Wednesday, September 2, 2009

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Max Blumenthal: Exclusive Video: Conservatives Endorse My New Book, "Republican Gomorrah" (Sort Of) Top
In February, I went to the Conservative Political Action Conference with a mock copy of my book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside The Movement That Shattered The Party . The book is an intimate, journalistic portrait of the GOP in the thralls of the radical Right, detailing through historical analysis and first-hand investigative reporting how a cadre of extremists transformed the party once known for its big tent politics into a one ring circus of despair, doom and fanaticism. It is the story of how the party of Eisenhower became the party of Palin. Republican Gomorrah shows that many of the radical Right's leading figures have more in common than just the power they command within GOP ranks. Their personal lives have been stained by crisis and scandal: depression, mental illness, extra-marital affairs, struggles with homosexual urges, heavy medication, addiction to pornography, serial domestic abuse, and even murder. Inspired by the work of psychologist Erich Fromm, who asserted that the fear of freedom propels anxiety-ridden people into authoritarian settings, my book exposes the culture of personal crisis lurking behind the Right's politics of resentment. When I confronted leading conservatives from John Ziegler to Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher to Ralph Reed with my book, including passages that covered their role in driving the GOP to the margins of the far-Right, their reactions ranged from curiosity to blind rage. Watch my latest video and see for yourself. More on Barack Obama
 
Jamie Court: PacifiCare's Kill Rate 40%, CIGNA's 33% According to Government Data Top
New data from California unearthed by the California Nurses Association reveals denial rates by the top health insurers in America. Talk about "death panels"? PacifiCare's rate of denying claims is 40%, CIGNA's is 33%. Overall one in five requests for treatment is denied by California health insurers regulated by the California Department of Managed Health Care. That's a 20% denial rate. President Obama said he will addressing Congress next week about his vision for health care reform. How about a vision that holds health insurers legally accountable for delaying and denying necessary medical care? How do we know the requests were legit? Just watch CIGNA whistle-blower Wendell Potter explain why a teenage transplant patient, Natalie Sarkysian, died before getting her request approved. It's time for President Obama to put legal accountability for the health insurance death squads back into the debate, and Congress is the place to do it. As my colleague Harvey Rosenfield , author of landmark insurance reform Prop 103, says, these odds make Vegas look good.
 
Debbie Almontaser, Ex-Arabic School Principal, Has Court Case Dismissed Top
NEW YORK — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the founding principal of a public Arabic-language school who lost her job amid a public uproar over her remarks downplaying T-shirts emblazoned with the words "Intifada NYC." Debbie Almontaser, former principal of Khalil Gibran International Academy, had accused school officials in federal court in Manhattan of violating her right to free speech by forcing her to resign over a newspaper interview they had sanctioned. In a ruling late Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Sidney Stein found that Almontaser's comments in a 2007 interview with the New York Post were "pursuant to her official duties," and therefore not protected by the First Amendment. He also rejected an allegation that school officials also had violated her right to due process. Almontaser's attorney said in a statement Wednesday that his client would still pursue her claim with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "Nothing in yesterday's decision questions the underlying facts concerning the (Department of Education's) actions: Ms. Almontaser was the target of hate-filled attacks because she was an Arab and a Muslim and because she said something that public officials disagreed with," said the attorney, Alan Levine. Paul Marks, a deputy chief with the city Law Department, said officials "were pleased the court found that the city did not violate either Ms. Almontaser's First Amendment or due process rights." The New York Post article from 2007 said that when asked about the "Intifada" T-shirts sold by a women's community group, Almontaser explained that the term meant "shaking off" instead of "uprising." "I don't believe the intention is to have any of that kind of (violence) in New York City," the newspaper quoted her as saying. "I think it's pretty much an opportunity for girls to express that they are part of New York City society ... and shaking off oppression." Subsequent newspaper articles, Web sites and talk radio branded Almontaser a radical and a jihadist. Though the principal accused the newspaper of misquoting her, school officials issued an apology. When the outcry failed to subside, Almontaser said a deputy mayor asked her to resign. She quit the next day and took an administrative job.
 
Rick Smith: Take Your Career from Good to Great Top
Do you ever find yourself asking, "Is this it?" Sure, you've had some successes in your career, made some money, received a promotion or two. Yet you can't help but wonder, Is this what I am supposed to be doing with my life? Is this the limit of my contribution? These questions are familiar territory for me. At the age of 35, I was stuck in a career rut. Then, unexpectedly, my life turned in an extraordinary new direction. HOW? Over the course of the next 18 months, I wrote a bestselling book, and then founded World 50, Inc, a company that brought me into close contact with some of the great leaders and thinkers of our time, including Bono, Jack Welch, Robert Redford, Alan Greenspan, Lance Armstrong, among dozens of others. Despite no experience and few contacts, I was able to create what today is one of the most influential senior executive networking companies in the world. And through it all I kept asking myself, "How could this have happened to of all people, me?" My quest has led me to half a decade of intensive interviewing and research. What I have discovered is that I am not alone - the world is full of ordinary people, everyday Joes and Janes, who have broken free from average performance and achieved extraordinary levels of impact and accomplishment. These individuals all led unremarkable lives until something shifted inside them-transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. And I have concluded anyone can make the same leap. What is holding us back? For many, it is simply that we believe the wrong things. Common misguided assumptions prevent us from imagining a new future for ourselves, and then moving toward it. Three of these common myths are, "In order to make a leap in my performance: (1) "I have to change who I am-fix my weaknesses" (2) "I have to go it alone," and (3) "I have to take big, scary risks." These assumptions are all false. By applying the same three strategies used by myself and dozens of other people who have made the leap from good to great, you can turn an unremarkable performance (and an unfulfilling career) into something extraordinary. Where we may have stumbled upon these successful changes, you can be more deliberate. Here's how: 1. Discover Your "Primary Color" In a study on professional career success, I found that on average, professionals believe that they would be 35% more productive if they were in a role that fully leveraged their strengths and passions. These intuitive assumptions turn out to be correct. Nearly every extraordinary leap I studied began with the individual finding their way to a job in which their unique strengths were consistently called on, and their passions were fully engaged. But according to my research, only about 5% of professionals say that they are currently in roles that leverage their strengths and passions every day. This represents an ocean of unfulfilled workers, and incredible amounts of untapped organizational potential. Everyone has a what I call a "Primary Color," that point on the spectrum that represents the intersection of your greatest strengths and passions. Few people ever find it, or even know its there. But it is, and aligning your daily activities with your strengths and passions is a critical first step to accelerating your impact and performance. Identify where your strengths and passions intersect. This is where you acquire new skills and achieve new heights of performance the fastest. Next, think about the activities required by your current role. Is your role aligned with your strengths and passions, or far apart (and drifting farther)? These questions lead to actionable insights that you can use to direct your activities and steer your career toward the path that is uniquely suited for you. 2. Focus on a Big, Selfless, and Simple Idea In 2002, soft-spoken Silvia Lagnado, a recently appointed brand manager within the global conglomerate Unilever, began floating a bold idea around the company-that the company's marketing should be focused on real beauty, and not elusive "aspirational beauty". And she wanted to use the flagship Dove brand to get this message across. Within two years, the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty had become a global phenomenon, propelling Silvia to the role of Senior Vice President, and changing her company and her industry forever. How did she do it? Silvia's story shares something remarkably similar with all of us who successfully made the Leap: Our successes were derived in no small part by the very nature of the ideas that drove us there. The idea was big - that women of all shapes and sizes should be celebrating their own beauty and not be ashamed by it. It was selfless - focused on confronting the pandemic of dieting and body self-loathing. And it was simple - every woman has the right to feel beautiful. It turns out that Big, Selfless and Simple ideas are uniquely advantaged. Big, ambitious ideas break through the clutter and get us to pay attention. Selfless ideas, those focused outwardly on the beneficiary, engage our sense of empathy, and create the physiological urge for us to sign on. Simple ideas are quickly and easily understood, and broadly and consistently translated across large groups of people. Nearly any goal or objective that you and your team are focused on can benefit from passing it through the Big, Selfless and Simple filter. Broaden its ambition, and you will get noticed. Articulate the cause, and you will deepen engagement. Simplify the message (and the details), and allow others to move to action. When you do, you will naturally bring countless others along with you for the ride. 3. Let the Spark Sequence Happen The Spark Sequence is how you mitigate risk and turn leaps into inevitabilities. The popular perception, reinforced by tens of thousands of TV and movie hours, is that great success belongs to the most fearless and aggressive in society- people consumed by blind ambition, the ones who dive headfirst into the water without ever checking its depth. However, those I researched who actually made the Leap from ordinary to extraordinary didn't come anywhere near fitting that mold. Making a leap in your career comes from mitigating risk, not increasing it. The Spark Sequence is a series of low risk, exploratory events which 1) build exposure to what might lie ahead, 2) creates confidence in the skills to get us there and the passions to sustain ourselves, and 3) allows us to visit our new lives without quite going there. For example, research your idea. Seek out and talk with others who have relevant information. Find a mentor who can help you dig up additional information. But don't stop there. Pilot your idea-trying it out in a contained setting-to see how people respond. Don't forget to also experience your idea first-hand; for instance, by volunteering in a role related to the idea and drawing lessons from the work. These and many other activities are all available calculated bets, with large upside and minimal downside. The Leap is not cookie-cutter predictable. It comes at different people from different directions. But however the Leap happens, the same three forces are in play. Align your activities with your greatest strengths and passions. Bring your unique Primary Color to bear on an idea that is Big, Selfless and Simple. Ignite the Spark Sequence to give you the time to test out your new future until the upside is clearly enough determined to permit combustion to occur. As these three steps demonstrate, you don't have to change who you are to make the leap to an extraordinary career. You don't have to go it alone. And you don't have to take huge risks. So what's holding you back? Are you ready to break out and make The Leap ? This post was originally published at RickSmith.me Subscribe to Rick's Blog Friend Rick Smith on Facebook >
 
Patricia Harris: Mayor Bloomberg Donates Building At Franklin & Marshall College In Deputy's Name Top
NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City's billionaire mayor usually prefers to put his own name on things, but this time, a building was named for a close confidante. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has given $1 million to Franklin & Marshall College, where the new Center for Business, Government & Public Policy will be named after his top deputy, Patricia Harris. Harris, Bloomberg's longtime friend and adviser, graduated from the Lancaster, Pa., school in 1977. Bloomberg put his own name on the public health school at Johns Hopkins, his alma mater. He has also named a cable television channel and news service after himself. The computer terminal he invented in the 1980s to sort financial data in a different way is known as a Bloomberg. Get HuffPost New York On Facebook and Twitter! Know something we don't?  E-mail us at NYTips@huffingtonpost.com
 
Victoria Lautman: Hello Britain, Meet Chicago: Granta Takes a Toddlin' Town Tour Top
Russia did it. So did Africa. Even India pulled it off, along with London. Now, it's Chicago's turn to inspire a hefty new issue of Granta , the esteemed British literary journal which, when spied on a coffee table, seems to instantly confer upon the subscriber a mantle of elevated intellect, or at least the appearance of it. Founded by an enterprising group of Cambridge students back in 1889 (and named after the local river), Granta experienced its share of dicey times in the last century but has managed, since reinventing itself in 1979, to ignite admiration, ballyhoo and not a little envy. Privately funded by a megabucks Swedish philanthropist living in England, the journal places no restrictions on length for individual pieces, its contributors are well-paid and among the most sought-after international literary voices, and the requisite themes, like "Fathers," "Country Life," "Shrinks" and "Bad Company," to name a few, are amorphous enough to allow maximum flexibility. Lately, seismic upheavals in Granta's leadership have also generated scrutiny: in just two years, three separate editors assumed, then abandoned, the magazine's helm. But editor number four, John Freeman, hopes to steer for a good long haul. After becoming Granta's American editor in December 2008, he was promoted to "acting" editor of the entire shebang, whiplash-quick, a mere six months later. The 34-year old dynamo appears equal to the task -- accessible, enthusiastic and energetic -- all despite being obliged to shuttle monthly between Manhattan and London in a position that contrasts with Freeman's more sedentary life as a famously-prolific literary critic and president of National Book Critics Circle awards. Add "author" to that list: in October his first book, The Tyranny of E-mail , will be published by Scribner. But it's on September 14 that Granta 108 , the first volume shaped completely by Freeman, will become available to the world. The Chicago issue crams 288 pages-worth of poems, essays, riffs and stories behind a cover illustrated by the city's own Chris Ware. Nearly all of the content was commissioned specifically for this issue, and many of the Chicago-based authors in the Table of Contents -- Aleksandar Hemon, Stuart Dybek, Sandra Cisneros, Alex Kotlowitz -- are certainly expected contributors. But there are plenty of surprises tucked among the 22 entries: Don DeLillo on Nelson Algren, a new poem by Anne Winters, an essay about Obama by Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, plus a searing memoir by a previously-unpublished young author, Maria Venegas and an excerpt from Peter Carey's forthcoming novel, which does not take place on The Third Coast. How this issue came to be, and how it will be received "across the pond" were all on my mind when I caught up with John Freeman by phone after he touched down in New York. Why so hot on Chicago? Were any other cities aced out? It wasn't even close! It had to be Chicago, or we would have just turned to another theme. London was the only other city issue we did, 10 years ago, and it was our best-selling issue in British history. It would be nice if the same thing happened in America with the Chicago issue, but it will also be so interesting to our readers in England. Right now, Chicago is having a real cultural moment. There are so many good writers coming out of the city, and the city itself is evolving out of its industrial past, accepting new immigrants from many different parts of the world, so the heady mix of the city's population is changing too, and obviously Barack Obama is also a powerful symbol of that. But if Chicagoans read the issue and feel this is exactly what the city is like, that will be the toughest litmus test for me. I'm not from Chicago, so we relied on the writers to tell us the stories that mattered. I hope everyone feels it does the city justice, not as boosterism, but as a work of art. Were your British colleagues all on board, or did it require strong-arm tactics? It took a few months, and I have to say it was a bit like Chicago politics, requiring some wheedling, convincing and cajoling. They all know of the city, but mainly through its familiar mythology of the past, like Bellow and Dillinger, Sandburg and Capone. The Chicago of today is less familiar to them, which to me made it such a clear choice for the theme. I wanted very much not to be nostalgic or to belabor things about Chicago's past that are familiar. And once everyone was on board, it was so exciting to watch them fall in love with Chicago from afar. When Chris Ware's cover art came in, even I was overwhelmed, it's so beautiful. How daunting was it to secure that melange of contributors? It was tricky. We didn't have much time to make the issue, and certain people were left out simply because of time constraints, they couldn't make the deadline. There was also such a limited amount of space, at a certain point we couldn't have added a single piece, even if it came directly from God. That was frustrating, but since we ran out of space, we'll have tons of stuff on the web site granta.com , 20 additional pieces, and we'll publish one a day there, all free. But I don't think we could have possibly put together a better Chicago issue, and I'm very happy with how it turned out. Besides the luminaries, there's Maria Venegas, still a student and never published. Where did you find her? Part of our work at Granta is to visit colleges and universities, opening dialogues and offering discount subscriptions. We always invite everyone to submit, and in this case, we found Maria through that process. She's a student at Hunter College in New York, but came from Chicago, and her advisor, Colum McCann, said "check her out." Hers is a powerful piece of writing -- very incisive about violence and how it runs through a family. In commissioning these pieces, did you get what you expected No, actually. We started with the idea for this issue, and then the writers wound up shaping it, some by turning in a piece that's different from what was asked for. But it's better for the writers to choose the direction of the piece. For instance, I had no idea Wole would write an important piece about Obama from the perspective he chose, or that Chicago writer Thom Jones -- who hasn't published for a while -- would produce a light and funny piece about working in a corn flake factory. And personally, I was so eager to get in a poem by Anne Winters, who I think is terrific. But she was the first we wrote to, then the very last we heard back from, only a day or two before going to press. How did Peter Carey's excerpt get in there? It's got nothing to do with Chicago ... Well, that was just something we decided to include. We had a chance to put it in, it's a fantastic book (titled Parrot & Olivier in America ), so it does fit tangentially into the theme of the issue. But this is like the best piece of fiction we've ever run, a masterpiece, and I just wanted the issue to have the best writing. We'll always have a few pieces that break off a bit from the theme, and I figured if readers get tired of all the writing about Chicago, at the end they'll have this bonus. What's missing? Anything at all you wish you'd bagged? Yes: Barack Obama. He was the one person I wanted badly to include but who I never heard back from. I even tried through back channels, just to get even one, just one little paragraph! But the Memoirist-In-Chief has a lot on his plate. Hopefully he'll be able to read the issue and enjoy it. He's such a good writer, the kind that, were he not president, we would love to publish...me and several thousand other magazine editors. More on Barack Obama
 
Russian Submarine NOT Off Jersey Shore: Coast Guard Top
The Russians are NOT coming. At least not to the Jersey Shore. That's the word from the Coast Guard about a photograph that some Internet users believe shows a nuclear-armed Russian submarine surfacing a few hundred yards off Corson's Inlet near Strathmere, N.J., in the heart of the state's beach resort area.
 
