Friday, September 25, 2009

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Allen Stanford Hospitalized After Fight With Another Inmate Top
Allen Stanford, who is in jail awaiting trial on charges related to an alleged $7 billion fraud, was taken to a Texas hospital after a fight with another inmate, a Houston television station reported on Friday.
 
Chicago Cab Vomit Fee Would Be First Of Its Kind Top
Chicago could become the first major city in the country with a puking ordinance if cab drivers get their way. Chicago taxi drivers proposed a package of fee and fare hikes Thursday designed to offset their plunging income during the recession. Among the more controversial revenue-boosting ideas brought to the City Council is charging customers $50 for vomiting in cabs. If enacted, Chicago would become one of America's least friendly cities for drunks and people who eat bad shellfish. Customers who barf in cabs in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington, D.C., Houston or San Francisco may face the driver's wrath, but they won't see any additional charges. "No, we do not have a puking fee," Boston Police spokesman Joe Zanoli told the Huffington Post. "To my knowledge it's free to puke in a cab." Raymond Turner, president of Yellow Cab Houston, said Friday that of the nearly 3.7 million cab trips his company makes yearly only a fraction involve incidents of reverse peristalsis. "It's a fairly rare event," Turner said. "From my perspective, putting a city ordinance that applies to all cab rides for something that happens only three or four times a month is not very prudent." Turner added that while Houston has no law allowing for a fee, drivers often work out arrangements with customers who ralph while in transit. Some passengers agree to pay for a car wash, while others give larger tips. But proponents of the mandatory barfing surcharge argue that such arrangements leave drivers at the mercy of crabby and sometimes incoherent customers. Plus, even if they do get compensated extra, drivers still must stop to clean up the mess, wasting time that could be spent getting additional fares. Dena Reed, general counsel for the District of Columbia Taxicab Commission, agreed that drivers often strike deals with customers to clean up their puke but said that such deals are, nonetheless, not allowed. "No official fee can be imposed on a customer for throwing up in the cab," Reed said. "You can't unofficially do that, either." Even in the hilly city of San Francisco, puking cab customers face no penalty. "There appears not to be a fee for throwing up," said Mariana Valdez of the San Francisco Taxicab Commission. "I couldn't tell you about giving birth or cutting off your own finger."
 
Arianna Huffington: Israel Diary: A Tale of Two Visits Top
JERUSALEM -- At 2 a.m. on Friday morning, the streets outside my hotel in Jerusalem were jam-packed with thousands of people making their way to the Wailing Wall where, the day before, I had placed my own folded up prayer -- and where I had to cover my exposed shoulders with a hastily borrowed shawl. What is it about shoulders, in particular, that God would find so disquieting? Early Friday morning I headed to Tel Aviv to visit the Bialik Rogozin School, an extraordinary example of what is possible with real leadership. The school has 750 students from 46 countries, including 21 orphans from Darfur. The majority of them come from the poorest parts of Israeli society -- all studying together with stunning results. In Israel as a whole, 46 percent of high school graduates go on to higher education. At the Rogozin School, Martin Karp, of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation that provides a lot of support for the school, told me that figure is 68 percent. "68.6," Karen Tal, the school's director corrected him. And it is Karen Tal's leadership that is undoubtedly the key to the school's remarkable transformation. Born in Morocco, she took over as director three years ago. When she arrived at the school, it was plagued by every possible problem, including outbreaks of violence and dilapidated surroundings. But the school I toured with her was immaculate, with students' paintings covering the walls, and new computers throughout. In one classroom, whose occupants looked like a mini-United Nations, kindergarteners were joyfully singing and dancing together. In another, I sat at a table with teenage students telling me their stories. Two sisters had come from Ghana; one boy from Ethiopia; another girl from Georgia; another from the Congo. A girl from Turkey had a particularly sad story, because she and her single mother, who works as a housekeeper, are facing deportation, as they are in Israel illegally. But everyone on the school's board is using all their influence to try to keep the girl and her mother in the country. "It would be so hard for her to go back and try to restart her life in Turkey," Tal told me. I left Bialik Rogozin energized and inspired. So it was particularly jarring to drive straight from the school to the West Bank to see the Jewish settlements that have become a flashpoint of the stalled peace process. The security wall. The roadblocks and barbed wire. The separate roads that the Palestinians have to use. The checkpoints and "buffer zones." The very large, sprawling, and very permanent-looking Israeli settlements carved out on Palestinian land. No wonder Palestinians feel like strangers in their own land. Taking it all in, it's hard not to feel weighed down by a sense of hopelessness over the divisions that seem even more entrenched and permanent than the intruding settlements themselves. Standing at one of the checkpoints, my mind went back to the school. There, the differences between nationalities felt utterly superficial, almost irrelevant. Here, the differences felt vast and unbridgeable. Yet, in this land of miracles, we can still imagine the emergence of the kind of leadership that can transform both old hatreds and the facts on the ground. More on Israel
 
Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points [95] -- A Call To Action Top
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party." Of course, this really should be (in today's inclusive society): "Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of the party." But what it really should say is something more like: "Now is the time for all good men and women to pick up the phone and give their party representative an earful about what it actually means to be a member of that party, and that we actually expect them to stand up and vote for what the party not only believes in at its core but also what we were promised in the last election , and (by the way) why we gave you such overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress to play around with -- but the time for playing is over, and it's time for you to now either stand tall with the people in your party, or admit you're just a corporate whore at heart." But that's a little hard to type, so maybe not. We'll get to this ranting and raving in the Talking Points part of the program, after a quick trip down Memory Lane. But before we get to our Memory Lane voyage, we have to take a detour on the Cool Historic Trivia Bypass, just because it's Friday and because I managed to work a segue into that last paragraph on the subject of typing. Because while most everyone knows the phrase "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party," few know where it comes from. Many (myself included, until about five minutes ago) assumed it was a quote from some heavy thinker, or (alternatively) some rabble-rousing politician. It's origins, however, are much humbler than that. Or, perhaps, more corporate. The phrase was used to sell typewriters. Or, to be even more accurate, to sell the idea of a particular typewriter. It was reportedly typed out by an early typewriter inventor, to demonstrate his new machine. It then entered a race which took place throughout the 20th century to be the sample sentence of choice for typing teachers (which it eventually lost to the all-alphabetically-inclusive "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"). Which leads me to remember my favorite typewriter-sales story, which I heard as a rumor and have not even bothered to investigate -- because it's so much more fun to believe the conspiracy-theory nature of it: part of the reason we have such a crazy "QWERTY" keyboard design is the fact that the typewriter salesmen did not know how to type . So, to make things easier for them, they put all the letters in the word "typewriter" in the top row (try typing it!). This made it easier for the salesmen to demonstrate the usefulness of the machine. As I said, I don't even care if this story is true or not, because it's so plausible, and I love a good conspiracy theory. But we have to yank the steering wheel of this column back from this rambling bypass to our first detour from today's topic (sorry, as I said, it's Friday, y'know?). For this one, we have to get a little serious. Because the world is a poorer place this week -- Mary Travers is in it no more. This is a stunning event to anyone of a particular age who grew up in liberal households. Because Peter, Paul and Mary were about as common in such homes as peanut butter and jelly. I was pretty much was weaned on Peter, Paul and Mary. The first song I knew the words to well enough to teach others was "I'm Leavin' On A Jet Plane" (yes, I know now that John Denver wrote it, but Peter, Paul and Mary made a hit out of it). This was in kindergarten, I should add. It's got a great rhythm to it, if you happen to be on a swingset (Don't believe me? Try it. Go out and swing, and sing it at the top of your voice. At least when the guys in white coats come to take you away after you've terrified your neighbors, you'll know that I'm right). Ahem. I have a copy of their first eponymously-titled album which has been signed by all three of them, and personally made out to my parents. My father, when he was a college student, wandered by his university's library and saw music equipment being set up. When he realized who was going to appear, he tore down the street to get my mother, and they both wound up watching Peter, Paul and Mary perform for free (assumably they were doing a tour of big universities to promote the album). They rushed down the street to get a copy of their debut album , and waited in line to get it signed. So, as I said, I was pretty heavily indoctrinated with the group at an astoundingly early age. There were other folk albums in my parents' record collection from other folk artists, but the Peter, Paul and Mary one was the one I swiped when I went off to college myself (I still have it, Dad, sorry about that). Ahem. I met Mary and Paul inadvertently myself, as well. I was down on the Mall in D.C. for some