Thursday, September 17, 2009

Y! Alert: The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com

Yahoo! Alerts
My Alerts

The latest from The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com

Greg Saunders: I Have A Nightmare Top
We really live in a golden age for race-baiting. Back in the day, there was a spectrum of racism of sorts. You knew something racist fell somewhere between Al Jolson in blackface, zip-a-de-doo-dah racism and the move your wallet to your front pocket because you see a black guy walking down the street racism. It was a simpler time. In the last two years, however, Republicans have been so angry they've had to invent new ways to be racist. No longer can we judge racist sentiment simply by its degree of offensiveness. Now there are multiple varieties of racism which have become almost like an ingredient the cupboard of conservative hate speech that's used to flavor every utterance the way a great Italian chef might finish off a dish with a drizzle of their finest extra virgin olive oil. You've got the birther crowd with their "faked the moon landing" racism. The Fox News calling Michelle Barack's "baby mamma" which is more of an "oh my god, you've never really met a black person before have you?" racism. The "fiscal conservative" / Tea Party "complain about high taxes while comparing the President to a monkey" racism. The Matt Drudge "ominously link to a story that incidentally involves people of different races as if to imply there's racial backlash against caucasians" racism. And the religious extremist "don't blame me if the Bible says Obama is the anti-Christ" racism. Then there's Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck, who are like the Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla of racist bullshit. These guys aren't just content to be the "telling a racist joke, but it's cool because everyone knows I'm not racist" guys. Oh no. They're innovators. They went out there, saw that America elected a black guy, and said "the old ways being a racist asshole aren't good enough". They took the "aggrieved white guy cries reverse-racism" trope and built it multimedia empires the way Henry Ford did for auto manufacturing (or, not to change the subject, anti-semitism). Now if the right wing's artisans of racial hatred could only devote this uniquely American spirit of ingenuity into endeavors that don't...well...threaten to destroy the social and political fabric of our nation, then we might get somewhere.
 
Dean, Olbermann Slam Limbaugh For Exacerbating Racial Tensions: "Evil Thing To Do And Very Bad For The Country" (VIDEO) Top
Howard Dean joined Keith Olbermann on "Countdown" tonight to discuss how conservative firebrand Rush Limbaugh is exacerbating racial tensions by trying to inject race into the news for political reasons. Dean made the point that Limbaugh, as well as Glenn Beck and others, are putting their wallets before their country and inciting and appealing to the worst of human nature: There's a lot of money to be made in passing out hate of the kind that Rush Limbaugh is doing... There's a long unfortunate American tradition of this going back to Father Coughlin and people before that. They appeal to the very worst in people. They appeal to the side of all of us that is about anger and fear and hatred. They empower it and it is and evil thing to do and very, very bad for the country. WATCH: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy Send us tips! Write us at tv@huffingtonpost.com if you see any newsworthy or notable TV moments. Read more about our media monitoring project here and click here to join the Media Monitors team. More on Video
 
Teen Birth Rates Highest In Most Religious States Top
U.S. states whose residents have more conservative religious beliefs on average tend to have higher rates of teenagers giving birth, a new study suggests. More on Religion
 
75 Percent Of Oklahoma High School Students Can't Name The First President Of The U.S. Top
Only one in four Oklahoma public high school students can name the first President of the United States, according to a survey released today.
 
Hispanic Group To CNN: Rein In Dobbs Top
One of the country's leading Hispanic organizations is launching a campaign designed to pressure CNN to rein in host Lou Dobbs. More on CNN
 