Ridge: Take That Untrustworthy Jacket Off My Trustworthy Book! Top
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge's backpedaling book tour continues! As we've reported, Ridge's new book, The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege, asserts that Attorney General John Ashcroft and Defense Secretary Donald Rumseld "strongly urged" him to raise the terror alert level -- possibly for political reasons -- just before the 2004 election. Ridge has since backpedaled and contradicted himself about whether the terror alerts might have been politicized.
 
Zandile Blay: The Lust List: Intense by Chloe Top
Personally, I've always thought of myself as a Chloe woman. In reality, my wardrobe consists of crop tops, tight jeans and six-inch high platform wedges; but in my mind I encase myself in the luxurious, billowing wool coats, and sexy fluid high waist pants from Chloe's Fall 2009 collection. But until my fantasy and reality synchronize, I will be covering my body in the only bit of Chloe I can afford: parfum. For Fall 2009, that means I will be wearing Chloe Intense, the Parisian house's latest scent. It offers a mix of rose, magnolia and lily of the valley, delivered in a stylish silver accented glass bottle with a felt gray bow-tie. It debuted this month and retails for $110. Find it exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue and Chloe boutiques. Read more from Zandile on her daily fashion blog, The Blay Report .
 
Faisal Ghori: Building Hope: What Yahoo!'s Acquisition of Maktoob.com Means Top
Hope is often in short supply in the Middle East, but that may be quickly changing, at least for the region's entrepreneurs. On August 25, Yahoo!, the Internet giant, announced that it will acquire Maktoob.com, the Middle East's largest web portal and online community founded and operated in Jordan. As the very first acquisition of a Middle East-based technology company by an American technology giant, this is nothing short of a sea change for the region. Overnight it has bolstered the region with instant credibility and given its entrepreneurs reason to hope that they too can succeed in creating companies. The acquisition, in short, has fundamentally altered the technology landscape in the Middle East. In a day and age when business in the Middle East has become synonymous with Dubai, this story's genesis is found in the rocky crags of Jordan. Better known for Petra and the Dead Sea, Jordan has been the region's leading base for technology startups. While Dubai may boast of an Internet City, more of the region's startups were founded and operate in Jordan than anywhere else in the Middle East. This can be owed in large part to investments made by King Abdullah II in the technology sector. Amongst its peers, Jordan is the only Middle Eastern nation with a technology incubator and a fledgling technology ecosystem. Proverbially overnight, Samih Toukam, CEO and founder of Maktoob.com, and his team have accomplished what Jordan has spent the better part of a decade trying to do: garner international attention for its technology sector. This is nothing short of a coup; Jordan and the region's entrepreneurs are now in the spotlight. For Toukam the road to success has been considerably longer than overnight. He founded the company in 1997 when the Internet was still nascent in the Middle East. Originally founded as an Arabic online email service, over the past 12 years Maktoob.com (literally meaning "written" in Arabic) expanded into a full-fledged search portal and online community, providing a vast array of services ranging from matrimonials to local sports. By any measure Maktoob.com is the Middle East's undisputed Internet leader, with over 16.5 million unique users. It is not surprising then that Maktoob.com was the first regional Middle Eastern technology company to be acquired. However, what is surprising is that the acquisition happened now. If nothing else, the acquisition signifies that the Middle East has now for the first time become relevant in the eyes of American Internet giants, and with their attention, the region has become globally relevant for its technology-based entrepreneurship. This significance has not been lost on Toukam. For him the acquisition signifies that "it's time to invest in the Arab world. The market is ready and has huge growth potential and there is good talent and brains out there and also good exits for your investments." Given the lack of initial public offerings (IPOs) as a viable exit (no technology company has ever gone public in the region), the acquisition will assuage investors' concerns about exiting a technology investment in the Middle East. Emile Cubeisy, Managing Director of IV Holdings, a venture capital firm that invests in technology companies in the Middle East, says the acquisition "is an important milestone, in that it proves to Arab entrepreneurs that if you focus on building true value in your businesses, execute patiently and with professionalism, and go through the full stages of growth, real exit opportunities will emerge." While IV Holdings is one of a handful of regional venture capital firms, American technology giants like Intel, Microsoft and Cisco began investing a while ago with other American investment firms slowly following their lead. Tiger Global, a US investment firm, was amongst the largest stakeholders of the company. Maktoob.com's acquisition will now make it increasingly harder to ignore the 300 million audience that comprise the greater Middle East. Maktoob.com's accomplishment was not without its difficulties. In the typical investment cycle of technology startups, an investment lasts between five and seven years. For Maktoob.com, it took nearly twice as long. Throughout the region, nearly 13 years after the Internet was introduced, entrepreneurs still refer to the technology market as being in its infancy. Ahmad Humeid, perhaps the region's earliest serial tech-entrepreneur, observes that regionally e-commerce activity and quality of Internet content remain "dismal" with Middle Eastern nations widely censoring the Internet, and the overall environment for technology companies remains bleak. Clearly, the Middle East has not done as well as other global technology hubs including Israel, Europe and Asia, all of which can point to billion dollar companies from their shores. It is rumored that Yahoo! acquired Maktoob for around $85 to $100 million. While this amount is significant for Jordan and the region given its small scale, it would not move the needle in Shanghai, London, or Tel Aviv. Yet, Maktoob.com, with its widespread reach, did move the needle enough in Sunnyvale, Ca., for Yahoo! to move off the sidelines. The acquisition has done for Jordan and the region what AOL's acquisition of Mirabilis, the maker of the chatting client ICQ, did for Israel nearly a decade earlier: it has provided vital lifeblood for technology based entrepreneurship. For all of Ahmad Humeid's pessimism, he remarks that for him the acquisition "represents a real breakthrough. It sort of gives me a push to hold on to the dream of building something worthwhile on the 'Arab Internet.'" Regionally, that type of hope is worth much more than whatever Yahoo! paid to acquire Maktoob.com. More on Jordan
 
Louise McCready: A Future Without Fish: “End of the Line” Casts Scary Forecast for the Sea Top
Films such as “Food Inc” and “Fresh” do a wonderful job teaching audiences that food can be hazardous to our health depending on how it was raised, grown or processed. Medical experts, like Dr. Kessler , remind Americans that the quantity of what we put in our mouth is just as important as the quality of our food. But what are the effects of our appetite on the environment or the rest of the world? For starters, we won't need to worry about eating too many fish sticks or McDonald's fish sandwiches because—quite simply—there will be no more fish to eat. “End of the Line,” a documentary inspired by Charles Clover's book of the same name, takes a terrifyingly look at the rampant and illegal overfishing that is quickly depleting the world's oceans. Based upon recently unearthed data, scientists claim we will see the end of most seafood by 2048. Bluefin tuna, valued as one of the world's top game fish and a delicious meal, is well on its way toward imminent extinction à la the dodo, thanks to restaurants like Nobu (which still serves it on its menu) and companies planning to profit by selling the fish frozen, long after the last bluefin tuna has been caught from the sea. Even if you find it difficult to liken fish to the beautiful giant panda or other cuddly endangered species, consider the fact that many developing and third world populations depend upon fish for survival. Recently I asked Mr. Clover why this issue has received so little press and there's any hope that my grandchildren will have the chance to know what “fishy,” tastes like. LM: In the film, you mention that as a fly fisherman, you became curious about overfishing after noticing a decline in the salmon population on the River Dee in Wales. Do you still fish? CC: Yes, I was there last weekend. LM: Do you still eat fish? CC: I do. LM: Which fish do you eat? CC: The ones I mention at the end of my book that reproduce rapidly - which are pretty much those on the “fish to eat” list . One has confidence that the populations are not harvested at a rate where they could be endangered. I brought some mackerel, which I caught myself, back from Scotland last weekend. I'll eat herring. There are loads of shellfish that you can eat. I get very worried about farmed fish. LM: How would you compare “End of the Line” with other food-related documentaries that have come out recently such as “Food Inc. ” or “Fresh”? CC: I haven't seen “Food Inc.” yet, and I'm not sure it's been released over here, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage on that one. But I know Eric Schlosser's book, so I know what it must be about. From what is said of it and what I have seen of it online, “Food Inc.” is a story that we already know told very well whereas, I think for many people, “The End of the Line” tells a story they wouldn't know. There is also the feeling that we're more about a global environment than about the “Me, me, what do I put in the temple of my body?” [Schlosser]'s about. I get a lot of questions, only in America, asking, “Why didn't you talk about pollution when you talk about the sea?” We don't talk about pollution because pollution is old hat. There is this problem of mercury, but the bigger problem is that the fish that contain the mercury are dying out, so it's going to be less of a problem for you in that you're not going to be able to eat them. We don't take this issue lightly, but this is the difference between American and European audiences. It's easy to say to a European audience that we are overfishing our fish, partly because we're doing it domestically so much more than you are, but American audiences are always hung up on the pollution aspect, which is actually a story that's been going since the 50s. It's not a new story. It's not a story about how we're going to survive the centuries as a human race, which the overfishing story is. This is a new story. LM: One of “End of the Line”'s most shocking claims was that if we continue fishing the way we do now, we would see the end of most seafood by 2048. How did conditions become so dire without prior media coverage? CC: It's been in the scientific publications. It's been in Science and Nature . The reason is, it was told late. It was only told in 2001 that the world catches had peaked around 1989 and were going down because the Chinese had been overstating their data. The Chinese government overstated world fish catches, and there is a probability that they also overstated the farmed fish that they harvest. So the assumption that we should just progress seamlessly from wild fish to farmed fish is probably wrong. We probably need the oceans to produce our fish for the foreseeable future, and the reality of farmed fish in the west is that it's produced from wild carnivorous fish. You haven't closed the circles as far as a sustainable system is concerned if you're still unsustainably harvesting small fish to feed farmed fish, and that's what I find most disturbing. That “five pounds of wild fish to make one pound of farmed fish” conversion rate is a new figure and came out of one of the world's top aquaculture experts—and it's far worse than anybody thought. If it takes five pounds of Peruvian anchoveta to make one pound of farmed salmon it makes you wonder for a whole host of reasons, both developmental—are we taking away from poor people in the developing world—and also ecological and wasteful, of whether we should be eating these fish. LM: One of the most disheartening aspects of the film was the repeated failure of governments to enforce sustainable catch limits or punish illegal fishermen or fishermen that are exceeding their limits. CC: It's a failure of governance on national, regional and international scale. It really does lower your faith in government that they have screwed this up so definitively. There are places where it turned out rather better than others. There are regional fishing councils in the United States where you're doing it better than anywhere else in the world, other than Iceland, New Zealand and maybe bits of Australia. But by and large this is a desert of bad governance and a result of bad governance. LM: Do you have any hope that governments will work together toward effective change, or does this need to be a grassroots movement? CC: I've never seen governments sit up as a result of a film more than with this film. We have been invited to meetings on Downing Street and the Prime Minister's wife talked about it on Twitter—few documentary films have ever done that. We have been invited to debate with the European Union Commissioner of Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Joe Borg. But unless there is a popular movement that tells governments that citizens want to retain the sea and have it managed as they want to manage it and not as the vested interests want to manage it, [overfishing][no need for square bracket] is going to get worse. Back to the 2048 claim, the film is a discussion of whether that is correct or not—it's not just a parroting of that figure. The difference between what we had done and what Al Gore did in “An Inconvenient Truth” is we include the arch critics of Boris Worm who say you can't infer what Worm does from the data within the argument. If you look at our website, Worm and Hilborn subsequently went on to publish a paper together three weeks ago answering the question that people ask in the film which is, everyone accepts it's pretty bad, it's just a question of how bad is it? We have much more of a consensus here than the global warming people have—everyone from one end of the spectrum to the other thinks that we're in the shit. LM: Exactly. As you point out in the film, fishermen no longer expect to pass on their profession to their children or grandchildren. Even without the scientific data, it seems self-evident that the fish are declining. CC: With that being true, I am a farmer's son, and I am not a farmer. Industries change, economies of scale change, and efficiencies change. There are too many sentimentalists in the world who think that fishermen should always be able to go on from one generation to another when it might not be sensible to do so. But in countries where it's all there is, like West Africa, I find it deeply disturbing that they can't continue when they are not using particularly ravaging methods; it's just they have a lot of people, and no one's managing the fishery properly. The worst case scenario is the South Java sea where there is a load of people—Java is one of the most overpopulated islands in the world—and there are people who fish beyond the economically viable point simply because they are hungry and have nothing else to do. That's when the fish have no chance for recovery, and it's a terrible tragedy. Your only management is the cyclone. LM: Your book, End of the Line , was published in 2006. With regards with the global over fishing problem, what are the greatest changes that have occurred over the past three years? CC: With regard to policy or actually going wrong in the sea? LM: Either. CC: We decided to make the film focus upon bluefin tuna about two and a half years ago. At that time, people were still talking about the Mediterranean population as being bigger than the Western population that you've got off the United States. Quite clearly, what has happened in the two years in which we were developing the film, is that population has been wiped out by rampant illegal overfishing. That is a very, very big development because it's an example of governmental failure on international scale by some of the most developed countries in the world, the US and EU included. They worked together in this and they completely screwed up. They could not get Iccat [the U.N.'s International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas] to do the right thing; they didn't try hard enough; they allowed the vested interests to talk; they allowed the Japanese tuna traders to run the show through their influence money and their very dubious connections; and that is a total indictment of the way we run the sea. We picked the bluefin tuna because it was the worse thing going on. We ended up finding that we were filming the last buffalo roundup, and we were slightly appalled. If you look at the figures in the report on our website that I filed on June the 7th from Roberto Mielgo , who is a star of the film, he's done an analysis of the tuna on the Japanese market. Thirty-three percent of them are below the illegal catch limits, so how the hell they ever got exported, let alone got imported, I do not know. If what's in the Japanese market is what's in the sea—and it's safe to assume it is—the population collapsed in 2007. There are no mature spawners left. It's absolutely horrifying what has happened over these last three years. It is what we're campaigning about and will go on campaigning about because it is a disgrace. I co-wrote an open letter with Prince Albert of Monaco on June the 5th of this year, and we proposed that the bluefin tuna should be taken out of the hands of this obviously incompetent body Iccat and regulated by Cites, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Since then, President Sarkozy of France has backed us. Ironically, France has the biggest fleet in catching bluefin tuna—they are the ones who have the expertise, but they are also rampantly illegal. In a lot of southern French ports, there are fishermen, French Algerians mostly, who don't seem to obey the law and who are very stroppy. Sarkozy has been at war with them for some time and can't control them—he's tried to get tax off them, they refuse; he's tried to get them to decommission their boats, they refuse; and now he just says, Right, well, let's get an international ban, and I'm going to be the first to back it. You have got to take your hat off to Sarkozy. He is quite a different man from the École Normal Supérieure-type smooth turnout of French presidents. France, Britain, Germany and Holland are saying, it can no longer be business as usual with the bluefin, which means a total ban on international trade, but we still wait to hear what the US is going to do. It's a risk, because the US has a domestic catch, but the domestic catch gets exported in ice overnight to the Japanese market. LM: Isn't blue fin tuna still on Nobu's menu? CC: Yes, in New York and on four other continents. That is what is a disgrace. Our minister says it's a disgrace. What does yours say? LM: I don't think they say anything. CC: I think you should ask them. LM : Last thing I wanted to touch on briefly was how you said the Japanese—Mitsubishi, in particular—is simply freezing the bluefin tuna so they will have a future supply for when all the supplies run out. CC: I don't know what is right because the Japanese figures are misleading and not comprehensive enough. The government figures do not aggregate individual companies so somebody is doing a lot of freezing. Mitsubishi don't volunteer information about what they are doing. But it does look as though somebody very cynical thinks the population of bluefin is going to collapse and they are going to clean up because they froze a lot and will be able to go on selling it after the price has been allowed to rise. Obviously there is massive illegality involved in the export and import of this type of tuna, and the people involved have pretty grubby hands. When Mitsubishi goes on telling everyone they have very sustainable business practices, and yet they're wiping out the world's most prominent commercial fish species, I don't see how that's sustainable, and I don't see how they can expect their group to go on selling cars or motorbikes without people boycotting them. But maybe they're just slow on the uptake.
 
Zandile Blay: Creep Or Clever: A Hairy Advertising Tactic From Indonesia Top
Popular Indonesian salon and beauty school franchise, Johnny Andrean wanted to get the word out about their new hair strengthening product. A simple television commercial or billboard ad was not enough. Instead, they opted for a more literal display: hanging what appears to be human hair ponytails on commuter trains in the capital, Jakarta. Besides being strong enough to keep commuters from falling during the average train ride (as illustrated by the picture above) the ponytails were decorated with a product card which told riders more about Andrean and the strengthening cream. Judging from the photo, the oddest part isn't the maketing tactic itself, but how totally blase subway riders seem about holding on to a random ponytail. Clever or creepy? [Image via Copyranter ] Read more from Zandile on her daily fashion blog, The Blay Report .
 
