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Friday, April 30, 2010
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You Are Never Stronger Than When You Know You’re Weaknesses
I was strongest when I laughed at my weakness.
-Elmer Diktonius
-Elmer Diktonius
The 'Godmother' Of Civil Rights
Civil Rights 'Godmother' Dorothy Height Hailed as Humble Force for Equality: President Barack Obama on Thursday eulogized Dorothy Height as a history-making figure in the civil rights movement whose quiet perseverance produced gains in "a righteous cause." Speaking to hundreds of mourners in the stately Washington National Cathedral, Obama recounted Height's commitment to the cause during decades of work, mostly behind the scenes while the movement's male leaders earned more attention and fame. Height died last week at age 98 after a long illness. She was a pioneering voice of the civil rights movement whose activism stretched from the New Deal to Obama's election.
Obama calls Height a champion of 'righteous cause': WASHINGTON— Recognizing his debt to her quiet perseverance, an emotional President Barack Obama eulogized Dorothy Height as a humble champion of civil rights who deserved a seat of honor in American history. Though Height devoted decades to pursuing "a righteous cause," Obama said she never cared about getting credit and often worked behind the scenes while the movement's male leaders earned more attention and fame. "What she cared about was the cause. The cause of justice, the cause of equality, the cause of opportunity, freedom's cause," Obama told hundreds of mourners at the Washington National Cathedral. Height, who died in Washington last week at the age of 98, led the National Council of Negro Women for decades and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She received two of the nation's highest honors: the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. Progress on civil rights came slowly, Obama said, but the movement "ultimately made it possible for Michelle and me to be here as president and first lady." The Obamas got to know Height during the early days of the 2008 presidential campaign. Following Obama's victory, Height became a regular at the White House, visiting 21 times. In her final months, she took part in discussions on Obama's health care reform effort. In February, as a record-setting blizzard descended on Washington, Height was determined to attend a meeting of African-American leaders on unemployment, Obama said, even though she was in a wheelchair. She wouldn't allow "just a bunch of men" to control the meeting, the president said. When Height's attendance became impossible because cars could not reach her snow-choked driveway, he said, she still sent a message offering her ideas. Sitting alongside Mrs. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the service, Obama wiped tears from his eyes as he listened to tributes from Height's close friends and family. The poet Maya Angelou offered a reading from her wheelchair. The hundreds of mourners who came to the cathedral to remember Height marked the breadth of her influence _ alongside political figures like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and comedian Bill Cosby. Many women in the crowd wore bright, colorful hats, a nod to Height's trademark attire. Born in Richmond, Va., in 1912, before blacks had equal rights and women could vote in every state, Height moved with her family to the Pittsburgh area when she was a child. She distinguished herself in the classroom and was accepted to Barnard College, only to be turned away because the school already had reached its quota _ two _ of black women. She went on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees from New York University. In the 1950s and 1960s, she was the leading woman helping King and other activists orchestrate the civil rights movement, often reminding the men not to underestimate their female counterparts. Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff Thursday in Height's honor.
Obama calls Height a champion of 'righteous cause': WASHINGTON— Recognizing his debt to her quiet perseverance, an emotional President Barack Obama eulogized Dorothy Height as a humble champion of civil rights who deserved a seat of honor in American history. Though Height devoted decades to pursuing "a righteous cause," Obama said she never cared about getting credit and often worked behind the scenes while the movement's male leaders earned more attention and fame. "What she cared about was the cause. The cause of justice, the cause of equality, the cause of opportunity, freedom's cause," Obama told hundreds of mourners at the Washington National Cathedral. Height, who died in Washington last week at the age of 98, led the National Council of Negro Women for decades and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She received two of the nation's highest honors: the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. Progress on civil rights came slowly, Obama said, but the movement "ultimately made it possible for Michelle and me to be here as president and first lady." The Obamas got to know Height during the early days of the 2008 presidential campaign. Following Obama's victory, Height became a regular at the White House, visiting 21 times. In her final months, she took part in discussions on Obama's health care reform effort. In February, as a record-setting blizzard descended on Washington, Height was determined to attend a meeting of African-American leaders on unemployment, Obama said, even though she was in a wheelchair. She wouldn't allow "just a bunch of men" to control the meeting, the president said. When Height's attendance became impossible because cars could not reach her snow-choked driveway, he said, she still sent a message offering her ideas. Sitting alongside Mrs. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the service, Obama wiped tears from his eyes as he listened to tributes from Height's close friends and family. The poet Maya Angelou offered a reading from her wheelchair. The hundreds of mourners who came to the cathedral to remember Height marked the breadth of her influence _ alongside political figures like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and comedian Bill Cosby. Many women in the crowd wore bright, colorful hats, a nod to Height's trademark attire. Born in Richmond, Va., in 1912, before blacks had equal rights and women could vote in every state, Height moved with her family to the Pittsburgh area when she was a child. She distinguished herself in the classroom and was accepted to Barnard College, only to be turned away because the school already had reached its quota _ two _ of black women. She went on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees from New York University. In the 1950s and 1960s, she was the leading woman helping King and other activists orchestrate the civil rights movement, often reminding the men not to underestimate their female counterparts. Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff Thursday in Height's honor.
Reality TV Star's Amazon Scandal
Real Housewives Amazon Scam: New York housewife Jill Zarin has been accused of anonymously boosting her new book on Amazon. Doree Shafrir investigates-and reveals Zarin asked her to review her book on Amazon. A couple weeks ago, an Amazon reviewer named Alana Chandler-the No. 1 reviewer, according to Amazon, of new books on the site-left a one-star review for Secrets of a Jewish Mother, the new book by Real Housewives of New York City cast member Jill Zarin. "I wanted to find this warm and loving but it seemed more like a doctrine in many cases that isn't loving and could be detrimental on several levels," Chandler wrote in her 1,500-word-plus review. "Not to mention it's been widely reported that it's for show rather than actual advice the authors themselves believe." Related story on The Daily Beast: Getting Off on Facebook Three days after Chandler's review went up, an Amazon user named "Susan Saunders" left a comment on the review. Saunders wrote that Chandler was "a jealous person who likes to gang up on people." She continued: "I feel sorry for you but more for your cat." (Chandler's reviewer photo shows her with her dog.) "Someone needs to take your cat away from you and give it to a loving person. Jealous of Jill? You are just making her more famous and people are buying her book because it is a GREAT book about Jewish Mother's [sic]. You are ANTISEMITIC and it shows." Saunders quickly deleted her comment, but not before someone took a screenshot and sent it to Zap2It. Why so shy all of a sudden? Because other Amazon reviewers quickly figured out that "Saunders" was actually Zarin. It didn't take much: The Amazon wish list for "Saunders" had items listed on it for Zarin's husband Bobby and her daughter Ally. And Saunders also had the same birthday as Jill. From there, the review thread got ugly, with commenters accusing her of a range of crimes, from a lack of Internet savviness to being "pathetic." When contacted by The Daily Beast, Chandler said that "Saunders" had sent her a "threatening email" after her review went up. "It was her follow-up to the Susan Saunders threat to me on Amazon," said Chandler. Zarin didn't respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast, though she wrote a non-denial denial on her Facebook page: "Some crazy fans are saying I wrote my own review. I love the book, of course. People in my life have written wonderful things about the book. Some fans of the show need to find something else to do then write hateful things about me and my family. It is sad and I feel sorry for them. If you read the book and liked it, ...please write positive reviews. Thank you for all the support!" Of course, Zarin is just the latest in a long line of authors and writers caught using sock puppets-fake identities used to bolster their argument or, in this case, their book. And it's not just reality show contestants who have been emboldened by the seeming anonymity of the Internet. Respected British historian Orlando Figes last week admitted that he had left dozens of scathing reviews under a pseudonym on Amazon.co.uk for his academic rivals, while simultaneously leaving reviews praising his own work. He first tried to place the blame on his wife, but soon admitted that he was, in fact, the author of the reviews in question. And in 2007, freelancer Peter Hyman was suspected of using an alias to promote his work to Gawker; a "fan" named "Margo Leitner" would occasionally email Gawker to gush about Hyman's latest journalistic triumph-though she never seemed to email Gawker (where I worked at the time) about anyone, or anything, else. But back to Zarin. On the page for Secrets of a Jewish Mother, there are 116 reviews for the book: 30 five-star reviews, one four-star review, one three-star review, five two-star reviews, and 79 one-star reviews-and several Amazon commenters have suggested that the five-star reviews are mostly from Zarin's friends and associates. That wouldn't necessarily surprise me. After all, Zarin asked me to leave a review for her book when I interviewed her for The Daily Beast a few weeks ago, just before it came out. Which I had forgotten until this scandal erupted. According to my transcript, here is how it played out: "I would love you to write a review for us," Jill said, after I told her I had, in fact, liked reading the book. "I don't know if I can," I said, trying to be polite. "Can you go under an assumed name?" Jill asked. I shook my head. She laughed. "Why not?" At that point, Jill's sister Lisa Wexler jumped in. "'Cause she said it's not allowed because it's unethical. She's not comfortable," Lisa said. "I don't know, you could just say you loved the book," Jill said. "Anonymous. Is that so bad?" "It is if she says she's not allowed to do it," Lisa said. "Ask [your boyfriend]," Jill said. "If you want to help us, that would really help us." I did not, alas, ask him.
Goats Get Life in Prison
Conn. prison goats nibble weeds, landscaping costs: UNCASVILLE, Conn.— Two members of the work detail at a Connecticut state prison are expected to be penned there for life, working on the fence line to remove weeds and poison ivy. They seem to like the work and actually find the poison ivy delicious. Nibbles and Bits, a pair of goats, were taken to the Corrigan-Radgowski prison in a rural patch of southeastern Connecticut just over a year ago after being rescued as kids from separate area farms that didn't want them. Joe Schoonmaker, the corrections officer who oversees landscaping at the 1,500-inmate prison, heard about the goats and asked the warden. "We threw the idea at him that we could use them to get into the hard-to-get areas, like the hillside and the fence line," he said. So when it's impossible or impractical to get a weed trimmer or lawnmower somewhere on prison property, Schoonmaker calls in Nibbles and Bits. They eat anything, except mountain laurel. Schoonmaker and Officer Jason Ware pay the $20-per-month cost of feed _ oats _ from their own pockets. Everything else the animals need has been built by prisoners or donated. Their pen is a converted shed, just outside the prison fence. It has its own fence, built by inmates from trees that were taken down because they were deemed to be too close to the barbed-wire. The goats also have their own small recreation yard, which includes a handmade playscape. Every morning, Nibbles gets on one side of a balance board and Bits goes to the other, Schoonmaker said. They meet in the middle and butt heads. A local vet donates his time. The wood shavings in the pen come from a saw mill. What the goats don't require is pay, close supervision or gasoline, Warden Anthony Coletti said. They have saved the prison time, manpower and about $200 a year, mostly the cost of gas. "Every day they eat their weight in weeds," Coletti said. Only minimum security inmates get to work with the goats. Many are nearing the end of their sentences. "It gives inmates a sense of purpose to care for farm animals," Coletti said. "And they really learn to care for them and about them. Everyone loves the goats." And the goats seem to love the warden, or at least his fleece jacket, which Nibbles tried to have as a snack while posing for a recent portrait. "I told you, they'll eat anything," he said.
Criminal Probe Launched Into Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs Faces Criminal Probe: The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan has reportedly launched an investigation into Goldman Sachs. According to the Associated Press, federal prosecutors are in the first stages of looking into whether the firm, or its workers committed securities fraud connected to mortgage deals. This, after a referral from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which recently filed its own fraud charges against Goldman and one of its traders. Both the company and the trader deny any wrong doing in that case. The U.S. Attorney's Office would neither confirm nor deny the reports of a criminal investigation. Earlier this week, the firm's executives were grilled by a Senate panel about its conduct leading up to the financial crisis that pushed the economy into a deep recession.
Founder Of iPhone Prototype ID’d
Man who found iPhone prototype identified: The man who sold a next-generation iPhone that he found in a bar has a message for Apple.
Man who found — and sold — the missing iPhone unmasked: Twenty-one-year-old Redwood City, California, resident Brian J. Hogan, the man identified by Wired.com as the guy who found — and later sold — Apple's missing iPhone in a bar last month, has a message for Apple, the engineer who originally lost the precious gadget, and the tech world at large: Sorry about that. Following a trail of "clues" on social-networking sites and confirming his ID with a source "involved in the iPhone find," Wired named Hogan on Thursday as the bar patron who made off with Apple's top-secret iPhone prototype and then sold it to Gizmodo for $5,000 after an Apple software engineer left the precious phone on a bar stool. Up until now, Hogan's identity has been a mystery to the public, but the 21-year-old college student (or at least, he was a college student as of 2008) may have sensed that he was in trouble after all the hoopla over Gizmodo's gigantic iPhone scoop last week and the subsequent fallout, including a raid on Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's house by San Mateo sheriff's deputies armed with a search warrant. Hogan has now lawyered up, and in a statement released through his attorney, the young man says he "regrets his mistake in not doing more to return the phone," and that he thought his $5,000 deal with Gizmodo was only "so that they could review the phone," Wired reports. According to Hogan's attorney's statement, Hogan didn't see the lost iPhone until another patron at the Redwood City bar came up and asked him if it was his; Hogan apparently then asked a few other patrons if they'd lost the device before heading out, iPhone in hand, according to Wired. Initial reports had it that the man who'd taken the iPhone tried repeatedly to call the Apple Care support line to return the phone, but according to the statement in the Wired story, Hogan never personally called Apple, although a friend of his offered to. The owners of the bar where the iPhone was lost also told Wired that Hogan never bothered to call them about the lost hardware, although the anguished Apple engineer who mislaid the iPhone "returned several times" to see if it had turned up. Meanwhile, CNET is reporting that Hogan had help in finding a buyer for the lost iPhone. The "go-between," according to CNET: 27-year-old Sage Robert Wallower, a UC Berkeley student who "contacted technology sites" about the handset. Wallower told CNET that he "didn't see it or touch it in any manner" but knows "who found it," adding, "I need to speak to a lawyer ... I think I have said too much." No one has been charged yet in the case of the lost iPhone, but a deputy district attorney for San Mateo County tells Wired that Hogan is "very definitely ... being looked at as a suspect in theft." (In California, finding a piece of lost property isn't a case of "finders keepers"; if you find a lost item and keep it without making "reasonable" efforts to find the real owner, you could be charged with a crime.) Gizmodo's Jason Chen also has yet to be charged; law-enforcement officials have reportedly said they'll hold off on searching the computers and servers seized from Chen's house until they decide whether California's shield law for journalists applies to him.