Dems Finding Plenty To Dislike About Baucus Plan Top
WASHINGTON — Unhappy Senate Democrats on Thursday found plenty to complain about in the fine print of the latest health overhaul bill, particularly a tax provision they fear would hit hard at middle-class Americans, from coal miners in West Virginia to firefighters in New York. The opposition sprang up a day after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., unveiled long-delayed legislation that would transform the nation's health care system, requiring almost everyone to buy insurance, making insurance companies cover people with pre-existing medical conditions and reining in spiraling health care costs. The bill has given fresh momentum to President Barack Obama's top domestic priority of extending health coverage and controlling costs. To pay for the 10-year, $856 billion bill Baucus wants to tax high-value insurance plans, those worth $21,000 for a family and $8,000 for an individual. Baucus says those are "Cadillac plans" enjoyed by a small minority of Americans. Aides said about 10 percent of plans and 8 percent of taxpayers could be affected. But other Democratic senators fear that the tax would reach deep into middle-class pocketbooks, and labor unions are upset. Two Democrats on the Finance Committee, Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia, along with other senators, say they want to limit the tax before signing off on the bill. "We need to make it fairer to working people so that working folks don't get dragged into this at a level where they just don't have the incomes to support it," Kerry told reporters after a closed-door committee meeting to discuss the bill. The panel will begin voting on the bill Tuesday. Rockefeller, who met privately with Obama on Wednesday, said the proposal "could prevent workers in high-risk professions from getting the health benefits that they need, particularly coal miners," a significant constituency in his state. Insurers and business groups also oppose the new tax and other fees in the bill, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is wasting no time making its objections known. The chamber announced it will begin airing a new TV ad Friday in more than a dozen states lambasting "Washington politicians" who "want new taxes on health care companies – taxes that will get passed on to you." The insurance tax was one of several concerns raised Thursday by Democrats, forecasting contentious debate when Baucus' committee acts on the bill and during later votes in the Senate. Beyond the question of how the legislation would impact working-class Americans, liberal lawmakers are concerned about the absence of a new government-run insurance plan. Instead of the so-called public plan, Baucus went with nonprofit cooperatives. Although he failed in his monthslong quest to get Republican backing for his bill and now faces a host of Democratic concerns, Baucus defended his efforts Thursday. "I don't think there will be any changes in the core provisions of the bill," Baucus said. At a campaign-style rally at the University of Maryland on Thursday, Obama called reinventing health care a "defining struggle of this generation," though he barely mentioned Baucus' bill. For many of the students, after graduating they would be faced with the requirement to buy health insurance under the Baucus plan. The high-value insurance plan tax, which Obama embraced in his speech to Congress last week, is a major source of revenue for Baucus' bill, bringing in an estimated $215 billion over 10 years. If it's changed, Baucus would have to raise revenue elsewhere, which is not easy. Baucus and other supporters of the measure, including Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., say it would have the positive effect of driving down health care costs over the long term by encouraging companies to move toward cheaper health plans and workers to use less care. Conrad, who was part of the six-member negotiating team Baucus led for months to try to reach consensus on a bill, said numerous health policy experts had advised that the tax was a good way to go. Baucus initially had supported taxing employer health benefits before he dropped the idea for political reasons; the idea was proposed during last year's presidential campaign by GOP nominee Sen. John McCain, and Obama campaigned against it. The 35 percent tax levied on insurance plans is a different approach, though unions and employers contend it will end up being passed along to workers. Conrad acknowledged the criticism but said it was a necessary step. "Does that create some pain? Yes, it does," Conrad said. "People want to see real pain, stay on the current course" – with health care costs rising unchecked, he said. The House bills have no insurance plan excise tax and instead propose raising taxes on the highest-earners. The Senate's No. 2 Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said Thursday he thought that was a better way to go. Kerry, who originally proposed the idea of taxing the high-value plans, said he would offer an amendment next week to raise the value of the plans being taxed to $24,000 for a family plan and $9,800 for an individual plan. He said this would make a difference in exempting some union plans and focusing the tax on wealthier workers. The average cost of an insurance plan is around $14,000 for a family of four and $7,200 for an individual, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Several critics said the tax would disproportionately impact union retirees and workers, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Also Thursday, the Obama administration announced $25 million in grants for states and health care systems to experiment with alternatives to costly medical malpractice lawsuits, an issue that long has divided Washington. ___ Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar and Charles Babington in Washington and Matt Gouras in Montana contributed to this report. More on Max Baucus
 
Phil Gingrey Laughs Off 14,000 Americans Losing Their Health Insurance Every Day (VIDEO) Top
Media Matters catches Republican Congressman Phil Gingrey (Georgia) in a pretty insensitive moment during a speech on the floor of the House. At one point during his long speech railing against health care reform, Gingrey found the idea amusing that 14,000 Americans losing their health insurance every day constituted some kind of health care crisis: 14,000 people are losing their health insurance every day NOT because of the cost of health insurance [laughs], they're losing it because they lost their job! WATCH: Read more about how rising health care costs have forced layoffs at Media Matters. Send us tips! Write us at tv@huffingtonpost.com if you see any newsworthy or notable TV moments. Read more about our media monitoring project here and click here to join the Media Monitors team. More on Health Care
 
