NEW YORK TIMES
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
The abortion compromise in the Senate has angered advocates on both sides of the issue. Senator Ben Nelson, the Nebraska Democrat, had been holding up the Senate health care bill until he was satisfied with new anti-abortion language, which was made public on Saturday by the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada.
The National Right to Life Committee (pro-life) issued a statement saying it “strongly opposes” the abortion language. The National Organization for Women (pro-choice) also issued a statement strongly opposing the language. And in a second statement, more heated and personal, Terry O’Neill, president of NOW, said she was outraged that the Senate Democratic leadership “would cave in to Senator Ben Nelson.” “Right-wing ideologues like Nelson and the Catholic Bishops may not understand this, but abortion is health care,” Ms. O’Neill said. “And health care reform is not true reform if it denies women coverage for the full range of reproductive health services.” If this language stays in the bill as is, she said, she would call on senators “who consider themselves friends of women’s rights” to vote against “this cruelly over-compromised legislation.”
But two of the Senate’s champions of abortion rights, Senators Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, and Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, issued a joint statement saying they were satisfied with the agreement. But the assurances of Ms. Boxer and Ms. Murray were not enough for some abortion-rights supporters.
Kelli Conlin, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, issued a statement saying: “While we recognize the efforts of our pro-choice women senators to combat the onerous conditions upon which Stupak and Nelson have insisted, we are frankly horrified by the shameful process that has allowed two men to hold American women hostage.” The reference in addition to Mr. Nelson was to Representative Bart Stupak, Democrat of Michigan, who framed the anti-abortion language in the House.
Douglas Johnson, legislative director for the right-to-life group, said that the new abortion language “solves none of the fundamental abortion-related problems with the Senate bill, and it actually creates some new abortion-related problems.”
At the same time, NOW said the measure would “effectively make abortion coverage unavailable in health insurance exchanges and, ultimately, in private insurance policies as well.”
Monday, December 21, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Illegal Immigrant Students Publicly Take Up a Cause
NEW YORK TIMES
It has not been easy for the Obama administration to deport Rigoberto Padilla, a Mexican-born college student in Chicago who has been an illegal immigrant in this country since he was 6.
Mr. Padilla’s case had seemed straightforward to immigration agents who detained him for deportation in January after he was arrested by the Chicago police for running a stop sign and charged with driving under the influence. But since then, students held two street rallies on his behalf and sent thousands of e-mail messages and faxes to Congress. The Chicago City Council passed a resolution calling for a stay of his deportation and five members of Congress from Illinois came out in support of his cause. One of them was Representative Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat, who offered a private bill to cancel his removal.
Behind Mr. Padilla’s case — and others in Florida of students who fought off deportation — is activism by young immigrants, many of them illegal, which has become increasingly public and coordinated across the country, linked by Web sites, text messages and a network of advocacy groups. Spurred by President Obama’s promises of legislation to grant them legal status, and frustration that their lives have stalled without it, young illegal immigrants are joining street protests despite the risk of being identified by immigration agents.
With many illegal immigrants lying low to avoid a continuing crackdown, immigrant students have become the most visible supporters of a legislative overhaul, which Mr. Obama has pledged to take up early next year. In the meantime, their protests are awkward for the administration, with young, often high-achieving illegal immigrants asking defiantly why the authorities continue to detain and deport them. “Maybe our parents feel like immigrants, but we feel like Americans because we have been raised here on American values,” said Carlos Saavedra, national coordinator of a network of current and former students called United We Dream. “Then we go to college and we find out we are rejected by the American system. But we are not willing to accept that answer,” said Mr. Saavedra, 23, a Peruvian who lived here illegally until he gained legal status two years ago.
The students’ goal is to gain passage of legislation that would give permanent resident status to illegal immigrants who had been brought to the United States before they were 15, if they have been here for at least five years, have graduated from high school and attend college or serve in the military for two years. Known to its supporters as the Dream Act, it has been offered in the Senate by Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Richard G. Lugar, Republican of Indiana. Proponents now consider it part of a package that includes a path to legal status for illegal immigrants in general, an estimated 12 million people.
Many illegal immigrant students who were brought to the United States as children receive a shock when they get ready to go to college. They are generally not eligible for lower in-state tuition rates or government financial aid. In most states they cannot get drivers’ licenses.
The troubles for Mr. Padilla began when he drove home after watching a football game and drinking beer with friends. He ran the stop sign, and the traffic police arrested him because he did not have a driver’s license and had been drinking. Eventually, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Immigration agents found him in the county jail. Mr. Padilla, now enrolled at the University of Illinois at Chicago, had no prior record and had been an honors student and president of the Latino student organization at Harold Washington College, which he attended for two years. Friends from both schools mobilized after his arrest.
“The undocumented youth are losing our fear of being undocumented,” said Carlos Roa, an illegal immigrant student from Venezuela who joined that rally. “I’m public with this. I’m not hiding anymore.”
It has not been easy for the Obama administration to deport Rigoberto Padilla, a Mexican-born college student in Chicago who has been an illegal immigrant in this country since he was 6.
Mr. Padilla’s case had seemed straightforward to immigration agents who detained him for deportation in January after he was arrested by the Chicago police for running a stop sign and charged with driving under the influence. But since then, students held two street rallies on his behalf and sent thousands of e-mail messages and faxes to Congress. The Chicago City Council passed a resolution calling for a stay of his deportation and five members of Congress from Illinois came out in support of his cause. One of them was Representative Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat, who offered a private bill to cancel his removal.
Behind Mr. Padilla’s case — and others in Florida of students who fought off deportation — is activism by young immigrants, many of them illegal, which has become increasingly public and coordinated across the country, linked by Web sites, text messages and a network of advocacy groups. Spurred by President Obama’s promises of legislation to grant them legal status, and frustration that their lives have stalled without it, young illegal immigrants are joining street protests despite the risk of being identified by immigration agents.
With many illegal immigrants lying low to avoid a continuing crackdown, immigrant students have become the most visible supporters of a legislative overhaul, which Mr. Obama has pledged to take up early next year. In the meantime, their protests are awkward for the administration, with young, often high-achieving illegal immigrants asking defiantly why the authorities continue to detain and deport them. “Maybe our parents feel like immigrants, but we feel like Americans because we have been raised here on American values,” said Carlos Saavedra, national coordinator of a network of current and former students called United We Dream. “Then we go to college and we find out we are rejected by the American system. But we are not willing to accept that answer,” said Mr. Saavedra, 23, a Peruvian who lived here illegally until he gained legal status two years ago.
The students’ goal is to gain passage of legislation that would give permanent resident status to illegal immigrants who had been brought to the United States before they were 15, if they have been here for at least five years, have graduated from high school and attend college or serve in the military for two years. Known to its supporters as the Dream Act, it has been offered in the Senate by Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, and Richard G. Lugar, Republican of Indiana. Proponents now consider it part of a package that includes a path to legal status for illegal immigrants in general, an estimated 12 million people.
Many illegal immigrant students who were brought to the United States as children receive a shock when they get ready to go to college. They are generally not eligible for lower in-state tuition rates or government financial aid. In most states they cannot get drivers’ licenses.
The troubles for Mr. Padilla began when he drove home after watching a football game and drinking beer with friends. He ran the stop sign, and the traffic police arrested him because he did not have a driver’s license and had been drinking. Eventually, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. Immigration agents found him in the county jail. Mr. Padilla, now enrolled at the University of Illinois at Chicago, had no prior record and had been an honors student and president of the Latino student organization at Harold Washington College, which he attended for two years. Friends from both schools mobilized after his arrest.
“The undocumented youth are losing our fear of being undocumented,” said Carlos Roa, an illegal immigrant student from Venezuela who joined that rally. “I’m public with this. I’m not hiding anymore.”
Monday, December 14, 2009
Obama accepts Nobel Peace Prize
STAR/TRIBUNE
OSLO, NORWAY - President Obama delivered an impassioned rationale for war in accepting the 2009 Nobel Prize for Peace on Thursday, a paradox that he acknowledged even as he defended America's record abroad in promoting human rights, individual freedom and global security.
Obama's remarks offered a lofty, ideological justification for his decision to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, and his audience reached beyond the vaulted ceilings of Oslo City Hall to electorates in the United States and Europe, where many believe the war is no longer worth fighting.
While the president invoked Martin Luther King Jr. and called himself "living testimony to the moral force of nonviolence," Obama also recalled the advance of Adolf Hitler's army during World War II to argue that, sometimes, only force can resolve injustice and protect civilian lives.
Obama also used the speech to acknowledge the criticism that, less than a year into his presidency, he is undeserving of a prize that has been given to "Schweitzer and King, Marshall and Mandela." After receiving the award with "great gratitude and great humility," Obama reminded the audience that he is "at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage" and cited rights activists around the world who "have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice."
Obama spoke candidly to an audience full of officials representing countries deeply opposed to the Afghan conflict. He did not receive applause until more than halfway through his speech -- and even then not for his defense of "just war" but for his decision to close the military brig at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and prohibit torture.
Obama also explained that if there is a just war, there must also be a just peace. That, too, requires rules. "First, in dealing with those nations that break rules and laws, I believe that we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to change behavior -- for if we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something," he said.
The Nobel Prize for Peace consists of a diploma and a gold medal bearing the etched face of Alfred Nobel, the wealthy chemist and inventor of dynamite who endowed the prize more than a century ago. It carries a $1.4 million cash award, which the White House has said Obama will donate to charity. First Lady Michelle Obama listened to her husband's words and showed tears by the end.
OSLO, NORWAY - President Obama delivered an impassioned rationale for war in accepting the 2009 Nobel Prize for Peace on Thursday, a paradox that he acknowledged even as he defended America's record abroad in promoting human rights, individual freedom and global security.
Obama's remarks offered a lofty, ideological justification for his decision to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, and his audience reached beyond the vaulted ceilings of Oslo City Hall to electorates in the United States and Europe, where many believe the war is no longer worth fighting.
While the president invoked Martin Luther King Jr. and called himself "living testimony to the moral force of nonviolence," Obama also recalled the advance of Adolf Hitler's army during World War II to argue that, sometimes, only force can resolve injustice and protect civilian lives.
Obama also used the speech to acknowledge the criticism that, less than a year into his presidency, he is undeserving of a prize that has been given to "Schweitzer and King, Marshall and Mandela." After receiving the award with "great gratitude and great humility," Obama reminded the audience that he is "at the beginning, and not the end, of my labors on the world stage" and cited rights activists around the world who "have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice."