Peter Lehner: Greening the U.S. Open Top
This weekend, I had the pleasure of participating in a US Open event.  No -- not a tennis match -- but something that is still an integral part of the US Open: the announcement of this year's greening initiative.  This is the second year now that NRDC has worked with the US Tennis Association to make the US Open an increasingly sustainable sporting event.  I was in good company at the press conference, with fellow spokesperson Alec Baldwin. We spoke about the genesis of this initiative, how it has progressed, and why it matters.  That last part is key.  It matters a lot for several reasons.  The US Open is an international platform, receiving attention from tennis fans worldwide.  By making sustainability a priority at this event, the USTA is sending a message to their fans that environmental stewardship is a value they hold dear.  We've been proud to be a part of this outreach and have even helped them produce PSAs for their jumbotrons and elsewhere, incorporating the assistance of their spokespeople - Alec as well as Billie Jean King and Venus Williams among others.  Check them out here: But the greening of the US Open is important for another reason - its impact in the marketplace. When the USTA decided they were going to make a change, that inspires their vendors to change.  And a ripple effect occurs - more businesses sell sustainable products. Companies that once didn't have enough hybrids in their fleet to service such a big event or couldn't produce napkins with post consumer content expanded and improved the products they had to offer. Today, multiple companies have fully developed green offshoots of their core business, and can now offer these eco-friendlier services for other clients moving forward. While a full list of the USTA's achievements can be found here - I thought I'd take the time to highlight a few items I think are especially important: Recycling Measures: The USTA has made recycling a priority.  They have placed recycling bins throughout 100% of the complex next to each and every trash can.  This is one of the fastest expansions of a recycling program we've seen. They are recycling the overwhelming majority of the 20,000 tennis ball cans they'll use during the event.  To do this, they had NRDC find a recycling company that could figure out how to recycle the cans that contain two different kinds of plastic (in the can body and lid) and a metal ring that has to be removed.  That's a lot of plastic that will no longer be landfilled - and also a reminder that most things should be recycled.  Energy: Another important achievement is their efforts make energy improvements. They have reduced the number of energy servers they use for this event from a whopping 60 to just 6.  That's a huge step in the right direction toward energy efficiency.  And for the energy they're still using, they have purchased wind power through Green-e renewable energy certificates.  By purchasing with Green-e they've ensured that the credits meet the standards we think are meaningful for renewable energy and make renewables that much more cost-competitive. Concessions: Lastly, it's important to note their work with Levy - their concessionaire. Levy is in charge of all the food, utensils, paper, etc (basically all the stuff that people normally identify as source of a stadium's waste).   The US Open worked closely with Levy to make sure they would source food from about a dozen local farms, create a pilot composting program, recover cooking oil for use as biodiesel fuel, and ensure that products including utensils and napkins were made out our recycled and/or biobased content. And to do all this, Levy had to reach back to their own group of vendors and oftentimes seek out new ones to fulfill the US Open's request.  It's another great precedent-setter for the marketplace. In the end, I'd say I was part of a great US Open event, even if it wasn't the finals. On the cusp of the event's opening day was an ideal time to highlight all the equally great achievements happening off the court.  From the upstream message the US Open is sending to companies they work with to the downstream message they're sending to their fans worldwide, the USTA has proven that - as they say - "their courts may be blue, but they're thinking green".  Indeed. But while the press event was important, I admit that watching tennis is more fun.
 
Aaron Keyak: Why is Pat Buchanan Defending Hitler? Top
MSNBC conservative commentator and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan has a history of insensitivity to issues surrounding the Holocaust. Yet again, with the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II, Buchanan posted a telling column on his own website and on Townhall that seems to blame Poland for World War II. In a piece titled "Just how crazy is Pat Buchanan," Ethan Porter writes on his blog, "Mr. Obama's Neighborhood," that Buchanan's latest comments reflect "revisionism that comes perilously close to denial:" Despite his current position, as a friendly sparring partner with Rachel Maddow and in-house winger on MSNBC, the guy has been a very-thinly veiled fascist sympathizer for decades. And in his column this week, he all but removes that veil. Available here, the column is titled "Did Hitler Want War?" Buchanan believes the answer to be no. He pins the blame for World War II on Poland, and Britain's guarantee of protection to it. As evidence, Buchanan points to a string of inexplicably dumb decisions made by Hitler-so dumb that, to Buchanan, they negate the myths about the war and the man thought by nearly all sentient beings to be its instigator. You might think that Buchanan would have stopped using this sort of unrepentant rhetoric as his career moved from a Republican firebrand to a commentator on one of the nation's top cable news channels - but you'd be wrong. Buchanan has the sort of history that has earned him an entire page on the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) website. The ADL goes so far as to describe Buchanan as one who "publicly espouses racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-immigrant views." The site features a sampling of more than 2,000 of Buchanan's own words, but maybe more telling are the thoughts of the late conservative intellectual William Buckley, who was included in a Newsweek's article "Is Pat Buchanan Anti-Semitic:" Buchanan also wrote that if the United States went to war, the fighting would be done by "kids with names like McAllister, Murphy, Gonzales, and Leroy Brown." Buckley, in his usual opaque writing style, argues that this amounts to charging Jews with starting a war they wouldn't fight in a genuine slur against them. He adds: "I find it impossible to defend Pat Buchanan against the charge that what he did and said during the period under examination amounted to anti-Semitism, whatever it was that drove him to say and do it: most probably, an iconoclastic temperament." These are rough words coming from Buckley, who goes to great pains to distinguish between anti-Semitism and simply voicing criticism of Israel. It is hard to be surprised by a man who has written many columns concerning World War II revisionism, but this may be his worst yet. However, what may be most surprising is why Buchanan still has a job. Actually, there is a place on MSNBC where he may belong - you would have to ask Keith Olbermann about that one. More on MSNBC
 
James Rucker: Eleven More Companies Ditch Glenn Beck Top
Great news today -- 11 more sponsors have distanced themselves from Glenn Beck's television program , bringing the total to 57. Eleven new companies whose ads were recently seen during Beck's program--Binder & Binder, Capital One, The Dannon Company, Discover, HSBC, ICAN Benefit Group Insurance, Infiniti, Jelmar (manufacturer of CLR All-Purpose Cleaner), Jordan McKenna Debt Counseling Network, Mercedes-Benz and Simplex Healthcare (creator of the Diabetes Care Club) --have pledged to ColorOfChange.org to take steps to ensure that their ads don't run on Beck's show. Fifty-seven companies have now committed not to support Beck's show since ColorOfChange.org launched its campaign four weeks ago after the Fox News Channel host called President Obama a "racist" who "has a deep-seated hatred for white people" during an appearance on Fox & Friends. "We applaud those companies that have recently pulled their support from Beck," said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. "There are at least 57 companies who will not tolerate Beck's race-baiting comments and we will continue to reach out to those who are still supporting him." Over 173,000 members of ColorOfChange.org have signed a petition asking sponsors to stop advertising during Beck's show, and their efforts are paying off. Here are statements from the advertisers recently distancing themselves from Beck: In a phone conversation with ColorOfChange.org on Wednesday, Kathy Adkins, a Capital One spokesperson, confirmed that Capital One had instructed Fox News not to run the company's ads during Beck's program. "We don't plan on running any more ads on the Glenn Beck Show," said Adkins. "We have checked with our advertising area and have confirmed that a few ads ran on the Glen [sic] Beck Show as part of a FOX TV buy at the beginning of August," said Tommy Shi, Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Mercedes-Benz USA, in an email to ColorOfChange.org, "but no ads have run since on that show, nor are there plans to do so moving forward." "Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) considers its commitment to Diversity and Inclusion [sic] an integral part of its corporate culture and business strategy," Shi added. "We believe that MBUSA's success is dependent on embracing the various cultures, nationalities and convictions of our associates and market that translate into meeting consumer needs and expectations for relevant products and services." "Discover is committed to supporting a wide variety of programming that features a diversity of talent, topics and opinions," said Mai Lee Ua, Project Manager for Public Relations at Discover, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "Our current TV buys do not include any future airings on the Glenn Beck Show." Ua later added, "Our ads will not run during the show". "Infiniti has not placed any advertisements on this program for several weeks, and have no current plans to advertise on it in the future," said Kyle W. Bazemore, Senior Manager of Product Communications at Infiniti, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. Bazemore later confirmed, "We have indeed instructed Fox not to place our ads on this program at this time." "We ceased advertising on the program and have no future plans for advertising on it," said Cindy Savio, Vice-President of Public Affairs for HSBC-North America, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We have requested that they [Fox News] re-schedule the spots," said Dick Summer, Communications Director for Binder and Binder, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "Dannon doesn't plan to run any more ads on the program and we have informed the network of this," said Michael J. Neuwirth, Senior Director of Public Relations for The Dannon Company & Danone Waters of America, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We have contacted FOX News and demanded that our commercial not be run during the Glenn Beck show," said Keith J. Waring, a spokesperson for the Jordan McKenna Debt Counseling Network, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "Please be advised that as of 8/28 we have fully removed ourselves from advertising within the Glenn Beck Show," said Robyn Warren, a spokesperson for Koeppel Direct, the agency of record for Simplex Healthcare, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "Due to remnant buying that was in place, the lead time on pulling our advertising took longer but has been resolved." In a phone conversation with ColorOfChange.org on Monday, Dee Halloran, a spokesperson for ICAN Benefit Group, confirmed their request that Fox News not allow the company's ads to air during Glenn Beck's show. "Jelmar typically cannot target specific shows or programming, and did not have a media buy specifically in place for Glenn Beck," said Adrienne Gibbons, Marketing Director for Jelmar, in an email to ColorOfChange.org. "We have chosen at this time to ask that FOX News keep our advertising from this program." We will continue to monitor Beck's show, contacting companies that advertise there and making sure that no companies resume their sponsorship of his show. Thank you for all your support -- we couldn't do it without you. More on Glenn Beck
 
David Jones: Keep Sick Workers Home for All Our Sakes Top
Some years ago, the Community Service Society (CSS) issued a report, Shortchanging Security , on the working conditions for non-unionized security guards in New York City. We found that working conditions were pretty bleak; 63,000 mostly Black and Latino men got around $10.00 an hour, with no benefits, no vacation days, and, specific to my blog today, no paid sick days. I got to meet with nearly a dozen of the 75 security guards who work at the Empire State Building. We talked about their working conditions and low pay. One of the things that struck me then and now, as we approach another anniversary of 9/11, is that these are the very first responders that we would have to rely on in event of another attack, or a high rise fire, or a sudden heart attack, or even being stuck in an elevator. With those potential responsibilities, not one of them was receiving paid sick days. It means that all too often they had to go to work even when they were very sick. Because if you call in sick, you lose a day's pay and you can legitimately be concerned with losing your job. All I could imagine was being stuck in an elevator in the Empire State Building, depending upon a security guard, possibly very ill, underpaid, and not well trained to handle an emergency. It's not only security guards who don't get paid sick leave. An estimated 1 million to 1.5 million New York City workers lack paid sick leave. They are overwhelmingly low-wage workers of color in service industries, particularly security guards, restaurant workers, clerks in stores, and child care workers. That's why when we were approached a few weeks ago to help promote the passage of a City Council bill, Intro 1059, "Provision of Paid Sick Time Earned by Employees," which would mandate paid sick leave for all New York City workers, it took all of 60 seconds for us to sign up. The bill was introduced by Council Member Gale Brewer and Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and co-sponsored by 36 members of the City Council. This legislation is precisely aligned to CSS's mission and history of assisting the poor, particularly the working poor, to make it in the City of New York. Paid sick leave represents one of the most basic and cost effective benefits imaginable. Of course, the timing couldn't seem to be worse. Unemployment has skyrocketed in the city, very likely to reach 10 percent. The number of people unemployed (not including those who've just given up looking for work) is over 400,000. Employers are looking for some improvement in profits, not new and costly employee mandates. Interestingly enough, this turns out to be the perfect time, both from the perspective of the employees, employers and, perhaps most significantly, the general public, to support the measure. For employers at least this turns out to be a very low cost benefit and may in fact save money. A number of localities - San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee - have already passed a paid sick leave law and the early indications are it doesn't do any financial harm to businesses large or small. That's because most people don't make use of the benefit unless they or their children are really sick. It also seems to be understood by employers that they don't want workers coming in sick, particularly with infectious diseases that can spread and get their staff or customers sick. It's this last issue that makes this bill critical for New York City. No one who is even half awake cannot be aware that the Swine Flu Pandemic is projected to hit the U.S. hard in the coming months. According to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, as much as half of the population of the U.S. is expected to be infected (some 150 million people) and as many as 90,000 deaths are projected. Transmission of the virus is a New York City nightmare - sneezing, contaminated food, door knobs, subway poles, you name it, are all prime vectors. Every mayor, including Mayor Bloomberg, is saying if you or your child is sick - stay home! In New York City, of course, for the million or more workers without sick leave, that's often not an option if they want to pay the rent. CSS will soon be releasing its latest survey of low-income New Yorkers, "The Unheard Third," based on a July telephone survey conducted with over a thousand respondents. One of the more sobering findings is the extraordinarily high number of workers without sick leave who go to work ill rather than risk losing a day's pay or their jobs. If ever there was a time to pass a paid sick leave bill for the city, this is it.
 
William Bradley: Why The Kennedy Eulogies Struck the Right Tone Top
President Barack Obama's complete eulogy for Ted Kennedy. The eulogies this past weekend for Senator Ted Kennedy provided the late senator a wonderful send-off, one that would undoubtedly have pleased him. Undoubtedly, in that he planned most of the proceedings himself. While he didn't write his eulogists' speeches for them, he can't help but have had a very good idea of what they would say. And what they presented was a picture of a man who was a staunch Democrat, "the soul of the Democratic Party," as President Barack Obama put it, a most imperfect man who was nonetheless a great man of family, and a man of the Senate. Or, perhaps more accurately, a man of the old Senate. Kennedy came to the Senate as a very young man of 30, in 1962. He remained there until his death last week, a span of some 47 years in which this last of the fabled Kennedy brothers was expected to seek and probably win the presidency, yet nonetheless was most at home where he was. His brothers, John and Robert, saw the Senate as a high-profile way station, a platform from which to mount powerful bids for the ultimate in national executive power. Ted Kennedy, a more collegial personality as most who were the youngest children in their families usually are, found it to be not only a platform for raising and promoting one's national profile, but also a forum in which national policy was there to be forged. Gary Hart, who I first met in 1978, was elected to the Senate in 1974. I remember him describing the Senate he entered -- as distinguished from the Senate of the 1980s, already becoming a harsher and more hyperpartisan place -- as one of a certain collegiality and gentlemanliness, with a measured pace, a place in which one could fight strong partisan battles and yet have reasonable discussions with one's foes. That was in part due to the tradition of the place -- who here can still remember when the Senate was known as "the world's greatest deliberative body?" -- and in part to the ways of its leader. Vice President Joe Biden remembered Ted Kennedy during the wake at the John F. Kennedy Library. Montana Senator Mike Mansfield, almost certainly the only major Democratic politician ever to have served in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, and an early critic of the Vietnam War, was Senate majority leader from 1961 to 1977, the longest tenure in the Senate's history. He welcomed the freshman Hart, as he had the freshman Joe Biden, and the freshman Ted Kennedy before him, and put them all to work. Kennedy found his political home in this environment. More the doctrinaire liberal than either John or Robert Kennedy, he spoke passionately and fought strongly for the partisan causes that came to define the Democratic Party. But he focused not only on the fight, but on the result, keeping lines of communication to Republicans open and compromising to find the deal when he felt that the fight was becoming for naught. As a result, Ted Kennedy made a large and lasting imprint on the fabric of America. From his perch on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he once chaired and where he served longer than anyone else in history, he shaped the judicial system. Through his chairmanship of Senate committees on labor, education, and health issues, and through sheer assertiveness, determination, and skill as a sort of senator at large, Kennedy played a critical role in developing education, housing, and health care opportunities, advancing the civil rights of women, minorities, gays, immigrants, and the disabled, and promoting human rights and arms control while opposing unwise intervention around the world. Through it all, he developed many lasting relationships with colleagues. Last Saturday, you may have seen the white-haired man in the wheelchair, waving his little American flag and crying as he waited in the sun at the U.S. Capitol for the last Kennedy motorcade to arrive for a final farewell before moving on to Arlington. That was 91-year old Robert Byrd, a one-time Klansman from West Virginia, who at first had little in common with Ted Kennedy. That was especially so when he ran against Kennedy and unseated him as Senate majority whip, a post Kennedy held from 1969 to 1971. Byrd remains in the Senate, and is its president pro tem, having earlier succeeded Mansfield as Senate majority leader. Only Byrd and South Carolina's Strom Thurmond have served longer in the Senate than Ted Kennedy. John McCain, Kennedy's frequent antagonist and not infrequent ally, remembered his friend. They had little in common, the staunch segregationist and the civil rights champion and clashed repeatedly, but Kennedy kept the lines of communication open and forged an alliance and a lasting friendship. That's what Joe Biden, also a man of the old Senate, was getting at in both his tearful reaction last week to Kennedy's death and his speech at Friday night's wake for Ted Kennedy at the John F. Kennedy Library. It wasn't that Kennedy was a soft touch. He played the hardest of hardball at times, setting in motion the downfall of Richard Nixon -- some observers say Kennedy came to regret not cutting a national health care deal with Nixon -- by engineering the appointment of his close associate Archibald Cox as Watergate special prosecutor and spearheading the defeat of hard right jurist Robert Bork's nomination for the Supreme Court. But he used, in geopolitical parlance, hard power and soft power in order to achieve his aims. As Obama, who might well not have become president had Kennedy not come out so strongly for him in the primaries, put it in his well-crafted eulogy at Mission Church in Boston: "We can still hear his voice bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fist pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature, in support of health care or workers' rights or civil rights. And yet, while his causes became deeply personal, his disagreements never did. While he was seen by his fiercest critics as a partisan lightning rod, that is not the prism through which Ted Kennedy saw the world, nor was it the prism through which his colleagues saw him. He was a product of an age when the joy and nobility of politics prevented differences of party and philosophy from becoming barriers to cooperation and mutual respect - a time when adversaries still saw each other as patriots. "And that's how Ted Kennedy became the greatest legislator of our time. He did it by hewing to principle, but also by seeking compromise and common cause - not through deal-making and horse-trading alone, but through friendship, and kindness, and humor." The other eulogies, at both the wake and the funeral, were quite something as well. Among them ... Biden, of course, a very young 66-year old, describing himself as a kid brother to Kennedy. John McCain, the frequent fierce foe and sometime fervent ally. Old Harvard and Senate pal John Culver, presenting the most amusingly awful yet enjoyable of sailing races. Ted Kennedy, Jr., joined by his brother, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, gave perhaps the most moving of eulogies to his father. Massachusetts colleague John Kerry, whom Kennedy helped propel to the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, on his constant need to scale up to Kennedy's achievements. Son Ted, Jr., for whom I helped advance an event during his father's presidential campaign at which the then teenager already showed flashes of the great speaking ability on display at his father's funeral, movingly describing how his father helped him learn he really could make his way even after losing a leg to cancer at the age of 12. Ted Kennedy was a quite imperfect man, as we all know, yet did amazing things in his professional, private, and family lives. He was a man whose life was forged in a different time yet continued to be a force in this time. But he had the advantage of already being well-established and, yes, a Kennedy, in his case, the Kennedy. The meta-message of the Kennedy eulogies, which were very well received, is that it's best to be both a passionate partisan and a powerful conciliator. We've already seen the absence of Kennedy's force and focus in this year's dispirited and bizarre "debate" over health care reform, which eulogists were wise not to focus on particularly in favor of celebrating the man and his method. But is it possible now to promote both principled partisanship and reasoned conciliation (by which I do not mean simply splitting the difference in a simulacrum of centrism)? We live in a moment of hyperpartisan politics and hyperactive media, in which nuance and rational debate are usually among the first casualties. These things militate against what the Kennedy eulogies celebrated. Whether or not the qualities on display in so much of Ted Kennedy's life can now be applied to the public arena may be the central question with regard to political progress in this country. More on Joe Biden
 