Man who found — and sold — the missing iPhone unmasked: Twenty-one-year-old Redwood City, California, resident Brian J. Hogan, the man identified by Wired.com as the guy who found — and later sold — Apple's missing iPhone in a bar last month, has a message for Apple, the engineer who originally lost the precious gadget, and the tech world at large: Sorry about that. Following a trail of "clues" on social-networking sites and confirming his ID with a source "involved in the iPhone find," Wired named Hogan on Thursday as the bar patron who made off with Apple's top-secret iPhone prototype and then sold it to Gizmodo for $5,000 after an Apple software engineer left the precious phone on a bar stool. Up until now, Hogan's identity has been a mystery to the public, but the 21-year-old college student (or at least, he was a college student as of 2008) may have sensed that he was in trouble after all the hoopla over Gizmodo's gigantic iPhone scoop last week and the subsequent fallout, including a raid on Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's house by San Mateo sheriff's deputies armed with a search warrant. Hogan has now lawyered up, and in a statement released through his attorney, the young man says he "regrets his mistake in not doing more to return the phone," and that he thought his $5,000 deal with Gizmodo was only "so that they could review the phone," Wired reports. According to Hogan's attorney's statement, Hogan didn't see the lost iPhone until another patron at the Redwood City bar came up and asked him if it was his; Hogan apparently then asked a few other patrons if they'd lost the device before heading out, iPhone in hand, according to Wired. Initial reports had it that the man who'd taken the iPhone tried repeatedly to call the Apple Care support line to return the phone, but according to the statement in the Wired story, Hogan never personally called Apple, although a friend of his offered to. The owners of the bar where the iPhone was lost also told Wired that Hogan never bothered to call them about the lost hardware, although the anguished Apple engineer who mislaid the iPhone "returned several times" to see if it had turned up. Meanwhile, CNET is reporting that Hogan had help in finding a buyer for the lost iPhone. The "go-between," according to CNET: 27-year-old Sage Robert Wallower, a UC Berkeley student who "contacted technology sites" about the handset. Wallower told CNET that he "didn't see it or touch it in any manner" but knows "who found it," adding, "I need to speak to a lawyer ... I think I have said too much." No one has been charged yet in the case of the lost iPhone, but a deputy district attorney for San Mateo County tells Wired that Hogan is "very definitely ... being looked at as a suspect in theft." (In California, finding a piece of lost property isn't a case of "finders keepers"; if you find a lost item and keep it without making "reasonable" efforts to find the real owner, you could be charged with a crime.) Gizmodo's Jason Chen also has yet to be charged; law-enforcement officials have reportedly said they'll hold off on searching the computers and servers seized from Chen's house until they decide whether California's shield law for journalists applies to him.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
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Everything In It’s Own Season
Life is overflowing with the new. But it is necessary to empty out the old to make room for the new to enter.
-Eileen Caddy
-Eileen Caddy
A Wal-Mart Horror Story
A Wal-Mart Worker's Horror Story: Passed over for promotion in favor of teenagers? Subject to sexual innuendo from a supervisor? Dee Gunter says this and more happened at the megastore-and that's why she's suing the company. Dee Gunter is nobody's stereotype of a feminist-or a Wal-Mart hater. A fundamentalist Christian who swears she's "no women's libber," she's also a named plaintiff in Betty Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the largest civil rights lawsuit in history, which charges the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer with discriminating against its female employees in pay and promotions. Related story on The Daily Beast: Put a Mom on the Court. When Gunter came to work at a Wal-Mart in Riverside, California, in 1996, at the age of 46, with 20 years of retail experience, she was sure she'd advance in the company. A passionate animal lover, she also boasted 30 years of experience raising show dogs. Yet Gunter says she was rejected for the position of pet department head because she "didn't have enough experience." The job went (twice) to teenage boys. During her tenure at the company, Gunter was repeatedly passed over for promotion in favor of men she had trained, she says in court documents. Her bosses didn't pretend to be running a civilized workplace: Once, after she'd had a fight with her husband, her supervisor suggested, "Why don't you put your face in my lap and take care of both of our problems?" On the day of a scheduled meeting with her district manager to discuss all this, Dee Gunter was fired. She joined the Dukes lawsuit because "this isn't the Stone Age, and it isn't the age of Scarlett O'Hara." On Monday a panel of California judges ruled that the case, first filed in 2001, should move forward as a class action suit. It's about time. While stories like Dee Gunter's are outrageous, the data on the company's employment practices are even more disturbing, revealing how pervasive the discrimination has been. When the suit was first filed, two-thirds of Wal-Mart's work force was female, while two-thirds of its managers were men. Women were paid less than men in just about every job title, for doing exactly the same work. Women were also placed in lower-paying jobs, consistently. All this was true even though women stayed at Wal-Mart longer than men, and earned higher performance ratings. Wal-Mart executives were well aware of the inequities for years. Sam Walton, the company's legendary founder wrote in his 1992 autobiography about the barriers women faced at Wal-Mart. And an internal report in 1996 found "a pervasive hostility to women in management" and widespread agreement that "stereotypes limit opportunities offered to women" at the company. A year before the lawsuit was filed, Coleman Peterson, the company's then head of human resources (or, in Wal-Mart's whimsical argot, "People Division" ) and resident Cassandra, warned his colleagues that Wal-Mart lagged far behind its competitors promoting women into management-another version of an alarm he'd been sounding for years. The old-boys network at the company's headquarters did nothing. Gunter's husband, a retired Teamster, supports her legal fight, but would have preferred to go to the store and beat up the guy who made gross, salacious comments to his wife. When I met the couple in 2003, Gunter smiled indulgently at this. Referring to the litigation, she says: "I tell him, This way is better. This is the Christian way.'" That may be, but the jury's still out on which approach would be more effective. It's been a long and grueling lawsuit-and hasn't even gone to trial yet. Wal-Mart, desperate to prevent such a trial, has stalled the process with continual appeals over the same issue: whether this case even deserves to be a class action suit. Betty Dukes v. Wal-Mart represents more than a million past and present employees of the company. The company's main argument against class action status-pioneering the "too big to..." argument now used by banks to justify no-strings-attached bailouts with taxpayer money-has been that the class in this case is too "unmanageably" large, and that the women should bring individual lawsuits. Dukes was first certified as a class action in 2004, when a 9th Circuit judge ruled that companies should not get away with illegal behavior simply because they were big, and that the case should proceed. Wal-Mart appealed that decision, making the "too big" argument yet again, this time to a panel of federal judges. That panel finally made its decision Monday, upholding 9th Circuit's 2004 decision. After nearly a decade, the plaintiffs and their lawyers now seem hopeful that the women of Wal-Mart will get their day in court. But Wal-Mart has already declared its intention to appeal the certification yet again, and is willing to take the matter to the Supreme Court. No one knows how likely the Supremes are to take the case. If they decline, Wal-Mart will at long last have to accept a trial, and defend its record, rather than continually brandishing its size like a playground flasher. Liza Featherstone is the author of Selling Women Short (Basic, 2004), a book about the Dukes v. Wal-Mart lawsuit.
Mother Question Sparks Outrage
Dolphins GM apologizes for question to Dez Bryant: MIAMI— Dolphins owner Stephen Ross will "take appropriate actions if necessary" against general manager Jeff Ireland for asking former Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant whether his mother was ever a prostitute. Ireland apologized for the question, and the NFL players union raised concerns Wednesday about discrimination and degradation. Ross issued a statement saying he'll look into the matter personally. "As an owner of many companies and organizations, including the Miami Dolphins, I have always strived to comply with the highest standards in all aspects of my businesses, including recruiting," Ross said. "In interviewing employees, we always look to obtain relevant and appropriate information in adherence with the best industry practices." An NFL statement said Ireland "exercised poor judgment in asking an insensitive and inappropriate question." League spokesman Greg Aiello added, "Steve Ross' statement makes clear that the Miami Dolphins intend to address this matter promptly in an effective and thoughtful way." Aiello said Ireland "took the proper step of calling Dez Bryant to apologize and then making that apology public." Ireland's apology came only after Yahoo! Sports reported that he posed the question several weeks ago during a pre-draft interview with Bryant. "My job is to find out as much information as possible about a player that I'm considering drafting," Ireland said in a statement. "Sometimes that leads to asking in-depth questions. Having said that, I talked to Dez Bryant and told him I used poor judgment in one of the questions I asked him. I certainly meant no disrespect and apologized to him. "I appreciate his acceptance of that apology, and I told him I wished him well as he embarks on his NFL career." Before the draft, Bryant's background received extensive scrutiny from NFL teams because of concerns about character issues. He was taken by the Dallas Cowboys with the 24th pick in the first round last Thursday. "My mom is not a prostitute," Bryant told Yahoo! Sports. As for his reaction to Ireland's question: "I got mad _ really mad _ but I didn't show it." NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said Ireland's question raised worrisome issues. "We need to make sure the men of this league are treated as businessmen," Smith said in a statement. "During interviews, our players and prospective players should never be subjected to discrimination or degradation stemming from the biases or misconceptions held by team personnel." Bryant is black. Ireland is white. "NFL teams cannot have the free reign to ask questions during the interview process which can be categorized as stereotyping or which may bring a personal insult to any player as a man," Smith said. "For the past year, active, former and incoming players have heard me speak about the expectations we have of them as members of this union, their teams, communities and families. It is equally true that the same kind of respect is demanded of their employers."
Gruesome Details In Trainer's Death
Trainer nose-to-nose with whale before she died: ORLANDO, Fla.— A SeaWorld Orlando trainer managed to free herself for a short time and tried to swim to the surface after she was dragged underwater by a killer whale, but the animal thwarted her attempts by striking her at least twice, according to a final death report released Wednesday. Dawn Brancheau, 40, had been lying on her stomach on a cement slab in three inches of water, nose-to-nose with the killer whale, Tilikum, when her long hair floated into the orca's mouth and he dragged her down. Lynne Schaber, a SeaWorld employee, told detectives that when she saw Brancheau underwater with the whale, she knew the trainer was in trouble since the Tilikum "is a possessive animal." "He normally keeps things that he has and will not release them," the report said. Another SeaWorld trainer, Jan Topoleski, told detectives that he sounded an alarm when he noticed Brancheau struggling to free her hair from the killer whale's mouth. When he turned back toward Brancheau, she had disappeared underwater. She was dragged to her death at the end of a Feb. 24 Dine with Shamu show, according to the report from Orange County Sheriff's Office homicide detectives. Topoleski told detectives that Brancheau did nothing to agitate Tilikum. SeaWorld workers used nets to try to corral Tilikum and free Brancheau less than three minutes after the trainer was dragged under. But it took at least a half-hour, moving from pool to pool in the orca complex, before they could recover her body. SeaWorld worker Chahine Kish said Tilikum appeared to grow more frantic as other workers used nets and threw food to distract him from Brancheau. Another employee said that once Tilikum was captured and raised out of the water on a platform, Brancheau's body was freed. But workers had to capture the whale again when they realized he still had Brancheau's arm. The medical examiner said Brancheau died from drowning and traumatic injuries. The death was ruled an accident. It marked the third time Tilikum had been involved in a human death. Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 after the woman lost her balance and fell in the pool at Sealand of the Pacific near Victoria, British Columbia. Tilikum also was also involved in a 1999 death, when the body of a man who had sneaked by SeaWorld Orlando security was found draped over him. Sea World trainers were forbidden from getting in the water with Tilikum because of the previous deaths.
Plan To Silence City Tour Buses Rolls Along
Noisy tour buses that aggravate some New Yorkers are about to be a thing of the past. The City Council is expected a pass a law Thursday that would ban open-air tour buses from using speakers to talk to tourists. The bill's sponsor, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer, says the sound now penetrates buildings. Twin America, the company that owns City Sights and Gray Line tour buses, feels the industry is being unfairly singled out. A company official estimates it will cost $5 million to install a new quiet sound system that would force passengers to listen to their guide through headphones. "They have enormous diesel engines that make a lot of noise, coupled with microphones that the tour guides use, the combination of that noise is exorbitant," said bill supporter Barbara Backer. "Tourism is a very big part of what makes New York City great. It is going to be altered. I wouldn't think I would want to visit a city and sit on a double decker bus and be forced to use a headset," said Twin City representative David Chien. All open-air buses would have to comply with the new rules by 2015. Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to sign the legislation.