demonstration or another (probably anti-nuke, this was the late 70s or early 80s), and got my own chance to see the group perform for free. I've since seen them at places like Wolf Trap (the original one, before it burned down), the Kennedy Center, and elsewhere -- but it's always more fun to see music for free, especially in the carnival atmosphere of a political rally. In any case, I was walking around a perimeter fence to rejoin my group at one point, and realized with a start that I was strolling about three feet from Mary and Paul. The little temporary chicken-wire fence I was walking along evidently fenced off the "backstage" area. Anyway, for the first time in my life I felt that "I don't know what to say" feeling we all feel when meeting a celebrity. I think I told them I enjoyed their set, but I could easily have stood there and said "gah... urgh... feh..." (memories are tricky things, I have to admit). After a few seconds, Mary walked away to greet someone else. I do remember that Paul was nice enough to throw away a soda can I had been lugging around (looking for a trash can -- this was before the Era Of Recycling had taken hold). Somehow, it was easier to talk to Paul than Mary. Perhaps being a teenage boy had something to do with it. Anything's possible. In any case, this story isn't going anywhere, it's just a side excursion down Memory Lane to see all the lemon trees there. As I said, the world's a poorer place now that it doesn't have Mary Travers in it. That's really my only point.   But enough schmaltz -- let's get back to politics! It has been a mostly-impressive week for Democrats all around. Which made it hard to single out the most impressive from the pack this week. So before we get the actual Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week award (the coveted "Golden Backbone"), we first must tip our column's metaphorical hat to a few who, in a normal week, probably would have won their own MIDOTW , but this week will have to settle for an Honorable Mention . First up is Senator Paul G. Kirk Jr., who is now the junior senator from Massachusetts by dint of a brand-new law passed because of the tragic death of Senator Ted Kennedy. Kirk comes pre-approved by the Kennedy family, which is not hard to understand because he was a Kennedy staffer. His job is to warm the seat for five months, not run for the special election to really replace Kennedy, and vote a strict party line in the meantime. He is most likely qualified for all three of these requirements. In any case, we welcome the newest Democratic senator to Washington, which incidentally puts the Democrats back up to an effective (OK, sometimes not so effective) 60-vote majority once again. Next up is a group award for the House Progressives. The caucus is (gasp!) actually holding together in unity for the public option, and the Blue Dogs are reportedly in disarray and confusion -- and fear of being kicked out of office next year. Nancy Pelosi has been adequately standing behind the Progressives, and whip counts seem to indicate that the strength is there to get a public option out of the House. So for holding the line, instead of scattering in the wind (as they have been known to do in the past), we have to honor the House Progressives here. Of course, the true test is the actual votes, but so far the group looks pretty united, which is good news. And now two surprise Honorable Mentions . The first goes to none other than Majority Leader Harry Reid in the Senate. Reid, earlier this week, sounded pretty resolved to use budget reconciliation to get healthcare reform done with only 50 votes, if Republicans succeed in blocking all other avenues to get it passed. He also strongly indicated that he was going to take a week of vacation away from all senators, unless healthcare reform is actually done. Most people don't even get Columbus Day off, so it's pretty hard to argue that the Senate deserves an entire week off for the holiday, meaning Reid could use this to his advantage in a direct appeal to The People. Of course, Reid's talked a good game before and then wimped out when it came time to act, so we'll see, we'll see. But at least he's saying the right things, for once. The second surprise Honorable Mention goes to Senator Max Baucus. While he has been mostly a disappointment (to put it mildly) in the healthcare debate so far, he had a fairly good week. He smacked down the healthcare giant Humana after he discovered they were sending scare-tactic letters out to seniors warning them they were essentially going to be left to die in a forest if the Democrats passed healthcare reform. Baucus gently reminded Humana that they took lots of federal dough and that they weren't allowed to use it for political reasons, which predictably enraged Republicans. Baucus has also been moving the debate along in