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Chris Kelly: Limbaugh and Palin: Round Four

2010-02-10T08:50:43Z

Hey, you big bully. What's the idea, hitting that little bully?
- Otis B. Driftwood

They say America lacks public intellectuals, but just look at Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh's weeklong exploration of "retard." It's like Anna Akhmatova and Isaiah Berlin are together again. The late-night dialogue turns into the delicate shimmer of interlaced rainbows, only with assholes.

It started last Monday, on Palin's Facebook page, where she was trying to score some cheap political points off the fact that she has a son with Down syndrome, and Rahm Emanuel once said "fucking retards." (He was referring to voters who expected Obama to fight for things.)

"Rahm's slur on all God's children with cognitive and developmental disabilities - and the people who love them - is unacceptable, and it's heartbreaking." -- Sarah Palin 2/1/10

Sarah hadn't seen it herself, because it was in a newspaper. But "a patriot" told her about it. Really. On Wednesday, Rush weighed in. This went beyond party politics. Someone had to stand up for boorishness on principle.

"Our politically correct society is acting like some giant insult's taken place by calling a bunch of people who are retards, retards ... I'm not going to apologize for it." - Rush Limbaugh 2/3/10

He went on to say "retard" or "retarded" twenty-seven times. On Sunday, someone asked Sarah Palin how she liked them apples, and she replied:

"He was satirical in that... Rush Limbaugh was using satire. So I agree with Rush Limbaugh." - Sarah Palin 2/7/10

Yum. Delicious apples.

Of course, you know all this. The knock on Sarah Palin is that she's applying two different standards, one for Rush Limbaugh, because he's a friend, and another for Rahm Emanuel, because he can do the crossword puzzle. But I think there's something even creepier going on. Here's what Limbaugh said Tuesday:

"I only hope here that Rahm doesn't go out and call these people another F-ing unfortunate name out there, folks, because I'll have to repeat it in another satire." Rush Limbaugh 2/9/10

Notice how he said "satire?" It's a quintessential bully move. He said it because she said it when she said it was okay for him to insult her children. He said it to let her know that he knows that he made her eat shit.

Just like he did with Michael Steele and Phil Gingrey and Mark Sanford and Todd Tiahrt and Jim Tedisco and every other Republican who ever crossed him.

And I suppose he's just a schoolyard head case, but that's really horrible. You have to really hate someone to know they have a retarded son, and say retarded twenty-seven times, just to remind them who's boss. She almost doesn't deserve it.

There was something else nagging at me, though. I'd seen this exchange somewhere before. Some other miserable couple in a fight about power disguised as a fight about words. And then it hit me: It was Petruchio and Katharina.

PETRUCHIO Good Lord, how bright and goodly shines the moon!
KATHARINA
The moon! the sun: it is not moonlight now.

PETRUCHIO
I say it is the moon that shines so bright.

KATHARINA
I know it is the sun that shines so bright.

HORTENSIO
Say as he says, or we shall never go.

KATHARINA
Forward, I pray, since we have come so far,
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please.
An if you please to call it a rush-candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.

PETRUCHIO
I say it is the moon.

KATHARINA
I know it is the moon.

PETRUCHIO
Nay, then you lie: it is the blessed sun.

KATHARINA
Then, God be bless'd, it is the blessed sun:
But sun it is not, when you say it is not,
And the moon changes even as your mind.
What you will have it nam'd, even that it is;
And so it shall be so for Katharina.

Oh my God.

They're in love.

It's The Taming of the Shrew.

Only with assholes.

Robert Scheer: Wall Street Wants a Refund

2010-02-10T08:29:35Z

"Buyer's remorse" is the way Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate Republicans' fundraiser, gleefully refers to Wall Street moguls' current disenchantment with the U.S. president they thought they had bought. They didn't like it when Barack Obama, after a year of throwing trillions of American taxpayer dollars into the bailout sinkhole, dared remark that he had hoped there might be some return for ordinary folks trying to save their jobs and homes. Not just huge bonuses for the folks the president dared refer to as "fat cats."

"That's it!" the moguls declared, and promptly shifted their political donations from Democrats to Republicans. Among the unglued was Jamie Dimon, who, as The New York Times put it, "is a friend of President Obama's from Chicago, a frequent White House guest and a big Democratic donor." Dimon, who just gave himself a $17 million bonus for last year's work--after his bank was bailed out by taxpayers--is the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase. As the Times observed: "If the Democratic Party has a stronghold on Wall Street it is JPMorgan Chase. ... But this year Chase's political action committee is sending the Democrats a pointed message. ... [I]t has rebuffed solicitations from the national Democratic House and Senate campaign committees. Instead it gave $30,000 to their Republican counterparts." Chump change, given the hundreds of millions that Wall Street doles out to buy legislation, but a warning shot nonetheless.

Dimon had lunch with the president last month to tell him he doesn't like this talk of forcing banks like Chase to decide whether they are working for federal insured depositors or are high rollers in the Wall Street investment casino. Joining Dimon and the president was Robert Wolf, chief of the U.S. division of the Swiss-owned bank UBS. Wolf, who plays golf and watches fireworks with the president, was appointed by Obama to the Presidential Economic Recovery Advisory Board, headed by former Fed Chair Paul Volcker. Wolf was upset when Obama recently endorsed Volcker's proposal for restoring the spirit of the Glass-Steagall Act by separating investment from commercial banking, as it was for six decades of financial stability before that sensible restraint was reversed during the Clinton years.

