Friday, September 4, 2009

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Joe Territo: New Jersey Rocks: Echofission Plays Evolve Music Festival Saturday in Vernon Top
New Jersey rocks (as usual) this weekend as Echofission plays the Evolve Music and Arts Festival in Vernon. It's The Aquarian's Jersey show of the week in the new New Jersey Bands section on NJ.com . Writes the Aquarian's Patrick Slevin: Few bands have the stick-to-itiveness of Saddle Brook's Echofission. Formed in 2001 by drummer Jon Abate, guitarist John Rango, keyboardist Ken Sidotti and frontman Geb Zurburg, the five-piece (along with current bassist Matty Aderhold) performs all over the Garden State with startling regularity. "We want to expose our music to as many people as possible," says Rango. "And we want to keep drawing a crowd wherever we play -- that is a huge part of what we do. Our live shows and friends and fans who come out make [these] events very special for all of us." Get the details in the complete post on NJ.com .
 
Jim Lichtman: How Would You Decide? Top
You sit on the California state parole board looking into a request to release Susan Atkins, the terminally ill prisoner convicted of participating in the killing of actress Sharon Tate and four others in 1969. At the parole hearing, you listen to family members of the victims. Debra Tate, sister of the actress: "I will pray for her soul when she draws her last breath, but until then I think she should remain in this controlled situation." Anthony DiMaria, nephew of Jay Sebring, characterized his repeated trips to parole hearings as "[sending] us back to hell year after year." As a parole commissioner, you read through the Atkins file. In her confession, Atkins described stabbing the 8 ½ month pregnant Tate to death as she begged for her life and that of her unborn son. "She asked me to let her baby live," Atkins told parole officials in 1993. "I told her I didn't have mercy for her." At a 2000 hearing, Atkins said, "I sinned against God and everything this country stands for." At the time of the murders, Atkins claimed that she and other cult followers of Charles Manson were on LSD. Last year, Atkins, 61, was diagnosed with brain cancer. Her husband and attorney James Whitehouse asked that she be released based on compassion. Since her diagnosis, she has had one leg amputated, the other is paralyzed. She remains bedridden and completely dependent on round-the-clock medical care costing the state $17,000 a month. "As sad as Miss Atkins looks today," Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Pat Sequeira said at the hearing, "it pales against the crime scene photos. These were brutal, horrible crimes." You examine the photos and find them extraordinarily disturbing, especially when you add Atkins own eyewitness account of that night. So, how would you decide? Would you grant Atkins request for compassionate release? If so, where was Atkins compassion for her victims? And what would you say to the family members of those victims? But who speaks for compassion? "Compassion," the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer writes, "is the basis of morality." Should compassion trump justice? "Compassion," Rush Limbaugh says, "is no substitute for justice." But, "If you want to be happy," the Dalai Lama tells us, "practice compassion." Yes, but I'll bet the Dalai Lama never had close family members murdered in such a brutal manner. But Gandhi reminds us that, "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Yes, but isn't it up to God to forgive the truly horrible? Should we forgive all mass-murderers? Must we go that far? I'd like to hear your thoughts on Susan Atkins. I'll offer a conclusion to this on Monday. Jim Lichtman writes and speaks on ethics. His regular commentaries can be found at www.ethicsStupid.com
 
Why Diane Sawyer Should Reject The "World News" Anchor Job Top
Why the 63-year-old Sawyer would want to enter this dying news genre confounds reason--unless she's simply weary of rising in the early a.m. to appear on Good Morning America, which she's co-hosted since 1999. More on ABC
 
Zandile Blay: About Time: Fashion for the Seventy and Over Crowd Top
Who is Fannie Kirst and once it becomes legal across the land, can I marry her? Anyone who thinks up sassy, stylish and just plain smart fashion like this surely deserves my hand in marriage. I'm talking about Old Ladies Rebellion, a clothing line launched by the 24 year-old specifically for, well.... old ladies . In a total send up to the fashion industry's Lolita complex, by old, Karst means very mature. Specifically, she means sixty, seventy and older. To that end, her catwalk shows only feature the gray haired and gorgeous. Her elderly models (youngest is 60, oldest is 80) elegantly sashay down the runway in a series of knee length shift dresses. Karst keeps her signature silhouette interesting via bold graphics, quirky tromp d' liel (patterns that give the illusion of accessories or items that aren't there) and ironic statements (my favorite? "Lets Begin With The End.") But perhaps the real irony here, is unlike the majority of collections modeled by young women and flattering only to young women, this mature clothing line looks good on all ages. Karst counts older women, specifically her grandmother as muses. She cut her chops at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London and went on to gain experience on London's Saville Row and in Paris. Now, with buzz building and the collection available to view online (you must reach out directly to Karst for purchase) it's beyond clear that this is a rebellion worth joining. Learn more about Karst online . [images via oldladiesrebellion.com] Read more from Zandile on her daily blog, The Blay Report .
 
How To Make Hot Compost Top
 
Tom Vander Ark: The role of the private sector in education Top
The WSJ reported that "The US government doled out $502 million for a dozen wind and solar energy projects." The big winner was Iberdrola, a Spanish wind giant. Coming in second was Horizon, a subsidiary of a Portuguese firm. Third place went to a UK owned firm. These grants will likely result in an energy efficient infrastructure, but two things strike me as interesting, 1) the big winners were all foreign owned, an indication of where public incentives have encouraged private investment over the last decade, and 2) all the grant recipients were for-profit companies, an opportunity that the US Department of Education doesn't share with it's $100 billion stimulus. The education sector bias (and related legal prohibitions) against investment by private companies is remarkable in contrast to other public delivery systems. Innovations in health care, energy production and transmission, and transportation are often the product of private investment in government requested, sponsored, or incentivized project. We don't mind if textbook publishers update versions, but hackles go up when private operators propose school management. Most of this is just disguised job protection; the rest is historical bias. Yesterday I visited Atlanta Preparatory Academy, a new school run by Mosaica, a private charter school operator. After only a month access to an old school building, the place was updated, orderly, and clean. On day two of a new school, it was clear that a common instruction vision and curriculum framework were a guiding force. Classrooms were colorful and organized and featured products of the rich art and history curriculum. A talented principal (trained by New Leaders for New Schools) introduced me a to an amazing teaching staff, some of whom had transferred from a Washington DC Mosaica school. The instructional day was an hour longer than local schools with 12 extra days of school each year. You'd see the same at a National Heritage Academy, a privately operated network of 70 public charter schools. Mosaica and NHA are offering a service that is clearly superior to near by public schools and doing it for less money. They usually have to provide their own facility with no public funding. Yet they are prohibited from holding charters directly in most states. They find or construct a non-profit corporation which seeks a charter and then contracts with them for school management services. They run the risk of being kicked out of a school that they invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to open. The $650 million Invest in Innovation Fund (i3) that will soon be doled out primarily to school districts--folks with very little ability to invest in, manage, or scale innovation. Unlike the Department of Energy, public-private partnerships are prohibited. If USED was able to invest half of i3 in private ventures, it would be multiplied several times over by private investment (10x in some cases), it would fund scalable enterprises with the potential for national impact, and the innovation would be sustained by a business model. The barriers and prohibitions erected against for-profit companies in education weaken American competitiveness. Many of the interesting schools and learning tools are being developed internationally--all with private investment. This isn't a hypothetical argument for me. I spent the last year raising money, starting companies, and hiring staff (during the worst recession in 60 years). Worse than the recession are barriers to entry that inhibiting the tools and schools that will mark the next generation of personalized learning. We send our kids to privately run hospitals, we travel over privately constructed roads, we buy power from private companies. Private sector investment and innovation should play a more important role in American education. Private companies have built-in incentives for speed, quality and scale. Visit Atlanta Prep or an NHA school if you want to see private capital providing a great service for less.
 