his committee, while they ponder over 560 amendments. In doing so, he has (once again) enraged Republicans, who know at this point that their only hope of derailing healthcare reform is endless stalling and delaying tactics -- which Baucus has been smacking down repeatedly. But the first of two MIDOTW awards goes to Representative Alan Grayson of Florida, who has been pointing out that in the extraordinary attempts to de-fund ACORN, Congress is writing laws which will demand that the biggest 10 military contractors are also de-funded. Here he is in an interview with Salon's Glenn Greenwald: "...it is true that 10 out of the 10 biggest defense contractors have been convicted of fraud at one time or another in the past few years, and ACORN hasn't, it's difficult to frame any bill, whatever one's intent, to punish ACORN and keep ACORN from being funded by fed contracts, without a lot of what the Republicans would consider to be collateral damage, and that's exactly what we saw in this bill. This bill, taken literally, at its words, actually forbids and prohibits fed funding of virtually every large defense contractor in America. And that's a result that comes from the fact that virtually every large defense contractor in America is crooked, and has been found guilty of fraud at one time or another." Read the whole interview for more. Or read Greenwald's whole column , where he highlights a different quote from the interview with Congressman Grayson: "The amount of money that ACORN has received in the past 20 years altogether is roughly equal to what the taxpayer paid to Halliburton each day during the war in Iraq." But if you really want to get in on the fun, go to the page Grayson has set up so you can enter your own fraud and corruption which you think would disqualify a company from getting federal funds. Fun for the whole family! Our second MIDOTW award goes to Senator Al Franken, who (thanks to Senator Kirk) is now only the 99th Senator on the seniority list! But seriously, Franken made my whole week by beating a hapless Justice Department employee over the head with the Constitution of the United States of America. In specific, the Fourth Amendment. The Washington Independent had an article this week which pointed out what a swell job Franken is doing in Paul Wellstone's old seat. Franken read the amendment in question in full to the Assistant Attorney General, and then asked how he could square that with the PATRIOT ACT. The guy's response was classic: [A.A.G. David] Kris looked flustered and mumbled that "this is surreal," apparently referring to having to respond to Franken's question. Um, no, it should not be "surreal" to square what you are saying with the Constitution, sir. It should be a major part of your job description . It is the entire reason you are employed . For helpfully exposing this surreal attitude over at the Justice Department, Senator Franken has more than earned his Most Impressive Democrat Of The Week award. [ Congratulate Senator Al Franken via his Senate email info@franken.senate.gov , and Representative Alan Grayson on his House contact page , to let them know you appreciate their efforts. ]   You have to wonder whether President Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is the true loose cannon in the administration (the media usually focuses on Biden's slips of the tongue, but Rahm's seem more frequent to me). You also have to wonder how much of what Rahm says is his own agenda, as opposed to Obama's, at times. Rahm has been arguing on the side of: "Let's compromise! Let's water the healthcare bill down even further! Let's give the Republicans everything they want, even if they won't vote for it!" -- pretty much since the battle on healthcare reform legislation began. This is disappointing because he was sold (when he was named to his powerful position) as a "kick-Capitol-Hill-ass and take names" type of guy, who would do the heavy arm-twisting required to pass actual legislation up on the Hill. Instead, it seems to be Rahm's arm that always gets twisted, and the only fiery language I've heard from him is how we can't possibly manage to do anything good with legislation. In other words, he's been a major disappointment in general. In particular, though, Rahm was echoing the mainstream media's "the public option doesn't stand a chance, it's dead as a doornail" attitude in an interview this week. Way to quit the fight before it's even begun, Rahm! Nothing like announcing to the world that the Democrats are going to fail, right at the crucial moment when the fight is about to commence! Senator Sherrod Brown responded by smacking Rahm's idea down forcefully , and baldly stating that he thinks the public option has at least 50 votes in the Senate. For his performance this week -- a performance that is becoming way too common, by the way
 
