to live eternally as second-class citizens, deprived of all self respect. Do not imagine that you can placate them by showering "development" and "reconstruction" on them in the post-war era." As Tamils around the world are now being recruited into "power-sharing" discussions and "trust-building" exercises, it is important to recognize that a significant amount of power remains in the hands of the UN, an institution that the minority Tamils once trusted with their lives. The monsoon rains this fall are predicted to trigger a humanitarian crisis as every existing concern outlined by human rights groups (poor sanitation, collapsing tents, lack of medical care) will be exacerbated by massive flooding. Local and international NGOs have warned that no amount of money poured into the overcrowded camps will prevent the loss of thousands of civilian lives. Logistically, at least 100,000 (approximately 1/3) of the displaced civilians must be evacuated to their original homes in the Northern and Eastern districts before the onset of the rains. It seems that only when the international community recognizes the limits of "development" will Tamil civilians, inadvertently, be granted the most basic of rights- the right of return. More on Sri Lanka
 
Rabbi Jennifer Krause: Family Feud: If It Bends... Top
Oh, Ruth and Sunda. A lawsuit? Really? Mrs. Zafrin, Sunda Croonquist is your son's wife and the mother of your grandchildren. She is a comedian in a long, long line of comedians who have poked fun in a hyperbolic manner at their mothers-in-law. I'm fairly certain those of Henny Youngman, Rodney Dangerfield, and Don Rickles were not sitting in Borscht Belt booths flanked by legal counsel. And I suspect Kathy Griffin's own mother understands that her daughter's mom-based material is a combination of love and a kernel of truth on steroids. Ms. Croonquist, if this is a way to garner publicity, it is a round-about display of family unity. But while you're making appearances on morning television (funny stuff on "Morning Meeting" with Dylan Ratigan), you and your secretly well-intentioned mother-in-law are clogging up our overloaded judicial system. If this is a real family conflict that has gone way too far and has cut far too deep, it wouldn't be the first. All any of us need do is look at our own families and their strange and uniquely complex psychological ecosystems to get that. Or we could page through the first few books of the Bible, where there's nary a Brady, a Huxtable, or a Walton to be found. That said, might you consider settling this whole thing in the privacy of your Brooklyn and/or New Jersey living rooms over coffee and some nice cake? Surely for your own sake, but also to teach us all a valuable and timely lesson; namely, that not all interpersonal dramas need be played out on the public stage in order for them to be "real" and certainly not for them to be resolved. You could be the ones to remind us that if an emotionally wounded mother-in-law stews in Midwood and the press is not there to cover it, she doth still stew. Whatever the case may be, I hope you all come through this in one piece. As Lester (Alan Alda) says in Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors": If it bends, it's funny. If it breaks, it's not.
 
Bill Schneider: Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of Top
How did everything fall apart so quickly? After the first 100 days, President Obama and the Democratic majority in Congress were on top of the world. The President's job ratings were in the 60s. In the Pew Research Center poll, Democrats had a 19-point edge in favorability over Republicans (59 percent favorable for Democrats, 40 percent for Republicans). By August, the President's job approval had dropped to 51 percent in the Pew poll and the NBC News poll. The Democrats' lead over the Republicans in favorability had dropped to 9 points -- entirely because of a sharp drop in positive opinion of the Democratic Party. It's not the economy, stupid. While the nation's economic gloom has certainly not lifted, people don't think things have gotten markedly worse. In the August Washington Post-ABC News poll, more people said President Obama's economic program was making the economy better (43 percent) rather than worse (23 percent). And more Americans expect the recession to be over in the next year (28 percent in February, 49 percent in August). The problem is health care, of course. By every available measure, confidence in President Obama's health care policy has diminished. In the Post-ABC poll, Americans approved the President's handling of health care by nearly two to one in April (57 to 29 percent). Now they narrowly disapprove, 50 to 46. In the NBC poll, the number who think President Obama's health care plan is "a bad idea'' went from 26 percent in April to 42 percent in August. Only 36 percent now say it's "a good idea.'' President Bill Clinton's experience stands as a warning to Democrats. During Clinton's first two years in office, the economy actually got better. The unemployment rate dropped from 7.4 percent when Clinton got elected in 1992 to 5.6 percent in November 1994. And so what? The Democrats still got blown away in the 1994 midterm. Not because of the economy, but because of voter anger over taxes and gun control and gays in the military and midnight basketball and, above all, health care. The big surprise is that the backlash over health care reform came as such a surprise. The force of voter anger seemed to astound both parties. President Obama's formidable political movement failed to mobilize until the threat was in their face. Some Republicans seemed ready to work with the Administration until they saw the ferocity of the protesters. Those who believe the protests were staged by the GOP are giving the Republican Party too much credit. They're not that well organized. It's not that the public rejects health care reform. It's still a popular idea. The Kaiser Health Care poll continues to show solid support for requiring all Americans to have health insurance, with subsidies for those who can't afford it (68 percent). And the public favors requiring employers to offer health insurance to their workers (68 percent). People even support the idea of a public option -- "a government-administered public health insurance option similar to Medicare to compete with private health insurance plans'' (59 percent). When asked specifically about changes to the health care system being proposed by President Obama and Congress, the public is split. But what matters is not just numbers. It's intensity. And the opposition is more intense: 40 percent say they're "strongly'' opposed while 27 percent are "strongly'' supportive." In the Pew poll, 38 percent of Republicans say they'd be angry if health care reform passes. Only 13 percent of Democrats say they'd be angry if health care reform fails. Why did this happen? Recriminations have already started. The Obama Administration overcompensated for President Clinton's failure 15 years ago. President Obama did not turn the issue over to a secretive task force headed by an unelected First Lady and a team of policy wonks (remember Ira Magaziner?). Instead, Obama let the Democrats in Congress come up with a plan. Or more precisely, several plans, all making their way through congressional committees. That approach gave the President more options and greater flexibility. But he has no actual proposal for Democrats to rally around. No one is sure if President Obama even intends to fight for a public option. Recriminations are, of course, a favorite Washington pastime, but the real reasons for the backlash are deeply rooted in American culture. In two places, to be precise -- ideology and psychology. Distrust of government is a core value of American populism. The people are "us.'' Government is "them.'' Distrust of government is embedded in the Constitution, which was written by men who disliked central government (King George III) and intended it to be as weak as possible. Hence, the elaborate system of checks and balances and separation of powers and the many ways in which decisive action can be blocked. In fact, the Constitution replaced an earlier document, the Articles of Confederation, in which government was so weak it was unworkable. Distrust of government is a principle of faith among conservatives these days, but the sentiment is not limited to the right. For the first century of American politics, Democrats were the anti-government party. Then, as now, Democrats were the party of the poor and the oppressed, but government was then seen as a bastion of privilege. Reaganism can't hold a candle to Thomas Jefferson's and Andrew Jackson's attacks on centralized power. What changed was the discovery -- first by Progressives, then by New Deal Democrats -- that government could be used to attack privilege and promote economic and social justice. The scholar Seymour Martin Lipset used the analogy of loaded dice to describe how values work. Once certain values are loaded by defining historical experiences, they will come up again and again and shape later events. That is happening now with health care reform. The anti-government backlash started building up even before Barack Obama became President, when President Bush endorsed the Wall Street bailouts. The backlash intensified with the automobile industry bailout, the economic stimulus plan, the energy bill and mounting deficits. Health care reform gave conservatives the opportunity to light the fuse. The wonder is that American government actually does work, even though it was designed not to. It works when there is a crisis -- when an overwhelming sense of public urgency overwhelms blockages and lubricates the system. That is supposed to be the case now with health care. But it is not. Sure, there's sense of crisis in the country, but it is over jobs more than health care. When Americans are asked to name the major problems facing the nation, the economy towers over everything else. Health care ranks third, after the economy and government spending. That's where psychology comes into play. President Obama has put out a mighty effort to create a sense of crisis, warning voters about the cost of inaction. "If you're worried about rationed care, higher costs, denied coverage or bureaucrats getting between you and your doctor, then you should know that's what's happening right now,'' the President said in his weekly address on August 15. In the NBC poll, only 24 percent of Americans said they thought the quality of their health care would get better if the Obama plan passes. Forty percent thought it would get worse. Americans overwhelmingly say they're satisfied with their health care (83 percent in a CNN poll) and their health insurance (74 percent). A whopping 71 percent are satisfied with both. What's striking is that nearly half of that "satisfied majority'' still favor health care reform (44 percent in the CNN poll). They believe all Americans should be covered. Their view is, if people don't have health insurance, the government should see to it that they can get it, even if it means taxing the rich. But they see no reason why that means their own health care has to change. The psychology of health care is not driven by economic rationality. People rarely choose a doctor or a hospital or a treatment based on price. (Medications, yes.) In the current health care system, costs are largely hidden from consumers. Try telling employees that their employer-paid health care benefits should be taxed as income. It's income they never see. Economists argue that rising health insurance costs for employers have been supressing wages for years. But most workers are unaware of the real and growing costs of those benefits. Somebody else pays most of them. People's sense of security about their health care may be false and irrational. But it is real. Just like the warning Members of Congress hear over and over again from seniors at town hall meetings: "You tell the government to keep its hands off my Medicare!'' Does this mean President Obama's health care agenda is doomed? No. A lot of people continue to support reform, and the Democrats have solid majorities in Congress. They don't want to pull the plug on health care reform as the Democratic Congress did in 1994. For one thing, they don't want to bring down their own President. The failure of health care reform in 1994 forced President Clinton to shrink his agenda from big ambitions to protecting the safety net. For another thing, congressional Democrats know who paid the political price of failure in 1994. They did. Some version of health care reform will very likely pass, possibly including a public option. But it will pass on a partisan vote. What's wrong with that? Democrats won spectacular victories in 2006, when they took control of Congress, and in 2008, when they took the White House. If that's not a mandate to govern, what is? But for a major policy initiative to be politically secure, it needs a bipartisan base. Like the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which actually got a higher proportion of support from Republicans than from Democrats (in those days, there were still a lot of conservative southern Democrats). Any policy that passes on a partisan vote is subject to constant sniping and threats of reversal when the other party gains power. President Obama will probably win on health care reform. But voter backlash has steeled the Republican Party to mount a full- scale opposition. Victory on health care will be a triumph of the partisan culture that President Obama pledged to defeat. Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author, they do not represent the views of Third Way More on Barack Obama
 
Greg Archer: It's (Blue) Wedding Day for Sprinkle and Stephens Top
Like most gay couples in America, Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens have fought hard to have their union recognized by the courts. When that didn't happen earlier this decade in California, where the couple live, they decided to lure all of their passions into one creative bed and frolic with a curious enterprise. What if they partook in a seven-year art project that found them getting married each year? What if each wedding, each year, reflected a certain artistic theme? What if the weddings were performance art? It didn't take long before all those "what ifs?" became a reality. Their wedding/art project was dubbed Love Art Lab -- and based on artist Linda Montano 's work -- and soon, Sprinkle and Stephens, who live in San Francisco, truly began living a life of art and devotion. Most of it, they say, was spawned in a response to the ongoing war in Iraq, the onslaught of fear-based Bush policies and LGBT civil rights causes. Now in Year Five of their project (learn more here ), the couple--and their creative posse--have descended on Venice, Italy. More specifically, at the Biannale , where the duo will partake in an inventive Blue Wedding that has already generated buzz and international visitors. The wedding takes place around 2:15pm (Venice time) Friday, Aug. 28. Building upon last year's intention to become more eco-conscious, the ladies vow to get "married to the sea," hoping to raise the level of awareness around the health of the planet's oceans. Here's a brief stroll down the aisle from weddings past: > The Red Wedding When : December, 2004, San Francisco Theme: Security (First Chakra) Bouquet Tidbit: Seven years of "art as love" begins. (Pictured above, from left, Sprinkles and Stephens.) The Orange Wedding When: July 2006, San Francisco Theme: Creativity/Sexuality (Second Chakra) Bouquet Tidbit: After Sprinkle survives a bout with cancer, the couple commits to living a full year living creatively, pouring their passion into their art, performance art and sexuality. The Yellow Wedding When: January 2007, Alberta Canada Theme: Power/Courage (Third Chakra) Bouquet Tidbit: The couple is "legally" married; first time the performance art weddings become open to the public; the duo ventures forth, vow to take personal risks during the year and become politically active. The Green Wedding When: May 2008, UC Santa Cruz Theme: Love/Earth (Fourth Chakra) Bouquet Tidbit: In one of their biggest gatherings, more than 350 people attend in the Forest Glen of UC Santa Cruz ; couple vows to be eco-patriots and marry themselves to "Lover Earth." The Blue Wedding When: Summer 2009, Oxford Theme: Sexecology/Communication (Fifth Chakra) Bouquet Tidbit: Small gathering in Oxford becomes the appetizer for a bigger wedding feast in Venice, Italy, Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 at the Biennale. Learn more at loveartlab.net . Email Greg Archer at here . More on Gay Marriage
 