Only Five Remain On 'American Idol'
'American Idol' boots another finalist: LOS ANGELES— Siobhan Magnus really has something to scream about now. The eccentric 20-year-old glass blower with a penchant for wailing at the end of her "American Idol" performances was eliminated from the Fox singing competition Wednesday. The judges praised Magnus' energetic rendition of Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine" on Tuesday's show, but the Marstons Mills, Mass., woman received the fewest viewer votes. "I did my best, and I hope that I was able to show them what we're all capable of," Magnus said when asked about what she wanted her younger sisters take away from her "Idol" experience. Joining her in the bottom three were 27-year-old construction worker Casey James of Fort Worth, Texas, and 26-year-old personal trainer Michael Lynche of Queens, N.Y. The judges complimented James' delicate interpretation of "Don't!" and Lynche's soulful rendition of "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" on the evening of tunes from mentor Twain's songbook. The other finalists remaining in the singing competition are: 24-year-old musician Crystal Bowersox of Toledo, Ohio; 24-year-old paint sales clerk Lee Dewyze of Mount Prospect, Ill.; and 17-year-old high school student Aaron Kelly from Sonestown, Pa. Next week, the singers will be mentored by Harry Connick Jr. and perform songs from Frank Sinatra. Siobhan Magnus really has something to scream about now. The 20-year-old glass blower with a penchant for wailing at the end of her "American Idol" performances was eliminated from the Fox singing competition Wednesday. The judges praised Magnus' energetic rendition of Shania Twain's "Any Man of Mine" on Tuesday's show, but the Marstons Mills, Mass., woman received the fewest viewer votes. Joining Magnus in the bottom three were 27-year-old construction worker Casey James of Fort Worth, Texas, and 26-year-old personal trainer Michael Lynche of Queens, N.Y. The judges complimented James' delicate interpretation of "Don't!" and Lynche's soulful rendition of "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing" on the evening of tunes from Twain's songbook.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
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Become A Pre-Paid Legal Member Today - Membership Helps!
The Pre-Paid Legal membership helps people. We see it every day. Read below to see how having and using the PPL membership made a difference in our members' lives.
1. Member contacted our office regarding an ongoing dispute that they have had with a bank. Member informed us that she wrote a convenience check on an account for the sum of $35,000.00 payable to a trust in October of 2008. That check was dishonored for some reason. She then wrote a replacement check on November 5, 2008. The bank then debited the account for an additional sum of $28,768.77, which member was informed was paid to the trust, but member had no evidence of that. Furthermore, that payment never was authorized by the account holders nor was any check written for that sum. In fact, after the replacement check of November 5, 2008 was written, there only was $4,000.00 available in the line of credit. As a result, member has been charged interest on a check that never was written and, possibly, charged some fees for an overdraft. Our office wrote letters on behalf of member, demanding that if the sum of $28,768.77 or any portion thereof was taken from member, that they immediately credit it back to their account together with any interest or fees charged as a result of the debit, in addition to having any negative impact to member?s credit be reversed. As a result, the bank removed the erroneous charge of $28,768.00, all late fees and excessive interest charges from member?s account ? in addition to the negative information reported to the credit bureaus. Member was thrilled with our assistance.
2. Member contacted our office regarding a problem he was having collecting payment for cleaning services rendered. Member advised that he was hired to clean other party?s office, however they refused to pay despite member?s numerous attempts. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to collect $600.00.
3. Member contacted our office regarding money she paid for her son to attend driving school. Member advised that she paid $2,500.00 in advance, but her son never attended the classes. Member contacted the other party, but they refused to refund her money. Member further advised that she did not sign any contract, nor was she made aware of a refund policy. Our office wrote a letter on member's behalf and was able to obtain a full refund!
4. Member contacted our office regarding a judgment she won against another party. Member advised that she paid other party for services that she never received. Member took other party to court and was awarded a judgment. Member did not receive payment despite her numerous attempts. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to obtain a refund in the amount of $1,065.00.
5. Member contacted our office regarding a problem she was having with her credit card company. Member claims she paid her credit card bill prior to the due date using on-line bill payment. Credit card company first claimed that they didn?t receive her payment until the day after the due date and assessed a late fee to her bill. Member inquired as to her payment & the late fee, and the credit card company then advised that they didn?t even receive the payment (even though member?s bank is showing the on-line check was cashed). Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to obtain a credit on member?s behalf as well as credit for the late fee, saving member $614.00.
6. Member contacted our office regarding a tax issue. Member advised that he formed a NYS corporation in 1998 to publish a magazine. He failed to dissolve the corporation; consequently his tax debt appears to be based on nonpayment of franchise fees. Our attorney reviewed docs on member?s behalf and advised member how to proceed. Member followed attorney?s instructions and was able to obtain a considerable reduction of taxes owed ? saving member $4,642.00.
7. Member contacted our office regarding a landlord/tenant issue. Member advised that there was a fire in her building and she had to vacate her apartment indefinitely. Landlord provided member with an apartment rent free for one month, but it was apparent that member would be there much longer than the month. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to obtain another month at the new apartment rent free, in addition to the return of her security deposit.
8. Member contacted our office regarding a consumer matter. Member advised that he paid $600.00 to a real estate broker to find an apartment. The broker was to send member a lease, which he never did. Member advised that he never signed any contracts with this broker, but member then found an apartment on his own and wanted a full refund of the money he paid to the broker. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to obtain a full refund of $600.00. Member was very pleased.
9. Provider received a phone call from a store clerk from a Wal-Mart Supercenter. She told me that she found a wallet, but there was no information to reach the person who lost it, except her Pre-Paid Legal membership card - she provided me with the membership number and her name. I took down her information, then called member to let her know that they had found her wallet. Member was so thrilled, she started screaming! She had been so upset about losing her wallet, as you can imagine, and very grateful that I had called her. Just thought I share this little story with you. I know it made my day!
10. Member contacted our office regarding a debt she allegedly had with a credit card company. Member advised that during the trial, the opposing counsel tried to get member to show them her file, because apparently they had lost their own file and the statute of limitations was approaching. Our attorney advised member that this is the oldest trick in the book, trying to get the defendant to prove the plaintiff?s case, and advised member to keep her file to herself. Member was released from a debt in excess of $6,500.00 when judge dismissed the case! Member was thrilled because the credit card company had been bugging her incessantly for several years!
11. Member contacted our office regarding a banking matter. Member advised that she pre-authorized a payment on a loan that was to be deducted on the 3rd of the month. Member advised that the other party deducted the payment on the 30th of the previous month, and as a result member incurred overdraft fees. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to recover all bank fees, totaling $140.00.
1. Member contacted our office regarding an ongoing dispute that they have had with a bank. Member informed us that she wrote a convenience check on an account for the sum of $35,000.00 payable to a trust in October of 2008. That check was dishonored for some reason. She then wrote a replacement check on November 5, 2008. The bank then debited the account for an additional sum of $28,768.77, which member was informed was paid to the trust, but member had no evidence of that. Furthermore, that payment never was authorized by the account holders nor was any check written for that sum. In fact, after the replacement check of November 5, 2008 was written, there only was $4,000.00 available in the line of credit. As a result, member has been charged interest on a check that never was written and, possibly, charged some fees for an overdraft. Our office wrote letters on behalf of member, demanding that if the sum of $28,768.77 or any portion thereof was taken from member, that they immediately credit it back to their account together with any interest or fees charged as a result of the debit, in addition to having any negative impact to member?s credit be reversed. As a result, the bank removed the erroneous charge of $28,768.00, all late fees and excessive interest charges from member?s account ? in addition to the negative information reported to the credit bureaus. Member was thrilled with our assistance.
2. Member contacted our office regarding a problem he was having collecting payment for cleaning services rendered. Member advised that he was hired to clean other party?s office, however they refused to pay despite member?s numerous attempts. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to collect $600.00.
3. Member contacted our office regarding money she paid for her son to attend driving school. Member advised that she paid $2,500.00 in advance, but her son never attended the classes. Member contacted the other party, but they refused to refund her money. Member further advised that she did not sign any contract, nor was she made aware of a refund policy. Our office wrote a letter on member's behalf and was able to obtain a full refund!
4. Member contacted our office regarding a judgment she won against another party. Member advised that she paid other party for services that she never received. Member took other party to court and was awarded a judgment. Member did not receive payment despite her numerous attempts. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to obtain a refund in the amount of $1,065.00.
5. Member contacted our office regarding a problem she was having with her credit card company. Member claims she paid her credit card bill prior to the due date using on-line bill payment. Credit card company first claimed that they didn?t receive her payment until the day after the due date and assessed a late fee to her bill. Member inquired as to her payment & the late fee, and the credit card company then advised that they didn?t even receive the payment (even though member?s bank is showing the on-line check was cashed). Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to obtain a credit on member?s behalf as well as credit for the late fee, saving member $614.00.
6. Member contacted our office regarding a tax issue. Member advised that he formed a NYS corporation in 1998 to publish a magazine. He failed to dissolve the corporation; consequently his tax debt appears to be based on nonpayment of franchise fees. Our attorney reviewed docs on member?s behalf and advised member how to proceed. Member followed attorney?s instructions and was able to obtain a considerable reduction of taxes owed ? saving member $4,642.00.
7. Member contacted our office regarding a landlord/tenant issue. Member advised that there was a fire in her building and she had to vacate her apartment indefinitely. Landlord provided member with an apartment rent free for one month, but it was apparent that member would be there much longer than the month. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to obtain another month at the new apartment rent free, in addition to the return of her security deposit.
8. Member contacted our office regarding a consumer matter. Member advised that he paid $600.00 to a real estate broker to find an apartment. The broker was to send member a lease, which he never did. Member advised that he never signed any contracts with this broker, but member then found an apartment on his own and wanted a full refund of the money he paid to the broker. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to obtain a full refund of $600.00. Member was very pleased.
9. Provider received a phone call from a store clerk from a Wal-Mart Supercenter. She told me that she found a wallet, but there was no information to reach the person who lost it, except her Pre-Paid Legal membership card - she provided me with the membership number and her name. I took down her information, then called member to let her know that they had found her wallet. Member was so thrilled, she started screaming! She had been so upset about losing her wallet, as you can imagine, and very grateful that I had called her. Just thought I share this little story with you. I know it made my day!
10. Member contacted our office regarding a debt she allegedly had with a credit card company. Member advised that during the trial, the opposing counsel tried to get member to show them her file, because apparently they had lost their own file and the statute of limitations was approaching. Our attorney advised member that this is the oldest trick in the book, trying to get the defendant to prove the plaintiff?s case, and advised member to keep her file to herself. Member was released from a debt in excess of $6,500.00 when judge dismissed the case! Member was thrilled because the credit card company had been bugging her incessantly for several years!
11. Member contacted our office regarding a banking matter. Member advised that she pre-authorized a payment on a loan that was to be deducted on the 3rd of the month. Member advised that the other party deducted the payment on the 30th of the previous month, and as a result member incurred overdraft fees. Our office wrote a letter on member?s behalf and was able to recover all bank fees, totaling $140.00.
Malcolm X Killer Freed
Malcolm X assassin Hagan freed on parole in NYC: NEW YORK _ The only man to admit shooting Malcolm X was freed on parole Tuesday, 45 years after he assassinated the civil rights leader. Thomas Hagan, the last man still serving time in the 1965 killing, was freed from a Manhattan prison where he spent two days a week under a work-release program, state Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Linda Foglia said. Hagan, 69, has said he was one of three gunmen who shot Malcolm X as he began a speech at Harlem's Audubon Ballroom on Feb. 21, 1965. But Hagan has said the two men convicted with him were not involved. They maintained their innocence and were paroled in the 1980s. No one else has ever been charged. The assassins gunned down Malcolm X out of anger at his split with the leadership of the Nation of Islam, the black Muslim movement for which he had once served as chief spokesman, said Hagan, who was then known as Talmadge X Hayer. He has repeatedly expressed regret for his role in the assassination, which he described in a 2008 court filing as the deed of a young man who "acted out of rage on impulse and loyalty" to religious leaders. "I've had a lot of time, a heck of a lot of time, to think about it," Hagan told a parole board last month, according to a transcript of the interview. "I understand a lot better the dynamics of movements and what can happen inside movements, and conflicts that can come up, but I have deep regrets about my participation in that," said Hagan, adding that he had earned a master's degree in sociology since his conviction. The board granted Hagan's parole request on his 17th try. He was initially scheduled for release Wednesday, but the date was moved up because his paperwork was completed, Foglia said. Hagan declined to comment Tuesday afternoon. "I really haven't had any time to gather my thoughts on anything," he said. The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, an organization founded by the civil rights leader's late widow, hasn't taken a position on Hagan's parole, board chairman Zead Ramadan said. "We just don't think it's ours to decide the fate of this man. We allowed the laws of this nation to develop that," Ramadan said. But another group, the Malcolm X Commemoration Committee, decried Hagan's parole at a press conference earlier this month. The organization holds essay contests and other events in his memory. The Manhattan District Attorney's office, which prosecuted Hagan and his co-defendants, had no immediate comment on his release. Under his work-release arrangement, Hagan also spent five days a week working in settings that included a homeless shelter; he spent those nights at his Brooklyn home with his family. He told the parole board he hopes to become a substance abuse counselor. FILE - In this 1963 file photo, Black Nationalist leader Malcolm X is pictured at a rally at Lennox Avenue and 115th St., in the Harlem section of New York. The only man to admit shooting Malcolm X has been freed on parole, 45 years after he helped assassinate the civil rights leader in New York City. State Department of Correctional Services spokeswoman Linda Foglia says Thomas Hagan was freed Tuesday, April 27, 2010.