Dan Trepanier: Esquire Picks 'Best Dressed Real Man In America' (VIDEO) Top
On Wednesday's "Today Show," Esquire's fashion director Nick Sullivan introduced the five finalists of their annual "Best Dressed Real Man in America" contest, and announced the winner: 22-year-old Columbia student Dan Trepanier, who draws inspiration from "The Great Gatsby" and his mom. He's also has his own blog , where he shares useful tips like these: Tip-of-the-Day: Just Say No The saying goes "never say never", but I'm saying it here. Never buy something that is not your size just because it's on sale. You will always regret doing this because it won't fit you properly, and as we all know by now, a good fit is key to looking your best. The one exception is shoes. You can usually give or take a half size, and maybe even a full size if you REALLY want them, just make you are not limping home. Yours in style, Style Blogger. WATCH : Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy Follow HuffPost Style on Twitter and become a fan of HuffPost Style on Facebook ! More on Video
 
Barton Kunstler, Ph.D.: Time for Obama to Fight Anti-Reform Lunacy with Tactics that Work Top
The battle over President Obama's health care initiative has been noteworthy for its opponents' frenzied rhetoric. Of course people may reasonably disagree on the plan or simply oppose it. But outlandish and deceptive language does more than distort. It pushes the negotiated "center" much farther to the right and focuses media attention on a disproportionately noisy opposition. It also makes the less blatant deceptions of Republican legislators, which have been legion in the debate, seem reasonable by comparison. This is a special type of American fanaticism. Unless we appreciate its virulence, proponents of progressive reform will continually underestimate its role in determining public policy. In the health care debate, the presence of an extreme right wing enables establishment interests opposed to reform to define their own intransigent opposition as the "reasonable center". This provides a cover for the self-interest and disinformation that these corporations, lobbyists, and major news outlets have been promoting because they seem reasonable in comparison to the extremist positions that garner so much media attention. This fanaticism has deep roots in American history, but since World War II it has been brought to a fine boil in large part due to: 1) The reaction to integration and abortion rights. The former drove many whites to pull their children from public schools and to see the federal government as violating their most devoutly tended social pathologies. The United States is less racist now than it was in the 1950s and 1960s and it may be hard to imagine how virulent were yesterday's segregationists, born and raised in Jim Crow America. For them, segregation defined social and kinship bonds, privilege and status, honor and belonging,and racial separation was seen as one of God's core principles. The new segregated schools became hotbeds of an American fundamentalism that, even if some members abandoned their racist legacy, transferred its passion and resentment to other political battlefields, especially abortion and gay rights. The fantastical rhetoric, coded language, vicious personal attacks, and self-righteous paranoia evident in the health care debate were cultivated in response to integration, abortion, and gay rights. And that frothing frenzy is there to be used again, the next time it is deemed useful. 2) Right wing media noise. Since Ronald Reagan's presidency, the transfer of wealth to the richest Americans has funded a rabid right-wing presence in the mainstream media. It's an old tactic: use the extreme right to oppose liberal initiatives while pushing the "center" farther right. That's why moderately conservative democrats like Bill Clinton or the Barack Obama we've seen as president can be defined as committed liberals. For example, when Obama suggested income taxes for the wealthy far lower than we had under Republican President Eisenhower in the 1950s (maximum rate - 87%!) or even those of Reagan's 1981 Economic Recovery Tax (maximum rate 50%), he was called a communist. The Rush Limbaughs and other purveyors of hate are mere tools whose bosses point them at a target so they can open the taps of vitriol and fear. 3) Tough economic times and eight years of war. Insecurity and hopelessness fuel fear and paranoia. The veneer of civilization is thin and crisis and distress peel it off like bad paint. In today's America, as it peels, the first things uncovered are the paranoid demonologies that have been brought to a boil in American reactionism over the past five decades. The crazy thing is, times are tough in part because of the cost of health care. It's not just those without coverage who suffer, but those with coverage whose costs are rising while coverage is trimmed back. The health care system itself is under tremendous stress and is woefully inadequate in many parts of the country. The Obama administration adopted an instant position of compromise while mildly reproving protesters for being overly negative. Norman Ornstein in The Washington Post (9/1) makes a thoughtful argument that Obama and his staff are skilfully navigating the political mine-fields of health care reform. They are willing to yield some tactical points while shepherding a bill through rounds of negotiation that will eventually result in a decent law. Perhaps this is true. I'm not so sure. I think the nation needs a direct, forceful message that meets the extremists' fervor head-on. The President and Congressional leaders must fight for something, not simply settle. Neither the sunny language of the campaign trail nor the cautious rhetoric that treats lunacy as a reasonable point of view, will do the trick. The only way to counteract irrational, overwrought belief is with a narrative of equal power. You may not convince your most rabid opponents, but you can rally your own forces and win over the undecided. I would like to see the President and proponents of reform: 1) Depict the short-falls of the current system. Speak directly to the working people whose coverage has been cut and lost, whose expenses are rising. Already we have only a portion of the health insurance our unionized parents and grandparents had, at a much higher cost. Let the American people know that the health plan is about the vast majority of us. 2) Make the economic case. The costs of timely, thorough medical care are offset by the savings achieved by maintaining good health, treating illness before it worsens, reducing absenteeism at work, improving children's performance at school, etc. 3) Act like a majority party. The Blue Dog Democrats, if they want the benefits of belonging to the majority party, need to at least cooperate in moving the bill along and raising the level of debate. If they become merely obstructionist, they need to realize that within the bounds of party politics, they will pay a price in election funding or in Party support of primary challengers. However they vote, they should play a constructive role in moving the plan towards a vote. Use the legislative process to counter Republican threats of a filibuster. 4) Use terse, firm language to counteract the fear-mongers without getting caught up in charges and counter-charges. Clearly lay out how opponents are distorting the debate. 5) Use the numbers. Advertise them. Repeat them over and over. Whether it's the 70% who support a plan, the millions of working Americans losing coverage, the fact that 85% of those without coverage are working citizens, etc., pound away at those numbers and make it clear to the American people that those numbers include them . 6) Appeal to a vision of America as a nation whose mission - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - speak to its ability to provide a decent life for all its citizens. One needn't stoop to the reactionaries' level, but political softball won't work either. We need to challenge the basic assumptions behind the well-funded lies and well-fanned fears that have influenced the debate thus far. Publicly revealing the vested interests of many of the corporations, lobbyists, and politicians who oppose a plan may be politically impossible for the President. However, if he can neutralize those interests' shock troops while making a compelling, moving case in favor of reform, the opposition will have to elevate its own arguments and we all will benefit. The President's case must be as clear, moving, and unrelenting in its commitment to a postive vision of America as the fanatics' rants are in their commitment to destroying the Obama presidency and resisting any attempts by government to ameliorate the pain and suffering of American citizens. If the President can achieve that, he will not be the only winner in the health care debate - the vast majority of Americans will be as well. More on Health Care
 
George Allen Could Make Comeback In Virginia: Poll Top
Public Policy Polling releases a fascinating survey of the Virginia electorate, one that gives former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), defeated in a razor-thin 2006 re-election bid, a solid 50 percent approval rating, with 38 percent disapproving. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) is at 47-40. More on GOP
 
Nadler: Article On Obama Dropping Public Option "Better Be Wrong" Top
"It had better be wrong." That was the response of Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) to Wednesday's Politico story that the Obama White House, as it retools its strategy for health care reform, has no intention of fighting for the inclusion of a public option that would offer government-run health insurance to companies and people who can't obtain affordable coverage elsewhere. And Jacob Hacker, a health policy expert who can be called the godfather of the public option, says, "The White House...has to be told in no uncertain terms that dropping the public plan is stupid and premature."
 
Cute/Ridiculous Animal Thing Of The Day: Puppy Can't Get Up (VIDEO) Top
Via Buzzfeed comes this amazing video of a tiny puppy rocking back and forth either in glee or a vain attempt to be right-side up. We want to hug him. WATCH: Get HuffPost Comedy On Facebook and Twitter! More on Cute Animal Videos
 
Barbara J. Nelson: Ted Kennedy and Susan B. Anthony: The Curtain Falls Before the Play is Finished Top
Edward Moore--Teddy--Kennedy was compared to many great men as he was laid to rest, most notably his brothers, President John Kennedy and Senator Robert Kennedy. Unlike his brothers, Ted received the gift of more than his Biblical three score and ten years. He used that time to pursue "the cause of his life"--quality health care for all. Few would think to compare him to Susan B. Anthony, the great pioneer for votes for women, but their lives paralleled each others', a century apart, in startling ways. Most notably, they both worked their entire lives for a cause whose final success they did not live to see. The curtain fell on their mortal days before the last act of their professional play was completed. As Senator Ted Kennedy lies quietly at Arlington National Cemetery, more than a dozen health care reform bills rattle around the Senate and the House. President Barack Obama has planted his political flag on good health care for all, but it is not clear he has sufficient troops to follow that flag to victory. Few outside the beltway can give the TV Guide summary of the options. Achieving this goal will take policy clarity and passionate leadership. Like Susan B. Anthony, Ted Kennedy was willing to move toward his goals piecemeal. Legislation for greater health care coverage came in many forms. He championed better mental health, sponsored COBRA (the ability to keep your health insurance--if you can pay for it--after losing your job), supported the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIPS), encouraged expansion of Medicaid to children with special needs, and tried, under Republican as well as Democratic presidents, to craft legislation that would make health insurance available to all, in the hope that universal health insurance would bring access to health care for everyone. Susan B. Anthony, the great American suffrage pioneer, was born just over a century before Ted Kennedy. She too had a life's cause, what was then called "woman" suffrage. She spent over 50 years pursuing this cause, helping, in the process, to invent the mass petition as a form of civic engagement. In her prime, she gave 150 speeches per year, traveling by buckboard or carriage over rutted roads before the invention and availability of train travel. A devoted abolitionist, she supported voting rights for all freed slaves, men and women, hoping, unrealistically but nobly, that such rights would be the first step to universal suffrage. In 1878, Anthony promoted the first Congressional bill to give women national suffrage, certain it would fail, but believing strongly in the strategy of national legislation. When she died in 1906, women had won the vote in only 4 of 45 states. It was not until the Tennessee legislature ratified the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1920 that all American women nominally had the right to vote, although women of color, especially Black women in the South, confronted the prejudice and hatred that also blocked their men folk from the voting booth. Both Kennedy and Anthony were flawed. Their limits reflected the cultures in which they lived. Although a great supporter of women's rights in legislation, Kennedy's personal life through middle age showed disregard for women as equals. Advancing age, changing mores, responsibility for his and his brothers' children, and his happy marriage to Vicki changed his behavior, and, one imagines, his beliefs. But as a young man, he was doubtlessly a "boyo," a bit of a lad. He could easily have worked for the fictional Sterling Cooper ad agency in the TV show Mad Men , as a hard-drinking rogue perpetually in trouble, some of it profoundly serious. Anthony's faults reflected her time as well. When the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution enfranchised only male former slaves, she changed tactics. Publicly, she wondered why unlettered freedmen and immigrant men could vote, but educated women, virtually of whom were white at the time, could not? Yet Anthony did not support a state-by-state approach to woman suffrage, knowing its limits to women formerly in bondage, as well as believing it would take too long. They were imperfect, Ted Kennedy and Susan B. Anthony. But, even imperfect, they gave their lives unstintingly to a more inclusive, more just world. At a point in history characterized by instant messaging and term limits, the length of their efforts reminds us of the real pace of great social change. Therefore, we should remember the best of them in their own words. As Ted Kennedy said, "...the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." As Susan B. Anthony said, "Failure is impossible." Only their heirs, the citizens of America, can make it so. More on Ted Kennedy
 
James Sims: American Masters Toasts Dalton Trumbo Top
There's a scene in the 1960 film Spartacus that captures the mindset of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo -- a man that had just suffered years of persecution after being listed as one of the Hollywood Ten. Defeated by the Romans, Spartacus and his rebel army's lives are threatened unless they give up their fearless leader. With not a moment of hesitation the entire slave army leaps to their feet and bellows "I'm Spartacus." Kirk Douglas' character slowly bows his head, seemingly overwhelmed with emotion. His brotherhood would risk torture and ultimately death just so that Spartacus isn't singled out. Sadly, such solidarity was a mere Hollywood construct. This ideal was something that Trumbo would never find in real life. In 1947 Trumbo was one of ten Hollywood writers and directors jailed for refusing to give information to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). The government agency was on a mission to expose communists in America. Hollywood became a clear target. Rather than stand as one, some in the creative community decided to single their comrades out when asked to name names. This is by no means an untold story, yet in the latest episode of Thirteen's American Masters , airing this week on PBS affiliates, Dalton Trumbo is the center of attention. Directed by Peter Askin, Trumbo depicts the life of a prolific writer marred by Hollywood's blacklist. Theatergoers might recognize this premise, as the film is adapted from the 2003 play written by Christopher Trumbo -- Dalton's son. Much of the story is based on the writer's own words and is told through readings of Trumbo's letters and old interviews. As author Richard Fried wrote in his book Nightmare In Red : "Some actors flirted with communism, but the screenwriters, Hollywood's intelligentsia, were primarily the ones who joined the Party." Fried writes that almost half of the communists in Hollywood were screenwriters. But, as Trumbo jokingly points out in one interview clip, communists in this country weren't as dangerous as the Elks, and didn't have as many guns. Trumbo was quick witted. Much of this American Masters episode focuses on Trumbo's life after the HUAC trial, but it also provides a look at Trumbo the family man. Old home movies and family photographs are used throughout the program, as are interviews with his son and daughter, Mitzi Trumbo. One touching moment comes as a letter Trumbo wrote to his daughter's schoolteacher is read aloud. Always the wordsmith, he eloquently lambasted the wretch for devastating his young girl. Presumably his daughter was scared after the school's PTA held "secret" meetings about her father's ties to communism. It was one thing for Hollywood to hurt his career, but he refused to let his family get sucked into the mess. A top-notch group of actors take turns reading Trumbo's letters throughout this episode including Michael Douglas, Donald Sutherland and Joan Allen. Standing out from the pack is David Strathairn as he re-enacts Trumbo's WGA Laurel Award acceptance speech. Shot against a black backdrop, he sets the tone for this engrossing production as he says, "The blacklist was a time of evil and that no one on either side who survived it came through untouched by evil." Some in Hollywood haven't forgotten the treachery of those that gave up names to HUAC. Director Elia Kazan was one of Trumbo's so-called "friends" that buckled under pressure. When Kazan received a lifetime achievement award at the 71st Annual Academy Awards some in the audience refused to applaud. Nick Nolte, Ed Harris and Richard Dreyfuss were among the ones that remained seated. Trumbo is a reminder that logic does not always factor into the public consciousness. Fear and hatred often beat out such ideals as fairness and equality. One only need to turn on the nightly news and catch highlights from the latest health care town hall meetings to understand this situation. At one point Trumbo pictured a time when someone might be called to the stand and asked, "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Democratic Party?" Imagine if media vultures like Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh had the airwaves during Trumbo's travails. They would surely be preaching in favor of Senator Joseph McCarthy - the face of evil during America's red scare. Trumbo survived the blacklist, as did many other marked writers, mostly by writing screenplays under pseudonyms. Names like Ian Hunter ( Roman Holiday ), Millard Kaufman ( Gun Crazy ) and Robert Rich ( The Brave One ) allowed Trumbo to make a living. Then, in 1960 both Otto Preminger and Kirk Douglas came to the rescue and put his real name on their films, Exodus and Spartacus. They proved to be his true rebel army, standing up to the Romans and shouting, "I'm Dalton Trumbo."
 