Obama spoke candidly to an audience full of officials representing countries deeply opposed to the Afghan conflict. He did not receive applause until more than halfway through his speech -- and even then not for his defense of "just war" but for his decision to close the military brig at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and prohibit torture.
Obama also explained that if there is a just war, there must also be a just peace. That, too, requires rules. "First, in dealing with those nations that break rules and laws, I believe that we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to change behavior -- for if we want a lasting peace, then the words of the international community must mean something," he said.
The Nobel Prize for Peace consists of a diploma and a gold medal bearing the etched face of Alfred Nobel, the wealthy chemist and inventor of dynamite who endowed the prize more than a century ago. It carries a $1.4 million cash award, which the White House has said Obama will donate to charity. First Lady Michelle Obama listened to her husband's words and showed tears by the end.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Hacked emails cause climate change questions
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
British police are investigating the theft of hundreds of private e-mails -- some from a Penn State professor -- that were leaked last week by hackers, causing a commotion over whether scientists have exaggerated the effects of man-made climate change. But the professor in question, Penn State meteorology professor Michael Mann, said Friday the e-mails have been taken out of context.
Hackers accessed the e-mails two weeks ago from a server at the University of East Anglia in eastern England, a climate change research center.
The Associated Press reported that some "climate change skeptics" say the leaked documents suggest scientists exaggerated information and manipulated data regarding global warming. But Mann said he and his colleagues used a lot of "understood" language in their e-mail conversations that might not translate to outside readers.
Mann said many of the e-mails that were released were ones he received, not ones that he sent. One of the e-mails from a colleague references a paper Mann wrote that discusses two separate data sets spanning two separate periods of time. Combined, these data display long-term climate changes.
The Associated Press reported that the center's director, Phil Jones, e-mailed his colleagues to say he had "just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (i.e., from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline." Jones confirmed this was accurate, the Associated Press reports, but the "Keith" in reference could not be identified.
The data is clearly labeled and nothing is hidden, Mann said. But he said the word "trick" -- which, to the scientists, meant "a clever device" to understand the data -- has been distorted by some people in an attempt to allege climate change researchers were manipulating the data. The words have been taken out of context, Mann said.
British police are investigating the theft of hundreds of private e-mails -- some from a Penn State professor -- that were leaked last week by hackers, causing a commotion over whether scientists have exaggerated the effects of man-made climate change. But the professor in question, Penn State meteorology professor Michael Mann, said Friday the e-mails have been taken out of context.
Hackers accessed the e-mails two weeks ago from a server at the University of East Anglia in eastern England, a climate change research center.
The Associated Press reported that some "climate change skeptics" say the leaked documents suggest scientists exaggerated information and manipulated data regarding global warming. But Mann said he and his colleagues used a lot of "understood" language in their e-mail conversations that might not translate to outside readers.
Mann said many of the e-mails that were released were ones he received, not ones that he sent. One of the e-mails from a colleague references a paper Mann wrote that discusses two separate data sets spanning two separate periods of time. Combined, these data display long-term climate changes.
The Associated Press reported that the center's director, Phil Jones, e-mailed his colleagues to say he had "just completed Mike's Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (i.e., from 1981 onwards) and from 1961 for Keith's to hide the decline." Jones confirmed this was accurate, the Associated Press reports, but the "Keith" in reference could not be identified.
The data is clearly labeled and nothing is hidden, Mann said. But he said the word "trick" -- which, to the scientists, meant "a clever device" to understand the data -- has been distorted by some people in an attempt to allege climate change researchers were manipulating the data. The words have been taken out of context, Mann said.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Los Angeles Episcopalians elect lesbian bishop
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Los Angeles Episcopalians elected an openly lesbian bishop late Saturday, the denomination's news service reported.
The Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool, 55, will become the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church since Gene Robinson took office in New Hampshire in 2004, if she is formally approved.
Conservative factions in the Anglican Communion -- a 77-million member denomination worldwide, with the Episcopal Church as its U.S. branch -- have opposed the ordination of gay bishops.
Glasspool's election is the first choice of an openly gay bishop since the church ended an agreement designed to keep the worldwide Anglican Communion from tearing itself apart. In the wake of the Robinson controversy, Episcopalians called a temporary halt to appointing any more openly gay bishops, to give the church time to hammer out a compromise. They voted this summer not to renew the ban.
Glasspool, now based in Baltimore at the Diocese of Maryland, is the first openly gay candidate elected bishop since then. The Diocese of Minnesota considered an openly gay candidate for bishop in October, but chose another priest when votes were cast.
Some Episcopal leaders reacted angrily to Glasspool's election. The Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon, canon theologian from the Diocese of South Carolina, said the election "represents an intransigent embrace of a pattern of life Christians throughout history and the world have rejected as against biblical teaching," according to the Episcopal Church site.
Glasspool also becomes the second woman bishop in the 114-year history of the diocese -- elected only hours after the first, the Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce, 53. She is the 17th woman elected as an Episcopal bishop nationwide, according to the diocese Web site. Her partner, Becki Sander, recently earned a doctorate in social work.
Glasspool, who has been ordained a priest for 27 years, is the daughter of an Episcopal priest, the diocese said.
The Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool, 55, will become the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church since Gene Robinson took office in New Hampshire in 2004, if she is formally approved.
Conservative factions in the Anglican Communion -- a 77-million member denomination worldwide, with the Episcopal Church as its U.S. branch -- have opposed the ordination of gay bishops.
Glasspool's election is the first choice of an openly gay bishop since the church ended an agreement designed to keep the worldwide Anglican Communion from tearing itself apart. In the wake of the Robinson controversy, Episcopalians called a temporary halt to appointing any more openly gay bishops, to give the church time to hammer out a compromise. They voted this summer not to renew the ban.
Glasspool, now based in Baltimore at the Diocese of Maryland, is the first openly gay candidate elected bishop since then. The Diocese of Minnesota considered an openly gay candidate for bishop in October, but chose another priest when votes were cast.
Some Episcopal leaders reacted angrily to Glasspool's election. The Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon, canon theologian from the Diocese of South Carolina, said the election "represents an intransigent embrace of a pattern of life Christians throughout history and the world have rejected as against biblical teaching," according to the Episcopal Church site.
Glasspool also becomes the second woman bishop in the 114-year history of the diocese -- elected only hours after the first, the Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce, 53. She is the 17th woman elected as an Episcopal bishop nationwide, according to the diocese Web site. Her partner, Becki Sander, recently earned a doctorate in social work.
Glasspool, who has been ordained a priest for 27 years, is the daughter of an Episcopal priest, the diocese said.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Obama to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan
STAR/TRIBUNE
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and HELENE COOPER
WEST POINT, N.Y. - President Obama announced Tuesday that he would speed 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in coming months, but he vowed to start bringing U.S. forces home in the middle of 2011. He said that the United States could not afford an open-ended commitment and that it was time for Afghans to take more responsibility for their country.
Saying he could "bring this war to a successful conclusion," Obama set out a strategy that would seek to reverse Taliban gains in large parts of Afghanistan, protect the Afghan people from attacks, provide time for Afghanistan to build its own military capacity and a more effective government and increase pressure on Al-Qaida in Pakistan.
"I see firsthand the terrible ravages of war," Obama told 4,000 cadets, in a somber speech at the United States Military Academy. "If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow. So no, I do not make this decision lightly."
The speech at West Point, the culmination of a review that lasted three months, could well prove the most consequential of Obama's presidency. In it, he sought to convince an increasingly skeptical nation that the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the continued existence of Al-Qaida across the border in Pakistan were direct threats to U.S. security, and that he could achieve the seemingly contradictory goals of expanding American involvement in the war even as he sought to bring it responsibly to a close.
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and HELENE COOPER
WEST POINT, N.Y. - President Obama announced Tuesday that he would speed 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in coming months, but he vowed to start bringing U.S. forces home in the middle of 2011. He said that the United States could not afford an open-ended commitment and that it was time for Afghans to take more responsibility for their country.
Saying he could "bring this war to a successful conclusion," Obama set out a strategy that would seek to reverse Taliban gains in large parts of Afghanistan, protect the Afghan people from attacks, provide time for Afghanistan to build its own military capacity and a more effective government and increase pressure on Al-Qaida in Pakistan.
"I see firsthand the terrible ravages of war," Obama told 4,000 cadets, in a somber speech at the United States Military Academy. "If I did not think that the security of the United States and the safety of the American people were at stake in Afghanistan, I would gladly order every single one of our troops home tomorrow. So no, I do not make this decision lightly."
The speech at West Point, the culmination of a review that lasted three months, could well prove the most consequential of Obama's presidency. In it, he sought to convince an increasingly skeptical nation that the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the continued existence of Al-Qaida across the border in Pakistan were direct threats to U.S. security, and that he could achieve the seemingly contradictory goals of expanding American involvement in the war even as he sought to bring it responsibly to a close.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Vikings owner takes stadium case on the road
By MIKE KASZUBA STAR/TRIBUNE
AUSTIN, MINN. -- Making his most expansive comments yet on the need for a new stadium, Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf chastised politicians Tuesday for dodging an issue that "doesn't serve their political purposes" and said they should not "run away" from a project many Minnesotans want to see happen.
Calling himself not only the owner but the "guardian" of the state's most popular sports franchise, Wilf sat on a stool and answered a series of pointed questions, saying he favored a stadium with a retractable roof, did not think "retrofitting" the team's Metrodome home made sense and felt that politicians who ducked the stadium issue were not providing "an acceptable answer to us." Wilf seemed to save his bluntest remarks for the state's elected officials.
"It's unfortunate that many people don't want to get engaged in it because it doesn't serve their political purposes," Wilf told a sold-out Chamber of Commerce luncheon. "This team belongs to the fans and the people of Minnesota."
Wilf's comments were another sign that the team senses an opening to push the stadium debate, as players pile up wins on the football field. His comments came just days after the Vikings began feuding publicly with the Metrodome's owners over an unwelcome attempt to extend the team's lease past 2011.
While Wilf acknowledged that he was advocating for a stadium that would almost certainly need taxpayer money in a "difficult economy," he brushed aside the notion that Minnesotans might see it as another government bailout of a wealthy professional team owner.
"I think he's a great guy," said Ben Rushton, of Austin, moments after posing for a picture with Wilf. Rushton said he attends one Vikings game a year, but "I would vote yes" for a new stadium. It was "inevitable," he said, that taxpayer money would be involved. "It's going to cost [everybody] money, no matter what."
Monica Dahlen, a mother of three, arrived with purple-painted fingernails, each nail featuring a letter that spelled out "V-I-K-E-S, 4-E-V-E-R." Standing in line as a large crowd filed into a hall to await Wilf and the players, Dahlen said that "as far as taxes, I don't think that should be a problem."