How sensitive they are about words! It's not as if those "fat cats" are about to lose their jobs or homes or be saddled with legislation they don't want. There isn't the slightest possibility of serious financial reform now that Obama has wasted his filibuster-proof majority in the Senate by flummoxing heath care while ignoring banking reform. He has no more money to throw at the banks, so why should their lobbyists cooperate on financial reform legislation any more than the health insurance companies did on their issues?

All he has left are verbal arrows, and surely $145 billion in banking bonuses for devastating the U.S. economy supports Obama's all-too-rare rhetorical jabs at a rapacious Wall Street. How else to counter Sarah Palin and the tea-baggers who blast the big government bailouts as if they represent an Obama invention rather than a creation of the last Republican White House? Since Bill Clinton's presidency the only difference in the two parties' programs is over who best serves Wall Street and hence deserves to be more handsomely rewarded with campaign funding.

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Take the mask off the Obama candidacy and there was always a deeply disturbing reality that his massive Internet-driven grass-roots contributor base concealed. Obama was the first major-party presidential candidate since Richard Nixon to base his campaign fundraising exclusively on private rather than public funds. But the appearance of all those coins flowing in from the common folk denied the harsh reality that his campaign contributions established him as the darling of Wall Street financiers--the very folks whose interests he served so faithfully during his first year in office as he endorsed, and indeed expanded, the Bush bailout.

While his base was distracted with a never very bold health care proposal, designed to mollify the insurance companies while providing at least the appearance of universal health care, Obama ceded the genuinely populist cause in the midst of a banking meltdown by coddling Wall Street. It was only a year into his administration, at a point when the banks had obviously failed to deliver on a promise to aid distressed homeowners and increase lending, that Obama in direct response to adverse poll results once again sounded the populist notes of the early months of his primary campaign.

And for that too-little-too-late response to the catastrophic economic crisis they caused, Wall Street titans will now take Obama to the woodshed to teach him and the Democrats a lesson about who's really in control.

Snow Storm Slams Mid-Atlantic: Flights Canceled, Schools Closed

2010-02-10T08:14:02Z

WASHINGTON — Plows that have been rolling around the clock for days in the nation's capital, Philadelphia and Baltimore won't be heading for the garage any time soon as a second major storm in a week moved into the snowbound region Wednesday.

Snow was falling from northern Virginia to Connecticut by early Wednesday. The storm started in the Midwest, where it was blamed for three traffic accident deaths in Michigan on Tuesday.

Along the East coast, thousands of workers were scrambling to plow and salt roads. Maryland officials said salt supplies used by road crews were dwindling in some parts of the state. A spokesman for Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation said drivers' shifts were running as long as 16 hours.

"It can be exhausting, mentally and physically," said Jerry Graham, a state plow truck driver in Pennsylvania's Lehigh County.

Areas that dodged last week's storm, which buried some areas in nearly 3 feet of snow, won't be as lucky this time around. Airports in the New York City area joined their counterparts farther south in canceling many flights, while the city's 1.1 million school children had a rare snow day Wednesday, only the third in six years. As much as a foot was expected there.

A forecast of at least that much new snow wasn't welcome in Washington and Philadelphia, which were hit hard by a blizzard over the weekend. Each needs about 9 more inches to give the cities their snowiest winters since 1884, the first year records were kept.

"It's hard to find anything in the history books of these types of storms back-to-back," said National Weather Service meteorologist Stephen Konarik.

Michael Giambattista, 56, a truck driver from Elizabeth, Pa., had been without power since Friday and was staying at a Red Cross shelter near his home with his girlfriend and 13-year-old son.

"I've never been without power like this," said Giambattista, who was trying to help keep spirits up among the more than 50 people at the shelter. "Mother Nature, you can't battle her. She's going to win."

The storms have kept some workers and students home for the better part of a week. About 230,000 federal workers in Washington have been off since Friday afternoon, when the first storm began. The U.S. House announced it was scrapping the rest of its workweek. Several hearings and meetings in Congress and federal agencies were postponed, including one planned to address Toyota's massive recalls.

"It's embarrassing that the world's largest superpower closes from a few feet of snow," said Alex Krause, 23, of Los Angeles, who was stranded in Washington and visiting the National Mall. "The Kremlin must be laughing."

But the effects of the federal government's closure were negligible since about 85 percent of federal employees work outside the Washington region. An IRS spokeswoman said tax returns should not be affected.

Thousands remained without power from the last storm in parts of western Pennsylvania, Maryland and other areas. Utilities said deep snow was hindering some crews trying to fix damaged power lines even before Tuesday's storm arrived.

Their task could grow even more difficult with new snowfall and winds gusting up to 50 mph that create blizzard conditions in the Mid-Atlantic.

The Washington area was expected to get a foot or more of snow, while Baltimore and Philadelphia could each get as many as 20 inches.

Most flights were canceled at Philadelphia's airport after 8 p.m. Tuesday, and Washington's airports had halted all but a few flights. Continental Airlines canceled all 400 of its Wednesday flights at Newark Liberty Airport, as well as several hundred more regional flights on affiliate airlines. U.S. Airways and Continental also canceled most flights at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

James Allen, 25, of Northampton, England, arrived Sunday on the first flight to land at Baltimore's airport after its runway reopened from the last storm. He was visiting friend Julia Tracey, 25, a nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The two were at a downtown grocery store Tuesday searching in vain for fresh herbs for a recipe.

