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July 2009

Analysis: Obama's rare race foray a positive step (AP)

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 18:13 — admin

Perhaps the biggest "teachable moment" from the Henry Louis Gates Jr. saga was for President Barack Obama: If you want to improve race relations, you have to enter the fray.
Even some of Obama's fiercest opponents say that by bringing together the black professor and the white police officer who arrested him, the president had orchestrated an unlikely and unifying moment, a peaceable kingdom in the Rose Garden.
Symbolic? Yes. Made for TV? Certainly. But these things could not obscure the fact that a president who has tried to transcend racial matters was down in the arena, talking about race.
"The cynic in me wants to shoot holes in it, the critic in me wants to pick it apart," said conservative radio host Mike Gallagher. "But I'm sorry, you have two sides, polar opposites in a racially tinged confrontation like this, sitting down with the president of the United States over a beer at the White House?
"This is a great step forward in showing how you can take a confrontation, a conflict, and make a positive out of it."
This also is the kind of direct action Obama had sidestepped as he sought the support of white voters weary of racial dissonance.
In March, Obama was asked whether he agreed with Attorney General Eric Holder's comments that many Americans have been "cowards" because "we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race."
"I'm not somebody who believes that constantly talking about race somehow solves racial tensions," Obama told The New York Times. "I think what solves racial tensions is fixing the economy, putting people to work, making sure that people have health care."
The standoff between Gates and Obama has the potential to exacerbate tensions. Many blacks supported Gates' claim that he was racially profiled by Crowley, while many whites insisted Crowley displayed no bias in investigating a possible break-in at Gates' home.
Gates demanded an apology from Crowley and called him a "rogue policeman." After Obama said police had "acted stupidly" in arresting an angry Gates for disorderly conduct, Crowley said Obama was "way off base wading into a local issue without knowing all the facts."
The atmosphere was much different after Thursday's conversation.
"No tension," Crowley said.
Mostly, racial conflicts fade out without any consultation, let alone resolution. Imagine the widow of Sean Bell meeting with the New York police officers who shot her husband, or the black teens in Jena, La., talking to the white schoolmate they attacked.
That made the White House meeting even more remarkable — "revolutionary and potentially healing, a peace pipe for modern times," wrote the right-leaning columnist Kathleen Parker.
"When future archaeologists excavate our history, they will doubtless marvel at the symbolism of that simple gesture," she wrote.
It probably never would have happened had Obama not criticized Crowley, a mistake that demanded damage control.
Why not?
"His advisers would have said, 'No, it's not about health care!'" said Rev. Jim Wallis, president of the progressive Christian group Sojourners and author of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It."

It was political theater — but it sent a powerful message, Wallis said.

"It was a parable for what needs to happen off-camera all the time — that kind of conversation," he said. "Obama was saying, 'This now needs to happen.'"

Obama has rarely joined that conversation since his national debut at the 2004 Democratic National Convention speech, when he declared, "There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America — there's the United States of America."

But as the first black president, son of a white mother and black father, many say he in uniquely suited — even obligated — to lead the discussion.

"As a white man, I would say the nation needs a president to be proactive on race," Wallis said. "He has a power to be that, the capacity to be that, the identity and the history."

Gallagher said no one besides Obama could have orchestrated this type of resolution.

"You had to almost have a black president who's capable of saying to Gates, the man who feels aggrieved and insulted, 'I need you at the White House.'"

"Obama said ... 'Let's show the world that we're trying to advance race relations rather than digress,'" he continued. "And you know what? As one of his fiercest critics, he gets an A-plus on this. I'm just blown away."

Much has been made of the symbolism of a black president and how he provides an opportunity for people to talk about race. In some ways, race is always an element of any conversation Obama is involved in.

But "watercooler conversations aren't enough any more," Wallis said. "They don't go deep enough, they are too short and they are very safe. You gotta sit at the table."

That's exactly what Crowley, Gates and Obama did on the White House lawn, along with Vice President Joe Biden, whose presence conveniently balanced out the image.

Earlier, Crowley and Gates talked after they crossed paths while separately touring the White House with their relatives.

They continued their tour as one large group.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Jesse Washington covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press. AP news researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.