Asked whether the Legislature needs to act in 2010, Wilf simply said that "we got to do it now," and said that "seeing the outcry" from fans regarding the Vikings showed that "the team is something that makes everyone's quality of life that much better." Wilf said the team has no plans to leave Minnesota.
In another departure, Wilf said he now wants a retractable roof stadium. The Vikings have said in the past that the team did not need a retractable roof -- a feature that would add an estimated $200 million to the price of a stadium. Not everyone was ready to join the stadium bandwagon Tuesday, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Brandon Talley, an Austin resident who listened to Wilf speak at the YMCA.
At the State Capitol, Pawlenty said the Vikings "need a solution in the not-too-distant future," but noted that the stadium "has to be put in the entire context of lots of other stuff." The governor said the state's next economic forecast, due next week, will show that "we are going to have much more of a challenge this session than people realize."
During much of his visit to Austin, Wilf appeared relaxed and at one point joked openly with Shiancoe about player salaries. Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, who sat near Wilf at the luncheon, said Wilf taking center stage would aid the Vikings' cause. "I think it certainly is not going to hurt him," Sparks said.
AUSTIN, MINN. -- Making his most expansive comments yet on the need for a new stadium, Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf chastised politicians Tuesday for dodging an issue that "doesn't serve their political purposes" and said they should not "run away" from a project many Minnesotans want to see happen.
Calling himself not only the owner but the "guardian" of the state's most popular sports franchise, Wilf sat on a stool and answered a series of pointed questions, saying he favored a stadium with a retractable roof, did not think "retrofitting" the team's Metrodome home made sense and felt that politicians who ducked the stadium issue were not providing "an acceptable answer to us." Wilf seemed to save his bluntest remarks for the state's elected officials.
"It's unfortunate that many people don't want to get engaged in it because it doesn't serve their political purposes," Wilf told a sold-out Chamber of Commerce luncheon. "This team belongs to the fans and the people of Minnesota."
Wilf's comments were another sign that the team senses an opening to push the stadium debate, as players pile up wins on the football field. His comments came just days after the Vikings began feuding publicly with the Metrodome's owners over an unwelcome attempt to extend the team's lease past 2011.
While Wilf acknowledged that he was advocating for a stadium that would almost certainly need taxpayer money in a "difficult economy," he brushed aside the notion that Minnesotans might see it as another government bailout of a wealthy professional team owner.
"I think he's a great guy," said Ben Rushton, of Austin, moments after posing for a picture with Wilf. Rushton said he attends one Vikings game a year, but "I would vote yes" for a new stadium. It was "inevitable," he said, that taxpayer money would be involved. "It's going to cost [everybody] money, no matter what."
Monica Dahlen, a mother of three, arrived with purple-painted fingernails, each nail featuring a letter that spelled out "V-I-K-E-S, 4-E-V-E-R." Standing in line as a large crowd filed into a hall to await Wilf and the players, Dahlen said that "as far as taxes, I don't think that should be a problem."
Asked whether the Legislature needs to act in 2010, Wilf simply said that "we got to do it now," and said that "seeing the outcry" from fans regarding the Vikings showed that "the team is something that makes everyone's quality of life that much better." Wilf said the team has no plans to leave Minnesota.
In another departure, Wilf said he now wants a retractable roof stadium. The Vikings have said in the past that the team did not need a retractable roof -- a feature that would add an estimated $200 million to the price of a stadium. Not everyone was ready to join the stadium bandwagon Tuesday, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Brandon Talley, an Austin resident who listened to Wilf speak at the YMCA.
At the State Capitol, Pawlenty said the Vikings "need a solution in the not-too-distant future," but noted that the stadium "has to be put in the entire context of lots of other stuff." The governor said the state's next economic forecast, due next week, will show that "we are going to have much more of a challenge this session than people realize."
During much of his visit to Austin, Wilf appeared relaxed and at one point joked openly with Shiancoe about player salaries. Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, who sat near Wilf at the luncheon, said Wilf taking center stage would aid the Vikings' cause. "I think it certainly is not going to hurt him," Sparks said.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Accused 9/11 Mastermind to Face Civilian Trial in N.Y.
NEW YORK TIMES
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that it would prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, in a Manhattan federal courtroom, a decision that ignited a sharp political debate but took a step toward resolving one of the most pressing terrorism detention issues.
The decision, announced by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., could mean one of the highest-profile and highest-security terrorism trials in history would be set just blocks from where hijackers for Al Qaeda destroyed the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 people. Mr. Holder said he would instruct prosecutors to seek death sentences for Mr. Mohammed and four accused Sept. 11 co-conspirators who would be tried alongside him.
The administration’s decision to bring five Sept. 11 detainees onto United States soil for prosecution in the civilian legal system drew immediate fire from members of Congress as well as relatives of victims and neighbors of the federal courthouse. They argued that Qaeda suspects did not deserve the protections afforded by the American criminal justice system, that bringing them into the United States would heighten the risk of another terrorist attack, that civilian trials increase the risk of disclosing classified information, and that if the detainees were acquitted they could be released into the population.
Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, questioned the wisdom of trying terrorism suspects in civilian courts, arguing that military commissions were more appropriate. But many other Democrats praised the move, noting that New York had been the setting for other high-profile terrorism trials — including the prosecution of Omar Abdul-Rahman, the “blind sheik” who masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Attorney General Holder said he was confident that the men would be convicted, and other administration officials said they had ample legal authority to keep classified information secret.
The decision to prosecute some detainees in civilian court was a major policy shift from the Bush administration, which contended that suspected Al Qaeda members should not be treated like — nor given the rights of — ordinary criminals. It had charged the Sept. 11 defendants before a military commission at Guantánamo, which has a more flexible standard for evidence.
Civil-liberties and human-rights groups praised the decision to try the detainees in federal court. Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the announcement “an enormous victory for the rule of law.”
he prospect of prosecuting Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Nashiri has been particularly difficult because their defense lawyers are expected to argue that they were illegally tortured by the Central Intelligence Agency during their confinement. Both were subjected to waterboarding, a controlled drowning technique.
By CHARLIE SAVAGE
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that it would prosecute Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, in a Manhattan federal courtroom, a decision that ignited a sharp political debate but took a step toward resolving one of the most pressing terrorism detention issues.
The decision, announced by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., could mean one of the highest-profile and highest-security terrorism trials in history would be set just blocks from where hijackers for Al Qaeda destroyed the World Trade Center, killing nearly 3,000 people. Mr. Holder said he would instruct prosecutors to seek death sentences for Mr. Mohammed and four accused Sept. 11 co-conspirators who would be tried alongside him.
The administration’s decision to bring five Sept. 11 detainees onto United States soil for prosecution in the civilian legal system drew immediate fire from members of Congress as well as relatives of victims and neighbors of the federal courthouse. They argued that Qaeda suspects did not deserve the protections afforded by the American criminal justice system, that bringing them into the United States would heighten the risk of another terrorist attack, that civilian trials increase the risk of disclosing classified information, and that if the detainees were acquitted they could be released into the population.
Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia, questioned the wisdom of trying terrorism suspects in civilian courts, arguing that military commissions were more appropriate. But many other Democrats praised the move, noting that New York had been the setting for other high-profile terrorism trials — including the prosecution of Omar Abdul-Rahman, the “blind sheik” who masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Attorney General Holder said he was confident that the men would be convicted, and other administration officials said they had ample legal authority to keep classified information secret.
The decision to prosecute some detainees in civilian court was a major policy shift from the Bush administration, which contended that suspected Al Qaeda members should not be treated like — nor given the rights of — ordinary criminals. It had charged the Sept. 11 defendants before a military commission at Guantánamo, which has a more flexible standard for evidence.
Civil-liberties and human-rights groups praised the decision to try the detainees in federal court. Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, called the announcement “an enormous victory for the rule of law.”
he prospect of prosecuting Mr. Mohammed and Mr. Nashiri has been particularly difficult because their defense lawyers are expected to argue that they were illegally tortured by the Central Intelligence Agency during their confinement. Both were subjected to waterboarding, a controlled drowning technique.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
D.C. sniper mastermind executed
STAR/TRIBUNE
JARRATT, Va. - Sniper John Allen Muhammad refused to utter any last words as he was executed, taking to the grave answers about why and how he plotted the killings of 10 people that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks in October 2002.
The 48-year-old died by injection at 9:11 p.m. Tuesday as relatives of the victims watched from behind glass, separated from the rest of the 27 witnesses at Greensville Correctional Center, south of Richmond. Muhammad was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers, who was shot in the head at a Manassas gas station during the spree across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
He never testified or explained why he masterminded the shootings with the help of a teenage accomplice. That left questions unanswered about why he methodically hunted people going about their daily chores, why he chose his victims, including a middle schooler on his way to class, and how many victims there were.
Muhammad stepped into Virginia's death chamber and within seconds was lying on a gurney, tapping his left foot, his arms spread wide with a needle dug into each. After the first of the three-drug lethal cocktail was administered, Muhammad blinked repeatedly and took about seven deep breaths. Within a minute, he was motionless.
Meyers' brother, Bob Meyers, said watching the execution was sobering and "surreal." He said other witnesses expressed a range of feelings, including some who were overcome with emotion. "I would have liked him at some point in the process to take responsibility, to show remorse," Meyers said. "We didn't get any of that tonight."
Nelson Rivera, whose wife, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, was gunned down as she vacuumed her van at a Maryland gas station, said that when he watched Muhammad's chest moving for the last time, he was glad.
JARRATT, Va. - Sniper John Allen Muhammad refused to utter any last words as he was executed, taking to the grave answers about why and how he plotted the killings of 10 people that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks in October 2002.
The 48-year-old died by injection at 9:11 p.m. Tuesday as relatives of the victims watched from behind glass, separated from the rest of the 27 witnesses at Greensville Correctional Center, south of Richmond. Muhammad was executed for killing Dean Harold Meyers, who was shot in the head at a Manassas gas station during the spree across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
He never testified or explained why he masterminded the shootings with the help of a teenage accomplice. That left questions unanswered about why he methodically hunted people going about their daily chores, why he chose his victims, including a middle schooler on his way to class, and how many victims there were.
Muhammad stepped into Virginia's death chamber and within seconds was lying on a gurney, tapping his left foot, his arms spread wide with a needle dug into each. After the first of the three-drug lethal cocktail was administered, Muhammad blinked repeatedly and took about seven deep breaths. Within a minute, he was motionless.