Shawn Hornbeck Relates: Jaycee Dugard Brainwashed, In Shock Top
If anybody could know the torment Jaycee Dugard endured during her 18 years in captivity it would be Shawn Hornbeck, 18, who spent four years and three months living in the one-bedroom apartment of his abductor. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Hornbeck, who -- like Dugard -- was abducted at the age of 11, shares his insight on life as a captive and what the road to recovery will be like for Jaycee.
 
Bob Burnett: Afghanistan: What are We Fighting For? Top
The delivery of a status report from the commander of Allied forces in Afghanistan, Lt. General Stanley McChrystal, is certain to rekindle a debate about the objectives, resource requirements, and duration of US involvement. After eight years in Afghanistan it's unclear what we are fighting for. There are four interlocking US objectives that can be regarded as concentric circles having different degrees of specificity. The original objective, the inner circle, has the clearest definition: apprehend those who planned the attacks on September 11, 2001 . US forces went into Afghanistan to track down Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the other top Al Qaeda leaders . While most Americans viscerally support this objective, time has eroded its attraction. Most experts believe the Al Qaeda 9/11 planners fled Afghanistan, in late 2001, and since then have been hiding in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Moreover, the original leaders may have "retired." Since September 7, 2007, no videotapes have been received from bin Laden; while there have been more recent audiotapes, some observers believe he is dead. There is stronger evidence that al-Zawahiri, is alive; nonetheless, a year ago there were to destabilizing Pakistan and gaining control of its nuclear weapons. After several years of ineffective operations sponsored by the Bush and Musharraf Administrations, President Obama cajoled current Pakistani President Zardari to go after the Al Qaeda/Taliban sanctuaries. In April the Pakistani Army initiated a major initiative against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. At the same time, the scope of US operations widened from denying Al Qaeda a safe haven in Afghanistan to battling Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. As a result there was a new, third US objective, the next concentric circle, to prevent the Taliban from retaking control of large sections of Afghanistan . During its years in exile, the Taliban has grown stronger, threatened to destabilize northwestern Pakistan and seized control of 40 percent of Afghanistan. The Obama Administration believes that if the Taliban thrives, Al Qaeda will benefit, and Afghanistan and Pakistan will be imperiled. There are three problems with this objective. The first is that the "Taliban" has become an amorphous term that includes not only members of the Afghan group that ruled from 1996 to 2001 but also Al Qaeda-led jihadis, warlords, thugs, drug dealers, and gun-carrying locals who don't like Americans. The operational definition of our enemy has shifted from "terrorists" to "Islamic militants." The second problem is that expanding the focus to include the Taliban means that the scope of the effort has broadened to include all of Afghanistan and much of Pakistan - an area as large as the southwestern US. The third problem is that when Al Qaeda and the Taliban combined forces they began to receive funding from the Afghan opium trade - worth $3 billion a year. Thus, the US cannot curtail the resurgent Taliban or Al Qaeda until we find a way to curtail regional drug trafficking. The fourth US objective, the outer circle, is the most nebulous: provide Afghanistan with a stable government . In 2001, after the Taliban government refused to hand over bin Laden and the other AL Qaeda leaders, the US invaded Afghanistan and set up an alternative government that eventually came to be run by the present President, Hamid Karzai. For both historical reasons and Karzai's limitations, the prospects for Afghan Democracy seem bleak. Therefore, an operation definition of "stable government" remains elusive. It's clear that of these four objectives only the third, prevent the Taliban from retaking control of a large sections for Afghanistan , is worth further expenditure of American lives and resources. The US is fighting in Afghanistan to prevent the Taliban - Islamic militants - from making a comeback, because if they do it will strengthen Al Qaeda and fatally weaken Pakistan, a nuclear state. Going forward the US mission should have three goals. First, join with the Afghan and Pakistani armies to destroy Al Qaeda/Taliban camps and suppliers. Second, curtail opium cultivation. Third, provide enough security in Afghanistan so that locals will be motivated to join us to fight the Taliban. More on Afghanistan
 
TIME: Jay Leno May Be The Future Of TV Top
If The Jay Leno Show succeeds -- where succeeding means not getting more viewers than the competition but simply increasing NBC's profit margin -- it suggests a TV future in which ambitious dramas become the stuff of boutique cable, while the broadcasters become a megaphone for live events and cheap nonfiction. "If the Leno Show works," says former NBC president Fred Silverman, "it will be the most significant thing to happen in broadcast television in the last decade." More on NBC
 
NATO Airstrike In Afghanistan Kills Up To 90 Top
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — A U.S. jet blasted two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, setting off a huge fireball Friday that killed up to 90 people, including dozens of civilians who had rushed to the scene to collect fuel, Afghan officials said. The airstrike is likely to intensify concern over civilian casualties in the Afghan war. Top NATO commander, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has ordered curbs on airstrikes after a strong backlash among Afghans over civilians killed in military operations. In Kabul, the NATO command said a "large number of insurgents" were killed or injured in the pre-dawn attack near the village of Omar Khel in Kunduz province. In Brussels, the alliance's chief said it was possible civilians died. Kunduz Gov. Mohammad Omar said 90 people were killed. A senior Afghan police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said that included about 40 civilians who were siphoning fuel from the trucks. Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced he was creating a panel to investigate the attack. "Targeting civilians is unacceptable for us," he said. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Christine Sidenstricker, a public affairs officer, said the attack occurred after commanders in the area determined that there were no civilians there. In Brussels, however, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said "a number" of Taliban fighters were killed and "there is a possibility of civilian casualties as well." The German military, which has troops under NATO command in Kunduz, said the airstrike struck the tankers at 2:30 a.m., killing 50 insurgents, adding that "uninvolved (persons) were presumably not harmed." Militants seized the tankers about four miles (seven kilometers) southwest of a German base and an unmanned surveillance aircraft was dispatched to the scene, German officials said. After the images showed no sign of civilians, the Germans called for a U.S. airstrike, which occurred about 40 minutes after the tankers were seized. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the trucks were headed from Tajikistan to supply NATO forces in Kabul. Mujahid said that when the hijackers tried to drive the trucks across the Kunduz River, the vehicles became stuck in the mud and the insurgents opened valves to release fuel and lighten the loads. He said villagers swarmed the trucks to collect the fuel despite warnings that they might be hit with an airstrike. Mujahid said no Taliban died in the attack. Abdul Moman Omar Khel, member of the Kunduz provincial council and a native of the village where the airstrike happened, said about 500 people from surrounding villages swarmed the trucks before the attack. He said villagers told him insurgents had invited them to help themselves to the fuel. "The Taliban called to the villagers 'Come take free fuel,'" he said, and the prospect of free fuel must have been irresistible. "The people are so hungry and poor." He said five people were killed from a single family, and a man he knows named Haji Gul Bhuddin lost three sons. Gov. Omar said a local Taliban commander and four Chechen fighters were among those killed. Humanyun Khmosh, director of the Kunduz hospital, said 12 people were being treated for severe burns. He could not say whether they were civilians or insurgents, although one was a 10-year-old boy. Many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition. Later, Afghans began burying some of those killed in a mass grave. Violence has soared across much of the country since President Barack Obama ordered 21,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, shifting the focus of the U.S.-led war on Islamic extremism from Iraq. Fifty-one U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in August, making it the bloodiest month for American forces there since the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001. Rising casualties during this summer's fighting have undermined support for the war in the U.S., Britain and other allied countries. On Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates signaled for the first time he may be willing to send more troops after months of publicly resisting a significant increase. At the same time, civilian deaths have become a hot-button issue among Afghans, many of who accused NATO of excessive force. Mindful of the potential backlash, international officials were quick to call for a thorough investigation. Last May, U.S. warplanes struck military targets in the western Farah province, killing an estimated 60-65 insurgents. The U.S. said 20-30 civilians also died in those attacks. The Afghan government said 140 civilians were killed. In Kabul, the deputy chief of the U.N. mission, Peter Galbraith, said Friday he was "very concerned" by reports of civilian casualties in Kunduz. "Steps must also be taken to examine what happened and why an air strike was employed in circumstances where it was hard to determine with certainty that civilians were not present," he said, adding that a U.N. team would be sent to Kunduz to investigate. Also Friday, a French soldier was killed and nine others injured when their vehicles were hit by a bomb near Bagram Air Base north of Kabul. The death brings the total number of French soldiers killed in Afghanistan since 2001 to 20. Spanish authorities said Spanish troops in western Afghanistan killed 13 insurgents and wounded three in a five-hour battle Thursday. There were no Spanish casualties. ___ Associated Press Writer Amir Shah in Kabul contributed to this report. More on Afghanistan
 