Michelle Kraus: Reframe the Conversation: Health Care Insurance Reform is a Basic Human Rights Issue Top
The President in regards to health care insurance reform said, “ The time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action ." Indeed it is time to stand up and take action for health care insurance reform in this country. Former President Jimmy we love you, but please sit down and hush up. We are getting lost in the rhetoric about race and diluting the message. Senator Max, you need to go stand in the corner for a few months and learn that bad behavior will not be rewarded.  Political organizers, pundits, media and spokespeople get out there with a unified message. Health care reform is a Human Rights issue. Yep, no one in this great land of ours should be denied access to medical care because they cannot pay for it or are uninsured. Everything else is inconsequential.  Health Care = Human Rights  We can’t just let the kooks rule the day or threaten violence with their words. Don’t leave Speaker Pelosi fearing for political violence in the streets because we have not done our job. Rally those brilliant strategists from Podesta’s Center for American Progress or Joan Blades' MoveOn.Org. Give them an assignment to get us on message and reframe the conversation. Revive the Meet Ups throughout the country, and start a real dialogue with real people who work and worry about their children and aging parents. We know how to do it very well. Stop whining and letting the fringe dominate. Pundits use your megaphones to get out in front, and help this President. We are in a real mess unless there is leadership from the media, the pundits and the press. Reach out your hands to Obama to bring him in from the cold into the warm embrace of the people who elected him.   More on Health Care
 
Burris Senate Appointment Still Being Challenged In Court Top
The controversy over Sen. Roland Burris' appointment to Illinois' junior senate seat may seem like a lifetime ago. But a group of well-known local attorneys is making a last-ditch effort to force Gov. Pat Quinn to call a special election, thus giving the public the final say about who represents them.
 
Cheryle Jackson Lands National Endorsement After Making Senate Bid Official (VIDEO) Top
Cheryle Robinson Jackson earned the endorsement of a powerful women's political group Thursday, just one day after officially launching her campaign for President Obama's former Senate seat. EMILY's List , a political force for pro-choice women candidates, announced it is throwing its support behind Jackson's candidacy. The former spokesperson for Gov. Rod Blagojevich who is on leave from her job as president of the Chicago Urban League will benefit from the group's substantial national fundraising network, which raised $43 million for women candidates in the last election cycle. "As the first female president of the Chicago Urban League and after holding high-level positions with Amtrak and National Public Radio, Cheryle is an experienced executive dedicated to fostering economic growth and empowering people across Illinois," Emily's List president Ellen R. Malcolm said in a release. "Emily's List is proud to endorse Cheryle Robinson Jackson to be the next Senator from the state of Illinois." Jackson has made creating jobs and promoting women's issues signature elements of her campaign. "I saw first-hand the devastating impact this recession has had on our middle-class and working families and I was in the trenches working everyday to help solve those problems," Jackson said in a statement. "And from that vantage point, I now know more than ever, Illinois needs a senator that understands everyday people and the challenges they face." Jackson faces a field of men in the Democratic primary: State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman and Chicago attorney Jacob Meister. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk is the likely Republican nominee. Jackson sought to portray herself as a candidate in tune with women voters as she kicked off her campaign. "More and more women are the head of their household," Jackson said in a campaign release. "They also are the largest group suffering from home foreclosures and they are likely to get paid less than a man for the same job. It's now more imperative than ever to provide quality health care, to assist families and homeowners, protect our reproductive rights, and to support and enforce the Lilly Ledbetter Act, where a woman must be paid an equal dollar for an equal days work." Jackson is the only African American candidate for the seat currently held by Roland Burris and formerly occupied by President Obama and Carol Moseley Braun. "The race factor plays a part," state Sen. James Meeks told ABC 7 . "But it doesn't play the part. It's not the major part. It's whether or not Cheryle Jackson is qualified." Watch video of the campaign kickoff from Progress Illinois : More on Senate Races
 
Kathleen Sebelius Lectures Chuck Todd For Not Sneezing Correctly During Briefing (VIDEO) Top
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was outraged when NBC political correspondent Chuck Todd had the temerity to sneeze during her briefing without properly covering his nose with his elbow. The press corps erupted in laughter as Sebelius made funny faces and lectured Todd on controlling the spread of his germs. Todd smiled sheepishly as Sebelius playfully admonished him: "I mean what is that about? Jeez, who's got some Purell? Give that to Mr. Todd right away. We'll have Elmo give Chuck a special briefing." WATCH: Send us tips! Write us at tv@huffingtonpost.com if you see any newsworthy or notable TV moments. Read more about our media monitoring project here and click here to join the Media Monitors team. More on Video
 