Allen had planned to stay in Baltimore for a few days, but "it's probably going to turn into a few weeks now."

In West Virginia, where 40 counties were under winter storm warnings, Gov. Joe Manchin urged people to make sure snow was cleared from roofs of public buildings to avoid a repeat of 1998, when roof collapses were blamed for at least three deaths.

At the National Mall in Washington, Miron Daniela of Bucharest, Romania, said she's used to the snow and this would be normal in her country.

On area residents dealing with the snow, she said, "From what I heard, they're very scared and it's too much for them."

___

Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman, Philip Elliott, Jennifer C. Kerr, Ken Thomas and Stephen Ohlemacher in Washington; Ben Nuckols in Baltimore; Dan Nephin in Elizabeth, Pa.; and Nancy Benac in Arlington, Va., contributed to this report.

Ronald Barron Murder: Teen Arrested In killing Of LA Anti-Gang Counselor

2010-02-10T08:11:30Z

LOS ANGELES — When Ronald "Loony" Barron urged a young graffiti tagger to put away his paint cans, he was doing what he viewed as his mission – steering kids away from crime – but he paid for it with his life.

Los Angeles police arrested a 16-year-old boy on Tuesday, saying he would be charged with murder for shooting Barron to death Sunday night after Barron confronted him.

A 40-year-old former member of the notorious Crips gang, Barron in more recent years had become a respected anti-gang counselor who had preached against violence in schools and jails.

"He was all about helping children like the little kid who shot him," Barron's younger brother Anthony Blanks said. "He was out there helping children from making the same mistakes he made."

Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said detectives started working on the case shortly after Barron died of multiple gunshot wounds at a hospital. They soon found a surveillance videotape from a business near the scene of the shooting that showed a tagger at work.

Smith said they then turned to the Los Angeles Unified School District's police department, adding that "they know taggers better than anyone."

Two officers immediately identified the suspect, who was picked up by detectives at his parent's house. He quickly gave up himself and the gun, Smith said. The arrest was made within 36 hours.

Stunned by the senselessness of the crime, detectives were determined to track down the alleged killer, he said.

"It breaks all of our hearts where something like this happens in our community," Smith said. "It's a tragic incident."

Police and city officials were quick to note that the shooting was a random, isolated incident to avoid rumors that may result in retaliatory violence. The Mayor's Office on Gang Reduction and Youth Development hastily called a meeting of gang intervention workers late Monday so they could get the word out that the killing was not gang-related or racially motivated.

An emotional vigil was held Monday night at the scene of the shooting outside a bar where Barron had been watching the Super Bowl with his girlfriend.

Those who knew him said Barron's charisma and the sincerity of his stance against violence, as well as his street cred as a former member of the Mansfield Crips and a former inmate of Pelican Bay State Prison, made him an especially effective gang intervention worker.

"He had a tremendous personality," said Jim Brown, the former NFL player who founded Amer-I-Can, the anti-gang program that Barron carried out in schools and jails. "The kids loved him. He made a difference in saving young people's lives."

Alex Alonso, founder of streetgangs.com who knew Barron since they were teenagers in west Los Angeles, said he was suprised that Barron would be killed in an incident of street violence after surviving life as a hardened Mansfield Crip in the 1980s.

But Alonso noted that intervention work is always dangerous. "Whenever you're confronting young people, you're taking a risk – they're quick to use weapons," he said.

Barron is survived by two children, a 22-year-old son about to graduate college, and a daughter, 10.

Tommy "T-Top" Rivers, a fellow gang interventionist at Amer-I-Can, said his colleague's killing underscored the need to continue his mission.

"We got to stop the senseless killing," Rivers said emphatically. "We got to change the mindset."

Barron's killing is the latest in which taggers have fatally shot passersby who confronted them about graffiti writing over the past three years.

Steve Rosenbaum: Why TED Matters Now

2010-02-10T07:34:47Z

The world goes through cycles. Periods. Chapters. We've just come out of the industrial age. We're peering around the corner of the digital age. And the problems we face loom large. Energy. The Environment. Poverty. Inequality. Health Care. Obesity.

These a big problems, problems that have been building up a head of steam for some time. They're not going to go away, and they're not going to be resolved with tweaks and minor fixes.

And while the Democrats, The Republicans, and the various factions and splinter groups may be willing to hold their ground and tough out the economic and environmental tsunami that is on the horizon - there's no one who comes to TED who's that sanguine about the issues that face us.

Worth noting there are no politicians at TED. Actors sure. Scientist, in abundance. Thinkers, writers, painters, digital creators. But this is a conference of doers, folks who make things and do things and are here to share what they know and leave with new found inspiration.

When I think back on the past five years of TED's, I remember specific revelations that changed the way I see parts of the world. The emerging trend to micro-finance and the power of change generated by technology (in the case cell phones) as evidenced by Iqbal Quadir (click to view TED Talk) and Grameen Phone. The jaw dropping images Alan Russell shows a newt re-growing limbs.(click to view TED Talk) The power of music that was palpable in the hall as conductor Benjamin Zander (click to view TED Talk) of the Boston Philharmonic brought an entire room to its feat with a conductors baton and the power of music. I could go on and one. Each TED talk it's own collection of human passion and energy - presented in front of a room of people ready to absorb, engage, and act on these ideas.