Dr. Jon LaPook: Where's the Bailout for My Cancer Patients? Top
Senator Ted Kennedy's death from brain cancer underscores the urgent need for more funding of basic cancer research. Despite the best efforts of a team of top doctors, Kennedy died 15 months after the diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor called glioblastoma. Over the past ten years, some progress has been made against this deadly illness and the silhouettes of some promising new approaches are becoming visible. But our treatment options remain woefully inadequate. The annual budget of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is just under $5 billion. With over 560,000 cancer deaths each year , that comes to less than $10,000 in research spent for every cancer death. That simply is not enough money spent on a problem that strikes almost 1.5 million Americans each year and causes nearly one of four deaths. Research for certain cancers is especially under funded. Earlier this year, I helplessly watched a dear friend and patient die from esophageal cancer, both of us knowing that only 22 million dollars each year -- about $1,500 per death -- was being spent by the NCI on the disease annually. One reason is that patients with esophageal cancer don't have a strong advocacy group to push for their fair share of the funding pie. Lung cancer, which tops the list of cancer killers in America, only gets about $1,500 per death. At the top of the list based on research spending per death are cervical cancer (about $19,000), breast cancer (about $14,000) and brain cancer (about $12,000). Click here for a chart that I compiled with the help of statisticians at the NCI that breaks down government spending on the top cancers. Of course, there shouldn't have to be a competition among cancer advocacy groups. There should be adequate funding of basic medical research to help discover the underlying cellular mechanisms that many cancers share and that hold the key to prevention, early diagnosis and effective treatment. But there's not enough money for our young researchers. In 1980, almost 25 percent of first independent government grants went to scientists under age 35; that figure has plummeted to only 4 percent as the first-grant age rose from 34 to 42. Faced with increasing competition for shrinking dollars, many of our best and brightest are considering other careers. My cancer patients desperately need a bailout. The best way to increase our spending on cancer research responsibly is through health care reform. The Institute of Medicine has estimated that about 20 percent of the annual $2.5 trillion in health care costs is unnecessary. That's $500 billion annually or 100 times the current budget of the National Cancer Institute. There could be no better tribute to Senator Kennedy or wiser investment in our own futures than to fix a broken system that threatens to bankrupt us while inadequately addressing one of our most devastating health problems. For this week's CBS Doc Dot Com, I take you behind the scenes to an edit bay at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. I talk to Dr. Henry Friedman, an expert on brain cancer. He is co-deputy director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University Medical Center. In addition to hearing about the latest treatments for the disease, you'll see the secret behind how we do long-distance interviews for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric . Watch CBS Videos Online
 
One For The Table: Memories of Summer Top
I'm from the South. I grew up and went to college in Tennessee, and worked for many years in Atlanta. But I never felt like I was home until I moved to New York City. The city fit my disposition and overall world-view nicely, not to mention the comfort that comes from living in a Blue state. So, it takes a lot for me to find a desire to go back below the Mason-Dixon. Still, every Memorial Day weekend I return to kick off the summer. Why? Why do I go back for five days of nonstop comments about the liberal media, the constitutional wrongs of the "war of northern aggression" and the amazing wonders of the NRA? Believe it or not, I go to Tennessee to camp with my uncle, Tony, and his gun-toting friends from college. Though debated every year, the general consensus is that the tradition began in 1992 shortly after Tony and his friends graduated from college. They chose to go out behind my grandparent's property to a bluff by a lake. Back then the menu for the entire weekend consisted of the fish they could catch, and cook over an open fire. Occasionally a pizza would find its way back courtesy of the occasional visitor not interested in spending the night outside. But the overall spread was limited. While I was in high school, every once and while I would stay a night or two. It wasn't until college that I began to routinely join the group. I am quite competitive, and when several of the guys in my architecture class bet me I couldn't stay the entire weekend (only four days back then), I had a mission to prove them wrong. Ever since, I've been a regular. I didn't introduce any new members until I started dating my husband, a west coast liberal living in New York. I was a bit apprehensive. You don't have two lawyers for parents without developing some propensity for debate. I knew what he was going into and my only advice was "don't talk." He lasted 45 minutes. I was proud. Eventually, the conversations became too intense and he had to jump in. And they didn't even shoot him. Now, after three years, the group has embraced him, given him a nickname and even become friends with him on Facebook. Despite our differences, the weekend continues to be a relaxing, relatively peaceful time with good food, good drinks and good friends. I have noticed over the years that as our salaries have increased, so has the sophistication of the menu. We find good food can be found all over New York, but there is something more daring about driving a smoker into the woods in rural America. Every morning, Tony pulls himself out of his giant family sized tent (he's a big guy, and his wife and two kids come out for at least one night over the weekend), and starts up the kitchen. And I mean kitchen. This year he had 3 gas burners, a large prep table, 2 giant coolers, and a full array of pots and pans. All in a mesh tent (it might rain!). Breakfast can be any combination of: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes or Tony's specialty the "duck blind sandwich" (toasted bread, a ½ pound of sausage, American cheese and mayonnaise). Lunch is more casual, and catch as catch can. You're on your own there. Usually, it's just hamburgers and hot dogs, but I've seen corn, fried sandwiches, nachos, and even ice cream. Though, the ice cream was my doing this past year (along with my husband). My husband's sister gave me (us) an Ice Cream Ball as a shower gift. You add the basic ice cream ingredients (sugar, cream and vanilla (next year we'll be more adventurous)), and shake. And shake. And shake. 20 minutes later, you have ice cream. It's really remarkable. And another camper brought a cast iron pie making device, so we were able to provide a la mode. And then, there is dinner. Over the years, Tony has set up a schedule, with each night having its own theme. And you have to let him know months in advance when you'll attend, so he can make sure it's all there (did I mention that he's an accountant?). Thursday night is venison chili night, venison he "harvested" himself. Topped with sour cream, shredded cheese and Fritos, you won't find a much better meal. Until tomorrow. Friday is steak night. Tony and his friends like their meat, even if they haven't killed it themselves. So they order from Lobel's on New York's Upper East Side. There is not a better piece of meat to be had out there. Anywhere. Dry aged and beautifully marbled, these steaks are a sight. After applying his proprietary spice blend, Tony asks you how you like your meat cooked, and throws those giant steaks onto the open fire pit that burns all weekend. Then you eat. Then you pass out a bit. Saturday is smoked meats. Mixed smoke, if you will. In the morning, Tony's friend fires up the propane (this is not a weekend for anyone watching their carbon weight, or their physical weight, I suppose) smoker. Once it reaches heat, he adds the soaked wood chips to the bottom, and then the meats above. Chicken, turkey, ribs and kielbasa are smoked the whole day just in time for dinner. Then you eat. Then you pass out a bit, again. Finally, on Sunday is the fish fry. All weekend the locals take advantage of their year-round licenses, and fish. And then they nap. Then they fish some more. Then they "put out jugs" for catfish. That seems to take some time, because they come back for dinner, and go back out at night. Maybe they're fooling us all and going to the store. They do bring back fish, after all. All the fish caught over the weekend is cleaned and frozen on the spot, and saved for Sunday. On Sunday night, the propane is fired up again, and a big pot of oil starts up. The fish is filleted, seasoned and battered. Once the oil is hot, the fish take one last swim. Served with a side of hush puppies and French fries, dinner is on. Then, well, you get the picture now. As we come onto Labor Day, there are still three seasons before the next campout. Time to experience lovely falls, harsh winters, and rainy springs in New York before we shed the grit from the city for five more days in rural Tennessee. All are welcome by the way. But tread carefully. After all, the campsite is armed.
 
Grant Cardone: Not Business as Usual, It's Time for Business Un-Usual! Top
This is not a time for business as usual, but rather a time for business people to do the unusual in order to acquire business and increase the company's revenue line. For many years to come those that succeed in the marketplace will be those that are willing to go to unusual lengths and efforts to get their products and services into the hands of their consumers. What will make this even more difficult for individuals and companies is businesses have become severely dependent upon gimmicks, free credit, and other artificial stimulus to drive interest in their products. Money will only flow to those that are either lucky or those companies that do the best job of identifying who wants their products, who can buy their products and then doing whatever is necessary to ring the register and close the deal. The days of free credit, no money down and the likes are gone and government programs to stimulate can not continue long term. Companies can no longer cut cost as a way to grow the bottom line and now must make the selling of their products and services the first thing, the last thing and the only thing the company focuses on. If you don't assist in revenue generation you are at risk. This includes everyone in the company from the CEO to the receptionist shifting your full attention on identifying who might be interested in your product/service, doing whatever is necessary to get in front of that person (even the unusual) and then selling and closing the transaction. This must become the single critical focus of every company and all its people! The old saying used to be, 'Lead, follow or get out of the way' and now it is, "Assist in revenue or you are in the way!" Revenue creation is now the holy grail and things like organizing, planning and long management meetings must be put on the back burner until the organization rebuilds the disciplines of doing whatever is necessary to sell its product and services. Organizations need people that are self-starters, focused on revenue generation and willing to roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes to bring 'Big-R' home. You can no longer think in terms of usual actions but must consider and be willing to do the unusual even the unacceptable in order to make things happen. This is no longer just something for the sales team to do but everyone must assist in and make part of the new discipline of the company with people being rewarded for most unusual actions. Those companies that can make the selling of their products and services the main thing and are willing to go to unusual lengths and efforts to successfully sell their products and services will be rewarded with all the treasures in the market place. Grant Cardone , Author of Sell to Survive More on Stimulus Package
 
Tom Matlack: The True Legacy: The Kennedy Call to Service Top
One hot summer night in 1964 my twenty-six year old father drove a borrowed 1950s Chevy sedan with Maryland plates down a dark road in Mississippi. He could hear the chirping of the cicadas, the swish of the tires on the road, and above them all, the thumping of his heart. Dad was driving back across the state, through counties known for violence against local blacks, desperately trying to get home. His borrowed car was leaking oil profusely. It was just over three years since JFK had challenged the American young people to, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country ," and just months after his assassination . Robert Kennedy was still Attorney General and Ted Kennedy was the junior Senator from Massachusetts. Earlier that day, Dad had attended the Freedom Democratic Party state convention in Jackson, Mississippi. This political party had been set up that summer by a group of civil rights activists, both southern blacks and northern whites like my dad, to select delegates who would attend the upcoming Democratic National Convention and protest the exclusion of blacks from the all-white Party. Dad stopped along the road to replenish the oil over and over but the engine labored mightily, the old car slowly dying as it bled engine oil. Finally, he knew he had to stop and managed to roll to a crossroads diner before the engine died. He turned off the ignition and looked into the lit windows of the diner. Inside he could see the all-white patrons, and knew that he would instantly draw suspicion. This was the Deep South, after all. He had Northern college boy written all over him. Dad entered the diner and walked past a policeman eating at the counter. Heads turned, and several menacing-looking locals tracked him as he went to the pay phone at the far end of the counter. At six feet tall and blond hair in a crew cut he could have been one of them, but his clothes and voice gave way exactly who he really was. He avoided their gaze and turned away from them as he unfolded a list of names of safe house organizers along his route. He dialed the local contact and spoke in a low voice, struggling to explain who he was and why he needed help--why, in fact, the black man should come out in the middle of the night to pick up a white stranger--while everyone in the diner watched intently. Dad walked back outside to the parking lot and leaned against the car. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone came up to him and asked him what his business was. He stood and watched the door of the white-only diner as the minutes ticked by, waiting for a ride that may never arrive. Dad knew the dangers he faced. Earlier that year, two northern students who had, like Dad, come to Mississippi as part of the civil rights effort, had disappeared. Also missing was their black companion. Two days later, a tip led the FBI to their charred car buried in the swamp. In the process of looking for the bodies the FBI dredged the waterways and found other bodies of black men who had gone missing over the prior months. They finally found the bodies of Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney in August on a local farm. The two whites had been shot in the heart and the black man beaten severely and then shot multiple times. Across the state Mom sat out on the stoop of Rust College in Holly Springs, waiting for Dad to get home. My one-year old brother, Will, had been tucked into bed and Mom was six months pregnant with me. As she sat and stared into the hot Mississippi night, Mom asked herself what she was doing in this foreign country. It was a world away from the New Haven of Yale University, where my father had been teaching and working on his PhD. My parents had met in the 10th grade at a Quaker boarding school, Westtown, just outside Philadelphia. She had gone to Bryn Mawr and he to Princeton. They had gotten married just after graduation and before setting off for two years at Oxford where dad had received a Fulbright scholarship. Now she sat alone on the stoop as the minutes turned into hours. Without Dad there, she felt utterly alone and very, very scared. The week before my parents arrived at Rust College, local white nightriders had shot into the windows of the dorm building. It was a warning to the black students, and the white Northerners there to help, that registering blacks to vote would be met by violence. Though Mom had seen the bullet holes in the walls, and felt her heart race, that incident had not happened to her. Now, as she sat out on the front stoop, waiting for Dad to arrive, she realized for the first time what it felt like to be black in Mississippi. The terror she felt was the same terror she had seen on the black faces she had been staring at for weeks, the faces of black men and women who had decided the time had come to take a stand, and pay the consequences, no matter how grave. My parents had arrived on the campus of Rust College, an all-black college in Holly Springs, Mississippi, where Dad taught English so one of the black faculty members could go north for advanced study. In addition to teaching, Dad tried to help register black voters, a quest that ultimately proved futile. The local officials made up reading tests that no citizen could pass, asking blacks to quote from the state constitution, or read long passages out loud which the officials then pronounced were read incorrectly. As a result, Dad had turned his efforts to the Freedom Democratic Party. The idea was to elect black delegates who would go to the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City that fall and demand to be seated. Organizing the FDP required secret meetings among blacks and northern whites like Dad. County officials became aware of the FDP and actively tried to stop them through by intimidation and direct violence at the hands of "nightriders" consisting of Klu-Klux-Klan members and local police. Mom waited and waited that night. Ultimately, exhausted and scared, she dragged herself indoors. She kept listening for the sound of Dad's car, but he never returned. Back at the diner, Dad was beginning to give up hope. Just then an old pick-up truck pulled up next to Dad. Looking into the dark cab, my father saw it was driven by a black man around his own age. Without exchanging a word, Dad got in and they sped away into the night. It was only when they arrived safely at the man's farmhouse that they introduced themselves and shook hands. "Robert Miles," said the man. "Jim Matlack," Dad replied. "Thank you for coming." The man just shrugged. It was only when Dad was sitting at dinner with the family and eating a home-cooked meal did he learn what it had cost Robert Miles to venture out into the night. "They shoot at us every night," Mrs. Miles said calmly, passing my father a plate of brown meat and grits. "But don't worry, my boys sit out front with a shotgun. They'll protect you." Across the table, Robert Miles's two sons continued eating without a word. That night, Robert Miles and his sons took turns sitting on the front porch, passing a shotgun between them. Dad could see the gleam of the shotgun barrels, see the dark outline of the men, and wanted to join them. But he knew that showing his white face on the porch would only jeopardize the family more. The next morning a local black mechanic picked up Dad's car and towed it away He worked on it for two days to get it running again. On the third day, Dad continued back to Holly Springs. A few months later, Dad's work in Mississippi was done, and my parents returned to the North, to the safety and comfort of New Haven. They watched on television as Robert Miles led the FDP delegation in Atlantic City as Robert Kennedy received 12 minutes of uninterrupted applause, causing him to break into tears , and finally Fannie Lou Hamer gave her famous "I'm sick and tired" speech to the credentials committee who had offered the FDP just 2 at-large seats at the convention, which she refused. Forty eight years after his brother had challenged America to ask what we as citizens could do for our country it was left to Teddy to attend the swearing-in of the first African-American United States President, Barack Obama. He collapsed at the luncheon afterward, from fatigue. My parents, now in their seventies, watched the swearing in from their basement in Rockport, Maine with a room full of friends. Their friends cheered but my parents wept. I did too, for the long journey that transformed America sparked by the Kennedys and in which my parents had played no small part. More on Barack Obama
 