Insect Festival Launches In UK Top
How Insect Are We? is the title of the symposium that opens Pestival, a three-day festival starting today and running to 6 September to celebrate insects in art, and the art of being of an insect.
 
Paul Loeb: Life Lessons From a Dying Friend Top
My friend Robert Gordon is dying of lupus. He's a novelist who spent a decade teaching in the Washington State prisons and written essays for everywhere from Esquire , to The Christian Science Monitor , to the Boston Globe . Two months ago he wrote a wise and powerful open letter to Obama, asking him to tell the truth to America about our economic predicament, how deep a hole we've dug and how difficult it will be to get out of it. He sent it out to his friends. I was so moved by it, that I offered to post it here. It touched reader's souls, as it had mine, and Robert got hundreds of emails in response. With his death approaching closer, Robert has now sent out a follow up letter to his friends, a more personal reflection, looking back on a life approaching its close. Again, it seemed too powerful to be seen by just a handful of intimates, and so again, I'm posting it as Robert's gift to a broader public community. I hope it touches your heart as much as it did mine. Paul Loeb 8/31/09 Dear Friends: As many of you know, back in September of 2003, I experienced a medically inexplicable "miracle" remission that lasted five years; a remission that enabled me to slow down and explore the Spiritual side of life. I trained and practiced Reiki healing, and strove, with mixed results, to become a less insufferably driven writer, teacher, partner and friend. Writing? In time, I left writing behind. Just walked away. No regrets. Never again. Done. Politics? Too stressful. No mas. Done. I devoted more time to my first love, music, and spent as much time as possible in the wild. So it went for five years. I re-entered the work force as an assistant trailer hitch installer for U-Haul. Up to my elbows in grease all day. Learning how to read blueprints, solve problems and to drill through metal under the patient tutelage of the lead, Grandma Butterfly. Her story was such that working with her was like working side-by-side with a living beat poem. Butterfly earned the same minimum wage I did. And--so that U-Haul wouldn't have to give her benefits--was designated as a part-time employee even though she worked 60+ hours per week. In order to feed her financially struggling children and their children, Butterfly made weekly stops at a local food bank. For my part, I found trailer hitch installation to be absorbing. However, the pay wasn't high enough to enable me to make a dent in my medical debt. In time, I returned to teaching, and augmented my income by counseling ex-convicts and establishing a Reiki practice. Teaching, counseling, Reiki, music, wilderness. Couldn't ask for more. Setbacks? Yes. Some life-threatening, all annoying. And none worth going into. Better to focus on the good, and the good was very good. A good life. A sweet life. One I savored all the more because I'd come so close, on so many occasions, to losing it. Then? In September of last year, the miracle remission came to an end. My decline was precipitous. And much to my consternation, even as I was forced, for reasons of health, to resign from three jobs I loved, the literary muse awoke. I did my best to resist, but the poetic frenzy is the poetic frenzy. Moreover, since the locus of this untreatable hence fatal flare is my brain-- well, the secret to permitting the muse to take over is simple: bypass the intellect. Don't think. Hence, with an increasingly compromised intellect-- with windows of lucidity closing daily -- bypassing the intellect was a breeze. Within a matter of weeks, and against my will, I had an outline for a book I never wanted to write. An outline, mind you. Just an outline. I had no obligation to sweat every word in an attempt to turn that outline into a living breathing entity, aka a story. No way was I about to embark on this project. No way no way no way. And I stuck to my guns. For a week. Then in mid-February, I met up with Barry Lopez: friend, mentor, whose every word, written or spoken, is in service to the Sacred. Barry Lopez is the Thoreau of our times. A National Book Award winner, yes. But above all a decent and generous man. A light house to many, myself included, for when we met, 25 years ago, I was most certainly drowning. My old friend took one look at me and before I had a chance to break the news to him, he broke it to me: He said "Bobby, your time is short. Please write the book." How could I say no to this great man, this friend of the land and all who love it and mourn its passing? How, above all, could I say no to a cherished friend? So. I stand at the edge of the River. I stand there and yearn to go Home. I yearn in the deepest way. I miss my dad. I miss Bobby Kennedy. I miss the Blessed Mother. Sometimes, during windows of peace, during windows of lucidity, during times, in short, when I ought to be at the computer, I just lie on the couch, reach over for my 15-year-old bodhisattva dog, Three Bears, and pet her soft ears, her soft soul. And weep because the time is soon, and when it comes I'll go with joy. But even as Home floats towards me and I float towards Home, I tell them, "Not yet, not quite yet. I have a promise to keep." Writing from the middle of the crossing, writing from a place of transcendent death makes for a quiet life. I walk Three Bears. I enter the wilderness of my soul by playing Leonard Cohen's repertoire. I spin a yarn, the final yarn. I spend time with the people I love. Looking back on my life I suppose I feel like Lou Gehrig must've felt. Yes, I know it's corny. Yes, I know: writing is an assault on cliché. (Except when it isn't.) But I really am the luckiest man alive. Except, that is, when I'm not. I'm not St. Francis, people. I don't praise suffering while in the midst of it. Indeed, while in the throes, I have been known to utter "not nice" words as my proper Bostonian Ma might put it. Many many not nice words. Still, during periods of peace I know in my heart, in my blood, in my bones, how fortunate I am. And I know of my good fortune (albeit in the head if not the heart) when the already-swollen brain goes on an inflammation bender, and, by so doing, renders me unable to write, to do much else besides lie on the couch and remember. I think of the wilderness, the wolves I heard while canoeing solo for nine days in North Central B.C years ago. Dwarfed by the Cariboos-- an astonishingly epic spur of the Rockies. There is no valley up there. The vast glacial peaks simply crash into the pristine lakes and rivers. Moose and eagles, black bears and grizzlies. The howls of the wolf packs every night. So many stars it took me minutes, some nights, to pick out the Milky Way. To find the North Star. And paddle as my late father taught me to do: using the North Star to guide me. There's no sun at night, of course. Which means, if it's not stormy, there's no wind. No chop. Just still deep water. The music was the silence, then the sound of my paddle or a distant waterfall. I'd never felt so alone and at the same time so protected. By the stars that danced and pulsed; that lit up the glacial peaks; that reminded me of how small and insignificant I was, but that I was, simultaneously, a part of something more vast than the human mind can begin to begin to comprehend. I think of the ex-convicts I taught. Some, many, were too predatory and violent to be set free. More than a few of those men told me they were, in fact, glad they were locked up, unable to shatter any more lives. But then? There were the angels. Some are my friends, my brothers. These are men who performed acts of moral courage; acts that would do Gandhi proud. Prouder, even, for they did so in obscurity. In the bowels of Walla Walla prison. Where no one but God bore witness. Risking their lives to save a fresh fish from getting raped, a fresh fish they didn't know from Adam. Simply because it was the right thing to do. Walking away from a fight, knowing that their rep would be destroyed, that they'd