Meyers' brother, Bob Meyers, said watching the execution was sobering and "surreal." He said other witnesses expressed a range of feelings, including some who were overcome with emotion. "I would have liked him at some point in the process to take responsibility, to show remorse," Meyers said. "We didn't get any of that tonight."
Nelson Rivera, whose wife, Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, was gunned down as she vacuumed her van at a Maryland gas station, said that when he watched Muhammad's chest moving for the last time, he was glad.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Push to Legalize Marijuana Gains Ground in California
SAN FRANCISCO — Jim Wilson/The New York Times
At the Oakland Farmers' Market, Karen Bischoff signed a petition by Tax and Regulate Cannabis seeking a ballot measure.
State lawmakers are holding a hearing on Wednesday on the effects of a bill that would legalize, tax and regulate the drug — in what would be the first such law in the United States. Tax officials estimate the legislation could bring the struggling state about $1.4 billion a year, and though the bill’s fate in the Legislature is uncertain, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has indicated he would be open to a “robust debate” on the issue.
California voters are also taking up legalization. Three separate initiatives are being circulated for signatures to appear on the ballot next year, all of which would permit adults to possess marijuana for personal use and allow local governments to tax it. Even opponents of legalization suggest that an initiative is likely to qualify for a statewide vote. “All of us in the movement have had the feeling that we’ve been running into the wind for years,” said James P. Gray, a retired judge in Orange County who has been outspoken in support of legalization. “Now we sense we are running with the wind.”
Proponents of the leading ballot initiative have collected nearly 300,000 signatures since late September, supporters say, easily on pace to qualify for the November 2010 general election. Richard Lee, a longtime marijuana activist who is behind the measure, says he has raised nearly $1 million to hire professionals to assist volunteers in gathering the signatures. “For a lot of people,” he said, “it’s just another brand of beer.”
That said, the bids to legalize marijuana are opposed by law enforcement groups across the state and, if successful, would undoubtedly set up a legal showdown with the federal government, which classifies marijuana as an illegal drug. Opponents said they are also preparing for a battle next year. Any vote would take place in a state where attitudes toward marijuana border on the schizophrenic. Last year, the state made some 78,500 arrests on felony and misdemeanors related to the drug, up from about 74,000 in 2007, according to the California attorney general.
At the same time, however, there are also pockets of California where marijuana can seem practically legal already. At least seven California cities have formally declared marijuana a low priority for law enforcement, with ballot measures or legislative actions. In Los Angeles, some 800 to 1,000 dispensaries of medical marijuana are in business, officials say, complete with consultants offering public relations services and “canna-business management.”
In Oakland, which passed a tax on medical cannabis sales in July, several people who signed a petition backing Mr. Lee’s initiative said they were motivated in part by the cost of imprisoning drug offenders and the toll of drug-related violence in Mexico. “Personally I don’t see a way of getting it under control other than legalizing it and taxing it,” said Jim Quinn, 60, a production manager. “We’ve got to get it out of the hands of criminals both domestic and international.”
Mr. Lovell, the law enforcement lobbyist, however, said those arguments paled in comparison to the potential pitfalls of legalization, including people driving under the influence. He also questioned how much net revenue a tax like Mr. Ammiano is proposing would actually raise. “We get revenue from alcohol,” he said. “But there’s way more in social costs than we retain in revenues.”
At the Oakland Farmers' Market, Karen Bischoff signed a petition by Tax and Regulate Cannabis seeking a ballot measure.
State lawmakers are holding a hearing on Wednesday on the effects of a bill that would legalize, tax and regulate the drug — in what would be the first such law in the United States. Tax officials estimate the legislation could bring the struggling state about $1.4 billion a year, and though the bill’s fate in the Legislature is uncertain, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has indicated he would be open to a “robust debate” on the issue.
California voters are also taking up legalization. Three separate initiatives are being circulated for signatures to appear on the ballot next year, all of which would permit adults to possess marijuana for personal use and allow local governments to tax it. Even opponents of legalization suggest that an initiative is likely to qualify for a statewide vote. “All of us in the movement have had the feeling that we’ve been running into the wind for years,” said James P. Gray, a retired judge in Orange County who has been outspoken in support of legalization. “Now we sense we are running with the wind.”
Proponents of the leading ballot initiative have collected nearly 300,000 signatures since late September, supporters say, easily on pace to qualify for the November 2010 general election. Richard Lee, a longtime marijuana activist who is behind the measure, says he has raised nearly $1 million to hire professionals to assist volunteers in gathering the signatures. “For a lot of people,” he said, “it’s just another brand of beer.”
That said, the bids to legalize marijuana are opposed by law enforcement groups across the state and, if successful, would undoubtedly set up a legal showdown with the federal government, which classifies marijuana as an illegal drug. Opponents said they are also preparing for a battle next year. Any vote would take place in a state where attitudes toward marijuana border on the schizophrenic. Last year, the state made some 78,500 arrests on felony and misdemeanors related to the drug, up from about 74,000 in 2007, according to the California attorney general.
At the same time, however, there are also pockets of California where marijuana can seem practically legal already. At least seven California cities have formally declared marijuana a low priority for law enforcement, with ballot measures or legislative actions. In Los Angeles, some 800 to 1,000 dispensaries of medical marijuana are in business, officials say, complete with consultants offering public relations services and “canna-business management.”
In Oakland, which passed a tax on medical cannabis sales in July, several people who signed a petition backing Mr. Lee’s initiative said they were motivated in part by the cost of imprisoning drug offenders and the toll of drug-related violence in Mexico. “Personally I don’t see a way of getting it under control other than legalizing it and taxing it,” said Jim Quinn, 60, a production manager. “We’ve got to get it out of the hands of criminals both domestic and international.”
Mr. Lovell, the law enforcement lobbyist, however, said those arguments paled in comparison to the potential pitfalls of legalization, including people driving under the influence. He also questioned how much net revenue a tax like Mr. Ammiano is proposing would actually raise. “We get revenue from alcohol,” he said. “But there’s way more in social costs than we retain in revenues.”
Monday, October 26, 2009
Boy's death deepens H1N1 worry
By JOSEPHINE MARCOTTY, Star Tribune
It's a scenario that strikes terror in most any parent: A perfectly healthy first-grader dies of flu in the ambulance outside his home. How could it happen?
In the most recent H1N1 flu death in Minnesota, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office said that 6-year-old Nathanael Schilling of Corcoran died on Sept. 24 from an inflammation of the heart, a rare complication that can result from a flu infection. He was a first-grader at St. John's Lutheran School in Corcoran, according to his newspaper funeral notice. It was the seventh death from H1N1 in Minnesota, and the second time this year that an otherwise healthy child died after becoming infected with the new flu strain.
Health officials say they still expect the new virus to be no more deadly than ordinary seasonal flu, which kills 36,000 Americans in an average year. What's different this year is that children appear to be more vulnerable to the new strain than to seasonal flu. The previous child fatality in Minnesota, which occurred in July, also involved an otherwise healthy child. That 2-year-old died because of a co-occurring bacterial infection -- pneumococcus, which causes pneumonia, said Dr. Ruth Lynfield, Minnesota state epidemiologist.
Alone, it's not usually dangerous in someone who is healthy. But the flu virus opens a door, allowing the non-threatening agent to overwhelm the body and become lethal. It's the combination of the two that often kills otherwise healthy children and adults.
"That's why we tell people who get the flu that if they are getting better and then symptoms get worse with high fever and bad cough, they should seek care right away," Lynfield said.
A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that of the 36 children who died from H1N1 from April to August, six had no chronic health conditions. But all of them had a co-occurring bacterial infection.
The most common co-occurring infection that causes flu-related deaths is staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as staph, said Pat Schlievert, a microbiologist at the University of Minnesota and an expert on staph-related deaths. A third of the population carries it on their body, most in their noses or on their skin. Often it's benign or causes minor skin infections. Schlievert has studied dozens of cases of children who died unexpectedly from flu combined with staph. "The [flu] causes upper respiratory damage, which allows the staph to get where it's not supposed to be. It makes it's way into the lungs," he said.
So far in Minnesota three of the seven deaths from H1N1 have been children and only the first, who died in June, had an underlying health problem that put her at greater risk. The other deaths were adults, one elderly, and three middle-aged, all with chronic health conditions such as asthma, obesity or suppressed immune systems. That's a sharp contrast to the pattern of fatalities seen with seasonal influenza. Most years, 90 percent of the people who die from complications of flu are elderly, and most others have chronic health problems that make them vulnerable.
The vast majority of people who become infected with H1N1 recover, Lynfield said, "but some do get severe disease."
It's a scenario that strikes terror in most any parent: A perfectly healthy first-grader dies of flu in the ambulance outside his home. How could it happen?
In the most recent H1N1 flu death in Minnesota, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office said that 6-year-old Nathanael Schilling of Corcoran died on Sept. 24 from an inflammation of the heart, a rare complication that can result from a flu infection. He was a first-grader at St. John's Lutheran School in Corcoran, according to his newspaper funeral notice. It was the seventh death from H1N1 in Minnesota, and the second time this year that an otherwise healthy child died after becoming infected with the new flu strain.
Health officials say they still expect the new virus to be no more deadly than ordinary seasonal flu, which kills 36,000 Americans in an average year. What's different this year is that children appear to be more vulnerable to the new strain than to seasonal flu. The previous child fatality in Minnesota, which occurred in July, also involved an otherwise healthy child. That 2-year-old died because of a co-occurring bacterial infection -- pneumococcus, which causes pneumonia, said Dr. Ruth Lynfield, Minnesota state epidemiologist.
Alone, it's not usually dangerous in someone who is healthy. But the flu virus opens a door, allowing the non-threatening agent to overwhelm the body and become lethal. It's the combination of the two that often kills otherwise healthy children and adults.
"That's why we tell people who get the flu that if they are getting better and then symptoms get worse with high fever and bad cough, they should seek care right away," Lynfield said.
A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that of the 36 children who died from H1N1 from April to August, six had no chronic health conditions. But all of them had a co-occurring bacterial infection.
The most common co-occurring infection that causes flu-related deaths is staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as staph, said Pat Schlievert, a microbiologist at the University of Minnesota and an expert on staph-related deaths. A third of the population carries it on their body, most in their noses or on their skin. Often it's benign or causes minor skin infections. Schlievert has studied dozens of cases of children who died unexpectedly from flu combined with staph. "The [flu] causes upper respiratory damage, which allows the staph to get where it's not supposed to be. It makes it's way into the lungs," he said.