Yoani Sanchez: Another School Year Starts, But There Is No New Beginning for Cuba Top
August left us exhausted, after a very wet June and a blisteringly hot July, The power consumption rises and in order to sleep we lie in front of the fan that lulls us, throughout the night, with its hum. The heat brings on intolerance and critics arise on every corner. Those "from up there" know this well and they also fear the eighth month of the year. Because of this they open kiosks with cheap rum in the most populated neighborhoods and avoid cutting off the electricity in the troubled areas of the city. In any event, the tension is palpable in the air, nor only because of the temperature but because of the crisis that aggravated the fears and hardships. I have been counting the days until the end of August, hoping that with its end we will also find some relief. With this feeling of fullness September started with its routines. My son left early for school and mid-morning I asked myself the same question as last year, how to find something to take him for lunch. The teacher announced that those mobilized at the schools in the countryside will return, over the gradual extinction of that program, and now the classrooms will have forty students because there are not enough teachers. Public transport is also more complicated for a couple of days while all the students and workers return from their vacations. Fortunately, no hurricane has hit at the beginning of the month, as Ike and Gustav did a year ago. All the postponed projects should be launched this September, including those new measures announced, but not accomplished, during the last session of the National Assembly. Our politicians should apply themselves like our students, sharpening the points of their pencils, drawing lines in their notebooks, and setting to work to find solutions to the mountain of problems surrounding us. It's too bad they know ahead of time that they won't have to sit for tests, that they won't be graded as poor, average or good, with a vote left in the ballot box. What a pity that we can't take the red pencil of disapproval and make a huge X on their term paper about their administrative management. So, they have promoted themselves year after year, starting each September in a class from which no one has the right to suspend them. * September has also brought me some surprises. Since last Friday it is impossible to connected to Voces Cubanas from the Island. They have applied to it the same slow filter they use to block the connection to desdecuba.com for users in Cuba with very slow speed Internet connections. Yoani's blog, Generation Y , can be read here in English translation. More on Cuba
 
Maria Sharapova's U.S. Open Dress: Hit Or Miss? (PHOTOS, POLL) Top
Maria Sharapova showed up at the U.S. Open yesterday ready to play some serious tennis and sporting some serious style. The 29-seed player was clad in a black Nike mini-dress with silver crisscrossed stripes, a silver headband and simple sneakers...and $1000 diamond earrings made for her by architect Frank Gehry and Tiffany & Co. Is her outfit too glam for the courts? Or is this a style win? Vote: Follow HuffPost Style on Twitter and become a fan of HuffPost Style on Facebook ! More on Photo Galleries
 
Sabria Jawhar: Saudis Struggle With How to Treat Pre-Islamic Artifacts Unearthed in Saudi Arabia Top
Last year a Saudi/French archeological team made a major discovery at Madain Saleh. Pottery and metal and wooden tools were unearthed at Al Diwan and at Ethlib mountain. The discoveries at Madain Saleh pose something of a dilemma for Saudis. We Saudis are not particularly eager to look for pre-Islamic artifacts. There's a prevailing opinion among the conservatives that items not Islamic belong in the ground because displaying them risks a tacit endorsement of the culture or religion the artifacts represent. We have a habit sealing off ancient sites from public view whether they are Islamic or non-Islamic. We have been known to neglect or destroy them. Saudis don't want to run the risk of turning a site into a place of idolatry. As a rule we minimize the publicity of such discoveries. But as with most things, Saudis can't stop progress. And today there is a significant and successful campaign to develop an economically viable tourism industry that will create jobs and stimulate the economy, particularly in rural areas. Add to that is the fact that Madain Saleh was named in 2008 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Madain Saleh is now open to visitors. The Saudi Commission on Tourism and Antiquities, under Secretary General Sultan Bin Salman, and the National French Research Center are continuing excavation efforts. An American team also is participating. The teams are restoring what has been found and electronic software is being used to record the excavation and restoration efforts. The work is continuing and it's certain that more items will be unearthed. Once the Saudi government finds its footing in establishing a consistent tourism program and becomes more flexible in granting visas to Muslims and non-Muslims to visit the Kingdom, Madain Saleh should become a key component in developing a thriving tourism sector. But offering Madain Saleh as a tourism stop is not a problem. It was first inhabited by the people of Thamud who are mentioned prominently in the Qur'an. But what of the non-Muslim sites? Like most Saudis, I know little of pre-Islamic sites, although occasionally amateur archeologists come across such places. Frankly, it's gross negligence to destroy or hide these discoveries. The government in recent years has taken positive steps to recover and catalog artifacts, but there's a disagreement with what to do with them once they are found. It's right that churches are not permitted in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques. But what's less certain is whether crucifixes, if found, should be destroyed or hidden. More precisely is the issue of whether Christian or Jewish artifacts can be displayed in the proper context in a Saudi museum as an acknowledgment of a people who called pre-Islamic Arabia their home. My guess is that most Saudis will say no. Many Saudis believe there is no place in the Kingdom for such relics. The Associated Press the other day reported that Sheikh Mohammed Al Nujaimi said non-Muslim artifacts "should be left in the ground." He said that Muslims would not tolerate the display of non-Muslim religious symbols. "How can crosses be displayed when Islam doesn't recognize that Christ was crucified?" he said. "If we display them, it's as if we recognize the crucifixion." Most Saudis probably agree, although the argument can be made that displaying an ancient cross doesn't necessarily recognize that Christ was crucified but only acknowledges a previous non-Muslim civilization. Religious symbols aside, there is a precedent in showcasing pre-Islamic items. The museum in Riyadh has a number of pre-Islamic statues. And Riyadh's King Saudi University has similar items. This is a sensitive time for Saudi Arabia. We have made tentative steps with the international community by promoting inter-faith dialogue. We have been diligent in sending young university students to other countries where they learn of other cultures. We are throwing open the doors of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology to the world's best researchers and scientists. Developing a policy to deal with non-Muslim antiquities is a logical step towards continuing to bridge cultural gaps. Perhaps displays of such artifacts are not the solution, but it's not unthinkable. More on Saudi Arabia
 
Esther N. Schulman, Eli's Cheesecake Matriarch, Dies At 91 Top
As comfortable with celebrities and politicians as with her own grandchildren, Esther N. Schulman proved a dynamic businesswoman after the 1988 death of her husband, Eli Schulman, of restaurant and cheesecake fame. Mrs. Schulman, 91, died Monday, Aug. 31, in her Chicago home after a long illness. More on Food
 
Leo W. Gerard: Fomenting a Green Industrial Revolution in the U.S. Top
When the leaders of the G-20 nations arrive in Pittsburgh, I want them to know I am fomenting revolution. Industrial revolution. Specifically, a 21st-century burgeoning of green manufacturing in the United States. Americans going green -- manufacturing windmills and solar cells -- would benefit the whole world's economy and environment. Restoring manufacturing would rebuild the U.S. economy. And a strong United States is essential because countries in the old world, such as Germany, and those in the developing world, such as China, depend on Americans to buy their exports. For years, during every G-20 meeting, workers took to the streets to protest free trade, and they'll resurface along Liberty Avenue on Sept. 24 and 25 as American workers demand fair trade. But at each successive gathering of the G-20, the United States has produced fewer and fewer goods to exchange. Over the past decade, 40,000 manufacturing facilities across the United States have closed. Since the recession began in December 2007, 2 million U.S. manufacturing workers lost their jobs, making their unemployment rate 12.4 percent. Those who found new jobs got lower pay, according to studies by the Economic Policy Institute. This is a topsy turvy world for those who recall the nation's flourishing factories during the 1950s and 1960s. Just after World War II, the rebuilding of Europe and Japan generated demand for U.S. exports. The United States ran a trade surplus that amounted to about 1 percent of gross domestic product. In the 1970s, however, that flipped. Now, each year the United States imports hundreds of millions of dollars more in commodities -- mostly manufactured goods -- than it exports. As a result, the United States has accumulated a trade deficit over that period of more than $7 trillion. This is all just fine with countries like China, Japan and Germany that base their economies on building goods for export. Their factories are humming; their citizens are working and saving. By contrast, U.S. factories are closing; our citizens are borrowing on credit cards and against the value of their homes to buy imported products. And the U.S. government is indebting itself to China to cover its trade shortfall. It's an unsustainable debt cycle. A sign of its fragility appeared this spring in the form of a slashed annual trade deficit. For 2006, before the recession, the deficit was $800 billion, representing roughly 6 percent of GDP . This year, if the rate remains as it was in the first quarter during the depths of the Great Recession, it will be $400 billion. That collapse occurred because high U.S. unemployment begat low consumer spending, which begat low import demand. Americans locking their wallets touched countries worldwide. Factories closed across China. Japan's economy contracted more rapidly than it had since the 1970s. Germany ran up a $24 billion budget deficit in the first half of this year, contrasting sharply with the $7 billion surplus it netted for the same period last year. An industrial revolution in the United States is the solution. There are two key components. One is that the U.S. must manufacture commodities of international value to export to reduce its trade deficit. The second is that factories must provide good jobs for workers whose paychecks enable them to support their communities and to buy both domestic and imported goods. To spur an industrial revolution -- and to save the American economy -- the U.S. government must begin observing free trade the same way the rest of the world does. Here's a good example: Both the United States and China want to export renewable energy products. China is doubling down on its investment -- even if it violates free trade agreements to do so. Its largest solar-panel manufacturer, Suntech Power Holdings, told The New York Times recently that it was selling its panels in the United States for less than the cost of materials, assembly and shipping. They can do that because Chinese companies receive massive government support, including low-interest loans, cheap electricity, free land and grants for research and development. Although China appears to be illegally dumping its panels on the U.S. market, it's not going to stop. So there's no point in the United States playing patsy and allowing more American industrial bankruptcies. The United States needs a coordinated industrial policy like every other major First-World country to direct development. Focusing on green-energy development is the way to go -- to create jobs, clean the environment and reduce reliance on imported oil. President Barack Obama's administration recently expressed interest in establishing a national manufacturing policy. A leading candidate to head the effort is a former Lazard Ltd. investment banker and former United Steelworkers financial expert named Ron Bloom. This could produce a blossoming of new American plants, which could, in turn, nurture all G-20 nations. More on G-20 Summit
 
Carrie Bradshaw's 'Sex And The City 2' Clothes: Love 'Em Or Leave 'Em? (PHOTOS, POLL) Top
The filming of the 'Sex And The City' sequel is in full swing, and it looks like Carrie Bradshaw's clothes won't disappoint this time around either. See the three looks that have been snapped so far, and tell what you think. Follow HuffPost Style on Twitter and become a fan of HuffPost Style on Facebook ! More on Photo Galleries
 
Loretta Napoleoni: Dictatorship Italian Style Top
On September 1st the Italian award-winning air acrobatics team, Frecce Tricolore, will spread their wings in Tripoli, Libya, during the commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Ghaddafi's coup. This is a small gesture of appreciation from Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to his new friend, the Libyan dictator. The two men have a lot in common, including their lust for young and beautiful women and their ability to remain in power against all odds. Berlusconi's popularity springs from a skillful manipulation of the Italian media. He owns Mondadori, the biggest publishing company in Italy and the Mediaset broadcasting network. As Prime Minister he also exercises a tremendous influence over RAI, the state-owned broadcaster. That amounts to about 80% of the Italian media. According to reporters Sans Frontieres , "in Europe, similar conglomerates control considerable shares of the media, for example Bertelsmann and Kirch in Germany and Rupert Murdoch's empire in the United Kingdom. But the combination of media and political power is unique in a democratic country." For Italians reality is not what actually happens but what they watch on the TV channels or read in the newspapers owned by the Prime Minister. Thus, Berlusconi has the ability to alter reality, a power that usually only dictators possess. For example, Italians have no idea that the survivors of the earthquake in Abruzzo are still living in pitiful conditions. They believe that Berlusconi -- who in July hosted the G8 meeting in Aquila, the capital of the region -- has already rebuilt the towns. "All they see is the Prime Minister in Abruzzo surrounded by smiling people. Nobody reports that the government is cutting corners everywhere because they have no money and they mismanage the funds coming from abroad," confesses Ms. Segre, a volunteer for the Green Cross who has spent the month of August in Aquila. "Last week nobody reported that a riot had erupted inside the rugby field at Aquila, where many families still live in tents. When they realized that 18 chemical toilets were been removed, the people's anger exploded." The toilets cost 80 Euros per day each, too much to sustain for a government that is broke. A government official even admitted that they could not afford to provide one toilet for each five people and that with the money saved they could do something else. The question is, what would they do with this money that is more important than hygiene? Berlusconi also successfully manipulates the state broadcaster, RAI. During the latest sex scandal, when a callgirl produced pictures and even a recording of her hot nights with the Prime Minister, RAI Uno , the most popular news show, ignored the news for several days. Only after vitriolic editorials from La Repubblica and l'Unita' , ample broadcasting from SKY News and a decrease of several million viewers did the government-appointed news editor of RAI Uno take the unprecedented step of interrupting the news to explain that he does not broadcast "rumors" about the Prime Minister! Berlusconi's media empire has been manufacturing a reality to fit the needs of its boss for almost three decades. Now RAI has joined the ranks of the broadcasters dedicated to this task. The core is still Mediaset, where Berlusconi owns 40% and the rest is controlled by Fininvest, his family holding company. A rival to Murdoch's empire, Mediaset was created in 1980 with the aim of destroying RAI's monopoly. This task was achieved in the late 1990s, thanks to three main channels: Italia 1, Rete Quattro and Canale 5. By 2007, Mediaset controlled more than 41% of the Italian TV market, about 6% more than RAI, the state TV network. That year the company's turnover was about four billion Euros, with a net profit of about 500 million Euros. A cocktail of half-naked beautiful women, cheap reality shows, old movies and political talk shows, with heavy doses of populism, make up Mediaset's recipe for success. Many believe that this mix works because it brings everything, from fashion to politics, down to the lowest common denominator, shunning any type of culture or intellectualism. This, in a nutshell, is also the style of Silvio Berlusconi. He loves to present himself as the average Italian: a self-made man who is an incurable romantic, a sort of modern version of Don Giovanni. Age is his sole enemy and plastic surgery is helping him to cope with that. But the results are meager. "Berlusconi looks like Frankenstein: his skin is very tight and orange. When he smiles his entire face seems made of plastic and you can see the rows of transplanted hairs on his head." This is how a top (female) civil servant describes the Prime Minister. The 73-year-old Latin lover seems unaware of this assessment of his looks and constantly parades his obsession with sex and women. "It is true I am not a saint, but I fuck like a God," he commented to his cabinet in July, after the international media had reported on the wild parties with call girls at his Rome residence, the use of state planes to fly these women to his Sardinia villa and his wife's filing for divorce over an alleged relationship with a minor. Mediaset helped Berlusconi forge a style that can be defined as "political machismo," the sort of smug attitude that men might assume around a pool table after several beers too many. Boasting about their sex escapades makes them feel powerful. In December 2003, during the final dinner of the Italian European presidency, the agenda was to conclude with the debate about the European constitution. Berlusconi stood up and suggested that instead they talk about women. He then asked the German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who had been married four times, to begin the discussion. When Schroeder declined, he turned to the German foreign minister Joshcka Fisher, who had also had four different wives. No other Western politician would get away with such behavior and so many scandals, because nobody else is as powerful as Berlusconi. Being the richest man in Italy puts him in the position controlling his political coalition just as he runs Mediaset. In 2008, he bailed out Ugo Bossi, the leader of the Lega Nord, from a tricky financial situation, thereby gaining Bossi's full support. Once in power, he passed some key legislation through which he managed to put himself, the President of the Republic and the head of the Senate, above the law. Total immunity protected him from scandal far more serious than merely extramarital sex: corruption. In June 2009, an Italian court found David Mills, ex-husband of a UK cabinet minister, guilty of having been bribed by Berlusconi in a trial against him. Yet Berlusconi remains untouchable so long as he remains Prime Minister. On the 1st of September, Ghaddafi and Berlusconi will together watch the acrobatic aerial performance of the best Italian pilots, celebrating themselves, two men who have successfully fooled their own people and the international community with the discreet charm of modern dictatorship. Loretta Napoleoni is the author of Rogue Economics, just released in paperback by Seven Stories Press. More on Silvio Berlusconi
 