It's like a tiny human nuclear reactor of inspiration.

Over the next 4 days - the issues of health care, poverty, the environment will all be brought down to human scale. And many of the worlds most gifted minds will bring their solutions and theories here to see if they can't gather the critical mass necessary to bring them out of the labs and into public view.

It's a place where big ideas and new ideas get center stage.

Where else can you expect to listen to Benoit Mandelbrot, Sarah Silverman, and Elie Weisel? Madelbrot created the concept of "fractals" and is one of the world leading thinkers on Chaos theory. Sarah Silverman is funny in a dark and subversive kind of way, and Elie Weisel is the the preeminent writer and thinker on the Holocaust and Tolerance. Tolerance, New Science, Humor. I'm pretty sure that's a good start to answering the question "What Does The World Need Now?"

And while the audience

Scott Mendelson: Does the world need a Superman (movie)?

2010-02-10T06:52:22Z

Today's big news was of course the announcement that Warner Bros is in fact going ahead with yet another Superman reboot. That's not terribly surprising, as various litigation involving the heirs of Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel has made it of paramount importance that Warner Bros gets a new Superman film off the ground by 2011. But what is genuinely shocking is that Chris Nolan has been brought on to apparently 'oversee' the film. He's not (as of yet) directing it, and I'm not even sure at this point that he's producing it, but apparently Warner wants his name on the project in one form or another. And yes, buried in this information is the fact that John Nolan and David Goyer have begun writing a third Batman film. Good for them and best of luck.

Oh, slight digression, Nikki Finke's article contains yet another author basically libeling every Batman writer over the last forty years by claiming that Chris Nolan's Batman Begins was "was rebooted according to Frank Miller's film noirish take on Batman." Wrong, wrong, wrong! Nolan's Batman reboot, like Tim Burton's before him, was based on any number of Batman interpretations. At best you can give Frank Miller a token amount of credit for the second act of Batman Begins, which uses elements from Batman: Year One. If anything, the first two Nolan pictures were at least partially rooted in the Jeph Loeb/Tim Sale epics The Long Halloween and Dark Victory. But of course, as we all know, anything and everything good about Batman since the 60s TV show went off the air is completely to the credit of Frank Miller.

OK, the good news is that Warner Bros. is obviously very happy with Christopher Nolan's Inception. And the equally good news is that the Chris and John Nolan and David Goyer seem to be off and running with a third Batman picture, one that will be made on their schedule and at their discretion. But really, is Warner that stupid to presume that the work Nolan did on Batman makes him appropriate for Superman? Does anyone think that Superman Returns disappointed (in relation to expectations and its $270 million-budget) because it wasn't dark and gritty enough? Superman Returns underwhelmed because it was a confused film, unsure whether to be its own thing or a direct sequel to the Richard Donner Superman (and arguably, the Richard Donner cut of Superman II). It also had, at its core, a fatally flawed concept (that Superman vanished for five years and was mortified to learn that his friends and family had the gall to move on with their lives). Someone made a bad movie, period. These things happen. Just because Chris Nolan's filmography (which deals with moral men plunging into immoral waters with seemingly just cause) works so well for the film noir world of Gotham City doesn't mean he has any business hanging out in Metropolis.

Christopher Nolan arguably my favorite current working director. But there are a dozen other directors (or 'shepherds') who are better suited to revitalizing the big screen Superman franchise. Michael Bay, if he gets a good screenplay and a short leash, would be pitch-perfect for an insanely huge, thunderously patriotic ode to 'truth, justice, and the American way'. David Fincher would be great for a film that deals with the overwhelming responsibility of having godlike powers on a war-torn planet like ours. Kathryn Bigelow or Michael Mann could craft epics dealing with Clark Kent's heroics as his profession and how it shapes him as a man. Heck, Aaron Sorkin's rapid-fire dialogue, overwhelming sense of importance, and downright corny idealism would be a great match for the property. Point being, I've already seen Christopher Nolan's take on Batman. I'd much prefer to see someone else make Superman their own. Frankly, this was the same reason I wasn't thrilled when Bryan Singer jumped into Superman Returns. Singer's playground was (and now is again) the X-Men franchise. He should have let someone else make their mark with the Man of Steel. Same goes for Nolan.

Or, here's an even easier idea. You want a Superman movie that reboots the series, reestablishes the origin in a modern-day context and manages to include Lex Luthor AND the kind of epic-scope super heroics that have been missing of late? Mark Waid already wrote your movie back in 2004. It's called Superman: Birthright. Take that 314-page comic book, make it into a workable screenplay, hire the Michael Bay who made The Rock and call it a day. THAT's the Superman movie that everyone has been waiting for. Because the world doesn't really need a new Superman movie, but it doesn't meant we wouldn't want one. And a good Superman picture will be welcome with open arms.