So far in Minnesota three of the seven deaths from H1N1 have been children and only the first, who died in June, had an underlying health problem that put her at greater risk. The other deaths were adults, one elderly, and three middle-aged, all with chronic health conditions such as asthma, obesity or suppressed immune systems. That's a sharp contrast to the pattern of fatalities seen with seasonal influenza. Most years, 90 percent of the people who die from complications of flu are elderly, and most others have chronic health problems that make them vulnerable.
The vast majority of people who become infected with H1N1 recover, Lynfield said, "but some do get severe disease."
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Revised formula puts number of poor people at 47.4 million — 7 million more than official rate
From the Star/Tribune
By HOPE YEN , Associated Press--
WASHINGTON - The level of poverty in America is even worse than first believed. A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations show that approximately 47.4 million Americans last year lived in poverty, 7 million more than the government's official figure.
The disparity occurs because of differing formulas the Census Bureau and the National Academy of Science use for calculating the poverty rate. The NAS formula shows the poverty rate to be at 15.8 percent, or nearly 1 in 6 Americans, according to calculations released this week. That's higher than the 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million, figure made available recently under the original government formula. That measure, created in 1955, does not factor in rising medical care, transportation, child care or geographical variations in living costs.
According to the revised NAS formula:
_About 18.7 percent of Americans 65 and older, or nearly 7.1 million, are in poverty compared to 9.7 percent, or 3.7 million, under the traditional measure. That's due to out-of-pocket expenses from rising Medicare premiums, deductibles and a coverage gap in the prescription drug benefit.
_About 14.3 percent of people 18 to 64, or 27 million, are in poverty, compared to 11.7 percent under the traditional measure. Many of the additional poor are low-income, working people with transportation and child-care costs.
_Child poverty is lower, at about 17.9 percent, or roughly 13.3 million, compared to 19 percent under the traditional measure. That's because single mothers and their children disproportionately receive non-cash aid such as food stamps.
Poverty rates were higher for non-Hispanic whites (11 percent), Asians (17 percent) and Hispanics (29 percent) when compared to the traditional measure. For blacks, poverty remained flat at 24.7 percent, due to the cushioning effect of non-cash aid.
By HOPE YEN , Associated Press--
WASHINGTON - The level of poverty in America is even worse than first believed. A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations show that approximately 47.4 million Americans last year lived in poverty, 7 million more than the government's official figure.
The disparity occurs because of differing formulas the Census Bureau and the National Academy of Science use for calculating the poverty rate. The NAS formula shows the poverty rate to be at 15.8 percent, or nearly 1 in 6 Americans, according to calculations released this week. That's higher than the 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million, figure made available recently under the original government formula. That measure, created in 1955, does not factor in rising medical care, transportation, child care or geographical variations in living costs.
According to the revised NAS formula:
_About 18.7 percent of Americans 65 and older, or nearly 7.1 million, are in poverty compared to 9.7 percent, or 3.7 million, under the traditional measure. That's due to out-of-pocket expenses from rising Medicare premiums, deductibles and a coverage gap in the prescription drug benefit.
_About 14.3 percent of people 18 to 64, or 27 million, are in poverty, compared to 11.7 percent under the traditional measure. Many of the additional poor are low-income, working people with transportation and child-care costs.
_Child poverty is lower, at about 17.9 percent, or roughly 13.3 million, compared to 19 percent under the traditional measure. That's because single mothers and their children disproportionately receive non-cash aid such as food stamps.
Poverty rates were higher for non-Hispanic whites (11 percent), Asians (17 percent) and Hispanics (29 percent) when compared to the traditional measure. For blacks, poverty remained flat at 24.7 percent, due to the cushioning effect of non-cash aid.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Justice of the Peace refused to marry interracial couple
From CNN
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- A justice of the peace in Louisiana who has drawn widespread criticism for refusing to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple says he has no regrets about his decision.
Keith Bardwell says he has no regrets for denying a marriage license to an interracial couple. "It's kind of hard to apologize for something that you really and truly feel down in your heart you haven't done wrong," Keith Bardwell told CNN affiliate WAFB on Saturday.
Bardwell, a justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish's 8th Ward, refused to issue a marriage license to Beth Humphrey, 30, and her boyfriend, Terence McKay, 32, both of Hammond. Bardwell's actions have elicited reactions from some top officials, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who called for Bardwell's dismissal. "This is a clear violation of constitutional rights and federal and state law. ... disciplinary action should be taken immediately -- including the revoking of his license," the Republican governor said Friday.
Bardwell told Hammond's Daily Star in a story Thursday that he did not marry the couple because he was concerned for the children who might be born of the relationship and that, in his experience, most interracial marriages don't last. "I'm not a racist," Bardwell told the newspaper. "I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children." Bardwell, stressing that he couldn't personally endorse the marriage, said his wife referred the couple to another justice of the peace.
Humphrey and McKay received their marriage license October 9 from another justice of the peace in the same parish. They have reached out to an attorney to determine their next step, Humphrey said. "We would like him to resign," Beth McKay said. "He doesn't believe he's being racist, but it is racist."
The National Urban League called for an investigation into the incident by the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, saying in a statement that Bardwell's actions were "a huge step backward in social justice."
The U.S. Supreme Court tossed out any racially-based limitations on marriage in the landmark 1967 Loving v. Virginia case. In the unanimous decision, the court said that "Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State."
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- A justice of the peace in Louisiana who has drawn widespread criticism for refusing to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple says he has no regrets about his decision.
Keith Bardwell says he has no regrets for denying a marriage license to an interracial couple. "It's kind of hard to apologize for something that you really and truly feel down in your heart you haven't done wrong," Keith Bardwell told CNN affiliate WAFB on Saturday.
Bardwell, a justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish's 8th Ward, refused to issue a marriage license to Beth Humphrey, 30, and her boyfriend, Terence McKay, 32, both of Hammond. Bardwell's actions have elicited reactions from some top officials, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who called for Bardwell's dismissal. "This is a clear violation of constitutional rights and federal and state law. ... disciplinary action should be taken immediately -- including the revoking of his license," the Republican governor said Friday.
Bardwell told Hammond's Daily Star in a story Thursday that he did not marry the couple because he was concerned for the children who might be born of the relationship and that, in his experience, most interracial marriages don't last. "I'm not a racist," Bardwell told the newspaper. "I do ceremonies for black couples right here in my house. My main concern is for the children." Bardwell, stressing that he couldn't personally endorse the marriage, said his wife referred the couple to another justice of the peace.
Humphrey and McKay received their marriage license October 9 from another justice of the peace in the same parish. They have reached out to an attorney to determine their next step, Humphrey said. "We would like him to resign," Beth McKay said. "He doesn't believe he's being racist, but it is racist."
The National Urban League called for an investigation into the incident by the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, saying in a statement that Bardwell's actions were "a huge step backward in social justice."
The U.S. Supreme Court tossed out any racially-based limitations on marriage in the landmark 1967 Loving v. Virginia case. In the unanimous decision, the court said that "Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State."
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
U.S. Wants A.I.G. to Hold Back on Bonuses
From the New York Times
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
The special federal paymaster is trying to persuade the American International Group, the insurance giant, to reduce a coming bonus payment of $198 million, but is running into legal hurdles despite rules curtailing bonuses at companies receiving assistance from the Treasury.
The Treasury’s special master for compensation, Kenneth Feinberg, has “informally advised A.I.G. not to pay the full $198 million,” according to a new audit of A.I.G.’s compensation and the government’s role in overseeing the program.
The audit did not reveal how firmly Mr. Feinberg had told A.I.G. to scale back the bonuses. It said, however, that he could not simply impose a decision because the bonuses were “outside the scope” of the executive compensation rules that were issued for troubled companies in February and June. Instead, Mr. Feinberg was said to be negotiating reductions with A.I.G., with the help of the Federal Reserve.
The new audit of A.I.G.’s compensation program was issued by the office of the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. It is scheduled to be the subject of a hearing Wednesday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The audit also found that $26 million had yet to be recovered from a previous clawback of $45 million. A spokeswoman for A.I.G., Christina Pretto, said in a statement that the people still holding that money had “until the end of the year to fulfill their commitments to return a portion.”
A.I.G. has received a series of bailouts from the federal government that have totaled $182 billion. A report by the Government Accountability Office in late September said the bailout packages had succeeded in breaking A.I.G.’s calamitous fall and had produced signs of improvement in its insurance businesses. But the company’s ability to restructure and survive over the long term depends on “market conditions and continued government support.”
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
The special federal paymaster is trying to persuade the American International Group, the insurance giant, to reduce a coming bonus payment of $198 million, but is running into legal hurdles despite rules curtailing bonuses at companies receiving assistance from the Treasury.
The Treasury’s special master for compensation, Kenneth Feinberg, has “informally advised A.I.G. not to pay the full $198 million,” according to a new audit of A.I.G.’s compensation and the government’s role in overseeing the program.
The audit did not reveal how firmly Mr. Feinberg had told A.I.G. to scale back the bonuses. It said, however, that he could not simply impose a decision because the bonuses were “outside the scope” of the executive compensation rules that were issued for troubled companies in February and June. Instead, Mr. Feinberg was said to be negotiating reductions with A.I.G., with the help of the Federal Reserve.
The new audit of A.I.G.’s compensation program was issued by the office of the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. It is scheduled to be the subject of a hearing Wednesday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The audit also found that $26 million had yet to be recovered from a previous clawback of $45 million. A spokeswoman for A.I.G., Christina Pretto, said in a statement that the people still holding that money had “until the end of the year to fulfill their commitments to return a portion.”
A.I.G. has received a series of bailouts from the federal government that have totaled $182 billion. A report by the Government Accountability Office in late September said the bailout packages had succeeded in breaking A.I.G.’s calamitous fall and had produced signs of improvement in its insurance businesses. But the company’s ability to restructure and survive over the long term depends on “market conditions and continued government support.”
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Pawlenty looking at presidential run
From STAR/TRIBUNE
WASHINGTON-Gov. Tim Pawlenty, mulling a White House run in 2012, will head next month to the historical proving ground for most start-up presidential campaigns -- Iowa. Pawlenty will be the featured guest for the Iowa GOP's signature fall event, titled, "Leadership for Iowa," on Nov. 7 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.
Although he has traveled extensively across the country to introduce himself to Republican voters, this will be Pawlenty's first foray to the early caucus state since announcing that he would not seek a third term. The Iowa caucuses will formally kick off the 2012 presidential election as it does every four years.
"This is just one in many visits to Iowa by Republicans this time around who are testing the waters, seeing how they play in this pre-campaign stage" said Cary Covington, political science professor at the University of Iowa.