Kim Morgan: Drive, She Said: Auto Adolescence Top
"Come on dad, give me the car tonight..." Some of my most vivid teenage memories were wrapped in chrome and steel. My first accident, in an old '71 VW baby blue Bug found me breaking the windshield with my face. I recall stumbling out of the wreckage, dazed, but wandering around with nary a scar (a bad concussion would come later), quipping quite seriously:  "I need a bigger fucking car." And I did. I'm a soft shell. I'm a girl. If I can't count on anyone to protect me from life's numerous perils, at least my car can. Like Scarlett O'Hara gone gearhead, my mind dramatically proclaimed something like:  "As god as my witness one day I will own a Ford Torino." And damn if I didn't honor that teen dream. But then I also remember my obsession with smaller speedsters -- chiefly spying a friend's older, mustachioed neighbor's collection of beautiful Z cars. Somehow I found the courage (or stupidity) to shoulder tap him for alcohol and not surprisingly, he declined. He wasn't an idiot. I got some other jerk to drive me to the mini-mart (and not in a 240 Z). But that guy had to know those vintage Z cars worked like sirens to us impressionable teens -- multi-colored 240's, 260's and 280's beckoning us like Black Snake Moan. And then there was my first real boyfriend and big time love. I was 16 he was...somewhere in his early 20's. Yes, I suppose it was wrong. But he looked like a young John Doe and he thought I was 18 (well, for one day he thought that). After I fessed up, our relationship became many a feverish night of me sneaking out of my bedroom window and jumping into his black '70s Camaro (I can't remember which year) to talk and of course, make out. At the drive-in, in the woods, outside my parent's house -- wherever. One time he knocked on my window, face covered in blood saying "My car just got in a fight with a tree. The tree won." He found himself in trouble (for something), got a truck, and we broke up before ever fully consummating the relationship ( honestly ). He felt like a creep. He was worried my mom would find out. He was tortured. I hated him for dumping me. That guy broke my heart. Now, I get it. But it left a life-long impression on me. Now any black Camaro, any year, transports me right back to those nights, and the images flicker in my head like a movie, furthering my understanding of why I co-mingle cinema and classic cars and maybe even sex, so much. Live your life, drive with your memories...turn them into movies. Which is why cars are such an important machine in teenage life, and one we've seen in cinema for years. Speeding, parking, screwing, show-boating and perhaps most importantly, escaping - escaping from school, from your parents from whatever teen demon you are quite literally, driving away from, cars are potent adolescent film fodder.  From the depression era survival of Wild Boys of the Road   (those kids driving and necking! in the 1930s) to the tragic chicken run of Rebel without a Cause to all that sexy American muscle (and Aerosmith tickets) of Dazed and Confused , cars can work like central characters in teen movies, propelling action and aiding in some major life decisions. Like Natalie Wood's drunken, sexually tortured parking lot looseness in Splendor in the Grass or Badlands' Charlie Starkweather inspired Kit grabbing 14-year-old Caril Fugate (named Holly and 15 in Terrence Malick's masterpiece) and heading out on a killing spree via automobile, the car isn't just a chunk of steel, a thing to get from one place to another, it's often a powerful, seductive force, tapping right into that hormone addled and excited part of the teenage brain. No wonder those kids in Over the Edge were so frustrated -- they were in junior high, and rode bikes .  I completely understand why, at the end of the movie, they smashed up and lit their parent's cars on fire. There's more to this story. But please purchase the latest issue of Jesse James' beautiful, different Garage Magazine to read this -- my current piece and layout for my column, "Drive, She Said." Revery turns to movies, with my mind driving straight towards teens and their cars in the aforementioned pictures like Rebel Without a Cause , Splendor in the Grass , American Graffiti  but most importantly, and personally to me,  Badlands . Pick up Garage Magazine at your local newstands and various stores including Barnes and Noble and 7 Eleven. Thanks to Jesse James and Amy Norris for putting together my layout -- all lovely night shots . And thanks to my great photographer, Krissie Gregory for the pictures. Look at more of Krissie's photographs of our G arage shoot here . Read more Kim Morgan at Sunset Gun .
 
Mike Lux: The Myths of The Battle of Health Care Reform Top
The relentlessly cynical and negative traditional media has talked itself into believing certain things about the fight over health care reform, whether there is any serious evidence beyond their own self-reinforcing stories or not. Unfortunately, what happens when these kind of stories are written, everyone - Congresspeople, unnamed lobbyists, unnamed administration, other journalists, progressive activists, and bloggers - then reacts to these stories, usually to reinforce their own point of view or their client's interest. The problem is that so many of these assumptions are unproven/unknown at best, or downright mythological at worst. Having been deeply immersed in both the lasting health care fight in 1993-94 and this one today, I feel fairly confident in pointing out some of these things that most traditional media reporters seem to believe as gospel that in fact are not all certain. Let me just mention a few of the biggest: I. Serious Health Care Reform is Dead or on "Life Support" Versions of this story have been floating around for many months now, with reporters eager to cover a train wreck and flaming failure for Obama. Now don't get me wrong: I don't want to imply that reporters particularly want health care reform, or Obama, to fail. They just like to declare everything a failure. In the 1992 campaign, reporters and pundits declared Clinton to be a walking corpse after Jennifer Flowers, the draft dodging thing, the didn't inhale quote, the brutal NY primary, after Perot got in, several other times as well. They declared the 1993 Clinton budget dead at least a dozen times before we passed it, and the same thing happened with the 1994 crime bill. After the '94 elections, they declared Clinton gone, irrelevant, powerless, certain to be defeated many times before he smoked Gingrich in the '95 budget battle and went on to another electoral vote landslide in '96. They declared that it was a matter of days before his resignation after the Lewinsky scandal broke, and that he would be forced out of office for sure after the news about her dress came out. They declared Gore toast before he won the popular vote in the 2000 elections, and Kerry dead in the primaries before he won in Iowa. They said Hillary Clinton was the nominee for sure in the fall shortly before Obama won in Iowa. This year so far, they declared the stimulus in deep trouble, right before it was passed, and Obama's budget in a world of hurt shortly before it passed. A strong comprehensive health reform bill (yes, with a public option) has passed four committees so far, and according to public statements by members and private vote counts a lot of us advocates have been doing, we are well within range of victory. House Progressives have the votes to defeat anything without the public option, and they are still standing firm. Strong health care reform, with a public option, is far from a done deal, but it is quite alive, thank you. 2. The town halls and August recess have been a disaster for health care The yelling, Hitler comparisons, and people bringing semiautomatics to events made for great theatre, but the reality on the ground was very different. In the local newspapers and monitoring by congressional offices I am aware of, supporters of health reform out-numbered opponents at most places. The swing congressional offices I have talked to received more calls, faxes, mail, and email from supporters than opponents. And I have yet to talk to any members of Congress, or even their staffers, even the more conservative ones, who have said to me that they have come out of the August recess wanting to give up on or even slow down on health care reform. 3. Obama and the left are at war over health care reform. Other than occasional unnamed White House staffers who enjoy dissing their progressive friends for their own reasons, and the occasional progressive blogger who takes everything Politico and Ceci Connolly says seriously and is therefore convinced Obama is out to do us wrong, I see little evidence Obama and progressives are at war over health care. It is progressives, after all, who are actually fighting for the ideas Obama laid out or health care in his campaign and earlier this year, ideas Obama has not renounced or said he is giving up on. From what I can tell, Obama is doing everything he can to try to get a bill out of Senate Finance and then out of the Senate itself, while continuing to support Pelosi in her efforts to get the strongest possible bill out of the House. Having fought this fight in 1993-94 and so far this year, I know how tough this is to pass, and how ugly the process is. I take nothing for granted, and take nothing on faith. Health care reform could still die; war over what goes to the floor could still tear the Democratic Party apart; politicians including Obama could still sell progressive activists down the river to get a bill, any bill, passed. But all of the above is conventional wisdom, not fact and not a done deal. The White House has just announced that Obama has raised the stakes even higher, through the roof in fact, by doing an address to a joint session of Congress next Wednesday. That means this White House is determined to pass a bill on health care reform by hook or by crook, by any means necessary. I hope that also means that the White House realizes passing some meager, small compromise of a bill, with the stakes this high, would be a political nightmare. But one way or another, they will show their cards next Wednesday. Will the President, in front of a joint session of Congress, meekly give up fighting for anything big? Will he declare war on his progressive friends? Will he announce that he no longer cares about keeping insurance companies honest? We will know the answers after his speech, but I wouldn't be drawing any firm conclusions until after you listen to the speech.
 
Berry-Eating Bears Get Sent To Rehab Top
It's been a bad season for bears in Colorado. And it doesn't seem to be getting better. Four young bears around Steamboat Springs with a penchant for berries just got moved to Rifle for rehab. More on Animals
 
Blanche Lincoln Reverses Position On Public Option Top
Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), still facing the prospect of a tough re-election in 2010, has reversed her position on the public insurance option, saying Tuesday she will oppose the measure as a part of health care reform after previously expressing support for the policy, the Arkansas News reported.
 
DNC: Cheney "Wrong" Then, "Wrong" Now On CIA Torture (VIDEO) Top
Controversy surrounding interrogation techniques used by the CIA on terror suspects under the Bush administration has been astir since President Obama's declassification of internal CIA documents assessing such measures in recent weeks. The scandal, which has sparked a firestorm of questions regarding former Vice President Cheney's complicity in authorizing such measures, is nothing new. What is new, is the launch of an ad by the DNC that directly challenges Cheney's dubious claims that the CIA torture in question worked. While Cheney has long been the subject of progressive scrutiny, his provocative antics have generally been ignored by the Democratic party. This bold ad points out Cheney's inaccuracy and culpability on multiple issues. One question remains: Why is the DNC finally setting the record straight now? Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter! More on Dick Cheney
 
Reese Schonfeld: Cable News Ratings--Liberals Jump Ship Top
Third quarter cable news viewing ratings are in, and FoxNews does better and better on a year-to-year basis, while CNN and MSNBC show declines in total viewing and demographics. Fox first: It's up 30% in primetime viewing and 27% in total day. CNN is down 6% in prime, but up 9% in total day, while MSNBC is up 7% in prime but down 31% in total day. CNN was helped in the last week of August by a vast upsurge in viewing around Teddy Kennedy's death and funeral. The demographics were even worse: CNN lost 13% of its primetime 25-54 year olds, while Fox was up 47%. MSNBC was down 7%. In 18-49s, Fox gained 42%, CNN lost 16% and MSNBC lost 11%. Fox gains may be attributed the red meat that anti-healthcare conservatives are throwing into the pit, or by the enormous success of Glen Beck, who joined Fox this year. Total day demographics were scarcely better: Fox was up 38% in 25-54 year olds, CNN was down 1%, and MSNBC lost 29%. In 18-49s, Fox was 32% up, CNN 3% down, and MSNBC 23% down. I cannot understand why Democratic politicians and consultants have been so ineffective in producing news that will attract their supporters to television sets. They have permitted flawed, emotional arguments the health care debate, and they have launched no effective counterattacks. They seem unable to combat the irrationality of the right, and have offered no cohesive strategy to develop support for their healthcare and economic initiatives. They seem confused and timid at a time when precision and boldness is demanded. So far, I am alone in my belief cable news viewing reflects public attitudes on political positions--in other words, who people vote for, but, if I am right, unless Democrats develop a clear and compelling message, they face a very tough time in the 2010 elections. It seems as if the "news" is so tough for Democrats to watch, that they've turned off their TV sets. (Unless, of course, and this is my ego writing, they've switched to the Food Network, which is doing better than ever, and beats Fox in every demographic.) More on Health Care
 
Tom Alderman: Current Best Sellers: Buyers Beware - 3 BOOK REVIEWS Top
If you're the kind of reader, or listener, who must finish a book no matter how disappointing, or keep going hoping it'll get better, you might want to save time by simply avoiding these current offerings from three marquee-name writers. VANISHED , by Joseph Finder Genre: Corporate thriller Print edition: 400 pages Audio edition: 10 hrs and 42 minutes Narrator: Holter Graham Publisher: St. Martin's Pres s Audio edition: Macmillan Audio LOG LINE Unfaithful husband and the estranged brother of the hero, goes missing from his high finance corporate job. Has he been kidnapped or is he scamming an all powerful Blackwater-type security firm? COMMENT Joseph Finder has deservedly cornered the corporate thriller niche with books like Paranoia , Company Man and Killer Instinct. His successful formula: ordinary company guy gets immersed in deep doo-doo and must face powerful forces well above his pay grade. In Vanished , the writer drops this game plan and goes with more for a Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, John Wells approach with a 6-feet, 2 inch, former Special Forces, Bosnia and Persian Gulf veteran named Nick Heller, who grinds up three beefy thug-mugs in one sitting with great ease and a few flip lines. Unfortunately, in Finder's hands: the thrill in this thriller is gone. Hero Heller is derivitive. There are several bad guys but none with any sustaining drive throughout and the ending just limps off. The audio edition of the book is not helped by actor/narrator Holter Graham whose vocal timbre doesn't quite sync-up with the big muscular, good-guy and who also portrays the female lead, and her teen-age son, as annoying whiners. BOTTOM LINE If this is the beginning of a new Finder series starring Nick Heller, we all might benefit from a stronger editing hand and alternate narrator the next time out. RENEGADE: THE MAKING OF A PRESIDENT by Richard Wolffe Genre: Non-fiction Contemporary History Print edition: 368 pages Audio edition: 15 hrs and 49 min (Unabridged) 6 hrs and 13 min. (Abridged) Narrator: Arthur Morey (Unabridged) Richard Wolffe (Abridged) Publisher: Crown Audio edition: Random House LOG LINE How Obama Won the Presidency COMMENT Author Wolffe acknowledges this book was suggested by candidate Obama as a Theodore White-style account of the presidential campaign. With extended access to the candidate and staff during and after the election, Wolffe had a ripe opportunity to deliver a 2009 version of The Making of a President . Mission UN-accomplished. The writer jerks back and forth between pre-and-post election events creating a significant obstacle in the narrative flow. He, also, doesn't include much of the McCain campaign as necessary counter-point friction. Perplexing. For the unabridged audio edition, Arthur Morey does an adequate job with narration. The abridged version is voiced by the author, whose flat delivery suggests he should stick to writing. BOTTOM LINE Someone, somewhere will offer a detailed 360 of this momentous election story. Renegade isn't it. FIRE AND ICE: A BEAUMONT AND BRADY NOVE L, by J.A. Jance Genre: Cops and Killers Print edition: 352 pages Audio edition: 10 hrs and 39 min Narrator: Hillary Huber and Erik Davies Publisher: William Morrow Audio edition: Harper Audio LOG LINE A series of grisly murders across Washington State and a homicide in Arizona intersect to create danger for Beaumont and Brady. COMMENT J.A. Jance brings together her two popular police procedural series regulars, Seattle investigator J.P. Beaumont and Cochise County, Ariz, Sheriff Joanne Brady to solve seemingly unrelated murders. If you're a fan of these series, this might work for you. Newcomers and ADD listeners will have a hard time getting past the first two discs of the audio edition which is more like a report from the HR department about which series personnel are appearing, and which are not. BOTTOM LINE Pass. More on Blackwater
 
David Horton: Childish things Top
A year ago I nearly had a fatal heart attack. Fortunately my wife spotted that the warning signs I had been either ignoring or explaining away (indigestion, flu, lung problems) were serious and whisked me off to hospital. Even then it wasn't cut and dried. My heart is a subtle thing, and initial tests were indecisive. I was putting my coat back on, heading out the door, nothing to worry about, when one last test came back positive, and I found myself in a hospital bed with cannulas inserted and monitor machines ticking away. And as a result I wasn't history. Some of my readers will be young, others may be able to remember being young back in the dark ages of the 1960s. I, we, were bullet proof. I drank, on frequent occasion, to excess, smoked heavily, occasionally may have tried another chemical, slept little, ate take away food, exercised little, drove without great care. But my body could handle whatever I threw at it. One good night's sleep, a decent meal or two, a day playing sport, and I was tuned up again ready for the next all night party. My body felt good, and whatever shortness of breath, or twinges or aches and pains, or morning cough I had, well, they could be turned around any time. Could stop smoking, if I wanted to, just like that, had done many times. Could easily go to a party, if I wanted to, and just drink Coke. But no need, I was fit, well, pretty fit, and doctor's warnings were meant for the elderly, not the young. But here I am, an aging 60 something, with holes in my lungs, a metal coil in my heart, a growing weight problem, eyesight and hearing failing, and an inability to prune roses without frequent rests to get my breath back; and I wish I could go back in time to have a few words in the ear of that cocky, bulletproof teenager. Actions have consequences I might say. Or, more simply, stop smoking. Now. Well, all of my thousands of long time faithful readers, fans and followers will know already where I am going with this. The Earth has been behaving like a teenager for at least the last 200 years since the industrial revolution got underway. That teenager has cut down forests, dug up coal and oil, spewed fumes into the air, slaughtered fish and other animals, polluted rivers, bulldozed mangroves and coastal sand dunes, farmed soils to oblivion, tested atomic bombs, engaged in wars. This little planet was bullet proof, wasn't it? Everything we threw at her she could take with no obvious ill effects. Bit of fine tuning here and there on the ozone layer, or some tree planting, or the odd national park, or reducing smog in cities, and we were as right as acid rain. Except we weren't, were we? And now this 4 billion something year old planet is regretting its misspent youth. The vital functions of the planet are under rapidly increasing strain. The abuse that it has happily absorbed since the nineteenth century is now coming back to haunt it. Oh some doubts about the early warning signs, and not wanting to change our ways they could be ignored. Even some of the testing could be interpreted one way or another, but we knew, heart sinking, that tests or no tests, the melting glaciers and ice caps and extreme weather events and changing ecology didn't lie. And finally, beyond question, more sophisticated testing has confirmed what the blind could not see. Would not see. Too late to go back and tell my coal miner ancestors to stop digging up coal. But it is time we stopped behaving like teenagers, started being a real grown up species on an aging planet. Put childish things away. Stop abusing the life systems that were supporting us. Otherwise we will be history. All grown up on the Watermelon Blog . More on Climate Change
 
Woman Fired For Sending All Caps, "Shouting" Email Top
(MYFOX NATIONAL) - An accountant in New Zealand has been awarded NZD$17,000 (US$11,500) for unfair dismissal after her boss fired her without warning for using uppercase letters in an e-mail to co-workers.
 