Olympics out: Kwan chooses school over skating (AP)

Fri, 07/31/2009 - 13:58 — admin

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Michelle Kwan has chosen school over skating.
The nine-time U.S. champion announced Friday she will not return to competitive skating in hopes of earning a spot at the Vancouver Olympics.
Kwan will pursue a master's degree in international affairs at Tufts University. She already has made several trips as a State Department envoy.
Kwan, a five-time world champion, won a silver medal at the 1998 Olympics and a bronze in 2002. She made the 2006 team but was forced to withdraw because of injury.
She had been working out for most of this year. An appearance at an ice show in South Korea next month — her first in front of an audience in three years — fueled speculation she might try for Vancouver.

Fantasy Hockey

Thu, 07/30/2009 - 12:10 — admin

Furthermore, private fantasy hockey leagues have prices ranging from free to thousands of dollars. To track private fantasy hockey leagues, there are league managers online who will track the scoring for a small fee. The most common way for choosing NHL players or teams to comprise a fantasy team is via a draft, either online or in person. However, the method ranges from basic (picking from comparable players who are grouped in boxes) to complicated (i.e. 'auction' style). Most office hockey pools (or fantasy leagues) keep the teams simple - merely choose 12 or 15 or 20 skaters from any position, most points win. However, as the fantasy hockey league becomes more realistic, it takes on the appearance of actual NHL teams.

Simulation Hockey leagues use a video game (such as the EA Sports NHL series) or a hockey simulator program (such as FHLSim.com Fantasy Hockey League Simulator) as a match simulator. Each team manager selects an NHL team and is able to submit, control and edit many of the aspects of their team. Either players are drafted and teams are built from scratch or each manager starts with the official NHL roster loaded on the software. In either case, managers can acquire players during the season through waivers and trades. Transactions are submitted to the Commissioner of the league, who in turn loads the lines and runs the program, simulating a game based on the set attributes.

Fantasy Hockey

Sexy Lingerie

Wed, 07/29/2009 - 09:56 — admin

Moderate lacing is not incompatible with vigorous activity. Indeed, during the second half of the nineteenth century, when corset wearing was common, there were sport corsets specifically designed to wear while bicycling, playing tennis, or horseback riding, as well as for maternity wear.

Gates: Some US troops may be leaving Iraq early (AP)

Wed, 07/29/2009 - 07:17 — admin

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT – The United States is considering speeding up its withdrawal from Iraq because of the sustained drop in violence there, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday following discussions with his top commanders in the war.
"I think there's at least some chance of a modest acceleration," this year, Gates said.
It was the first suggestion that the Obama administration might rethink its difficult choice to leave a heavy fighting force in Iraq long past the election of an American president who opposed the war.
Gates said the consideration came because the situation is "better than expected."
Perhaps one of the current 14 combat units could come home early, Gates said, which would mean a cut of roughly 5,000 people.
Continued bad blood between Iraq's Arab-led central government and the self-ruled Kurdish region in the north represents the major wild card to a faster pullout, Gates spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
Concern is growing that North-South tensions over land and resources could become a shooting war once U.S. forces leave. Gates spent much of his two-day visit in Iraq warning both sides that U.S. forces will not be around to keep the peace forever, and he offered U.S. help to mediate.
"These are some fundamental issues, and I think it's important that both the government in Baghdad and the Kurds have pursued them through political means" so far, Gates told reporters after meeting Kurdish President Massoud Barzani in Irbil, capital of the Kurdish self-rule area.
Gates said he told his hosts all sides had spent "too much in blood and treasure" since the 2003 U.S. invasion to risk losing it now.
The United States has about 130,000 forces in Iraq, with current plans calling for most combat forces — or more than 100,000 troops — to remain in the country until after Iraqi national elections in January.
Gates gave no other specifics, and stressed that the idea is preliminary and tied to continued good news in Iraq.
"It depends on circumstances; it may or may not happen," he said.
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, raised the possibility during Gates' two-day trip to Iraq. If Odierno follows up with a formal recommendation, it would come sometime this fall.
It was largely because of Odierno's worry that the coming Iraqi election would trigger a rebound in violence that President Barack Obama decided on a very slow withdrawal. The decision, announced in February, disappointed many anti-war Democrats.
Under the current plan, the United States would draw down from 14 brigades to 12 this year. After the January election, the withdrawal pace would quicken, leaving about 50,000 forces in Iraq by September, 2010.
Violence is at an ebb in Iraq, and Odierno said Tuesday that he has been pleasantly surprised at how few problems have arisen following a June 30 handover of control of Iraqi cities.
American military commanders say friction between Arabs and Kurds in northern Iraq is the greatest threat to security in the country, overtaking the old Sunni-Shiite divide that threatened to push Iraq into civil war three years ago.
The relatively affluent, peaceful Kurdish North is feuding with al-Maliki's government over its borders and resources. Gates met with Barzani, who claimed victory in a re-election vote last weekend that also saw large gains by an opposition slate, in Irbil, seat of the regional government.