Four Habits That Age You
Bad habits can age you by 12 years, study suggests: CHICAGO— Four common bad habits combined _ smoking, drinking too much, inactivity and poor diet _ can age you by 12 years, sobering new research suggests. The findings are from a study that tracked nearly 5,000 British adults for 20 years, and they highlight yet another reason to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Overall, 314 people studied had all four unhealthy behaviors. Among them, 91 died during the study, or 29 percent. Among the 387 healthiest people with none of the four habits, only 32 died, or about 8 percent. The risky behaviors were: smoking tobacco; downing more than three alcoholic drinks per day for men and more than two daily for women; getting less than two hours of physical activity per week; and eating fruits and vegetables fewer than three times daily. These habits combined substantially increased the risk of death and made people who engaged in them seem 12 years older than people in the healthiest group, said lead researcher Elisabeth Kvaavik of the University of Oslo. The study appears in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine. The healthiest group included never-smokers and those who had quit; teetotalers, women who had fewer than two drinks daily and men who had fewer than three; those who got at least two hours of physical activity weekly; and those who ate fruits and vegetables at least three times daily. "You don't need to be extreme" to be in the healthy category, Kvaavik said. "These behaviors add up, so together it's quite good. It should be possible for most people to manage to do it." For example, one carrot, one apple and a glass of orange juice would suffice for the fruit and vegetable cutoffs in the study, Kvaavik said, noting that the amounts are pretty modest and less strict than many guidelines. The U.S. government generally recommends at least 4 cups of fruits or vegetables daily for adults, depending on age and activity level; and about 2 1/2 hours of exercise weekly. Study participants were 4,886 British adults aged 18 and older, or 44 years old on average. They were randomly selected from participants in a separate nationwide British health survey. Study subjects were asked about various lifestyle habits only once, a potential limitation, but Kvaavik said those habits tend to be fairly stable in adulthood. Death certificates were checked for the next 20 years. The most common causes of death included heart disease and cancer, both related to unhealthy lifestyles. Kvaavik said her results are applicable to other westernized nations including the United States. June Stevens, a University of North Carolina public health researcher, said the results are in line with previous studies that examined the combined effects of health-related habits on longevity. The findings don't mean that everyone who maintains a healthy lifestyle will live longer than those who don't, but it will increase the odds, Stevens said.
Disabled Teen Found Unconscious On Subway; Police Seek ID
Police Seek ID Of Disabled Teen Found On Subway: Police are asking for the public's help identifying a 16-year-old boy who was found unconscious Tuesday on a Manhattan subway. Police say officers found the teen around 10:30 a.m. on a northbound 3 train at 148th Street in Hamilton Heights. They say the young man, who is mentally handicapped, was very dehydrated and taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. The teen is described as being 5' 11", 185 pounds, with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a blue hooded shirt, a blue turtleneck, blue jeans and black shoes. Anyone with information about the case is being asked to contact Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS, by texting TIP577 to CRIMES, or by going to NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.
Senate showdown puts Goldman's defense on display
A Senate showdown has put Goldman Sachs' defense of its conduct in the run-up to the financial crisis on display before indignant lawmakers and a national audience. Democrats hope it also builds momentum for legislation, now before the Senate, to tighten regulation of the nation's financial system.
Senate showdown puts Goldman's defense on display: WASHINGTON – A Senate showdown has put Goldman Sachs' defense of its conduct in the run-up to the financial crisis on display before indignant lawmakers and a national audience. Democrats hope it also builds momentum for legislation, now before the Senate, to tighten regulation of the nation's financial system. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein testily told skeptical senators at a hearing Tuesday that clients who bought subprime mortgage securities from the Wall Street powerhouse in 2006 and 2007 came looking for risk "and that's what they got." The Senate investigative panel alleges the firm bet against its clients — and the housing market — by taking short positions on mortgage securities, and failed to tell them that the securities it was selling were very high risk. Blankfein was the final witness in a daylong hearing on Goldman's conduct before the financial near-meltdown that turned into the worst recession since the Great Depression. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud suit earlier this month against the firm and one of its traders. Goldman's CEO and other executives were lambasted by senators for "unbridled greed" in an often-electric showdown between Wall Street and Congress — with expletives frequently undeleted. Unrepentant, five present and two former Goldman executives unflinchingly stood by their conduct before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which had probed Goldman's activities for 18 months. "Unfortunately, the housing market went south very quickly," Blankfein told the panel. "So people lost money in it." Nearby at the Capitol, Republicans succeeded for a second day in blocking efforts to move toward Senate debate and a vote on the sweeping financial overhaul legislation. At the same time, they floated a partial alternative that they said could lead to an election-year compromise on an issue that commands strong public support. Additional votes are expected later in the week. Among an array of changes, the legislation would crack down on the kind of lightly regulated housing market investments that helped set off the crisis in 2007. Both sides are trying to harness voter anger toward Wall Street. Unlike with the health care debate, both Democrats and Republicans say they want tighter regulations passed — but they disagree on timing and significant details. Whether Tuesday's hearing would help Democrats win Republican converts on the legislation remained an open question. "It's too soon to tell," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the panel's chairman, said in a brief interview outside the hearing room. "We'll have to wait until the dust settles." At the hearing, there was hour upon hour — nearly 11 hours in all, winding up just before 9 p.m. EDT — of combative exchanges, occasional humor and long stretches of senators and Wall Street insiders speaking past each other. There was talk of ethical obligations versus financial transactions so complex they all but defy explanation. And there were a half-dozen protesters dressed head to toe in prison stripes with Goldman executives' names around their necks. Senators from both parties verbally pounded the Goldman executives, accusing them of a financial version of rigged casino gambling that they said endangered the entire U.S. economy. That drew a protest from Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican. In Las Vegas, he said, "people know the odds are against them. They play anyway. On Wall Street, they manipulate the odds while you're playing the game." Away from the hearing room, analysts and investors suggested the firm was surviving the hearing with its reputation intact, something its stock performance for the day may have underscored. Goldman's stock rose $1.01 to $153.04 on Tuesday, a day in which the Dow Jones industrials had their worst drop in nearly three months, down 213 points. Levin cited a "fundamental conflict" in Goldman's selling to clients home-loan securities that company e-mails showed its own employees had derided as "junk" and "crap" — and then betting against the same securities and not telling the buyers. "They're buying something from you, and you are betting against it. And you want people to trust you. I wouldn't trust you," Levin told Blankfein. Blankfein denied such a conflict in a feisty exchange. "We do hundreds of thousands, if not millions of transactions a day, as a market maker," he said, noting that behind every transaction there was a buyer and a seller, creating both winners and losers. Levin vigorously pressed about an e-mail between Goldman executives describing one product called Timberwolf as "one s----y deal." "Your top priority is to sell that s----y deal," Levin said. "Should Goldman Sachs be trying to sell a s----y deal?" "I didn't use that term with respect to this deal," the executive responded. Other senators repeated the language in their questioning. Blankfein said the company didn't bet against its clients — and can't survive without their trust. He repeated the company's assertion that it lost $1.2 billion in the residential mortgage meltdown in 2007 and 2008 that touched off the financial crisis and a severe recession. He also argued that Goldman wasn't making an aggressive negative bet — or short — on the mortgage market's slide. He and other executives described their use of complex trading tools as a way to reduce risks for the company and its clients. Earlier, Levin said that financial industry lobbyists "fill the halls of Congress, hoping to weaken or kill legislation" to increase regulation. He accused Wall Street firms of selling securities they wouldn't invest in themselves. That's "unbridled greed in the absence of the cop on the beat to control it," he said. The Goldman witnesses strongly denied that the firm intentionally cashed in on the housing crash by crafting a strategy to bet against home loan securities while misleading its own clients. "I will defend myself in court against this false claim," said Fabrice Tourre, a French-born 31-year-old Goldman trader who was the only individual named in the SEC suit. "I deny — categorically — the SEC's allegation." The SEC says Tourre marketed securities without telling buyers they had been chosen with help from a Goldman hedge fund client that was betting the investments would fail. The commission alleged that Tourre told investors the hedge fund, Paulson & Co., actually bought into the investments. Tourre said he didn't recall telling investors that. Tourre said: "I am saddened and humbled by what happened in the market in 2007 and 2008. ... But I believe my conduct was proper." Was Goldman harmed by the hearing? "Despite the interrogation, the Goldman team hasn't really provided any new information," market analyst Edward Yardeni said. "And the (senators) aren't creating a more damaging view than already existed." "Right now, it looks like the PR battle has been fought to a draw," Yardeni added.
Senate showdown puts Goldman's defense on display: WASHINGTON – A Senate showdown has put Goldman Sachs' defense of its conduct in the run-up to the financial crisis on display before indignant lawmakers and a national audience. Democrats hope it also builds momentum for legislation, now before the Senate, to tighten regulation of the nation's financial system. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein testily told skeptical senators at a hearing Tuesday that clients who bought subprime mortgage securities from the Wall Street powerhouse in 2006 and 2007 came looking for risk "and that's what they got." The Senate investigative panel alleges the firm bet against its clients — and the housing market — by taking short positions on mortgage securities, and failed to tell them that the securities it was selling were very high risk. Blankfein was the final witness in a daylong hearing on Goldman's conduct before the financial near-meltdown that turned into the worst recession since the Great Depression. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil fraud suit earlier this month against the firm and one of its traders. Goldman's CEO and other executives were lambasted by senators for "unbridled greed" in an often-electric showdown between Wall Street and Congress — with expletives frequently undeleted. Unrepentant, five present and two former Goldman executives unflinchingly stood by their conduct before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which had probed Goldman's activities for 18 months. "Unfortunately, the housing market went south very quickly," Blankfein told the panel. "So people lost money in it." Nearby at the Capitol, Republicans succeeded for a second day in blocking efforts to move toward Senate debate and a vote on the sweeping financial overhaul legislation. At the same time, they floated a partial alternative that they said could lead to an election-year compromise on an issue that commands strong public support. Additional votes are expected later in the week. Among an array of changes, the legislation would crack down on the kind of lightly regulated housing market investments that helped set off the crisis in 2007. Both sides are trying to harness voter anger toward Wall Street. Unlike with the health care debate, both Democrats and Republicans say they want tighter regulations passed — but they disagree on timing and significant details. Whether Tuesday's hearing would help Democrats win Republican converts on the legislation remained an open question. "It's too soon to tell," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the panel's chairman, said in a brief interview outside the hearing room. "We'll have to wait until the dust settles." At the hearing, there was hour upon hour — nearly 11 hours in all, winding up just before 9 p.m. EDT — of combative exchanges, occasional humor and long stretches of senators and Wall Street insiders speaking past each other. There was talk of ethical obligations versus financial transactions so complex they all but defy explanation. And there were a half-dozen protesters dressed head to toe in prison stripes with Goldman executives' names around their necks. Senators from both parties verbally pounded the Goldman executives, accusing them of a financial version of rigged casino gambling that they said endangered the entire U.S. economy. That drew a protest from Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican. In Las Vegas, he said, "people know the odds are against them. They play anyway. On Wall Street, they manipulate the odds while you're playing the game." Away from the hearing room, analysts and investors suggested the firm was surviving the hearing with its reputation intact, something its stock performance for the day may have underscored. Goldman's stock rose $1.01 to $153.04 on Tuesday, a day in which the Dow Jones industrials had their worst drop in nearly three months, down 213 points. Levin cited a "fundamental conflict" in Goldman's selling to clients home-loan securities that company e-mails showed its own employees had derided as "junk" and "crap" — and then betting against the same securities and not telling the buyers. "They're buying something from you, and you are betting against it. And you want people to trust you. I wouldn't trust you," Levin told Blankfein. Blankfein denied such a conflict in a feisty exchange. "We do hundreds of thousands, if not millions of transactions a day, as a market maker," he said, noting that behind every transaction there was a buyer and a seller, creating both winners and losers. Levin vigorously pressed about an e-mail between Goldman executives describing one product called Timberwolf as "one s----y deal." "Your top priority is to sell that s----y deal," Levin said. "Should Goldman Sachs be trying to sell a s----y deal?" "I didn't use that term with respect to this deal," the executive responded. Other senators repeated the language in their questioning. Blankfein said the company didn't bet against its clients — and can't survive without their trust. He repeated the company's assertion that it lost $1.2 billion in the residential mortgage meltdown in 2007 and 2008 that touched off the financial crisis and a severe recession. He also argued that Goldman wasn't making an aggressive negative bet — or short — on the mortgage market's slide. He and other executives described their use of complex trading tools as a way to reduce risks for the company and its clients. Earlier, Levin said that financial industry lobbyists "fill the halls of Congress, hoping to weaken or kill legislation" to increase regulation. He accused Wall Street firms of selling securities they wouldn't invest in themselves. That's "unbridled greed in the absence of the cop on the beat to control it," he said. The Goldman witnesses strongly denied that the firm intentionally cashed in on the housing crash by crafting a strategy to bet against home loan securities while misleading its own clients. "I will defend myself in court against this false claim," said Fabrice Tourre, a French-born 31-year-old Goldman trader who was the only individual named in the SEC suit. "I deny — categorically — the SEC's allegation." The SEC says Tourre marketed securities without telling buyers they had been chosen with help from a Goldman hedge fund client that was betting the investments would fail. The commission alleged that Tourre told investors the hedge fund, Paulson & Co., actually bought into the investments. Tourre said he didn't recall telling investors that. Tourre said: "I am saddened and humbled by what happened in the market in 2007 and 2008. ... But I believe my conduct was proper." Was Goldman harmed by the hearing? "Despite the interrogation, the Goldman team hasn't really provided any new information," market analyst Edward Yardeni said. "And the (senators) aren't creating a more damaging view than already existed." "Right now, it looks like the PR battle has been fought to a draw," Yardeni added.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Mall’s Mall! Dynamic City Unlimited = WWW.DCUNY.COM