be viewed as weak, as prey. But deciding nonetheless that violence was not the answer, even if the price was death. It was not by design but necessity that I spent the years after college getting beyond and beneath the shelter of wealth and academia; living in the America that was invisible back when I attended Harvard; working blue collar jobs (as starving artists must) burnishing my soul-- beginning to, at any rate-- with calluses. Living small paycheck to small paycheck. This was during the early 1980's. Politics? Foreign policy? Reagan's policy of torture in El Salvador, Guatemala and God knows where else? We trained the death squads, the Atlacatl Brigade, right here on U.S. soil. We threw nuns out of helicopters, tossed them into the sea. The Flying Nuns, as our Black Ops folks, the CIA's worst kept secret, used to joke. Which, for some reason, The Great Communicator neglected to mention. Me? I was framing houses, installing mobile homes, laying sewer pipes, doing whatever it took to get by. And I experienced the decency of those "Reagan Republicans" that were scorned by some I knew back east. Not because my east coast friends are scornful by nature. They would not be my friends if they were. But children of privilege (of which I am one) do not, sometimes, appreciate what our education provides: the ability to extrapolate. To see how a policy affects those beyond our town, our state, our borders. And our concomitant responsibility to take action. Now I was receiving a different sort of education: acquiring a visceral understanding of what it means to be poor, and discovering that the poor, the folks on the margins, watch out for one another (because no one else will) in a manner and to an extent that I hadn't experienced while growing up in a time and place where we viewed economic security as a birthright. Then? I began to publish and became a prison teacher. The hardest (and therefore the best) twelve years before I took ill. Life? This bittersweet life? I've experienced the extremes of beauty and suffering and who could ask for more? So. A quiet end. Music. Tale-telling. Friends and family. Infusions, hospitalizations, yes, of course, but peaceful nonetheless. One not marred by the rough and tumble of the politics I grew up with. (Massachusetts in the 1960's? And you wonder why I have Bobby Kennedy as well as lupus on the brain?) No more political writing. No more. If I knew anything, just one simple thing, I knew that. Which pretty much brings me to the present. While surrendering to the gentle and poetic musical muse, the cacophonous political muse awoke. I resisted. For an hour. Less. And then surrendered to an utterly ridiculous exercise: the writing of a personal letter to the President of the United States. Knowing that my letter would never but never reach the Oval Office, I did the reasonable thing: with a timeline of weeks or months, I took three weeks off from the final tale to write a letter that would never reach the addressee. Sent it to my wise friend Arnie Miller. Who said, "Bobby, your audience isn't Obama. This is a Public Letter." Public. Got it. The audience was not the President. The audience was the body politic. Of which I am a part. But how to get it out there? Put it up on a major blog. Or two. Or three. Or four. Or six I was informed. (I meander. I write in spirals. The prerogative of those who've lost their minds.) I was saying: the blogs. As many of you know, I am a stubborn cuss when it comes to technology or doctors who misdiagnose me. I've made peace with my errant but truly compassionate physicians. When they tell me that my symptoms are imaginary, I only holler "Freud's hysterical women!" two to three times per minute. ( I've mellowed as you can see. ) Technology is a different matter. I was and remain a technological idiot. I will not budge. It will be a war until the bitter end. On this matter, there is no compromise. I fully intend to lose every battle. So there was no way that this public letter would go public, no way I would learn about blogging. Then? My friend, the astute and insightful writer, Paul Loeb, read my Public Letter to the President and offered his space on the Huffington Post, the Daily Kos, and several other major blogs so as to get the letter into the Public Domain. An uncommonly generous act. The letter was posted. I woke up expecting another slow, gentle day of walking, music, writing, an intravenous infusion to keep me somewhat lucid and... The letter had struck a nerve. The deluge commenced at six am. And as I was responding to the growing numbers of comments and emails, my technologically savvy assistant, Amy, reported that the letter was spreading to other posts, to blogs and websites that no one had sent it to, and the emails kept coming and... I never got to the music. Confession. I've never before felt a moral imperative to get an essay, a novel, any piece of writing into the public domain. If people read my books, that was fine. If they didn't, well, as time went on, as my ambition diminished, I was happy enough to have been a solid triple A minor leaguer who once made it to the Show. For all of fifteen minutes. Which turned out to be fifteen minutes too long. Obscurity, I discovered, is a gentler place to live. But this piece? This Public Letter? This piece felt different. I felt that moral imperative to put it out there. And thanks to my friends it happened. The power of the Net is daunting, amazing, and more than a bit frightening. The Public Letter began to go national in a matter of hours. And the trend accelerated. Our new president may or may not have read it. But that is of no consequence. My friend Arnie is right. This letter was for the Public. A public that is ill-prepared for the adversity that lies ahead. (Except for the disenfranchised, the ones who became visible for two weeks in the aftermath of Katrina, and, just as swiftly, became invisible again. Not because they don't exist, but because we chose, as per usual, because it is easier, to avert our eyes. Our loss as well as theirs. For they are the ones who can teach hence prepare us. They are the ones who know what the rest of us are about to find out: that life isn't a Make-a-Wish Foundation. That life isn't, in fact, supposed to be easy.) Illness and impending death has served two wonderful purposes. The first and by far the most important: an opportunity to re-connect with many I have missed. The second, provided I die on schedule, a delicious opportunity to beat the banks. You see, given the size of my existing medical debt, a second miracle remission is simply out of the question. It would do more than amplify my existing and catastrophic medical debt: it would raise my debt at an exponential rate and the resulting stress would prove to be fatal, notwithstanding the fact that I'd already be dead. True: that's a minor detail, or so the nice manager at the credit union told me. He said that dead or twice-dead, the credit union owed it to their healthy depositors to send me post-mortem bill after post-mortem bill until my debt is paid off. That they had a moral obligation to their healthy depositors to hound my gullible 78 year old mother--to badger my old Ma aggressively--even though she'd be in no way liable. "I never thought about it that way," I told the nice banker. "That's what all our dead clients say." The first time I received Extreme Unction was in the fall of 1998. The second time I received Extreme Unction was in the fall of 1998. The third time I
 
Teamsters Endorse Pat Quinn For Governor Top
Gov. Pat Quinn has won the Teamsters endorsement in the Feb. 2 Democratic governor primary.
 
Magazines Now Willing To Create, Customize Ads For Advertisers Top
MAGAZINE publishers once ran ads. Then, they created ads for their advertisers. Now, they are making different custom ads to run in each of their publications, and sometimes even allowing the advertisers to use the ads elsewhere. More on Magazines
 
Time Style & Design Suspends Publication Top
LESS than a week before the start of New York's Fashion Week, Time Inc. is pulling the plug on Time Style & Design, the publishing giant's fashion quarterly.
 