Jeffrey Feldman: "We Need Help!": The Health Care Clip Every American Should Watch Top
As the battle heats up to pass meaningful health care reform with a robust public option, a video has emerged that captures the raw emotions of Americans suffering under the cruelty of the current system. More than any video I have seen, this short clip amplifies the moral imperative for reform capable of freeing us all from the health insurance nightmare where nameless, faceless bureaucrats routinely tosses our loved ones in the trash heap at the precise moment we need the most care--a system that has come to symbolize the banality of evil in our time.  On August 25, CNN's Rich Sanchez introduced a video recorded at a town hall meeting in Oklahoma hosted by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).  In the clip, a constituent begins her question with a desperate plea, "Senator Coburn, we need help!"  Her voice is then overwhelmed by the kind of choking tears that reveal a person reduced whose frustration and suffering  has brought them to the last possible chance to save the life of the person they love more than anyone else in the world. She then explains her situation: My husband has traumatic brain injury.  His health insurance will not cover him to eat and drink. What I need to know is, are you going to help him so he can eat and drink? As the questioner's courageous voice fades into heaving sobs, Senator Coburn calmly responds,"Yeah, we'll help. The first thing we'll do is see what we can do individually to help you through our office."  Initially, Coburn seems headed towards a reassuring resolution: a woman asks a representative of government for help and he responds that his office will act.  But then he concludes with the following: But the other thing that's missing in this debate is us as neighbors helping people who need are help. We tend to--the idea that government is the solution to all our problems is an inaccurate, a very inaccurate statement. Coburn answers an American's desperate plea for help to care for her husband, in other words, by repeating the anti-government mantra of the Republican Party.  The political calculus in Coburn's words hang in the room room like an icy cloud.   In an unfortunate quirk of timing, the tragic passing of Senator Edward Kennedy created a tidal wave of media coverage that has all but buried this powerful video clip from gaining the kind of viewership it truly deserves.   But in an age where YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and good old fashioned email can often broadcast a video faster than traditional media, it really is possible for every American to see this clip. Since watching the video of the Oklahoma town hall I have forwarded it to thousands of people.  Spreading the call for reform has never been simpler. But by showing the video, we do much more than shine a light on the banality of health insurance evil, we also do our part to tip the narrative towards a more American set of values.  Until now, the health care debate has been pushed as a larger story about "government run insurance will take away our freedom."  The opponents of reform insist that a public option will lead to tyranny and the end of America.  The tears in this video bring us to a new big picture:  "Americans are not free so long as they can be deprived of care by a cruel industry."  Those who advocate passionately for a public option can now insist with clear evidence that an America without health care reform is an America broken by fear. One woman's tears and the courage to stand up and tell her story could give an opportunity to us all to push the kind of change this country so desperately needs.  And all we need to do is show this video to everyone we know. More on Health Care
 
Mark Weisbrot: American Public Still Ahead Of Its Leaders on Foreign Policy Top
Americans are famous for not paying much attention to the rest of the world, and it is often said that foreign wars are the way that we learn geography. But most often it is not the people who have little direct experience outside their own country that are the problem, but rather the experts. The latest polling data is making this clear once again, as a majority of Americans now oppose the war in Afghanistan, but the Obama Administration is escalating the war and his military commanders are asking for even more troops than the increase to 68,000 that the Administration is planning by the end of this year. This gap between the average American and the foreign policy elite has been around since the Vietnam War and long before. The gap is also large between Democratic voters, three-quarters of whom oppose the war in Afghanistan , and the politicians and think tanks that represent them in the political arena. A few decades ago there was a real voting base of "Cold War" liberals - people who were progressive on social and economic issues but right wing on foreign policy. That base has largely disappeared. Yet amazingly, the foreign policy establishment - including most of the media - has managed to maintain this political tendency as a very influential force. The gap between the public and the foreign policy elite is not due to the ignorance of the masses, as the elite would have it, but primarily to a different set of interests and values. Very few foreign policy decision-makers -just a handful of Members of Congress, for example -- have sons or daughters who actually fight in the wars that they decide are "wars of necessity." The tax burden for these wars is more affordable for most foreign policy experts than it is for an American with median earnings. And perhaps most importantly, the average American doesn't have the same interest in trying to have the U.S. rule the world. For the foreign policy elite, the importance of running the world - as much as it is possible - is taken as given. Walter Russell Mead is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), one of the most influential foreign policy organizations in the United States. He represents the more liberal end of the political spectrum at the CFR. In a recent interview with The Brazilian Economy , he argued that all countries must accept what he called "the Anglo-American system." For him, the lessons of history show that there is no alternative: "To me, there is one clear lesson: by joining the [Anglo-American] system and becoming part of it, you can achieve far greater results, whether measured by international power, state security, or the prosperity of your people. You actually do much better by co-operating than resisting." While one can argue that Europe and Japan have done reasonably well as subordinate partners to the United States in the post-World-War II era, the same cannot be said for the majority of countries in the world. This is especially true in the years since 1980, which have seen a sharp slowdown in economic growth, and reduced progress in social indicators such as life expectancy and infant mortality, in the vast majority of low-and-middle-income countries. The biggest exception is China - which succeeded by rejecting the "Anglo-American" policy prescriptions and opted for state control of their banking system, foreign exchange, foreign capital flows, and a host of other important economic decisions. China also remained outside the World Trade Organization (WTO) until 2001, when they were economically strong enough to take advantage of it. Resistance, it seems, is not always futile. Foreign economic policy is even more removed from public input than foreign policy in general, with unaccountable institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and WTO making decisions that affect the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people. It is this one-step-further removal from public accountability - there are no voters that these institutions have to answer to - that makes them so attractive to the elite in rich countries. In the current economic downturn, the IMF can use taxpayer dollars to bail out Western European banks who made imprudent loans in Eastern Europe, something that the contributing governments might not be able to get away with politically if it were done directly. Policies that primarily cause harm in other countries, such as the failed macroeconomic and development policies that the IMF, World Bank, and WTO have pressured other countries to adopt, would not get support from the public as they do from the elite. The average American has a moral sense that seems lacking in policy discussions here in Washington, where it is the custom to appear amoral, almost like an insect. In 2006, when television newscasts were showing regular footage of Iraqis killed and maimed by explosions, Americans were horrified and opposition to the war increased substantially. It is only by keeping the ugly reality of our foreign occupations away from the public that our government can even get enough support to keep funding them. Conversely, where there are independent citizens' organizations that can exert influence, some of the crimes involved in U.S. foreign policy can be successfully challenged. For example, the American Civil Liberties Union waged a five-year battle that led to Attorney General Eric Holder's decision this week to appoint a special prosecutor to look into some of the instances of torture and abuse of prisoners by the CIA. But the powerful and rigid institutional arrangements of our foreign policy establishment, the sloth and weakness among the intelligentsia, as well as the corruption from the interests of military contractors, makes it an uphill battle for common sense to prevail. It is not that the American people are so backward and ignorant, or bellicose; rather the main problem is that the public has so little input into foreign policy decisions. That is what must change if we are to get away from the prospect of never-ending wars and conflicts, and from a foreign policy that continues to be one of the greatest obstacles to social and economic progress in the world. This column was published by The Guardian Unlimited on August 27, 2009. More on Afghanistan
 
Paulina Porizkova: Summer Reading for Folks Who Want to Seem Kinda Smart Top
I admit that thanks to a career choice that required not much more than showing up with clean hair and shaved legs, I have a bit of an inferiority complex in the education department. Or in plain speak: I feel the need to constantly prove I'm not some dumb model. And yes, I know that having to prove it undermines my efforts. But bear with me. I quit school at 15 to live off of my looks. Fortunately, I have been a bookworm ever since I learned how to read. Fiction taught me everything I've learned past grade nine. It's amazing how much information my brain now contains on topics as diverse as the political system of the 1950s, India, the tribal wars in Sudan, Mexican neighborhoods in the States, and the food of Nigeria. Temperature has always affected my choice and processing of reading material. In the winter, there is nothing better than a longish novel filled with fog and mystery, something like The Mystery of Jonathan Strange or Drood . English, Russian, and French classics are also desirable; the fact that they are "classics" immediately puts them in the cozy category. Think Austen, Dickens, Tolstoy, and Victor Hugo. You know they ain't bad if they're classics. Plus, I truly believe the cold makes your brain quicker. (At the Late Show with David Letterman , the air-conditioning is turned up so high, the first guests--if women--are invariably shivering in their gold lamé minidresses. The operative knowledge is: Heat makes you languid and sexy, cold makes you sharp and funny.) Probably because of my inferiority complex, I tend to bypass the magazine articles my friends prefer as beach reads and head straight for the books. But at the same time, in the summer, well, it seems my brain can only process content that deals with heat, sex, and water (though not necessarily in that order). My perfect summer book is like a perfect friend: fun but not silly, smart but not preachy, and playful but not fickle. So my choice? Lengthy sagas set in hot foreign lands. They have everything: sex, politics, love, and heat--and they are long. In many cases, one book can last the entire summer. And the best part is, in the manner of great fiction, you not only exercise your imagination and empathy muscle, but you also come away educated in foreign cultures and politics as a side benefit. So here I've listed a few recommendations for those who don't want to be hated just because they're beautiful. A Suitable Boy , Vikram Seth's 1,488 page novel set in India. You'll acquire loads of impressive knowledge about India's customs, politics, and religion during the 1950s and '60s on top of good ol' sex and drama. The Soldier of the Great War follows the entire life of an Italian man: 880 pages of love, humor, and war. You'll come away with an understanding of the effects of the Second World War on Italy and its people. Acts of Faith . Besides plane crashes in the African bush, hot interracial sex, and lots of fighting action, you'll also learn all about the situation in Darfur. This book should be required reading. Rain of Gold is a fabulous, occasionally sentimental, sweeping family saga that does such an amazing job teaching you about Mexico and its culture it'll feel as if you had been born into it. Half of a Yellow Sun is a juicy family drama that will also provide you with extensive knowledge of 1960s Nigeria. A Fine Balance . Another Indian saga (those Indians are just so good at the sweeping, hot, evocative novels!), but this one will show you an India of the '70s: Indira Gandhi's politics and its disastrous effects. And the real lives of the orphans and crippled beggars you see in the pages of National Geographic . None of these books are under 500 pages, so once read they can be used to tone biceps or in step class--so being smart won't be the only reason why you'll be hated. Related links on Modelinia.com : *Watch: Paulina Porizkova biography and video interview *Slideshow: Paulina Porizkova's Covers 
 *Watch: Conversations: Paulina chats with famed fashion illustrator, Alvaro (http://www.modelinia.com/videos/conversations--paulina-porizkova---alvaro/278) *Slideshow: Beauty and the Beat: check out Paulina with her husband, Ric Ocasek from The Cars
 