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Wal-Mart's Huge Legal Problem
Court: Wal-Mart to face massive class-action suit: SAN FRANCISCO— A sharply divided federal appeals court on Monday exposed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to billions of dollars in legal damages when it ruled a massive class action lawsuit alleging gender discrimination over pay for female workers can go to trial. In its 6-5 ruling, the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said the world's largest private employer will have to face charges that it pays women less than men for the same jobs and that female employees receive fewer promotions and have to wait longer for those promotions than male counterparts. The retailer has fiercely fought the lawsuit since it was first filed by six women in federal court in San Francisco in 2001 and said it would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling "opens up every company in America that has employees to class actions like this," said Theodore Boutrous, the company's lead lawyer on the largest gender bias class action in U.S. history. The appeals court upheld a lower court ruling allowing the lawsuit to go forward as a class action, which attorneys for the Wal-Mart employees said encompasses more than 1 million women. Wal-Mart disputes that figure and asserts fewer than 500,000 women are covered by the decision Monday. Either way, the company could lose billions of dollars if it is found liable and required to fork over back pay to the affected women. The appeals court did order the trial court judge to reconsider two important issues that would alter any potential pay out. U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco was told to determine the appropiateness of punitive damages and whether former employees at the time of the 2001 filing of the lawsuit should be part of the class action. The case was transferred to Walker after the resignation of U.S. District Court Judge Martin Jenkins, who ruled against Wal-Mart on those two issues. Wal-Mart employs 1.4 million employees in the United States and 2.1 million workers in 8,000 stores worldwide, and argued that the conventional rules of class action suits should not apply because each outlet operates as an independent business. Since it doesn't have a companywide policy of discrimination, Wal-Mart argued that women alleging gender bias should file individual lawsuits against individual stores. Finally, the retailer argued that the lawsuit is simply too big to defend. "Although the size of this class action is large, mere size does not render a case unmanageable," Judge Michael Daly Hawkins wrote for the majority court, which didn't address the merits of the lawsuit, leaving that for the trial court. Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote a blistering dissent, joined by four of her colleagues. "No court has ever certified a class like this one, until now. And with good reason," Ikuta wrote. "In this case, six women who have worked in thirteen of Wal-Mart's 3,400 stores seek to represent every woman who has worked in those stores over the course of the last decade _ a class estimated in 2001 to include more than 1.5 million women." Analysts said the ruling was a setback to Wal-Mart's campaign to improve its image with shoppers. The ruling was a "big black eye for Wal-Mart, and it's not going to heal anytime in the near future," said retail consultant Burt P. Flickinger. Flickinger said the ruling could turn off women shoppers _ the company's critical base _ at a time it faces increased pressure from a host of competitors, ranging from Kroger to J.C. Penney. Wal-Mart's fourth-quarter results, announced in February, showed that total sales at its U.S. Walmart stores fell for the first time since the company went public in 1969. The company also reported its third consecutive quarter of declines in sales at stores opened at least a year. Sales at stores opened at least a year are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health. Wal-Mart officials sought to focus on the few portions of the 95-page ruling that went its way, including the possible trimming of the number of women who stand to collect damages if Wal-Mart is found liable. The appeals court ordered the trial judge to determine whether the lawsuit should date to all workers as of 1998, as alleged in the complaint, or to 2001 when it was filed. The appeals court also told the trial judge to reconsider the appropriateness of awarding punitive damages, which are awarded above actual damages to punish the accused for bad behavior. Wal-Mart's top lawyer Jeff Gearhart said the company disagreed with the ruling and was considering its next step, which could include an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. "We do not believe the claims alleged by the six individuals who brought this suit are representative of the experiences of our female associates," said Gearhart, an executive vice president. "Walmart is an excellent place for women to work and fosters female leadership among our associates and in the larger business world." The attorneys suing Wal-Mart said they expected an appeal of their near-complete legal victory. "It upheld the heart of the case," said Brad Seligman, the lead lawyer suing Wal-Mart. Seligman said the lawsuit includes newly hired employees and accused Wal-Mart of continuing discriminatory practices. Unions and other critics have long complained that Wal-Mart's workplace practices needed improvement, especially in the areas of diversity and career advancement. The discounter responded to the pressure last year at its annual shareholders' meeting by announcing a plan to address the issue of promoting women, creating a "global council" comprised of 14 Wal-Mart female executives. "We are proud of the strides we have made to advance and support our female associates and have been recognized for our efforts to advance women through a number of awards and accolades," Gearhart said. Wal-Mart shares fell 49 cents to $54.04 at the close of trading.
Roethlisberger Says He's Sorry
Roethlisberger won't appeal suspension: PITTSBURGH— A chastened Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger accepted his six-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy Monday and promised to "comply with what is asked of me _ and more." In his first comments since the NFL handed down the penalty last week, Roethlisberger apologized to his teammates and fans for his behavior last month in a Georgia bar, where a 20-year-old college student accused him of sexual assault. "The commissioner's decision to suspend me speaks clearly that more is expected of me. I am accountable for the consequences of my actions. Though I have committed no crime, I regret that I have fallen short of the values instilled in me by my family," Roethlisberger said in the statement. Roethlisberger was cleared of charges, but commissioner Roger Goodell cracked down on one of his biggest stars because "you are held to a higher standard as an NFL player, and there is nothing about your conduct in Milledgeville (Ga.) that can remotely be described as admirable, responsible, or consistent with either the values of the league of the expectations of our fans." The two-time Super Bowl winner said that while it will be "devastating" to miss games, "I will not appeal the suspension and will comply with what is asked of me _ and more," he said. "I am sorry to let down my teammates and the entire Steelers fan base. I am disappointed that I have reached this point and will not put myself in this situation again," Roethlisberger said. "I appreciate the opportunities that I have been given in my life and will make the necessary improvements." Roethlisberger is the first player suspended by Goodell under the conduct policy who hasn't been arrested or charged with a crime. Goodell said the league's conduct policy gave him the right to impose discipline regardless of whether Roethlisberger broke the law. "In your six years in the NFL, you have first thrilled and now disappointed a great many people," Goodell wrote. "I urge you to take full advantage of this opportunity to get your life and career back on track." The suspension can be reduced to four games if Roethlisberger completes an evaluation mandated by the league, any action that is mandated by that evaluation and he remains out of trouble. He can practice during training camp and play in preseason games, but cannot return to game action until at least Oct. 17. Until now, he has sat out only eight games in six seasons due to injury or to rest up for the playoffs. Goodell also said he has the right to extend the suspension if he learns of any additional problems. Roethlisberger was not available Monday for further comment. Because he cannot work out or train with his teammates until the league clears him after behavioral evaluations, he will not take part in the team's mandatory three-day minicamp this weekend. Roethlisberger was cleared of charges because a prosecutor said the case was not strong enough to pursue, but the quarterback was rebuked by authorities, Goodell and Steelers president Art Rooney II. Georgia prosecutor Fred Bright was especially harsh, telling the quarterback, "Grow up ... cut it out. You can do better." Roethlisberger also is being sued in a civil case in Nevada for an alleged sexual assault that occurred there in 2008. There were no charges brought in that case, and Rooney II said it did not factor in the NFL's suspension. This is the second such apology by Roethlisberger in three weeks. He read a similar statement on April 12 when he learned he would not be charged. In her statement to police, the underage college student said Roethlisberger encouraged her and her friends to take numerous shots of alcohol. She was later escorted down a hallway at the nightclub, where she said the quarterback exposed himself. She said she tried to leave and went to a bathroom, but Roethlisberger followed her. "I still said no, this is not OK, and he then had sex with me," she wrote. Rooney was so angry with Roethlisberger he wanted to suspend him before the league acted, but didn't do so because the NFL players union could have appealed to a special master. The Steelers have since taken their first tentative steps toward reconciliation: director of football operations Kevin Colbert said the quarterback "deserves the opportunity" to rehabilitate himself.
Anyone Left To Believe In?
Untarnished Figures: 1. Far away from all the SEC allegations against Goldman Sachs is J.P. Morgan's CEO Jamie Dimon. During Dimon's tenure, the more than 200-year-old bank has been one of the healthiest firms to come out of the credit crisis and was one of the fastest to repay its TARP funds. Dimon even has an unlikely fan in President Obama, who's in the middle of pushing through a vast financial reform bill. "You know, keep in mind, though there are a lot of banks that are actually pretty well managed, J.P. Morgan being a good example, Jamie Dimon, the CEO there, I don't think should be punished for doing a pretty good job managing an enormous portfolio," said Obama. Unlike some of the other financial institutions and personalities, Dimon appears to not only be a strong businessman, but also highly favored among his peers -- or at least the president. Lloyd Blankfein, take note.
2. Derek Jeter: Team captain of the Yankees since 2003, Derek Jeter is a 10-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year award winner and World Series MVP. That's not even mentioning his several Silver Sluggers, Gold Gloves, batting and scoring titles. But beyond all his accolades, it's the way Jeter's handled the game all these years that gains him the most respect—even Red Sox fans can appreciate the way their longtime rival plays with integrity. Off the field, after his first year in the big leagues, the shortstop started the Turn 2 Foundation to help children and teenagers stay away from alcohol and drug addiction.
3. Tom Hanks: The nicest guy in Hollywood made Forrest Gump one of the most memorable characters in cinema history, brought Woody to life in Toy Story, and is the only actor sweet enough to pull off wooing America's Sweetheart Meg Ryan (three times). The world's enthusiasm for Tom Hanks' reassuring Everyman demeanor hasn't slowed down—he's still the most bankable star at the box office. Hanks scored Academy Awards for his groundbreaking roles in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, but unlike a few of his colleagues, values his role outside of work even more. He's a staunch advocate for environmentalism, same-sex marriage, and alternative fuels, yet manages his personal life with equanimity. After Mormon Church members pushed through Proposition 8, a bill defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, Hanks called them "un-American," but later apologized by in a statement saying, "Everyone has a right to vote their conscience; nothing could be more American."
4. Taylor Swift: Taylor Swift's squeaky-clean reputation is in its beginning stages (she is, after all, only 20 years old) but the country-pop princess is one of those rare role models who appears genuine. She launched a campaign to protect children from online predators at the age of 17, donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to aid Iowa flood victims at 18, and has since donated $250,000 to various nationwide schools she attended or was involved with. Oh, and as for her day job? She's a talented musician who writes, sings, and performs her own songs. Swift also managed to do the improbable and cross the vast pop-country genre divide by winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2010. Swift's closest brush with scandal was the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when, during her acceptance speech for Best Female Video, Kanye West rushed the stage and nabbed the mic to tell everyone Beyoncé should have won. Kanye's plan backfired, and Taylor Swift came out smelling like a rose—and with more fans than ever.
5. Paul Krugman: Paul Krugman's tough-love approach for distilling economics into columns the masses can appreciate has enlightened readers of the New York Times since 1999. Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on international economics and trade, openly and avidly criticized Bush tax cuts while advocating lower interest rates and increased government spending on infrastructure, military, and unemployment benefits. In one of his few public missteps, the economist served on an advisory panel for Enron but resigned to comply with The New York Times' conflict of interest rules when he began writing as an op-ed columnist.
6. Prince William: While many Britons have lost faith in the monarchy, they see in Prince William what they admired most in his mother and grandmother—a rare kindness sometimes lacking in those who have the burden of carrying out royal duties. Much like his mother, William has taken on a number of humanitarian causes, visiting HIV/AIDS clinics and shelters, volunteering with the British Red Cross, The Royal Marsden Hospital, and granted patronage to Centrepoint, a charity that assists the homeless, and the Tusk Trust, a wildlife conservation charity. William received a degree from University of St. Andrews and then enrolled in the military where he earned his wings, and is now part of the Royal Air Force's Valley's Search and Rescue Training Unit. He's done all this without a red-carpet fuss—even his long-term relationship with Kate Middleton has been scandal-free.
7. Dr. Mehmet Oz: We now are closer to universal health care, but a few years ago Oprah Winfrey introduced us to a universal health-care giver—"America's Doctor," Mehmet Oz. Dr. Oz follows in the footsteps of his cardiothoracic surgeon father, Mustafa, who emigrated from Turkey and worked in Cleveland, where Oz grew up. Despite logging a lot of face time on TV, Dr. Oz manages to perform hundreds of heart surgeries a year. He also launched Healthcorps in 2003 to help educate students about their health, empower citizens to affect change within public health departments and the business community, and create support for health advocacy. Oz has been influenced by the Christian mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, who taught "true marriage lasts for eternity," which may be a factor in Oz's 23-year marriage to his wife, Lisa.