Scott Mendelson

Alex Remington: Beyond Human: An Exploration of the Human Future of Robotics, Long on Sci-Fi but Short on Sci-Fact

2010-02-10T06:43:12Z

I recently reviewed Almost Human, a book that followed the Carnegie Mellon robotics department's frequent frustration with building robots in the present day. Gregory Benford and Elisabeth Malartre's Beyond Human: Living with Robots and Cyborgs muses about the future, quoting futurists and science fiction and reasoning through thought experiments. But they don't ever explain exactly how we'll bridge the gap between the current state of "almost human" to the imagined state of "beyond human." It's a fun, breezy read, but because it's so heavily reliant on quoting the work of fiction writers to evoke our possible future, it's hard to take it seriously. The authors offer an interesting window into some of the technology in development, which is all vastly more elegant than the bug-riddled clunkers in "Almost Human" -- and, as a result, awfully hard to believe any of it will be in working order any time soon. Then again, considering how far the internet has come in just the past 15 years, perhaps anything is possible.

The book is split into three sections: human enhancements (possibly making us "cyborgs"), the future of robots (most of whom won't resemble humans), and the implications for society of having all of us and everything a little bit wired. Each section is split between technology currently in development and speculation about what might come next, with frequent references to science fiction (including extensive quotes from Benford's own science fiction, which is pretty pedestrian). The human enhancements section is the most grounded: they're basically high-tech eyeglasses and hearing aids, able to restore sensation to above-normal capacities. Future eye- and ear-wear may open up parts of the visual and audial spectrum that humans can't perceive, like infrared light and the sound that dog whistles make. Or not. The book tends to be long on speculation and quotes from science fiction, and short on much new information about what's coming next. The human technology involves wearable computers and prostheses to replace missing limbs, rather than bionic grafts or implants -- despite a number of references to the Six Million Dollar Man, the authors don't expect us to replace the rest of our body with metal any time soon. The sections on robots and our wired future are still more speculative.

The authors have serious scientific credentials -- Benford teaches physics at University of California Irvine, and Malartre, his wife, is an environmentalist and biologist. (For some reason, he writes under his real name and his wife writes under a pseudonym, so it's hard to track down her real work.) But this book is lightweight. It's fun to read, but there isn't a whole lot of solid science between its pages. Call it a robotic summer read.

Rating: 65

Crossposted on Remingtonstein.

Reyne Haines: My Favorite Things - Vintage

2010-02-10T06:38:33Z

In the words of Julie Andrews..."These are a few of my favorite things..."

I'm always looking at the latest and greatest. What new gadget is there to replace the one I bought 3 months ago; what colors and styles are in this season, what the hottest new accessories are on the market, etc. My eyes are often bigger than my pocketbook, so while I see plenty of things to fall in love with, my budget only allows me to acquire them one thing at a time (instead of everything at once!)

Not everyone can afford (or justify) a new $2500 purse each season, or a colorful Picasso for the new home. Does that mean we shouldn't have said items?

Of course not!

In my search for the next best thing, each week I'll talk about what all the fashion and style magazines are reporting as "must haves" and show YOU how to find something similar, for less.

This weeks "Favorite Things" finds...

FASHION:

Oversize bags are still in. What girl can travel without one?
Hilary Duff was seen carrying her Hermes Birkin Bag recently:

If you don't have multiple thousands to shell out, have you considered buying a pre-owned Birkin?
There are numerous legitimate dealers of vintage and gentle used accessories that can have you hooked up and looking like a celeb overnight.

Visit our friends at "Strictly Pursonal" to see their great selection of pre-owned AUTHENTIC designer bags: http://www.strictlypursonal.com/

JEWELRY:

A common question asked on the red carpet is not only who are you wearing, but what jewelry designer are you wearing as well. Many names come to mind such as Yurman, Van Cleefs, Tiffany, Cartier, etc.

Have you considered rockin some vintage Chanel to make a bold, yet affordable statement?
Try visiting Very Vintage: http://www.veryvintage.com for an assortment of yummy things.

Finally, I've seen numerous fashion magazines lately with photos and advertisements of necklaces sporting vintage looking key's hanging from them like the one seen on the neck of Kate Moss here:

Naomi Watts was seen wearing one in 18kt gold valued at $800 in the latest issue of InStyle.

Certainly you can hit your local antique shop and find numerous authentic Victorian keys for a few dollars and hit your local jewelry store for a great necklace to hang it on. If that's too much trouble, why not visit Etsy.com - they offer numerous artists selling them for under $100.

I'd love to hear how you take the "old" and make it new again. Write me here!

Happy Hunting!

Reyne

Unemployment In The US: How Long-Term Unemployment Might Affect American Society

2010-02-10T06:14:49Z

There is unemployment, a brief and relatively routine transitional state that results from the rise and fall of companies in any economy, and there is unemployment--chronic, all-consuming. The former is a necessary lubricant in any engine of economic growth. The latter is a pestilence that slowly eats away at people, families, and, if it spreads widely enough, the fabric of society. Indeed, history suggests that it is perhaps society's most noxious ill.

The worst effects of pervasive joblessness--on family, politics, society--take time to incubate, and they show themselves only slowly.

Yoani Sanchez: Protecting Your Own, Stealing From Others

2010-02-10T06:12:17Z

At night he watches over the rows planted with malanga and the flock of lambs, with a short homemade shotgun. It is the work of an improvised gunsmith who welded a small diameter piece of pipe to a rustic chamber, with an irregular hammer sticking out. The sound of the ingenious device is enough, in the early hours of the morning, to send running anyone who tries to steal the harvest. When the sow gives birth, he calls his brother who lives in the village, and with this contrivance, created by necessity, they keep watch until sunrise.