Naazish YarKhan: French TV Airs First Ever Ad on Halal Foods! Top
                                    August 2009 - The veil may be the eye of the storm in France (and it is dead set against the burkha) but apparently businesses know where there’s money to be made. I have often wondered how intolerant France is of its Muslims and then lo and behold! We have halal food on its mainstream grocery shelves and now the first ever TV commercial on halal foods. Reality is stranger than fiction! According to reports, "Supermarkets have been expanding their shelf space for halal products, recognizing that sales do go up in the month of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims." Also this Ramadan, French TV aired its first ever ad campaign on halal foods.  "The timing is not an accident either: there is evidence that Muslims consume more during the four weeks of Ramadan, which began on August 22 this year. Spaghetti bolognese, pizza, gratin, ravioli, minestrone, milk and fruit, all strictly halal (allowed), have become the goose that laid the golden egg for food companies suffering from the current crisis. 400 different products have sprung up in French supermarkets." America, land of liberty, freedom of religion and 6-8 million Muslims, where are our halal ads? Where are the halal products in our mainstream groceries?   According to Solis agency, which specializes in ethnic marketing "The halal market (in France) is valued at close to 4 billion euro for 2009, and is estimated to grow at annual rate of 15%.  93% of North Africans and 55% of sub-Saharan Africans maintain halal, forming the bulk of the halal consumer base. Supermarket chains Auchan, Leclerc, Super U and Casino have a special halal shelf area during the Ramadan period, but also during the rest of the year.  Carrefour, in France, has offered halal products for years now but now has its own brand, Reghalal, which offers turkey cuts and poultry sausages, and which is sold at its low-cost Ed stores.  The Wassila halal brand was launched by Supermarket giant, Casino, this August.  Customers can check out its halal portral wassila.fr , before they head out to stores, to see which products are guaranteed halal. Stéphane Renaud of 'Products of the World' of Auchan says that there's a potential for Muslims to make up 10-20% of customers in their shops. Muslim consumers are more inclined to buy at supermarkets offering halal, and the supermarkets have significantly expanded their product offerings over the past five years. Still, the marketing is often couched in terms such as ‘Flavors of the Orient’ and ‘A Taste from the Thousand and One Nights’, rather than explicitly using the word Ramadan.  All that may be set to change with the advent of the first TV Ad targeting Muslim halal consumers. The ad shows a young couple with north African features shopping at the supermarket, putting 'halal' certified lasagne and paella in their trolley. "Yes, we eat halal and it is really delicious" he says. In French it even rhymes. The potential audience is five million consumers (the country has the largest Muslim community in Europe), who observe the fast in ever greater numbers: 70% of France's Muslims fast. What could become a new fashion in France was launched by the Ferico group, part of Panzani, which has been selling couscous under the Zakia brand name for more than a century. The campaign became immediately visible after being shown on some of the most popular TV channels in France starting on August 17, including Tf1 and M6, as well as digital terrestrial channels. A few weeks ago a board appeared on the Champs-Elysees advertising halal salami and smoked ham from the Isla Delice brand. This is a novelty for one of the temples of shopping in Paris, while Muslim fast-food and butchers are a success in the Arab districts and the suburbs. France's Muslims like the prime-time TV ad on Tf1 even more, as they finally feel like customers, like other people.  "There are a lot of Arabs in this advert, and it's the first time I've ever seen such a thing in France. Finally we count economically in this country," writes Mounafia on Bladi.net, an internet site for the French Arab community. In shops belonging to the Auchan chain ten times as much space has been given over to selling halal produce in recent days.” " Source includes: ANSAmed More on France
 
Miguel Guadalupe: A Bronx group's battle with the Yankees reminds us about real community organizing Top
In an era where conservative lobby groups can muster dozens of misinformed citizens to disrupt congressional town halls and claim they are engaging in “grass roots” campaigns, we all need a reminder of what real community organizing is about. Community activism is an important part of American culture. The ability to raise awareness and bring people together to right an injustice, or to have their voices heard by the rich and powerful is a right cherished by few countries. Community organizers provide a vehicle for real change. Unlike the current lobby-supported “ astroturf ” organizing, most community activists and organizers don’t stand to win millions of dollars, or stop legislation that would hurt an industry paying their salaries. Most are simply trying to give a voice to the voiceless. One example is a little known non-partisan group made up of various local community groups and activists in the South Bronx, NY, where I grew up. They call themselves the “ 4DSBx Coalition .” The name sounds complicated (it stands for “For the South Bronx,”), but their mission is simple – to make sure the Yankees organization live up to promises they made while getting community support to build their new stadium in the Bronx. According to the coalition, the Yankees are on record as having promised to: Award 25% of construction contracts to local Bronx based business for the building of the new stadium and demolition of the old stadium Demolish the old stadium by 2010 Construct a new public park to replace the one they took over to build the new stadium by 2010 Hire Bronx residents (at least 25%) to work in the construction and in the finished stadium. Contribute $800,000.00 a year to local community organizations from the start date of construction. Now that the stadium is up, the Coalition states very few of these promises have been kept. The local political elite has been very quiet, mostly because many of them came out in early support of the stadium, or are tied themselves to Yankee management. The borough is also in a state of flux as the past borough president was called to D.C. by the Obama administration and his replacement was elected in a recent special election which drew less than 35,000 votes. With a lack of political help, and having to go against a goliath of a corporate organization like the New York Yankees, the coalition has gone to the streets for support. They’ve gotten residents to attend city council meetings and have organized protests in front of Yankee stadium , which has gotten some media attention. They are forcing the Yankees to answer questions and defend their current position. They keep concerned people abreast of the situation via social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and have gotten a modest online following, especially among college students and grads who currently live or come from the area. To be fair, The Yankees participate in a whole host of community programs and no one is against the players themselves. The Coalition states they are loyal Yankee fans. But whether the Yankees organization will make good on their promises regarding the new stadium is yet to be seen. Under the Coalition, the community is holding the Yankees accountable. They are informed, and perhaps more importantly, they are an example of civil community empowerment. The protests, while small, are organized and professional, the meetings they attend are passionate but respectful, and those who speak for the organization are talking from factual points and concrete proposals for resolution. They have a long way to go, but are headed in the right direction toward real change. So when we see red-faced zealots screaming at their representatives, or media types giving credence to rumor and speculation intended to muddy the debate, let's remember that real community organizing is a civilized, noble calling. Often the work is local, and rarely makes the main story of the major news networks. The purpose is ultimately to serve as the last check on power of corporate interests and a weak or compromised political elite. It is not about stopping progress, or spreading lies and misinformation for political gain. We should continue to support legitimate community organizing as an important American tradition, and say no to "astroturfing." Good luck to the 4DSBx Coalition.
 
Frank Dwyer: Political Haiku: Redder States Top
Hotbeds of global warming denial. Red states. Formerly farm states.
 
Rick Horowitz: Kennedy: The Lion at Rest Top
Senator Edward M. Kennedy, dead at 77 -- and thank goodness for that. Thank goodness for the "at 77," that is. Not to say that "at 78" wouldn't have been even better. Or "at 79." "At 80" would have been miraculous. But losing Ted Kennedy at 77? It's hard to feel cheated. None of his three brothers -- his three older brothers -- made it to 70. Or 60. Or even 50. Who'd have predicted that the last of the boys would be the only one to receive the gift of years? Or that he'd put those years to such extraordinary use? Or that he'd find, in the autumn of those years, a peace and a balance that had eluded him -- or that he had eluded, had disdained, with such awful consequence -- in his own life for so long? Perhaps it was the late-arriving maturity of the baby of the family. Perhaps it was a new marriage, and a second chance to get important things right. Perhaps it was the simple passage of time. Or perhaps it dawned on him at some point that they weren't coming after him. Not anymore, anyhow. There were years -- entire decades -- when I couldn't watch Ted Kennedy on television. Especially not in close-ups; I couldn't bear to watch Ted Kennedy in close-ups on live TV. I needed to see the room. There was a hand somewhere, with a gun somewhere -- I knew it, we all knew it. I needed to see the room so that I could see the hand with the gun rise out of the crowd, so that I could prepare myself, or shout a futile warning to the screen, or turn away in the split-second before the damage was done. I couldn't bear to watch him in close-up, worried at every moment that the bullet might already be on its way, and that the moment we'd know for sure would already be too late. This is how so many of us looked at Ted Kennedy -- eyes half-averted -- in those days, for all those years. Hard to fathom how he must have looked at himself. Even harder to fathom: How he carried on with his life. In the spotlight. In the crosshairs. Too much "carrying on" was one way he carried on, of course. He was frequently out of control -- more caricature than senator -- even as his legislative achievements mounted. He fought the good fights, brave and necessary and sometimes lonely fights, even as he fought the demons. And then -- who knows why? -- the demons receded. Retreated. The joy was still there, by all accounts. But now, astonishingly, there was also a serenity at the center. Given the gift of years, he seized the opportunity to remake himself. He became the kind of person a Ted Kennedy could admire. When the end came, it came in his own home. In his own time. And still too soon. # # # Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist. You can write to him at rickhoro@execpc.com . More on Ted Kennedy
 
Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture? (VIDEO) Top
The "Onion" begged the question this week of who should be held accountable for the "Minotaur Maze" used under the Bush administration as an "enhanced interrogation technique." WATCH: Is Using A Minotaur To Gore Detainees A Form Of Torture? Get HuffPost Comedy On Facebook and Twitter! More on The Onion
 
Sandra Bullock's Puzzling Red Carpet Look: Love It Or Leave It? (PHOTO, POLL) Top
It's hard to tell what's going on with the dress Sandra Bullock wore to the 'All About Steve' premiere Wednesday night, but it was designed by Lanvin and not a prematurely eliminated 'Project Runway' contestant. She finished her look with a limp ponytail and chunky black booties. Get HuffPost Entertainment On Facebook and Twitter!
 
NYC mayor: I have no opponents, didn't see debate Top
NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday he's not really running against anyone in this year's mayoral election, and sought to cast his challengers as irrelevant. The Republican-turned-independent portrayed his campaign for a third term as a lone effort to advertise his record since taking office in 2002. "I'm not running against anybody," Bloomberg told reporters. "I'm running on a record, and I'm trying to lay out the things that I would do if given another opportunity." The mayor's multimillion-dollar campaign might not have gotten the message. Through e-mails, television appearances and other means – like showing up at an opponent's events – the Bloomberg campaign regularly points out what it calls the "failures" of William Thompson Jr., the Democratic front-runner. Last week, Bloomberg campaign officials called a news conference to talk solely about Thompson after a report on his management of the municipal pension system. Thompson spokesman Mike Murphy asked, if Bloomberg isn't running against anyone, why is he spending so much money and "why does he have his hired guns lob baseless negative attacks at Bill on a daily basis?" "This is an election, not a coronation," Murphy said. The mayor spoke Thursday in response to questions about a Democratic primary debate on Wednesday night. Thompson and Democrat Tony Avella spent the better part of 90 minutes criticizing Bloomberg instead of engaging with each other. The mayor did not participate in the debate because he is not facing a primary. The Democratic contest is Sept. 15, and the winner will run against Bloomberg in the November election. Bloomberg said the Democrats "wasted an opportunity" by attacking him instead of saying why they want to be mayor. At least, he heard that's what they said. He said he didn't watch the debate because he wasn't curious to hear what his potential challengers had to say, not even as a strategy to prepare for general election debates. "I'm not going to 'face' either of them," he said. "I'm going to answer the questions and say whey I should deserve the opportunity to serve the public for four more years." Avella said Bloomberg was showing "arrogance." "It's up to the voters to decide who are the real candidates in this race and who is trying to buy their votes," Avella said in a statement.
 
