By Andria Simmon
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday 5-14-2010
A Kennesaw State University student on Friday criticized the national immigration system that brought her to the brink of deportation and remains a looming threat to the future of students like her who are illegally in America.
"I just hope for the best," said Jessica Colotl, a 21-year-old who entered the country illegally when she was 10. "I hope something positive comes out of this because we really need reform for this messed-up system."
The Mexico native gained national attention in March when she was arrested in Cobb County for a minor traffic violation on the KSU campus and narrowly avoided being deported. Colotl addressed about 50 supporters and reporters at a rally just hours after being released from jail on $2,500 bond on a second charge accusing her of lying about her address.
The young student is being held up as an example of what's wrong with the nation's immigration system by both pro-immigrant groups and opponents of illegal immigration.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel said students who are undocumented should be expelled from colleges. State Sen. Eric Johnson, another GOP candidate for governor, said through a representative Friday that state and federal laws are very clear that those in this country illegally are not eligible for any public benefit, including postsecondary education.
"Especially at a time when they are raising tuition, we can’t afford to have illegal immigrants taking a taxpayer-subsidized spot in our colleges," Johnson spokesman Ben Fry said. "We must enforce the law."
Two other GOP candidates for governor, Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine and former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, also gave statements about Colotl's case. Oxendine called for the expulsion of all illegal immigrants in the higher education system, and Deal said current immigration law needs to be enforced.
Colotl said she is looking forward to graduation and hoping to avoid forced removal to the home country she barely remembers.
"If I were to be deported, I would have to start all over again," Colotl said. "I am just hoping for the best and hopefully immigration reform ... will help me."
Her criminal defense attorney, Chris Taylor, said someone with a 3.8 grade-point average coming out of high school is "the kind of person we want in our country."
The forum at Plaza Fiesta in Atlanta to address Colotl's case was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Center for Human Rights, the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, all of whom have rallied to her cause. A criminal defense attorney and immigration lawyer also have taken her case for free.
Near the speaker's podium was a poster for the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights featuring Colotl's image and the slogans "Education not deportation" and "I march for Jessica."
Colotl's case has prompted pro-immigrant and human rights organizations to renew calls for the termination of the 287(g) program, an agreement local law enforcement agencies, such as the Cobb Sheriff's Office, have with immigration officials to check the status of everyone taken into custody. Opponents say the program promotes racial profiling and tears apart families.
Colotl was handed over to immigration authorities following her first arrest under the 287(g) program. At the urging of KSU, Colotl's friends and advocacy groups, ICE agreed to defer her case for a year until she completed her degree. She was then released from a federal detention center in Alabama.
Colotl was released from jail about 11:40 a.m. Friday. Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren secured a warrant Wednesday night to arrest Colotl, 21, on a felony charge alleging she made a false statement about her address on a jail booking form. A KSU officer had arrested Colotl in March on a charge of driving without a license.
A spokeswoman for Warren said he would be unavailable to comment about the rally for Colotl on Friday. She referred a reporter to a written statement Warren issued Thursday that said “it is sad that Ms. Colotl’s parents chose to enter the United States illegally and ultimately put her in this position.”
Warren said that his investigation revealed that she had never lived at the address listed on her booking records.
Taylor, Colotl's attorney, said that she had lived at the Duluth address as recently as November 2009 and her motor vehicle insurance and car registration paperwork were still being mailed there.
Colotl gave deputies her old address, Taylor said, because it matched her car insurance paperwork. On the same day, she also gave immigration enforcement officers her current address in Norcross. Sheriff's deputies should have known where to find her, Taylor said.
An ICE spokesman said Friday that the agency chose not to detain Colotl again following her second arrest. Her case will be reviewed again on its merits at the conclusion of the deferment period.
Colotl was accepted to KSU in 2006 as an in-state student, which was in keeping with the policy of the Board of Regents at the time. The following year, the rules were changed so that undocumented students could no longer receive in-state tuition, which costs about a quarter of out-of-state tuition.
Colotl was still paying in-state tuition up until her March arrest. That's when university officials learned she was an illegal immigrant, according to a statement KSU issued Friday. The university's administration said from now on she will be charged out-of-state tuition rates.
Chris Kuck, an Atlanta immigration attorney who is representing Colotl, said because she entered the country illegally as a minor, there is no path to legalization open to her. She has an academic scholarship to KSU, but she has not been receiving federal or state financial aid, including the merit-based HOPE scholarship.
While she had high enough grades for the HOPE scholarship, Kuck said she never applied. Only Georgia residents are eligible for the scholarship, which covers tuition and other expenses at public colleges.
“She’s not eligible for HOPE,” Kuck said. “You have to be a Georgia resident. She paid for it all on her own.”
Kuck said he is trying to get her a work permit, since her deferment status with ICE means she is technically authorized to be in the country now. If she gets a work permit, Colotl might again be eligible for in-state tuition, he said.
Staff writer Jim Galloway contributed to this article.
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Saturday, May 15, 2010
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Monday, May 03, 2010
COPS: Times Square Car Bomber Got the Wrong Fertilizer
White Male in 40s Seen on Tape Near Site of Car Bomb Attempt
By RICHARD ESPOSITO, MICHAEL S. JAMES and DEAN SCHABNER
May 2, 2010 -ABC world news
The would-be car-bomber who left an SUV loaded with propane and gas cans, fireworks and timing devices on a Times Square street also had more than 100 pounds of fertilizer, but not the kind that would explode, police said today.
Police examine security footage of a man removing his shirt in Times Square.
Instead of ammonium nitrate, the kind of fertilizer used by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the person who abandoned the van on the crowded New York City street had a metal gun locker full of a harmless fertilizer, New York City Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.
While it is unknown who the potential bomber is, or the bomber's motive, officials told ABC, that if that person were not aware of the characteristics of the fertilizer it could point to the fact that the bomber did not know what he was doing.
Sources also told ABC News that the valves on the propane tanks were not open, which would have made it less likely that the gas inside would have ignited.
Police are looking for white male in his 40s who was seen leaving the area near the SUV and shedding a dark shirt, revealing a red shirt underneath, about a half block from where survellance cameras saw the vehicle entering Times Square at about 6:28 p.m. Saturday, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
The video of the possible suspect was expected to be released later today.
WATCH: Mayor on Time Square Bomb: 'We Are Very Lucky'
Napolitano on NY Bomb - no evidence "anything other than a one-off"
The individual was looking around in a furtive manner, Kelly said, but he also stressed that the behavior could be totally innocent.
At a Sunday afternoon press conference, Kelly said police would be reviewing hundreds of hours of videotape, and that police had identified the owner of the green Nissan Pathfinder but had not yet spoken to them.
Detectives are in Pennsylvania today meeting with tourists who think they may have captured a suspect on video.
Kelly said "no evidence" supports the Pakistani Taliban's claim of responsibilty for the bombing, but he said investigators had not yet ruled out either domestic or international motives for the attempted attack.
"Clearly it was the intent of whoever did this to cause mayhem and create casualties," Kelly said. "It was just a sober reminder that New York is clearly a target of people who want to come here and do us harm."
At about 2 p.m. Sunday, NYPD opened the 55-by-32-inch gun locker that was inside the SUV and found it contained eight bags of an unknown, fertilizer-like substance and an inverted pot with a "bird's nest" of wires.
There were three propane tanks next to the gun locker, two five-gallon jerry cans of gasoline, and a timing device, police officials said. There was no high-grade explosive, and the timing device was clocks attached to wires. Attached to the propane tanks were M88 fireworks, some of which had gone off, but without igniting the gas.
One alarm clock appeared to be wired into the gun locker. Another alarm clock was wired to a can with up to 30 M88 firecrackers resting between the cans of gasoline.
Kelly said it was too early to determine whether the device was crude or not.
-davidsamuels7@gmIL.COM
By RICHARD ESPOSITO, MICHAEL S. JAMES and DEAN SCHABNER
May 2, 2010 -ABC world news
The would-be car-bomber who left an SUV loaded with propane and gas cans, fireworks and timing devices on a Times Square street also had more than 100 pounds of fertilizer, but not the kind that would explode, police said today.
Police examine security footage of a man removing his shirt in Times Square.
Instead of ammonium nitrate, the kind of fertilizer used by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, the person who abandoned the van on the crowded New York City street had a metal gun locker full of a harmless fertilizer, New York City Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.
While it is unknown who the potential bomber is, or the bomber's motive, officials told ABC, that if that person were not aware of the characteristics of the fertilizer it could point to the fact that the bomber did not know what he was doing.
Sources also told ABC News that the valves on the propane tanks were not open, which would have made it less likely that the gas inside would have ignited.
Police are looking for white male in his 40s who was seen leaving the area near the SUV and shedding a dark shirt, revealing a red shirt underneath, about a half block from where survellance cameras saw the vehicle entering Times Square at about 6:28 p.m. Saturday, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
The video of the possible suspect was expected to be released later today.
WATCH: Mayor on Time Square Bomb: 'We Are Very Lucky'
Napolitano on NY Bomb - no evidence "anything other than a one-off"
The individual was looking around in a furtive manner, Kelly said, but he also stressed that the behavior could be totally innocent.
At a Sunday afternoon press conference, Kelly said police would be reviewing hundreds of hours of videotape, and that police had identified the owner of the green Nissan Pathfinder but had not yet spoken to them.
Detectives are in Pennsylvania today meeting with tourists who think they may have captured a suspect on video.
Kelly said "no evidence" supports the Pakistani Taliban's claim of responsibilty for the bombing, but he said investigators had not yet ruled out either domestic or international motives for the attempted attack.
"Clearly it was the intent of whoever did this to cause mayhem and create casualties," Kelly said. "It was just a sober reminder that New York is clearly a target of people who want to come here and do us harm."
At about 2 p.m. Sunday, NYPD opened the 55-by-32-inch gun locker that was inside the SUV and found it contained eight bags of an unknown, fertilizer-like substance and an inverted pot with a "bird's nest" of wires.
There were three propane tanks next to the gun locker, two five-gallon jerry cans of gasoline, and a timing device, police officials said. There was no high-grade explosive, and the timing device was clocks attached to wires. Attached to the propane tanks were M88 fireworks, some of which had gone off, but without igniting the gas.
One alarm clock appeared to be wired into the gun locker. Another alarm clock was wired to a can with up to 30 M88 firecrackers resting between the cans of gasoline.
Kelly said it was too early to determine whether the device was crude or not.
-davidsamuels7@gmIL.COM
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Obama praises Dorothy Height as 'godmother of civil rights'
By Krissah Thompson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 29, 2010; 1:02 PM
Civil rights icon Dorothy Height's eulogy was the third that President Obama has delivered since taking office. The others were for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the miners who died this month in a West Virginia mine collapse.
Kennedy's funeral allowed the president to embrace the senator's legacy and pay homage to a key supporter. Honoring the miners enabled the president to connect with a suffering working-class community and show empathy for a bloc that did not back him at the polls.
Height's services were different, packed with both historical references and light moments. Before taking the pulpit to speak, Obama sat next to his wife, bobbing his head as gospel artist BeBe Winans sang "Stand." Obama smiled as he listened to friends tell stories about Height daring to play basketball for her school team long before it was acceptable for women to do so.
Poet Maya Angelou offered a reading and Camille Cosby also paid tribute to Height, who led the National Council of Negro Women for decades and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Obama praised Height as the "godmother of civil rights," becoming a stalwart of the movement even at personal risk. He said she "deserves a place" in our history books and America's memory and noted that anyone who had lived long enough to have an 88-year old nephew had "lived a full life."
Height was 98 when she died last week.
Obama spoke of the period in which Height was raised, when lynching was still commonplace, black people were legally denied opportunities and slavery was still a fairly recent memory for some.
Then he placed himself as an heir of Height's work, as he has often done, thanking civil rights leaders for being the "Moses generation" that led their people out of the desert. Obama refers to his generation as the "Joshua" generation, referring to the biblical successor to Moses, leading his people to the promised land.
"It's because of her that Michelle and I are here," Obama said to applause from those who had gathered to honor Height.
--davidradiotv2000@yahoo.com
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 29, 2010; 1:02 PM
Civil rights icon Dorothy Height's eulogy was the third that President Obama has delivered since taking office. The others were for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the miners who died this month in a West Virginia mine collapse.
Kennedy's funeral allowed the president to embrace the senator's legacy and pay homage to a key supporter. Honoring the miners enabled the president to connect with a suffering working-class community and show empathy for a bloc that did not back him at the polls.
Height's services were different, packed with both historical references and light moments. Before taking the pulpit to speak, Obama sat next to his wife, bobbing his head as gospel artist BeBe Winans sang "Stand." Obama smiled as he listened to friends tell stories about Height daring to play basketball for her school team long before it was acceptable for women to do so.
Poet Maya Angelou offered a reading and Camille Cosby also paid tribute to Height, who led the National Council of Negro Women for decades and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Obama praised Height as the "godmother of civil rights," becoming a stalwart of the movement even at personal risk. He said she "deserves a place" in our history books and America's memory and noted that anyone who had lived long enough to have an 88-year old nephew had "lived a full life."
Height was 98 when she died last week.
Obama spoke of the period in which Height was raised, when lynching was still commonplace, black people were legally denied opportunities and slavery was still a fairly recent memory for some.
Then he placed himself as an heir of Height's work, as he has often done, thanking civil rights leaders for being the "Moses generation" that led their people out of the desert. Obama refers to his generation as the "Joshua" generation, referring to the biblical successor to Moses, leading his people to the promised land.
"It's because of her that Michelle and I are here," Obama said to applause from those who had gathered to honor Height.
--davidradiotv2000@yahoo.com
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Daily Calcium and Vitamins Linked to Lower Breast Cancer Risk
April 18, 2010, 2:01 PM EDT
By Ellen Gibson
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Calcium doesn’t just build strong bones, it may fight cancer too, a study said.
Researchers at the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico reported that women who took calcium had a 40 percent lower risk of getting breast cancer, while those getting multivitamins showed a 30 percent reduction in risk. The new findings, from a study of 744 women, were presented today at the meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington.
The data contradict results of a December 2008 trial that showed no reduction in cancer risk from vitamin supplements. The scientists attributed the calcium benefit seen in today’s study to its effect on what they called DNA repair capacity -- the biological process by which cells patch up damaged DNA that otherwise may cause cancer. Today’s report suggests women may boost their cellular defenses with dietary changes and long-term use of supplements, they said.
“The importance of this finding is that now we can monitor breast-cancer risk using DNA repair capacity,” said Manuel Bayona, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at Ponce School of Medicine and an author of the paper. “We believe that all women should be taking vitamins and supplements. Now we can tell if that regimen is really doing its work in reducing the risk.”
A good analogy, Bayona said, is the management of heart disease. Just as doctors track patients’ cholesterol and modify it with changes in diet or drugs, they could use blood tests to monitor the DNA repair ability of women at elevated risk for breast cancer and tweak it using dietary supplements.
Vitamin Intake
The study included 278 women with breast cancer and 466 healthy controls. They were given a questionnaire that included several questions about their current and past intake of specific vitamins and minerals. The researchers also took blood samples to measure DNA repair capacity, and the cancer patients were compared with the controls on several dimensions.
The researchers said that the protective effect of calcium is due to its impact on DNA repair. Previous studies have demonstrated calcium’s cancer-blocking benefit without explaining the mechanism of action. A study in June 2007 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition from researchers at Creighton University School of Medicine found that women taking calcium and vitamin D showed a 60 percent reduction in cancer risk.
Repairing Damage
The relationship between vitamin supplements and cancer risk is more complicated. Vitamins prevent and repair the cancer-causing damage done by free radicals, the highly reactive atoms that can wreak havoc on cells, according to Jaime Matta, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Ponce School of Medicine and a co-author of the study.
Some recent research suggests that vitamin supplements have no protective power against cancer. One study of 7,627 women in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in December 2008 found that women who took vitamins C and E and beta carotene had the same risk of cancer diagnosis and death as those who didn’t. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in January 2009 showed that vitamin E may raise the risk of prostate cancer.