Beth Arnold: Letter From Paris: Books with French Twists Top
There are genres of literature I call "Life in Paris or France" and "Adventures in France." These books are usually fun reads that allow Francophiles to dream their dreams of living in the land of luscious patisseries and Winged Victory --or give readers the space to imagine fulfilling their own private wishes, whatever they are and wherever they may be. I happen to be a reader of fiction and nonfiction. (Don't understand people who only do one or the other, but hey.) In some ways, truth fascinates me more, but I much prefer living in my own little bubble of unreality day-to-day than subsisting on the barrage of news we're hit with on an average day. The majority of "news" we now get is not news at all--it's spin--focused on some angle that creates a sense of scandal or rage. The Internet has increased a thousand fold the "scandalicious" nature of stories and pounds that tabloid-esque attraction into our brains. As we know, this Internet power lies in its access and speed. "Scandalicious for all" is the call that sites that act like they're delivering the news are actually transporting to our consciousness. Luckily, the books below, that the authors were kind enough to send me, do not fit the above scandalacious category. Author/Illustrator Lucy Knisley's mother sent me Lucy's book French Milk . Ms. Kinsley, what a lucky young woman you are for a mom to help with the grind that is marketing. And author Laurel Zuckerman sent me her book Sorbonne Confidential after our trying to meet up didn't pan out. French Milk by Lucy Knisley French Milk is a fun romp through Paris with Ms. Knisley and her mom, and it's filled with Ms. Knisley's illustrations and photos. The story is told--musings are made about her life and adventure in Paris--through the words and images she created. It's an adult picture book, cooly current with Ms. Knisley's artistic multi-media. Sorbonne Confidential by Laurel Zuckerman Sorbonne Confidential is the fictionalized story of Laurel Zuckerman's actual experience working to become a teacher of English in the maddening French school system--one that denigrated her native speaker's knowledge about her own language. The book caused a bit of an uproar in France with some in the French academic community sending Ms. Zuckerman accolades and others decrying her exposure of their cherished if antiquated system! This is something of a generalization, but: If there's one thing the French have a problem doing, it's changing something that they've been doing for sometimes, literally, hundreds of years. When you have the most wonderful culture in the world (true), why change? Answer: Because one needs to at least once a century. Umm, which side of this debate are English-speaking readers on? With the speed of the world today, one might need to make changes about every two weeks. ***** Photos taken by Beth Arnold with her iPhone. Beth Arnold lives and works in Paris. To see more of her work, go to www.betharnold.com . More on France
 
Joe Territo: New Jersey Governor Candidate Chris Christie's Wrong-Way One-Way Drive Top
Driving in New Jersey is not easy. The last thing I want is the whole world eyeballing my lifelong New Jersey driving record. That said, it is tough not to snicker when The Star-Ledger unearths that somebody who wants to convince the state that he will take it in the right direction drove the wrong way down a one-way street in Elizabeth and got in an accident that injured a biker. According to The Star-Ledger - attributing a police report - Republican candidate for Governor Chris Christie in 2002 got lost in Elizabeth and attempted to turn right onto a street that was one-way in the other direction. A motorcycle was riding toward him; both hit the brakes; the bike slid into Christie's car, and the biker ended up in an ambulance to University Hospital in Newark. The extent of the biker's injuries is unknown. Christie walked away uninjured, and without a ticket. The Christie camp gave this humble response: "This was just an unfortunate accident and just like a lot of us, Chris knows he can always be a better driver." On that note, I've got nothing more to say, other than I also know I can always be a better driver, so, again, there's no need to dig into my driving record.
 
Colin Beavan: A Stunt Or Not A Stunt? That Is NOT The Question Top
Last week, Elizabeth Kolbert, a respected New Yorker journalist who writes admirably about issues to do with our climate catastrophe and the environment, wrote a scathing attack on my book , No Impact Man. Sadly, casualties on the battlefield of Kolbert's wrath included not only me, but also the work of James McKinnen and Alisa Smith (authors of 100 Mile Diet), Henry David Thoreau (author of Walden) and other writers who used their own experiments in alternative lifestyles as narrative vehicles to, hopefully, propel into the popular discourse vital cultural issues that transcend the particularities of their experiments. McKinnen and Smith wrote about their year of eating locally as a means of publicizing--and very successfully--the tremendous failings of our centralized, industrialized food system in delivering healthy food to people in a way the planet can sustain. Thoreau, of course, attempted to use his year in the woods to bring to our attention the diminishing adherence to any sort of transcendent human values as we veered into unmitigated materialism in the wake of the industrial revolution. Kolbert dismisses these writers and others as something similar to renegade circus clowns who are distracting attention from the Big Top. She derides the use of the year-long-living "stunt" as a distraction from the important environmental and social issues at hand, which she presumably believes are discussed more effectively in her own books. And her work does, of course, have tremendous value. Indeed, it is Kolbert's deep concern for our planetary climate crises that I suspect--or at least I hope--is at the root of her stridency. She wants attention focused squarely on the dimensions of the crisis and the necessity for swift and effective solutions. Her priorities are correct in this regard and I admire her for them. Where Kolbert is deeply wrong, I'm afraid, is that it is she herself who has become the cause of the major distraction of the moment. In her extremely powerful position as a top climate journalist, she wasted four pages in one of the nation's most highly regarded magazines to attack my and my colleagues works as "stunts." The ripple effect, in sections of the environmental blogosphere at least, has been a distraction from the important message delivered in my and the other writers' works. Instead of a discussion of the merits of what we have to say, bloggers on both side of this meaningless debate discuss whether we have the right to say it. This is neither to suggest that there should be no differences of opinion nor to seem ungrateful to those who have publicly defended my honor. It is to say that Exxon, the coal industry, and the thousands of their lobbyists slithering through halls of Congress with their campaign-contribution checkbooks rub their hands together with glee at this kind of in-fighting by people who should be on the same side. After all, Kolbert's using four pages to attack her fellow environmental writers is four pages less that she could have used to convince the public of the dangers of continuing to burn fossil fuel and that we could have a better way of life without it. Indeed, it is this--the possibility of real progress in this area--rather than Kolbert's misguided emphasis that I want to address. Whether my book No Impact Man and the companion documentary of the same title are remembered as the stories of a stunt or not is ultimately immaterial. Of course, as a writer and a person, it hurts to be trivialized, but the truth is that No Impact Man is both a stunt and not a stunt. Because my hope in living and writing about my year was to put myself in a crucible in which to examine some important cultural issues surrounding our solutions to our environmental crises and the quality of life crisis which is so closely related to them. And yes, I hoped to popularize these important issues. What issues do I mean? There are three. First, is it just possible that the meme is wrong that suggests that a culture that it aligns itself with the needs of its habitat will have to be less aspirational and somehow deprive itself? My answer, having lived the no impact year, is a categorical yes. Taking the local eating element of the project alone meant we were healthier because our food was fresh and real. And this was just one of the benefits my family experienced by living environmentally. Examining the possibility of environmental living on a cultural level, it makes sense to me that a renewable energy industry established to align ourselves with the needs of our habitat will also create an economic boost that will provide jobs. I call this sort of synergy the "happier planet, happier people" principle. Second, is there a place for individual and community-based action in the quest for a more sustainable culture--or must we depend upon and wait until government and industry do something through the pressure of collective action? The sad fact is that the level of change required cannot be created by government alone. Our climate crisis is so profound that we must not only change the way we transport ourselves and create energy, we must reduce how much we use as people. That means changing the way we live. This is not only my own conclusion but that of the International Panel on Climate Change. Third, is it just possible that, by encouraging people to change their lifestyles for the benefit of themselves--by reducing their expenditures, say--and the environment, we might also be creating an on-ramp for the masses into the politics of environmentalism? To this I answer with a pointed yes. People's politics are informed by the way they live. A victim of a drunk driving is more likely to be an advocate for drunk driving laws. A person who experiences the benefits of environmental living is more likely to advocate for climate change mitigation from either side of the political aisle. No one will be surprised to hear that I believe most vehemently that I am right in these points. Indeed I have started a non profit project intended to advance them ( NoImpactProject.org ). Still, I could be wrong. I wish it was the rightness or the wrongness of these points that Kolbert had chosen to discuss. In doing so, she would have advanced a meaningful discussion rather than the silly stunt vs not stunt debate. Kolbert's mistaken approach is nonetheless instructive. It reminds us that those who care about these issues shouldn't attack each other. We should respect each other's differences while understanding that we all hope to advance the same agenda. That is the only way we can hope for change in the very little time we have to affect it. www.noimpactman.com More on Green Living
 