Many farmers use illegal weapons that have been purchased or produced in an alternative way. Without them, the fruit of months of labor could end up in the hands of the "predators" of grain, elusive shadows who move in the darkness. Poverty has increased the stealing in the Cuban countryside and forced the villagers to safeguard their own resources. Hence the proliferation of aggressive dogs and manufactured shotguns, particularly on farms where there are cows. The pound of beef that sells for two convertible pesos in the black market feeds the thefts and illegal slaughter, despite the lengthy prison sentences that these crimes entail.

For the guardians of their own property, an official announcement has come as a surprise: ..."in exceptional circumstances and only once (...) people native to and residing legally on the island, and who have in their control unlicensed firearms, will be able to obtain the required registration." There exists, however, the tacit conviction that whomever publicly admits such possession, will find the response to be confiscation. Given this fear, few will confess to keeping the cold metal anywhere in their house, preferring the risk of not having papers to the insecurity of being left without protection. To our alarm, these rustic instruments also serve those who have neither farms nor animals to protect, lying in wait on the other side of the fence, inclined to shoot to take what belongs to others.

Yoani's blog, Generation Y, can be read here in English translation.

Kobe Bryant's All-Star Party: Show Magazine Bash Raises Questions

2010-02-10T06:08:00Z

Kobe Bryant is promoting a party thrown by Show Magazine during the upcoming All-Star Weekend in Dallas, according to an article at TMZ.

(WARNING: NSFW PICTURES BELOW)

The web site reports that Bryant graces the party's promotional posters, which promise that girls who have appeared in the magazine will attend the party in "sexy outfits." (Scroll down to see pictures from the magazine.) It is unclear whether Bryant will play in the All-Star Game, as he is currently nursing a sore left ankle.

Bryant was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old in 2003, but the charges were ultimately dismissed. Afterwards, Bryant issued an apology, writing that "although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did."

If reports of the party are true, it is the second time in recent weeks that some have questioned his marketing choices. In January, he appeared in a gun-themed Nike ad, boasting that "I don't leave anything in the chamber" just days after two NBA players were suspended for the rest of the season for gun crimes.

Scroll down for photos from Show Magazine.

LOOK:

Honda Recall 2010: Airbag Problems Add Another 437,000 Vehicles To Recall

2010-02-10T06:02:07Z

TOKYO — Honda Motor Co. is adding 437,000 vehicles to its 15-month old global recall for faulty airbags in the latest quality problem to hit a Japanese automaker.

The company will replace the driver's side air bag inflator on the cars because they can deploy with too much pressure, causing the inflator to rupture and injure or kill the driver.

Japan's No. 2 automaker originally announced the recall to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in November 2008 and the total of number vehicles recalled since then is approaching 1 million.

The latest expansion of the airbag recall includes 378,000 cars in the U.S., some 41,000 cars in Canada and 17,000 cars in Japan, Australia and elsewhere in Asia. The North American recall was announced Tuesday and followed Wednesday by the recall in Asia.

Honda's announcement comes at a time of increased attention on automotive recalls. Though the problems are unrelated, rival Toyota Motor Corp. is in the process of recalling more than 8 million cars and trucks due to faulty gas pedals. On Tuesday, Toyota said it would recall more than 440,000 of its flagship 2010 Prius and other hybrids due to a braking glitch.

"There is a heightened sensitivity right now to anything to do with recalls," said John Mendel, executive vice president of sales for American Honda.

Honda's latest U.S. recall airbag affects certain 2001 and 2002 Accord sedans, Civic compacts, Odyssey minivans, CR-V small sport utility vehicles and some 2002 Acura TL sedans.

The recall now affects 952,118 vehicles, including certain 2001 and 2002 Accord sedans, Civic compacts, Odyssey minivans, CR-V small sport utility vehicles and some 2002 Acura TL sedans.

In Japan, the recall covers three models, including the 2001 sedan Inspire.

Honda said it is aware of 12 incidents linked to the problem – one death in May 2009 and 11 injuries. The company said it is not aware of any problems happening after July 2009.

The automaker's original announcement to NHTSA in November 2008 involved fewer than 4,000 2001 Accords and Civics. The recall was expanded in July of 2009 to 440,000 vehicles including the 2001 and 2002 Accord and Civic, as well as certain 2002 Acura TL sedans.

Company officials said the airbag produces too much pressure that can cause the inflator to rupture, sending metal fragments toward the driver.

Honda says owners should take their vehicles to dealerships as soon as they are notified by the company in writing. Notification will begin during the month of February.

Last month Honda recalled 646,000 Fit hatchbacks worldwide because of a glitch that could cause water to enter the power window mechanism, causing components to overheat.

The Fit recall affects 2007-2008 models. The Fit is sold in other countries as the Jazz and City. The recall affects Asia, Latin America, Europe, South Africa and North America. About 140,000 vehicles are affected in the U.S.

Anne Dilenschneider: "Flight to Crisis" Volunteers Need Sponsors for Haiti

2010-02-10T05:51:20Z

Medical professionals, engineers, security persons, clergy, social workers and therapists are responding to the call to serve two-week rotations on Flight to Crisis teams working with the Community Coalition for Haiti in Jacmel. These volunteers are finding Flight to Crisis through the Red Cross and USAID, through The Huffington Post, and through social networking sites. This is an international effort -- the first team members are coming from Canada, China, the European Union, and the United States. A second team is now forming. While some volunteers are able to pay their way, others need financial support. Financial assistance is also needed to ship donated medical supplies and equipment to Haiti.