In today’s study, other factors found to be associated with higher rates of breast cancer were older age, a family history of breast cancer, and no breastfeeding, according to the paper.
Daily Regimen
In follow-up research, the scientists will try to find the ideal daily vitamin regimen for a woman, according to her age and other characteristics, Bayona said in a telephone interview on April 12. He plans to ask more detailed questions about participants’ diets and vitamin intake and to take blood samples to confirm the levels of different nutrients in their bodies.
“People tend to be on the very low end of antioxidant and vitamin intake from veggies and fruit,” Matta said in an interview. “The good thing about taking vitamins is that there’s no downside in terms of risk. This opens the door to very cost-effective prevention.”
The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute’s Center to Reduce Health Disparities in Rockville, Maryland, and the National Institute of Health’s Minority Biomedical Research Support program in Bethesda, Maryland.
--Editors: Angela Zimm, Donna Alvarado
To contact the reporters on this story: Ellen Gibson in New York at egibson9@bloomberg.net.
.davidradiotv2000@yahoo.com
By Ellen Gibson
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Calcium doesn’t just build strong bones, it may fight cancer too, a study said.
Researchers at the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico reported that women who took calcium had a 40 percent lower risk of getting breast cancer, while those getting multivitamins showed a 30 percent reduction in risk. The new findings, from a study of 744 women, were presented today at the meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington.
The data contradict results of a December 2008 trial that showed no reduction in cancer risk from vitamin supplements. The scientists attributed the calcium benefit seen in today’s study to its effect on what they called DNA repair capacity -- the biological process by which cells patch up damaged DNA that otherwise may cause cancer. Today’s report suggests women may boost their cellular defenses with dietary changes and long-term use of supplements, they said.
“The importance of this finding is that now we can monitor breast-cancer risk using DNA repair capacity,” said Manuel Bayona, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at Ponce School of Medicine and an author of the paper. “We believe that all women should be taking vitamins and supplements. Now we can tell if that regimen is really doing its work in reducing the risk.”
A good analogy, Bayona said, is the management of heart disease. Just as doctors track patients’ cholesterol and modify it with changes in diet or drugs, they could use blood tests to monitor the DNA repair ability of women at elevated risk for breast cancer and tweak it using dietary supplements.
Vitamin Intake
The study included 278 women with breast cancer and 466 healthy controls. They were given a questionnaire that included several questions about their current and past intake of specific vitamins and minerals. The researchers also took blood samples to measure DNA repair capacity, and the cancer patients were compared with the controls on several dimensions.
The researchers said that the protective effect of calcium is due to its impact on DNA repair. Previous studies have demonstrated calcium’s cancer-blocking benefit without explaining the mechanism of action. A study in June 2007 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition from researchers at Creighton University School of Medicine found that women taking calcium and vitamin D showed a 60 percent reduction in cancer risk.
Repairing Damage
The relationship between vitamin supplements and cancer risk is more complicated. Vitamins prevent and repair the cancer-causing damage done by free radicals, the highly reactive atoms that can wreak havoc on cells, according to Jaime Matta, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Ponce School of Medicine and a co-author of the study.
Some recent research suggests that vitamin supplements have no protective power against cancer. One study of 7,627 women in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in December 2008 found that women who took vitamins C and E and beta carotene had the same risk of cancer diagnosis and death as those who didn’t. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in January 2009 showed that vitamin E may raise the risk of prostate cancer.
In today’s study, other factors found to be associated with higher rates of breast cancer were older age, a family history of breast cancer, and no breastfeeding, according to the paper.
Daily Regimen
In follow-up research, the scientists will try to find the ideal daily vitamin regimen for a woman, according to her age and other characteristics, Bayona said in a telephone interview on April 12. He plans to ask more detailed questions about participants’ diets and vitamin intake and to take blood samples to confirm the levels of different nutrients in their bodies.
“People tend to be on the very low end of antioxidant and vitamin intake from veggies and fruit,” Matta said in an interview. “The good thing about taking vitamins is that there’s no downside in terms of risk. This opens the door to very cost-effective prevention.”
The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute’s Center to Reduce Health Disparities in Rockville, Maryland, and the National Institute of Health’s Minority Biomedical Research Support program in Bethesda, Maryland.
--Editors: Angela Zimm, Donna Alvarado
To contact the reporters on this story: Ellen Gibson in New York at egibson9@bloomberg.net.
.davidradiotv2000@yahoo.com
Monday, April 12, 2010
Did you mail your 2010 Census Form back ?
- By David Samuels---4-12-2010
- If we don't know how many school kids there are.
- How do we know how many classrooms we need ?
- When you answer 10 simple questions
- You can help our community for the next 10 years.
- -- It's in your hands
- We can't move forward until you mail it back.
- United States
- Census 2010
- It's in your hands
- 2010 Census.gov ---------http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com/
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Monday, April 05, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Facebook Flub Leaks Private E-mail Addresses
Brennon Slattery--Mar 31, 2010 6:39 am
Today @ PCWorld
Private e-mail addresses that many Facebook users wanted to keep hidden were revealed publicly last night on a multitude of Facebook profiles, Gawker reports. The glitch lasted about 30 minutes before Facebook sealed the gap.
An anonymous tipster altered Gawker of the breach in an expletive-riddled message: "6:46PM: I cannot [bleeping] believe it. Everybody's email has been turned on to the public for at least the past 30 min. I tried going into my account to remove my email b/c I have an issue with a crazed stalker. But I wasn't able to. God I [bleeping] hate FB!! When will they ever learn?!"
It might be that Facebook's recently proposed changes to its privacy settings could be to blame for the hiccup. PC World writer Paul Suarez reported that "One of those changes [to Facebook's Privacy Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities] would make it possible for Facebook to send your name, photo, friend list, and any public information about you and your friends to preapproved third-party Web sites." A slight tweak to broadcasting profile information could have resulted in this embarrassing flub.
Facebook desperately wants to be known as a site where users can expect a reasonable amount of privacy, but sometimes this isn't the case. Briefings of previous mistakes make it clear that Facebook has a lot of work to do, possibly at the risk of tarnishing its original smiles and hugs philosophy. Thankfully this most recent trip-up only lasted approximately 30 minutes; any longer would have spelled disaster.
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com/
Today @ PCWorld
Private e-mail addresses that many Facebook users wanted to keep hidden were revealed publicly last night on a multitude of Facebook profiles, Gawker reports. The glitch lasted about 30 minutes before Facebook sealed the gap.
An anonymous tipster altered Gawker of the breach in an expletive-riddled message: "6:46PM: I cannot [bleeping] believe it. Everybody's email has been turned on to the public for at least the past 30 min. I tried going into my account to remove my email b/c I have an issue with a crazed stalker. But I wasn't able to. God I [bleeping] hate FB!! When will they ever learn?!"
It might be that Facebook's recently proposed changes to its privacy settings could be to blame for the hiccup. PC World writer Paul Suarez reported that "One of those changes [to Facebook's Privacy Policy and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities] would make it possible for Facebook to send your name, photo, friend list, and any public information about you and your friends to preapproved third-party Web sites." A slight tweak to broadcasting profile information could have resulted in this embarrassing flub.
Facebook desperately wants to be known as a site where users can expect a reasonable amount of privacy, but sometimes this isn't the case. Briefings of previous mistakes make it clear that Facebook has a lot of work to do, possibly at the risk of tarnishing its original smiles and hugs philosophy. Thankfully this most recent trip-up only lasted approximately 30 minutes; any longer would have spelled disaster.
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com/
Sunday, March 28, 2010
President Obama addresses US troops in Afghanistan
Sunday, 28 March 2010 20:48 UK
BBC NEWS
US President Barack Obama has addressed American troops serving in Afghanistan during his first visit to the country.
He told them there was "no visit I consider more important than this one", thanking them for their hard work, as well as paying tribute to the Afghan forces training and working with them.
Earlier he met President Hamid Karzai, saying he wanted to see continued progress on Afghan efforts to tackle corruption and drug-trafficking.
READ MORE: Obama on first Afghanistan visit
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
BBC NEWS
US President Barack Obama has addressed American troops serving in Afghanistan during his first visit to the country.
He told them there was "no visit I consider more important than this one", thanking them for their hard work, as well as paying tribute to the Afghan forces training and working with them.
Earlier he met President Hamid Karzai, saying he wanted to see continued progress on Afghan efforts to tackle corruption and drug-trafficking.
READ MORE: Obama on first Afghanistan visit
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Monday, March 22, 2010
Thank you, David, This is what change looks like
Thank you, David1 message
Barack Obama
Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 9:13 PM
Reply-To: info@barackobama.com
To: David Samuels
David --For the first time in our nation's history, Congress has passed comprehensive health care reform. America waited a hundred years and fought for decades to reach this moment. Tonight, thanks to you, we are finally here.Consider the staggering scope of what you have just accomplished:Because of you, every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage.Every American will be covered under the toughest patient protections in history. Arbitrary premium hikes, insurance cancellations, and discrimination against pre-existing conditions will now be gone forever.And we'll finally start reducing the cost of care -- creating millions of jobs, preventing families and businesses from plunging into bankruptcy, and removing over a trillion dollars of debt from the backs of our children.But the victory that matters most tonight goes beyond the laws and far past the numbers.It is the peace of mind enjoyed by every American, no longer one injury or illness away from catastrophe.It is the workers and entrepreneurs who are now freed to pursue their slice of the American dream without fear of losing coverage or facing a crippling bill.And it is the immeasurable joy of families in every part of this great nation, living happier, healthier lives together because they can finally receive the vital care they need.This is what change looks like.My gratitude tonight is profound. I am thankful for those in past generations whose heroic efforts brought this great goal within reach for our times. I am thankful for the members of Congress whose months of effort and brave votes made it possible to take this final step. But most of all, I am thankful for you.This day is not the end of this journey. Much hard work remains, and we have a solemn responsibility to do it right. But we can face that work together with the confidence of those who have moved mountains.Our journey began three years ago, driven by a shared belief that fundamental change is indeed still possible. We have worked hard together every day since to deliver on that belief.We have shared moments of tremendous hope, and we've faced setbacks and doubt. We have all been forced to ask if our politics had simply become too polarized and too short-sighted to meet the pressing challenges of our time. This struggle became a test of whether the American people could still rally together when the cause was right -- and actually create the change we believe in.Tonight, thanks to your mighty efforts, the answer is indisputable: Yes we can.Thank you,President Barack Obama
---http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Barack Obama
Sun, Mar 21, 2010 at 9:13 PM
Reply-To: info@barackobama.com
To: David Samuels
David --For the first time in our nation's history, Congress has passed comprehensive health care reform. America waited a hundred years and fought for decades to reach this moment. Tonight, thanks to you, we are finally here.Consider the staggering scope of what you have just accomplished:Because of you, every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage.Every American will be covered under the toughest patient protections in history. Arbitrary premium hikes, insurance cancellations, and discrimination against pre-existing conditions will now be gone forever.And we'll finally start reducing the cost of care -- creating millions of jobs, preventing families and businesses from plunging into bankruptcy, and removing over a trillion dollars of debt from the backs of our children.But the victory that matters most tonight goes beyond the laws and far past the numbers.It is the peace of mind enjoyed by every American, no longer one injury or illness away from catastrophe.It is the workers and entrepreneurs who are now freed to pursue their slice of the American dream without fear of losing coverage or facing a crippling bill.And it is the immeasurable joy of families in every part of this great nation, living happier, healthier lives together because they can finally receive the vital care they need.This is what change looks like.My gratitude tonight is profound. I am thankful for those in past generations whose heroic efforts brought this great goal within reach for our times. I am thankful for the members of Congress whose months of effort and brave votes made it possible to take this final step. But most of all, I am thankful for you.This day is not the end of this journey. Much hard work remains, and we have a solemn responsibility to do it right. But we can face that work together with the confidence of those who have moved mountains.Our journey began three years ago, driven by a shared belief that fundamental change is indeed still possible. We have worked hard together every day since to deliver on that belief.We have shared moments of tremendous hope, and we've faced setbacks and doubt. We have all been forced to ask if our politics had simply become too polarized and too short-sighted to meet the pressing challenges of our time. This struggle became a test of whether the American people could still rally together when the cause was right -- and actually create the change we believe in.Tonight, thanks to your mighty efforts, the answer is indisputable: Yes we can.Thank you,President Barack Obama
---http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Senate passes jobs bill for Obama’s signature
Measure expected to be first of several in bid to lower unemployment rate
msnbc.com news services 3-17-2010
WASHINGTON - A package of tax breaks and highway spending cleared the U.S. Congress Wednesday, the first of what Democrats hope will be several efforts to bring down the 9.7 percent unemployment rate.
The Senate passed the measure by a vote of 68 to 29 and sent it to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it into law. Eleven Republicans joined Democrats in support of the measure.
Obama thanked lawmakers — and Republicans especially — in remarks from the Oval Office. He told reporters that the bill marks the beginning of Congress’ efforts to put the unemployed back to work.
With congressional elections looming in November, Democrats hope to show they are committed to reducing an unemployment rate that has remained stubbornly high even as the economy has begun to recover from the worst recession in decades.
"We have a long way to go — I'm not sugar coating where we are in this economy — but we are moving forward a step at a time and this is a very good step," said Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer.
None of their efforts is likely to approach the scale of last year's $863 billion stimulus package, which has created up to 2.1 million jobs but spurred a backlash among voters concerned about record budget deficits.
The bill sent to Obama includes a $13 billion payroll tax break for businesses that hire unemployed workers. Some economists and liberal lawmakers question that approach, saying it will only go to businesses that planned to expand anyway.
The bill also subsidizes state and local construction bonds and allocates $19.5 billion to shore up a highway-construction program and extend it through the end of the year.
The bill's costs, other than the highway fund, are offset by a crackdown on offshore tax shelters.
The bill won the backing of 11 Republicans, though many had opposed it in previous procedural votes.
Other bills pendingBoth the House and the Senate have passed larger job-creation bills but they have yet to resolve their differences.
The Senate passed a $140 billion package of tax breaks and unemployment aid last week, but House Democratic leaders have indicated they are likely to change it.
The bill closes several tax loopholes to bring down its price tag by roughly $37 billion, but Obama wants to use some of those loopholes to help pay for his massive healthcare overhaul.
The House passed a $154 billion jobs bill in December centered on increased highway spending and state aid, but the Senate has ignored it so far. House lawmakers may try to move those approaches separately or attach them to other bills.
Meanwhile, centrist Democrats want to cut spending or raise taxes elsewhere in the budget to avoid adding further to the budget deficit, which is projected to hit a record $1.5 trillion this fiscal year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
It could take several weeks to resolve the issue, as healthcare is expected to dominate the agenda before the spring break, which begins March 29. The House was scheduled to vote on a short-term extension of unemployment benefits to avoid disruption when they expire in coming weeks.
Separately, the House could vote later this week on a bill that would cut capital-gains taxes on certain small-business stocks and further expand subsidies for state and local construction bonds.
The AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
2-17 2010
msnbc.com news services 3-17-2010
WASHINGTON - A package of tax breaks and highway spending cleared the U.S. Congress Wednesday, the first of what Democrats hope will be several efforts to bring down the 9.7 percent unemployment rate.
The Senate passed the measure by a vote of 68 to 29 and sent it to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it into law. Eleven Republicans joined Democrats in support of the measure.
Obama thanked lawmakers — and Republicans especially — in remarks from the Oval Office. He told reporters that the bill marks the beginning of Congress’ efforts to put the unemployed back to work.
With congressional elections looming in November, Democrats hope to show they are committed to reducing an unemployment rate that has remained stubbornly high even as the economy has begun to recover from the worst recession in decades.
"We have a long way to go — I'm not sugar coating where we are in this economy — but we are moving forward a step at a time and this is a very good step," said Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer.
None of their efforts is likely to approach the scale of last year's $863 billion stimulus package, which has created up to 2.1 million jobs but spurred a backlash among voters concerned about record budget deficits.
The bill sent to Obama includes a $13 billion payroll tax break for businesses that hire unemployed workers. Some economists and liberal lawmakers question that approach, saying it will only go to businesses that planned to expand anyway.