8. Meryl Streep: Meryl Streep is more than one of the most revered actresses of her generation, she's low-key, no-fuss, and widely respected—a running gag at awards shows is how many trophies she's racked up, yet all the jabs are done in jest. Her peers clearly adore her. Streep's success is perhaps a byproduct of her childhood: She grew up as the daughter of a pharmaceutical exec and a commercial artist and lived in an affluent New Jersey township where she was trained by a renowned vocal coach since age 12. None of her extensive training, however, is evident in the work she produces—from Sophie's Choice to Julie & Julia, she's as effortless as she is humble. Also notable is her 32-year marriage to under-the-radar sculptor Don Gummer, who doesn't seem to mind being the man behind the red-carpet mainstay.
9. Gen. David Petraeus: As the top commander in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, General David Petraeus has risen through the ranks to become an invaluable asset to the Obama administration. Despite some bruising by the public, the Iraq surge is now seen as successful. Petraeus attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Princeton, the U.S. Military Academy, and Georgetown as well as enduring combat in the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. In his new position at Central Command, Petraeus is responsible for American operations in 20 countries. Right after he was named both "Leader of the Year" and "Man of the Year," in 2008, he was diagnosed and treated for early-stage prostate cancer. Now he's making the rounds of the conservative lecture circuit, leading some to believe he may follow in the footsteps of Dwight Eisenhower and run for public office. Petraeus is denying an interest in a political run, but few will be surprised to see the former general run in 2012.
10. Chelsea Clinton: Despite being the daughter of former President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton took nothing for granted. No "only child" syndrome here—she kept out of the spotlight during the high-pressure environment of her father's impeachment in 1999. She worked to earn degrees at Stanford University and Oxford. Chelsea also went to work as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, but has since returned to graduate school at Columbia University's School of Public Health. The now-30-year-old former first daughter is engaged to be married this summer.
11. Warren Buffett: Warren Buffett could spend his $47 billion on luxury yachts or summer homes, but instead the third richest man in the world has taken the philanthropic route, pledging 85 percent of it to the Gates Foundation. The American "Oracle of Omaha" is the primary shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and his wealth has roots in a long life of business, beginning as a child going door to door selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola and weekly magazines. Buffett's work ethic may stem from his attitude against "dynastic wealth," or one generation's profitability from the previous generation. It's hard to scoff at a man who had a vision so early on, so perhaps it's best to take notes from him instead.
12. Paul Farmer: Paul Farmer is a practicing physician, Harvard professor, MacArthur "genius" grant winner, NGO-founding anthropologist, and an infectious-disease specialist, but one former patient has another moniker for him—"god." Given Farmer's résumé fighting global health crises in Russia, Rwanda, Peru, among other countries, that term doesn't feel like hyperbole. In 2009, Farmer was appointed by President Clinton as a Special U.N. Envoy to Haiti, meaning his organization, Partners in Health, was already on the ground when the earthquake hit. Farmer may be too modest to claim deification, but he's certainly trying to save the world, one life at a time.
13. Alice Waters: Decades before it was chic to be a locavore, Alice Waters, co-owner of California's famed Chez Panisse restaurant, was advocating for organic food and sustainable eating. In recent years, Waters has added childhood obesity to her mission, and championed edible gardens, particularly at schools. While critics claim her food philosophies are elitist, chefs such as Jamie Oliver disagree: "She has found a way to get everyone on board and really teaches kids and adults about proper food," Oliver said recently. "And she teaches them to really enjoy and cherish it too. Her books bring her recipes to everyone. There's nothing elitist about that." Waters' latest book, In the Green Kitchen, features recipes and techniques for cooking healthy, affordable meals.
14. George Clooney: Whenever there is trouble in the world—whether it's 9/11, the tsunami in Thailand, or the earthquake in Haiti—George Clooney can always be counted on to rally his famous friends and lend support. Over the years, the Academy Award-winning actor has also been a very vocal advocate for the plight of Darfur. Clooney is that rare Hollywood activist who is never sanctimonious, which is in part why he has been so successful at shining light on a crisis and raising much-needed money.
15. Lisa Simpson: Yes, the Simpsons are an astonishingly dysfunctional brood, but white sheep of the family, Lisa Simpson, has always remained a paragon of hard work and wholesome values. In the past two decades, her character has won a Genesis and Environmental Media Award for her environmentalist beliefs, including crusades against animal cruelty and support for vegetarianism. Bart and Homer may laugh at her goody-two-shoes persona, but the rest of us know she's right.
2. Derek Jeter: Team captain of the Yankees since 2003, Derek Jeter is a 10-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year award winner and World Series MVP. That's not even mentioning his several Silver Sluggers, Gold Gloves, batting and scoring titles. But beyond all his accolades, it's the way Jeter's handled the game all these years that gains him the most respect—even Red Sox fans can appreciate the way their longtime rival plays with integrity. Off the field, after his first year in the big leagues, the shortstop started the Turn 2 Foundation to help children and teenagers stay away from alcohol and drug addiction.
3. Tom Hanks: The nicest guy in Hollywood made Forrest Gump one of the most memorable characters in cinema history, brought Woody to life in Toy Story, and is the only actor sweet enough to pull off wooing America's Sweetheart Meg Ryan (three times). The world's enthusiasm for Tom Hanks' reassuring Everyman demeanor hasn't slowed down—he's still the most bankable star at the box office. Hanks scored Academy Awards for his groundbreaking roles in Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, but unlike a few of his colleagues, values his role outside of work even more. He's a staunch advocate for environmentalism, same-sex marriage, and alternative fuels, yet manages his personal life with equanimity. After Mormon Church members pushed through Proposition 8, a bill defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, Hanks called them "un-American," but later apologized by in a statement saying, "Everyone has a right to vote their conscience; nothing could be more American."
4. Taylor Swift: Taylor Swift's squeaky-clean reputation is in its beginning stages (she is, after all, only 20 years old) but the country-pop princess is one of those rare role models who appears genuine. She launched a campaign to protect children from online predators at the age of 17, donated $100,000 to the Red Cross to aid Iowa flood victims at 18, and has since donated $250,000 to various nationwide schools she attended or was involved with. Oh, and as for her day job? She's a talented musician who writes, sings, and performs her own songs. Swift also managed to do the improbable and cross the vast pop-country genre divide by winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2010. Swift's closest brush with scandal was the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when, during her acceptance speech for Best Female Video, Kanye West rushed the stage and nabbed the mic to tell everyone Beyoncé should have won. Kanye's plan backfired, and Taylor Swift came out smelling like a rose—and with more fans than ever.
5. Paul Krugman: Paul Krugman's tough-love approach for distilling economics into columns the masses can appreciate has enlightened readers of the New York Times since 1999. Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on international economics and trade, openly and avidly criticized Bush tax cuts while advocating lower interest rates and increased government spending on infrastructure, military, and unemployment benefits. In one of his few public missteps, the economist served on an advisory panel for Enron but resigned to comply with The New York Times' conflict of interest rules when he began writing as an op-ed columnist.
6. Prince William: While many Britons have lost faith in the monarchy, they see in Prince William what they admired most in his mother and grandmother—a rare kindness sometimes lacking in those who have the burden of carrying out royal duties. Much like his mother, William has taken on a number of humanitarian causes, visiting HIV/AIDS clinics and shelters, volunteering with the British Red Cross, The Royal Marsden Hospital, and granted patronage to Centrepoint, a charity that assists the homeless, and the Tusk Trust, a wildlife conservation charity. William received a degree from University of St. Andrews and then enrolled in the military where he earned his wings, and is now part of the Royal Air Force's Valley's Search and Rescue Training Unit. He's done all this without a red-carpet fuss—even his long-term relationship with Kate Middleton has been scandal-free.
7. Dr. Mehmet Oz: We now are closer to universal health care, but a few years ago Oprah Winfrey introduced us to a universal health-care giver—"America's Doctor," Mehmet Oz. Dr. Oz follows in the footsteps of his cardiothoracic surgeon father, Mustafa, who emigrated from Turkey and worked in Cleveland, where Oz grew up. Despite logging a lot of face time on TV, Dr. Oz manages to perform hundreds of heart surgeries a year. He also launched Healthcorps in 2003 to help educate students about their health, empower citizens to affect change within public health departments and the business community, and create support for health advocacy. Oz has been influenced by the Christian mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, who taught "true marriage lasts for eternity," which may be a factor in Oz's 23-year marriage to his wife, Lisa.
8. Meryl Streep: Meryl Streep is more than one of the most revered actresses of her generation, she's low-key, no-fuss, and widely respected—a running gag at awards shows is how many trophies she's racked up, yet all the jabs are done in jest. Her peers clearly adore her. Streep's success is perhaps a byproduct of her childhood: She grew up as the daughter of a pharmaceutical exec and a commercial artist and lived in an affluent New Jersey township where she was trained by a renowned vocal coach since age 12. None of her extensive training, however, is evident in the work she produces—from Sophie's Choice to Julie & Julia, she's as effortless as she is humble. Also notable is her 32-year marriage to under-the-radar sculptor Don Gummer, who doesn't seem to mind being the man behind the red-carpet mainstay.
9. Gen. David Petraeus: As the top commander in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, General David Petraeus has risen through the ranks to become an invaluable asset to the Obama administration. Despite some bruising by the public, the Iraq surge is now seen as successful. Petraeus attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Princeton, the U.S. Military Academy, and Georgetown as well as enduring combat in the 101st Airborne Division in Iraq. In his new position at Central Command, Petraeus is responsible for American operations in 20 countries. Right after he was named both "Leader of the Year" and "Man of the Year," in 2008, he was diagnosed and treated for early-stage prostate cancer. Now he's making the rounds of the conservative lecture circuit, leading some to believe he may follow in the footsteps of Dwight Eisenhower and run for public office. Petraeus is denying an interest in a political run, but few will be surprised to see the former general run in 2012.
10. Chelsea Clinton: Despite being the daughter of former President Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton took nothing for granted. No "only child" syndrome here—she kept out of the spotlight during the high-pressure environment of her father's impeachment in 1999. She worked to earn degrees at Stanford University and Oxford. Chelsea also went to work as a consultant at McKinsey & Company, but has since returned to graduate school at Columbia University's School of Public Health. The now-30-year-old former first daughter is engaged to be married this summer.
11. Warren Buffett: Warren Buffett could spend his $47 billion on luxury yachts or summer homes, but instead the third richest man in the world has taken the philanthropic route, pledging 85 percent of it to the Gates Foundation. The American "Oracle of Omaha" is the primary shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and his wealth has roots in a long life of business, beginning as a child going door to door selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola and weekly magazines. Buffett's work ethic may stem from his attitude against "dynastic wealth," or one generation's profitability from the previous generation. It's hard to scoff at a man who had a vision so early on, so perhaps it's best to take notes from him instead.
12. Paul Farmer: Paul Farmer is a practicing physician, Harvard professor, MacArthur "genius" grant winner, NGO-founding anthropologist, and an infectious-disease specialist, but one former patient has another moniker for him—"god." Given Farmer's résumé fighting global health crises in Russia, Rwanda, Peru, among other countries, that term doesn't feel like hyperbole. In 2009, Farmer was appointed by President Clinton as a Special U.N. Envoy to Haiti, meaning his organization, Partners in Health, was already on the ground when the earthquake hit. Farmer may be too modest to claim deification, but he's certainly trying to save the world, one life at a time.
13. Alice Waters: Decades before it was chic to be a locavore, Alice Waters, co-owner of California's famed Chez Panisse restaurant, was advocating for organic food and sustainable eating. In recent years, Waters has added childhood obesity to her mission, and championed edible gardens, particularly at schools. While critics claim her food philosophies are elitist, chefs such as Jamie Oliver disagree: "She has found a way to get everyone on board and really teaches kids and adults about proper food," Oliver said recently. "And she teaches them to really enjoy and cherish it too. Her books bring her recipes to everyone. There's nothing elitist about that." Waters' latest book, In the Green Kitchen, features recipes and techniques for cooking healthy, affordable meals.
14. George Clooney: Whenever there is trouble in the world—whether it's 9/11, the tsunami in Thailand, or the earthquake in Haiti—George Clooney can always be counted on to rally his famous friends and lend support. Over the years, the Academy Award-winning actor has also been a very vocal advocate for the plight of Darfur. Clooney is that rare Hollywood activist who is never sanctimonious, which is in part why he has been so successful at shining light on a crisis and raising much-needed money.
15. Lisa Simpson: Yes, the Simpsons are an astonishingly dysfunctional brood, but white sheep of the family, Lisa Simpson, has always remained a paragon of hard work and wholesome values. In the past two decades, her character has won a Genesis and Environmental Media Award for her environmentalist beliefs, including crusades against animal cruelty and support for vegetarianism. Bart and Homer may laugh at her goody-two-shoes persona, but the rest of us know she's right.