Justice Dept. To Address Backlog Of Civil Rights Complaints Top
There is the ongoing review of the death of a man beaten by four white teenagers in a park in Shenandoah, Pa. The kids, all high school football players, shouted, "Go back to Mexico," before one punched him repeatedly with a metal shank balled up in his fist, according to witnesses. Then, another kicked him on the left side of his head so hard that the Mexican man's brain began to swell. He died two days later, his fiancee weeping at his side. More on Eric Holder
 
Michael Moore: 'Capitalism' as Comedy and Tragedy Now Playing in NY and L.A. ...a message from Michael Moore Top
Friends, The time has arrived for, as Time magazine called it, my "magnum opus." I only had a year of Latin when I was in high school, so I'm not quite sure what that means, but I think it's good. I've spent nearly two years on this new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," and have poured my heart and soul into this project. Many early critics and viewers have called it my "best film yet." That's a hard call for me to make as I'm proud of all of my films -- but I will tell you this: What you are about to see in "Capitalism" is going to stun you. It's going to make some of you angry and I believe it's going to give most of you a new sense of hope that we are going to turn the sick and twisted mess made by the last president around. Oh, and you're going to have a good laugh at the expense of all the banking and corporate criminals who've made out like bandits in the past year. I'm gonna show you the stuff the nightly news will rarely show you. Ever meet a pilot for American Airlines on food stamps because his pay's been cut so low? Ever meet a judge who gets kickbacks for sending innocent kids to a private prison? Ever meet someone from the Wall Street Journal who bluntly states on camera that he doesn't much care for democracy and that capitalism should be our only ruling concern? You'll meet all these guys in "Capitalism." You'll also meet a whistleblower who, with documents in hand, tells us about the million-dollar-plus sweetheart loans he approved for the head of Senate Banking Committee -- the very committee that was supposed to be regulating his lending institution! You'll hear from a bank regulator why Timothy Geithner has no business being our Treasury Secretary. And you'll learn, from the woman who heads up the congressional commission charged with keeping an eye on the bailout money, how Alan Greenspan & Co. schemed and connived the public into putting up their inflated valued homes as collateral -- thus causing the biggest foreclosure epidemic in our history. There is now a foreclosure filed in the U.S. once every seven-and-half SECONDS. None of this is an accident, and I name the names others seem to be afraid to name, the men who have ransacked the pensions of working people and plundered the future of our kids and grandkids. Somehow they thought they were going to get away with this, that we'd believe their Big Lie that this crash was caused by a bunch of low-income people who took out loans they couldn't afford. Much of the mainstream media bought this storyline. No wonder Wall Street thought they could pull this off. Jeez, I guess they forgot about me and my crew. You'd think we would've made a better impression on these wealthy thieves by now. Guess not. So here we come! It's all there, up on the silver screen, two hours of a tragicomedy crime story starring a bunch of vampires who just weren't satisfied with simply destroying Flint, Michigan -- they had to try and see if they could take down the whole damn country. So come see this cops and robbers movie! The robbers this time wear suits and ties, and the cops -- well, if you're willing to accept a guy in a ballcap with a high school education as a stand-in until the real deal shows up to haul 'em away, then I humbly request your presence at your local cinema this weekend in New York and Los Angeles (and next Friday, October 2nd, all across America). In the meantime, you can catch us on some of the TV shows that have been brave enough to let me on in the past week or so: - Nightline (as we take a stroll down Wall Street to Goldman Sachs) - Good Morning America (where they let me talk about Disney employees who don't get medical benefits) - The View (where the Republican co-host told everyone to go see it! Whoa!) - The Colbert Report (this guy is a genius, seriously) - Larry King (where a spokesperson for the Senator who got the sweetheart loans responds for the first time) - Keith Olberman (where we both wonder just how long these media corps are going to let us get away with what we do) - Wolf Blitzer (yes, he's back for more abuse - and lovin' it) ... And the amazing Jay Leno. This man called me after seeing the movie and asked me to be his only in-studio guest on the second night of his new prime-time show. I said, "Jay, shouldn't you be thinking of your ratings in the first week of the show? Are you sure you didn't misdial Tom Hanks' number (the area code where I live is 231; 213 is LA)?" He told me he was profoundly moved by this film. So I was the guest on his second show, and he told all of America it was my "best film" and to please go see "Capitalism: A Love Story." That was Jay Leno saying that, not Noam Chomsky or Jane Fonda (both of whom I love dearly). The audience responded enthusiastically and, after 20 years of filmmaking, it was a moment where I crossed over deep into the mainstream of middle America. Jay's bosses at General Electric musta been... well, let's just say I hope they didn't place a reprimand in his permanent record. He's one helluva guy (and following the example he set with his free concerts for the unemployed in Michigan and Ohio last spring, I've gotten permission from the studio to do the same with my film in ten of the hardest-hit cities in the U.S. next week). Oh, and he made me sing! Prepare yourself ! Thanks everyone -- and see you at the movies! Yours, Michael Moore MMFlint@aol.com MichaelMoore.com Twitter.com/MMFlint Facebook.com/MMFlint MySpace.com/MMFlint Click here to join Mike's Mailing List . More on Capitalism: A Love Story
 