The bill also subsidizes state and local construction bonds and allocates $19.5 billion to shore up a highway-construction program and extend it through the end of the year.
The bill's costs, other than the highway fund, are offset by a crackdown on offshore tax shelters.
The bill won the backing of 11 Republicans, though many had opposed it in previous procedural votes.
Other bills pendingBoth the House and the Senate have passed larger job-creation bills but they have yet to resolve their differences.
The Senate passed a $140 billion package of tax breaks and unemployment aid last week, but House Democratic leaders have indicated they are likely to change it.
The bill closes several tax loopholes to bring down its price tag by roughly $37 billion, but Obama wants to use some of those loopholes to help pay for his massive healthcare overhaul.
The House passed a $154 billion jobs bill in December centered on increased highway spending and state aid, but the Senate has ignored it so far. House lawmakers may try to move those approaches separately or attach them to other bills.
Meanwhile, centrist Democrats want to cut spending or raise taxes elsewhere in the budget to avoid adding further to the budget deficit, which is projected to hit a record $1.5 trillion this fiscal year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
It could take several weeks to resolve the issue, as healthcare is expected to dominate the agenda before the spring break, which begins March 29. The House was scheduled to vote on a short-term extension of unemployment benefits to avoid disruption when they expire in coming weeks.
Separately, the House could vote later this week on a bill that would cut capital-gains taxes on certain small-business stocks and further expand subsidies for state and local construction bonds.
The AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
2-17 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Obama lobbied on black unemployment, immigration
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday faced pressure to help create jobs in African-American communities and deliver an immigration overhaul even as he tried to push healthcare reform across the finish line.
Steve Holland--mar 11, 2010
Back-to-back White House meetings with representatives from the black and Hispanic communities were evidence of the long list of priorities that challenge Obama and lawmakers ahead of November congressional elections.
African-American members of Congress said they told the president that job creation is critical to their communities and that federal resources should be directed toward workforce training, specifically for infrastructure projects.
Unemployment among black Americans was 15.8 percent in February, compared to the overall jobless rate of 9.7 percent nationally.
"We talked about the desperation that we're feeling in our communities throughout the country," Democratic Representative Barbara Lee, head of the Congressional Black Caucus, said on the White House driveway with a phalanx of other lawmakers beside her.
A White House statement issued after the meeting said participants agreed there are a number of ways to improve employment, such as summer youth employment, job training tied to apprenticeships, and ensuring fair access to contract jobs created through the federal economic stimulus.
Obama spent an hour meeting with officials from immigration advocacy groups who pressed him on an issue that did not feature highly in the president's first year, which was dominated by fixing the economy and healthcare.
Afterward, Obama pledged his "unwavering" commitment to getting an immigration deal.
"We leave the meeting today feeling hopeful," said Clarissa Martinez de Castro of the National Council of La Raza. "The president took an hour of his time to have a conversation, not to give a speech and that is significant."
She said that "there were commitments made about truly seeing this issue moving forward and the White House getting engaged to help in that process."
Afterward, Obama held talks with Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to hear their ideas on a bipartisan approach to revamping the U.S. immigration system after the last attempt died in Congress in 2007.
"I look forward to reviewing their promising framework, and every American should applaud their efforts to reach across party lines and find common sense answers to one of our most vexing problems," Obama said in a statement after the meeting.
Graham said he and Schumer have explored several ideas on how to move ahead on the issue -- securing borders, moving toward a biometric Social Security card to ensure illegal workers cannot get jobs, creation of a temporary worker program and "a rational plan to deal with the millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States."
Since the 2007 debate, the Homeland Security Department has stepped up enforcement along the lengthy U.S. border with Mexico, completing 643 miles of fencing out of a planned 652 miles. It has added agents to the border and also cracked down on those who violate immigration law by overstaying their visas.
Besides concentrating on healthcare, Obama is also seeking steps to trigger U.S. job creation, increase oversight of Wall Street and revamp American energy practices.
(Additional reporting by Alister Bull and Jeff Mason; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Steve Holland--mar 11, 2010
Back-to-back White House meetings with representatives from the black and Hispanic communities were evidence of the long list of priorities that challenge Obama and lawmakers ahead of November congressional elections.
African-American members of Congress said they told the president that job creation is critical to their communities and that federal resources should be directed toward workforce training, specifically for infrastructure projects.
Unemployment among black Americans was 15.8 percent in February, compared to the overall jobless rate of 9.7 percent nationally.
"We talked about the desperation that we're feeling in our communities throughout the country," Democratic Representative Barbara Lee, head of the Congressional Black Caucus, said on the White House driveway with a phalanx of other lawmakers beside her.
A White House statement issued after the meeting said participants agreed there are a number of ways to improve employment, such as summer youth employment, job training tied to apprenticeships, and ensuring fair access to contract jobs created through the federal economic stimulus.
Obama spent an hour meeting with officials from immigration advocacy groups who pressed him on an issue that did not feature highly in the president's first year, which was dominated by fixing the economy and healthcare.
Afterward, Obama pledged his "unwavering" commitment to getting an immigration deal.
"We leave the meeting today feeling hopeful," said Clarissa Martinez de Castro of the National Council of La Raza. "The president took an hour of his time to have a conversation, not to give a speech and that is significant."
She said that "there were commitments made about truly seeing this issue moving forward and the White House getting engaged to help in that process."
Afterward, Obama held talks with Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to hear their ideas on a bipartisan approach to revamping the U.S. immigration system after the last attempt died in Congress in 2007.
"I look forward to reviewing their promising framework, and every American should applaud their efforts to reach across party lines and find common sense answers to one of our most vexing problems," Obama said in a statement after the meeting.
Graham said he and Schumer have explored several ideas on how to move ahead on the issue -- securing borders, moving toward a biometric Social Security card to ensure illegal workers cannot get jobs, creation of a temporary worker program and "a rational plan to deal with the millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States."
Since the 2007 debate, the Homeland Security Department has stepped up enforcement along the lengthy U.S. border with Mexico, completing 643 miles of fencing out of a planned 652 miles. It has added agents to the border and also cracked down on those who violate immigration law by overstaying their visas.
Besides concentrating on healthcare, Obama is also seeking steps to trigger U.S. job creation, increase oversight of Wall Street and revamp American energy practices.
(Additional reporting by Alister Bull and Jeff Mason; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Friday, March 05, 2010
A meeting at Sylvia's
March 04, 2010
By Ben Smith POLITICO
Al Sharpton convened a meeting at the Harlem restaurant Sylvia's tonight at 8:30, where New York's black politicians are expected to discuss David Paterson's political future.
I ran into Sharpton just now, and asked him what he makes of the group's opinion.
"There's some for, some against, and where they'll fall I have no idea," he said. "I'm trying to stay neutral."
The fastest way out for Paterson will be if his last bulwark, senior black leaders, collapses. Everyone in the state is discussing his resignation in the light of a new report that he lied about free Yankee tickets, amid senior staff resignations, and amid a broad concern he can't govern.
The other source of chatter among New York pols: Who would be the Lieutenant Governor if the appointed officeholder, Richard Ravitch, ascends.
Sharpton ruled himself out.
"I didn't go national to come back to some local office," he said. "The downside isn't that I'd have to run. The downside is that I'd have to do it.
Categories: New York-Politico.com
--http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com/
By Ben Smith POLITICO
Al Sharpton convened a meeting at the Harlem restaurant Sylvia's tonight at 8:30, where New York's black politicians are expected to discuss David Paterson's political future.
I ran into Sharpton just now, and asked him what he makes of the group's opinion.
"There's some for, some against, and where they'll fall I have no idea," he said. "I'm trying to stay neutral."
The fastest way out for Paterson will be if his last bulwark, senior black leaders, collapses. Everyone in the state is discussing his resignation in the light of a new report that he lied about free Yankee tickets, amid senior staff resignations, and amid a broad concern he can't govern.
The other source of chatter among New York pols: Who would be the Lieutenant Governor if the appointed officeholder, Richard Ravitch, ascends.
Sharpton ruled himself out.
"I didn't go national to come back to some local office," he said. "The downside isn't that I'd have to run. The downside is that I'd have to do it.
Categories: New York-Politico.com
--http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com/
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Here's why February is Black History Month
BY DOROTHY JENKINS FIELDS
Special to The Miami Herald
Today is Feb. 28, 2010. It is the last day of the month in the shortest month of the year. This is the month Black History is celebrated throughout the United States. Each year the question is asked, why February
The short answer: Historian Carter G. Woodson, one of the founders of the Association of Negro Life and History (ANLH), selected the week that contains the birth dates of two people who played a prominent role in shaping black history: Abraham Lincoln, Feb. 12, and Frederick Douglass, Feb. 14. Lincoln (1809-1865), a white man and the 16th president of the United States, signed the Emancipation Proclamation to free black slaves in some states. Douglass (1817-1895), a black man, was an orator, journalist and anti-slavery leader of the 19th century.
Black History Month was first called Negro History Week. The first celebration was held in February 1926. Fifty years later, as part of the national Bicentennial celebration, the ANLH, now renamed The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), voted to extend Negro History Week to a month and to rename it Black History Month.
The expanded answer explains Carter G. Woodson's (1875-1950) commitment to tell the story of his people, the black race. His dedication to documenting and publicizing the achievements of black people earned him the title ``Father of Black History.''
According to the ASALH, Woodson earned a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1912 and later taught at Howard University. He was intensely concerned that the value of the achievements of black people was not being presented to students or the public. In 1916, Woodson established a scholarly publication, the Journal of Negro History.
An honorary member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Woodson joined the organization's national program that originated the celebration of Negro History and Literature Week in 1921. A local member of Omega Psi Phi, retired Miami-Dade school administrator Virgil P. Rogers, recently wanted to determine Woodson's connection with the fraternity's already established celebration. Rogers found his answer in the book The History of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, 1911 to 1939: A Brotherhood of Negro College Men, which said the fraternity directed the celebration from 1921 until 1924.
In 1926, Woodson personally began directing the celebration, changed the name to Negro History Week and changed the time from April to February.
Woodson's dedication is acknowledged by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity on their official website as the earliest and most outspoken proponent for the study of black history. As a result of his efforts, black achievements are widely known.
The next time you hear someone ask why February chosen for Black History Month, give the short answer.
Dorothy Jenkins Fields, Ph.D., is a historian and founder of the Black Archives, History and Research Foundation of South Florida Inc. Send feedback, questions or news to djf@bellsouth.net.
Special to The Miami Herald
Today is Feb. 28, 2010. It is the last day of the month in the shortest month of the year. This is the month Black History is celebrated throughout the United States. Each year the question is asked, why February
The short answer: Historian Carter G. Woodson, one of the founders of the Association of Negro Life and History (ANLH), selected the week that contains the birth dates of two people who played a prominent role in shaping black history: Abraham Lincoln, Feb. 12, and Frederick Douglass, Feb. 14. Lincoln (1809-1865), a white man and the 16th president of the United States, signed the Emancipation Proclamation to free black slaves in some states. Douglass (1817-1895), a black man, was an orator, journalist and anti-slavery leader of the 19th century.
Black History Month was first called Negro History Week. The first celebration was held in February 1926. Fifty years later, as part of the national Bicentennial celebration, the ANLH, now renamed The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), voted to extend Negro History Week to a month and to rename it Black History Month.
The expanded answer explains Carter G. Woodson's (1875-1950) commitment to tell the story of his people, the black race. His dedication to documenting and publicizing the achievements of black people earned him the title ``Father of Black History.''
According to the ASALH, Woodson earned a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University in 1912 and later taught at Howard University. He was intensely concerned that the value of the achievements of black people was not being presented to students or the public. In 1916, Woodson established a scholarly publication, the Journal of Negro History.
An honorary member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Woodson joined the organization's national program that originated the celebration of Negro History and Literature Week in 1921. A local member of Omega Psi Phi, retired Miami-Dade school administrator Virgil P. Rogers, recently wanted to determine Woodson's connection with the fraternity's already established celebration. Rogers found his answer in the book The History of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, 1911 to 1939: A Brotherhood of Negro College Men, which said the fraternity directed the celebration from 1921 until 1924.
In 1926, Woodson personally began directing the celebration, changed the name to Negro History Week and changed the time from April to February.
Woodson's dedication is acknowledged by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity on their official website as the earliest and most outspoken proponent for the study of black history. As a result of his efforts, black achievements are widely known.
The next time you hear someone ask why February chosen for Black History Month, give the short answer.
Dorothy Jenkins Fields, Ph.D., is a historian and founder of the Black Archives, History and Research Foundation of South Florida Inc. Send feedback, questions or news to djf@bellsouth.net.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
NAACP Image Award to be given to former White House 'green czar'
February 24, 2010 11:35 a.m. EST
By Suzanne Malveaux
Washington (CNN) -- While Van Jones may have left the White House under a cloud, the NAACP says that's not his whole story.
The group considers him a pioneering hero for the environment and civil rights -- so much so that it is awarding him one of its highest honors Friday: an NAACP Image Award. It's a move that is just becoming public now, which is sure to stoke the fire from Jones critics.
Jones resigned in September 2009 from his position on the Council on Environmental Quality, under a firestorm of criticism over a petition he had signed and his comments about Republicans.
The Obama administration's "green czar" helped coordinate government agencies focused on delivering millions of green jobs to the ailing U.S. economy.
Jones said he was the victim of a "vicious smear campaign" based on "lies and distortions."
Benjamin Jealous, NAACP president and CEO, said he's not concerned about criticism the NAACP might face over honoring the controversial Jones.
"We care about getting the best ideas, the best minds and Van is one of them," Jealous said. "What should be controversial is we pushed one of the greatest minds to the side in this country when we needed him most."
In an opinion piece on CNN.com, Jealous calls Jones "an American treasure," and says he might be "the most misunderstood man in America."
"The real Van Jones story is about how a young leader became the father of the green jobs movement. In response to a longstanding jobs crisis in Oakland, California, he initiated the Oakland Green Jobs Corps, one of the nation's first job training programs targeting low-income people for work in the solar and green industries. This program has become a renowned model for numerous initiatives that are now up and running across America," Jealous says in the piece.
"In America, we ultimately judge people on what they are doing today for tomorrow, not for what they did yesterday."
In a White House statement announcing his resignation, Jones said, "On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."
He came to Washington to "fight for others, not for myself. ... I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future," Jones said.
The decision followed an uproar over a petition Jones signed in 2004 calling for an investigation into whether government officials deliberately allowed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to occur.
In a statement during the the week before stepping down, Jones said of the petition on the Web site 911truth.org: "I do not agree with this statement and it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever."
An administration source said that Jones had not carefully reviewed the language in the petition before signing.
Jones has also come under fire for comments he made, also before his White House job, including those in a video that can be seen on YouTube. In it, he uses a vulgar expression to describe Republicans.
In 2005, Jones was quoted in the East Bay Express as describing the impact that the acquittals in the police beating case of Rodney King in 1992 had on him. "By August, I was a Communist," he says in the article, describing his sense of radicalization at the time.
In his statement, Jones said, "If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize."
One of the most prominent conservative voices condemning Jones was FOX TV host Glenn Beck.
Jones is a co-founder of colorofchange.org, a group that pressed advertisers to boycott Beck's program after Beck called Obama a racist.
Jones' appointment heightened criticisms of the appointment of so-called "czars," officially called presidential advisers, to positions within the administration that aren't subject to congressional oversight or Senate confirmation.
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
By Suzanne Malveaux
Washington (CNN) -- While Van Jones may have left the White House under a cloud, the NAACP says that's not his whole story.
The group considers him a pioneering hero for the environment and civil rights -- so much so that it is awarding him one of its highest honors Friday: an NAACP Image Award. It's a move that is just becoming public now, which is sure to stoke the fire from Jones critics.
Jones resigned in September 2009 from his position on the Council on Environmental Quality, under a firestorm of criticism over a petition he had signed and his comments about Republicans.
The Obama administration's "green czar" helped coordinate government agencies focused on delivering millions of green jobs to the ailing U.S. economy.
Jones said he was the victim of a "vicious smear campaign" based on "lies and distortions."