Andy Ostroy: Republicans Scream "Stay Away From Our Kids, Obama! If Anyone's Gonna Fill Their Heads With Deceptive Partisan Crap It's Gonna Be Us!" Top
The latest controversy that has Republicans' panties in a collective snit is President Barack Obama's plan to address the nation's school children Tuesday in a speech designed to motivate, challenge and inspire excellence through education. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Well, not if you're a closed-minded conservative who views Obama's address as a form of "indoctrination." A parent interviewed on Fox News Thursday morning said she's so angry that she's keeping her children home rather than subject them to Obama's speech: "This is government of the people...it's not about us having to do for government but what the government should be doing for us." So much for the selfless principle behind President John F. Kennedy's stirring, patriotic plea to the American people during his 1960 inauguration address: "Ask not what your country can do you for, ask what you can do for your country." This woman couldn't have presented the typical Republican 'I-don't-give-a-shit-about-anyone-but-me' philosophy any clearer. And right-wing media pundits have piled on. In her column Thursday, Michelle Malkin incredulously warns that Obama's campaign calls for kids to "Create posters of their goals." She raises this flag as if there's something wrong with challenging our children to aspire. To have goals. Am I missing something? Just what is Malkin and her Republican brethren so afraid of, anyway? That kids will think Obama's a cool guy who makes a lot of sense? How about giving them some credit for being able to make their own determinations and draw their own conclusions? Not likely. These Obama-hating conservatives and their dumbed-down, myopic philosophies appeal to the lowest common-denominator of their party, which is why it got trounced in the last election. There used to be a time when a presidential address to children would've meant something. When it wouldn't have been turned into some cheapened partisan charade played by self-serving political operatives trying to shape the next election. Or by ignorant, fearful voters who've been brainwashed into thinking that Obama is the devil-incarnate out to poison their children's minds. 'Indoctrination?' Really? Does anyone really think Obama is going to very publicly abuse his power by making some sort of blatant amoral partisan appeal to our children while the whole world, including his rabid critics, watches? Do you think he thinks he'd get away with something that obvious? Jeez, people, I know the president's behavior seems odd given that in eight years George W. Bush couldn't string together two sentences without mangling the English language, and that he had the intellectual curiosity of a slug, but how about we just take Obama's intentions at face value ? That he's a president who cares about children, what they think, and who wants to engage them in the national discourse. What a terrible concept: a U.S. president talking with school kids about the importance of education, of expanding their intellectual horizons, of setting goals, and of getting involved in civics. Wow. Truly despicable lessons to impart on children, huh? Why expose our kids to such irresponsible 'indoctrination' when we can just keep 'em home that day and fill their heads with the really objective stuff like abortion is murder; gays are evil; guns are good; Obama and Democrats are destroying life as we know it; and that God is a Republican.
 
Ex-Met Lenny Dykstra Accused of Taking $40,000 French Stove Top
Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Lenny Dykstra, who helped the New York Mets win the 1986 World Series, was accused of taking goods from his home including a $40,000 French stove two weeks before a bankruptcy judge appointed a trustee to oversee his finances.
 
Ten Things You Can Do to Start A Community Garden Top
Rebecca Hart, an avid Nation reader and Portland, Oregon-area resident, has spent twenty years acquiring the expertise in horticulture to become a certified master gardener. Here are her suggestions for starting a community garden in your neighborhood. More on Local Food
 
Chris Christie Not Issued Ticket After 2002 Car Accident Top
Adding to Chris Christie's campaign trail headaches over his driving record, officials in Elizabeth confirmed tonight the Republican gubernatorial candidate was in a traffic accident that injured a motorcyclist in the city in 2002. Christie, then the U.S. attorney, was on his way to the swearing-in of the Union County prosecutor and was not issued a ticket for the July 26, 2002 incident, Police Director James Cosgrove said.
 
Sharapova, Oudin Win To Set Up Third-Round Match Top
NEW YORK — They are both ahead of schedule. Maria Sharapova is progressing quickly on one track that might make her a champion again, while Melanie Oudin is speeding on another that gets her mentioned in the same sentence with Sharapova. Oudin, the 17-year-old American, pieced together the biggest upset of the first week of the U.S. Open on Thursday, while Sharapova, still working her way back into shape from her shoulder injury, avoided that fate. Next, the two will meet in a third-round match in which the toughest task might belong to the fans at Flushing Meadows: deciding who to cheer for. "The whole thing was just amazing. I can't believe I won," Oudin said after her 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 4 Elena Dementieva. She added the Dementieva win to an upset she pulled off against former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon. Oudin's quest for the next shocker comes against Sharapova, who is only No. 29, though there's a growing sense that the Russian, a three-time major champion, is playing better than that. Sharapova defeated another 17-year-old American, Christina McHale, 6-2, 6-1 during the night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Sharapova has lost a total of six games in two matches this week. "I certainly think I'm playing a lot better than I was when I first got back," she said. "I feel like the belief in the game, the confidence, is coming back." She has some other good things going for her. One is that Grand Slam tournaments normally provide players with a day of rest between matches – good news for the shoulder that kept her out for nearly 10 months. Just as significant is that Dementieva and Jankovic, another upset victim Thursday, were on her side of the draw. That side is headlined by top-seeded Dinara Safina – who struggled through her second straight unimpressive, three-set victory Thursday – and missing, quite notably, both the Williams sisters, who play their third-round matches Friday. "Just because other people are struggling doesn't make me a bigger contender," Sharapova said. "I'm a contender when I'm in the draw. That's the way I look at it. Other people's struggles don't make my draw, or anything else in my path to a Grand Slam easier." Indeed, before she starts thinking about winning her second U.S. Open, she must deal with Oudin, who has moved up to 70th in the rankings, which makes her the third-best American in women's tennis. She wears pink and yellow shoes with the word "Believe" stamped on the outside of the heels. While it's getting easier to believe with every big win she puts up, nobody in her camp expected it all so soon. "I knew she'd always make the top 10 or 20," said her mother, Leslie. "I did know that. But not now. Maybe when she hit 21 or something." Or sooner if she keeps going like this. Her match against Dementieva, who has been playing well of late, was hardly a rollover. It included a medical break to tape up her left leg, which has been bothering Oudin for most of the summer. She started crying after the break, and guessed the leg got worse because of the magnitude of the event. "First time playing on Arthur Ashe, I was beating No. 4 in the world, about to beat her," Oudin said. "Just a little bit of everything. A lot of things were going through my mind." She had three match points at 5-3 and started cringing after Dementieva saved the first two with winners off aggressive points. Oudin placed the serve at 40-30 hard into the backhand corner and Dementieva couldn't get it back. The Russian, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist still in search of her first Grand Slam title, said she did not give the match away. "She was in the court, not afraid to play, playing very aggressively, really enjoying this atmosphere and the crowd support," Dementieva said. "It looks like she has a good future." While the women's draw had its upsets, the men's side went to form, and Americans played a big role in that. No. 5 Andy Roddick, No. 21 James Blake and No. 22 Sam Querrey all won, as did 55th-ranked John Isner and 276th-ranked Jesse Witten. Robby Ginepri and Taylor Dent are also still in the draw, meaning Labor Day weekend at the U.S. Open will have its share of American flavor. "We're all happy when the other Americans are doing well," Blake said. "To compare us or to, or expect the same as what happened in years past, I think it's been done a million times, and I've always said I think it's a little unfair." In fact, there may never be another McEnroe or Connors, but that doesn't mean America won't ever see another fiery, inspiring player or two in the future. For Oudin, it seems the future is now. She plays Sharapova on Saturday, when she'll try to capture imaginations and maybe even usurp the role normally played by the Russian superstar who now calls America home. "I think that's totally understandable," Sharapova said. "We're in New York City. I'm a Russian playing against a young, up-and-coming girl who has a tremendous amount of potential. I think it would be strange if they weren't rooting for her."
 