Tim Gallego: Man Has Face Rebuilt Using Ribs, Hips And Wrist Top
Tim, a father-of-three, has had to undergo 16 operations to have bones, skin and arteries from all over his body implanted into his face.
 
Michelle Kraus: Quiet Voices from CGI: Those that Fight the Epic Battle in the Ecuador Rain Forest Top
Amidst the glitterati and the bustle of the Clinton Global Initiative (“CGI”) are the “quiet voices” of individuals and NGO’s trying to affect change on this planet. This year one remarkable individual comes to mind. It was his maiden voyage into the unchartered waters. His name is Richie Goldman and he has pledged himself to find the money, partnerships and muscle to alleviate the suffering of the people of Ecuador. A relative “newbie” to the philanthropic world in search of like-minded individuals that can help him fund the work of Amazon Watch to fund clinics, bring in medicine and provide clean drinking water. Lawsuits go on for years as this one against Chevron has done. But people continue to get sick as countries posture and lawyers argue. This man is up against one of the most massive public relations machines of recent times, possibly second only to the tobacco industry’s campaigns. The fact is that Chevron is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on television, radio and Internet ads attempting to create a new image – the leader in clean energy. They want to wipe the slate in the court of public opinion. Ironically, they never anticipated such a formidable adversary as Mr. Goldman who was the marketing genius behind the success of the Men’s Warehouse franchise. The film, “ Crude ” by Joe Berlinger (“Brother’s Keeper,” Metallica”) “chronicles what is often referred to as the “ epic Amazon Chernobyl legal battle in Ecuador .” The film premieres this evening in San Francisco and has been scheduled for showings in both New York City and Los Angeles. Chevron, please watch carefully this is only the beginning of the PR wars on behalf of 30,000 indigent people of the rain forest. Just because they cannot speak does not mean that others like Goldman and Berlinger cannot speak for them. So let the games begin as they marshal the forces of good at the Clinton Global Initiative to help alleviate the atrocities leveled against the people and lands of Ecuador.
 
Abner Mikva Not Endorsing Seals Or Hamos In Kirk Replacement Race, Despite Claim Top
It turns out that a big endorsement by former congressman and appellate court justice Abner Mikva for Congress in the north suburban 10th District isn't. At least, not exactly. More on House Races
 
Gates To Ahmadinejad: "Not A Chance" We'll Apologize Top
President Ahmadinejad demanded an apology from the US for accusing Iran of violating international law with the secret uranium enrichment site discovered by US intelligence. More on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
 

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