Benjamin Jealous, NAACP president and CEO, said he's not concerned about criticism the NAACP might face over honoring the controversial Jones.
"We care about getting the best ideas, the best minds and Van is one of them," Jealous said. "What should be controversial is we pushed one of the greatest minds to the side in this country when we needed him most."
In an opinion piece on CNN.com, Jealous calls Jones "an American treasure," and says he might be "the most misunderstood man in America."
"The real Van Jones story is about how a young leader became the father of the green jobs movement. In response to a longstanding jobs crisis in Oakland, California, he initiated the Oakland Green Jobs Corps, one of the nation's first job training programs targeting low-income people for work in the solar and green industries. This program has become a renowned model for numerous initiatives that are now up and running across America," Jealous says in the piece.
"In America, we ultimately judge people on what they are doing today for tomorrow, not for what they did yesterday."
In a White House statement announcing his resignation, Jones said, "On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."
He came to Washington to "fight for others, not for myself. ... I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past. We need all hands on deck, fighting for the future," Jones said.
The decision followed an uproar over a petition Jones signed in 2004 calling for an investigation into whether government officials deliberately allowed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to occur.
In a statement during the the week before stepping down, Jones said of the petition on the Web site 911truth.org: "I do not agree with this statement and it certainly does not reflect my views now or ever."
An administration source said that Jones had not carefully reviewed the language in the petition before signing.
Jones has also come under fire for comments he made, also before his White House job, including those in a video that can be seen on YouTube. In it, he uses a vulgar expression to describe Republicans.
In 2005, Jones was quoted in the East Bay Express as describing the impact that the acquittals in the police beating case of Rodney King in 1992 had on him. "By August, I was a Communist," he says in the article, describing his sense of radicalization at the time.
In his statement, Jones said, "If I have offended anyone with statements I made in the past, I apologize."
One of the most prominent conservative voices condemning Jones was FOX TV host Glenn Beck.
Jones is a co-founder of colorofchange.org, a group that pressed advertisers to boycott Beck's program after Beck called Obama a racist.
Jones' appointment heightened criticisms of the appointment of so-called "czars," officially called presidential advisers, to positions within the administration that aren't subject to congressional oversight or Senate confirmation.
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Monday, February 22, 2010
Schwarzenegger bashes 'tea party' movement. Is he right?
February 22, 2010 LATimes Now
The political world is buzzing after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger slammed fellow Republicans and the "tea party" movement.
"I find it interesting that you have a lot of the Republicans running around and pushing back on the stimulus money and saying this doesn't create any new jobs," Schwarzenegger said on ABC's "This Week." "And then they go out and they do the photo ops and they are posing with the big check and they say, 'Isn't this great? Look what kind of money I provide here for the state.' ... It doesn't match up."
The Times' Michael Rothfeld also reports that the governor dismissed the "tea party" movement as "just an expression of anger and dissatisfaction." Schwarzenegger has a private meeting with President Obama scheduled for Monday, in which he is expected to seek more federal aid for California.
--http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
The political world is buzzing after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger slammed fellow Republicans and the "tea party" movement.
"I find it interesting that you have a lot of the Republicans running around and pushing back on the stimulus money and saying this doesn't create any new jobs," Schwarzenegger said on ABC's "This Week." "And then they go out and they do the photo ops and they are posing with the big check and they say, 'Isn't this great? Look what kind of money I provide here for the state.' ... It doesn't match up."
The Times' Michael Rothfeld also reports that the governor dismissed the "tea party" movement as "just an expression of anger and dissatisfaction." Schwarzenegger has a private meeting with President Obama scheduled for Monday, in which he is expected to seek more federal aid for California.
--http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Ex-NYC police boss gets 4 years in prison
By JIM FITZGERALD (AP) – 2-18-2010
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was hailed as a hero alongside former Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and nearly became chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was sentenced to four years behind bars Thursday for eight felonies.
Kerik admitted in November that he lied to the White House, filed false taxes and committed other crimes.
"The fact that Mr. Kerik would use that event (9/11) for personal gain and aggrandizement is a dark place in the soul for me," said federal Judge Stephen Robinson.
An apologetic Kerik said before the sentence was pronounced: "Allow me to return to my wife and two little girls as soon as possible."
Federal guidelines indicated Kerik's sentence should be between 27 and 33 months in prison. Robinson said he went beyond the guidelines because they could not account for certain factors.
Kerik was "the chief law enforcement law enforcement officer for the biggest and grandest city this nation has," Robinson said. The crimes were committed "in the process of attempting to become a cabinet level position in the government of the United States."
The prosecutor, Michael Bosworth, said the misdeeds were "driven by arrogance, personal greed and professional ambition."
Kerik will be allowed to surrender voluntarily on May 17; the prison has not been chosen yet.
Kerik, 54, has already been ordered to pay $188,000 in restitution and to pay past-due taxes and penalties on six years of tax returns.
"...I'd like to apologize to the American people for the mistakes I've made and for which I have just accepted responsibility," Kerik said outside the courthouse. "As history is written, I can only hope that I will be judged for 30 years of service I've given to the country and the city of New York."
"...Although this has been the most challenging period of my life ... it will not diminish my love and admiration for this country, which it has been one of my greatest privileges to serve."
Just before pleading guilty, Kerik spent three weeks in the Westchester County Jail for releasing secret pretrial information. While there, he was voluntarily admitted to the psychiatric ward for observation because of stress. Doctors concluded he did not need mental care.
After admitting his crimes, Kerik was freed pending sentencing. He had to post a $1.5 million bond, wear an electronic monitor and generally stay inside his home in Franklin Lakes, N.J.
In presentencing memos to the judge, the defense and prosecution painted sharply different portraits of Kerik.
The defense spoke of his bleak upbringing, his steely leadership after the terror attacks, his remorse and the debt he has incurred to defend himself. It supplied letters of support from his son, fellow police officers, a priest and a man who lost two sons on Sept. 11.
There was no letter from Giuliani.
The prosecution memo said Kerik had "shamelessly exploited" the terror attack, had shamed his gold shield and might flee if he weren't sent to prison right away.
Kerik was Giuliani's police commissioner when New York City was attacked, and he was praised worldwide for his leadership. At Giuliani's urging, he was nominated to the top Homeland Security post in 2004. It was the peak of his fast-rising career — as corruption allegations began to mount.
Kerik said in court that while being vetted for that position, he falsely denied that he had any financial dealings with anyone doing business with New York City. He said he also lied when he claimed he had specifically refused payments that were offered.
In truth, he said, he had accepted renovations of his Bronx apartment from a company seeking city work.
Those apartment renovations were the focus of the original corruption charge, which alleged that Kerik accepted the renovations in exchange for vouching for the company. Kerik did not admit that.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was hailed as a hero alongside former Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and nearly became chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was sentenced to four years behind bars Thursday for eight felonies.
Kerik admitted in November that he lied to the White House, filed false taxes and committed other crimes.
"The fact that Mr. Kerik would use that event (9/11) for personal gain and aggrandizement is a dark place in the soul for me," said federal Judge Stephen Robinson.
An apologetic Kerik said before the sentence was pronounced: "Allow me to return to my wife and two little girls as soon as possible."
Federal guidelines indicated Kerik's sentence should be between 27 and 33 months in prison. Robinson said he went beyond the guidelines because they could not account for certain factors.
Kerik was "the chief law enforcement law enforcement officer for the biggest and grandest city this nation has," Robinson said. The crimes were committed "in the process of attempting to become a cabinet level position in the government of the United States."
The prosecutor, Michael Bosworth, said the misdeeds were "driven by arrogance, personal greed and professional ambition."
Kerik will be allowed to surrender voluntarily on May 17; the prison has not been chosen yet.
Kerik, 54, has already been ordered to pay $188,000 in restitution and to pay past-due taxes and penalties on six years of tax returns.
"...I'd like to apologize to the American people for the mistakes I've made and for which I have just accepted responsibility," Kerik said outside the courthouse. "As history is written, I can only hope that I will be judged for 30 years of service I've given to the country and the city of New York."
"...Although this has been the most challenging period of my life ... it will not diminish my love and admiration for this country, which it has been one of my greatest privileges to serve."
Just before pleading guilty, Kerik spent three weeks in the Westchester County Jail for releasing secret pretrial information. While there, he was voluntarily admitted to the psychiatric ward for observation because of stress. Doctors concluded he did not need mental care.
After admitting his crimes, Kerik was freed pending sentencing. He had to post a $1.5 million bond, wear an electronic monitor and generally stay inside his home in Franklin Lakes, N.J.
In presentencing memos to the judge, the defense and prosecution painted sharply different portraits of Kerik.
The defense spoke of his bleak upbringing, his steely leadership after the terror attacks, his remorse and the debt he has incurred to defend himself. It supplied letters of support from his son, fellow police officers, a priest and a man who lost two sons on Sept. 11.
There was no letter from Giuliani.
The prosecution memo said Kerik had "shamelessly exploited" the terror attack, had shamed his gold shield and might flee if he weren't sent to prison right away.
Kerik was Giuliani's police commissioner when New York City was attacked, and he was praised worldwide for his leadership. At Giuliani's urging, he was nominated to the top Homeland Security post in 2004. It was the peak of his fast-rising career — as corruption allegations began to mount.
Kerik said in court that while being vetted for that position, he falsely denied that he had any financial dealings with anyone doing business with New York City. He said he also lied when he claimed he had specifically refused payments that were offered.
In truth, he said, he had accepted renovations of his Bronx apartment from a company seeking city work.
Those apartment renovations were the focus of the original corruption charge, which alleged that Kerik accepted the renovations in exchange for vouching for the company. Kerik did not admit that.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Zuma Asks for Debate as Youth, Unions Want Mine Nationalization
February 14, 2010, 05:10 PM EST
By Mike Cohen
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- South African President Jacob Zuma called for a debate on the ruling African National Congress’s youth wing’s demands that the government take over mines, and said the party has no policy on such nationalizations.
“You can’t say because you have views today, this is now policy,” Zuma said in an interview broadcast today by the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corp. “Let the issue be discussed. I think people sensationalize the issue. There isn’t any policy that has been adopted by the ANC” on nationalization, he said.
On Feb. 2, Mines Minister Susan Shabangu told reporters nationalization would not happen in her lifetime. South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of platinum, chrome, vanadium and manganese, the third-biggest gold miner and the largest source of coal for European power plants.
Unions and the ANC youth league argue that nationalization became ANC policy when it adopted a document known as the Freedom Charter in 1955. While the ANC never officially distanced itself from the charter, it didn’t implement several of its resolutions.
“There is no shortcut to policy in the ANC,” and any changes must be considered at a policy conference and adopted at the party’s national conference, said Zuma. He won control of the ANC in December 2007 from then-President Thabo Mbeki with backing from the unions. Zuma was inaugurated on May 9 as South Africa’s fourth post-apartheid president.
--Editors: Keith Campbell, Dick Schumacher.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Cohen in Cape Town at +27-82-4549620 or mcohen21@bloomberg.net.
By Mike Cohen
Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- South African President Jacob Zuma called for a debate on the ruling African National Congress’s youth wing’s demands that the government take over mines, and said the party has no policy on such nationalizations.
“You can’t say because you have views today, this is now policy,” Zuma said in an interview broadcast today by the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corp. “Let the issue be discussed. I think people sensationalize the issue. There isn’t any policy that has been adopted by the ANC” on nationalization, he said.
On Feb. 2, Mines Minister Susan Shabangu told reporters nationalization would not happen in her lifetime. South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of platinum, chrome, vanadium and manganese, the third-biggest gold miner and the largest source of coal for European power plants.
Unions and the ANC youth league argue that nationalization became ANC policy when it adopted a document known as the Freedom Charter in 1955. While the ANC never officially distanced itself from the charter, it didn’t implement several of its resolutions.
“There is no shortcut to policy in the ANC,” and any changes must be considered at a policy conference and adopted at the party’s national conference, said Zuma. He won control of the ANC in December 2007 from then-President Thabo Mbeki with backing from the unions. Zuma was inaugurated on May 9 as South Africa’s fourth post-apartheid president.
--Editors: Keith Campbell, Dick Schumacher.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Cohen in Cape Town at +27-82-4549620 or mcohen21@bloomberg.net.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
S.African economy turning the corner - Zuma
CAPE TOWN, Feb 11 (Reuters) - South Africa's economy is on the mend but the government will retain measures to boost job creation and growth, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.
Currencies
"Economic indicators suggest that we are now turning the corner. Economic activity is rising in South Africa, and we expect growth going forward," Zuma told parliament in a state-of-the-nation address on the 20th anniversary of the release from prison of Nelson Mandela.
Zuma said security, logistics and infrastructure were in place to host a successful 2010 soccer World Cup and said the size of the police force would be increased by 10 percent in the next three years to help fight crime. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Marius Bosch)
Currencies
"Economic indicators suggest that we are now turning the corner. Economic activity is rising in South Africa, and we expect growth going forward," Zuma told parliament in a state-of-the-nation address on the 20th anniversary of the release from prison of Nelson Mandela.
Zuma said security, logistics and infrastructure were in place to host a successful 2010 soccer World Cup and said the size of the police force would be increased by 10 percent in the next three years to help fight crime. (Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Marius Bosch)
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Drivers of recalled Toyota Prius and Lexus hybrids advised to monitor brakes
By Jim Puzzanghera
February 9, 2010
Reporting from Washington - Reacting to Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to recall 2010 Prius and Lexus hybrids, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday advised owners of the affected vehicles to contact a dealer immediately if they noticed a change in the performance of their brakes."Loss of braking is most likely to occur when traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump," the agency said in a statement. "If this occurs, the agency advises owners to continue to firmly press on the brake to stop the vehicle. As an extra precaution, drivers can leave extra stopping distance."The NHTSA announced last week that it was opening a formal investigation into braking problems with the 2010 Prius hybrid after receiving 124 complaints about momentary loss of braking ability. Four of the complaints alleged that the problems caused crashes. The agency said Tuesday that its investigators had spoken with consumers about the complaints as their investigation began.Toyota said late Monday it was recalling 437,000 vehicles, including 133,000 Prius and 14,500 Lexus models in the U.S.Owners will receive letters starting next week instructing them to bring the vehicles to a dealership to update software in the anti-lock brake system.Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Tuesday said that U.S. officials would continue to press the Japanese automaker to address safety concerns."Last Thursday, NHTSA opened a formal investigation of 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles in response to consumer complaints about braking difficulties, and today, Toyota has acknowledged a safety defect," LaHood said. "When I spoke with Toyota President Akio Toyoda last week, he assured me that his company takes U.S. safety concerns very seriously. The U.S. [Department of Transportation] will remain in constant communication with Toyota to hold them to that promise."U.S. transportation officials have come under fire, along with Toyota, for not reacting more quickly to concerns about sudden acceleration problems in Toyota vehicles. The automaker has recalled more than 9 million vehicles worldwide in recent months to address that issue. A congressional committee had been scheduled to grill Toyota and U.S. officials on Wednesday about the safety problems.But that hearing by the House Government Oversight and Reform committee has been postponed because of the snowstorm that hit Washington last week and another scheduled for Tuesday night, according to a spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), the top Republican on the panel. The hearing has been rescheduled for Feb. 24, the spokesman said.In an opinion article Tuesday in the Washington Post, Toyoda promised to communicate more frequently with U.S. officials and reiterated his public vow last week to address safety and quality control issues. The company "will be more vigilant in responding to those officials on all matters."Today, Toyota team members and dealers across North America are working around the clock to repair all recalled vehicles," Toyoda wrote. "But to regain the trust of American drivers and their families, more is needed. We are taking responsibility for our mistakes, learning from them and acting immediately to address the concerns of consumers and independent government regulators."