Levi Novey: How Extremophiles Might Help Us Save the World Top
This story originally appeared on Celsias.com, a site about doing practical things to combat climate change. Perhaps they are the superheroes of tomorrow. Living and thriving in the most inhospitable conditions on Earth, tiny bacteria-like microbes known as extremophiles might soon have an oversized effect on our human world. We currently know little about these organisms that once remained hidden to us. But what we have discovered so far is intriguing--and, in fact, perhaps these microscopic creatures will help us save the world. Extremophiles live in a wide variety of places, like Yellowstone National Park's Grand Prismatic Spring (National Park Service image by James Peaco ) Research indicates that along with having the potential to help us develop countless new pharmaceuticals for treating diseases, some extremophiles might also possess the unique abilities needed to help us combat global warming and reduce pollution. In a less concrete way, they also might help us understand if life exists elsewhere in the universe, and if so, how "life" might be defined in different terms than what we currently accept. If these characteristics do not qualify these creatures as superheroes, then I do not know what does. Take an extremophile known as Deinococcus peraridilitoris as an example. Living in the soil of Chile's Atacama Desert, arguably the driest desert in the world, it can survive with what basically amounts to no water. It was discovered only six years ago--so pause for a moment and think. Imagine what we might learn from this organism. There is also Pyrodictium abyssi, an extremophile which lives near volcanic vents at the bottom of the ocean. It can survive in boiling water. It is part of a group of extremophiles that are highly tolerant of extreme levels of heat known as thermophiles. Besides the bottom of the ocean, thermophiles live in places like the U.S.'s Yellowstone National Park and sometimes produce bright and unique colors in hot springs. But let's also not forget Desulforudis audaxviator. It was discovered last year in South Africa, about 1.7 miles below the Earth's surface in a gold mine. It is considered to be the world's only one-species ecosystem. It survives without oxygen, light, and is exposed to extreme heat. It lives by combining water with other elements, such as decaying uranium, that radiates from the rocks surrounding it. Wow. While what we can learn from the extremophiles mentioned above is still not clear, some of their peers are already proving to have the potential to assist in creating groundbreaking human applications. Extremophiles and the Transformation of Modern Medicine If you like watching IMAX movies on DVD and are interested in extremophiles, I recommend renting Journey Into Amazing Caves. The film details the dangerous deep cave explorations of a school teacher and a scientist. Their primary goal in these explorations was to collect extremophiles. They hoped that these organisms would help produce valuable new drugs to fight disease. If you think the premise was far-fetched, you might be surprised to learn that deep within the United States' Carlsbad Caverns National Park, in 1986 a special event took place. An until-then relatively unknown area known as Lechuguilla Cave was explored more thoroughly. It turned out that Lechuguilla is the fifth longest cave now known to exist in the world and also is now considered one of the most pristine and unique because of its historic lack of human visitors. Aside from these important discoveries, within one of the cave's stagnant pools of water, several scientists found bacteria. They decided to collect these odd forms of life for research. After running some preliminary tests, these rock-eating creatures were found to potentially possess the ability to kill breast cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact. If that story alone doesn't get you more excited about superhero extremophiles, here's a more recent tale to ponder. Several months ago scientists at the University of California at San Diego published an exciting paper in the prestigious journal Science. Before I explain what the article was about, first I should give a little background. The scientists of discussion were previously known for pioneering the use of a green florescent protein found in jellyfish. They refined this protein so that biologists and medical researchers could more easily watch the processes that happen inside the cells of organisms. The only problem was that the florescent protein could not last for very long in living cells. Nonetheless, according to Wired magazine, this application was "considered one of the great advances of modern science, arguably on par with the development of the microscope." A slice of a mouse's brain, magnified 20X, and illuminated with green florescent protein (Image via cudmore on Flickr ) For their work with the protein, known more concisely as GFP, the scientists won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2008. So what's their new paper about? These all-star scientists have now used an extremophile known as Deinococcus radiodurans to produce infrared light producing proteins that could be used more effectively to study processes occurring in living cells, and in fact "lighting up entire organisms as completely as GFPs have individual cells." The applications of this development seem enormous. Imagine the power of watching what goes on inside of cells in real time-- for instance it's possible to think we could better understand how diseases spread, and then perhaps better know how to cure them. Extremophiles and Our Environment While extremophiles have produced exciting developments in the world of medicine, they are not "one trick ponies" to the scientific world. They might also provide some unique and valuable environmental services. One extremophile found in Yellowstone National Park has shown promise in making the process of industrial bleaching cheaper and more environmentally friendly by neutralizing harmful hydrogen peroxide in wastewater. Yet another recently discovered thermophile in the hot ocean depths is "also unusual because it relies on iron to digest food and produce energy. Such organisms show promise in generating electricity from waste products and in removing radioactive metals from the environment." But beyond reducing pollution and producing electricity, could an extremophile help produce energy? Yes. A species from deep below the Mediterranean Ocean is being tested as a potential conduit for more efficiently processing biomass into biofuels like ethanol --something that if successful could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by subsequently creating an industry that could rival corn-made ethanol. It is thought by some that making ethanol from biomass produces fewer greenhouse emissions than it does by making ethanol from corn. But what is perhaps most exciting about extremophiles and the environment is how they might help us to fight global warming. For instance, a recently discovered species consumes methane for its energy use, and could be used to reduce methane emissions from landfills. It was among 1000 species of extremophiles recently catalogued in geothermal areas of New Zealand--many of which are new to science. Methane traps approximately 20X more atmospheric heat than carbon dioxide, making it a significant contributor to global warming. On the bright side, it might eventually be used as a significant energy source. Going back to the negative though, it is also heavily produced, rather than consumed by a number of other extremophile species. Some of them are involved in the production of rice, which is thought to be responsible for approximately 10-25% of methane production worldwide. The good news is that scientists have mapped the genomes of some of these important species, and might be able to genetically engineer a new variety of these microbes to help reduce methane emissions from rice production. What's also interesting is how global warming, while no doubt a serious problem, is also revealing new extremophile species. In Peru, researchers have inventoried new extremophile species that are quickly colonizing high elevation areas in the Andes Mountains, where glaciers are rapidly receding. These microorganisms are laying the groundwork for new plant communities where glaciers once existed. And it is exactly this type of occurrence that is truly the most fascinating aspect of extremophile life to some scientists. Extremophiles and the Search for Life Beyond Earth The field of astrobiology concerns itself with the "study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe." So it should be no surprise that the world of extremophiles has become a key area of research for astrobiologists. Many of these organisms might indicate how life on earth began. Starting with the most elementary building blocks, extremophiles might help us understand what form life takes on other planets in our own solar system, as well as in galaxies farther away. Once again, think about what extremophiles are. These organisms live and thrive at the most extreme conditions of earth, whether it's at the bottom of oceans, in the driest of deserts, in the depths of caves, the heights of towering mountains, in freezing cold, or explosive heat: it's no wonder that they capture our imagination. The popular filmmaker James Cameron studied extremophiles while making his recent film Aliens of the Deep. In an interview about the film, Cameron described the deep sea underwater volcano-like areas he filmed. He explained that So you have all these chemicals raining down on the bottom, and it's stuff that will kill you and me. But nature, in its ingenuity, has figured out a way to use this chemistry to sustain a completely different type of life than we experience here at the surface. That's what's fascinating to the astrobiology community. They're saying, wait a minute, if you've got chemically supported life down there, as opposed to life that relies on photosynthesis, then that's something that might theoretically be able to exist in an aquifer on the surface of Mars. If you have more than a simple curiosity about what "life on Mars" might look like (or did look like at some point in time), it probably is not a surprise to you that the aforementioned Atacama Desert in Chile is thought to be the most similar landscape on Earth to that of Mars. Mars enthusiasts have been interested with the area for sometime, and are no doubt excited by the recently discovered extremophiles living there. The search for what life might be like beyond Earth has also stretched to the highest place on the planet. An American astronaut recently climbed to the top of Mount Everest and collected extremophiles. He cited the purpose as being part of the quest to understand what life on Mars might be like. So if you have been wondering what the next trendy adventure vacation experience will be-- a safe bet might be on collecting extremophiles in some inhospitable, exotic locale. Even if you don't find the key to understanding the origins of life in our universe, perhaps you might find an organism that leads to medical breakthroughs or environmental benefits. The Superheroes Within Ourselves As I explained earlier, despite the exciting applications of extremophiles, we really know very little about these tiny lifeforms. According to one estimate, "Microorganisms make up 50 percent of the world's biomass [in other words: all living things] but... scientists know only 5-10 percent of these species." While not all microorganisms are extremophiles, this certainly gives us an idea of how many of these unique species are still unknown to us. While this statistic perhaps tells us that our quest to find superhero creatures is worthwhile, we must also look to ourselves and our human ability to change our behavior to improve our lives. Whether it is our personal health or our ever-warming planet, the world cannot be saved by technology and extremophiles alone-- we must also play a part. We too must be the superheroes of tomorrow. But as any superhero knows, a helping hand always goes a long way. More on Climate Change
 
Simran Sethi: Hot Water: How SIGG Lost My Trust (And Kind of Broke My Heart) Top
I waited to write this post until after I had the opportunity to speak with SIGG CEO Steve Wasik. I am still disappointed. Over this last week we have learned that SIGG bottles manufactured before August 2009 contained Bisphenol-A (BPA) in their liners. BPA is a chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins and is part of a group of molecules known as endocrine disruptors. (Endocrine disruptors are defined by the National Institute of Health as "naturally occurring compounds or man-made chemicals that may interfere with the production or activity of hormones of the endocrine system leading to adverse health effects. Many of these chemicals have been linked with developmental, reproductive, neural, immune, and other problems in wildlife and laboratory animals. Some scientists think these chemicals also are adversely affecting human health in similar ways resulting in declined fertility and increased incidences or progression of some diseases including endometriosis and cancers.") BPA is everywhere: in plastic bottles, in metal food cans, in food and toys. But where we did not think it existed were in our SIGGs. I have gone on the Oprah Winfrey Show , the Martha Stewart Show , the Ellen DeGeneres Show and told scores of magazines, newspapers, radio programs and lecture audiences to get reusable water bottles. My follow-up line has often been, "I use SIGGs" - accompanied by a gesture towards the bottle that was nearly always on my person, one that I had known and loved for years. I got my first SIGG because of my concerns about BPA and, well, because they were prettier than the stainless steel options. When others started to ask about them, I gave the same spiel. I reasoned that if it was good enough for me, of course it was good enough for your kids, my students and the world. In fact, the very first time I appeared on Oprah, I laid down the line and said I could not promote the bottles in their giveaway because they were #7 polycarbonates known to leach Bisphenol-A. The producers ended up replacing them with another kind of plastic bottle because they already had a deal set up with the company. But when it came to the bottles I talked about on-air, I spoke about SIGGs. At no point over the last few years, in the handful of conversations and e-mail exchanges I have had with SIGG's PR company Truth Be Told , were my perceptions that the bottles were free from BPA corrected. For the record, I don't think I said they were BPA-free but that's really not the point, is it? You trusted me to tell you the truth. And I did, to the extent that I knew it. And Truth Be Told did, too, to the extent that they knew it. My August 27, 2009 e-mail exchange with a member of the TBT team and follow-up phone conversation with another member demonstrate they did not. "As you can imagine, we were surprised and disappointed as well - we found out this information only a few days before you did," says the TBT staffer. In my conversation with Steve Wasik, he said SIGG did not reveal the BPA information because of a non-disclosure agreement they had with their manufacturer. He said he thought it was enough that their studies - indicating there was no leaching - were sufficient. Yet, at the same time, SIGG began development on a new BPA-free liner back in 2006. When I asked Wasik about this contradiction, he pushed the responsibility back on to the supply chain, stating, "Our confidentiality agreement with our suppliers would not allow us to talk about the liner. . .We couldn't just come out and talk about what they were made of since we were bound by our old suppliers not to talk about the ingredients." Wasik punctuated his statement with a rhetorical question, "Could we have been more transparent? We made a mistake and probably should have said something but we did not have a new liner to go with." Finally, he went on to remind me that testing indicated the bottles were always "100% safe" and did not leach BPA. Technically, he is right. But at no point did SIGG ever correct the public's misperception that the bottles were BPA-free. In fact, they profited from it. According to Advertising Age , SIGG sales increased 250% between 2006 and 2007. The January 2009 press release from SIGG indicated they were creating a new line of bottles with what they called an EcoCare liner. What they did not say, and what even their PR company did not know, was the underlying reason for this change: that the original SIGGs contained BPA. If you log on to the SIGG website, you will find a new link to an apology from the CEO on its home page. The controversy has been brewing for a week, yet this apology was posted yesterday (9/1/09). The company tells you they will replace your old SIGGs with new ones if you are willing to fork over the money to send it back to them. I asked Wasik about pushing the responsibility back on to the consumer and he said, "We don't believe this is a recall but we know there are some consumers out there that are concerned. If we pay for this we'll get people who aren't concerned - which is about 9 out of 10 people - sending back bottles they bought three years ago that have dents in them." He want on to explain that most major retailers that stock SIGGs will replace them. I called REI and Whole Foods stores to verify this and it is, indeed, the case. However, this information is NOT revealed on the SIGG website. All is says (on the downloadable mailing label) is, "We are sorry for the inconvenience. You may choose to keep your current bottles as they have been proven not to leach, but if you want to exchange your bottle(s), you will have to bear the cost of returning it to us. Thank you in advance for your kind understanding in this regard." I guess you have to talk with the CEO to learn that there might be a more cost-effective way to swap them out. Oh, and hurry up, the offer ends on 10/31/09. Although asked, I have never signed on to be a spokesperson for a product because I believe it compromises my integrity as a journalist and environmental advocate. (Full disclosure, I did get paid to moderate a Seventh Generation panel on industrial chemicals and health last fall.) Any product that has earned my praise has done so on its own merits. SIGG was one of the very few companies I chose to discuss by name. (I even participated in a Sigg100 celebration by recording a podcast about environmentally-friendly practices alongside Ed Begley Jr., Laurie David and others to coincide with the company's 100 year anniversary.) Today, I am telling you that I am deeply sorry for leading you astray. Had I known better, I would have used--and promoted--BPA-free alternatives from the onset. Steve Wasik tells me he still uses the old bottles with the BPA liner for himself and his family. I intend on following in the steps of fellow Huff Post blogger Nena Baker and reconsider a swig from my SIGG. Simran Sethi is a freelance environmental journalist, Associate Professor of Journalism and contributing author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy . More on Green Living
 
Beth Lapides: It's Not Just You: California Wildfires Turn Cranky Top
Yesterday was the crankiest day over here at Un-Cabaret Multi-Media HQ. We thought it was just us. Then we went to yoga and everyone in class was cranky there too. Our teacher said, "Hi! I am sooo cranky!" Exact word. Ok, so it wasn't just us. Maybe it was something celestial, the approaching full moon perhaps. Or the smoke from the fires. And just now I learned that yesterday, just as we were peaking the cranky meter,  Mike Dietrich, the U.S. Forest Service incident commander said the California Station Fire had turned from "angry" to " cranky" . I'm always saying everything is connected . And that language creates reality . But to see such a clear example of it is incredibly stunning. Did Commander Dietrich articulating the fire's mood cause us all to channel it more acutely? Were we all feeling cranky because of something else and Commander Deitrich imagined the fire was also feeling it? Was the fire responding to the same cranky factor, possibly celestial, that we all were? Do words create reality? Reflect reality? Both? One thing is for sure, we are all connected to everythingness. And when a big wave of shmutz rolls through, it's best to remember: It's not just you!
 