One of the volunteers needing sponsorship is Jennifer Ruid. Jennifer lives in Tomahawk, a rural community of 3,770 in the northeastern part of Wisconsin. Jennifer is trained as an RN, and she has organizational skills in addition to her nursing skills. She has worked as a director of nursing, and she developed and managed a geriatric clinic. She speaks French, and she worked with Creole-speaking patients when she lived in Louisiana. She has seen and experienced the difficulties people face when they are dislocated by natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina. When she called the Wausau Red Cross to find out if she could volunteer in Haiti, she was told that the Red Cross was not sending volunteers at this time. The Red Cross recommended that she try the USAID website. There she found and connected with Flight to Crisis.

Jennifer wants to go to Haiti in order to contribute her organizational and nursing skills. She also wants to go on behalf of the community of Tomahawk, because her small community is one that cares deeply about what is happening in Haiti. As she said, "I would not be traveling alone. Any and all who support my presence in Haiti would be going with me. When I take my first step in Haiti, so will they."

Daphna Lewinshtein is another Flight to Crisis volunteer who needs sponsorship. She lives in MontrÃ©al, the home of the largest Haitian community in Canada. This artist works with adolescents and adults who have special needs. She is also an organizer who is committed to making a difference in the world. She has volunteered at orphanages in India, Korea and Nepal, taught English to Tibetan exiles in India, and worked in at a woman's vocational center in Ghana. Last December, Daphna collaborated with artists, art students, and The Afghan Women's Centre of MontrÃ©al to organize a craft show and cafÃ© to raise funds for the Rift Valley Children's Village in Oldeani Village, Tanzania and the Flying Kites orphanage in Uttarakhand, India.

Daphna is hoping to create a cultural collaboration between Canadian children in MontrÃ©al and Haitian children in Jacmel as a way to create a long-term global connection that will help keep relief efforts alive for the long haul.

If you'd like to sponsor Jennifer, Daphna, or any Flight to Crisis volunteer, or if you are able to assist Flight to Crisis in covering the cost of shipping medical supplies to Haiti, go to the Community Coalition for Haiti website at: www.cchaiti.org On the website, choose "Donate for Earthquake Relief." When you are routed to the secure server, choose "on behalf of" and then type in "Jennifer Ruid," "Daphna Lewinshtein" or simply "Flight to Crisis" to benefit other volunteers or to provide transportation costs for medical supplies. Donations of any amount are most welcome, and 100% of all donations is tax-deductible.

To donate frequent flyer miles to get volunteers to Miami, contact: relief@flighttocrisis.org

Note: For over 20 years, Community Coalition for Haiti (CCH) has been partnering with Haitian community groups who determine the priorities for their development and support needs. CCH then facilitates connections with international groups such as Rotary International. CCH's major emphases are medical care, education, economic development and agricultural training.

Christopher Sabatini: Moving U.S. Policy Beyond Hemispheric Crises

2010-02-10T05:48:40Z

Two recent crises have overtaken the U.S.'s broader policy framework and agenda for the region. First, there was the coup in Honduras, now the tragedy in Haiti. The first was a potentially avoidable political train wreck that ended up dividing the hemisphere, the latter, one of worst humanitarian disasters in the hemisphere's history and an opportunity to unite the hemisphere.

Together the two countries, whose populations total just under 17 million people, have dominated the U.S. policy agenda in a region with close to 600 million people. In other words, we risk having lost our focus on genuine regional powers such as Brazil and looming political problems such as Venezuela by focusing on the immediate crises of just under 3 percent of the region's population.

But there is hope. For all its heart-wrenching tragedy, Haiti is an opportunity to forge a broader hemispheric coalition and agenda in a way we failed in Honduras. Creating this historical partnership requires establishing a broad regional framework for monetary pledges, coordination, modalities, and goals of a comprehensive, long-term relief plan for Haiti that builds off Brazil and Chile's long-standing commitment and the U.S.'s deep pockets and military, humanitarian presence.

Time, though, is running out.

For one, countries, such as Brazil and France, have already begun to chafe at the overwhelming U.S. military presence in Haiti. For another, the South American military alliance, UNASUR, concluded a meeting on Tuesday, February 9 in which its bloc of Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina pledged $100 million dollars and to request a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) of $200 million to assist Haiti's reconstruction. OK, there are questions here about why a South American military association would be convening a meeting on humanitarian assistance and the wisdom of an IDB loan to a loose, uneasy military association.

But the real question is why this needs to be sub-regionalized.

The amount pledged by UNASUR pales in comparison to the $600 million the U.S. government has already committed for emergency assistance--an amount that only includes bilateral government assistance and will increase in the next few years. This doesn't include the amount spent by our neighbor to the north, Canada, which is heavily engaged in Haiti with over a $130 million pledged or the $1.7 billion worth of debt forgiven by the G-7 countries.

In short, efforts such as UNASUR's--whether for political reasons or even for the best intentions--risk Balkanizing an effort that deeply needs coordinated responses in collective commitments, delivery mechanisms, management, and long-term planning. And, like it or not, the U.S. and the global north are going to remain major players in this--as are Brazil and Chile.

There's one other reason why the time for setting a multilateral framework is running out: the longer the U.S. goes it alone, the longer it does it unilaterally and the longer it allows the hard cases to set our agenda in the region. Just one example: Secretary of State Clinton has already visited Haiti twice.