-From LATimes
February 9, 2010
Reporting from Washington - Reacting to Toyota Motor Corp.'s decision to recall 2010 Prius and Lexus hybrids, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday advised owners of the affected vehicles to contact a dealer immediately if they noticed a change in the performance of their brakes."Loss of braking is most likely to occur when traveling over an uneven road surface, pothole or bump," the agency said in a statement. "If this occurs, the agency advises owners to continue to firmly press on the brake to stop the vehicle. As an extra precaution, drivers can leave extra stopping distance."The NHTSA announced last week that it was opening a formal investigation into braking problems with the 2010 Prius hybrid after receiving 124 complaints about momentary loss of braking ability. Four of the complaints alleged that the problems caused crashes. The agency said Tuesday that its investigators had spoken with consumers about the complaints as their investigation began.Toyota said late Monday it was recalling 437,000 vehicles, including 133,000 Prius and 14,500 Lexus models in the U.S.Owners will receive letters starting next week instructing them to bring the vehicles to a dealership to update software in the anti-lock brake system.Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Tuesday said that U.S. officials would continue to press the Japanese automaker to address safety concerns."Last Thursday, NHTSA opened a formal investigation of 2010 Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles in response to consumer complaints about braking difficulties, and today, Toyota has acknowledged a safety defect," LaHood said. "When I spoke with Toyota President Akio Toyoda last week, he assured me that his company takes U.S. safety concerns very seriously. The U.S. [Department of Transportation] will remain in constant communication with Toyota to hold them to that promise."U.S. transportation officials have come under fire, along with Toyota, for not reacting more quickly to concerns about sudden acceleration problems in Toyota vehicles. The automaker has recalled more than 9 million vehicles worldwide in recent months to address that issue. A congressional committee had been scheduled to grill Toyota and U.S. officials on Wednesday about the safety problems.But that hearing by the House Government Oversight and Reform committee has been postponed because of the snowstorm that hit Washington last week and another scheduled for Tuesday night, according to a spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), the top Republican on the panel. The hearing has been rescheduled for Feb. 24, the spokesman said.In an opinion article Tuesday in the Washington Post, Toyoda promised to communicate more frequently with U.S. officials and reiterated his public vow last week to address safety and quality control issues. The company "will be more vigilant in responding to those officials on all matters."Today, Toyota team members and dealers across North America are working around the clock to repair all recalled vehicles," Toyoda wrote. "But to regain the trust of American drivers and their families, more is needed. We are taking responsibility for our mistakes, learning from them and acting immediately to address the concerns of consumers and independent government regulators."
-From LATimes
Thursday, February 04, 2010
10 Americans in Haiti Are Charged With Abduction
By MARC LACEY
Published: February 4, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Ten Americans detained after trying to take 33 Haitian children across the border last week were charged Thursday with abduction and criminal association, according to prosecutors.
The charges, which carry prison terms of up to 15 years, were announced after a closed-door court hearing in which prosecutors questioned the Americans, most of them members of a Baptist congregation from Idaho. The case has become a flashpoint for Haiti’s fears of foreign encroachment in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake.
After the hearing, the Americans were led from the capital city’s white central courthouse and back to jail. They did not speak to the crush of reporters or photographers massed outside the building to cover the case.
Before the hearing, Laura Silsby, who had helped organize the group’s mission to Haiti, sounded a hopeful note as she waited to be taken into court, saying, “We’re just trusting God for a positive outcome.”
Edwin Coq, a lawyer for the Baptists, had said that 9 of his 10 clients were “completely innocent,” but that, in an apparent reference to Ms. Silsby, “if the judiciary were to keep one, it could be the leader of the group.”
“I’m trying to get them all free but I don’t yet know what’s going to happen,” Mr. Coq said in an interview at his earthquake-damaged law offices in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
The Americans were arrested on Friday as they tried to take 33 Haitian children to what they had said was an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. A Web site for the orphanage said that children there would stay in a “loving Christian home-like environment” and be eligible for adoption.
The Americans, their lawyers and members of their churches have said they are innocent of any wrongdoing, and said the case was a huge misunderstanding. In an interview earlier this week, Ms. Silsby said the group had come to Haiti to rescue children orphaned by the earthquake, and that “our hearts were in the right place.”
But several of the 33 children had at least one living parent, and some of those parents said that the Baptists had promised simply to educate the youngsters in the Dominican Republic and said the children would be able to return to Haiti to visit their families.
Some Haitian leaders have called the Americans kidnappers, but until Thursday, Haitian judicial officials had left open the possibility that the group could be returned to the United States for possible trial, sparing Haiti’s crippled justice system a high-profile criminal prosecution fraught with diplomatic and political land mines.
--http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Published: February 4, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Ten Americans detained after trying to take 33 Haitian children across the border last week were charged Thursday with abduction and criminal association, according to prosecutors.
The charges, which carry prison terms of up to 15 years, were announced after a closed-door court hearing in which prosecutors questioned the Americans, most of them members of a Baptist congregation from Idaho. The case has become a flashpoint for Haiti’s fears of foreign encroachment in the aftermath of the Jan. 12 earthquake.
After the hearing, the Americans were led from the capital city’s white central courthouse and back to jail. They did not speak to the crush of reporters or photographers massed outside the building to cover the case.
Before the hearing, Laura Silsby, who had helped organize the group’s mission to Haiti, sounded a hopeful note as she waited to be taken into court, saying, “We’re just trusting God for a positive outcome.”
Edwin Coq, a lawyer for the Baptists, had said that 9 of his 10 clients were “completely innocent,” but that, in an apparent reference to Ms. Silsby, “if the judiciary were to keep one, it could be the leader of the group.”
“I’m trying to get them all free but I don’t yet know what’s going to happen,” Mr. Coq said in an interview at his earthquake-damaged law offices in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
The Americans were arrested on Friday as they tried to take 33 Haitian children to what they had said was an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. A Web site for the orphanage said that children there would stay in a “loving Christian home-like environment” and be eligible for adoption.
The Americans, their lawyers and members of their churches have said they are innocent of any wrongdoing, and said the case was a huge misunderstanding. In an interview earlier this week, Ms. Silsby said the group had come to Haiti to rescue children orphaned by the earthquake, and that “our hearts were in the right place.”
But several of the 33 children had at least one living parent, and some of those parents said that the Baptists had promised simply to educate the youngsters in the Dominican Republic and said the children would be able to return to Haiti to visit their families.
Some Haitian leaders have called the Americans kidnappers, but until Thursday, Haitian judicial officials had left open the possibility that the group could be returned to the United States for possible trial, sparing Haiti’s crippled justice system a high-profile criminal prosecution fraught with diplomatic and political land mines.
--http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Friday, January 29, 2010
Obama's spirited Q&A with House Republicans
By Dave Cook Staff writer / January 29, 2010 CSMONITOR.com
President Obama met with House Republicans at their annual retreat in Baltimore. GOP lawmakers asked pointed questions and Obama pushed back. But overall, the meeting was civil and substantive.
Washington
For nearly 90 minutes Friday afternoon, President Obama engaged House Republicans at their annual retreat in Baltimore, responding to pointed questions from his legislative opponents with a mixture of conciliation, confrontation, humor, and irritation.
It's not clear that many minds were changed during the session, which was opened to television cameras at White House request. Several Republican legislators’ questions were posed in the form of mini-speeches. Mr. Obama sometimes responded with a professorial recitation of the details of both Democratic and Republican proposals.
But overall, the interchange was lively, civil, and substantive. Reporters in the room said the audience murmured in polite disagreement on a few occasions but not in a disruptive way. There were no partisan outbursts. Midway through the question-and-answer session the president said, "I'm having fun."
'We need to listen to each other'
Republican House leader John Boehner invited the president to attend and introduced him by saying those in Washington "need to listen to each other."
Mr. Boehner remarked that Republicans had proposed a lot of solutions that were disregarded over the past year and had compiled them into a single booklet, titled "Better Solutions," that he handed to Obama. When the introduction was completed, the assembled Republican legislators welcomed the president with a standing ovation.
Before moving to questions, Obama opened with humor, quipping "you know what they say, keep your friends close but visit the Republican caucus every few months." He proceeded to stress his belief in the "necessity" of a loyal opposition, reciting areas – including supporting military operations in Afghanistan – where the two parties had worked together. But he also cited "disappointing" party-line votes in Congress.
During the question-and-answer session, the president was asked about the contentious subject of healthcare reform. He accused Republicans of portraying his proposals on the subject as "some Bolshevik plot." But he also acknowleged that there were "some stray cats and dogs that got in there" that "we were in the process of eliminating" and that "might have violated" his pledge not to have the government get between patients and doctors.
Closing the gap between rhetoric and reality
The president argued that "we have got to close the gap a little bit between the rhetoric and the reality." He asserted that by demonizing his proposals, "what happens is that you guys do not have a lot of room to negotiate with me," adding that "many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable in your own base."
In response to a question about Republican legislative ideas being "stiff-armed by [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi," the president said "both sides can take some blame for a sour climate on Capitol Hill." He said not having more communication between the legislative leaders of the major parties was "a failure on my part" and that he would try to do more on that issue this year.
The only visible flash of anger or irritation came with the final question that was posed – at some length – by Jeb Hensarling of Texas about a Republican budget proposal.
"The whole question was structured as a talking point for running a campaign," Obama snapped. "When you say that suddenly I have got a monthly deficit that is higher than the annual deficit left by the Republicans, that is factually just not true and you know it is not true."
President Obama met with House Republicans at their annual retreat in Baltimore. GOP lawmakers asked pointed questions and Obama pushed back. But overall, the meeting was civil and substantive.
Washington
For nearly 90 minutes Friday afternoon, President Obama engaged House Republicans at their annual retreat in Baltimore, responding to pointed questions from his legislative opponents with a mixture of conciliation, confrontation, humor, and irritation.
It's not clear that many minds were changed during the session, which was opened to television cameras at White House request. Several Republican legislators’ questions were posed in the form of mini-speeches. Mr. Obama sometimes responded with a professorial recitation of the details of both Democratic and Republican proposals.
But overall, the interchange was lively, civil, and substantive. Reporters in the room said the audience murmured in polite disagreement on a few occasions but not in a disruptive way. There were no partisan outbursts. Midway through the question-and-answer session the president said, "I'm having fun."
'We need to listen to each other'
Republican House leader John Boehner invited the president to attend and introduced him by saying those in Washington "need to listen to each other."
Mr. Boehner remarked that Republicans had proposed a lot of solutions that were disregarded over the past year and had compiled them into a single booklet, titled "Better Solutions," that he handed to Obama. When the introduction was completed, the assembled Republican legislators welcomed the president with a standing ovation.
Before moving to questions, Obama opened with humor, quipping "you know what they say, keep your friends close but visit the Republican caucus every few months." He proceeded to stress his belief in the "necessity" of a loyal opposition, reciting areas – including supporting military operations in Afghanistan – where the two parties had worked together. But he also cited "disappointing" party-line votes in Congress.
During the question-and-answer session, the president was asked about the contentious subject of healthcare reform. He accused Republicans of portraying his proposals on the subject as "some Bolshevik plot." But he also acknowleged that there were "some stray cats and dogs that got in there" that "we were in the process of eliminating" and that "might have violated" his pledge not to have the government get between patients and doctors.
Closing the gap between rhetoric and reality
The president argued that "we have got to close the gap a little bit between the rhetoric and the reality." He asserted that by demonizing his proposals, "what happens is that you guys do not have a lot of room to negotiate with me," adding that "many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable in your own base."
In response to a question about Republican legislative ideas being "stiff-armed by [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi," the president said "both sides can take some blame for a sour climate on Capitol Hill." He said not having more communication between the legislative leaders of the major parties was "a failure on my part" and that he would try to do more on that issue this year.
The only visible flash of anger or irritation came with the final question that was posed – at some length – by Jeb Hensarling of Texas about a Republican budget proposal.
"The whole question was structured as a talking point for running a campaign," Obama snapped. "When you say that suddenly I have got a monthly deficit that is higher than the annual deficit left by the Republicans, that is factually just not true and you know it is not true."
Monday, January 25, 2010
FDA Okays Valve That Can Be Placed Without Open-Heart Surgery
By Jennifer Corbett Dooren Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES -JANUARY 25, 2010,
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Food and Drug Administration Monday approved a Medtronic Inc. (MDT) heart valve that can be implanted without open-heart surgery.
The device, known as the Melody transcatheter pulmonary valve, is designed to be implanted into patients through a small catheter that's inserted into the body. It replaces the pulmonary valve in patients born with a heart defect, and is the first heart valve approved for sale in the U.S. that be implanted without open-heart surgery.
"The FDA's approval of Melody allows patients to undergo a much less invasive procedure to treat their heart condition," said Jeffrey Shuren, the director of FDA's devices division. The valve won't cure a patient's heart condition and over time will likely need to be replaced.
The Melody was approved under the FDA's Humanitarian Device Exemption program which allows devices to be approved for use to treat medical conditions that affect 4,000 or fewer patients in the U.S. annually.
FDA's approval of the Melody valve follows the July recommendation of an outside panel of medical experts which said the device had "probable benefit."
Medtronic officials have said the pulmonary value would likely be implanted in fewer than 1,000 U.S. patients annually. However, the potential market for other replacement heart valves such as the aortic valve that could be replaced without major surgery is much larger.
Medtronic acquired a company last year that sells an aortic value replacement system in Europe and plans to eventually seek FDA approval of the product in the U.S. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) also sells transcatheter heart valves in Europe and also plans to seek FDA approval to sell its valves in the U.S. The company hopes to win approval for the valves next year.
Medtronic's pulmonary valve was studied in a small group of patients who were born with a heart defect that disrupts the blood flow from the heart's right ventricle to the pulmonary artery that leads to the lungs. Patients with such heart defects typically require several open-heart surgeries to replace heart valves. The Melody valve could delay the need for open-heart surgery and cut the number of surgeries, but is unlikely to completely eliminate the need for open-heart surgery.
The FDA said clinical studies of 99 patients in the U.S. and 68 patients in Europe showed that the device improved function of the heart and the majority of participants have noted improvements in their clinical symptoms.
The agency said the device showed similar, limited durability compared with existing alternative treatments with 21% of U.S. patients experienced a stent fracture. The rate is similar to the number of stent fractures reported for the bare metal stents presently used to treat congenital heart defects of the pulmonary valve. The concern about stent fractures is that parts of the device could break off and result in blood clots.
However, the FDA said during the July advisory panel meeting, that devices which were removed from patients showed that stent fragments were incorporated into the vein wall, meaning there's a "low probability" that such fragments would cause blood clots.
The FDA said Medtronic will be required to conduct two post-approval studies to assess long-term risks and benefits of the product. The company will also be required to assess a physician training program and to maintain a database of Melody recipients.
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Food and Drug Administration Monday approved a Medtronic Inc. (MDT) heart valve that can be implanted without open-heart surgery.
The device, known as the Melody transcatheter pulmonary valve, is designed to be implanted into patients through a small catheter that's inserted into the body. It replaces the pulmonary valve in patients born with a heart defect, and is the first heart valve approved for sale in the U.S. that be implanted without open-heart surgery.
"The FDA's approval of Melody allows patients to undergo a much less invasive procedure to treat their heart condition," said Jeffrey Shuren, the director of FDA's devices division. The valve won't cure a patient's heart condition and over time will likely need to be replaced.
The Melody was approved under the FDA's Humanitarian Device Exemption program which allows devices to be approved for use to treat medical conditions that affect 4,000 or fewer patients in the U.S. annually.
FDA's approval of the Melody valve follows the July recommendation of an outside panel of medical experts which said the device had "probable benefit."
Medtronic officials have said the pulmonary value would likely be implanted in fewer than 1,000 U.S. patients annually. However, the potential market for other replacement heart valves such as the aortic valve that could be replaced without major surgery is much larger.
Medtronic acquired a company last year that sells an aortic value replacement system in Europe and plans to eventually seek FDA approval of the product in the U.S. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) also sells transcatheter heart valves in Europe and also plans to seek FDA approval to sell its valves in the U.S. The company hopes to win approval for the valves next year.
Medtronic's pulmonary valve was studied in a small group of patients who were born with a heart defect that disrupts the blood flow from the heart's right ventricle to the pulmonary artery that leads to the lungs. Patients with such heart defects typically require several open-heart surgeries to replace heart valves. The Melody valve could delay the need for open-heart surgery and cut the number of surgeries, but is unlikely to completely eliminate the need for open-heart surgery.