Political observers have been waiting for Pawlenty to make a move in either Iowa or New Hampshire, both critical battlegrounds in presidential politics.
A potential 2012 rival, Massachusetts Republican Mitt Romney, finished second in the Iowa caucuses last year behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who could also be a contender in 2012. That was the same order of finish in a straw poll of conservative voters at the recent Values Voters Summit in Washington. Pawlenty, facing the first test of his nationwide appeal, tied for second with several other candidates and landed one vote behind Romney.
WASHINGTON-Gov. Tim Pawlenty, mulling a White House run in 2012, will head next month to the historical proving ground for most start-up presidential campaigns -- Iowa. Pawlenty will be the featured guest for the Iowa GOP's signature fall event, titled, "Leadership for Iowa," on Nov. 7 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.
Although he has traveled extensively across the country to introduce himself to Republican voters, this will be Pawlenty's first foray to the early caucus state since announcing that he would not seek a third term. The Iowa caucuses will formally kick off the 2012 presidential election as it does every four years.
"This is just one in many visits to Iowa by Republicans this time around who are testing the waters, seeing how they play in this pre-campaign stage" said Cary Covington, political science professor at the University of Iowa.
Political observers have been waiting for Pawlenty to make a move in either Iowa or New Hampshire, both critical battlegrounds in presidential politics.
A potential 2012 rival, Massachusetts Republican Mitt Romney, finished second in the Iowa caucuses last year behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who could also be a contender in 2012. That was the same order of finish in a straw poll of conservative voters at the recent Values Voters Summit in Washington. Pawlenty, facing the first test of his nationwide appeal, tied for second with several other candidates and landed one vote behind Romney.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Coaches brawl over girl playing football
CNN
EATON, Colo. -- A youth football scrimmage in Eaton Monday was scuttled when coaches brawled because the Eaton team said moral beliefs didn't allow their boys to "hit" a girl playing for the Boys and Girls Club.
During the dust up, Eaton coach Shawn Mills suffered a small bump and scratches over his left eye. But Mills told officers he didn't want charges filed against Nate Hernandez, the assistant-coach who punched him, according to a police report.
Police said they will take no action.
Hernandez who, along with other parents, confronted the Eaton coaches at mid-field before the scrimmage, demanding they tell the 11-year-old girl why she couldn't play. Hernandez apologized Tuesday in a call to Mills. However, Hernandez defended standing up for the girl's right to play. "I feel strongly about what I did," Hernandez said.
The girl, Mikayla Crespin, who plays guard and proudly described how she can block two players, said she's good enough to play with anybody. "I think that's kinda, like, harsh. That really hurt my feelings," she said of the other team's refusal to play against a girl. "Because girls can do the same as boys. There's nothing different."
Mills called Hernandez before the Monday scrimmage to explain some Eaton parents' opposition to boys playing football against girls. "Their coach expressed to our team that they had several parents who wouldn't allow their sons to participate in the scrimmage if the girl was going to play, because of their belief structure," Kimbrough said. "They've taken it and made it sort of a team edict that they won't hit girls, therefore, they won't play teams that have girl players. ... I may disagree with their strictness on this, but I have to respect that we live in a society that allows them to have that freedom of choice." Eaton coaches were left with the impression that the girl wouldn't play, because Mills had explained that his team would be forced to cancel because Eaton couldn't field enough players if the boys whose parents disapproved were pulled from the game.
Instead of notifying the Boys and Girls Club, Hernandez called the girl's mother, Nichole Esquibel, and outraged parents decided to call the Greeley Tribune. So, when Eaton arrived for the 5:30 p.m. scrimmage near Eaton Middle School, they were blindsided by a newspaper reporter and irate parents at mid-field.
The parents walked Mikayla out on the field and requested that the coaches of the Eaton team explain to her why she could not play," said Kimbrough, who was not at the scrimmage. "And that is when the arguments ensued and ultimately led to the fight."
The young players watched as the coaches of the two teams fought.
EATON, Colo. -- A youth football scrimmage in Eaton Monday was scuttled when coaches brawled because the Eaton team said moral beliefs didn't allow their boys to "hit" a girl playing for the Boys and Girls Club.
During the dust up, Eaton coach Shawn Mills suffered a small bump and scratches over his left eye. But Mills told officers he didn't want charges filed against Nate Hernandez, the assistant-coach who punched him, according to a police report.
Police said they will take no action.
Hernandez who, along with other parents, confronted the Eaton coaches at mid-field before the scrimmage, demanding they tell the 11-year-old girl why she couldn't play. Hernandez apologized Tuesday in a call to Mills. However, Hernandez defended standing up for the girl's right to play. "I feel strongly about what I did," Hernandez said.
The girl, Mikayla Crespin, who plays guard and proudly described how she can block two players, said she's good enough to play with anybody. "I think that's kinda, like, harsh. That really hurt my feelings," she said of the other team's refusal to play against a girl. "Because girls can do the same as boys. There's nothing different."
Mills called Hernandez before the Monday scrimmage to explain some Eaton parents' opposition to boys playing football against girls. "Their coach expressed to our team that they had several parents who wouldn't allow their sons to participate in the scrimmage if the girl was going to play, because of their belief structure," Kimbrough said. "They've taken it and made it sort of a team edict that they won't hit girls, therefore, they won't play teams that have girl players. ... I may disagree with their strictness on this, but I have to respect that we live in a society that allows them to have that freedom of choice." Eaton coaches were left with the impression that the girl wouldn't play, because Mills had explained that his team would be forced to cancel because Eaton couldn't field enough players if the boys whose parents disapproved were pulled from the game.
Instead of notifying the Boys and Girls Club, Hernandez called the girl's mother, Nichole Esquibel, and outraged parents decided to call the Greeley Tribune. So, when Eaton arrived for the 5:30 p.m. scrimmage near Eaton Middle School, they were blindsided by a newspaper reporter and irate parents at mid-field.
The parents walked Mikayla out on the field and requested that the coaches of the Eaton team explain to her why she could not play," said Kimbrough, who was not at the scrimmage. "And that is when the arguments ensued and ultimately led to the fight."
The young players watched as the coaches of the two teams fought.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Opponents of "Fighting Sioux" nickname rally
GRAND FORKS HERALD
Opponents of UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname brought to campus Wednesday morning one of the big guns in the battle against American Indian nicknames to help rally the base.
Clyde Bellecourt, a founder of the American Indian Movement and a leader in protests nationwide against such nicknames, inspired the crowd with stories of protests past. “We are winning,” he said. Schools and universities around the country have dropped their nicknames, he said, including ones he thought would never relent, such as the erstwhile Salmon, Idaho, “Fighting Savages.” Still on his list are the Atlanta Braves, the Washington Redskins and, naturally, the Fighting Sioux.
Bellecourt also showed some of the fire he’s known for when he sprinkled tobacco on the ground and offered prayers for “those that are scholastically retarded about us and our culture.” The Herald counted about 75 rally participants, including organizers and speakers. At a panel discussion that followed, there were seven Indian students in attendance. UND has a student population that includes more than 400 Indians, the largest among the state’s non-tribal colleges and universities.
Bellecourt came at the request of UND’s Indian students that oppose the nickname.
One of the state’s two Sioux tribes, Spirit Lake, already has issued a resolution offering UND “perpetual” use of the nickname after a referendum in which 67 percent of tribal members supported the nickname. Nickname supporters at the other tribe, Standing Rock, are agitating for a referendum of their own and predict that the results would be similar.
In fact, a counter-protester was seen with a sign that said “Democracy above all.” To that, Spirit Lake nickname opponent Erich Longie, replied, using the Dakota word for whites: “We Native Americans experienced the wasichu democracy and it killed a lot of us. … We Native Americans experienced the wasichu democracy, and we have no civil rights at all.”
Amber Annis, one of the rally organizers, said this is not an issue for voters on just two reservations, but an issue that affects all Indian students, no matter their tribe. Why, she asked, do the voices of people living on the reservation matter more than that of students forced to deal with the controversy everyday? “It is the Indian people on campus, near campus and in this community who receive the brunt of the insults,” she said.
But that really depends on who you ask. Some who voted for the Spirit Lake referendum in April said at the time that they are UND alumni or had friends or relatives who are. They didn’t feel disrespected by the nickname, they said. Many expressed pride, sporting Fighting Sioux sweatshirts or jerseys.
Celeste Melander, a UND student from Standing Rock, called the Herald after hearing about the protest and said she didn’t feel disrespected, either. Growing up on the reservation, she said, she knows what racism is. Some incidents that nickname opponents claim are racially motivated, she said, are just kids misbehaving and not race hate.
There’s little agreement whether Sioux is even a derogatory word for the peoples who call themselves Dakota, Lakota and Nakota. Dave Gipp, president of the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck and a UND alumnus, said “Sioux” was a name imposed on his people by white Europeans. Yet, at Standing Rock, when given a chance to change the tribe’s official name from Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to Standing Rock Oyate, voters chose to keep the name.
Opponents of UND’s Fighting Sioux nickname brought to campus Wednesday morning one of the big guns in the battle against American Indian nicknames to help rally the base.
Clyde Bellecourt, a founder of the American Indian Movement and a leader in protests nationwide against such nicknames, inspired the crowd with stories of protests past. “We are winning,” he said. Schools and universities around the country have dropped their nicknames, he said, including ones he thought would never relent, such as the erstwhile Salmon, Idaho, “Fighting Savages.” Still on his list are the Atlanta Braves, the Washington Redskins and, naturally, the Fighting Sioux.
Bellecourt also showed some of the fire he’s known for when he sprinkled tobacco on the ground and offered prayers for “those that are scholastically retarded about us and our culture.” The Herald counted about 75 rally participants, including organizers and speakers. At a panel discussion that followed, there were seven Indian students in attendance. UND has a student population that includes more than 400 Indians, the largest among the state’s non-tribal colleges and universities.
Bellecourt came at the request of UND’s Indian students that oppose the nickname.
One of the state’s two Sioux tribes, Spirit Lake, already has issued a resolution offering UND “perpetual” use of the nickname after a referendum in which 67 percent of tribal members supported the nickname. Nickname supporters at the other tribe, Standing Rock, are agitating for a referendum of their own and predict that the results would be similar.
In fact, a counter-protester was seen with a sign that said “Democracy above all.” To that, Spirit Lake nickname opponent Erich Longie, replied, using the Dakota word for whites: “We Native Americans experienced the wasichu democracy and it killed a lot of us. … We Native Americans experienced the wasichu democracy, and we have no civil rights at all.”