Iraqi Shot After Throwing Slipper At US Patrol Top
FALLUJAH, Iraq — American Marines shot and wounded an Iraqi man in the former flash point city of Fallujah believing he was throwing a grenade at them, the U.S. military said Thursday – but local police and witnesses said the object was only the man's slipper. During a joint patrol of U.S. Marines and Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, the man "threw an object, believed to be a grenade" at the passing troops on Wednesday afternoon, according to a U.S. military statement. "U.S. forces fired in self-defense, wounding the attacker," the military said. "The convoy stopped, secured the area and began to render medical aid." The man, Ahmed al-Jumaili, was rushed to a local hospital and was in stable condition there Thursday after being treated for a chest wound and two bullet grazes. Although the incident came just a day after the Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush was released from prison, al-Jumaili said he took off his leather slipper and threw it in a knee-jerk reaction to seeing the patrol. "When I saw Americans patrolling the streets of Fallujah I lost my temper, I don't want to see them in Fallujah," he told The Associated Press. "Troops have withdrawn from cities so why they still patrolling here in Fallujah?" Under the U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, American forces ceased operating on their own in cities and towns earlier this summer but still go on joint patrols. The agreement calls for the withdrawal of American combat forces by the end of August 2010 and of all U.S. troops by the end of the following year. The U.S. military did not say in its statement what the thrown object was, and in response to a request for clarification said the object had not been recovered. "The Marines who saw the object thrown at the vehicle identified it as a grenade," spokeswoman 1st Lt. Rachel Beatty said. "Because the suspected grenade was not recovered, we do not know why it had failed to function." However, a Fallujah police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk with the press, said al-Jumaili had only thrown his slipper. Shopkeeper Ammar Hussein, who knows al-Jumaili, said he witnessed the incident. "I saw him throw his shoe while the U.S. soldier was looking at him," Hussein said, adding that the act was out of character for al-Jumaili. "He was always so calm, I never saw him behaving strangely." Al-Jumaili, a 30-year-old auto mechanic, said he ran after throwing his slipper, but was slowed after a bullet grazed his leg. "More bullets were fired and one hit me from behind and went through my chest, and I fell down," he said from the hospital, surrounded by his mother and other family members. The U.S. military said the Marines' response was "done in compliance with the security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq which authorizes U.S. forces to take appropriate action in self-defense." Elsewhere in Iraq, a suicide car bomber hit a police checkpoint west of the northern city of Mosul, killing three civilians and injuring three policemen, provincial police said. Also in the north, in the Kurdish province of Sulaimaniyah, a worker with a Norwegian aid agency who had been abducted was found alive, the agency said. Soran Coste was found early in the morning after being reported missing Monday, Norwegian People's Aid said in a statement on their Web site. He "shows obvious signs of physical abuse" and is receiving medical treatment, the group said. NPA said it had no details on what happened to Coste or who was behind the abduction. But the statement said Coste, who runs human rights and democracy programs in the region for the Norwegian group, has had his home vandalized and has received death threats in the past. In Kirkuk, police Col. Sherzad Mufari said one of his sergeants was arrested in connection with the murder of his own family as they slept early Sunday morning. Sgt. Omed Abdul-Hamid initially blamed the slayings on insurgents, but later confessed to shooting his wife and three young children, Mufari said. Confessions are often suspect in Iraq, where rights groups say they are sometimes extracted under duress. More on War Wire
 