Man dies after being Tasered at LA subway station Top
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says a man has died after a deputy shocked him three times with an electric stun gun at a subway station. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore says the man, who was not immediately identified, was at the North Hollywood Red Line station Wednesday night when a deputy repeatedly asked if he had a ticket. The man didn't answer, so the deputy took hold of his hands to stop and question him. Whitmore says the man broke free, raised clenched fists and charged the deputy several times. He was Tasered, then shocked twice more when he got up and charged again. Whitmore says a pipe used to smoke drugs fell to the ground during the scuffle. ___ Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com
 
A&E Television To Acquire Lifetime Top
LOS ANGELES — A&E Television Networks said Thursday it is acquiring Lifetime Entertainment Services, bringing the home of "Project Runway" into a stable of profitable channels that includes A&E and the History channel. Terms of the deal, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, were not disclosed. A&E Television Networks is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Co., Hearst Corp. and General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal. Lifetime is already owned 50-50 by Disney and Hearst. Under the terms of the deal, NBC Universal may elect or be required to exit the venture within 15 years, which would make Disney and Hearst 50-50 partners in the larger group. The acquisition should result in cost savings by merging advertising sales forces and corporate overhead, and should be a positive for Disney shareholders, said David Joyce, an analyst with Miller Tabak & Co. "There's incremental streamlining of the operations, which could result in better margins and more of a stake in those cable networks over time," he said. "It doesn't move the needle for Disney in the grand scheme of things but it would skew positive." NBC Universal was already the junior partner in A&E Television Networks, with a 25 percent stake, compared with 37.5 percent each for Disney and privately held Hearst. If no cash was exchanged, NBC Universal's stake in the venture would shrink, giving it less of a strategic position, said Standard & Poor's analyst Tuna Amobi. What's more, Lifetime targets women viewers, which overlaps with the target demographic of NBC Universal's Oxygen. "This offers a clear path for NBC potentially to exit," Amobi said. Lifetime, A&E and History channels are among the top 10 cable networks on television. Combined, the three channels alone are expected to take in about $2.2 billion total from advertising and subscription fees this year, and generate about $740 million in cash, according to research firm SNL Kagan. With the addition of Lifetime channels, the group will now include: A&E Network, History, Lifetime Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Bio, History International, Lifetime Real Women, History en Espanol, Military History and Crime & Investigation Network. Disney shares rose 3 cents to $27.03 in afternoon trading Friday. General Electric shares were up 11 cents at $14.22.
 
Strange Zombie Pasta Art Undercuts NYT Editorial Top
On the New York Times ' op-ed page today, Chiara Volpato offers readers a piece entitled "Italian Women Rise Up," which details the extent to which a nascent feminist force, sick of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's ostentatious displays of sexism, is on the rise in Italy, with the aim of spreading further dissent over Berlusconi's behavior and fighting sexist discrimination as a matter of national pride. The essay is firm, full-throated, rich with history, steeped in reason, and stirringly written. Along the way, Volpato assigns blame to the "Italian media" that "exacerbate[s] this bleak reality by presenting a picture of women that is incomprehensible to the rest of Europe." With that in mind, I have to wonder what Volpato thought about the art the the New York Times chose to accompany the essay, which presents an incomprehensible picture to its readership -- namely, that of a zombie lady arm arising out of a bowl of spaghetti. In this case, I think a picture offsets a thousand words. [Would you like to follow me on Twitter ? Because why not? Also, please send tips to tv@huffingtonpost.com -- learn more about our media monitoring project here .] More on Italy
 
Italian Gov't Censors Doc on TV's Influence Top
MILAN — Italy's state broadcaster RAI has refused to air ads promoting "Videocracy," a Swedish documentary examining the influence of television on Italian culture over the last 30 years, because it says the spots are an offense to Premier Silvio Berlusconi. Both of the 30-second promotional spots show a smiling Berlusconi, the 72-year-old media magnate and three-time premier. One opens with a montage of scantily clad women who have appeared on TV over the years; the other features statistics proclaiming Italy's low standing in rankings of equal opportunity and press freedom and notes that TV is the primary source of information for 80 percent of Italians. RAI's rejection letter, obtained by The Associated Press, called the spots "offensive to the honor and personal reputation of the prime minister," noting that the photos of the unclothed women were suggestive of the recent scandals over Berlusconi's personal life. Italian-Swedish filmmaker Eric Gandini rejected the contention that film was anti-Berlusconi and that the film in no way discusses the scandals, which was finished the month before they broke. Disclosures that Berlusconi had attended the 18th birthday party of a model in Naples in April led his wife to publicly announce she was divorcing him. Since then he has been linked to other women, including a prostitute. Berlusconi has denied having improper relations with the model, or any other woman. "It is a film about the present time. It is a film that talks about how Italy has become after all these years. Of course, Berlusconi is in the story. But it is much more a film about Italian culture," Gandini said in an interview from Stockholm, where "Videocracy" was making its Swedish premiere Thursday night. It will be shown next week at the Venice Film Festival and later at the Toronto Film Festival. Berlusconi made a fortune with his Mediaset media empire, which he built up throughout the 1980s and which includes the three largest private television networks in Italy. Mediaset and state-run RAI's three channels comprise 90 percent of the free-to-air television channels in Italy. Mediaset also has refused to run the spots. "It is one of those cases where there is an excess of zeal," Domenico Procacci of the film's Italian promoter Fandango said in an interview broadcast on La Repubblica's Web site. Procacci said the spots were proposed to RAI in slots dedicated to promoting cinema. In its rejection letter, RAI also objected that the spots also imply a conflict of interest over Berlusconi's vast media holdings and "propose the possibility that the government, though television, would be able to subliminally influence the conviction of citizens in favor of its own choices and thereby assure their consensus." RAI said the spots could be shown if accompanied by another offering an alternative point of view. Gandini responded that Berlusconi's Mediaset and RAI, by their very nature, already tell the other side of the story. "The other side has six channels, 24/7, telling the other story," Gandini responded. "I think they really can afford a discussion about these things because it is not like they lack a means of telling the other side – to show how good everything is, or how fun everything is. Having fun is like a mantra of the past years. To say something else is obviously very, very controversial." The 42-year-old filmmaker, who grew up in Italy but has lived in Sweden for the last two decades, said he intended the film for foreign audiences and was motivated by his native Italy's status as a laughingstock country. "My friends in Sweden, they laugh a lot about Italy. It is kind of a comedy for them. That is why I did this film. I wanted to show my friends in Sweden how strong this cultural evolution has been and how it is nothing to laugh about," Gandini said. ___ On the Net: La Repubblica daily: http://www.repubblica.it Swedish production company: http://www.atmo.se More on Silvio Berlusconi
 
Natalie Portman Loves Obscene Hip Hop, Ice Cream Cake Top
Natalie Portman covers the September issue of Interview , and inside the magazine she engages in some characteristically adorable banter with Jake Gyllenhaal. Here are some highlights: GYLLENHAAL: Okay. What's your favorite food? PORTMAN: Well, I don't think you can really improve upon Carvel ice cream cake. GYLLENHAAL: I'm more Baskin-Robbins style myself. PORTMAN: Oh really? I am so Carvel. Did I just bring us back to 1985 Long Island? GYLLENHAAL: What song best describes your current state? PORTMAN: My current state . . . I'm trying to think of a song that feels like sleepwalking. [laughs] I don't know. I've mostly been listening to dirty rap lately. That's sort of my scene. GYLLENHAAL: Your affection for dirty rap is something that people really don't know about you, which I think is fascinating. You do incredible things for the world, and then you listen to just completely obscene hip-hop music. PORTMAN: Really, really obscene hip-hop. I love it so much. It makes me laugh and then it makes me want to dance. Those are like my two favorite things, so combined . . . I've been listening a lot lately to "Wait (The Whisper Song)" by the Ying Yang Twins, where the lyrics are like, "Wait 'til you see my dick"--which is just amazing because it's whispered. [whispers] "Wait 'til you see my dick . . . " [laughs] Crazy. So I just listen to it like I'm a five-year-old, like, "Oh my god! I can't believe he just said that!" You can read the entire Interview story here. Get HuffPost Entertainment On Facebook and Twitter!
 
Inhofe: I'll Vote Against Reform Without Reading Bill Top
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) admitted this week that he would vote against health care reform without reading the bill, or knowing what was in it . At a town hall meeting Wednesday Sen. Jim Inhofe told Chickasha residents he does not need to read the 1,000 page health care reform bill, he will simply vote against it. "I don't have to read it, or know what's in it. I'm going to oppose it anyways," he said. Inhofe said he was able to form such a strong, yet uninformed opinion through polls and the media. Republicans challenged Democrats to read the whole bill this summer -- even though Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell later admitted that he hadn't . In July, Inhofe said that stalling or blocking health care reform would be a "huge gain" for Republicans in the 2010 election. Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
Women Prefer Sleep, Water To Sex, Survey Says Top
When it comes to health, drinking the recommended daily amount of water is more important to women than having enough sex, according to a national survey conducted by our magazine. When asked to prioritize behaviors related to their overall health and well being, women ranked drinking enough water fifth and sex seventh on the list. More than 1,000 women participated in the nationwide Women's Wellness Survey, which polled their opinions on healthy living, eating, and exercise. Respondents ranked the following behaviors in terms of importance to overall health and well being. Their priorities may surprise you More on Sex
 
Leslie Gilbert-Lurie: 10 Ways to Minimize Your Child's Stress Top
In many respects my children are lucky. They have traveled extensively, attended outstanding schools, and have had the occasion to pursue talents and passing fancies. My childhood was not so privileged. I never imagined having had many of these opportunities. And yet I often find myself feeling sad for them and their peers. They feel a stress I also could never have imagined. As a child, I generally had nothing better to do after school than play with my neighbors. Today, many of the children I know are too busy after school with lessons and sports to idly play. When I was growing up, my family sat down together for dinner almost every night. Today, even when my children's schedules don't conflict, my husband or I are likely to be stuck in traffic, arriving too late for a family dinner. When I was in school, many of my classmates tried out a new sport by joining a high school team. Today, children often need to have been playing sports like baseball, basketball or tennis for years to make the team. Needless to say, we live in trying times, and many of the buffers my generation had no longer exist. Our children not only have less time for fun or family, but they know that their world is polluted, over-populated, and at risk of terrorism. They also have a sense that if they don't try their hardest, determined young people in developing countries around the world are prepared to take their spots in colleges and the working world. My mind has turned toward thinking about stress in children after my recent experience in writing Bending Toward the Sun , a mother-daughter memoir that will be released September 1. I became more aware of the ways in which my mother's experiences in the Holocaust influenced the stress I experience, and the ways in which I contribute unnecessary anxiety to my own children. I also realize that even if we could wave magic wands and eliminate all stress from our children's lives, we might be ill-advised to do so. The lessons children learn in coping with small stresses make them more resilient; better able to cope with more complex problems later on. But the high levels of stress which many of them experience today deprives them of much of the joy of growing up, and, I fear, will render them ill-prepared to function optimally as adults. Some of this excessive stress, I believe, can be minimized. Toward a more "stress less" existence for our children -- and hopefully I will be the first to be taking my own advice -- here are a few of my suggestions: 1) Accept square pegs . Parents are constantly told what is "normal." They, and their children, are made to feel inadequate when the child does not act like every other kid, or reach milestones at a preordained time. Unless it is clear that a serious problem exists, encourage your child's unique interests, approaches to learning, or ideas about socializing. As adults, we rarely consider it a compliment to be called average, so why should we want our children to be? 2) Encourage children to participate in physical activity . Physical activity reduces stress and helps maintain a healthy balance between mind and body. 3) Help children to find balance in their lives . While academic and/or athletic successes are obviously important, these successes must coincide with other factors in order for children to remain healthy and stress levels to be kept in check. Children need time for nutritious meals, a good night's sleep, and fun. Families should set aside time, when possible, to have fun together as well. While not always possible, it's helpful when parents can model balance in their own lives. 4) Allow children to be bored . Children need free time to discover where their own imaginations will lead them. Educators, parents, and coaches should refrain from scheduling every minute in their day. 5) Help children arrive on time . Children are often reprimanded publicly when they arrive late to school or other activities, adding an unnecessary layer of stress. 6) Expose children to spiritual activities . In an uncertain world, rituals and traditions reduce stress. Children are comforted by sensing that there are forces in the universe greater than themselves. 7) Introduce children to nature and the outdoors . Exposing children to plants, animals, and the stars gives them a sense of wonder. Teaching them to garden and be in nature gives them confidence that they can take care of themselves. 8) Teach children deep breathing and ways to calm themselves. Meditation, yoga, and deep breathing exercises help children, as well as the rest of us, to relieve stress. 9) Encourage children to have a hobby. Stress is reduced when children get to pursue interests and hobbies about which they are passionate, particularly when competition is not the primary goal. 10) When a parent experiences stress due to a traumatic past, expose children to healthy relationships and activities away from the family . As I discuss in Bending Toward the Sun , children can inherit stress from their parents. The impact of my mother's traumatic childhood was transmitted to me, and years later, to my young daughter. Parents can help mitigate the stresses in their own lives from being transmitted to their children by exposing their children to healthy relationships, activities, and points of view outside of the family. Also, I would recommend that a parent attempt to answer a child's questions regarding the parent's traumatic past. Children imagine the worst when a parent refuses to discuss a painful past, or seems evasive in answering questions. Parents do not need to reveal more than the child asks about, however, or is mature enough to understand. My long journey in writing Bending Toward the Sun has convinced me that not all stress can, or should, be avoided. But let's do what we can to raise not only high-achieving children, but healthy and happy ones as well. ©2009 Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, author of Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir Leslie Gilbert-Lurie, author of Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir, is a writer, lawyer, teacher, child advocate, and a member and past President of the Los Angeles County Board of Education. Gilbert-Lurie also is a founding board member and immediate past President of the Alliance for Children's Rights, a non-profit legal rights organization for indigent children, chair of the education committee for the Los Angeles Music Center, and a board member of several schools including Sierra Canyon and New Visions Foundation. Finally, she has just completed serving as a member of the mayor's task force charged with developing a new cultural plan for the City of Los Angeles. Previously, Leslie spent close to a decade as an executive at NBC, where, at various times, she oversaw NBC Productions, Comedy, wrote television episodes, and co-founded a new NBC in-house production company, Lurie-Horwits productions. As a lawyer, Leslie worked briefly at the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg and Tunney and served as a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Law Clerk. She is a graduate of UCLA and UCLA School of Law. Leslie lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son, daughter and step-son. For more information please visit http://www.bendingtowardthesun.com/
 