The FDA said clinical studies of 99 patients in the U.S. and 68 patients in Europe showed that the device improved function of the heart and the majority of participants have noted improvements in their clinical symptoms.
The agency said the device showed similar, limited durability compared with existing alternative treatments with 21% of U.S. patients experienced a stent fracture. The rate is similar to the number of stent fractures reported for the bare metal stents presently used to treat congenital heart defects of the pulmonary valve. The concern about stent fractures is that parts of the device could break off and result in blood clots.
However, the FDA said during the July advisory panel meeting, that devices which were removed from patients showed that stent fragments were incorporated into the vein wall, meaning there's a "low probability" that such fragments would cause blood clots.
The FDA said Medtronic will be required to conduct two post-approval studies to assess long-term risks and benefits of the product. The company will also be required to assess a physician training program and to maintain a database of Melody recipients.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
New York City Jobless Rate at 10.6%; State at 9% (Update1)
January 21, 2010, 02:58 PM EST
By Henry Goldman
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- New York City’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped to 10.6 percent in December, the highest since 1993, the state Labor Department reported.
New York state’s jobless rate matched its highest in 26 years, reaching 9 percent in December, 0.4 percentage points more than in November. Unemployed residents in the state increased to 868,600 from 832,200.
The city and state continue to lose jobs in areas including financial activities and business and professional services, while employment increased in education, health care and tourism, said James Brown, principal economist for the labor department.
“We won’t see unemployment trending down month to month until the second half of 2010 at the earliest,” Brown said.
The city’s unemployment rate was 10 percent in November and 7 percent in December 2008. It last reached 10.6 percent in March 1993, according to the labor department. The rate hit 11.7 percent in September 1992, its highest since January 1976, under the department’s current method for measuring the statistic.
The national jobless rate was 10 percent in December.
--Editors: Stacie Servetah, Mark Tannenbaum
By Henry Goldman
Jan. 21 (Bloomberg) -- New York City’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped to 10.6 percent in December, the highest since 1993, the state Labor Department reported.
New York state’s jobless rate matched its highest in 26 years, reaching 9 percent in December, 0.4 percentage points more than in November. Unemployed residents in the state increased to 868,600 from 832,200.
The city and state continue to lose jobs in areas including financial activities and business and professional services, while employment increased in education, health care and tourism, said James Brown, principal economist for the labor department.
“We won’t see unemployment trending down month to month until the second half of 2010 at the earliest,” Brown said.
The city’s unemployment rate was 10 percent in November and 7 percent in December 2008. It last reached 10.6 percent in March 1993, according to the labor department. The rate hit 11.7 percent in September 1992, its highest since January 1976, under the department’s current method for measuring the statistic.
The national jobless rate was 10 percent in December.
--Editors: Stacie Servetah, Mark Tannenbaum
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
HELP FOR Haiti
The Federal Response
Check out the links below to find out how each federal department and agency is responding to the earthquake in Haiti.
The Department of State
The Department of Defense
Haiti EARTHQUAKE RELIEF HOW TO HELP
Check out the links below to find out how each federal department and agency is responding to the earthquake in Haiti.
The Department of State
The Department of Defense
Haiti EARTHQUAKE RELIEF HOW TO HELP
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
US, Globe Rush Rescue, Relief Workers to Haiti
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 13, 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama dispatched military troops and an air and sea flotilla to speed earthquake relief to Haiti on Wednesday, and governments from China to Venezuela rushed to help with aid and rescue workers, as well. Obama said the world's help was critical to deal with a ''cruel and incomprehensible'' tragedy.
The massive effort to alleviate the spiraling toll of death and destruction kicked in as the devastation from Tuesday's magnitude-7.0 quake revealed itself. Haitian officials predicted a death total of staggering proportions.
U.S. officials were checking reports of at least three deaths of Americans in Haiti. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said few of the estimated 45,000 Americans living in the country had been able to communicate with U.S. officials and verify they were safe and sound.
The United States set in motion a sweeping military response that included ships, helicopters, transport planes and possibly a 2,000-member Marine unit.
Gen. Douglas Fraser, head of U.S. Southern Command, said one of the Navy's large amphibious ships probably would head to Haiti with a Marine expeditionary unit aboard. An Army brigade, which would include several thousand soldiers, from the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., was standing by for possible deployment, he said.
Fraser said it was possible that some military personnel would aid in security, bolstering Haiti's beleaguered police, but final decisions on their use had not yet been made. A Southern Command assessment team was flying to Haiti.
The initial contingent of 2,000 Marines could pitch in with both emergency aid distribution and law enforcement in support of a small U.N. peacekeeping force already there, Fraser said. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson also was heading from Norfolk, Va., and should arrive Thursday afternoon.
Obama put newly appointed USAID administrator Rajiv Shah in overall charge of the American effort. He said the initial response would concentrate on search and rescue operations but would also look at longer-term humanitarian needs. Two 72-member American urban search and rescue teams were on their way, transported by military and civilian airlift.
''The goal of the relief effort in the first 72 hours will be very focused on saving lives,'' Shah told reporters.
To ease the crushing burden on Haiti's flimsy government and police apparatus, the U.S. announced it had suspended deportation of Haitians in the United States illegally.
The United Nations has released $10 million from its emergency funds, even as U.N. workers and peacekeeping troops on the island nation at the time of the quake struggled with their own losses. The U.N. headquarters building collapsed, and the reported death toll there was mounting.
''We'll be using whatever roads are passable to get aid to Port-au-Prince, and if possible we'll bring helicopters in,'' said Emilia Casella, a spokeswoman for the U.N. food agency in Geneva. Its 200 staff in Haiti were trying to deliver high-energy biscuits and other supplies, despite looting and the threat of violence in a nation long plagued by lawlessness.
The American Red Cross ran out of medical supplies on the ground in Haiti, a spokesman said Wednesday. The small amount of medical equipment and supplies that were available to Haiti had been distributed, spokesman Eric Porterfield said. More were being sent, but he said he did not know when they would be arriving.
Across the globe, governments and aid groups were sending sniffer dogs to search for victims. They also were sending food and tons of emergency medical aid.
The sheer number of dead bodies was expected to pose a problem. The World Health Organization said it had sent specialists to help clear the city of corpses, and the International Red Cross was sending a plane Thursday loaded mainly with body bags.
Sixty-five rubble-clearing specialists and six sniffer dogs left France on Wednesday, while Spain dispatched three planeloads of rescuers and 100 tons of tents, blankets and cooking kits. Israel was sending in an elite Army rescue unit of engineers and doctors.
A military reconnaissance team from Canada was arriving aboard a C-130 transport plane to assess the need for mosquito nets, basic household goods, tents and sanitation packages.
One of the first teams expected to arrive in Haiti was a 37-member search-and-rescue unit from Iceland, along with 10 tons of rescue equipment.
The Irish telecommunications company Digicel said it would donate $5 million to aid agencies and help repair Haiti's damaged phone network.
Doctors Without Borders said it had treated hundreds in tents near where its Martissant health center was damaged. The injuries include broken bones and some severe burns from domestic gas containers that exploded in collapsed buildings. It said hundreds more Haitians were being treated in tents elsewhere.
Canada planned an initial donation of $4.8 million, with more aid to flow after reports to Ottawa by military reconnaissance team.
China pitched in with a pledge of $1 million, while the European Commission has approved $4.37 million. European Union member states Spain, The Netherlands and Germany promised millions more.
Even as donations began piling up, the FBI warned Internet users to be wary of e-mail messages seeking donations in the aftermath of the quake. People who want to send money or assistance should contribute to known organizations and should be careful not to respond to unsolicited e-mails, officials said.
------
Associated Press writers Anne Flaherty, Pauline Jelinek, Matthew Lee and Julie Pace contributed to this story.
Published: January 13, 2010
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama dispatched military troops and an air and sea flotilla to speed earthquake relief to Haiti on Wednesday, and governments from China to Venezuela rushed to help with aid and rescue workers, as well. Obama said the world's help was critical to deal with a ''cruel and incomprehensible'' tragedy.
The massive effort to alleviate the spiraling toll of death and destruction kicked in as the devastation from Tuesday's magnitude-7.0 quake revealed itself. Haitian officials predicted a death total of staggering proportions.
U.S. officials were checking reports of at least three deaths of Americans in Haiti. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said few of the estimated 45,000 Americans living in the country had been able to communicate with U.S. officials and verify they were safe and sound.
The United States set in motion a sweeping military response that included ships, helicopters, transport planes and possibly a 2,000-member Marine unit.
Gen. Douglas Fraser, head of U.S. Southern Command, said one of the Navy's large amphibious ships probably would head to Haiti with a Marine expeditionary unit aboard. An Army brigade, which would include several thousand soldiers, from the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., was standing by for possible deployment, he said.
Fraser said it was possible that some military personnel would aid in security, bolstering Haiti's beleaguered police, but final decisions on their use had not yet been made. A Southern Command assessment team was flying to Haiti.
The initial contingent of 2,000 Marines could pitch in with both emergency aid distribution and law enforcement in support of a small U.N. peacekeeping force already there, Fraser said. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson also was heading from Norfolk, Va., and should arrive Thursday afternoon.
Obama put newly appointed USAID administrator Rajiv Shah in overall charge of the American effort. He said the initial response would concentrate on search and rescue operations but would also look at longer-term humanitarian needs. Two 72-member American urban search and rescue teams were on their way, transported by military and civilian airlift.
''The goal of the relief effort in the first 72 hours will be very focused on saving lives,'' Shah told reporters.
To ease the crushing burden on Haiti's flimsy government and police apparatus, the U.S. announced it had suspended deportation of Haitians in the United States illegally.
The United Nations has released $10 million from its emergency funds, even as U.N. workers and peacekeeping troops on the island nation at the time of the quake struggled with their own losses. The U.N. headquarters building collapsed, and the reported death toll there was mounting.
''We'll be using whatever roads are passable to get aid to Port-au-Prince, and if possible we'll bring helicopters in,'' said Emilia Casella, a spokeswoman for the U.N. food agency in Geneva. Its 200 staff in Haiti were trying to deliver high-energy biscuits and other supplies, despite looting and the threat of violence in a nation long plagued by lawlessness.
The American Red Cross ran out of medical supplies on the ground in Haiti, a spokesman said Wednesday. The small amount of medical equipment and supplies that were available to Haiti had been distributed, spokesman Eric Porterfield said. More were being sent, but he said he did not know when they would be arriving.
Across the globe, governments and aid groups were sending sniffer dogs to search for victims. They also were sending food and tons of emergency medical aid.
The sheer number of dead bodies was expected to pose a problem. The World Health Organization said it had sent specialists to help clear the city of corpses, and the International Red Cross was sending a plane Thursday loaded mainly with body bags.
Sixty-five rubble-clearing specialists and six sniffer dogs left France on Wednesday, while Spain dispatched three planeloads of rescuers and 100 tons of tents, blankets and cooking kits. Israel was sending in an elite Army rescue unit of engineers and doctors.
A military reconnaissance team from Canada was arriving aboard a C-130 transport plane to assess the need for mosquito nets, basic household goods, tents and sanitation packages.
One of the first teams expected to arrive in Haiti was a 37-member search-and-rescue unit from Iceland, along with 10 tons of rescue equipment.
The Irish telecommunications company Digicel said it would donate $5 million to aid agencies and help repair Haiti's damaged phone network.
Doctors Without Borders said it had treated hundreds in tents near where its Martissant health center was damaged. The injuries include broken bones and some severe burns from domestic gas containers that exploded in collapsed buildings. It said hundreds more Haitians were being treated in tents elsewhere.
Canada planned an initial donation of $4.8 million, with more aid to flow after reports to Ottawa by military reconnaissance team.
China pitched in with a pledge of $1 million, while the European Commission has approved $4.37 million. European Union member states Spain, The Netherlands and Germany promised millions more.
Even as donations began piling up, the FBI warned Internet users to be wary of e-mail messages seeking donations in the aftermath of the quake. People who want to send money or assistance should contribute to known organizations and should be careful not to respond to unsolicited e-mails, officials said.
------
Associated Press writers Anne Flaherty, Pauline Jelinek, Matthew Lee and Julie Pace contributed to this story.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Son of Gov. Paterson Arrested On Stolen Credit Card Charge
WPIX NEWSROOM
4:39 PM EST, January 12, 2010
NEW YORK (WPIX) - The teenage son of New York Governor David Paterson was arrested Tuesday and charged with possession of a stolen credit card, PIX News has learned.Alex Paterson, 15, placed into police custody at the 20th Precinct in Manhattan. According to sources, Paterson was with a friend on the Upper West side when he was stopped by New York City police officers.When asked to show identification, according to a source, police noticed the debit card in his wallet. Given his age, police inquired how he came into possession of the card."His answer was not satisfatory" according to another source.Alex Paterson was released in the custody of his mother, Michelle Paige Paterson shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.Stay with WPIX.com for the latest on this developing story.
4:39 PM EST, January 12, 2010
NEW YORK (WPIX) - The teenage son of New York Governor David Paterson was arrested Tuesday and charged with possession of a stolen credit card, PIX News has learned.Alex Paterson, 15, placed into police custody at the 20th Precinct in Manhattan. According to sources, Paterson was with a friend on the Upper West side when he was stopped by New York City police officers.When asked to show identification, according to a source, police noticed the debit card in his wallet. Given his age, police inquired how he came into possession of the card."His answer was not satisfatory" according to another source.Alex Paterson was released in the custody of his mother, Michelle Paige Paterson shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday.Stay with WPIX.com for the latest on this developing story.
Restaurant Chefs Boiling Over NYC Mayor's Salt Crackdown
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
NYPOST.com
NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bloomberg yesterday defended his latest nanny initiative — a controversial crackdown on salt — by comparing the simple seasoning to killer asbestos in the classroom.
"If we know there's asbestos in a school room what do you expect us to do?" Bloomberg shot back at reporters questioning his new initiative. "Say it's not our business? I don't think so. The same thing is true with food and smoking and a lot of things.
"Salt and asbestos, clearly both are bad for you," Bloomberg continued. "Modern medicine thinks you shouldn't be smoking if you want to live longer. Modern medicine thinks you shouldn't be eating salt, or sodium."
Bloomberg is pushing a plan to cut the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant foods by 25 percent over the next five years. He says the initiative is voluntary.
Never mind that salt has important properties that preserve and stabilize food, and its sodium ions help maintain the fluid in human blood cells.
Forget that the body does not manufacture its own sodium ions so there has to be some salt in everyone's diet.
Restaurant owners have a less scientific reason for disliking the crackdown: salt makes food taste good.
Some of the city's top chefs and restaurant owners yesterday had a spicy message for City Hall: Simmer down and stay out of our kitchens.
"I'm all for trying to make New Yorkers healthier people," said acclaimed chef Ed Brown, owner of the restaurant eighty one on the Upper West Side. "But when it comes to him telling me how much salt to put in food, I have a problem with it."
Noted chef David Chang, owner of the Momofuku Noodle Bar, said cooks have been using salt with food almost as long as they have been using fire.
"You need salt to draw flavor out of food," Chang said. "It's a skill that you teach cooks. For that to be regulated by the government is just stupid and foolish."
Too much sodium contributes to high blood pressure, which can cause heart attacks and stroke, health officials say.
NYPOST.com
NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bloomberg yesterday defended his latest nanny initiative — a controversial crackdown on salt — by comparing the simple seasoning to killer asbestos in the classroom.
"If we know there's asbestos in a school room what do you expect us to do?" Bloomberg shot back at reporters questioning his new initiative. "Say it's not our business? I don't think so. The same thing is true with food and smoking and a lot of things.
"Salt and asbestos, clearly both are bad for you," Bloomberg continued. "Modern medicine thinks you shouldn't be smoking if you want to live longer. Modern medicine thinks you shouldn't be eating salt, or sodium."
Bloomberg is pushing a plan to cut the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant foods by 25 percent over the next five years. He says the initiative is voluntary.
Never mind that salt has important properties that preserve and stabilize food, and its sodium ions help maintain the fluid in human blood cells.