NYPD Investigates Two Officer-Involved Shootings In Brooklyn
One man is dead and another woman injured following two separate police involved shootings in Brooklyn. The first happened shortly before 6:30 p.m. Monday as police officers were responding to a call of a burglary in Marine Park. Investigators say when they arrived, police found a man armed with a gun. The man fired at police and a uniformed sergeant returned fire, hitting the man once in the leg. Witnesses say he then ran into the street and shot himself in the head. He has yet to be identified. Residents who spoke with NY1 at the scene say the neighborhood is starting to see a lot more crime. "This has been a great neighborhood for kids and everything. But lately there's a lot of police activities, home invasions, just in a couple of months alone," said one resident." There's some times a younger crowd that circulate the neighborhood -- ya know late teens or so. And, ya know, a lot of them are maybe from out of the neighborhood that might be causing crime to happen out here," said another. Also in Brooklyn, police responded to a call of an emotionally disturbed woman and shot her in the torso when she refused to drop a kitchen knife. She was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
Monday, April 26, 2010
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Experience Is Just As Important As Books
The world is a great book; he who never stirs from home, reads only a page.
-Saint Augustine
-Saint Augustine
Listen up, government: Small business is most trusted group
Be proud, small-business owners! You're now the most trusted group in America. Listen up, federal government! You're neglecting small business — and most people think so. According to the just-released study by the highly respected Pew Research Center, small business is the most trusted institution in America. More than churches. More than colleges. More than technology companies. And certainly more than labor unions or large corporations. Republicans trust us. Democrats trust us. Independents trust us. Small business isn't a partisan issue. But we're neglected. When asked about which groups were getting too much or too little attention from the government, Americans felt small business was getting dealt the worst hand. Hey, elected officials, listen up! Small business is one of the few groups Americans want to get more government attention. The Pew Center's study got enormous media attention — but not about small business. The media coverage focused on how little Americans trust their government. But buried in the report was the fact that there is an institution almost all Americans still trust: small business. So I picked up the phone and called the Pew Center. I wanted to learn more. The results were "striking," according to Carroll Dougherty, Pew's Associate Director. "At a time when a lot of institutions are viewed negatively, small business is viewed very positively. What's really interesting is that large corporations are viewed almost as negatively as Wall Street. The contrast between large corporations and small business is enormous." "So much of this survey is partisan," Dougherty continued. "In this case, it's bipartisan. It crosses party lines." 72% of Republicans, 70% of Democrats and 73% of independents say small businesses have a positive effect on the way things are going in the country. Let's look at the numbers of how some groups are viewed as to whether they have a positive or negative effect on this country: PUBLIC'S NEGATIVE VIEWS OF INSTITUTIONS: Effect on the way things are going in the country (in percent): Postive Negative Other/ Don't know:
1. Small business 71 19 10
2. Technology companies 68 18 14
3. Churches & religious orgs 63 22 15 3.
4. Colleges & universities 61 26 13
5. Obama administration 45 45 10
6. Entertainment industry 33 51 16
7. Labor unions 32 49 18
8. Federal agencies and depts 31 54 16
9. National news media 31 57 12
10. Large corporations 25 64 12
11. Federal government 25 65 9
12. Congress 24 65 12
13. Banks & financial inst 22 69 10
Pew Research Center March 11-21. Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding. The Pew Center also asked which groups get too much or too little attention from the federal government. Here, small business even beat out the "middle class" as seen as being neglected by our government: WHO GETS TOO MUCH ATTENTION, TOO LITTLE FROM FED. GOVT.? In percentages: Too much Right amount Too little Don't know:
1. Small business 8 20 69 3
2. Middle class 9 22 66 4
3. Poor people 17 22 56 5
4. Labor unions 34 30 26 11
5. Business leaders 45 26 20 9
6. Wall Street 50 25 16 9
Pew Research Center March 11-21. Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding. Once again, this wasn't a partisan issue. 73% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats and 68% of independents say small businesses get less attention than they should from the federal government. These favorable attitudes toward small business explain why politicians — of every party — shout their affection for small business when they're running for office. (Remember "Joe the Plumber"?) But once they're in office, these same politicians — of every party — neglect us. Why is that? Because while Americans trust us, we don't have much political power. Not nearly as much as huge corporations, banks, labor unions or lobbyists. But while we may not have power to change our government, we do have power to change our world. Because we create most of the new jobs (65 percent of all new jobs are created by small companies). We have the power to innovate. And we have the power to create good working environments for our employees. So the next time you're with a group of people who own small business — or heck, you even look in the mirror — take pride! You're part of the group your fellow Americans trust most.
1. Small business 71 19 10
2. Technology companies 68 18 14
3. Churches & religious orgs 63 22 15 3.
4. Colleges & universities 61 26 13
5. Obama administration 45 45 10
6. Entertainment industry 33 51 16
7. Labor unions 32 49 18
8. Federal agencies and depts 31 54 16
9. National news media 31 57 12
10. Large corporations 25 64 12
11. Federal government 25 65 9
12. Congress 24 65 12
13. Banks & financial inst 22 69 10
Pew Research Center March 11-21. Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding. The Pew Center also asked which groups get too much or too little attention from the federal government. Here, small business even beat out the "middle class" as seen as being neglected by our government: WHO GETS TOO MUCH ATTENTION, TOO LITTLE FROM FED. GOVT.? In percentages: Too much Right amount Too little Don't know:
1. Small business 8 20 69 3
2. Middle class 9 22 66 4
3. Poor people 17 22 56 5
4. Labor unions 34 30 26 11
5. Business leaders 45 26 20 9
6. Wall Street 50 25 16 9
Pew Research Center March 11-21. Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding. Once again, this wasn't a partisan issue. 73% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats and 68% of independents say small businesses get less attention than they should from the federal government. These favorable attitudes toward small business explain why politicians — of every party — shout their affection for small business when they're running for office. (Remember "Joe the Plumber"?) But once they're in office, these same politicians — of every party — neglect us. Why is that? Because while Americans trust us, we don't have much political power. Not nearly as much as huge corporations, banks, labor unions or lobbyists. But while we may not have power to change our government, we do have power to change our world. Because we create most of the new jobs (65 percent of all new jobs are created by small companies). We have the power to innovate. And we have the power to create good working environments for our employees. So the next time you're with a group of people who own small business — or heck, you even look in the mirror — take pride! You're part of the group your fellow Americans trust most.
He Finally Finds Work
Sandwich-board job hunter finds work after 2 years: NEW YORK— When laid-off toy company executive Paul Nawrocki hit the streets of Manhattan wearing a sandwich board and handing out his resume, he became the face of the recession. At the end of 2008, with the giants of Wall Street collapsing and bank accounts dwindling, this lone, mustachioed job hunter with the sign proclaiming he was "almost homeless" seemed like a mirror of a slumping nation's fears and troubles. Nawrocki appeared on CNN and was shadowed by South American photojournalists. In a handful of weeks, he gave more than 100 interviews in TV studios and on the street. He began to think of his photograph like a Post-it note _ stuck next to seemingly every article about the economy. The world decided he was a weather vane for the nation's economic troubles. And maybe he was: Even though the attention faded, his troubles did not. Having the eyes of the world on him didn't land the then-59-year-old any viable job interviews. His wife was sick, and keeping his health care was a struggle. He began to decide between the doctors and the mortgage. Well, if Paul Nawrocki is a sign of the times, then times are looking up. Because last month, after collecting 99 weeks of unemployment, Nawrocki finally found a job. He's not the only one. While unemployment remains high, the nation added 162,000 jobs last month _ the first significant job growth since the downturn began. "It was good. It felt good," the Beacon, N.Y., resident says of his first day back at an office _ 25 months after he was asked to leave his old one. "It felt like all new again because it had been so long." Nawrocki hopes he's back on his feet after the long, dark stretch. But he knows he's still on shaky footing. The financial damage of the last two years won't just disappear. "We're still not out of the woods," he says now. He has two mortgages on his home 70 miles north of Manhattan. "One of our mortgages _ I'm like six months behind. I don't know how I'm going to be able to catch up." Nawrocki and his wife declared bankruptcy last year. They got food stamps. They went to food banks. They took gifts from family. For months, he's been waiting fearfully for his mortgage company to call _ waiting for a foreclosure notice, for something. But so far, nothing has happened. In the end, his path back to work wasn't through his television appearances, but through old-fashioned networking. He went to a toy-industry fair, and a friend introduced him to the man who would become his boss. Nawrocki believes the tales of his sandwich-board days helped him land an interview. His paycheck is nearly half the size; he had made almost $100,000 a year. And his title is a little less grand. But the job still seems a wondrous, unlikely rescue _ as though a hand had descended from the sky at the last possible moment. "I had reached the limit, the last week," he recounted. "And they called and had me start the next week. ... Through this whole experience it's been like that. We get right to the edge, and then ..." he trails off.
Dodging Traffic To Save Ducks
Wis. woman braves traffic, saves 14 ducklings: WEST ALLIS, Wis.— A mother duck didn't survive her walk across a busy Wisconsin roadway, but a motorist made sure the 14 ducklings stayed safe _ even one that wiggled under her dashboard. Angela Speed of the Wisconsin Humane Society says the good Samaritan was driving in West Allis, a Milwaukee suburb, on Friday when she saw the newly hatched mallards trying to cross a busy road. The woman told Speed that a vehicle in front of her appeared to intentionally hit the mother duck, leaving her ducklings confused in the middle of the road. The woman gathered each into her car and took them to the Humane Society. But an hour later, she heard a peep. A mechanic took apart her dashboard and found the 14th duckling. Speed says the brood is healthy and expected to survive.
Widower Relives Family's Murder
25 years later, widower recalls slain family: SPRING LAKE, N.C.— When he moved to Washington state in 1998, Gary Eastburn put the three shoe boxes filled with photographs on the shelf of a closet in a spare bedroom. Each box was labeled with a daughter's name _ Kara, Erin, Jana _ scratched in ball point pen by their mother, Katie, who intended to put together a scrapbook for each girl. One small family project among many ended by a slaughter _ a symbol of the memories and the burdens Eastburn has carried since his wife and two of his daughters were cut down by a killer's knife 25 years ago. Eastburn thought he'd never have to look at those photos again unless he wanted to. A man had been convicted in 1986 of killing Katie, Kara and Erin at their home near Fayetteville. Then, at a second trial in 1989, he was acquitted. "I just didn't think anything would happen," Eastburn said. "It was done." Except it wasn't. In June 2006 a detective from the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office called Eastburn at home in Puyallup, Wash. Are you sitting down, Detective Robert Bittle asked. No, Eastburn replied. "And then he told me," Eastburn said. "And I sat down." Bittle's news: Authorities had new evidence against the man convicted, sentenced to death and then acquitted in the murders. This time, they had DNA evidence. The suspect, Timothy Hennis, could not be tried again in civilian court because of double jeopardy. But Bittle said the military might take the case because Hennis had been in the Army when Eastburn's wife and daughters were slain. By now, Hennis had retired from the Army as a master sergeant. The Army did recall Hennis to active duty and court-martial him. In an odd twist, it turned out that Hennis was living in Lakewood, Wash., about 15 miles from where Eastburn and his now-wife, Liz, had settled. They had never run into each other, as far as Eastburn knows, although he says he wouldn't have recognized Hennis from those long-ago days in the courtroom. Government lawyers came to the Eastburn home. They shuffled through the pictures and took some with them. Eastburn went through them again and chose others to bring with him for Hennis' court-martial. Opening arguments began in mid March. More than 20 years earlier, a phone call from another detective had turned Eastburn's world upside down. Then an Air Force captain, he was about a week away from completing squadron officer school in Montgomery, Ala., on May 11, 1985, and hadn't heard from his wife. The pay phone outside Eastburn's dorm room didn't ring at 8 a.m. that Saturday with a call from Katie as it was supposed to. Eastburn tried calling repeatedly but failed to reach her. The sheriff's department left a note on the door, asking her to call her husband. When the pay phone rang on Sunday, the call was for Eastburn. Is it my wife, he asked? No, it's some detective, a trainee answered. His first words to the detective: "Are any of them still alive?" Eastburn was considered a possible suspect at first, but authorities verified he was in Alabama when his wife and daughters were killed. Then Hennis came to their attention, because he had bought the family's English setter, Dixie, a few days before the murders. There are other photos of course: crime scene photos so gory that their use as evidence helped convince the state Supreme Court to overturn the original guilty verdict against Hennis. The victims were repeatedly stabbed, their throats cut many times. Katie Eastburn was raped. Gary Eastburn doesn't think about those. He concentrates on the happy family photos that were displayed on two screens in court and on individual screens for each member of the military panel. Among his favorites is one of Erin, age 3 when she died, in a red gingham dress, smiling and standing on one foot as she always did in photos. Or one of her in Texas, barefoot and standing in the dog's water dish, as she did when she was hot. Another is of Kara, one week shy of 6 years old when she died, in a fishing boat. And one of her wearing her beloved cowboy boots, the ones her father buried her in. Authorities believe the mother and two daughters were killed late on May 9, 1985, or early on May 10, 1985. The bodies were found May 12 _ Mother's Day _ when a neighbor called for help because they heard the cries of Jana, the only survivor. The 22-month-old was in her crib, sweaty, dehydrated, suffering from diarrhea. Doctors told Eastburn that his only surviving daughter was about eight hours from death. Jana, now 26, works in a veterinary office and hopes to go to school to become an X-ray technician. She testified at the sentencing that she used to feel guilty when visiting the grave site of her mother and sisters because everyone else cried and she didn't _ she doesn't remember any of them. After a three-week trial, Hennis was found guilty of premeditated murder. The prosecution asserted that the rape and murders all happened after Hennis came to the home of the Eastburns _ whom he barely knew _ looking for sex, The Fayetteville Observer reported. During the sentencing hearing, defense attorneys showed pictures of Hennis and his family _ Hennis reading to his daughter and son as the family dog watched, or Hennis and family in front of a Christmas tree. Hennis, who testified at his second trial, didn't take the stand at this one. Neither did his wife, Angela, nor his son, Andrew. Hennis' 25-year-old daughter, Kristina Mowry, testified that her father was her hero. His cousins talked about family trips where Hennis, the oldest of the group of children, made sure the younger ones were safe. Co-workers testified about his work ethic, his punctuality, his commitment to Army values. Gary Eastburn isn't unsympathetic to their pain _ he, of all people, understands what loss means. He even talked with Anita Pellot, Hennis' sister-in-law, outside the courtroom after she testified. "She was standing against a wall, crying," Eastburn said. "I told her, 'I'm really sorry for your pain.' She kind of gave me a hug. We just talked a few more minutes. I don't dislike any of his relatives for what they believe or do. I could relate to the pain she was feeling." Jurors sentenced Hennis to death on April 15. Hennis' attorneys plan to appeal both the conviction and the sentence. Eastburn doesn't think Hennis will be executed, considering that the last military execution was in 1961. "I wouldn't jump up and down and say that he should be," Eastburn said. "I'm perfectly happy if he spends the rest of his life in jail. However, if they did execute him, it was no more than he deserved." Eastburn retrieved the family photos, now in a manila envelope, from the Fort Bragg courthouse on Tuesday. Now, he must separate them and place them back in the shoe boxes that their mother labeled for them _ Kara, Erin, Jana. A casual storage system for a project that Katie Eastburn expected to complete later. Eastburn imagines that he, too, will delay his task. "We'll just let them sit awhile," Eastburn said. "I'll do it later."