Gerald McEntee: The Death of a Friend Top
In nearly 47 years spent serving the American people, Ted Kennedy never stepped away from a fight, never stopped being a champion of the middle class, never ceased being a friend to labor and working families. From civil rights to health care, right until the end, he was our strongest advocate. We will always remember him. In his memory, we will continue to pursue our shared dream of opportunity for all. Senator Kennedy's congressional accomplishments were monumental, and health care was a significant theme throughout his career. He first advocated for health care reform in 1966 when he proposed amending the Economic Opportunity Act. In 1972, he created and ushered through the Congress a program focused on nutrition and health care for low-income women and children known as WIC. In 1997, he carried the banner high for the children's health care program, S-CHIP. He even made a surprise return to the Senate last summer to cast the decisive vote for the Democrats on a Medicare bill. Ted was always there to remind us, when too many had forgotten, that health care for all Americans was not a privilege but a right. This is his legacy. He said that quality, affordable health care for all Americans is "the cause of my life." And he fervently believed, "Quality care shouldn't depend on your financial resources, or the type of job you have, or the medical condition you face." Known as the "Lion of the Senate," we counted on Ted to fight for fairness in the workplace and serve as a voice for those whose labor makes this country great. He crusaded for the best, most comprehensive plans on immigration, housing discrimination, rights for the disabled, poor children and struggling young adults hoping to attend college. He never sought credit or recognition. When he co-authored the sweeping Patients' Bill of Rights, he even asked that Sen. John McCain's name appear first and his last. Beyond what he achieved on the national stage, Ted was an empathetic and caring man. When my father died, Ted was the first person to reach out to me in my time of sorrow. He stayed in contact with families who lost loved ones on 9/11 and remained in touch long after the cameras were gone. The tragedies he experienced made him especially compassionate when others endured their own hardships. For me this loss is particularly difficult. He was not just an ally, but a dear friend. Ted's great voice has been silenced, but we will forever remember what he gave all of us: his life, his passion, his commitment to a more fair and equitable nation. In remembrance of him, we must all keep fighting for the causes he championed so well and rededicate ourselves to winning national health care reform and lifting the lives of all Americans. More on Ted Kennedy
 
Terrence McNally: If I Were President: How I Would Have Answered the Public Option Question Top
Perhaps the most prominent event in the health care debate during the Congressional recess was President Barack Obama's August 15th Town Hall in Green Junction, Colorado. I can't seem to shake the feeling that one moment in that session captures the lost opportunities of the whole month. From a front page story in the Los Angeles Times -08-16-09: During an otherwise placid town hall meeting with 1,600 people packing a high school gymnasium, one University of Colorado student challenged Obama to an "Oxford-style debate" over the so-called public option. "How in the world can a private corporation providing insurance compete with an entity that does not have to worry about making a profit, does not have to pay local property taxes," or face local regulations? Zach Lahn asked Obama. "How can a company compete with that?" I had been watching the debate. This was I think the last question, and as I watched the video screen, I offered encouragement to the President, "Go for it, man. This one's right down the middle. Don't foul it off." But soon I ended up screaming some more -- this time in frustration -- as Obama joked a bit with the questioner about his chutzpah and then launched into a wonky defense of the public option, basically bragging about how if you tied both hands behind its back, it might not offer such tough competition. Here's how I would have answered: "You're right it might be hard for private insurance to compete with public not for profit health insurance. But that's really not my number one priority. My number one priority is the health of Americans. We spend more than other nation per person and as a percentage of GDP on health and we don't get the results. I'm committed to that changing. When I leave office, whether in three and a half years or in eight, I want the American people to be healthier. Too many may think its unpatriotic to say the U.S. doesn't have the best health care system in the world. But that's just a way to avoid facing the problem. By the way, the dictionary defines courage as "the willingness to face and deal with things recognized as difficult, dangerous, or painful rather than withdraw from them." We have the best research hospitals. We have the best medical schools. We have the best doctors. We have the best equipment. But we do not have the best health. We do not have the best heath outcomes. So instead of denying the truth, recognize the problem. If we've got the best and we're not achieving the best -- then the system is broken. We should figure out how it got broken, and we should do everything we can to fix it. This is too important, to our economy, to our competitiveness, to our morale as a nation, and, most important, to the health and peace of mind of you, your children, and your parents. My goal is about health. My administration will work to expand prevention and education and access to early care for all. We'll do everything we can, but your health will still be up to you and so will your health care. What I aim to improve is how we pay for it, and if giving more people Medicare-type health care does that, it's worth doing. You see there's a problem that explains some of the bad news -- why we spend more and don't get what we pay for. We may have the best doctors, hospitals, researchers, scientific advances, but the big reason the numbers don't add up: Profits. Health is essential -- like safety -- and we don't expect firefighters or police to make a profit. Medicare works, and by the way, for those who don't want government getting its hands on Medicare, I'll let you in on a secret: Medicare is government health care. Medicare has overhead of 4%. That means 96 cents out of every dollar goes to your health. For-profit insurance has higher overhead, naturally - they've got to make a profit, market, advertise, do tons of paperwork, and pay thousands of people to try to not pay for your medical bills. Medicare doesn't have to do that, neither will a public program. Think of it as giving everyone the choice to join Medicare no matter his or her age. Difference is you'll pay premiums until you're 65. If we can cut costs - then maybe we can lower that. It would be my goal that in the future it might be free at 60 then maybe 55. So for now it won't be free, but your premiums are going to be lower than private insurance. Why? Because, like Medicare, a public plan doesn't have to make a profit, doesn't have to market -- we'll do public education to let people know it's available, and make it easy for them to sign up, but no advertising. Just like anybody else, we'll have people looking out for fraud -- and we will commit to cutting that at every turn. Every dollar lost in fraud is a dollar not helping Americans get healthier. And in the public choice, we're not paying anybody to try to figure out a way to not pay your bills or to cancel your policy, or to make any decisions that are better for their bottom line than for your health. So yes, if I were a private insurer and I looked at Medicare's overhead and my overhead, and I saw a difference of say 15 cents per dollar, I'd be concerned how I was going to compete. But remember, my goal as President is not to save private insurance and it's not to eliminate it. It's to improve the health of Americans. You know whose job it is to figure out how to compete with a simple not-for-profit alternative and make a profit -- it's the insurance companies. Let's look at it two ways. If a public plan, that is something like Medicare, ends up doing all the terrible things so many are screaming it will do, then only the most desperate will sign up, and the private insurers will continue to make their profits on everyone else. But if the public option isn't half bad, if it's as good as Medicare, then maybe they've got something to worry about. Then they've got to show that for profit insurance is worth the extra cost. They've got to treat patients better than the public plan, to bring down premiums they'll have to work harder to bring down costs -- without sacrificing quality -- because now people have a choice. And so let me return to the question that I brought up at the top of this: If all other advanced countries offer a public option, and they spend less and get better results -- by the way, I say option on purpose, because many other countries offer private insurance as well -- then it is up to for-profit insurance to prove that it's got a significant role to play in providing for the health of Americans in the future. Bottom line: If the public option serves some people who prefer it and drives for-profit insurance to improve, we all win. And remember, my first priority is the health of all Americans." That's what I would have said, but, hey, I'm just a citizen. More on Health
 
Russ Wellen: Biden Locks Horns With Gates and Clinton Over the Monster That Won't Die Top
THE DEPROLIFERATOR -- In the eighties it became more and more difficult to kill movie monsters dead. They'd re-surface again and again like your favorite musical artist in live performance with encores upon encores. Neither were monsters, supposedly dead once and for all, immune to resurrection. In one installment of the Friday the 13th series, Jason Voorhees was brought back to life via telekinesis. But the entire premise of the 1985 film Reanimator was reviving the dead, a subject which has also been on the mind of Joseph Cirincione, who, as the president of the Ploughshares Fund, is as able as he is visible a spokesperson for disarmament. He was recently quoted in a Global Security report (thanks to Armchair Generalist for the heads-up): "RRW is dead but RRW supporters are looking to revive this corpse. ... They are scheming and maneuvering to. . . convince the White House that the only way to get the test-ban treaty ratified is to get a new warhead." If you're like me, you find the Web over-run with not only spyware but what are commonly called acronyms. Few are true acronyms (initial caps which attempt to spell or sound out a word); most are garden-variety abbreviations. That said, RRW is short for Reliable Replacement Warheads, a proposed Department of Energy project to replace aging nuclear warheads. Global Security reports: Vice chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Gen. James Cartwright, formerly a top Marines nuclear weapons commander "expressed concern that today's arsenal incorporates vacuum tubes and other outdated technologies that should be replaced." Vacuum tubes? Like those old black and white TV sets on which people watched the Milton Berle Show? Doesn't that make the case for replacing the warheads cut and dried? Uh, not so fast: Nuclear-weapon experts have cast doubt on the notion that the vintage technology constitutes a valid basis for a warhead-replacement program, because it is used sparingly in the arsenal and could easily be tested and replaced, if needed. Besides nuclear warheads are already maintained through the Life Extension [sic, points out Ron Rosenbaum (see below)] and Stockpile Stewardship programs. Besides, according to many experts, they may not need -- as if nuclear warheads were actually "needed" at all -- replacement for 20 years. Of course, there's a certain urgency to those advocating RRW. In a couple of decades, with the momentum that disarmament is building, there may be not be enough nuclear warheads left by then to make it worth anyone's while to replace them. But with the backsliding President Obama has demonstrated on bail-outs and health-care reform, the expectation that his disarmament overtures will be spared that fate might be wishful thinking. (" Will the Pentagon Thwart Obama's Dream of Zero? " asks Ron Rosenbaum at Slate.) Still, RRW's proponents, whether it's the Pentagon or congresspersons seeking to score programs for their constituencies, aren't letting up. Before we proceed, you might be asking yourself, "What's with the 'reliable'?" Since when have new weapons programs been prefaced by a laudatory adjective? Imagine adding such phrases to other defense programs that are twisting in the wind, such as the Trusty F-22. Or Old Faithful Future Combat Systems. Hyping the replacement warheads system by calling it "reliable" is yet another sign of its proponents' desperation. To return to Global Security's story, in early June. . . Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the idea of reinstating the controversial Reliable Replacement Warhead effort during a secret "Principals' Committee" meeting convened by the National Security Council. However, Vice President Joe Biden, in charge of the administration's nonproliferation initiatives, opposed Gates' proposal. He contested that modernizing by. . . . . . building replacement warheads could undercut the Obama administration's nonproliferation goals [which include] international consensus against Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons and North Korea's maintenance of its nascent arsenal. Biden, famous for not mincing words, had previously "alleged the warhead-replacement project had been 'hijacked' by those seeking to maintain a bloated nuclear arms establishment." But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came down on Gates's side. In fact, "behind closed doors in Obama's administration, senior appointees and others have begun lining up behind one or the other policy goal, and the two sides are beginning to clash." Her reasoning: . . . it might be necessary for the Obama administration to embark on an ambitious warhead modernization effort if it is to win enough Republican support for Senate ratification of the START replacement pact, according to sources. [As well as] for Senate approval of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, another objective Obama laid out in his Prague speech. Much as we disarmament types would hate to admit it, does Secretary of State Clinton have a point? To the contrary, according to Cirincione, who finds it. . . . . . particularly galling. . . that many in Obama's own appointed national security team are selling the president short by pushing for a replacement warhead. "Ironically, in their effort to look strong, they're displaying weakness," he said. "They're offering concessions up front that should only come down to the last resort." [A bad habit of the president. -- RW] "The president has to have the guts to say no," said one RRW opponent who asked not to be named. "Almost everyone else is inclined to Clinton-vintage political triangulation." Yikes! Anything but that. Worse, at least from the point of hawks, when it comes to deterrence, RRWs may not even "add value." In response to the Global Security report, an Arms Control Wonk commenter named Yousaf writes: If anything, untested new warheads may hold marginally less deterrent value in the eyes of a potential adversary. ... Would you fly on an airliner that had never had a test flight, even though its aerodynamics may be well understood? So why would you -- or more importantly our enemies -- believe untested new weapons would work better than the tested ones we have? Actually, writes Rosenbaum in his Slate article, it's not inconceivable that we would test them. RRWs "would probably require underground testing. . . and thus continued U.S. refusal to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban treaty." What makes it all the more frustrating is that not only do RRWs keep getting up off the mat, but we've also got to grapple with that other monster that won't die -- missile defense. First posted at the Faster Times . More on Nuclear Weapons
 