Tara Lohan: Can You Suvive Life After Cheap Oil? It May Be Time to Find Out Top
Do you know how to make shoes? Can you build a house? How about grow food? Do you have a doctor and a dentist in your circle of friends? These are the questions that Andre Angelantoni thinks you should be able to answer in order to plan for the next 10 to 15 years. Angelantoni believes there are radical changes ahead for our society -- and no, it's not the rapture he sees coming, but a post-peak-oil world. Simply put, peak oil is the point when the world hits the maximum rate of petroleum extraction, and after that, production begins to decline. Since the calculations of geophysicist M. King Hubbert, Ph.D., in 1956, there has been speculation about when (and for some, if ) the world will hit its peak production of oil. Angelantoni is among the crowd of geologists, oil-industry experts and numbers crunchers that believes we are at or near peak, and the way down will be a painful and bumpy ride. A few years ago, Angelantoni left San Francisco's dot-com (or dot-bomb, as he says) rat race to start a business helping people prepare for life after cheap oil. He offers an online " Uncrash Course " that covers things like how to survive potential disease outbreaks, what career path you should be on and what skills you can offer your community, how you should prepare for an environmental disaster, what do you do about your finances, where should you live, how you will eat and how you will get around. And he's not alone. Across the country, groups known as " transition towns " are gaining steam, helping their communities become more resilient in the face of a changing energy landscape. Is Peak Oil for Real? It would be infinitely more convenient at the moment to dismiss Angelantoni as an end-of-the-world extremist, like the survivalists who have taken to the hills to grow their own food and otherwise live off the land. Except that there is growing evidence about peak oil and when we may actually hit the top of production (and likewise, what that means for our slide down the decline). In 2008, Richard Heinberg , a well-known author and educator about peak oil wrote: Petroleum is a finite substance, and we have reached the inevitable point at which it simply isn't possible to increase the rate at which we extract it from the ground. Most oil-producing countries, including the U.S., have already seen their glory days and are now watching output from their wells gradually dwindle. Only a few nations are early in the production cycle and able to ramp up the rate of flow. Not everyone shares his certainty. Bill McKibben , the renowned environmental writer and climate-change activist is a little more cautious: Who knows if we're actually going to see oil production peak sometime soon? Not me. I've read persuasive arguments that we will from writers like Michael Klare and James Howard Kunstler and Paul Roberts. I've also read confident counterarguments from people who've been right in the past, like Daniel Yergin of Cambridge Energy Research Associates. Oil depletion is not a straightforward physical law, like the fact that the molecular structure of carbon dioxide traps heat that would otherwise radiate back out to space. Instead, it's a detective story that turns on questions like, are the Saudis lying about how fast oil is being depleted in their giant field at Ghawar? Energy consultant Michael Lynch recently wrote an anti-peak-oil op-ed in the New York Times by. He wrote, "Like many Malthusian beliefs, peak-oil theory has been promoted by a motivated group of scientists and laymen who base their conclusions on poor analyses of data and misinterpretations of technical material." Joseph Romm, who writes for Climate Progress and previously served as a high-ranking member of the U.S Department of Energy during the Clinton years, quickly challenged Lynch's op-ed. But the most compelling evidence may now be coming -- the U.S government itself. Michael Klare, author of Resource Wars and Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Petroleum Dependency , wrote in June about the findings of the 2009 report, "International Energy Outlook," from the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy. The EIA has previously scoffed at peak oil charges. Until now. Klare writes : For the first time, the well-respected Energy Information Administration appears to be joining with those experts who have long argued that the era of cheap and plentiful oil is drawing to a close. ... For years now, assorted petroleum geologists and other energy types have been warning that world oil output is approaching a maximum sustainable daily level -- a peak -- and will subsequently go into decline, possibly producing global economic chaos. Whatever the timing of the arrival of peak oil's actual peak, there is growing agreement that we have, at last, made it into peak-oil territory, if not yet to the moment of irreversible decline. This is groundbreaking coming from the U.S. government, although don't expect President Barack Obama to mention peak oil in any upcoming speeches. Determining the peak is not so cut and dried, McKibben points out. In addition, tiny market changes, like a period of economic decline where less oil is consumed can mask depleting supplies. But for those who are convinced of the data, they aren't waiting around for the federal government to jump into crisis mode. Read the rest of this post on AlterNet, including more about what life might look like after peak oil, what "transition towns" are doing to make our energy descent not so bumpy, and how cities like San Francisco are rethinking their strategies. More on Climate Change
 