Forget that the body does not manufacture its own sodium ions so there has to be some salt in everyone's diet.
Restaurant owners have a less scientific reason for disliking the crackdown: salt makes food taste good.
Some of the city's top chefs and restaurant owners yesterday had a spicy message for City Hall: Simmer down and stay out of our kitchens.
"I'm all for trying to make New Yorkers healthier people," said acclaimed chef Ed Brown, owner of the restaurant eighty one on the Upper West Side. "But when it comes to him telling me how much salt to put in food, I have a problem with it."
Noted chef David Chang, owner of the Momofuku Noodle Bar, said cooks have been using salt with food almost as long as they have been using fire.
"You need salt to draw flavor out of food," Chang said. "It's a skill that you teach cooks. For that to be regulated by the government is just stupid and foolish."
Too much sodium contributes to high blood pressure, which can cause heart attacks and stroke, health officials say.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Obesity Rise Hurts Health More Than Smoking
Study Shows Obesity Epidemic Creating New Challenges to Public Health
By Jennifer Warner WebMD Health News
Jan. 5, 2010 -- America's obesity epidemic now poses an equal or greater threat to health-related quality of life than smoking, according to a new study.
Researchers say that as obesity in America has risen dramatically in recent years -- and smoking rates have declined -- the contribution of obesity to the burden of disease and shortening of life has increased while smoking's role has decreased.
The study showed that from 1993 to 2008, the proportion of smokers among U.S. adults declined by 18.5% while the proportion of obese adults increased 85%.
Using information from nationwide annual health-related quality-of-life surveys conducted during the same time period, researchers calculated the Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) lost due to these two major health risk factors.
The results, published in the American Journal of Preventive Health, show that smoking-related QALYs lost remained relatively stable during this time period at 0.0438, or 16 days of healthy life lost per adult population.
Meanwhile, as the obesity epidemic increased the quality-of-life problems caused by obesity increased and accounted for 0.0464 QALYs lost.
Researchers say smoking had a bigger impact on deaths while obesity had a bigger effect on illness.
"Because of the marked increase in the proportion of obese people, obesity has become an equal, if not greater contributor to the burden of disease than smoking," write researcher Haomiao Jia, PhD, of Columbia University, and colleagues. "Such data are essential in setting targets for reducing modifiable health risks and eliminating health disparities."
By Jennifer Warner WebMD Health News
Jan. 5, 2010 -- America's obesity epidemic now poses an equal or greater threat to health-related quality of life than smoking, according to a new study.
Researchers say that as obesity in America has risen dramatically in recent years -- and smoking rates have declined -- the contribution of obesity to the burden of disease and shortening of life has increased while smoking's role has decreased.
The study showed that from 1993 to 2008, the proportion of smokers among U.S. adults declined by 18.5% while the proportion of obese adults increased 85%.
Using information from nationwide annual health-related quality-of-life surveys conducted during the same time period, researchers calculated the Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) lost due to these two major health risk factors.
The results, published in the American Journal of Preventive Health, show that smoking-related QALYs lost remained relatively stable during this time period at 0.0438, or 16 days of healthy life lost per adult population.
Meanwhile, as the obesity epidemic increased the quality-of-life problems caused by obesity increased and accounted for 0.0464 QALYs lost.
Researchers say smoking had a bigger impact on deaths while obesity had a bigger effect on illness.
"Because of the marked increase in the proportion of obese people, obesity has become an equal, if not greater contributor to the burden of disease than smoking," write researcher Haomiao Jia, PhD, of Columbia University, and colleagues. "Such data are essential in setting targets for reducing modifiable health risks and eliminating health disparities."
Sunday, January 03, 2010
U.S. Intensifies Screening for Travelers From 14 Nations
By ERIC LIPTON
Published: January 3, 2010
WASHINGTON — Citizens of 14 nations, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, who are flying to the United States will be subjected indefinitely to the intense screening at airports worldwide that was imposed after the Christmas Day bombing plot, Obama administration officials announced Sunday.
But American citizens, and most others who are not flying through those 14 nations on their way to the United States, will no longer automatically face the full range of intensified security that was imposed after the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight, officials said.
The change represents an easing of the immediate response to the attempted bombing of a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. But the action on Sunday further establishes a global security system that treats people differently based on what country they are from, evoking protests from civil rights groups.
Citizens of Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria — countries that are considered “state sponsors of terrorism” — as well as those from “countries of interest” — including Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen — will face the special scrutiny, officials said.
Passengers holding passports from those nations, or taking flights that originated or passed through any of them, will be required to undergo full-body pat downs and will face extra scrutiny of their carry-on bags before they can board planes to the United States.
In certain countries that have more advanced screening equipment, travelers also will be required to pass through so-called whole-body scanners that can look beneath clothing for hidden explosives or weapons, or they may be checked with a device that can find tiny traces of explosives.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain announced that whole-body scanners would be introduced in that country’s airports. Officials in Amsterdam announced last week that they would begin using the scanners on passengers bound for the United States.
Many, though not all, other passengers coming to the United States will face similar measures, but that screening will be done randomly or if there is some reason to believe that a particular passenger might present a threat, officials said.
The changes will mean that any citizen of Pakistan or Saudi Arabia will for the first time be patted down automatically before boarding any flight to the United States. Even if that person has lived in a country like Britain for decades, he now will be subject to these extra security checks.
Nawar Shora, the legal director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, says the rule wrongly implies that all citizens of certain nations are suspect.
“I understand there needs to be additional security in light of what was attempted on Christmas Day,” Mr. Shora said, adding that he intended to file a formal protest on Monday. “But this is extreme and very dangerous. All of a sudden people are labeled as being related to terrorism just because of the nation they are from.”
In the United States, a requirement for “second screening” has for a number of years already been in effect for a dozen countries, a fact that is not widely known.
Charles Oy, 28, of Chicago is an American who was born in Nigeria. He said that he detected heightened security over the weekend — not in Nigeria but upon his arrival Sunday at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. He was one of a few passengers taken aside for an individual interview, and his bags and passport were examined.
The suspect arrested in the Northwest Airlines episode, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab 23, was Nigerian, but Mr. Oy said that the added scrutiny did not leave him discouraged. “I feel it is very isolated, and is something not characteristic of Nigeria,” he said. “I had no particular feelings of unpleasantness. I understand it is part of the world we live in. I factor all that into my traveling. If it happens, I roll with it.”
A homeland security official said that the Obama administration did not consider this move a step in the direction of racial profiling, which the Transportation Security Administration has said it has long tried to avoid.
Domestically, passengers traveling in the United States may notice more canine bomb-detection teams or face occasional extra checks of carry-on bags. Additional behavioral detection officials are also in airports to observe passengers for any signs that might offer a hint of a plot. But there have been no comprehensive changes in screening at domestic airports.
David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the airlines’ trade organization, said the group had been “closely coordinating” the enhanced security measures “with the convenience of customers in mind. I believe we accomplished that,” he said Sunday.
Micheline Maynard contributed reporting from Detroit, and Mark Guarino from Chicago.
Published: January 3, 2010
WASHINGTON — Citizens of 14 nations, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, who are flying to the United States will be subjected indefinitely to the intense screening at airports worldwide that was imposed after the Christmas Day bombing plot, Obama administration officials announced Sunday.
But American citizens, and most others who are not flying through those 14 nations on their way to the United States, will no longer automatically face the full range of intensified security that was imposed after the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight, officials said.
The change represents an easing of the immediate response to the attempted bombing of a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. But the action on Sunday further establishes a global security system that treats people differently based on what country they are from, evoking protests from civil rights groups.
Citizens of Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria — countries that are considered “state sponsors of terrorism” — as well as those from “countries of interest” — including Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen — will face the special scrutiny, officials said.
Passengers holding passports from those nations, or taking flights that originated or passed through any of them, will be required to undergo full-body pat downs and will face extra scrutiny of their carry-on bags before they can board planes to the United States.
In certain countries that have more advanced screening equipment, travelers also will be required to pass through so-called whole-body scanners that can look beneath clothing for hidden explosives or weapons, or they may be checked with a device that can find tiny traces of explosives.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain announced that whole-body scanners would be introduced in that country’s airports. Officials in Amsterdam announced last week that they would begin using the scanners on passengers bound for the United States.
Many, though not all, other passengers coming to the United States will face similar measures, but that screening will be done randomly or if there is some reason to believe that a particular passenger might present a threat, officials said.
The changes will mean that any citizen of Pakistan or Saudi Arabia will for the first time be patted down automatically before boarding any flight to the United States. Even if that person has lived in a country like Britain for decades, he now will be subject to these extra security checks.
Nawar Shora, the legal director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, says the rule wrongly implies that all citizens of certain nations are suspect.
“I understand there needs to be additional security in light of what was attempted on Christmas Day,” Mr. Shora said, adding that he intended to file a formal protest on Monday. “But this is extreme and very dangerous. All of a sudden people are labeled as being related to terrorism just because of the nation they are from.”
In the United States, a requirement for “second screening” has for a number of years already been in effect for a dozen countries, a fact that is not widely known.
Charles Oy, 28, of Chicago is an American who was born in Nigeria. He said that he detected heightened security over the weekend — not in Nigeria but upon his arrival Sunday at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. He was one of a few passengers taken aside for an individual interview, and his bags and passport were examined.
The suspect arrested in the Northwest Airlines episode, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab 23, was Nigerian, but Mr. Oy said that the added scrutiny did not leave him discouraged. “I feel it is very isolated, and is something not characteristic of Nigeria,” he said. “I had no particular feelings of unpleasantness. I understand it is part of the world we live in. I factor all that into my traveling. If it happens, I roll with it.”
A homeland security official said that the Obama administration did not consider this move a step in the direction of racial profiling, which the Transportation Security Administration has said it has long tried to avoid.
Domestically, passengers traveling in the United States may notice more canine bomb-detection teams or face occasional extra checks of carry-on bags. Additional behavioral detection officials are also in airports to observe passengers for any signs that might offer a hint of a plot. But there have been no comprehensive changes in screening at domestic airports.
David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the airlines’ trade organization, said the group had been “closely coordinating” the enhanced security measures “with the convenience of customers in mind. I believe we accomplished that,” he said Sunday.
Micheline Maynard contributed reporting from Detroit, and Mark Guarino from Chicago.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
US General Petraeus in Yemen talks on tackling al-Qaeda
Top US soldier Gen David Petraeus has visited Yemen's president amid a renewed offensive against militants, local media and officials say.
The general - responsible for US Middle East and Central Asian operations - reportedly said the US was keen to support Yemen's fight against al-Qaeda.
President Barack Obama accused Yemen-based militants of orchestrating the failed attack last week on a US plane.
Yemeni officials said more troops had been sent to fight rebels in the east.
State media and officials in Yemen reported the meeting between Gen Petraeus and President Ali Abdallah Saleh but there was no immediate word from the US.
Last week a Yemen-based group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said it had trained the Nigerian man accused of carrying out the attempt to bomb a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
'Stronger partnership'
Security sources in the Yemeni capital said reinforcements had been sent to the eastern provinces of Abyan, Bayada and Shawba, where al-Qaeda militants have hideouts, AFP news agency reports.
The alert level in those regions had been raised, the sources said.
"These measures are part of operations to hunt down elements of al-Qaeda, prevent any attempt of a response after the raids, and tighten the noose around extremists," one of the sources said.
In his weekly address posted on the White House website on Saturday, Mr Obama said more details of the alleged plot were becoming clear.
"We know that [Mr Abdulmutallab] travelled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies," he said.
"As president, I've made it a priority to strengthen our partnership with the Yemeni government, training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence and working with them to strike al-Qaeda terrorists," Mr Obama added.
"Training camps", he said, had "been struck, leaders eliminated, plots disrupted".
The Yemeni government has expressed its willingness to accept more help but wants economic as well as military aid, analysts say.
The country is confronting some daunting challenges - a fast-growing and impoverished population, diminishing water reserves and the likelihood that its only source of income, oil, will run dry in a few years.
But security is just as big a challenge, complicated by an abundance of firearms, an insurgency in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.
While the government is weak and unpopular in much of the country, the US has little choice but to work through it to fight al-Qaeda as any overt US presence would almost certainly provoke a public backlash.
But the prospects of re-asserting central government authority over the lawless areas where al-Qaeda is based look, in the opinion of some analysts, remote - even with beefed-up American support. BBC News
The general - responsible for US Middle East and Central Asian operations - reportedly said the US was keen to support Yemen's fight against al-Qaeda.
President Barack Obama accused Yemen-based militants of orchestrating the failed attack last week on a US plane.
Yemeni officials said more troops had been sent to fight rebels in the east.
State media and officials in Yemen reported the meeting between Gen Petraeus and President Ali Abdallah Saleh but there was no immediate word from the US.
Last week a Yemen-based group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, said it had trained the Nigerian man accused of carrying out the attempt to bomb a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
'Stronger partnership'
Security sources in the Yemeni capital said reinforcements had been sent to the eastern provinces of Abyan, Bayada and Shawba, where al-Qaeda militants have hideouts, AFP news agency reports.
The alert level in those regions had been raised, the sources said.
"These measures are part of operations to hunt down elements of al-Qaeda, prevent any attempt of a response after the raids, and tighten the noose around extremists," one of the sources said.
In his weekly address posted on the White House website on Saturday, Mr Obama said more details of the alleged plot were becoming clear.
"We know that [Mr Abdulmutallab] travelled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies," he said.
"As president, I've made it a priority to strengthen our partnership with the Yemeni government, training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence and working with them to strike al-Qaeda terrorists," Mr Obama added.
"Training camps", he said, had "been struck, leaders eliminated, plots disrupted".
The Yemeni government has expressed its willingness to accept more help but wants economic as well as military aid, analysts say.
The country is confronting some daunting challenges - a fast-growing and impoverished population, diminishing water reserves and the likelihood that its only source of income, oil, will run dry in a few years.
But security is just as big a challenge, complicated by an abundance of firearms, an insurgency in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.
While the government is weak and unpopular in much of the country, the US has little choice but to work through it to fight al-Qaeda as any overt US presence would almost certainly provoke a public backlash.
But the prospects of re-asserting central government authority over the lawless areas where al-Qaeda is based look, in the opinion of some analysts, remote - even with beefed-up American support. BBC News
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New York Borrows Internally to Cover Record General Fund Gap
By Michael Quint
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- New York state ended 2009 with $883.7 million of available cash, after borrowing from its short-term investment pool to absorb a record $600 million deficit in its general fund, according to a report by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
The state expects in January to repay the investment pool and provide $750 million of payments to schools and local governments delayed this month by Governor David Paterson, budget director Robert Megna said.
The investment pool, which holds cash and securities for various accounts such as lottery winnings and state university tuition payments, serves as a kind of line of credit, available when the main account, the general fund, runs out of cash. Borrowing from the investment fund must be repaid by the end of New York’s fiscal year on March 31, according to the state’s annual information statement.
“Had we not delayed payments, we would have run out of money,” Paterson said at a news conference in Albany today.
A cash report by DiNapoli showed the state’s cash balance at the start of business today was $506.4 million, after payments yesterday of about $3.79 billion. The opening balance was less than the $750 million of payments Paterson temporarily withheld.
Paterson said the state’s ending balance was $283 million after subtracting the $600 million general fund deficit from the ending cash balance. In fact, the general fund is a component of the investment pool, according to the comptroller’s office. The general fund deficit is included in the ending cash balance of $883.7 million, and shouldn’t be subtracted from it, said Matt Anderson, a Division of Budget spokesman.
Biggest Revenue Month
State revenue next month exceeds spending by $5.84 billion, according to Division of Budget projections in October. January is the biggest month of the year for tax collections, estimated at $8.88 billion. Wall Street bonus payments are harder to predict this year because many banks plan to pay employees in stock rather than cash, Paterson and Megna said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Quint in Albany, New York, at mquint@bloomberg.net.
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- New York state ended 2009 with $883.7 million of available cash, after borrowing from its short-term investment pool to absorb a record $600 million deficit in its general fund, according to a report by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
The state expects in January to repay the investment pool and provide $750 million of payments to schools and local governments delayed this month by Governor David Paterson, budget director Robert Megna said.