Morrell said the U.S. military has advisers already serving as go-betweens for the Kurdish militia and Iraq's armed forces.

Gates told Barzani that the U.S. backs a set of United Nations recommendations to resolve some of the major disputes. Morrell would not characterize Barzani's response, except to say that Gates left the meeting "with the sense, just as he did in Baghdad, that the Kurds very much want to take advantage of our presence."

Odierno identified the tension in northern Iraq as the "No. 1 driver of instability."

"Many insurgent groups are trying to exploit the tensions," Odierno told reporters Tuesday. "We're watching very carefully to see that this doesn't escalate."

So far, American intermediaries are helping keep a lid on things, Odierno said.

The Kurds have been locked in a dispute with Baghdad over control of oil resources and a fault line of contested territory in northern Iraq, particularly the flash-point city of Kirkuk. The disagreements have stalled a national oil law considered vital to encouraging foreign investment. U.S. officials have warned that Arab-Kurdish tensions could erupt into a new front in the Iraq conflict and jeopardize security gains elsewhere.

Kurdish leaders say they are committed to staying in a unified Iraq, particularly since an independence push could alienate neighboring Iran, Syria and Turkey, which have their own Kurdish minorities. But Iraqi Kurdish politicians must answer to the strong nationalist sentiment among Kurds.

Reformist candidates did better than expected against two established Kurdish political parties in weekend elections, adding to the uncertainty. The reformist slate, called Change, tapped into widespread frustration over alleged corruption and intimidation by the longtime ruling establishment.

Cabinet Pulls

Tue, 07/28/2009 - 05:32 — admin

site

Cabinets usually have one or more doors on the front that are mounted with door hardware and occasionally a lock; they may also contain drawers. Short cabinets often have a finished surface on top that can be used for display, or as a working surface such as the countertops found in kitchens.

A cabinet intended for clothing storage is usually called a wardrobe or an armoire (or a closet if built-in). In previous centuries, such a cabinet was also known as a linen-press. In British usage, a wardrobe occasionally was referred to as an oakley, because of the oak wood used in its construction. In India, a cabinet is often referred to as an Almari.

Killer of Kelsey Grammer's sister denied parole (AP)

Tue, 07/28/2009 - 04:14 — admin

DENVER – A man convicted of killing the sister of Kelsey Grammer and two other people more than three decades ago was denied parole Monday after the prison board heard a written statement from Grammer calling the man a butcher and a monster.
The Colorado Parole Board also heard from other relatives of the victims and from detectives before deciding not to release 52-year-old Freddie Glenn.
"This is a butcher. This is a monster," said the statement from the star of TV's "Frasier." "I can never accept the notion that he can pay for the nightmare with anything less than his life."
Grammer had planned to attend the hearing at a state prison in Limon, about 90 miles southeast of Denver, but a rain delay at Kennedy International Airport in New York caused him to miss a connecting flight.
Glenn is serving a life sentence for the first-degree murder of Karen Grammer in 1975 when she was 18. She was abducted outside a Colorado Springs restaurant, raped and stabbed on July 1.
In addition to that slaying, Glenn was convicted of the June 19, 1975 slaying of 28-year-old motel cook Daniel Van Lone during a botched robbery, and the June 27, 1975, slaying of 19-year-old Army soldier Winfred Proffitt during a drug deal.
Glenn had been given the death penalty but that sentence was commuted in 1978 to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Colorado law no longer allows parole in life sentences for first-degree murder, but Glenn was convicted before that law was changed.
During the hearing, Glenn downplayed his role in the slayings and told the board, "I apologize for my participation in something so terrible. I am sincerely and truly remorseful," The Denver Post reported.
In his statement, Grammer said his sister had graduated from high school a year early and decided to take a year off after attending a semester of college. Grammer said she may have moved to Colorado Springs because of a boy she liked.
"She was so smart and good and decent. She wrote poetry ... We could laugh for hours together," Grammer wrote. "I was supposed to protect her — I could not. It very nearly destroyed me... When we heard this man might be paroled, the suffering began anew."
Glenn will be eligible for parole again in 2014.
(This version CORRECTS spelling to Frasier sted Frazier. )