Dave Murphy: So You Want Health Care Reform? Boycotting Whole Foods Won't Help Top
The health care reform debate has provoked any number of crazy opinions, including the far-right fantasies of death panels or that Medicare isn't a government-funded program . Two weeks ago, Whole Foods founder and CEO John Mackey added his own musings to the list with an editorial in the Wall Street Journal condemning "Obamacare" and any government health care option in the U.S. Unfortunately for Whole Foods, Mackey's foray into the health care debate hasn't gone unnoticed. Some progressives, incensed that the head of one of their preferred companies is helping pollute the debate, have expressed their ire via a boycott of Whole Foods . While well intended, this is a bad strategy. A boycott of Whole Foods won't make a difference on health care, and it might actually hurt something progressives care about -- organic and natural farmers. Whole Foods Founder John Mackey Steps in It With an audacity that borders on self-destructive, Mackey, a well-known "Libertarian," began his op-ed on U.S. health care reform with a bizarre quote from Margaret Thatcher about socialism and other people's money, and it went downhill from there. Rather than see access to safe and affordable health care as a basic necessity in a civilized nation, Mackey calls any proposed government reform a "massive new health-care entitlement." For many progressives, Mackey's invoking the Constitution and Declaration of Independence to deny an individual "right" to basic health care struck a powder keg of emotion. Mark Rosenthal, a playwright based in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Mackey's, was one of them. "I was disgusted," says Rosenthal after reading the editorial. "I was nauseous at the thought of shopping at Whole Foods ever again. It made me want to vomit." So Rosenthal did want anybody who feels rage and indignation does today: he started a Facebook group. In nearly two weeks, the Facebook boycott has garnered some 29,000 online fans, while Mackey's tirade has created a cottage industry of blog posts regarding Whole Foods, its CEO and the boycott itself. Why They Shop Elsewhere After weeks of watching the health care debate be dominated by town hall protesters, and seeing the potential for reform slide away into a Clintonesque compromise, Internet savvy progressives jumped at the chance to focus their anger on one of their own--Whole Foods. As someone who works in sustainable agriculture and is a progressive Democrat, I've seen many a "friend" who has signed the Facebook page. Many are serial joiners, others have longtime beefs with Whole Foods for its perceived litany of sins, and others just like a good fight. When a protest is just one click away - why not satisfy that urge for revenge. Target the Real Enemies of Health Care Reform But the facts remains, no matter how many people join the boycott or wave a protest sign outside Whole Foods, it won't bring a single person in the country better health care. If progressives want to achieve a public option, they need to stay focused on the true obstacles to reform. Companies like United Health Care and the Republican party that have helped fan the flames, the Blue Dog Democrats , and the Gang of Six that have been dragging their feet on health care reform since the beginning. One good way to do this would be to make contributions to progressive members of Congress who stand up for health care. Another is to target the Blue Dogs. Over at Daily Kos, Markos Moulitsas is working on holding Blue Dog Congressman Jim Cooper from Tennessee accountable ; while Howard Dean is mounting a Senate whip count campaign against wayward Senators to push them in support of the public option. The public option will only come through organizing politically against members of Congress who actually vote on health care. Everything else is political theater. It may soothe the pain, but it won't actually cure what ails our nation. Beware The Unintended Consequences While Mackey has made his company an easy target in this debate, Whole Foods is not the enemy. The small natural foods retail company that Mackey helped found in 1980 has been a national leader in many progressive causes for years, which may be why his editorial stung so much. But for anyone who has followed Whole Foods for any period of time, Mackey's libertarian views should not be a surprise. And putting his politics aside, I'm far more concerned about the collateral damage that could be done to Whole Foods suppliers, mainly organic and natural farmers and some of the smaller and midsized organic companies whose products Whole Foods sells. Despite what many critics of Whole Foods say, as a company it has done much more good than it has harm and is largely responsibly for helping popularize organic and natural foods in the U.S. In doing so, Mackey and Whole Foods have helped create a market for thousands of farmers across America to grow food in ways that do not harm the environment, farm animals or consumer's health. And while Mackey may not support universal health care as a right, his life's work and that of his company has increased Americans access to food that is safer to eat, more nutritious, and will contribute less to the burden of the current health care crisis than his competitors. Unfortunately, the only responsible thing left to do is to ask John Mackey to step down as the CEO of a company that he helped build and to ask him to go it alone, just as he believes the uninsured citizens of this country should do. Whole Foods, and the farmers they help survive shouldn't suffer, but the author of that WSJ editorial should for putting America's organic and sustainable farmers in harms way. More on Health Care
 
Chris Fey: Rebutting the CBO's Preventative Care Cost Analysis Top
On August 7, 2009, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health. The letter summarized a CBO analysis of potential reductions in federal costs from health improvements gained through preventive medical care and wellness services. While the report recognized that most preventive care is "cost-effective," meaning that the costs are considered "reasonable relative to their clinical benefits," it concluded that "providing preventive care represents a net use of resources rather than a source of funding for other activities." We consider that assessment inaccurate because it rests on the premise that "expanded utilization leads to higher, not lower, medical spending overall." The disciplines of wellness and preventive health care are based on the principle that improving health-related behaviors, detecting conditions at earlier stages and slowing the progression of chronic conditions will save lives and reduce health care costs. Today's clinically-based preventive health care programs reduce, not increase, utilization and can potentially save billions of dollars in health care costs. Clinical prevention, as defined by the American Medical Association in Clinical Preventive Medicine by Richard S. Lang and Donald D. Hensrud, includes primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention, also called wellness, identifies risks and recommends behavior changes, such as healthy eating, exercise and immunizations, to reduce those risks. Secondary prevention detects diseases in the earliest stages when treatments are more effective. Tertiary prevention encourages adherence to recommended treatment and promotes specific lifestyle changes, such as healthy eating and exercise, to slow or even reverse the progression of an existing disease. The CBO analysis and many legislative approaches to prevention focus on secondary prevention with subsequent medical interventions. They do not address primary and tertiary prevention, which represent a significant portion of health care cost savings. The main challenge to secondary prevention has been widely discussed and provides the basis for the CBO assessment. The report states, "to avert one case of acute illness, it is usually necessary to provide preventive care to many patients, most of whom would not have suffered that illness anyway." We agree that some early prevention efforts, while effective at improving outcomes, were cost prohibitive because they produced widespread screening for multiple diseases. However, the discipline of preventive health care has progressed beyond its early stages to incorporate risk-based targeting and clinical recommendations. Programs such as The Prevention Plan™ combine simple blood tests with online health history and lifestyle questionnaires to identify each individual's top risks and then recommend an action plan to address only those risks. The CBO report states that preventive care "can have the largest benefits relative to costs when it is targeted at people who are most likely to suffer from a particular medical problem." These capabilities are available in the marketplace today, but not included in the analysis. It is also important to note that the CBO report excludes the entire spectrum of wellness services from its calculations, citing that "evidence regarding the effect of wellness services on subsequent spending on health care is limited." In fact, studies have documented the benefits of wellness programs. "An Unhealthy America: The Economic Burden of Chronic Disease" by the Milken Institute estimated that modest reductions in avoidable factors -- unhealthy behavior, environmental risks and the failure to make modest gains in early detection and innovative treatment -- will lead to 40 million fewer cases of illness and gain over $1 trillion annual in labor supply and efficiency by 2023." This represents a 27 percent reduction in total economic impact. Studies by Dr. Dean Ornish with Mutual of Omaha and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield have shown that people with severe coronary heart disease can stop or reverse their condition without drugs or surgery by making healthy lifestyle changes. Almost 80 percent of patients eligible for bypass surgery or angioplasty were able to safely avoid it by making lifestyle changes, saving almost $30,000 per patient in the first year. In a second study, lifestyle changes reduced total health care costs in coronary heart disease patients by 50 percent after one year and by an additional 20 to 30 percent in years two and three. To achieve these savings, however, the United States must look beyond the current model of health screenings and medical interventions. We must develop comprehensive programs to change behavior. Preventive health care entrepreneurs have taken up the challenge. The same American ingenuity that brought us the airplane and the artificial heart is now focused on helping people lead longer, healthier lives. These programs are designed to complement, not duplicate, current health care services. The CBO report cautions, "a new government policy to encourage prevention could end up paying for preventive services that many individuals are already receiving -- which would add to federal costs but not reduce total future spending on health care." Programs such as The Prevention Plan, however, are designed to assess risks and make recommendations while members' regular health care providers administer screenings and treatment. This third-party approach provides a model for increasing preventive health care while avoiding duplicated services. The United States can no longer afford a system where 70 percent of deaths and nearly 80 percent of health care costs stem from the same preventable chronic conditions. At this crossroads in health policy, the United States government has a rare opportunity to nurture a movement that can save hundreds of billions, make our workforce more competitive and improve the quality of our lives. We commend the CBO for its thoughtful analysis of this important issue and encourage further exploration to incorporate both recent advances in risk-based targeting and the role of wellness programs in reducing health care costs. Christopher T. Fey is chairman and CEO of U.S. Preventive Medicine, a global prevention services company. More on Health Care
 
Joseph Freeman: Where My Bees At? Five Brothers Rap and Dance To Save The Honey Bees Top
So you think you can dance? Can you do the honeybee? In preparation for the first-ever National Honey Bee Awareness Day that took place on Aug. 22, big bee backer Häagen-Dazs used the creative efforts of five brothers from Los Altos, Calif. to make a short video raising awareness. Max Lanman, a 21-year-old senior at Yale majoring in film studies (and the third-oldest Lanman brother), directed, edited and photographed the result of the request, a viral video entitled "Do the Honey Bee." The video, which was released Friday, begins hypnotically like any mainstream rap song. The beat leads you to expect a candy-colored car might glide by, dollar bills could rain from the sky or a troupe of well-tanned bikini-clad women may appear, crowding a bored rapper draped in fur. Instead, suited-up beekeepers spit rhymes about the honey bee plight and dressed-up bees perform an invented dance. "The goal behind this was to make a mainstream rap video that appeals to the masses," said Lanman in a phone conversation from New Haven. The dancing in the video is a nod to a ritual of the honeybees, who after returning from a particularly good round of pollinating "dance" directions to the rest of their hive. While other videos were shot by highly paid professionals, Lanman's was a family affair; his oldest brother Fritz, 28, advised the budding bee activists; second-oldest brother James, 26, produced the song; younger brother Connor, 18, choreographed it and raps the first verse; youngest brother Christopher, 13, cameos as a dancing bee; high school friends were extras; and the video itself was shot in a family friend's organic garden in Los Altos. The friend, Jeffrey Warnock, has been teaching the Lanman brothers about bees since they were young enough to want ice-cream for every meal. "It's something my family has been involved with for a while. Ever since we were in elementary school we had first-grade field trips where we walked to his (Warnock's) house and he'd show us his hives," Lanman said. The passion stayed with them. Most notably with Connor, who wrote a book called "Plight Of The Bee" which initially caught Häagen-Dazs' attention. They contacted Connor and he contacted his brothers. Then they all did the honeybee, so to speak. Fifty percent of the ice-cream manufacturer's ingredients come from the nuts and fruits which honey bee pollinations provide. "We want to keep these little heroes buzzing," reads a statement on the company's Web site to raise awareness, www.helpthehoneybees.com . And even if you don't indulge in a little Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan, there is cause to worry. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that honey bees are responsible for 90 percent of food crops. According to the USDA, the disappearances-- formally known as Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder--started occurring in 2006. Though causes are unknown, environmental groups like The Natural Resource Defense Council speculate that the unregulated use of plant pesticides are major contributors to the decline. The save the bee buzz is catching on, and the Lanman brothers will continue to try and take it mainstream through different mediums like music. "We're hoping that "Do The Honey Bee" will help raise honey bee awareness in a fun and original way, and appeal to the greater population," Lanman wrote in an email. "The honey bee crisis affects the global community, and music is definitely the best way to transcend language barriers. We actually found a German forum where different people were talking about the video and the cause--it was really cool to see that our video generated discussion, and in another language!" Get HuffPost Eyes&Ears on Facebook and Twitter!
 