The investment pool, which holds cash and securities for various accounts such as lottery winnings and state university tuition payments, serves as a kind of line of credit, available when the main account, the general fund, runs out of cash. Borrowing from the investment fund must be repaid by the end of New York’s fiscal year on March 31, according to the state’s annual information statement.
“Had we not delayed payments, we would have run out of money,” Paterson said at a news conference in Albany today.
A cash report by DiNapoli showed the state’s cash balance at the start of business today was $506.4 million, after payments yesterday of about $3.79 billion. The opening balance was less than the $750 million of payments Paterson temporarily withheld.
Paterson said the state’s ending balance was $283 million after subtracting the $600 million general fund deficit from the ending cash balance. In fact, the general fund is a component of the investment pool, according to the comptroller’s office. The general fund deficit is included in the ending cash balance of $883.7 million, and shouldn’t be subtracted from it, said Matt Anderson, a Division of Budget spokesman.
Biggest Revenue Month
State revenue next month exceeds spending by $5.84 billion, according to Division of Budget projections in October. January is the biggest month of the year for tax collections, estimated at $8.88 billion. Wall Street bonus payments are harder to predict this year because many banks plan to pay employees in stock rather than cash, Paterson and Megna said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Quint in Albany, New York, at mquint@bloomberg.net.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Percy Sutton, trailblazing businessman, dies at 89
By Jamie Guzzardo,
December 27, 2009 8:34 p.m.
(CNN) -- Civil rights attorney Percy Sutton, who represented Malcolm X and became an influential New York politician and broadcaster, has died at age 89, associates said Sunday.
As a businessman, Sutton was credited with leading the revitalization of Harlem, including the restoration of the famous Apollo Theater. In a statement issued after Sutton's death Saturday night, New York Gov. David Paterson called the former Manhattan borough president "a friend and mentor."
"Percy was fiercely loyal, compassionate and a truly kind soul," Paterson said. "He will be missed, but his legacy lives on through the next generations of African-Americans he inspired to pursue and fulfill their own dreams and ambitions."
And in a statement issued by the White House, President Obama called Sutton a "true hero to African-Americans in New York City and around the country."
His career as an entrepreneur and public servant made the rise of countless young African-Americans possible.--President Obama
"His life-long dedication to the fight for civil rights and his career as an entrepreneur and public servant made the rise of countless young African-Americans possible," Obama said.
A native of Texas, Sutton served as an intelligence officer for the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II before becoming an attorney. He represented Malcolm X until the onetime Nation of Islam leader's 1965 assassination, and continued to represent his widow, Betty Shabazz, until her death in a 1997 fire. He then defended Shabazz's 12-year-old grandson, who admitted to starting the fatal blaze.
In the 1970s, Sutton was a member of the Harlem circle dubbed the "Gang of Four," which included U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel; Paterson's father Basil, who became New York's secretary of state; and future New York Mayor David Dinkins. He served as Manhattan borough president from 1966 to 1977, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered flags at city offices to fly at half-staff on Monday.
"It's hard to capture in just a few words how important Percy's contributions were -- and just how unique an individual he was. He helped move African-Americans and all of New York forward," Bloomberg said in his declaration.
After public office, Sutton became an African-American broadcasting pioneer by purchasing radio stations WLIB and WBLS, launching the first radio chain aimed at black listeners, civil rights leader Al Sharpton said Sunday.
"He was at the forefront of everything you can think of in black America," Sharpton told CNN. "He was the quintessential black American. He pioneered black business, black media and black politics. He opened those doors and he kept them open."
Sutton also reopened the Apollo, the Harlem landmark credited with launching the careers of performers from Ella Fitzgerald to Michael Jackson, "when it was boarded up -- when the only ones here were the rats and the roaches," Sharpton told reporters Sunday.
"He was suave and eloquent and debonair," Sharpton said. "He had a coolness about him that I think that we will never see the likes of. There was a grace about Percy Sutton that was hard to describe."
And Rangel said Sutton "never stopped fighting for our rights and building community, especially in his beloved Harlem."
"Percy Sutton wrote his own story, and in doing so, he leaves behind a remarkable legacy of achievement and social justice that will serve as an example and inspiration for generations of leaders, now and forever," the veteran congressman said in a written statement.
--http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
December 27, 2009 8:34 p.m.
(CNN) -- Civil rights attorney Percy Sutton, who represented Malcolm X and became an influential New York politician and broadcaster, has died at age 89, associates said Sunday.
As a businessman, Sutton was credited with leading the revitalization of Harlem, including the restoration of the famous Apollo Theater. In a statement issued after Sutton's death Saturday night, New York Gov. David Paterson called the former Manhattan borough president "a friend and mentor."
"Percy was fiercely loyal, compassionate and a truly kind soul," Paterson said. "He will be missed, but his legacy lives on through the next generations of African-Americans he inspired to pursue and fulfill their own dreams and ambitions."
And in a statement issued by the White House, President Obama called Sutton a "true hero to African-Americans in New York City and around the country."
His career as an entrepreneur and public servant made the rise of countless young African-Americans possible.--President Obama
"His life-long dedication to the fight for civil rights and his career as an entrepreneur and public servant made the rise of countless young African-Americans possible," Obama said.
A native of Texas, Sutton served as an intelligence officer for the famed Tuskegee Airmen during World War II before becoming an attorney. He represented Malcolm X until the onetime Nation of Islam leader's 1965 assassination, and continued to represent his widow, Betty Shabazz, until her death in a 1997 fire. He then defended Shabazz's 12-year-old grandson, who admitted to starting the fatal blaze.
In the 1970s, Sutton was a member of the Harlem circle dubbed the "Gang of Four," which included U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel; Paterson's father Basil, who became New York's secretary of state; and future New York Mayor David Dinkins. He served as Manhattan borough president from 1966 to 1977, and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered flags at city offices to fly at half-staff on Monday.
"It's hard to capture in just a few words how important Percy's contributions were -- and just how unique an individual he was. He helped move African-Americans and all of New York forward," Bloomberg said in his declaration.
After public office, Sutton became an African-American broadcasting pioneer by purchasing radio stations WLIB and WBLS, launching the first radio chain aimed at black listeners, civil rights leader Al Sharpton said Sunday.
"He was at the forefront of everything you can think of in black America," Sharpton told CNN. "He was the quintessential black American. He pioneered black business, black media and black politics. He opened those doors and he kept them open."
Sutton also reopened the Apollo, the Harlem landmark credited with launching the careers of performers from Ella Fitzgerald to Michael Jackson, "when it was boarded up -- when the only ones here were the rats and the roaches," Sharpton told reporters Sunday.
"He was suave and eloquent and debonair," Sharpton said. "He had a coolness about him that I think that we will never see the likes of. There was a grace about Percy Sutton that was hard to describe."
And Rangel said Sutton "never stopped fighting for our rights and building community, especially in his beloved Harlem."
"Percy Sutton wrote his own story, and in doing so, he leaves behind a remarkable legacy of achievement and social justice that will serve as an example and inspiration for generations of leaders, now and forever," the veteran congressman said in a written statement.
--http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Senate Passes Health Care Overhaul Bill
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: December 24, 2009
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday to reinvent the nation’s health care system, passing a bill to guarantee access to health insurance for tens of millions of Americans and to rein in health costs as proposed by President Obama.
A History of Overhauling Health Care
Senate Roll Call: Health Care Bill
The 60-to-39 party-line vote, on the 25th straight day of debate on the legislation, brings Democrats a step closer to a goal they have pursued for decades. It clears the way for negotiations with the House, which passed a broadly similar bill last month by a vote of 220 to 215.
If the two chambers can strike a deal, as seems likely, the resulting product would vastly expand the role and responsibilities of the federal government. It would, as lawmakers said repeatedly in the debate, touch the lives of nearly all Americans.
The bill would require most Americans to have health insurance, would add 15 million people to the Medicaid rolls and would subsidize private coverage for low- and middle-income people, at a cost to the government of $871 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
President Obama said after the vote that the health care bill was “the most important piece of social legislation since the Social Security Act” was adopted and that it represented “the toughest measure ever taken to hold the insurance companies accountable.”
The budget office estimates that the bill would provide coverage to 31 million uninsured people, but still leave 23 million uninsured in 2019. One-third of those remaining uninsured would be illegal immigrants.
If the bill becomes law, it would be a milestone in social policy, comparable with the creation of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare in 1965. But unlike those programs, the new initiative lacks bipartisan support. Only one Republican voted for the House bill last month, and no Republicans voted for the Senate version.
Published: December 24, 2009
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday to reinvent the nation’s health care system, passing a bill to guarantee access to health insurance for tens of millions of Americans and to rein in health costs as proposed by President Obama.
A History of Overhauling Health Care
Senate Roll Call: Health Care Bill
The 60-to-39 party-line vote, on the 25th straight day of debate on the legislation, brings Democrats a step closer to a goal they have pursued for decades. It clears the way for negotiations with the House, which passed a broadly similar bill last month by a vote of 220 to 215.
If the two chambers can strike a deal, as seems likely, the resulting product would vastly expand the role and responsibilities of the federal government. It would, as lawmakers said repeatedly in the debate, touch the lives of nearly all Americans.
The bill would require most Americans to have health insurance, would add 15 million people to the Medicaid rolls and would subsidize private coverage for low- and middle-income people, at a cost to the government of $871 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
President Obama said after the vote that the health care bill was “the most important piece of social legislation since the Social Security Act” was adopted and that it represented “the toughest measure ever taken to hold the insurance companies accountable.”
The budget office estimates that the bill would provide coverage to 31 million uninsured people, but still leave 23 million uninsured in 2019. One-third of those remaining uninsured would be illegal immigrants.
If the bill becomes law, it would be a milestone in social policy, comparable with the creation of Social Security in 1935 and Medicare in 1965. But unlike those programs, the new initiative lacks bipartisan support. Only one Republican voted for the House bill last month, and no Republicans voted for the Senate version.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Power Troubles Snarl New York City Train Service
By JOHN KELL
DECEMBER 23, 2009, 12:21 P.M. ET
Rail service was suspended at New York City's Penn Station for nearly three hours Wednesday due to power problems, disrupting commuter and holiday travel for several New Jersey Transit, Long Island Railroad and Amtrak lines.
The outage was first reported at 8:45 a.m. EST and crews were working to resolve the power issue, according to Amtrak. The cause of the power disruption is under investigation. An Amtrak spokesman said trains were moving again as of 11:35 a.m. Additional delays were expected as normal service resumed, Amtrak said in a release.
A NJ Transit spokesman said average ridership into Penn Station on any given day was 81,000. He estimated the outage affected "tens of thousands" of customers.
Trains were unable to travel in and out of New York. Amtrak said those en route to New York at the time of the power outage had power onboard, including heat and lights.
Numerous Acela Express and Northeast regional trains between Boston, New York and Washington were affected by the outage. Amtrak's Empire Service running through New York, Albany and Niagara Falls was also affected.
For NJ Transit, service was temporarily suspended on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast and Midtown Direct lines, with all Midtown Direct trains being diverted to Hoboken, N.J. The other lines were operating through Newark Penn Station with significant delays.
NJ Transit said the lines were restored as of 12:07 p.m., though delays of up to one hour in both directions were expected.
Some alternative transportation was available via the Port Authority of New York an New Jersey, or PATH, trains. NJ Transit said it provided alternative travel options through the PATH, as well as the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal.---From wsj.com
DECEMBER 23, 2009, 12:21 P.M. ET
Rail service was suspended at New York City's Penn Station for nearly three hours Wednesday due to power problems, disrupting commuter and holiday travel for several New Jersey Transit, Long Island Railroad and Amtrak lines.
The outage was first reported at 8:45 a.m. EST and crews were working to resolve the power issue, according to Amtrak. The cause of the power disruption is under investigation. An Amtrak spokesman said trains were moving again as of 11:35 a.m. Additional delays were expected as normal service resumed, Amtrak said in a release.
A NJ Transit spokesman said average ridership into Penn Station on any given day was 81,000. He estimated the outage affected "tens of thousands" of customers.
Trains were unable to travel in and out of New York. Amtrak said those en route to New York at the time of the power outage had power onboard, including heat and lights.
Numerous Acela Express and Northeast regional trains between Boston, New York and Washington were affected by the outage. Amtrak's Empire Service running through New York, Albany and Niagara Falls was also affected.
For NJ Transit, service was temporarily suspended on the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast and Midtown Direct lines, with all Midtown Direct trains being diverted to Hoboken, N.J. The other lines were operating through Newark Penn Station with significant delays.
NJ Transit said the lines were restored as of 12:07 p.m., though delays of up to one hour in both directions were expected.
Some alternative transportation was available via the Port Authority of New York an New Jersey, or PATH, trains. NJ Transit said it provided alternative travel options through the PATH, as well as the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal.---From wsj.com
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Health Bill Passes Key Test in the Senate With 60 Votes
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ROBERT PEAR
Published: December 21, 2009
WASHINGTON — After a long day of acid, partisan debate, Democrats held ranks early Monday in a dead-of-night procedural vote that proved they had locked in the decisive margin needed to pass a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health care system.
The roll was called shortly after 1 a.m., with Washington still snowbound after a weekend blizzard, and the Senate voted on party lines to cut off a Republican filibuster of a package of changes to the health care bill by the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada.
The vote was 60 to 40 — a tally that is expected to be repeated four times as further procedural hurdles are cleared in the days ahead, and then once more in a dramatic, if predictable, finale tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Both parties hailed the vote as seismic. ------From nytimes.com---N.Y.T. U.S.
Published: December 21, 2009
WASHINGTON — After a long day of acid, partisan debate, Democrats held ranks early Monday in a dead-of-night procedural vote that proved they had locked in the decisive margin needed to pass a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health care system.
The roll was called shortly after 1 a.m., with Washington still snowbound after a weekend blizzard, and the Senate voted on party lines to cut off a Republican filibuster of a package of changes to the health care bill by the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada.
The vote was 60 to 40 — a tally that is expected to be repeated four times as further procedural hurdles are cleared in the days ahead, and then once more in a dramatic, if predictable, finale tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve.
Both parties hailed the vote as seismic. ------From nytimes.com---N.Y.T. U.S.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
With Nelson on board, health-care bill could pass by Christmas
By Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, December 19, 2009; 1:30 PM
Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, announced to his colleagues Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas of President Obama's top domestic policy priority.
Asked if he had secured the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) told reporters, "It seems that way."
The Senate is expected to work its way through a series of procedural motions over the next few days, with a vote on the legislation scheduled the evening of Dec. 24th. A conference with the House to produce a final bill would likely extend into January, Senate aides said.
Congressional budget analysts said the revised package, unveiled Saturday morning by Reid, would spend $871 billion over the next decade to extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans by dramatically expanding Medicaid and offering federal subsidies to those who lack affordable coverage through employers.
Those costs would be more than covered by nearly $400 billion over the next decade in new taxes and nearly $500 billion spending reductions, primarily cuts to Medicare, the federal health program for people over 65. The remainder, about $132 billion over 10 years, would go to lowering the federal deficit. --http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, December 19, 2009; 1:30 PM
Sen. Ben Nelson (Neb.), the final Democratic holdout on health care, announced to his colleagues Saturday morning that he would support the Senate reform bill, clearing the way for final passage by Christmas of President Obama's top domestic policy priority.
Asked if he had secured the 60 votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) told reporters, "It seems that way."
The Senate is expected to work its way through a series of procedural motions over the next few days, with a vote on the legislation scheduled the evening of Dec. 24th. A conference with the House to produce a final bill would likely extend into January, Senate aides said.
Congressional budget analysts said the revised package, unveiled Saturday morning by Reid, would spend $871 billion over the next decade to extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans by dramatically expanding Medicaid and offering federal subsidies to those who lack affordable coverage through employers.
Those costs would be more than covered by nearly $400 billion over the next decade in new taxes and nearly $500 billion spending reductions, primarily cuts to Medicare, the federal health program for people over 65. The remainder, about $132 billion over 10 years, would go to lowering the federal deficit. --http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
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