David Moore: Public Opinion and Healthcare: Fearmongering on the Right Top
Recently, New York Times columnist David Brooks has echoed the chorus of right wing noisemakers, who claim that the public is firmly opposed to the healthcare reform efforts of President Obama and the Democrats in Congress, and that if the Democrats persist in trying to pass such legislation, they will suffer electoral disaster in 2010. Such concern for the Democratic Party by these otherwise stalwart partisan foes suggests at least a scintilla of insincerity, but the depth of that disingenuousness cannot be appreciated unless one examines more carefully the actual claims. Brooks writes, for example, that "public opposition to health care reform is now steady and stable." He adds that according to Republican pollster, Bill McInturff, "public attitudes toward Obamacare exactly match public attitudes toward Clintoncare when that reform effort collapsed in 1994." In fact, public support for health care reform today is substantial, even according to McInturff's own polls, and it mirrors the strong support for health care reform expressed by the public in 1994, even as the Republicans were killing President Clinton's proposals with their "no compromise" strategy. McInturff is the Republican partner of the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, while Peter Hart is the Democratic partner. Contrary to Brooks' claim about the public's opposition to health care reform, the McInturff/Hart mid-August poll for the media organizations found 60 percent of Americans saying that the U.S. health care system needs either a complete overhaul or major reform. These results mirror those found by several other polling organizations, such as the recent poll by CBS News, which shows 82 percent of Americans saying the U.S. health care system needs either to be completely rebuilt or fundamentally changed. It's clear that Republicans in Congress do not agree with the public on this matter. While general public support for reform is widespread, opponents of health care reform can point to polling questions that ask specifically about Obama's health care plan. Here the results show a decline in support over the past several weeks. Pollsters know that few people genuinely understand the various proposals, so typically they ask respondents to express an opinion based on "what you've heard or read." That's what the NBC/WSJ poll did, and it found 36 percent saying Obama's plan was a "good idea," with 42 percent saying "bad idea," and another 22 percent expressing no opinion. That apparently is the basis for Brooks' contention that public opposition is now "steady and stable." But the pollsters recognize that many respondents who express an opinion do not know what Obama's plan is. So, in this case, McInturff and Hart wrote a separate question that included a brief summary of the plan. Once respondents heard what the plan was, a 10-point majority expressed support (53 percent to 43 percent). Somehow Brooks failed to mention this finding. A similar situation prevailed in 1994, when President Clinton's health care plan was defeated. In general, the public expressed widespread support for reform. Over the course of the public debate, people became more confused about the specifics of Clinton's plan and thus more negative. Reform legislation ultimately failed in October, but Gallup polls right beforehand showed even then that more than 60 percent of Americans wanted Congress to pass health care reform -- if not that year, then the next year. When respondents were asked, "from everything you've heard or read about the plan so far," did they favor or oppose Clinton's health care reform plan, a majority said they opposed it (55 percent to 40 percent). But the same poll showed that a stunning 70 percent admitted they needed "more information to judge the health care plans that have been proposed." And, when read a description of Clinton's plan, 61 percent were favorable toward it and only 37 percent unfavorable. Today, we find the same confusion. When forced to express an opinion specifically about Obama's plan, most will. But if permitted, respondents will also admit that they really don't know much about it. The CBS poll, for example, reports that only a third of respondents say they understand the health care reforms being considered by Congress, while two-thirds say the proposals are confusing. Earlier, Gallup reported half of respondents saying they don't have a good understanding of the issues involved in the current debate over health care reform. In their confusion over the plan, with conflicting media reports about what it might ultimately entail, many people are cautious and express opposition. Yet, when the NBC/WSJ poll, and earlier a poll for National Public Radio, included descriptions of Obama's plan, majorities expressed support. Because of implacable Republican opposition to health care reform, some supporters propose that Democrats consider a legislative technique in the Senate to circumvent a likely Republican filibuster, which would require 60 votes to override. Using "reconciliation," some Senate Democrats believe they could get most of the health care reform bill passed with a simple majority vote. Brooks characterizes this strategy as ignoring the "ignorant masses" to "ram health care through reconciliation." That the "masses" may be ignorant -- or at the very least, misled -- is attested to not just by the CBS and Gallup polls, but by McInturff's own poll (with Hart). They found majorities of Americans believing -- erroneously -- that Obama's plan would cover illegal immigrants, entail a government takeover of the health care system, and provide tax dollars to pay for abortions. Close to half also believe the lie that the government would then be authorized to make decisions about when to stop medical care for the elderly. Given these widespread misperceptions, polls showing specific opposition to Obama's health care plan need to be viewed skeptically. Still, Brooks argues that allowing for a simple majority vote in the Senate (hardly what democratic theorists refer to as "ramming") would be "suicidal." "You can't pass the most important domestic reform in a generation when the majority of voters think you are on the wrong path." But had Brooks looked carefully at the polls, he would find that most voters don't think Obama is on the wrong track. Not only do they overwhelmingly support reform, as shown earlier, but by a two-to-one margin, the CBS poll shows they also believe Obama has better ideas about health care reform than do the Republicans in Congress. That the Democrats might actually get a health care reform bill passed worries Republicans, who believe, as did their party colleagues in 1994, that passing no health care bill will ensure a major Republican victory in the mid-term elections. Fifteen years ago, the Republican mantra was "no bill at any cost." And it worked. They crushed President Clinton's efforts to enact any health care reform, and in the mid-term elections they won majority control of the House for the first time in four decades. Many, but not all, Democrats in Congress have learned the lesson of 1994. They know that whatever the public opinion polls show now, the party will be much weaker in the mid-term elections if it has failed to produce health care reform than if it can enact reform, even if "only" by majority vote. Taking advice from Brooks and his cohorts about what the public wants would constitute the real disaster.
 
Ted Johnson, Maegan Carberry, Teresa Valdez Klein: Twitter Wars 2: Return of the Progressives! Top
In today's show, we continue on our Twitter kick. Last week, we had David All, a conservative new media strategist, on to discuss how conservatives are winning the Twitter war and why it's essential that they do. Today, we've got Jim Gilliam , co-founder of Brave New Films and Chief Technology Officer of Business.com, who recently created Tweetprogress.us , a directory of progressive tweeters and a place where people can be mentored in Twitter politics. Can progressives come back in the Twitter war? Is it important to people like Jim to push the #p2 hashtag ? Is competition as much a part of the progressives on Twitter as it is for the conservatives? Jim makes some good points about the driving forces in elections; how the 2004 election was driven by blogs, how 2008 was driven by video, and how he believes 2012 will be driven by Twitter. A curious thought, sir, but can you imagine Mitt Romney twittering about his magic underpants in 2012? Hmm. With the end of the August recess, the word is that President Obama is considering giving a major speech to Congress , outlining his healthcare demands. Oh yeah, and the public option might not be on the table. How disappointed are you if you're a progressive right now? Does it feel odd to be agreeing with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid? I feel dirty, personally. But why is this happening? Is it Rahm Emanuel? His appointment was a big change in tone from the campaign, and putting such a hard-ball abrasive guy at the forefront of healthcare reform might have been a huge mistake. While the administration is trying to get back to its roots, with the president holding a charming "huddle" with Organizing for America last week, Maegan believes Obama needs to get back online and start speaking to his people directly. Youtube it, baby! Also, it might help not to lump all young people together (college students and young professionals do not have the same priorities, yet they are both "young") and to ask people to do more than just provide community service. Ted believes a big problem here is that Obama underestimated the trust factor - people don't trust the government after eight years of blunders - and the voters aren't too comfy with all these giant new government programs he's pushing. Finally, we touch on Glenn Beck, who thoughtfully decided to call Obama a racist , and how this fine, upstanding boy scout could be the future face of the Republican Party; but that's probably a bad idea. Mitt Romney and Tim Pawplenty, however, both seem to be poised to reposition themselves as potential leaders for 2012 over such populist politicians as Mike Huckabee. Time to start watching the Iowa papers, everyone! Listen to the show here , subscribe to the iTunes podcast , or use the Blog Talk Radio player: Wilshire & Washington, the weekly Blog Talk Radio program that explores the intersection of politics, entertainment, and new media, features co-hosts Ted Johnson, Managing Editor of Variety; conservative blogger Teresa Valdez Klein ( www.teresacentric.com ), and liberal blogger Maegan Carberry ( www.maegancarberry.com ). The show airs every Wednesday at 7:30am PST on BlogTalkRadio.com. More on Glenn Beck
 
Michael Sigman: Amazon's Perfect Mistake Top
Please play that lovely wrong note Because that wrong note Just makes me doo doo doot, doo doo doot, wah Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Leonard Bernstein, "Wrong Note Rag" The Inverted Jenny is not a porn movie or yoga pose. It's a rare 1918 U.S. postage stamp characterized by an error. Only 100 were printed with its central image -- the Curtiss JN-4 airplane -- upside-down, and today a single copy of this Holy Grail of philatelic flubs sells for more than a million dollars. During a period of childhood nerdiness, I spent countless hours searching for mistakes on stamps in the hopes of discovering the next Inverted Jenny . But what will become of errors in the electronic age? Amazon screwed up last month when it sold Kindle users an unlicensed version of a book. The online behemoth then compounded its goof by electronically invading customers' files to make the book -- and Amazon's mistake -- vanish into digital thin air. That the book in question was 1984 , the iconic Orwellian tale in which a "memory hole" sucks up all traces of media accounts not pleasing to Big Brother, ranks high in the "You Couldn't Make This Stuff Up" department. Kindle 1984 buyers were shocked when they woke up to find that their libraries had been raided, but it was even worse for people like Detroit teenager Justin Gawronski, who lost all his notes for a school assignment, which Amazon erased along with his copy of the book. Will "My Kindle ate my homework" become the default digital excuse for students? Amazon apologized for its creepiness, but the Kindle technology still allows similar incursions at any time and for any reason. CEO Jeff Bezos may be a great guy, but when a customer's privacy depends on someone else's judgment calls, that's not privacy. We've also grown accustomed to hearing no wrong notes in recorded music, where perfection is the norm and clinkers can be digitally unclinked faster than you can say "Newspeak." Now, engineers can do much more than merely correct individual played or sung tones. Inventor Peter Neubacker says his Direct Note Access software can "reach into an audio file and change any one of the six notes in a guitar chord without changing the sound of the other notes." Paging Roger McGuinn and your 12-string! When a print publication slips up, the mistake can't be erased, but can be corrected in a future edition -- preserving both the error and, for Le Show host Harry Shearer's reading pleasure, the apology. Online publishers, though, can simply make their mistakes disappear without acknowledging they ever existed. There's no need to cancel Kindle, of course, or to stop digital recording or refuse to read online, though one hopes that real books, analog recordings and print pubs can survive and, in some cases, even thrive alongside these technological wonders. But let's face it -- the digital cat is out of the virtual bag, and as time goes by new technologies will provide even more opportunities for perfection. Which is a fine thing, but if we're hell-bent on wiping out any evidence of our failures, we're in danger of losing something precious -- the magic of the accident, the oddity, the surprise. Making and acknowledging mistakes is an essential part of being human. Before inventing the light bulb, Edison is said to have told a reporter, "I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp." And just think: If Columbus had Mapquested and GPSed India, he wouldn't have bumped into the New World, and then where would we be? Vladimir Horowitz, as great a pianist as has ever lived, said, "I must tell you I take terrible risks. Because my playing is very clear, when I make a mistake you hear it." We don't want to discourage future Horowitzes, do we?
 
Jenna Woginrich: Is The Green Movement Making Farmers Cool? Top
The Times recently ran an article about the haycation : a working weekend at a small farm you pay to attend. Turns out that a certain strain of urban localvores are flocking from the cities to visit farms that double as Bed & Breakfasts. They go to get their hands dirty--learn more about their food and become part of the process. Which means they pay farmers to milk goats, pull weeds, dig in the dirt, and chase the very chickens who will inevitably lay breakfast the following morning. I also found out that a new magazine is launching called Urban Farm . It's geared for the same crowd. A collection of articles and ads compiled to inspire the inner homesteader for people who still have Metro passes. As a shepherd-in-training and hopeful small farmer I find this news beyond comforting. Knowing there is this level of interest in getting your fingernails dirty to better know your beat salad is actually kind of beautiful. However, as someone equally interested in pop culture as I am in farming: all these current farm trends lead me to ask... Is the green movement making farmers cool? And if so, what does that mean for small farms? Not that the vegetable growers and grass-fed cattle ranchers of America are all that concerned about perception. (No one gets into agriculture for the social ego-boost, I'm sure.) But the impressions suburban teachers or urban bankers have about farmers does make a difference. If everyday consumers feel the people growing and raising sustainable food are people they admire--they may be willing to pay a little more for humanely-raised and chemical-free foods. Every consumer dollar put into the local/organic market is a national vote for sustainable agriculture. And progress of this sort happens a sawbuck at a time. If there are people willing to spend $300+ a night to sleep in a platform tent and spend Labor Day weekend as migrant workers--I think that in itself screams paradigm shift. A welcomed one, at that. More on Local Food
 
Dr. Andrew Weil: Disease Mongering: Good for Big Pharma, Bad for You Top
In "Should You Get Your Drug Information From an Actor?" I discussed the pharmaceutical industry's egregious practice of using celebrity-driven, prime time television commercials to promote drugs directly to consumers. Illegal in most of the world - and legal in this country only since 1985 - this kind of advertising does much more harm than good and should be banned. But as bad as this practice is, at least the example that I cited, actor Sally Field's Boniva campaign, promotes a drug to treat a real disease: osteoporosis. Even worse is a growing trend to invert this process: to promote diseases to fit existing drugs. In a fascinating New York Review of Books piece, Marcia Angell, M.D., denounced the practice of "disease mongering." As she put it, "The strategy is to convince as many people as possible (along with their doctors, of course) that they have medical conditions that require long-term drug treatment." A British Medical Journal article said it more succinctly, "A lot of money can be made from healthy people who believe they are sick." A central disease-mongering tactic is to attach polysyllabic, clinical-sounding names to what used to be seen as trivial or transient conditions. In most cases, the new, formidable names come complete with acronyms, which add even more gravitas. Thus: Occasional heartburn becomes "gastro-esophageal reflux disease" or GERD. Impotence becomes "erectile dysfunction" or ED. Premenstrual tension becomes "premenstrual dysphoric disorder" or PMDD. Shyness becomes "social anxiety disorder" or SAD. Fidgeting legs becomes "restless leg syndrome" or RLS. Clearly, extreme, intractable versions of these conditions may indeed require vigorous treatment, but the pharmaceutical industry does little to draw a distinction between serious and mild manifestations. Minor gastric upset following a spicy meal is labeled "GERD," and butterflies before giving a speech is "SAD." And the proffered solution? "Off-label" use of existing drugs to expand their market share, though there may be little or no research that justifies such use. So what should be done? The nation is in the throes of a pitched debate about health care reform, and I'm a vigorous advocate for universal health care and many other political changes (as laid out in my book, Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future ). But as we push for a better medical system, we must also remember that not all of the changes we need can be left to politicians. As a culture, we should be suspicious whenever we hear of a new "disease," and ask whether it may just be a marketing ploy to exploit one of minor discomforts that come with being a human being - and a driver of the out-of-control costs of American health care. If it is, the best "medicine" may be low-tech, inexpensive and safe measures such as small modifications in diet or exercise patterns, or some simple stress-reduction techniques. Or - even more radical! - the answer may simply be to wait, give the body's own healing mechanisms a chance to find equilibrium, and get on with our lives. Andrew Weil, M.D., is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the editorial director of www.DrWeil.com . Become a fan on Facebook . More on Health Action Now!
 
BofA's Thumbprint Rule Irks Man Born With No Arms Top
TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida man born without arms says a Tampa bank would not let him cash a check because he couldn't provide a thumbprint. Steve Valdez didn't have an account at a Bank of America location in downtown Tampa, where he tried to cash a check from his wife last week. However, Valdez has prosthetic arms and is unable to provide a thumbprint. He says he presented two forms of identification but was still denied. He says a bank manager told him he could either come back to the bank with his wife or open an account himself. Bank of America spokeswoman Nicole Nastacie says the bank has apologized to Valdez. Nastacie says the bank should have "offered alternative requirements if an individual is not able to give a thumbprint." ___ Information from: St. Petersburg Times, http://www.sptimes.com More on Bank Of America
 

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