Van Jones Responds To Criticism Stirred By Glenn Beck: I'm Not A Truther Top
In response to a torrent of criticism, originated and directed by Fox News's Glenn Beck, White House adviser Van Jones has apologized for some of his past statements and distanced himself from a document he once signed. [...] Jones now says that he did not sign on to the ideas described in what he signed. "As for the petition that was circulated today, I do not agree with this statement and it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever," Jones said in the statement. More on Glenn Beck
 
Questions Arise As FDIC Fails To Disclose Key Details On Bidders For Failed Banks Top
The federal agency charged with resolving failed banks and selling their assets is hiding key details about the transactions. The identities of losing bidders and the prices they've offered for failed bank assets are some of the details currently not being fully disclosed. For decades, this information was publicly available. But this year the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation abruptly decided to limit the flow of information. It couldn't have come at a worse time. In addition to the bailout of financial companies like Citigroup , AIG and Bank of America , the federal government is on the hook for another $80 billion through a little-reported FDIC program designed to encourage private investors to buy failed banks and their assets. When banks fail , the FDIC effectively takes them over, with an eye towards returning them to the private sector as soon as possible. In the past, the FDIC typically solicited bids from other banks. Now, private equity groups have been added to the list of eligible investors. Regardless of what type of investor is ultimately chosen to take over a failed bank, the FDIC is required by law to choose the "least costly" bid. As first reported by American Banker , it's documents from those very deals that the FDIC has largely not released, despite numerous official requests via the Freedom of Information Act , the law that ensures public access to U.S. government records. While the winning bids are disclosed, most of the losing bids are not. "We don't know whether the government got us the best deal," said Kenneth Thomas , an independent bank consultant and finance lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. "We're not talking millions -- we're talking billions of dollars." For example, one of the bids for BankUnited, a failed Florida-based lender that had about $13 billion in assets at the time it was sold, failed to secure victory despite the fact the potential buyer offered the most money for the bank's assets. Not disclosing the documents appears to run counter to a pledge made by President Barack Obama on his first full day in office. "The Freedom of Information Act is perhaps the most powerful instrument we have for making our government honest and transparent, and of holding it accountable," he said Jan. 21 . "And I expect members of my administration not simply to live up to the letter but also the spirit of this law." As first reported by The Wall Street Journal this week, the FDIC has assumed most of the risk on about $80 billion worth of loans and other assets from failed banks. Known as "loss shares," the deals encourage investors to buy failed bank assets by typically guaranteeing at least 80 percent of potential future losses. From the WSJ: In most cases, the FDIC agrees to cover 80% of future losses on a big portion of the assets, and 95% on the rest. The FDIC says it doesn't anticipate facing the 95% loss-coverage scenario on any deal... The agency expects it will eventually have to cover $14 billion in future losses on deals cut so far. The initiative amounts to a subsidy for dozens of hand-picked banks. Since the start of 2008, the FDIC has cut 53 such deals, said David Barr, an agency spokesman. Unlike most federal agencies, the FDIC does not receive appropriations from Congress . Rather, it relies on fees from the banks it oversees. The deposit insurance fund , which protects most bank deposits, now stands at about $10.4 billion ; this time last year it was at $45 billion. It's supposed to insure about $4.8 trillion in deposits. If that fund runs dry, the FDIC has a temporary $500 billion credit line to the U.S. Treasury through the end of next year. It was recently permanently increased from $30 billion to $100 billion. Thomas argues that's part of the problem. Without knowing what the failed bids were offering, he said, it's impossible to know how much money the taxpayer may ultimately lose. "The fund will go negative -- there's no doubt about it," he said. The FDIC has not technically denied FOIA requests for the losing bid documents. Rather, the agency has simply delayed sending its decisions. But a review of agency records shows that the FDIC has increasingly denied the public access under the Freedom of Information Act. Through this week, the rate of denied FOIA requests has doubled from last year. In fact, FOIA requests are being denied at a higher rate than at any point during the notoriously-secretive George W. Bush administration. The rate is based on requests made since January. The agency is required to report its FOIA-related statistics on a fiscal year basis (Oct. 1 to Sept. 30). But if the trend over the last eight months holds up, the denial rate will set at least a 10-year high. From American Banker : Some observers also questioned whether the FDIC can legally withhold such records and accused the agency of flouting the Freedom of Information Act, which details what can be kept confidential and requires public disclosure in all other cases. The agency has posted a short note on its Web site explaining the delay. "The FDIC is currently undertaking a review of its disclosure policy concerning failed institution bids to ensure that the bidding process encourages an open flow of information and attracts the maximum participation by interested parties," it notes. "The FDIC has delayed processing of FOIA requests for bid information pending completion of that review." Thomas said the agency's position is "indefensible." "It's not the kind of information that will cause bidders from walking away from the table," he said. Rather, the more information that is available the more informed bidders will be, and that will ultimately increase competition for the failed banks, he said. But Thomas speculates the reason behind the FDIC's delay is due to concerns expressed by private equity investors. "It's only because private equity is at the table," he said. Private equity investors were involved in purchasing IndyMac and BankUnited , two of the biggest banks to fail since the financial crisis began. Thomas added that he's been "led to believe" that private equity groups have bid on at least one of the two biggest failed banks of the year, Texas-based Guaranty Bank and Alabama-based Colonial Bank . Both failed in August. Combined the two banks had assets of about $38 billion at the time of their respective failures, according to the most recent figures available. Last week the agency adopted final guidelines governing private equity group purchases of banks. Some of the elements were watered down from the proposed rules . From BusinessWeek : The changes are less stringent than initially proposed, and FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair told BusinessWeek they are justified. The agency, she noted, has received several dubious bids for failed banks. One private equity firm proposed to flip the bank to another investor quickly. Another wanted an offshore company to own the bank, making it less transparent. Private equity firms "have greater risks to us than established banks," Bair said. "We want them in, but we want to set some ground rules that will address the heightened risk." "There hasn't been a lot of activity from private equity firms," agency spokesman Barr said. "Those that are making the noise about bids are not bidding on failed banks." The FDIC expects to announce its final decision regarding failed bids by the end of the month. Get HuffPost Business On Facebook and Twitter !
 
Healthy Brain Habit: Get Exercise Top
We know that exercise is good for the body, but it's also incredibly good for the brain. As the authors of "The Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews to Keep Your Brain Sharp" point out, physical exercise is one of the four pillars of brain fitness, the other three being good nutrition, stress management, and mental stimulation. More on Wellness
 
More HuffPost Readers' Amazing Wildfire Photos Top
We've continued to receive amazing photos from readers of the Southern California Wildfires. Check out these incredible photos below. Get HuffPost Green On Facebook and Twitter!
 