Amber Annis, one of the rally organizers, said this is not an issue for voters on just two reservations, but an issue that affects all Indian students, no matter their tribe. Why, she asked, do the voices of people living on the reservation matter more than that of students forced to deal with the controversy everyday? “It is the Indian people on campus, near campus and in this community who receive the brunt of the insults,” she said.
But that really depends on who you ask. Some who voted for the Spirit Lake referendum in April said at the time that they are UND alumni or had friends or relatives who are. They didn’t feel disrespected by the nickname, they said. Many expressed pride, sporting Fighting Sioux sweatshirts or jerseys.
Celeste Melander, a UND student from Standing Rock, called the Herald after hearing about the protest and said she didn’t feel disrespected, either. Growing up on the reservation, she said, she knows what racism is. Some incidents that nickname opponents claim are racially motivated, she said, are just kids misbehaving and not race hate.
There’s little agreement whether Sioux is even a derogatory word for the peoples who call themselves Dakota, Lakota and Nakota. Dave Gipp, president of the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck and a UND alumnus, said “Sioux” was a name imposed on his people by white Europeans. Yet, at Standing Rock, when given a chance to change the tribe’s official name from Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to Standing Rock Oyate, voters chose to keep the name.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
U.S. to bring home 4,000 more troops from Iraq
From Star/Tribune
Gen. Ray Odierno , the top U.S. military official in Iraq, says about 4,000 U.S. troops, roughly the size of an Army brigade, will be brought home from Iraq by the end of October as the pullout from the six-year war continues. Odierno is announcing the drawdown -- to about 120,000 troops -- at a House Armed Services Committee hearing today. The Associated Press obtained a copy of his prepared remarks. Odierno also says the monthly number of attacks in Iraq has dropped dramatically over the past two years -- from more than 4,000 in August 2007 to about 600 last month.
Gen. Ray Odierno , the top U.S. military official in Iraq, says about 4,000 U.S. troops, roughly the size of an Army brigade, will be brought home from Iraq by the end of October as the pullout from the six-year war continues. Odierno is announcing the drawdown -- to about 120,000 troops -- at a House Armed Services Committee hearing today. The Associated Press obtained a copy of his prepared remarks. Odierno also says the monthly number of attacks in Iraq has dropped dramatically over the past two years -- from more than 4,000 in August 2007 to about 600 last month.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
First guns, now ammo: Obama fears feed a frenzy
FROM THE STAR/TRIBUNE
Bullet-makers are working seven days a week and still can't keep up with the nation's demand for ammunition.
Shooting ranges, gun dealers and bullet manufacturers say they have never seen such shortages. Bullets, especially for handguns, have been scarce for months because gun enthusiasts are stocking up on ammo, in part because they fear President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress will pass antigun legislation -- even though nothing specific has been proposed.
Gun sales spiked when it became clear Obama would be elected a year ago and purchases continued to rise in his first few months of office. The FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System reported that 6.1 million background checks for gun sales were issued from January to May, an increase of 25.6 percent from the same period the year before.
"That is going to cause an upswing in ammunition sales," said Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association representing about 5,000 members. "Without bullets a gun is just a paperweight."
Americans usually buy about 7 billion rounds of ammunition a year, according to the National Rifle Association. In the past year, that figure has jumped to about 9 billion rounds.
"We are working overtime and still can't keep up with the demand," said Al Russo, spokesman for North Carolina-based Remington Arms Company, which makes bullets for rifles, handguns and shotguns. "We've had to add a fourth shift and go 24-7. It's a phenomenon that I have not seen before in my 30 years in the business."
"I call it the Obama effect," said Jason Gregory, 37, who manages a gun store outside of New Orleans. Gun control legislation "always happens when the Democrats get in office. ... Ammunition will be the first step, so I'm stocking up while I can."
Bullet-makers are working seven days a week and still can't keep up with the nation's demand for ammunition.
Shooting ranges, gun dealers and bullet manufacturers say they have never seen such shortages. Bullets, especially for handguns, have been scarce for months because gun enthusiasts are stocking up on ammo, in part because they fear President Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress will pass antigun legislation -- even though nothing specific has been proposed.
Gun sales spiked when it became clear Obama would be elected a year ago and purchases continued to rise in his first few months of office. The FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System reported that 6.1 million background checks for gun sales were issued from January to May, an increase of 25.6 percent from the same period the year before.
"That is going to cause an upswing in ammunition sales," said Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association representing about 5,000 members. "Without bullets a gun is just a paperweight."
Americans usually buy about 7 billion rounds of ammunition a year, according to the National Rifle Association. In the past year, that figure has jumped to about 9 billion rounds.
"We are working overtime and still can't keep up with the demand," said Al Russo, spokesman for North Carolina-based Remington Arms Company, which makes bullets for rifles, handguns and shotguns. "We've had to add a fourth shift and go 24-7. It's a phenomenon that I have not seen before in my 30 years in the business."
"I call it the Obama effect," said Jason Gregory, 37, who manages a gun store outside of New Orleans. Gun control legislation "always happens when the Democrats get in office. ... Ammunition will be the first step, so I'm stocking up while I can."
Monday, September 21, 2009
More troops requested for Afghanistan
By ANNE GEARAN , Associated Press
From the Star/Tribune- The situation in Afghanistan is serious and growing worse and without more boots on the ground the United States risks failure in a war it's been waging since shortly after the terror attacks of September 2001, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, says in a confidential report. "Resources will not win this war, but under-resourcing could lose it," McChrystal wrote in a five-page Commander's Summary. His 66-page report, sent to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Aug. 30, is now under review by President Barack Obama.
"Although considerable effort and sacrifice have resulted in some progress, many indicators suggest the overall effort is deteriorating," McChrystal said of the war's progress.
While asserting that more troops are needed, McChrystal also pointed out an "urgent need" to significantly revise strategy. The U.S. needs to interact better with the Afghan people, McChrystal said, and better organize its efforts with NATO allies. "We run the risk of strategic defeat by pursuing tactical wins that cause civilian casualties or unnecessary collateral damage. The insurgents cannot defeat us militarily; but we can defeat ourselves," he wrote.
In his blunt assessment of the tenacious Taliban insurgency, McChrystal warned that unless the U.S. and its allies gain the initiative and reverse the momentum of the militants within the next year the U.S. "risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible"
In Congress, the war has taken on a highly partisan edge. Senate Republicans are demanding more forces to turn around a war that soon will enter its ninth year, while members of Obama's own Democratic Party are trying to put on the brakes.
Obama said in the Sunday interviews that he will not allow politics to govern his decision. "The only thing I've said to my folks is, 'A, I want an unvarnished assessment, but, B, I don't want to put the resource question before the strategy question,'" Obama said. "Because there is a natural inclination to say, 'If I get more, then I can do more.'"
From the Star/Tribune- The situation in Afghanistan is serious and growing worse and without more boots on the ground the United States risks failure in a war it's been waging since shortly after the terror attacks of September 2001, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, says in a confidential report. "Resources will not win this war, but under-resourcing could lose it," McChrystal wrote in a five-page Commander's Summary. His 66-page report, sent to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Aug. 30, is now under review by President Barack Obama.
"Although considerable effort and sacrifice have resulted in some progress, many indicators suggest the overall effort is deteriorating," McChrystal said of the war's progress.
While asserting that more troops are needed, McChrystal also pointed out an "urgent need" to significantly revise strategy. The U.S. needs to interact better with the Afghan people, McChrystal said, and better organize its efforts with NATO allies. "We run the risk of strategic defeat by pursuing tactical wins that cause civilian casualties or unnecessary collateral damage. The insurgents cannot defeat us militarily; but we can defeat ourselves," he wrote.
In his blunt assessment of the tenacious Taliban insurgency, McChrystal warned that unless the U.S. and its allies gain the initiative and reverse the momentum of the militants within the next year the U.S. "risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible"
In Congress, the war has taken on a highly partisan edge. Senate Republicans are demanding more forces to turn around a war that soon will enter its ninth year, while members of Obama's own Democratic Party are trying to put on the brakes.
Obama said in the Sunday interviews that he will not allow politics to govern his decision. "The only thing I've said to my folks is, 'A, I want an unvarnished assessment, but, B, I don't want to put the resource question before the strategy question,'" Obama said. "Because there is a natural inclination to say, 'If I get more, then I can do more.'"
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Flu cases increase in Minnesota
By MAURA LERNER, Star Tribune
Based on the reports, Minnesota was bumped up to the highest level of flu activity by the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. As of Wednesday, the virus is listed as "widespread," meaning that flu-like illness has been reported in half of the state's regions.
The surge had been expected once school started, and most of the outbreaks have been in the metro area and southern half of the state, "although it's moving," said assistant health commissioner John Linc Stine. The new cases appear to be similar in severity as the first wave of the pandemic, which began in April, Stine said. While most cases are relatively mild, about eight people have been hospitalized in the past week, he said.
The pandemic flu virus, also known as H1N1, may not be causing all the illness, but it's likely playing a "significant role in the upsurge," the Health Department said in a prepared statement.
As of Monday, only a handful of schools had reported a spike in flu-like illness, but that jumped to more than 30 by Wednesday, Stine said. Schools have been asked to notify the Health Department if more than 5 percent of students are out with flu-like symptoms, or if three or more children in the same elementary class fall ill. "We have been anticipating a possible second wave of this illness," said Dr. Sanne Magnan, the state health commissioner. "We strongly suspect that may be starting to happen now."
Although the flu spread quickly in the spring and early summer, the numbers had dropped dramatically until now. But as children have returned to school across the country, new outbreaks have followed, usually by the second week of class, Stine said. "We're in that second week."
A vaccine for the new flu strain was approved by federal authorities Tuesday, but the first doses aren't expected to arrive in Minnesota until October.
On Monday, Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert, predicted that the number of H1N1 cases will peak in the next six to eight weeks -- before the vaccine is widely available.
In the meantime, health officials are encouraging people to protect themselves with frequent hand-washing, covering their coughs, and staying home if they're sick.
Based on the reports, Minnesota was bumped up to the highest level of flu activity by the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. As of Wednesday, the virus is listed as "widespread," meaning that flu-like illness has been reported in half of the state's regions.
The surge had been expected once school started, and most of the outbreaks have been in the metro area and southern half of the state, "although it's moving," said assistant health commissioner John Linc Stine. The new cases appear to be similar in severity as the first wave of the pandemic, which began in April, Stine said. While most cases are relatively mild, about eight people have been hospitalized in the past week, he said.
The pandemic flu virus, also known as H1N1, may not be causing all the illness, but it's likely playing a "significant role in the upsurge," the Health Department said in a prepared statement.