Bill Himpler: Industrial Loan Companies are Part of the Economic Solution Top
Commercial firm ownership of Industrial Loan Corporations played no role whatsoever in causing or exacerbating the current or previous financial crises. The current crisis arose within the financial sector, not the commercial sector, and no government official or credible analyst disputes this. Criticisms of ILCs, such as those levied by the Cambridge Winter paper, do not reflect mainstream academic or legal thinking. Rather they conflate the problems experienced by AIG and investment banks in the financial crisis with the practices of institutions like GE, Pitney Bowes and Target simply because they own ILC subsidiaries -- ignoring the tremendous differences in regulatory structure, economics, use of leverage, product offerings, customers, and business model. The authors themselves state clearly that "the crisis had surprisingly little to do with use or abuse by commercial enterprises." ILCs are well regulated. ILCs are subject to state and FDIC regulation at the bank level and to holding company oversight by federal regulators. The FDIC's supervisory program for the largest, most complex ILC parents is in substance parallel and comparable to supervisory programs used by the Federal Reserve. In fact, there has not been a single failure of a Utah ILC, ever. The FDIC's "source of strength" test assesses ILC parent capital, often requiring support of banks at levels well above the "well-capitalized" standard. Moreover, the rules governing the relationship of ILC's to their parent companies -- in terms of lending to parents and affiliates -- are the same rules that apply to commercial banks and require arms-length transactions and restrictions on the size of affiliate transactions. An ILC can provide no significant funding to affiliates absent regulatory approval. Neither facts nor logic support any assertion of causality between ILC ownership and the financial institutions that faced the greatest pressure during the crisis last fall. Some of the institutions that failed or required extraordinary government assistance had ILCs, while some did not. Meanwhile, all had exposure to laxly underwritten mortgages that have been widely recognized as the cause of the crisis. There is no proof that ILC parents failed more frequently than non-ILC parents. To assert causality between ILC ownership and the financial crisis is like seeing a group of school kids who all got sick after eating lunch in the school cafeteria and attributing their illness to the fact that half of them had eggs for breakfast. There is no question that the financial crisis revealed significant failings in consolidated supervision as implemented by all the banking agencies and the SEC. But ownership of an ILC had nothing to do with the effectiveness of supervision of their parent companies. In fact, all 12 of the largest bank holding companies, whether or not they owned ILCs, received TARP capital and TLGP support, and while one year ago there were large investment banks under consolidated regulation by the SEC, today there are none. We support improvements in consolidated regulation, and are engaging constructively with Congress to eliminate the gaps in our regulatory structure that allowed excessive risk-taking, while preserving ILCs as a vital source of credit to consumers and to small and mid-sized businesses that drive our economy. We support creation of a systemic risk regulator, and expect that all large financial institutions, including those owning ILCs, will come under the supervision of this new regulator. Advocates of eliminating the ILC charter are throwing a red herring into the financial reform debate, as a means of pursuing self-interested agendas such as protecting banks from competition. Any requirement to separate banking and commerce is not only contrary to the practices of the European Union and most other industrialized economies, it also would severely hamper the flow of credit to consumers and businesses across the nation -- at a time when commercial bank lending is already impaired, and affordable financing is crucial to revitalizing our economy and putting Americans back to work. More on European Union
 
Cameron Sinclair: Resilience Takes Form -- A Handbook for Transition Top
Something strange has happened over in old Blighty. I'm not sure if the Utopian dreams of the 1960's are making a comeback or if a new movement, one grounded in reality but focused on our future, has taken shape. No matter how cynical you are, you can't ignore one of the fastest growing grassroots movements in the UK -- The Transition Network . In 2006 a founding member of this network, Rob Hopkins, had begun working on an idea in Totnes , a sleepy seaside town in the West of England. From the home of Cornish pasties and clotted cream a community-led initiative began to focus on a duel issues of climate change and the realities of a post peak oil society. It seems crazy, but by galvanizing the community Rob and a highly networked team developed what is now called the Transition model, the 12 steps or initiatives to transition as described in his book The Transition Handbook . Totnes has become the accidental epicenter of a quiet revolution. The key components of the Transition model are that groups involved in each of the 12 transition initiatives that focus on the various sectors of local communities. The groups plan awareness programs, include screening movies followed by talks by experts about climate change. Round two they stimulate a local movement by organizing networking events and developing groups focus on different themes deemed important to their local community. Then they produce a 'Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP)' that reflects the views and inputs from many local stake holders. Then it gets really interesting -- the town collectively finds ways to power down. It was at this point I went crazy researching, and began writing what I thought was going to be an insightful piece about the movement, where it's going and what it means -- then I found this online video... ...what better than an English poet with a wry sense of humor to explain this fascinating phenomenon. I recommend you watch the video and make up your own mind. As you watch, just remember that there are many new towns, villages and hamlets are self-organizing under these ideals. They are looking inward to ask themselves what will their future look like based on their needs -- not just some generic government white paper. Take note. This movement could be coming to a town near you. More on Sustainability
 