Pregnancy likely to be swine flu shot priority (AP)

Tue, 07/28/2009 - 03:11 — admin

ATLANTA – Swine flu has been hitting pregnant women unusually hard, so they are likely to be among the first group advised to get a new swine flu shot this fall.
Pregnant women account for 6 percent of U.S. swine flu deaths since the pandemic began in April, even though they make up just 1 percent of the U.S. population.
On Wednesday a federal vaccine advisory panel is meeting to take up the question of who should be first to get swine flu shots when there aren't enough for everyone. At the top of the list are health care workers, who would be crucial to society during a bad pandemic.
But pregnant women may be near the top of the list because they have suffered and died from swine flu at disproportionately high rates.
"Are they more at risk for severe disease? That's the issue," and it appears they are, said Dr. Denise Jamieson, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Pregnant women's risk from swine flu has been a raging topic in Europe, following the contentious suggestion this month by British and Swiss health officials that women should consider delaying pregnancy if they can.
Most health officials call that advice unwarranted, but have agreed that the health risks are significant. In a recent report, World Health Organization experts found that pregnant women appear to be "at increased risk for severe disease, potentially resulting in spontaneous abortion and/or death, especially during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy."
However, so far, WHO has not recommended that pregnant women get priority vaccinations.
Now doctors are waiting to see what's decided by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, whose guidance usually is accepted by the CDC and influences doctors and insurance coverage.
For more than a decade, the committee has recommended that pregnant women get vaccinated for seasonal flu, which is considered a serious threat even to pregnant women who are young and healthy. Pregnant women are unusually vulnerable — especially in the third trimester — due to changes in the lungs and immune system that make it harder for them to shake off respiratory infections, said Dr. Kevin Ault, an Emory University obstetrician.
CDC data indicate swine flu is at least as dangerous. Of 302 U.S. deaths attributed to swine flu to date, the CDC has detailed information on 266 of them. The agency has found that 15 of the 266 were pregnant women — or about 6 percent.
The first American with swine flu to die was a pregnant woman in Texas. Judy Trunnell, 33, died May 5 after slipping into a coma and giving birth to a healthy baby girl, delivered by Cesarean section.
Some infected pregnant women have other health problems. Trunnell, for example, also had asthma and the skin condition psoriasis. But many of the pregnant women who died were considered relatively healthy, suggesting pregnancy itself is a significant risk, Jamieson said.
"I think the whole concept that this flu only affects pregnant women with underlying medical conditions is incorrect," Jamieson said.
Experts believe an effective vaccine would benefit not only a pregnant woman but also her unborn child.
Infants, whose immune systems are weak, should not get a flu shot until they are at least 6 months old. So whatever immunity they have is passed on to them by their mothers, doctors say.
The belief in the protective powers of a mother's vaccination on their unborn children was demonstrated in a study of women in Bangladesh published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine. It found that flu shots given to pregnant women reduced flu in infants by 63 percent.
Only about 15 percent of pregnant women get seasonal flu shots, experts noted, so it's not clear how many will get the new shot.

Some women avoid regular flu shots, worried about possible risks to the fetus, but studies have not shown any increased dangers from the shot.

Until recently, many obstetricians haven't offered them, choosing to avoid the expense of buying and storing vaccine and the hassle of trying to convince reluctant patients, said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University flu expert.

"Obstetricians are only now getting with the program and are growing comfortable with administering flu vaccine," he said.

It's not clear that the demand for swine flu shots would be much greater. Pregnant patients haven't expressed much concern about swine flu, said the CDC's Jamieson, who is also an obstetrician seeing inner-city patients at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital.

"It hasn't been a major concern," viewed as a relatively mild illness. They worry more about economic concerns — "how to take care of the baby, how to get food to eat and how to get safe and secure housing," Jamieson said.

So far, swine flu has likely infected more than 1 million Americans, the CDC believes, with at least 300 deaths.

The United States expects to begin testing swine flu vaccines on some volunteers in August, and predicts 160 million doses may be ready by October.

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On the Net:

CDC swine flu web site: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/



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