Armed Man Goes To See President
Ohio man arrested as Obama leaves NC faces hearing: ASHEVILLE, N.C.— An armed man who was spotted at a North Carolina airport parking lot just after Air Force One departed and said he wanted to see the president was to appear before a judge Monday. Authorities arrested Joseph Sean McVey, 23, of Coshocton, Ohio, on Sunday afternoon at the Asheville Regional Airport and charged him with going armed in terror of the public, a misdemeanor. A first appearance in court was scheduled for Monday, said Sgt. John Lutz of the Buncombe County jail, where McVey was being held on $100,000 bond. McVey told an officer in the airport parking lot he wanted to see the president and he had a car equipped with police gear, including a siren and flashing lights, though he did not work in law enforcement, authorities said. Security was heightened at the airport Sunday because President Barack Obama was leaving after spending the weekend vacationing in Asheville. At about 2 p.m., airport police saw McVey get out of a maroon car with Ohio plates and that he had a sidearm, airport police Capt. Kevan Smith said. Both airport police and the Secret Service questioned him and he was taken into custody. The suspect was nowhere near the president's plane, which had just departed, and was in a rental car return lot that is open to the public, Smith said. His car was equipped with clear LED law enforcement-style strobe lights in the front and rear dash, Smith said. The car also had a mounted digital camera in the front window, four large antennas on the trunk lid, and under the steering wheel was a working siren box. When McVey got out of the car, he was listening to a handheld scanner and radio that had a remote earpiece, Smith said. Police said he was monitoring local agencies and had formulas for rifle scopes on a note in his cup holder. Police did not immediately elaborate on what the formulas might mean. McVey gave authorities an Ohio driver's license, but a computer check failed to show the number was valid, police said. His hometown of Coshocton is about halfway between Pittsburgh and Columbus, Ohio. When Officer Kaleb Rice asked him what he was doing, McVey told him he heard the president was in town and wanted to see him. Rice removed the firearm and took McVey into custody. The investigation into what McVey was doing with a gun, with formulas for rifle scopes and why his car was equipped with police gear was continuing, Smith said. The Secret Service had no comment on the arrest Sunday, deferring to airport police.
Twisters Center Of Distruction
The town obliterated by a tornado: As many as 54 tornadoes swept across the South. People in Yazoo City, Miss., got the worst of it.
Friday, April 23, 2010
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It’s The Extras That Make Life Special
"Just living isn't enough," said the butterfly, "one must also have freedom, sunshine, and a little flower."
-Hans Christian Anderson
-Hans Christian Anderson
Obama Enjoys Double Standard
The Media's Golf Double Standard: The president has gone golfing more than he's met the press. Had Bush tried that, he'd have been clubbed by the media. Mark McKinnon on Washington's 18-hole hypocrisy. News flash: President Obama hasn't held a formal press conference in almost a year (274 days and counting) yet has golfed 32 times since he was elected-eight more times than President George W. Bush did during his entire presidency. Related story on The Daily Beast: Sell! Buy! Rebel! Wal-Mart Stocks My Movie. Now personally, I think the president should golf every day and never have a press conference. I want the leader of the free world to be as stress-free as possible. And if golf helps fade the psychic heat from the job, by all means tee it up often, Mr. President. Sadly, press conferences have turned into not much more that vanity exhibitions for White House reporters who preen and exhort in front of the cameras-not to convey needed news to the public, but to make themselves seem important. Obama was criticized by foreign press recently when he went golfing. But there was not a critical peep from the American press. Does anyone really think that Obama has been hiding from the press? Obama has more press exposure than any president ever-by a long shot. He and his team have just figured out clever ways to communicate by going around the White House press corps, whose members are about as busy as the Maytag repairman these days. They've become glorified babysitters. But imagine the press histrionics we would have heard if George W. Bush had gone nine months without a press conference? Recall that Bush was loudly criticized when he didn't hold press conferences frequently enough to satiate a badgering press, though he averaged one about every two months. Over the course of his presidency, he held 45. Bush was also constantly ridiculed and criticized for playing golf, most memorably by Michael Moore in Fahrenheit 9/11. In August 2003, Bush gave up the game, believing it sent the wrong message to grieving parents of soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of course, he was ridiculed for that as well. Obama was criticized by foreign press recently when, unable to travel to pay respects to the president of Poland who was killed in a plane crash, he went golfing. But there was not a critical peep from the American press. On Memorial Day last year, the press reverently reported that Obama placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns in the morning, and then observed a moment of silence that afternoon-on the golf course before teeing off. (I can only imagine how this would have been reported if Bush's moment of "silent remembrance and solemn prayer" was on the green.) And here's how ABC reported an outing after Obama had just returned from a trip to Germany visiting the horror of the Holocaust camps: "Nobody would fault Obama for taking Sunday to catch up on sleep and unwind after the breakneck travel schedule. But instead of vegging out on the couch, Obama returned to the White House for only about 90 minutes, then hopped in his motorcade and went right back to Andrews to get in nine holes of golf at one of the three courses on the base." And how about this headline from The Washington Post: "Just the Sport for a Leader Most Driven." Richard Leiby reports, "To some, Obama's frequent outings reflect a cool self-confidence." The article then quotes a sports psychologist who said Obama seemed able to play golf despite the grim reports by the media about the wars and the economy. That bears repeating. Here is a journalist remarking about Obama that he is "able" to play golf despite war casualties and economic disaster. For Bush, the press couldn't believe that he would dare golf at such a time, but for Obama they marvel that he can. Now that's a double standard that unfortunately we've come to expect. When it comes to press coverage of Bush vs. Obama, it's become par for the course. As vice chairman of Public Strategies and president of Maverick Media, Mark McKinnon has helped meet strategic challenges for candidates, corporations and causes, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Governor Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong, and Bono.
$258 Million Jackpot Winner
Store clerk wins $258 million jackpot: A man with only $28.96 in his bank account comes forward as the Powerball winner.
Mo. clerk says he'll use $258M jackpot on bills: JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Missouri man who won a $258 million Powerball jackpot and plans to use some of the money to pay bills and take his children to Disney World says he hasn't decided yet if he'll quit his job at the convenience store where he bought the winning ticket. Chris Shaw — a 29-year-old tattooed father of three who was raised by his grandparents in rural southern Missouri — came forward Thursday as the winner of the 10th-largest Powerball jackpot ever. Shaw said he had just $28.96 in his bank account and recently bought a 1998 Ford Ranger from a friend who agreed to let him pay off the $1,000 price $100 at a time. Now, he said, he no longer has to worry about how he'll pay his friend — or his utility bills. "We didn't come from money. For us it's just going to be a huge relief to know I'm going to be able to pay my electric bill, my gas bill," Shaw told the Associated Press. "It's like a weight lifted. I had bills at home I didn't know how they were going to be paid." Shaw said he bought the $5 ticket Wednesday at the Break Time convenience store where he works in Marshall, a central Missouri town about 80 miles east of Kansas City. He accepted his ceremonial check at the Missouri Lottery headquarters in Jefferson City wearing a tan and red plaid shirt, a red hat and a huge grin — minus two front teeth he says he lost because he didn't take care of them but can now afford to have replaced. "I'm just a regular guy working paycheck to paycheck ... well not any more," he said. Shaw said he needed a few days to decide whether he will keep his minimum-wage job at the store where he has worked for just three weeks. He also plans to seek advice "from people who know about money" about whether to take the jackpot in 30 payments over 29 years or the lump-sum amount of $124,875,122. His boss, Jackie Maxwell, general manager of the Missouri-based Break Time convenience store chain, was thrilled to hear Shaw had won. "He's just a great guy, a good employee. When you think of a large winner like this, everyone likes to see that the person who won is somebody like Chris," she said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Shaw — who has a 10-year-old son, a 7-year-old girl and a 5-year-old girl by two different women — said he had played Missouri Scratchers lottery tickets before, winning at most $80. He checked his Powerball ticket against the state lottery's website only after his girlfriend, Tosha Ewry, told him the winning ticket was bought at the store where he works. When Shaw called Ewry back to tell her the news, she thought he was joking, he said. Finally, he said he told her: "I swear on a stack of Bibles, you need to leave work and come home." The winning numbers were 11-34-41-49-55, Powerball 20. The Power Play number was 2. Shaw said he looks forward to spending more time with his kids, who live with their mothers about 240 miles southeast of him in his hometown of Alton, as well as with his girlfriend's two sons — 13-year-old and 15-year-old boys Shaw says he considers his own. He plans to take them all to Disney World in Florida. "I can be with them as much as I want now," Shaw said. He said his children already have been asking for new skateboards, bicycles and "just stuff that's really hard to do when you make $7.25 an hour." Break Time will receive $50,000 for selling the winning ticket. If Shaw takes a lump-sum payment, the state income taxes due on the winnings would be about $6 million, state budget director Linda Luebbering said.
Mo. clerk says he'll use $258M jackpot on bills: JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Missouri man who won a $258 million Powerball jackpot and plans to use some of the money to pay bills and take his children to Disney World says he hasn't decided yet if he'll quit his job at the convenience store where he bought the winning ticket. Chris Shaw — a 29-year-old tattooed father of three who was raised by his grandparents in rural southern Missouri — came forward Thursday as the winner of the 10th-largest Powerball jackpot ever. Shaw said he had just $28.96 in his bank account and recently bought a 1998 Ford Ranger from a friend who agreed to let him pay off the $1,000 price $100 at a time. Now, he said, he no longer has to worry about how he'll pay his friend — or his utility bills. "We didn't come from money. For us it's just going to be a huge relief to know I'm going to be able to pay my electric bill, my gas bill," Shaw told the Associated Press. "It's like a weight lifted. I had bills at home I didn't know how they were going to be paid." Shaw said he bought the $5 ticket Wednesday at the Break Time convenience store where he works in Marshall, a central Missouri town about 80 miles east of Kansas City. He accepted his ceremonial check at the Missouri Lottery headquarters in Jefferson City wearing a tan and red plaid shirt, a red hat and a huge grin — minus two front teeth he says he lost because he didn't take care of them but can now afford to have replaced. "I'm just a regular guy working paycheck to paycheck ... well not any more," he said. Shaw said he needed a few days to decide whether he will keep his minimum-wage job at the store where he has worked for just three weeks. He also plans to seek advice "from people who know about money" about whether to take the jackpot in 30 payments over 29 years or the lump-sum amount of $124,875,122. His boss, Jackie Maxwell, general manager of the Missouri-based Break Time convenience store chain, was thrilled to hear Shaw had won. "He's just a great guy, a good employee. When you think of a large winner like this, everyone likes to see that the person who won is somebody like Chris," she said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Shaw — who has a 10-year-old son, a 7-year-old girl and a 5-year-old girl by two different women — said he had played Missouri Scratchers lottery tickets before, winning at most $80. He checked his Powerball ticket against the state lottery's website only after his girlfriend, Tosha Ewry, told him the winning ticket was bought at the store where he works. When Shaw called Ewry back to tell her the news, she thought he was joking, he said. Finally, he said he told her: "I swear on a stack of Bibles, you need to leave work and come home." The winning numbers were 11-34-41-49-55, Powerball 20. The Power Play number was 2. Shaw said he looks forward to spending more time with his kids, who live with their mothers about 240 miles southeast of him in his hometown of Alton, as well as with his girlfriend's two sons — 13-year-old and 15-year-old boys Shaw says he considers his own. He plans to take them all to Disney World in Florida. "I can be with them as much as I want now," Shaw said. He said his children already have been asking for new skateboards, bicycles and "just stuff that's really hard to do when you make $7.25 an hour." Break Time will receive $50,000 for selling the winning ticket. If Shaw takes a lump-sum payment, the state income taxes due on the winnings would be about $6 million, state budget director Linda Luebbering said.
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