As of Monday, only a handful of schools had reported a spike in flu-like illness, but that jumped to more than 30 by Wednesday, Stine said. Schools have been asked to notify the Health Department if more than 5 percent of students are out with flu-like symptoms, or if three or more children in the same elementary class fall ill. "We have been anticipating a possible second wave of this illness," said Dr. Sanne Magnan, the state health commissioner. "We strongly suspect that may be starting to happen now."
Although the flu spread quickly in the spring and early summer, the numbers had dropped dramatically until now. But as children have returned to school across the country, new outbreaks have followed, usually by the second week of class, Stine said. "We're in that second week."
A vaccine for the new flu strain was approved by federal authorities Tuesday, but the first doses aren't expected to arrive in Minnesota until October.
On Monday, Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota expert, predicted that the number of H1N1 cases will peak in the next six to eight weeks -- before the vaccine is widely available.
In the meantime, health officials are encouraging people to protect themselves with frequent hand-washing, covering their coughs, and staying home if they're sick.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Carter: Racism behind Obama opposition
(CNN) -- Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that racial politics has played a role in some of the opposition the president has faced since taking office.
"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told NBC News. "I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shares the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans."
"That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply," Carter said.
Carter made similar remarks at an event at his presidential center in Atlanta, Georgia, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, pointing to some protesters who have compared Obama to a Nazi. "Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care," the former president said at the Carter Center, according to AP. "It's deeper than that."
He grouped Wilson's shout of "You lie!" during Obama's speech in that category, according to AP. "I think it's based on racism. There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president," he said.
"The president is not only the head of government, he is the head of state. And no matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the president should be treated with respect."
"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's African-American," Carter told NBC News. "I live in the South, and I've seen the South come a long way, and I've seen the rest of the country that shares the South's attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African-Americans."
"That racism inclination still exists, and I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of belief among many white people -- not just in the South but around the country -- that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply," Carter said.
Carter made similar remarks at an event at his presidential center in Atlanta, Georgia, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, pointing to some protesters who have compared Obama to a Nazi. "Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care," the former president said at the Carter Center, according to AP. "It's deeper than that."
He grouped Wilson's shout of "You lie!" during Obama's speech in that category, according to AP. "I think it's based on racism. There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president," he said.
"The president is not only the head of government, he is the head of state. And no matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the president should be treated with respect."
Monday, September 14, 2009
South Dakota School Dress Code
By CHET BROKAW , Associated Press
EAGLE BUTTE, S.D. - Carol Moran spent all she could spare on new school clothes for her 15-year-old daughter. Then she found out a new dress code had been imposed at the junior high school that serves the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Moran, who walks with a cane and survives on welfare in one of South Dakota's most impoverished regions, said buying a whole new set of clothes is out of the question. Her daughter, Kyann, already has been sent home twice for violating the dress code since school started two weeks ago. "It was just like a slap in the face," Moran said.
Unexpected school expenses can stress any parent. But for many with students in the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte School District, finding gas money or a ride to an affordable store can prove all but impossible, much less paying for the clothes if they get there. More than half of the people there lived in poverty in 2005. The nearest discount store, such as Wal-Mart or Kmart, is about 90 miles away in the state capital of Pierre.
Moran and other parents have joined the tribe in a federal lawsuit seeking to block the school district from enforcing the dress code, which requires students to wear black, white or tan shirts, pants, skirts or shorts. Administrators say it is intended to avoid gang violence. The lawsuit argues the dress code violates federal regulations requiring such schools consult with tribes and parents of American Indian children in developing programs and policies.
Tom Van Norman, the tribe's attorney, said the dress code is not only a hardship for struggling parents but also an impediment to educating the children who are taken out of class and sent home or placed in a time-out room. The dress code was publicized in the local weekly newspaper earlier in the summer, but many parents did not learn of it until receiving a packet of information about eight days before school started, Van Norman said. Classes started Aug. 27 and the tribe sued Sept. 1.
Bureau of Indian Education Supervisor Nadine Eastman, explained the dress code in a letter published Aug. 6 in the local newspaper, the West River Eagle. "The purpose of the Uniform Dress Code is primarily to alleviate much of the gang-related violence in the school," Eastman wrote. "Many of our Junior High students wear gang-affiliated colors to school daily. Secondarily, we hope that an increase in safety will increase our academics for all students."
Winona Charger, whose grandson Justin Little Star has been suspended for violating the dress code, said she has seen little evidence of a gang problem. She said the schools should spend more time and money improving academic achievement. "They're not teaching our kids. They're worried about what they're wearing to school. That's what makes me angry," Charger said.
EAGLE BUTTE, S.D. - Carol Moran spent all she could spare on new school clothes for her 15-year-old daughter. Then she found out a new dress code had been imposed at the junior high school that serves the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Moran, who walks with a cane and survives on welfare in one of South Dakota's most impoverished regions, said buying a whole new set of clothes is out of the question. Her daughter, Kyann, already has been sent home twice for violating the dress code since school started two weeks ago. "It was just like a slap in the face," Moran said.
Unexpected school expenses can stress any parent. But for many with students in the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte School District, finding gas money or a ride to an affordable store can prove all but impossible, much less paying for the clothes if they get there. More than half of the people there lived in poverty in 2005. The nearest discount store, such as Wal-Mart or Kmart, is about 90 miles away in the state capital of Pierre.
Moran and other parents have joined the tribe in a federal lawsuit seeking to block the school district from enforcing the dress code, which requires students to wear black, white or tan shirts, pants, skirts or shorts. Administrators say it is intended to avoid gang violence. The lawsuit argues the dress code violates federal regulations requiring such schools consult with tribes and parents of American Indian children in developing programs and policies.
Tom Van Norman, the tribe's attorney, said the dress code is not only a hardship for struggling parents but also an impediment to educating the children who are taken out of class and sent home or placed in a time-out room. The dress code was publicized in the local weekly newspaper earlier in the summer, but many parents did not learn of it until receiving a packet of information about eight days before school started, Van Norman said. Classes started Aug. 27 and the tribe sued Sept. 1.
Bureau of Indian Education Supervisor Nadine Eastman, explained the dress code in a letter published Aug. 6 in the local newspaper, the West River Eagle. "The purpose of the Uniform Dress Code is primarily to alleviate much of the gang-related violence in the school," Eastman wrote. "Many of our Junior High students wear gang-affiliated colors to school daily. Secondarily, we hope that an increase in safety will increase our academics for all students."
Winona Charger, whose grandson Justin Little Star has been suspended for violating the dress code, said she has seen little evidence of a gang problem. She said the schools should spend more time and money improving academic achievement. "They're not teaching our kids. They're worried about what they're wearing to school. That's what makes me angry," Charger said.
Friday, September 11, 2009
'You lie' congressman becomes center of attention
FROM THE STAR/TRIBUNE
By PHILIP RUCKER and ANN GERHART, Washington Post
Last update: September 11, 2009 - 6:20 AM
WASHINGTON - Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., mastered politics in a state where no-holds-barred political combat dates back to the days before the Civil War, when one of its congressmen entered the Senate chamber and beat a Massachusetts senator with a cane for attacking pro-slavery Southerners. So when Wilson went so far Wednesday night as to heckle President Obama, interrupting his address to Congress with shouts of "You lie!" he wasn't straying far from South Carolina's political traditions.
Wilson's outburst not only thrust the little-known congressman into the national spotlight; it also made him the latest in a legendary line of South Carolina politicians who appeared to revel in renegade behavior.
Wilson on Thursday turned a deaf ear to pleas from his party's leaders to apologize on the House floor, saying that a phone-call apology to Obama had been sufficient and that his comments were "spontaneous" and the result of being overcome with emotion. Democratic leaders, though stunned, said they were not inclined to pursue an official sanction against Wilson, and Obama accepted his apology: "I'm a big believer that we all make mistakes."
Still, Wilson became an overnight hero for conservatives by boldly channeling inside the sanctity of the Capitol the anger that so many activists loudly displayed at August town hall meetings over health care reform. Interest in the formerly obscure backbencher overwhelmed his website and jammed his phone lines Thursday.
Wilson's charge -- which fact-checkers have repeatedly established as false -- was that the universal-coverage provision Obama backs would extend care to illegal immigrants.
Based on the proposals so far, illegal immigrants would not be allowed to obtain government subsidies that would make it easier for low-income individuals and families to afford health insurance. Critics, however, say the legislation as proposed does not include sufficient enforcement mechanisms.
"I truly had to speak out," Wilson told constituents Thursday in an interview with radio station WVOC-AM, insisting again that his claim about the legislation was accurate. Asked if he regretted his remark, however, Wilson said, "Oh, yeah, I wouldn't do that -- I wouldn't have planned it or done it again."
By PHILIP RUCKER and ANN GERHART, Washington Post
Last update: September 11, 2009 - 6:20 AM
WASHINGTON - Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., mastered politics in a state where no-holds-barred political combat dates back to the days before the Civil War, when one of its congressmen entered the Senate chamber and beat a Massachusetts senator with a cane for attacking pro-slavery Southerners. So when Wilson went so far Wednesday night as to heckle President Obama, interrupting his address to Congress with shouts of "You lie!" he wasn't straying far from South Carolina's political traditions.
Wilson's outburst not only thrust the little-known congressman into the national spotlight; it also made him the latest in a legendary line of South Carolina politicians who appeared to revel in renegade behavior.
Wilson on Thursday turned a deaf ear to pleas from his party's leaders to apologize on the House floor, saying that a phone-call apology to Obama had been sufficient and that his comments were "spontaneous" and the result of being overcome with emotion. Democratic leaders, though stunned, said they were not inclined to pursue an official sanction against Wilson, and Obama accepted his apology: "I'm a big believer that we all make mistakes."
Still, Wilson became an overnight hero for conservatives by boldly channeling inside the sanctity of the Capitol the anger that so many activists loudly displayed at August town hall meetings over health care reform. Interest in the formerly obscure backbencher overwhelmed his website and jammed his phone lines Thursday.
Wilson's charge -- which fact-checkers have repeatedly established as false -- was that the universal-coverage provision Obama backs would extend care to illegal immigrants.
Based on the proposals so far, illegal immigrants would not be allowed to obtain government subsidies that would make it easier for low-income individuals and families to afford health insurance. Critics, however, say the legislation as proposed does not include sufficient enforcement mechanisms.
"I truly had to speak out," Wilson told constituents Thursday in an interview with radio station WVOC-AM, insisting again that his claim about the legislation was accurate. Asked if he regretted his remark, however, Wilson said, "Oh, yeah, I wouldn't do that -- I wouldn't have planned it or done it again."