William Bradley: Obama and Al Qaeda: New Moves Show Success May Not Depend On Afghanistan Top
While things are going quite ruggedly for America in Afghanistan, they may be going worse for Al Qaeda everywhere. Osama bin Laden's taunting 9/11 anniversary message was days late and very lame. And President Barack Obama's lethal approach to dealing with the organization that attacked America on 9/11 took a startling, and still more lethal, turn this week in Somalia. Which raises a central question: Are we not in fact much closer to achieving our central goal in Afghanistan than most imagine? Many more people know now that Afghanistan is going badly because it's going better than it was last year. Think about it. Until a few months ago, it would have been absolutely impossible to even conduct a presidential election there. The Taliban influence in southern Afghanistan was too great to allow any widespread voting. The election is what concentrated media and public attention on Afghanistan. An apparently under-the-gun Osama bin Laden released this late and lame message taunting America about his organization's attacks on 9/11. Following Obama's Marine offensive there in southern Afghanistan, the election was able to be held on August 20th. And held it was. And held. And it's still going on, at least the counting. With charges of massive fraud, Afghanistan is preparing for a massive recount, as a third of President Hamid Karzai's votes are in question. He's claiming victory with 54% of the vote, but preparations are beginning for a run-off with his principal challenger, Dr. Abdullah Abdulla, the former Northern Alliance spokesman and Afghan foreign minister who fought next to the Taliban-assassinated Ahmad Shah Massoud in the war against the Soviets while Karzai raised money outside the country. With allegations of massive fraud in the August 20th presidential election in Afghanistan, George W. Bush's man in Kabul, Hamid Karzai, holds a lead over a hero of the war against the Soviets, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, pictured here, whose Northern Alliance was the key US ally in taking down the Taliban regime after 9/11. America's mission in Afghanistan is quite confused. The goal is to deny it as a base for Al Qaeda. But President George W. Bush, who buddied up with his pick for president, Karzai, turned it into a nation-building exercise even as he cast his gaze fatefully on the endless distraction that was Iraq. Obama, who promises to do better, and is, says the mission is to disrupt and deny Al Qaeda. Even as the mission slides, once again, into nation-building. There's much more to be said, but for purposes of this piece, let's condense it into one word: Whatever. The Pakistani Army, moving at the request of Obama, has done a good job of reversing major gains made by the Pakistani Taliban. Many sources say that Al Qaeda cadre -- increasingly decimated by drone aircraft attacks -- are beginning to flee Pakistan for Yemen and Somalia. It seems that with this kind of pressure, the ability of Al Qaeda to mount a strategic strike against America continues to decline. Which brings us to other major developments this week. On Sunday, Osama bin Laden issued a taunting statement marking the eighth anniversary of Al Qaeda's attacks on New York and Washington of 9/11. He called Obama "powerless" and said he can never stop the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. A few weeks after the November election of Barack Obama, Al Qaeda operational chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri denounced him as a "house Negro." In a release with notably higher production values than Osama bin Laden's taunting 9/11 message this week. While the Al Qaeda icon intended this statement as a show of strength, it was actually a show of weakness. When Osama calls Obama powerless, he may actually be engaging in the psychological phenomenon of projection. Consider: * His statement was released two days AFTER the 9/11 anniversary. * It was an audiotape, not a videotape. * It had none of the chanting jihadist production values of the best Al Qaeda videos. * It was released on a secondary jihadist site because the major ones were recently knocked down by, ahem, unknown parties. If Osama bin Laden is unable to release even an audiotape to celebrate his 9/11 attacks in a timely manner, he seems to be under a great deal of pressure. He may even be on the run, as Yasir Arafat -- who for several years never spent the night in the same place twice in a row -- once was. Arafat solved his problem by turning to the peace process. I don't think that Osama bin Laden has that option. Indeed, the US drone attacks against Al Qaeda safe havens inside Pakistan appear to be better targeted than they used to be. The Pakistani government, which demanded their end last year and early this year on account of civilian casualties, hasn't been complaining lately. Sources say that it is providing US forces with better real-time intelligence against jihadist cadre. Which brings us to the other big development of the week with regard to Al Qaeda. On Monday, a flight of US helicopter gunships carrying special forces troopers struck deep inside Somalia -- the failed state which once again is becoming a jihadist haven -- against the convoy of a top Al Qaeda leader. Here's the way the Global Post report put it: The American gunships attacked a convoy of vehicles carrying Al Qaeda militants and killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, an Al Qaeda leader wanted for the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998 and an Israeli-owned Kenyan hotel in 2002. The raid shows U.S. President Barack Obama's administration does not intend to allow Somalia to remain a safe haven for Al Qaeda and it is determined to thwart the drive by Islamic militant group Al Shabaab to control Somalia. Al Shabaab has direct links to Al Qaeda and uses foreign troops in its battles to control Somalia. This top Al Qaeda leader was successfully targeted deep inside Somalia this week by the Obama Administration. In recent years the U.S. has limited its actions in Somalia to attacks by long range missiles and drones. But this action was direct and put American troops, however briefly, on Somali soil. By successfully targeting Nabhan, the U.S. shows that it has precise strategic information. A further intelligence boon for the U.S. should come from the seizure of Nabhan's body, the two injured men traveling with him and whatever equipment or computers they might have. In Monday's raid, six U.S. helicopters swooped on a convoy of vehicles and strafed them with heavy gunfire. A Land Cruiser carrying Nabhan and at least four other senior militants was badly hit as were a number of "technicals," improvised battle wagons made from pick-up trucks loaded with heavy machine guns, according to eyewitnesses quoted by wire services. Then two U.S. helicopters landed and there was a brief firefight. Nabhan and other militants were killed. The U.S. troops jumped from the helicopters, went up to the vehicles and seized Nabhan's body and two other injured militants. They quickly flew off by helicopter to a U.S. Navy warship waiting nearby. Could it be that we are much closer to achieving our central goal in Afghanistan than most imagine? You can check things during the day on my site, New West Notes ... www.newwestnotes.com. More on Afghanistan
 