White House Visitor Logs To Be Released Top
The Obama administration, in a significant policy shift, has agreed to release the names of White House visitors. "We will achieve our goal of making this administration the most open and transparent administration in history," President Obama said in a prepared statement . "Americans have a right to know whose voices are being heard." Obama had been following the policy set under President Bush , who argued that visitors to the White House could be kept secret. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued in June for access to the logs. CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan praised the White House's decision , saying, "The Obama administration has proven its pledge to usher in a new era of government transparency was more than just a campaign promise. The Bush administration fought tooth and nail to keep secret the identities of those who visited the White House. In contrast, the Obama administration - by putting visitor records on the White House web site - will have the most open White House in history. Because visitor records will now be available online, CREW dismissed its lawsuits." Sloan continued, "Providing public access to visitor records is an important step in restoring transparency and accountability to our government. CREW is proud to have been part of this historic decision." Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!
 
DJ AM's 12-Step Memorial: Celebriry Friends Mourn In LA Top
LOS ANGELES — Attendees at a service for DJ AM say hundreds of friends gathered at the unique memorial fashioned after a 12-step meeting. Several guests said attendees participated in the open 12-step process used by recovering addicts in programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous. They requested anonymity because of the nature of the meeting. Celebrities seen coming and going from the service at the Hollywood Palladium included Lindsay Lohan, Robert Downey Jr., John Mayer and others. DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, was found dead last week in New York. Police officials say pills that appeared to be the powerful painkiller OxyContin were found in his stomach and throat. Goldstein was a recovering addict working on a reality show to help fellow addicts. He survived a plane crash in South Carolina last year.
 
10 Ways To Turn A Professional Crisis Into A Professional Breakthrough Top
If you're a professional woman longing for a radical change, you're not alone. Seven out of 10 working women report that they are facing a major turning point in their professional lives, according to Kathy Caprino, author of Breakdown, Breakthrough: The Professional Woman's Guide to Claiming a Life of Passion, Power, and Purpose. More on The Balanced Life
 
Reggie Love New Photos: SUMMER OF LOVE! (PHOTOS) Top
Talk about summer Love-ing. The man you voted the White House's hottest spent the season zig-zagging around the world with his boss, President Obama. And from Egypt to Ohio, it looks like the commander-in-chief's 28-year-old body man barely broke a sweat. Happy holiday weekend! (Photos and captions by AP, Getty, and the White House Flickr stream) Follow HuffPost Style on Twitter and become a fan of HuffPost Style on Facebook !
 
Michael Jackson's Funeral: Paris Weeps, Macaulay, Liz Taylor, Chris Tucker, Corey Feldman All Mourn Top
GLENDALE, Calif. — Paris Jackson wept as she stepped into the mausoleum where her father, Michael, was to be entombed. Katherine Jackson, overcome by sorrow, turned back when she was faced with her son's final resting place. On a sultry Thursday evening, amid a sea of white flowers and with a bejeweled crown placed atop his casket by his children, the King of Pop was given an intimate, private version of the lavish public memorial held shortly after his death in June. Gladys Knight performed the hymn "Our Father" (The Lord's Prayer) and moved many to tears, according to one guest who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the day. When it was over, many of the the 200 mourners hugged each other. Among them were Elizabeth Taylor, Jackson's ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, Barry Bonds and Macaulay Culkin. The Rev. Al Sharpton, who gave a eulogy at the public event and at Thursday's service, also extolled Knight's earlier performance of "His Eye is on the Sparrow." "Gladys Knight sang her heart out. Now we prepare to lay him to rest," Sharpton posted on his Twitter account during the service that was held outside and then within the marble mausoleum. The mourners followed the crowned, lushly flower-draped casket as Jackson's five brothers – each wearing a bright red tie and a single crystal-studded glove – carried it into the mausoleum. The 11-year-old Paris cried as the group entered the imposing building and was comforted by her aunt, LaToya. Paris and brothers Prince Michael, 12, and Prince Michael II, 7, known as Blanket, began the service by placing the crown on their father's golden casket. They were composed through most of the hour-and-a-half ceremony. As it ended, Katherine Jackson appeared extremely weary and had to be helped to her car, according to the guest. Earlier, she had a difficult time going into the mausoleum; she was overcome, turned back, and it wasn't clear if she went in at all, the guest said. The Jackson family's tardy arrival delayed the service for nearly two hours; no explanation was given to mourners. The invitation notice indicated the service would begin promptly at 7 p.m.; it began closer to 8:30. The 77-year-old Taylor and others were left waiting in the late summer heat, with the temperature stuck at 90 degrees just before sunset, and some mourners fanned themselves with programs for the service. As darkness fell, police escorted the family's motorcade of 31 cars, including Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs, from their compound in Encino to Forest Lawn, about a 20-minute journey, with the hearse bearing Jackson's body at the end. About 250 seats were arranged for mourners over artificial turf laid roadside at the mausoleum, and a vivid orange moon, a mark of the devastating wildfire about 10 miles distant, hung over the cemetery. There were two oversized portraits of a youthful, vibrant Jackson mounted next to the casket amid displays of white lilies and roses. At Jackson's lavish public memorial, red roses covered his casket. A large, blimp-like inflated light, the type used in film and television production, and a boom camera hovered over the seating area placed in front of the elaborate marble mausoleum. The equipment raised the possibility that the footage would be used for the Jackson concert documentary "This Is It," or perhaps the Jackson brothers' upcoming reality show. More than 400 media credentials were issued to reporters and film crews who remained at a distance from the service and behind barricades. The few clusters of fans who gathered around the secure perimeter that encircled the cemetery entrance struggled to see. Maria Martinez, 25, a fan from Riverside, Calif., who was joined by a dozen other Jackson admirers at a gas station near the security perimeter, gave a handful of pink flowers she had picked at a nearby park to a man with an invitation driving into the funeral. "Can you please put these flowers on his grave?" she told him. "They were small and ugly, but I did that with my heart. I'm not going to be able to get close, so this is as close as I could get to him." The man consented, adding, "God bless." Glendale police said all went smoothly and there were no arrests. Jackson will share eternity at Forest Lawn with the likes of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and W.C. Fields, entombed alongside them in the mausoleum that will be all but off-limits to adoring fans who might otherwise turn the pop star's grave into a shrine. The closest the public will be able to get to Jackson's vault is a portion of the mausoleum that displays "The Last Supper Window," a life-size stained-glass re-creation of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece. Several 10-minute presentations about the window are held regularly 365 days a year, but most of the building is restricted. The Jackson family had booked an Italian restaurant in Pasadena for a gathering Thursday night, and family members and guests were seen coming and going late into the night. "I feel like I watched Michael finally given some peace and I made a commitment to make sure his legacy and what he stood for lives on," Sharpton said outside the restaurant around midnight. "So at one level we're relieved; another level we're obligated." The ceremony ends months of speculation that the singer's body would be buried at Neverland Ranch, in part to make the property a Graceland-style attraction. An amended copy of Jackson's death certificate was filed Thursday in Los Angeles County to reflect Forest Lawn as his final resting place. In court on Wednesday, it was disclosed that 12 burial spaces were being purchased by Jackson's estate at Forest Lawn Glendale, about eight miles north of downtown Los Angeles, but no details were offered on how they would be used. The King of Pop died a drug-induced death June 25 at age 50 as he was about to embark on a comeback attempt. The coroner's office has labeled the death a homicide, and Jackson's death certificate lists "injection by another" as the cause. Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told detectives he gave the singer a series of sedatives and the powerful anesthetic propofol to help him sleep. But prosecutors are still investigating, and no charges have been filed. ___ AP writers Derrik J. Lang, Anthony McCartney, Sue Manning, Sandy Cohen and Ryan Pearson and APTV reporter John Mone contributed to this report. More on Michael Jackson
 

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