Obamas' Martha's Vineyard Vacation Day 5: President Bikes Without A Helmet, Family Visits Gay Head Lighthouse (PHOTOS) Top
The first family did a little Martha's Vineyard tourism on Thursday, beginning with some biking on Lobsterville Beach in Aquinnah. Along for the ride were Konrad Ng, the president's brother-in-law, his daughter Suhaila, family friend Eric Whitaker, and a few other unidentified children. Everyone wore helmets except President Obama, and the first lady revisited the colorful madras shorts she wore to walk Bo in mid-June . The Obamas and their companions then took time to enjoy the view at the Gay Head Lighthouse, also in Aquinnah. PHOTOS: Follow HuffPost Style on Twitter and become a fan of HuffPost Style on Facebook ! More on Photo Galleries
 
Jennifer Sass: NRDC Report: Widespread Atrazine Contamination in Drinking Water and Streams Top
In today's new NRDC atrazine report we analyzed a mountain of data showing widespread water contamination from atrazine, a toxic herbicide. The data was mostly, but not all, generated by Syngenta , the main manufacturer of atrazine. Are you drinking atrazine in your tap water? Possibly. Fishing, swimming, or boating in it? Probably. Check out the report to look up specific information for your state. Atrazine is sold under kick-butt trade names like Bicep II Magnum . The website boasts that it's "how fields get clean, and stay clean". That's ag-speak for kills every green thing in the field before you plant the crop...even the good stuff like beneficial nutrient-rich plants and bacteria in the soil. Atrazine has a half-life of several years (longer in colder climates), and can be detected in most streams and rivers of the U.S. Eventually, much of it gets to the Gulf of Mexico , where it continues its plant-killing spree of algae and other beneficial water plants that provide food and oxygen for aquatic life. In addition, there is strong evidence that atrazine is an endocrine disrupting chemical ( EDC ), interfering with critical reproductive hormones even at extremely low levels . This is because hormones in our bodies are active at very low levels, parts-per-billion or lower. Higher doses of an EDC may knock the whole hormone system out, whereas low doses can interfere with the normal system in more subtle ways, sending things in strange directions. For example, lab studies in frogs indicates that low levels of atrazine may turn males into females . Ewwww. The big problem is that atrazine in drinking water is regulated as an annual average; the spikes get averaged out. Similarly, in streams and rivers the seasonal fluctuations are averaged out by the regulatory agencies. Unfortunately, reproductive development happens a lot faster than that, so spikes matter! What can we learn from the 2009 studies? Spikes matter! Even a single dose of atrazine (200 mg/kg) given to male Wistar rats caused and increase in steroid hormone release within 15 minutes after dosing. (Laws et al, 2009. Tox Sci) Rats fed atrazine-contaminated feed for 1 or 2 weeks (120 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg) had a dose-dependent reduction in sperm number and impaired daily sperm production. (Abarikwu et al, 2009. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol) Rats fed atrazine-contaminated feed (50 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg) for 25 days had a significant dos-dependent reduction in steroid production in the Leydig cells of the testes (Pogrmic et al, 2009. Toxicol Sci) When tiger salamander larvae were raised for 2 weeks in water containing atrazine (20, 200 ppb) or chlorpyrifos (2, 20, 200 ppb) no increase in deaths was observed. When the larvae were exposed to the combination of atrazine and chlorpyrifos together, however, there was a significant increase in larval deaths from increased viral infection and disease, suggesting that the treatment critically impaired immune function (Kerby and Storfer, 2009. Ecohealth) Rats treated for 5 months with atrazine-laced drinking water (30 or 300 µg/kg [ppb]) had associated insulin-resistance leading to obesity (Lim et al, 2009. PLoS One) And, what are Syngenta-supported scientists saying? "Based on a weight of evidence analysis of all the data" the hypothesis that atrazine is associated with reproductive abnormalities "is not supported by the vast majority of observations". Same for other reported effects such as impaired immune function, stress, or population-level effects (Solomon et al, 2008. Crit Rev Toxicol) Happily, many future-thinking farms , including many in atrazine-abundant regions like Illinois , are already getting ahead of the toxic curve with effective and affordable agricultural practices that avoid toxic chemicals. Yay! Say no to the unnecessary use of toxic agriculture chemicals, where safer alternative methods or materials exist. Do it for the future gonads of America! You can help NRDC learn more about water treatment in your area by calling your utility and submitting this online form . This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard blog .
 
Bennett Ramberg, Ph.D.: The Soviet Union's First Nuclear Detonation, 60 Years Later Top
This month marks the 60th anniversary of Moscow's entry into the nuclear club. At first blush a historic footnote, the roots of the Soviet achievement demand far more attention because they explain why President Obama will find it so difficult to fulfill his vaunted nuclear disarmament agenda any time soon. For the Soviet Union, the development of the Bomb marked a coming of age, its ascendance to superpower stardom. For Russia, the inheritor of the Soviet atomic legacy, nuclear weapons remain a critical foundation for its claim today to be a major player on the world stage. It is unlikely to relinquish this privilege in ongoing arms control talks. Russia had to work under the most trying circumstances to become a nuclear superpower. During the 1930s the Soviet Union was a backwater for atomic research. Its scholars followed the growing scientific European and American literature with keen fascination and concern recognizing the harbinger for nuclear weapons. The waxing and precipitous waning of publication with the onset of World War II raised flags that something was afoot in the West. Soviet spies in Britain and the United States provided not only confirmation but critical information about weapons design that would later help the Kremlin build the Bomb. Misplaced concern that Germany might not be far behind created gnawing apprehension that calamity could follow and something had to be done to resist it. However, confronted by the June 1941 Nazi onslaught that carried Hitler's army to the gates of Moscow, lukewarm political support further compromised whatever resources the Kremlin could muster to compete. The result proved to be a stunted nuclear effort after Stalin gave the green light at the end of 1942. All changed with the nuclear bombing of Japan. "Hiroshima has shaken the whole world. The balance has been destroyed," Stalin lamented. The Russian dictator pulled out all stops to prevent Washington's feared atomic diplomacy from imposing its will on the Soviet state. The Kremlin enlisted hundreds of thousands of prison laborers to mine the uranium and build the wherewithal for the Bomb guided by ten thousand engineers. Stalin's communization of Eastern Europe and pressure on Berlin generated sufficient "noise" to provide cover the four year effort. In the interim both Washington and Moscow feigned interest in nuclear disarmament by putting forward proposals at the United Nations with thorns assuring rejection by the other. The biding of time allowed the Kremlin to move at a pace comparable to the Manhattan project. The August 29, 1949 test was met with jubilation. Iulii Khariton, one of the scientific bomb makers, captured the moment: "[W]hen we succeeded....we felt relief, even happiness - for in possessing such a weapon we had removed the possibility of its being used against the USSR with impunity." In Washington concern grew that the Soviet achievement could impose a nuclear Pearl Harbor on the country. And so the nuclear arms race began consuming trillions of precious dollars and rubles. Even the "eyeball to eyeball" near nuclear collision in the Cuban missile crisis could not halt the nuclear weapons acquisition juggernaut. But in time the competitors recognized the dubiousness of it all resulting in a slew of arms control treaties memorialized in a gaggle of such acronyms as LTB, CTBT, INF, SALT, START and others that restrained and reduced but never eliminated the Bomb. The demise of the Cold War ought to have put a stake into the competition. After all, the ideological conflict had ended. A true peace had finally come to Europe. But neither country could relinquish its nuclear addiction undergirded by a never ending suspicion of the other. In December 2007 then Deputy Prime Minister Sergi Ivanov raptured over the attraction the Bomb had for the Kremlin: "Military potential, to say nothing of nuclear potential, must be at the proper level if we want...to just stay independent...The weak are not loved and not heard, they are insulted and when we have parity they will talk to us in a different way." More recently Prime Minister Putin punctuated the nuclear commitment announcing that Russia's 2010 defense budget would increase funding for the "maintenance and development of the nuclear capability and missile and space defense forces...." And despite lip service to nuclear disarmament, President Obama, like the Cold Warriors of the past, responded with his own commitment to the Bomb: "As long as these weapons exist, the United States will maintain a safe, secure and effective arsenal." So the competition continues. From his grave Joseph Stalin must be smiling.
 
Scientists Produce Monkeys With DNA From 2 Mothers Top
Scientists have produced monkeys with genetic material from two mothers, an advance that could help women with some inherited diseases have healthy children but that would raise a host of safety, legal, ethical and social questions if attempted in people.
 
Private Insurer Also Provides "Death Panel" Coverage Top
For all the hysteria regarding "death panels" being established in health care legislation, it's worth noting that under one major private insurance plan consumers are offered end-of-life planning coverage that is similar to that being put forth by House Democrats. Under the " Member Rights and Responsibilities " portion of United Healthcare's website there is an outline of "exactly what you can expect from your health care experience and how you can improve that experience, too." The list includes the following pledge: Consumer will be allowed to "Choose an Advance Directive to designate the kind of care you wish to receive should you become unable to express your wishes." The goal of the provision, it seems, is to offer consumers the type of medical consultation that is often needed (and frequently forgone) to make end-of-life procedures can be smoother and less painful. If it sounds similar, that's because the House provision that has been derided as creating government-administered "death panels" is very similar. Under the now infamous section 1233 of H.R. 3200 , Medicare would pay doctors to provide voluntary counseling on end-of-life issues. Conversations would cover topics like advance care planning, creating "living wills and durable powers of attorney," denoting a health care proxy should your medical decision deteriorate drastically, and sharing information about medical and hospice care as well as "the continuum of end-of-life services." In short, the House bill promises to provide the funds for Medicare to cover the same type of activities that United Healthcare pledges to its customers. Conservative figures like Sarah Palin and Betsy McCaughey have argued that the financial incentives are such that, under the House bill, doctors would be encouraged to "pull the plug" on grandma. But what seems more evident is that instead of just private health care companies offering to cover end-of-life care service, House Democrats are insisting that Medicare do the same. Officials with United Healthcare did not immediately return request for comment. Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
Campaign Contributions May Be Linked To Pension Fund Deals Top
More than two dozen firms that have surfaced in a broad corruption investigation of public pension funds gave at least $1.97 million in campaign contributions to officials with potential influence over the funds' investments, a USA TODAY analysis shows. The givers included private-equity giants such as the Blackstone Group, the Carlyle Group and the Quadrangle Group, the firm founded by Steven Rattner, who in July resigned as the White House point man for the auto industry rescue. The contributions are legal, and the firms haven't been accused of wrongdoing related to the giving.
 
Dan Gould: American Apparel To Sell Bag-O-Scraps (Waste as Product) Top
You've got to hand it to American Apparel- they're always finding new ways to make tired cotton and spandex duds into something exciting and marketable. In perhaps it's more extreme permutation, American Apparel will now be bypassing design and production altogether and opting to sell the Bag-O-Scraps , which the AA website describes as : "collected cuttings from some of your favorite fun fabrics from around the American Apparel factory to make one-of-a-kind bags of scrap fabrics. Use them for all sorts of arts and crafts. Make clever jewelry, accessories, a card for your grandma or a colorful hanging sculpture for your apartment. Each bag comes with a zine (printed on scrap paper, of course) with five fun and easy scrap projects, complete with how-to instructions." It'll be interesting to see the kinds of designs AA wearers who buy the Bag-O-Scraps will be able to come up with, and whether they will be more or less scantily clad than their current models . This article was written by Laura Feinstein , and originally appeared on PSFK .
 
Nancy Stoner: Best Urban Beaches Top
As an urban dweller and water advocate, I love the Huffington Post's contest to rank the best city beaches in the United States . It's true that many of our coastal cities boast some spectacular, easily accessible beaches. But all too often they also offer something else: an elevated risk of contracting rashes and diarrhea because failing urban pipes dump untreated sewage and polluted stormwater flows right into our beaches after heavy rains. The number of these events is startling. Every year, NRDC releases Testing the Waters : A Guide to Water Quality at Vacation Beaches . In this year 's report, we discovered that there were more than 20,000 days of closings and advisories in 2008 because beachwater exceeded public health standards. For instance, one of Huffington's featured beaches, Zuma Beach in Los Angeles County, exceeded health standards for beachwater quality (indicating the presence of human or animal waste) 11 percent of the time in 2008. While some beaches fared worse, that's 4 percent higher than the national average, and shows that Zuma is prone to dirty runoff. This is the case in communities all around our country, but the effect is more intense in metropolitan areas. When it rains on city streets, water rushes into storm drains pulling oil, toxins, pet waste, fertilizers, and trash along with it. In many cities, stormwater gets passed through the same pipes as sewage, and when the system gets swamped by a downpour, the sewage sometimes bypasses the treatment plant and gets dumped raw--with all its cargo of infectious bacteria, viruses, and parasites-upstream from  urban beaches. This is what occasionally happens at San Francisco's Ocean Beach, another beach included in Huffington's contest and one popular with surfers. City officials closed certain stretches for several days in 2008 because mixed stormwater and sewage was discharged after heavy rains. The best way to keep beaches open is to keep the pollution out of the water in the first place. Federal and local governments can make this a priority by requiring better controls on stormwater and sewage. A key solution is to use something called low impact development--techniques that retain and filter rainwater where it falls, letting it soak back into the ground rather than running off into waterways. But in the meantime, if you want to enjoy the last days of summer by taking a dip in your city's best swimming holes--and you want to avoid a trip to the emergency room--take a look at NRDC's beach guide before you go. It will tell you how well your city officials monitor local beaches and how often they have exceeded health standards. You can also take a look at our 5-star rating guide for 200 of the nation's most popular beaches. This is a good place to find swimming options that are fun and healthy.  The water at these beaches is monitored more than once a week and almost always meets public health standards.  In addition, the public is promptly informed whenever contamination is found. Here is a sample of some well rated beaches (5 stars): Gulf Shores Public Beach (AL) Laguna Beach-Main Beach (CA) Bolsa Chica State Beach in Huntington Beach (CA), Newport Beach (CA) Ocean City (MD) Park Point - Community Club Beach in Duluth (MN) Hampton Beach State Park in Hampton (NH). And for tips on how to have a healthy trip to the beach,  check out this live chat with me from earlier in the summer. This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard blog .
 
Want The World's Best Wages? Move To Switzerland Top
It pays to work in Switzerland: employees in Zurich and Geneva have the highest net wages in the world, a study by banking group UBS shows, while those in India's Mumbai take home the lowest.
 

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