Brazil zero.

So, here's an idea: let's convene a hemispheric meeting to discuss commitments, areas of focus, collaboration, and management for our reconstruction effort. Forget the Organization of American State (OAS) which has been completely absent in this whole effort--further sealing its irrelevance after Honduras. Imagine a scenario similar to the NATO effort in Afghanistan in which troops and development efforts are coordinated among allies with mutual commitments and joint command structures including (heaven forefend!) U.S. troop activities. In this, the U.S. may remain the main bilateral donor, and others may very well pony up more funds, but all would go into a general pool. Such an arrangement can also provide an effective mechanism to oversee and help channel money and people on the ground coming from other sources such as multilateral donors and private donations.

This could provide the much-needed fulcrum for broader cooperation in the region with governments that truly want to cooperate for a greater regional good. If handled properly--and quickly--we can move beyond the recent tensions and the lack of attention to many of these countries to a truly unprecedented regional effort. It would recognize and build off the successful and unprecedented efforts that followed the flight of former President Aristide.

But perhaps most important: it would move regional policy from the immediate crises that has dominated headlines and U.S. policymaking toward the region in the last year. After all, we are looking for a way to engage our regional partners--having lost a number of them in the last crisis (Honduras). Now we can pitch in and lay the groundwork for future efforts.

Aaron Zelinsky: WWJD: What Would Johnson Do?

2010-02-10T05:42:36Z

The Senate is strangling the Obama administration. Everything from high profile legislation to mid-level appointees is held up, often because of little more than pet peeves. Many members of the GOP now practice obstructionism for the sake of obstructionism: They are, therefore they filibuster. In Washington, the Senate hold has become as commonplace as lobbyists and monuments.

It's time President Obama looked hard in the mirror and asked himself the question so many have asked before him: What would Johnson do?

At first blush, Lyndon Johnson may not seem like the best political guide for the present moment. The last thing Obama wants is for Afghanistan to become his Vietnam. But no chief executive knew the Senate better than Johnson, himself a legendary Senate Majority Leader. And Vietnam notwithstanding, LBJ produced domestic policy accomplishments that were lasting and substantial - exactly what President Obama aspires to.

Here are LBJ's lessons for Obama:

To Make an Omelet, You've Got To Break Some Eggs. LBJ understood that legislative majorities were fundamentally impermanent, and that political capital should be spent rather than dissipated. When he signed the Civil Rights Act, LBJ supposedly remarked that "we have lost the South for a generation." Regardless of whether he actually uttered these words, LBJ knew full well what he was doing. He decided that passing the Civil Rights Act was worth the future political hit.

Thus far, the Obama Administration has been reticent to spend political capital. The Democrats are like the car-enthusiast who spends all of his time working on his sports coup without ever taking it for a spin. No one cares how fast you can go from zero to sixty if you never leave the driveway.

Determine Who Will Play Ball. When Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act, he did so in the face of a fierce filibuster led by Democrats. In order to break the filibuster, Johnson turned to moderate Republicans. President Obama should recognize that, unless Harry Reid is willing to drastically change course, there isn't much this Administration can accomplish without at least a few Republicans.

In terms of appointments, there are many senators who believe in allowing executive branch nominees to receive an up-or-down vote. President Obama should talk personally with Senators Orrin Hatch, Olympia Snow, Judd Gregg, Lamar Alexander, Lindsey Graham, Richard Lugar, George Voinovich, and Susan Collins. Together, they can likely negotiate an end to filibusters on many of his appointments, most of whom are noncontroversial nominees whose confirmation is essential to effective government function.

Allow Your Opponents to Save Face. LBJ realized that those whom he courted needed political cover when they supported him. Johnson couldn't pass the Civil Rights Act without the Senate Minority Leader, Everett Dirksen. Rather than buy off Dirksen with pork, Johnson sought to co-opt him, instructing Hubert Humphrey to "let him have a piece of the action," and be sure to let him "look good all the time." When Dirksen introduced a substitute bill in the Senate to end the filibuster, LBJ let Dirksen take the credit for being a statesman, while he pocketed the legislative victory.

In Obama's case, the Louisiana Purchase and Cornhusker Kickback allowed Senators Landrieu and Nelson to "have a piece of the action," but these buyoffs didn't let them "look good all the time." The White House has to give fence-sitters plausible policy-based cover for changing positions. The easiest way to accomplish this is by negotiating pragmatic changes to pending legislation for which the fence-sitters can take credit.

Be the Head of Government, Not Just the Head of State. In the United States, the President is both the head of state and the head of government. LBJ recognized this fact, and he wasn't afraid to get down and dirty with the legislative branch, arm twisting, cajoling, and sometimes bullying senators to vote his way.

So far, President Obama has been a good head of state, speaking eloquently at home and rebuilding U.S. credibility overseas. However, Obama has not been willing to do the heavy-lifting of domestic legislative governance, the nitty-gritty of meeting with legislators to gain their support. Recent sessions with members of Congress regarding the jobs bill are a good start, but Obama needs to do more politicking, as personally distasteful as it may be.

At the end of the day, LBJ acknowledged how hard it was to be constructive, colorfully summarizing: "Any jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a good carpenter to build one." If President Obama wants to be an good carpenter, he must ask himself: What would Johnson do?