Harry Shearer: Remembering Henry Gibson Top
Henry came on the national scene with a bang as part of "Laugh-In."  Everyone of TV-viewing age at the time remembers "A Poem, by Henry Gibson" as being an oasis of witty calm amid the frantic knockabout comedy of the hit show.  I got to know Henry years later.  I was casting a movie I had written and was to direct, and the part in question was about to go to an actor I'd long known and admired, when Henry walked into the audition.  He sent the message "This part is mine" not with swagger but with an easy sense of assurance and knowledge of the character, with wit and intelligence.  During the shooting, which was arduous, Henry was again an oasis of calm and, now, wisdom, gently suggesting very funny ideas almost all of which made their way into the final product. Since then, we had talked occasionally -- too occasionally -- by phone, and those conversations were wide-ranging, smart, and always tinged with Henry's gentle intensity.  In a business filled with frantic narcissism and aggressive neurosis, Henry was an island of adulthood.  If he wasn't a Buddhist, he could have taught them a thing or two.  My only regret is I didn't get to spend more time with him.  In a time of bad prose, Henry Gibson was  a poem.
 
Obama Endorses Bennet For Senate Top
President Barack Obama endorsed U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet today, throwing the force of the White House into a Democratic primary battle that officially is just over a day old. "Families in Colorado and across America need (Bennet) in the United States Senate to help us revitalize our economy, improve our public schools, and pass health insurance reform," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. More on Barack Obama
 
Israeli Female Soldiers On Why They Fight As Well As The Military Men (VIDEO) Top
The Israeli military is considered one of the best in the world, and every citizen must serve in it in order to keep their citizenship. One of the main distinctions of Israeli conscription is that it includes women. While a portion are exempt for a variety of reasons, often religious, most serve their time, and many are assigned to infantry combat units that put them directly in harm's way. The CNN report below is an interesting look at Israeli women soldiers and why they are just as capable as their male counterparts. They certainly don't lack confidence. Staff Sgt. Davida Loecher makes her case: That's the reason I came to combat unit. To prove that women can do it. Just to show them that I can be better and I can do more. And I could tell you that a lot of girls in this unit could take guys in a lot of missions, take guys physically, mentally. WATCH: Embedded video from CNN Video Send us tips! Write us at tv@huffingtonpost.com if you see any newsworthy or notable TV moments. Read more about our media monitoring project here and click here to join the Media Monitors team. More on Israel
 

CREATE MORE ALERTS:

Auctions - Find out when new auctions are posted

Horoscopes - Receive your daily horoscope

Music - Get the newest Album Releases, Playlists and more

News - Only the news you want, delivered!

Stocks - Stay connected to the market with price quotes and more

Weather - Get today's weather conditions




You received this email because you subscribed to Yahoo! Alerts. Use this link to unsubscribe from this alert. To change your communications preferences for other Yahoo! business lines, please visit your Marketing Preferences. To learn more about Yahoo!'s use of personal information, including the use of web beacons in HTML-based email, please read our Privacy Policy. Yahoo! is located at 701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)